《He Who Fights With Monsters》 Chapter 1: Strange Business Jason woke up naked, face down in the grass. That was not how he expected to wake up, having gone to sleep in his own bed and his own Darth Vader boxer shorts. From the feel of cool grass on his unmentionables, he had been removed from his bed and shorts both. The last thing he recalled was doing what he did most nights; playing video games until he got tired and fumbling his way into bed. The grass he woke up on was weirdly comfortable; a dense bed of lush green softness. It wasn¡¯t like any grass he had encountered before, which was a little unusual. His father was a landscape architect, and Jason had grown up learning more about grass than he ever wanted. Mostly because it was the only escape from his mother¡¯s Japanese lessons. Jason rolled himself over and sat up. He was feeling very odd, beyond just the circumstances. It wasn¡¯t a bad sensation, more like waking up after a really long sleep. There was the lingering sopor, but also a feeling of refreshed energy. He ran a hand over his head, only to be startled to realise his hair was missing. ¡°Uh¡­¡± He felt about his head with both hands, but his head was balloon smooth. He made a quick check with his eyes and hands, realising there was no hair at all. No eyebrows, nothing on his chest, or arms, or¡­ other places. ¡°I thought it was meant to look bigger when you trimmed.¡± He pushed himself to his feet and started assessing his environment. Casting his gaze to the sky, the sun was high and the air was warm. It was unbroken blue, the blazing orb burning away so much as the merest hint of cloud. Sunburn, more than cold, was likely to threaten his exposed extremities. Looking around, he was boxed in between two long, tall hedges. Looking up and down the dead-straight lane, it seemed to turn at sharp right angles in either direction. The lane itself was wide and grassy, with plenty of room for unconscious sprawling. The hedge walls were meticulously trimmed. After an unhappy glance down at his bald, naked body, he set off at random to explore. He quickly discovered he was in a hedge maze, the living walls having been cultivated to almost twice Jason¡¯s height. Jason¡¯s first thought was to climb one to get a better sense of his location, but a closer examination of the hedges changed his mind. Instead of the usual boxwood, the hedges were something very prickly, and he was very naked. He looked up and down the path he was on, with neither way looking any better than the other. ¡°What the bloody hell is going on?¡± As if in response to his question, something appeared in front of him. It looked like a touch screen, floating in the air, disembodied. He reached out to touch it with an experimental finger, the screen shimmering as his finger passed straight through. ¡°Hologram?¡± He looked at the ground and the nearby hedges for some kind of projector, but as he started moving, the screen followed. There was text on the screen, which he started reading.
New Quest: [Stranger in a Strange Land] You have awoken in a place you do not know. Explore the area to discover more.
¡°Huh.¡± He looked around, suspiciously. He even carefully probed the pointy foliage of the hedge walls, looking for hidden cameras. Looking up at the sky, he didn¡¯t spot any camera drones. What he did notice was the moon, pale and easy to overlook in the daylight. Then he noticed another moon. ¡°That can¡¯t be right.¡± Jason looked down, at the floating screen, then back up at the sky. Still two moons. ¡°Am I going nuts?¡± Jason sat down on the grass, unsure what to do. He kept glancing up at the sky and the extra moon. In front of him, the screen still waited patiently. ¡°This is crazy. I mean, a quest? I¡¯m not a level 1 sorcerer.¡± Another screen appeared next to the first.
Jason Asano Attributes Racial Abilities (Outworlder) Essences (0/4) No Essence [No Attribute] (0/5) No Essence [No Attribute] (0/5) No Essence [No Attribute] (0/5) No Essence [No Attribute] (0/5)
¡°Is this a character sheet? Am I meant to understand any of this?¡± He shook his head in bewilderment. ¡°It could have at least gone with a game system I know.¡± He looked over the screen again. ¡°Map,¡± he read, latching onto something familiar. ¡°I know what maps are. How do I see the map?¡± A new screen obligingly appeared, but as the third screen, the space in front of him was getting crowded. He absently thought it would be convenient for the other screens to close, which they immediately did. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I¡¯m sure that¡¯s good.¡± Things were getting harder to explain away, even ignoring the extra moon. Some kind of voice-command hologram was implausible, but not impossible. Mental command holograms were something else entirely. ¡°I¡¯m becoming increasingly concerned.¡± Hoping it wouldn¡¯t work, he started experimenting. He was able to open and close any of the windows with a simple thought. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re unconscious,¡± he reassured himself. ¡°Maybe you have a brain tumour and you¡¯re in a hospital somewhere. Or passed out on the floor. Hallucinating in an asylum. A nice one, with a big garden. But no hedge maze.¡± He closed his eyes with a groan. ¡°How is this the way I¡¯m trying to comfort myself?¡± He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before opening his eyes again. The screens were still there, waiting. ¡°Just go with it, I guess,¡± he told himself. ¡°Reserve judgement until more information is available. That¡¯s the rational approach.¡± He turned his gaze back to the map floating in front of him. It looked like a map from any video game, complete with a location listing.
Also like a video game map, it was mostly obscured. The only unveiled portion was the small section of the hedge maze he had already explored. He tried moving the map with mental commands, finding he could zoom it in and out as easily as he could open and close the disembodied screens. Zooming all the way out he reached a world map that looked both familiar and unfamiliar. Although the details were obscured, he could make out the outline of the continents. Disturbingly, they weren¡¯t quite the same as the ones he knew. South East Asia was a singular landmass, pushing Australia south and east where it looked to have consumed New Zealand. The Iberian and Arabian peninsulas were missing entirely, leaving Africa wholly disconnected from Europe and Asia. Sri Lanka was further south and several times larger, making for a huge land mass in the middle of the Indian Ocean. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not what the world looks like. Lax cartography?¡± According to the map, Jason was in south-west Africa, somewhere around inland Namibia. He looked at the rich, green hedges boxing him in. Felt the lush grass under his feet. He felt the hot, but not dry air on his skin. ¡°This doesn¡¯t feel like the Kalahari Desert.¡± He sighed, closing the map. ¡°This is some strange business.¡± He pulled up his character sheet again.
Racial Abilities (Outworlder)
¡°Shouldn¡¯t my race be human? What¡¯s an outworlder?¡± Jason half expected another screen to appear, but nothing did, so he started looking down the list. ¡°Interface seems obvious. Quest system too, I guess. Inventory?¡± A window appeared, dominated by an almost empty grid of icon slots. There were five spaces down and eight across, for a total of forty. There was also what looked like a currency counter at the bottom. ¡°Well, that¡¯s certainly a classic inventory,¡± Jason said. ¡°Can I really put stuff in here?¡± There was one item in the inventory, occupying the first slot. It was some kind of red icon, presumably representing an actual item. ¡°Alright, Jason. Time to see how nuts you¡¯ve really gone. How do I get this thing out?¡± After some quick trial and error, he discovered it was a simple as plucking the icon straight out of the screen. The icon vanished and the item appeared magically in his hand. a medallion the size of his palm. It looked and felt like polished red marble with gold engravings on both sides. It was pleasantly warm to the touch. On one side the engraving was a picture of a fire bird, while the other had symbols reading ¡®Authority of the World Phoenix.¡¯ ¡°Well, that just magically appeared out of thin air,¡± Jason said. ¡°That¡¯s definitely not possible. Wait, why can I read this? I never even learned Japanese properly.¡± Jason¡¯s father, Ken Asano, was born in Japan, but raised in Australia from a very young age. Proving there is no zealot like a convert, Ken was all about the Australian lifestyle, from pub rock to footy matches and weekend barbecues. He fell right in with the family of his wife, Cheryl, who were as Australian as he could ask for. Miners and farmers, tracing their bloodline back through bushrangers, convicts, and indigenous Australians. Ironically, Cheryl was the one fascinated with Japan, trying to engage her children with their father¡¯s cultural heritage. Despite very strong support from her mother in law, results were mixed. Jason tried putting the red tablet back into the inventory. His first attempt was just shoving it into the screen, which surprisingly worked. It vanished from his hands and reappeared as an icon. ¡°That¡¯s disconcerting.¡± Jason¡¯s grip on reality was feeling increasingly tenuous. The screens were definitely odd, but could conceivably, if implausibly, be the product of hidden hologram projectors. It was when they started responding to his thoughts that he started to get worried, and now he was pulling objects out of thin air. He closed the inventory and pulled up his character sheet again. Next down the ability list was the map, which he¡¯d already looked at, then astral affinity.
Ability: [Astral Affinity]
¡°No idea what that means.¡± Only one ability remained.
Ability: [Mysterious Stranger]
¡°Language adaptation? Is that how I read the weird writing on the tablet?¡± He took the tablet out again. ¡°What is this thing?¡±
Item: [World-Phoenix Token] (transcendent rank, legendary) ???. (consumable, ???).
¡°Question marks. That¡¯s enlightening. Do I have to pay a wizard to identify items?¡± He put the tablet away, closing all the open windows except for the map. ¡°Alright, then,¡± he said, looking up and down the pathway he was on. Neither offered anything to recommend it over the other. ¡°It¡¯s no yellow wood,¡± he told himself, ¡°but I guess it¡¯s time to Robert Frost this thing.¡± He picked a direction at random and set off. ¡°I really wish I had clothes on.¡± *** Jason was walking through the maze, the map open in front of him. It was being unveiled as he walked, so his current plan was to reveal enough that he could plot a way out. He froze when he heard a rustle in the hedges. ¡°Um, g¡¯day?¡± he called out, hands moving to nervously hide his unmentionables. ¡°Hello? Buenos d¨ªas? Guten morgen?¡± There wasn¡¯t any response. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not morning. Guten tag?¡± There still wasn¡¯t any response. ¡°Yeah, Jason; that was the problem. You got the time of day wrong.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Makes as much sense as anything else here, I guess.¡± He was about to resume walking when a window appeared.
New Quest: [No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service] For unknown reasons, your immediate area has become infested with lesser monsters.
¡°Monsters? That doesn¡¯t sound plausible.¡± He was looking around suspiciously when something small came hurtling from the bottom of a hedge. His hands shot back over his privates, which left his head an exposed target. He was blinded by something latching onto his face, something sharp digging painfully into his scalp. He yanked it off with both hands, screaming as a chunk of skin went with it. He dropped to his knees, slamming the thing into the ground, over and over until it stopped struggling.
Jason released the creature and scuttled back, still on his hands and knees. His heart was racing, the wounds on his head throbbing. Blood was trickling down his face and he wiped it away from his eyes. ¡°What in the merry hell is happening? How did a hamster jump on my head?¡± Jason looked over at the creature. According to the window that popped up it was some kind of hamster, but was easily as big as Jason¡¯s head. That made it bigger than any hamster he had heard of. It was distended from being pounded into the dirt, as well as streaked with blood from Jason¡¯s head. He crawled forward cautiously, ready to jump back. Extending a hesitant finger, he poked at it.
Jason rocked back, hands clutching his bald head. His fingers found the wound and he yelped in pain. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Chapter 2: Of Course Magic is a Thing Jason read the screen again.
¡°Yes?¡± The body of the dead creature made a fizzing sound, like a rapid chemical reaction. The body started rapidly melting, first the flesh, then even the skeleton, dissolving into rainbow-coloured smoke. It seemed pretty until it hit Jason with a stench thick as cheese, like burned hair and rotting meat. He scrambled away to escape the rancid smell, dry heaving on all fours. Looking over as he hacked out coughs, he saw the creature¡¯s body had vanished, as if never existing at all. He ignored the window that popped up, dropping onto his back in the soft grass. ¡°I hate this,¡± he told the sky. ¡°I¡¯m naked, bleeding, and have no idea where I am. I can¡¯t think of any better explanation for what¡¯s happening than I¡¯ve lost my bloody mind. Worst of all, I¡¯m going to get sunburnt in places that don¡¯t see a lot of outdoor activity.¡± He sat up with a groan, reading the screen waiting for him.
¡°Oh, straight into the inventory. That place that lets me make things appear and disappear. I¡¯ve definitely gone insane.¡± Now familiar with opening and closing the screens, the inventory window appeared with a simple thought. Two more of the forty grids were now occupied with little icons, while what appeared to be a currency counter had the number ten listed over one of the coin symbols. Jason took out the item called healing unguent. It was a small, round tin, reminding Jason of the nasty rubbing medicine his nanna would put on scrapes when he was a kid. At least this tin wasn¡¯t rusty, like the one that had been under Nanna¡¯s laundry sink longer than Jason had been alive. Nanna was his maternal grandmother, while his father¡¯s mother was strictly Grandmother. She was a retired otorhinolaryngologist, and had no truck with rusty tins of ointment. He took a closer look at the tin in his hand.
Item: [Healing Unguent (Iron)] (iron rank, common) Topical healing ointment. Inexpensive concoction ideal for superficial injuries (consumable, healing).
Unlike the tablet, the magic screens had no problem identifying the tin. Jason pulled off the lid to discover it really did look and smell like the ointment under Nanna¡¯s laundry sink. There was a sharp, medical smell that cut through even the lingering stench of the dead creature. As for the contents, it was an oily substance that looked like butterscotch sauce made from dubiously-sourced ingredients. ¡°How did I get ointment from a hamster? How did it come in a tin?¡± With an exploratory finger he gently prodded the wound on his head. ¡°Ow.¡± The oversized hamster teeth had dug into his scalp. The blood was still running down the front and side of his head. ¡°Can¡¯t hurt to try, I guess. At least there¡¯s no hair to get in the way.¡± He took some of the ointment and smeared it carefully onto the wound, which immediately started to sting.
The stinging faded away rapidly, the pain from the wound itself quickly following. Jason delicately poked the affected area, but while it was still wet with blood and ointment, he could find no trace of the injury. ¡°Sure,¡± he said. ¡°If you¡¯re going to have medicine appear out of thin air, why not make it magically potent.¡± Jason placed the tin back in his inventory and pulled out the other icon. What appeared in his hand was a small, red-brown gem, in the shape of a teardrop.
Item: [Monster Core (Lesser)] (iron rank, common) The magic core of a lesser monster (crafting material, magic core).
¡°Oh, it¡¯s for magic rituals. I¡¯m apparently in a video game, now, so of course magic is a thing.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Jason sighed as he put the monster core back in his inventory. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ve had an aneurysm and this is just my dying brain trying to sort things out as it shuts down.¡± He thought about that for a moment. His sister would be the one to find his body. She¡¯d have her little girl in tow, coming to see Uncle Jason. ¡°Wow. I¡¯m actually hoping this whole, horrible experience is real. That¡¯s the way, Jason. Indulge the delusion.¡± Jason looked at the coin counter in his inventory. ¡°How do I take that out?¡± He tried tapping on the number.
¡°Um. One, I guess.¡± A coin appeared in Jason¡¯s hand. It was a washed-out blue colour, with a metallic sheen but feeling more like glass to the touch.
Item: [Lesser Spirit Coin] (iron rank, common) An impure distillation of raw magic. (currency, crafting material).
Jason peered at the figure embossed on the coin. Looking closer, it was an image of Jason himself, giving a thumbs up. ¡°What?¡± He turned the coin over to look at the other side, which was engraved with text. PRODUCT OF JASON G¡¯DAY, MATE! He ran a hand over his face. Somehow the coin itself was more ridiculous than the fact that he pulled it out of thin air. ¡°I¡¯ve definitely gone insane.¡± *** When the slippery creature latched its teeth onto his inner thigh, Jason yelled as much out of panic as pain. He still had no pants and that was much too close to the danger zone. He grabbed the long, slippery body, gripping down hard and yanking it off his leg. He screamed again as it took a chunk of thigh with it but kept his grip and started flailing the creature into the prickly hedge.
Jason dropped to the ground, pulled out a jar of healing unguent and started rubbing it on the wound, ignored the blood coming out of it. ¡°Why can an eel fly?¡± He looked down at the wound, high up the inside of his thigh. The eel had taken a decent gouge out of him, so the stinging lingered as the wound slowly closed. Even so, the ability to watch an injury vanish in front of his eyes was amazing. After nine encounters with different creatures, Jason had plenty of chances to see it, going through almost three full tins of the unguent. He used a full tin from one fight alone, against something called a malicious hedgehog. One pleasant discovery was that he didn¡¯t have to stand in the stinking smoke that came off them after they were looted. So long as he touched the creature he could back away before accepting. Even as he was far away from the dissolving creature, the loot went straight into his inventory. The only problem was that any of the creature¡¯s blood that got onto him would dissolve away as well, giving Jason a full dose of the stink. Every creature Jason looted gave out one lesser monster core and exactly 10 spirit coins. Most also produced additional, often nonsensical rewards. Tins of healing ointment were mercifully common, but mostly he received animal parts. That would have been understandable enough, given that he was killing creatures, but they arrived in his inventory already cut and packaged. The bundle of spines he received from the malicious hedgehog were bound with string, while the meat of the tyrannical pheasant came neatly wrapped in deli paper. The animal parts were all listed as crafting materials, some of which seemed to be for cooking. While he did enjoy trying new food, he wasn¡¯t quite ready to put monster meat on his plate. While he waited for the wound to heal, he checked the map again. He had a decent-sized chunk of the hedge maze mapped out now, but it was quite large and he¡¯d met a lot of dead ends. He plotted out his next pathway and set out again. *** There was a flower growing in the middle of the pathway. Everywhere else Jason had been, there was only uniform hedges and neatly-cut grass. He watched it from a safe distance, but to all observation it was just a plant. Jason moved forward cautiously, eyes glued to the flower. He gave it as wide a berth as he could, but just when he thought he had passed without incident, the flower twitched, spraying spores all over him. He got dizzy and fell to the ground, then felt something on his leg. A vine with a bulbous head had grown out of the ground near the flower stem, and was now winding its way around his leg. He tried to kick away, but his head was swimming and he flailed ineffectually. The vine kept growing, crawling up his body. The bulbous head of the vine opened up, clamping onto his head like a lamprey. Jason clenched his teeth, fighting through the haze with anger. He reached down, grabbed the vine with both hands and started hauling on it. The ground under the flower bulged, soil spilling away as a grotesque shape emerged from the earth. It looked like a root vegetable, but was the size and shape of a baby. The vine was attached to it¡¯s stomach like an umbilical cord, while the flower grew out of its head. Jason let go of the vine, crawling over to the main body and grabbing it in both hands. He lifted it up, then brought it down on his knee, smashing it again and again. ¡°People. Are. Vegetarians,¡± he yelled through gritted teeth. Every word punctuating a strike to the knee. ¡°Vegetables. Aren¡¯t. People-tarians!¡± With a final shout he brought the creature down on his knee with all his strength. The plant monster broke apart like a potato dropped off a building and hitting concrete.
Quest: [No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service]
Taking the footwear out of his inventory he discovered it was a pair of sandals. Although the thick grass was pleasant underfoot, Jason still put them on. That left him standing naked except of a pair of sandals. ¡°I think I might hate this place.¡± Chapter 3: Local Cuisine Jason frowned at the object in his hand. The carnivorous mandrake proved to be the most generous monster thus far in terms of loot, producing not only an extra tin of the precious healing unguent, but also something new.
Item: [Trowel of the Blood Cult] (iron rank, uncommon) A gardening implement enchanted to affect certain kinds of plant. (tool).
The trowel looked rather sinister, made out of some kind of black metal with a red sheen. It carried the wear marks of having been used as a planting tool, but also a razor edge that was wholly unnecessary for gardening purposes. ¡°Blood cult?¡± Jason read unhappily from the item description. ¡°Who gardens with an evil trowel? Whose hedge maze is this?¡± Not having anything better, Jason kept the sharp trowel in hand, on the ready for more monsters. After checking his map again he set off, weapon in hand. Still naked aside from a pair of sandals, he was very careful about where he held it. *** Jason looked at the well. It was a circle of bricks, the mortar aged and crumbling. There was a wooden bucket and crank, both weathered with age. It was the kind of rustically picturesque feature he could imagine someone putting at the centre of their hedge maze.
Quest: [Stranger in a Strange Land]
Jason gave a fist pump and took the pants out of his inventory. They were made of plain white linen, with billowy legs and a very low crotch fit, held up by a drawstring. ¡°It¡¯s like a Mennonite made some hammer pants. Did I wake up in 1991 rural Pennsylvania?¡± Putting aside fashion concerns, Jason slipped the pants on, walking around experimentally. They were sufficiently roomy that it didn¡¯t feel much different to walking around without them. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose I can get a quest for some boxer shorts?¡± He waited hopefully for a few moments, but no window appeared. ¡°Worth a try.¡± After being attacked by so many creatures, Jason was a mess of blood and ointment, even if the wounds had been healed. The result was the white pants being immediately stained red and unguent-yellow. With his nudity concern ameliorated, Jason was able to turn his thoughts to other aspects of his situation. He sat down on the edge of the well to think over his next move. The things he was experiencing were clearly impossible, which broadly placed him in one of two situations. One, his faculties were significantly compromised and his understanding of what he was doing was massively detached from the reality. Brain trauma, hallucinogens, some kind of severe mental break. His knowledge was too shallow and his observation point too subjective to make any definitive assessment. To the best of his understanding, though, none of those options made sense. He was too lucid, too capable of critical thinking. His consciousness wasn¡¯t skipping around, glossing over the inconsistencies of a compromised mental state. That being said, his understanding of mental conditions was essentially nil, so that might be what crazy felt like from the inside. The big point going for the mental-impairment hypothesis was that the alternative scenario required Jason¡¯s most fundamental understandings of reality to be somewhere between woefully incomplete and breathtakingly wrong. Either way, his only real option was to get on with it. If it was all in his head, then it didn¡¯t matter what he did. Inversely, if it was real, and he ran around acting like it wasn¡¯t, the consequences could be dire. He took a deep, calming breath. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Alright, Jason¡± he said, steeling himself. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Sooner or later he would need to find his way out of the maze, but the fact that his quest ended on reaching the well implied there was something special about it. He started by examining the wooden frame which had a simple crank and rope to lower a bucket, along with a little wooden roof to shield the mechanism from the weather. It only seemed to have worked to a degree, with the rope and bucket both looking the worse for wear. The brickwork was likewise dilapidated, with mortar crumbling at the touch. He stuck his head over the well to look down. To his surprise, iron rungs had been affixed to the inside of the well, leading into darkness below.
New Quest: [Secrets of the Well] You have discovered a ladder descending into the well. Do you have the courage to explore the depths?
¡°Don¡¯t die? What kind of quest objective is don¡¯t die?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Forget that.¡±
Jason was about to reject the quest when he heard voices coming from somewhere close within the hedge maze. ¡°I tracked the aura of the mandrake that took my trowel,¡± a gravelly male voice said. ¡°Someone had already killed it and my trowel was nowhere to be found.¡± ¡°Someone with those adventurers we caught?¡± another man asked. ¡°I don¡¯t care who they¡¯re with,¡± the first voice said. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill ¡®em, cook ¡®em and eat ¡®em.¡± ¡°I wanted to try some of that elf girl, but the mistress said we¡¯re keeping them all for the sacrifice. Bloody waste, if you ask me.¡± ¡°Nah, elves ain¡¯t good eating. Not much meat on them, and what¡¯s there is all stringy. That human girl, she¡¯s the one you want. Lean and tender.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Dougall; she looked pretty tough to me. And we always have humans. I just want a little variety, is all.¡± ¡°Well, this lot is all spoken for, regardless.¡± Ducked down behind the well, Jason didn¡¯t let out a breath until the voices faded into the distance. He ignored the fact that they were talking about elves in the face of a casual discussion on the pros and cons of eating people. Was that real, or just a couple of guys with a weird sense of humour? ¡°Cannibals?¡± He gave it some consideration. Normally cannibals would be right at the top of the crazy pile, but the day Jason was having, it was at least a familiar horror. Then he considered it some more and started climbing down into the well. ¡°What kind of lunatic place is this?¡± Jason was not happy with his options. A quest with the explicit objective of ¡®don¡¯t die¡¯ wasn¡¯t great, but wandering blindly through a maze with cannibals roaming about struck him as an even worse option. What was he going to do? Fight them off with their own trowel? There were two of them, and they were a lot bigger than a tyrannical pheasant. It might have been an evil monster chicken, but it still barely came up to his waist. Even then it got some savage pecks in. He didn¡¯t have a weapon, so he had to get in behind, reach around and savagely choke the chicken with both hands. Jason started reconsidering his choice to go down the well when only the second rung down shifted in his hand. It was set into the brickwork at the top, the shaky mortar apparently ready to give way. Then he thought about himself hanging from a butcher¡¯s hook and kept going. ¡°Going down a creepy well or dodging cannibals,¡± he muttered unhappily. For what felt like the hundredth time he wondered where he was, what was going on and what evil prick dumped him naked, right in the middle of it. The well was quite deep, judging from the diminishing light coming from above. He kept a careful grip on the cold metal rungs as the interior of the well became dank, the sides slick and wet. ¡°I¡¯m definitely getting Legionnaire¡¯s disease.¡± The light did not penetrate far down the narrow well, and Jason was soon moving entirely by feel. He descended cautiously, each foot carefully seeking out the next rung down. He would occasionally glance up at the shrinking blue circle that was all he could see of the sky, reassuring himself it was still there. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re not really cannibals,¡± he told himself. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re just talking themselves up.¡± Unconvinced, he kept moving down into darkness, barely able to make out his hand on the rung in front of him. He discovered he had reached the bottom when his foot met water instead of the next rung. Some experimental probing revealed it was ankle deep, enough to submerge his sandals in the icy cold. The bottom of the well was flat, but as it turned out, just as slippery as the walls. His feet slid out from under him and only his hands still gripping the rungs saved him from bashing his head against the side of the well. He ended up sprawled at the bottom of the well, dank water joining the blood and ointment in staining his new pants. ¡°Lovely.¡± The advantage of his low perspective was that he found himself looking directly at a slightly darker circle in the wall of what was already a very dark well. He reached out tentatively and found it was a hole, large enough to crawl through. He didn¡¯t know if it was the source of the well¡¯s water or some kind of drainage tunnel. ¡°No,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯m definitely not interested in crawling in there.¡±
¡°Sod off.¡± Jason looked up again at the bright circle of sky, then the dark circle of the tunnel. With a groan, he started probing the pitch-black hole with his hands. Chapter 4: Cannibals and Spelunking Jason slowly crawled his way into the dank tunnel, a circular pipe of wet and slimy brickwork. It was wide enough to push himself along, but tight enough that he was pressed against the clammy sides. The darkness engulfed him as he moved away from what meagre light reached the bottom of the well. Edging down the tunnel, touch was the only sense with which he could navigate. With the ubiquitous smell of wet rot, he wished his nose was as useless as his eyes. ¡°This is not what I planned to do with my day.¡± If it turned out to be a dead end, he would be forced to shimmy backwards, the tunnel far too tight to turn around. ¡°Admittedly, my plans for the day were fairly loose, but cannibals and spelunking aren¡¯t things you just casually slide into the schedule.¡± Talking to himself didn¡¯t help much, but any distraction was a welcome bulwark against the encroaching claustrophobia. The gloom of the well had seemed stifling, but the dark of the tunnel was much deeper. He felt panic¡¯s icy fingers crawl over his flesh as the tunnel closed in on him. He knew it wasn¡¯t actually getting smaller, but his rationality seemed powerless in the cold, wet oblivion. His unravelling nerves were reaching their limit . He was ready to start pushing his way back and risk the cannibals when his hand came down on slimy, wet wood instead of slimy, wet brick. There was still no light, so he probed with his hands. He had reached the end of the tunnel, but had no idea what kind of space it opened into. He had a feeling of open space, but in complete darkness it could well have been his imagination. His hands felt out some kind of platform made of wooden planks. It was wet and a little slimy, although it felt reliably solid under Jason¡¯s hands. The surface of the wood was rough, like sandpaper. Some kind of long-enduring adhesive had been used to apply sand or something similar, improving friction on the wet planks. Jason had seen something similar on bushwalking tracks. Feeling around as he crawled free of the tunnel, he felt the planks were lined up to make a walkway, a metre and a half wide. It felt like there was enough room to stand, but even with the sand coating he didn¡¯t trust the slick wooden path in the dark. He continued forward as he had in the tunnel, hands exploring in place of his eyes. Just a short way down the path he found a vertical metal rod sticking out the walkway, at the edge to his left. His hands traced the shaft upwards to a hooked end, from which was hanging some kind of metal box with a loop on top.
Item: [Crude Magic Lamp] (iron rank, common) A simple lighting device fuelled by low-level magic. (tool).
Jason tried using the glowing window as a light source, but even hard up against the lamp it failed to produce so much as a murky outline. Jason fumbled about to unhook the lamp from the pole.
¡°Please and thank you.¡± As the lamp lit up, Jason discovered the hard way that he had been holding the front of it pointed directly into his face. He screamed as light blasted into his eyes, dropping the lamp from his hands. It clattered away as he fell back onto the wooden pathway, moaning with hands over his eyes. ¡°Good job, genius,¡± he croaked, waiting to recover. ¡°Light a lamp right in front of your face. Real smart idea.¡± He tentatively opened his eyes and saw the space around him illuminated from somewhere below. The light was largely obscured, but compared to complete darkness, even some shadowy outlines were bliss. It was at least enough to recognise that he was in a natural cavern. It didn¡¯t have the conveniently smooth floors of a video game cave, which was presumably why someone had put in the walkway, raised on thick wooden posts. Jason was already laying on the walkway, so he rolled over to reach down and fetch the lamp from where it had fallen. The walkway was only about an arm¡¯s length above the cave floor, so he fetched it up easily enough. Jason pushed himself to a sitting position and examined the lamp, careful not to blind himself again. As the name suggested, the crude magic lamp was a simple affair, looking rather like a miner¡¯s tin lamp. It had three boxy, metal sides, a glass front in a loop handle on the top. Dropping it didn¡¯t seem to have harmed the glass at all. Inside, the light came from what looked like a round stone, glowing like a light bulb. Using the lamp to get a better look at the cave, it was spookier than Jason would have liked, with plenty of dark crevices and ominous shadows. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Hello?¡± he called out. Between the racket he had made and the light of the lamp, there was little point trying to hide from any denizens occupying the cave. The quest drove him down into the cavern, rather than back into the cannibal maze. He was hoping that meant whatever was at the end of the cave was worthwhile. A pirate ship filled with enough treasure to stop the local country club from foreclosing on the family home would be ideal. He would be willing to accept someone who doesn¡¯t eat people. ¡°Is anyone down here?¡± he asked. ¡°If you want me to kill ten goblins in return for an uncommon spear, I¡¯m only really equipped for light gardening.¡± He thought about the evil trowel, now ready at hand in case of sudden attack. ¡°It could be evil gardening.¡± Since the beam of the lamp lit up the cave like a lighthouse on a dark night, there was no point being stealthy. His hope was that he could bait out whatever creatures were lurking into the light. They would probably be adapted to darkness and if he could dazzle them it would at least be some advantage. The idea of sneaking through in pitch blackness gave him the feeling that he wouldn¡¯t even know how he died. And ¡®don¡¯t die¡¯ was the bonus objective after all. In video games, Jason was the kind of player who could take it or leave it with secondary goals. In this one instance, his motivation levels had reached a previously unseen zenith. He started following the walkway, taking care with his steps. The sand coating had worn away in a lot of places, leaving patches of the wood slick and frictionless, from years in the bleak, damp cavern. The cave turned out to be something of a natural tunnel, rough speaking, through which the walkway followed. He made his way slowly and carefully until it came to an end at a brick wall, set into the side of the cave. In the middle of the wall was a hefty metal door with a big wheel set into it, like a bulkhead door on a submarine. Both door and wheel were rusty and didn¡¯t look to have been opened in some time. ¡°Now we¡¯re getting somewhere.¡± Setting down the lamp, Jason grabbed the wheel with both hands and pulled, but it didn¡¯t budge. ¡°Oh, come on.¡± He yanked on it harder and harder, until his feet were braced against the door as he hauled sideways with his full body weight. He felt a little give, then a little more, each accompanied by an unwilling metal groan. Finally the wheel jerked loose and Jason could turn the reluctant mechanism with heavy jerks. Panting from the exertion, Jason shouldered open the door. Like the wheel it resisted, and he had to shove it open in fits and starts. His shoulder grew sore as he repeatedly rammed it into the door. Finally, the door gave way with a shriek and he stumbled through the door.
Quest: [Secrets of the Well]
¡°Awakening stone of the stars? Is that like magic version of those celebrity house maps?¡± He went and retrieved the lamp from where he had set it down, pulling the object from his inventory. It looked kind of like a fist-sized marble, black, but containing what looked like tiny stars.
Item: [Awakening Stone of the Stars] (unranked, epic) An awakening stone that unlocks the power of the stars. (consumable, awakening stone).
That seemed more complicated than Jason wanted to get to when there was a door right in front of him with the promise of (hopefully non-cannibal) civilisation. The interior was dark, so he stepped inside and started panning the light beam of the lamp. It was a room, thankfully, not just more cave. It was like a large parlour from a stately home, but after a tornado passed through. Furniture was upended, tapestries and paintings ripped down from the walls. Bookshelves had been toppled, their contents tossed around the room. There was an ornate chandelier that had crashed down from the ceiling, scattering shattered crystal across the polished floor. Searching through the mess by the light of the lamp, there was an overturned couch in the middle of the room. Under it, Jason found a man unconscious. Heaving the couch off of him revealed that he was sprawled in the middle of an elaborate pentagram, set into the floor in brass or copper. The man was youngish, maybe thirty, clean shaven with an olive complexion and a handsome face. To Jason¡¯s eyes he looked rather Mediterranean. The good-looking kind with the dark wavy hair. Oddly, he was wearing what looked like honest-to-goodness wizard robes. Jason set down the lamp to examined the man. He had a strong pulse and regular breathing, but was showing early signs of extensive bruising and his body temperature felt way too high. As Jason was examining him, his eyes flickered open. Chapter 5: Wizard ¡°G¡¯day mate,¡± Jason said. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve had a spill. Need a hand up?¡± Jason offered his hand and helped the wizard-looking man to his feet. Despite a frame as slender as Jason¡¯s own, the wizard was surprisingly heavy. Standing unsteadily of his feet, the wizard looked around at the room in disarray, then at Jason, his expression confused. ¡°Who are you?¡± the wizard asked. ¡°How did you get here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Jason, and I have no idea. I went to bed what I think was last night and woke up in some kind of alternate universe.¡± The wizard narrowed his eyes as he peered at Jason. ¡°There¡¯s something off about your aura,¡± the wizard said. ¡°You¡¯re not human.¡± ¡°That¡¯s hurtful. Wait, auras are really a thing?¡± ¡°You said something about an alternate universe?¡± The wizard asked. ¡°That¡¯s just a guess,¡± Jason said. ¡°I mean, the continents are different. Could be a crazy-far, time travel thing. Do you know anything about continental drift?¡± The wizard¡¯s gaze moved to the magic circle on the floor, then back at Jason. ¡°It was you,¡± he said angrily. ¡°You¡¯re what went wrong with the summoning.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, at least you did summon something. Do you have any idea how wrong your summon made my night¡¯s sleep go? One of us has a lot more to be grouchy about than the other.¡± The wizard looked a combination of confused and angry, but as he was about to retort he went pale and stumbled in place. ¡°Crap, sorry,¡± Jason said, moving to support him. ¡°GET OFF ME!¡± The wizard staggered in the direction of a heavy writing desk. It seemed to have escaped major displacement by being the heaviest piece of furniture in the room. He almost tripped, still weak from whatever happened prior to Jason¡¯s arrival. The wizard opened a drawer, took out a small bottle and drained the contents. ¡°I could use a stiff drink myself, if you¡¯re offering,¡± Jason said. ¡°It was a recovery potion, fool,¡± the wizard said, then winced with pain. ¡°It seems the backlash will take more than a potion to fix.¡± He gave Jason a smile that Jason did not like. ¡°Since I can¡¯t recover mana right now, I¡¯ll have to do things the old fashioned way. I¡¯ve never tasted an outworlder before.¡± ¡°Oh no,¡± Jason said, shoulders slumping. ¡°You¡¯re one of the cannibals.¡± As the wizard pulled a knife out of the drawer, Jason looked around the room. There was a set of wooden double doors that were presumably an exit, but the wizard was a lot closer than Jason. Remembering how weakly the wizard staggered over to the table, Jason took a risk and tried barrelling past him. It worked, but when he pulled on the door handles they were locked. He spun around to make back for the cave, only to find the wizard lunging at him. Jason grabbed at the arm holding the knife. Wrestling back and forth, they tripped on a piece of the overturned furniture and fell to the floor, still struggling. The lamp was lost somewhere along the way and they battled in shadows, each trying to seize control of the weapon. Jason had a grip on the wizard¡¯s arm, trying to keep the knife from digging into him. In spite of his small frame and apparent weakness after being knocked out, the wizard was much stronger than Jason. Taking a lesson from the small, aggressive monsters he had been fighting, Jason bit into the wizard¡¯s hand. The wizard yelped in surprise more than pain, but it gave Jason a chance to seize the advantage, yanking the knife from the wizard¡¯s grip. Still scrambling on the floor, he shoved the knife out blindly and suddenly the wizard went limp. The knife was sticking out of the wizard¡¯s throat, but the wizard was still alive, looking at Jason with disbelieving eyes. Jason snatched the knife back and blood sprayed over Jason, getting into his eyes and mouth. Recoiling, he spat out blood as he rubbed at his eyes. By the time his panicked flailing came to a halt, the wizard¡¯s body was still.
Jason pushed himself up with bloody hands, tripped on debris and fell back over. His breath came in ragged starts as he just lay where he fell. Eventually he sat up, looking over at where the body had fallen directly into the light beam from the lamp. He pulled his legs up and hugged his knees, rocking slightly as he stared at the body. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He had no sense of how long he stayed like that, but eventually he pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. He walked over to the bloody knife and picked it up.
Item: [Seal Knife] (bronze rank, common) A dagger with the Vane family seal on the pommel. (weapon, tool).
Jason stared at the bloody knife in his equally bloody hand. After a few moments there was an unusual tingling, slowly rising to become pain. He tightened his grip until the pain became too much and the dagger clattered to the floor.
Finally, he turned to the body. Its eyes were open, face frozen in a final expression of surprise. The room was still and silent, Jason¡¯s eyes locked on the corpse. ¡°You did this,¡± he accused it. ¡°You did this.¡± He didn¡¯t sound convincing, even to himself. Jason¡¯s mind was nothing but white noise as he stood standing over the body. When a new sound broke him out of his trance he didn¡¯t know if it had been seconds, minutes or hours. The sound came from above, a metal ventilation pipe in the ceiling. There was a hollow, echoing timbre to the sound and it took Jason a moment to recognise it as a hissing noise. It was coming from the hole. He watched the hole, eyes unfocused and disoriented. He watched absently but his mind was still on the knife, He could feel it, even after it fell back to the floor. He could taste the hot blood spilling out of the wizard¡¯s neck. His gaze sharpened when something came out of the hole in the ceiling. It was an enormous, pitch-black snake, head barely small enough to pass through the aperture. Jason and the snake looked at each other, frozen for a moment. Jason could see intelligence in its eyes, although he may well have been imagining it. Then the snake hissed at Jason and continued emerging from the vent shaft, body dangling down from the ceiling. Jason sprinted for the door back to the cave, snatching up the lamp as he moved.
New Quest: [Time to Run] The familiar of the Builder cultist sensed its master¡¯s death and has come to investigate.
Jason almost stumbled as the window popped up, flailing wildly at it as he willed it closed. He bolted through the metal door, dropped his lamp and grabbed onto the wheeled handle, hauling back with adrenaline-fuelled strength. The rusty hinges groaned shut and Jason yanked on the wheel to latch the door. There was another wheel on the other side, but snakes didn¡¯t have thumbs. Jason let out a breath he didn¡¯t realise he¡¯d been holding and reached down to pick up the lamp. He would need to go back up the well, but he¡¯d rather dodge cannibals than fight a giant snake. The danger at least snapped him out of the daze he was left in after killing a man. He was making his way along the pathway when he heard the grinding of metal behind him and had a horrifying thought. What if monster snakes do have thumbs? Running along the pathway, forgetting his previous caution turned out to be a mistake. His sandalled foot slipped on a slick section of plank and he tumbled over. He landed hard on the walkway, the sand coating scraping on his naked torso. Lamp still clutched in a death-grip, he ignored the pain to get up and keep moving. Going as quickly as he dared, he reached the end of the walkway and ducked straight into the tunnel, dropping the lamp that would slow his crawl. His hands and knees hammered into the hard surface of the narrow passage, shoulders and head banging against the side and top. He didn¡¯t let it slow him down, scrambling forward until he saw the dim light at the bottom of the well. Crawling out, he fumbled straight for the rungs set into the side. Hand over hand, he yanked himself upwards. Only after he was a good way up the inside of the well did he let himself pause to look down. The snake shouldn¡¯t be able to climb up, but it shouldn¡¯t have been able to open a door, either. He was just turning back to resume climbing when he heard the hiss from below. He saw the snake emerged from the tunnel, pausing to look up at Jason before sliding more of its body into the space at the bottom of the well. Jason watched in horror as its body started climbing up and around the outside of the well like the thread of a screw. Despite the wet and slippery surface of the well, the snake started winding its way up, as if adhered to the sides. Jason resumed his climb, more energetic than ever. The snake was fast, but its circuitous path around the sides was long. Jason clambered up as fast as he could, but panic made him rush and more than once a foot slipped before getting proper purchase. He kept pushing upwards, every hand and foothold a step closer to the outside. The final rung was set into the brickwork that sat above ground, but just as Jason¡¯s hand gripped it, he felt something slip around his leg. The snake was as thick as Jason¡¯s thigh and he hadn¡¯t even seen the full length of it. The weight of it prevented him from pulling himself any higher and it only got worse as the creature wrapped around his torso. He couldn¡¯t pull himself any further up but he clenched onto the top rung. Hands clammy and quickly tiring, his fingers threatened to give out at any moment. But in the end it wasn¡¯t his fingers that crumbled. The mortar in the bricks gave out, the whole side of the well collapsing. Jason, the snake and a rain of masonry fell backwards into the dark. Chapter 6: Potent Potable Jason, as a rule, enjoyed waking up. He loved the brief hazy moment between dream and reality, shrouded in warm, soft bedding. Even awaking in the soft grass of the hedge maze hadn¡¯t been an unpleasant experience. It was very different from regaining consciousness at the bottom of a dark well, soaked in filthy water and entangled in the corpse of a dead snake. He ignored the screens that had popped-up while he was unconscious. They shrank away to hover inconspicuously in the periphery of his vision. His left arm was pinned under some rubble, a chunk of fallen masonry from the well from above. He didn¡¯t feel any pain from it, which was good, then realised he didn¡¯t feel anything at all from it, which was bad. When he tried pulling it free the pain arrived in full force, his screams reverberating up through the well. Holding his left arm as still as he could, he rolled the chunk of masonry off with his right. It wasn¡¯t insurmountably heavy, but he had to hold back more screaming with gritted teeth. He couldn¡¯t examine the freed arm properly in the dark, but it was hot and swollen to the touch. Even probing it gently with the fingers of his good hand sent ripples of pain radiating through it. He was confident it was broken and started carefully applying all the healing ointment he had left. The swelling reduced and the skin cooled, but the arm was still delicate and painful to move. The ointment didn¡¯t seem effective on the bone-deep injury it couldn¡¯t reach. There was so much of the snake that he was laying on its dead body rather than the bottom of the well. Jerking his foot free of its coils sent fresh pain spiking through his arm. It took multiple attempts to struggle to his feet, using his good arm to yank himself upright with one of the wall rungs. Each time he achieved some precarious stability, his stomach roiled and he threw up, dropping back to his knees. Vomit spewed out in fits and starts, even as the motion drove new pain into his injured arm. He finally made it to his feet, holding himself up, using a rung for support. He drew ragged breaths, exhausted just from the effort of standing up. For the first time since climbing down the well he was grateful for the cold walls, ignoring the wet as he pressed his back into the cool surface. His head swam, pulse pounding through it like a hammer. His stomach churned with the threat of secondary eruptions. It wasn¡¯t the worst he¡¯d ever felt. The worst was after eating one of his Great Aunt Marjory¡¯s casseroles, which led him to taking up residence in his parent¡¯s bathroom for ten hours. For all her efforts to push Jason into the waiting arms of the Lord, the closest she came was food poisoning so bad it had him praying for death. Jason looked down at the snake, its incredible length piled up at the bottom of the well. It was big enough that there wasn¡¯t anywhere for Jason to stand except on the snake itself. The largest individual piece of shattered masonry had crushed the creature¡¯s head against the bottom of the well. Either the hefty chunk or the snake itself could have killed Jason, but wild luck led to one danger handling the other. He glanced up at the blue circle of sky, uncertain of how long he had been unconscious. He had to decide between climbing back up the well or going back through the tunnel, neither of which seemed easy with a busted arm. He put off the unpleasant choice and looked at the windows he had been ignoring.
¡°Sure,¡± he said wearily, then froze. Belatedly remembered that monsters dissolved into stinking smoke when they were looted, but to his relief and surprise, that didn¡¯t happen. All he felt was the snake shift a little under his feet. He looked over the list of items he got from the snake.
Unlike every other monster Jason killed, the snake didn¡¯t turn into a stench cloud and didn¡¯t produce a monster core. ¡°I need to learn the rules of this place.¡± He took a look at the next screen.
Quest: [Time to Run]
¡°Hidden objective? I just fell on it; that seems kind of cheap. Wait, why am I complaining? Get it together, Jason.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He checked the last window.
Quest: [Secrets of the Well]
¡°Well, if you¡¯re only going to complete one quest objective, ¡®don¡¯t die¡¯ is a winner.¡± There were new items in his inventory, but his only interest was in something that could fix his arm. Looking over the icons in his inventory, nothing stood out. Suddenly Jason remembered the wizard who drank what he called a recovery potion. He looked up at the ladder leading out of the well and realised that between his bad arm and what was probably a concussion, he was more likely to fall back down than reach the top. A return to the tunnel wasn¡¯t an appealing prospect, but at least he couldn¡¯t fall if he was already on his hand and knees. The tunnel proved trickier than he hoped, every nudge sending agony through his cradled arm. He had to stop frequently and let the waves of pain subside before moving on. Finally he reached the wooden walkway, collapsing onto his back. There was light, the lamp laying where he had cast it aside in his mad flight from the snake. After resting awhile he pushed himself stumblingly upright and started shambling down the walkway, lamp in hand. He moved slowly. He¡¯d learned his lesson about the slippery wood, but also it was the top speed he could muster. Eventually, he reached the still-open metal door. ¡°How did a snake get this open?¡± He glanced at the wheel mechanism on either side. Part of the wheel was wet with what may have been saliva. ¡°Did it use its mouth? No way.¡± Not sparing more than a moment on curiosity, he made his way to the desk he had seen the wizard get the potion from. It wasn¡¯t hard to find, being one of the few pieces of furniture not overturned. Jason¡¯s eyes avoided the body still on the floor as he navigated the debris of the trashed room. The drawer was still open, and inside was a small rack for vials like the one he had seen the wizard drink. Only one vial remained and Jason carefully picked it up.
Item: [Recovery Potion (bronze)] (bronze rank, rare) Potent potable with strong healing and mana recovery effects (consumable, healing).
The vial was quite small, about the size of a rifle cartridge. Jason pulled out the stopper and tipped it back in a gulp. It tasted remarkably like strawberry schnapps and Jason¡¯s unruly stomach settled the instant the potion arrived. ¡°Nice.¡± The stinging sensation Jason associated with magical healing started seeping into him, especially his head and injured arm. It was worse than what he had experienced before, whether because of the nature of the injuries or the potency of the potion. It didn¡¯t bother him; compared to the pain he was already in, it was nothing more than a tickle.
He lay on the floor taking exhausted breaths. His head was still full of cotton wool, but the constant throbbing was gone. His arm didn¡¯t seem to be broken anymore. The pain was gone and mobility was restored, but it still felt delicate and weak. In the periphery of his vision was a trio of small icons slowly shading over. When he focused on them they grew larger for him to examine. They were all squares with a picture of a potion on each, one red, one yellow and one blue. They were mostly greyed-out, but the grey was slowly dropping off as a timer underneath each counted down, with just under ten minutes remaining. ¡°Cooldown timers. That¡¯s fancy.¡± He pushed himself to his feet, much easier now than back in the well. ¡°Alright,¡± he told himself. ¡°Damaged, but operational. So what next?¡± He shone the light around until he found the dead body of the wizard, walking over to look closer. There was an eerie stillness to it that only came from death. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he told it. ¡°I think you might have had it coming, but I didn¡¯t want it to go that way.¡± He knelt down and closed its eyes.
¡°What¡¯s a builder cultist?¡± Chapter 7: Spoils
The idea of rifling through the pockets of a corpse filled Jason with disgust. Would the system just loot the body like it did with monsters? Corpse-robbing was a nasty business, but Jason had no idea what kind of place he was in, or how to leave it without being eaten. He was going need every advantage he could get his hands on. He thought about the snake back in the tunnel. ¡°It won¡¯t skin him, will it?¡± He took a step back. ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Loot the body.¡±
¡°Where were you carrying all that? That''s about eight-hundred coins.¡± The robes the wizard was wearing had vanished, although he turned out to be wearing a full set of clothes underneath. Jason pulled the robes back out of his inventory and held them up to examine. They were dark blue, but covered in the blood of their former owner.
Item: [Robes of the Astral Verdict] (bronze rank, rare) Robes designed for summoning. (armour, cloth).
Jason wasn¡¯t ready to wear the clothes he took from a person he killed, especially when they were still wet with his blood. He returned the robes to his inventory and started searching about for something to cover the body. There was a fallen tapestry he dug out and laid over the corpse. Partly he felt it was the decent thing to do. Mostly, he didn¡¯t want the body out in the open while he searched the room, always at the edge of his vision. He needed to find anything he could to aid his escape from this place and its cannibalistic inhabitants. He started by examining the magic circle in the middle of the room. It was large, around three metres across, the metal set directly into the floor. The lines were intricate and complex, like someone had started with a pentagram and gotten severely carried away. It was also damaged. Some of the metal had been pried up, other sections warped as if by great heat, although there was no indication of burning anywhere. The circle wasn¡¯t useful to him, so he started going through the rest of the room. He started with the big desk the potions had been in. There were no more potions, but there were a few tins of healing unguent, which he took. Unlike the plain tins he got from monsters, these tins were branded with some kind of logo. ¡°Greenstone Alchemy Association,¡± Jason read from the bottom of the tin. ¡°I guess alchemy is a thing, too. Maybe I can pick up a crafting skill.¡± The rest of the drawers contained piles of notes and diagrams that seemed related to the magic circle. Oddly, Jason could read the individual words despite never having seen the language before, but they didn¡¯t make any sense to him as a whole. From what he could gather they were on some set of magical principles, as arcane to him as high-end theoretical physics. During his brief stint at university he studied political science. Regular science had never appealed. He moved on, searching through toppled bookshelves and overturned tables. There were a variety of what looked like curios and display pieces, mostly tossed to the floor and broken, but nothing useful. He picked up a few of the books, flipping through the pages. There were a lot of them scattered around the room, their bookcases knocked over or even smashed. They seemed to be written in a variety of languages, but Jason had no problems reading any of them. Each new and unfamiliar text came as easy as if he¡¯d been reading it his whole life. ¡°That¡¯s a little disconcerting.¡± Although he could read the words, that wasn¡¯t the same as understanding it. Every book he picked up seemed to be about magic theory, making them as impenetrable as any advanced textbook from a field he knew nothing about. Moving a large, overturned table from where it had been tossed against the wall, Jason discovered a display cabinet with a glass door. Despite the table that had crashed into it, the cabinet was wholly unaffected, the glass remaining clear and uncracked. Inside were four books, each on their own small easel stand. Compared to the other books Jason had found, these looked more impressive, with intricately embossed leather covers. Trying to open the cabinet, he found it was locked shut. After a few attempts to break the surprisingly sturdy glass, he remembered the key ring he had looted from the dead body. Pulling it out of his inventory he discovered it was like a dungeon keeper¡¯s key ring from an old movie; a huge array of keys dangling from a large metal hoop.
Item: [Landemere Vane¡¯s Key Ring] (normal rank, common) The keys for various locks throughout the Vane Manor, as well as personal keys for Landemere Vane¡¯s possessions. A mixture of ordinary keys and magical keys. (tool).
Jason looked over at the covered body laying on the floor. ¡°Was that your name? Landemere Vane?¡± He sighed. ¡°Sorry I killed you, Landemere. But you tried to kill me first.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. He looked away from the covered corpse and focused on the task at hand. The keyhole on the cabinet door was quite small, so he tried the more delicate looking keys until the lock clicked open. The cabinet wasn¡¯t very large but there were only four books in the entire case, set out for display rather than efficiency. The embossed leather didn¡¯t have titles, instead bearing patterns like the magic circle on the floor. Jason took out one of the books at random.
Item: [Astral Magic II] (bronze rank, uncommon) A magical book that can impart the knowledge of intermediate level astral magic. (consumable, skill book).
Jason was familiar with skill books from video games that instantly gave out spells or special abilities. He couldn¡¯t try this one because he didn¡¯t meet the sizeable list of requirements. ¡°Does that mean I can be a wizard if I find the right book?¡± Jason started checking the remaining books. From the descriptions the four books covered two different fields of magic, with one book at basic and intermediate level for each subject. Of the four books, Jason could only use one.
Item: [Ritual Magic I] (iron rank, common) A magical book that can impart the fundamentals of performing magic rituals. (consumable, skill book).
Reading over the description, he lingered on the requirement of being able to use skill books, which he apparently met. Remembering his character sheet he pulled it up and started looking through the listings under racial abilities.
Ability: [Mysterious Stranger]
¡°Language adaptation. Is that why I can read everything?¡± The ability seemed to give him the power to use skill books, along with whatever essences and awakening stones were. He looked at the book in his hand. According to its description it would give him knowledge. That meant it would alter his brain, but didn¡¯t his ability to read weird languages mean it was already affected? Was it already affecting his decision making? For the time being, he stowed the books in his inventory. He could always look at them later. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything else he could make use of, so he decided to take stock. He found an undamaged chair and table, setting them up as far from the body as he could. There were a lot of tables for one room, although it was a large room. After sitting down, he started pulling out the items he had picked up but not looked at yet, placing them all on the table. He began with the items he looted from the snake. Mercifully, the night scale leather wasn¡¯t as drippy as the snake had been after it was skinned.
Item: [Night-Scale Leather] (bronze rank, uncommon) The skin of an umbral mountain snake. (crafting material, leather).
It was dark and matte, thick and cool to the touch. It was also surprisingly flexible. Like the snake, it was much longer than it was wide, coming out of his inventory rolled up like a traditional bolt of cloth. It was bound by a length of thick cord. ¡°Did I loot the string from the snake too? That¡¯s weird.¡± The snakeskin was listed as a crafting material, as was the dark quintessence, which turned out to be small black gems.
Item: [Dark Quintessence] (iron rank, common) Manifested essence of darkness. (crafting material, essence).
They had the look of uncut gemstones, but the shine of polished onyx. They even came with a pouch to hold them. ¡°This is weird.¡± The rest of the items he received as quest rewards, mostly from quests he completed by accidentally braining the snake with a chunk of masonry. He thought the night fang would be crafting material like others he had taken from monsters, but it turned out to be a scary-looking dagger. It came in a sheath made of the same night-scale leather, which was also used for the dagger¡¯s grip. It was curved in the shape of a fang, and drawn from the sheath, turned out to be made of bone. It had a wickedly sharp edge, tapering to a point.
Item: [Night Fang] (iron rank, epic) A dagger made from the fang of an umbral mountain snake. The magic of the blade allows it to retain the power of the snake¡¯s poison (weapon, knife).
The knife even came with a belt of the same leather but there were no loops for it on Jason¡¯s drawstring pants. He put it back into his inventory, along with the dark quintessence gems and the roll of snakeskin. The remaining items were both quest rewards for exploring the well. The awakening stone of stars was a smooth, rounded stone about the size of a fist. There were tiny speckles in the stone that seemed to move as he stared at it, although the effect was slight enough that it may have been his imagination.
Item: [Awakening Stone of the Stars] (unranked, epic) An awakening stone that unlocks the power of the stars. (consumable, awakening stone).
¡°Essence abilities,¡± Jason read. ¡°Is that like magic powers? If I¡¯m going to be dealing with cannibal wizards, I could use some magic powers.¡± The last item was the dark essence. It was a cube about 15cm to a side, with a glossy sheen like polished jet. It seemed to be made of the same material as the dark quintessence, and given the names, he assumed they were related objects. He picked it up.
Item: [Dark Essence] (unranked, uncommon) Manifested essence of darkness (consumable, essence).
¡°Are you what I need to get those magic powers?¡± Chapter 8: Dark Magic Jason frowned at the description of the black cube in his hands. ¡°Dark essence abilities. Sounds a bit sinister. How does that work, exactly?¡±
Help: Essence Abilities
¡°Wait, there¡¯s been a help function this whole time? Can you help me get out of here without getting eaten by cannibals?¡±
¡°Oh, I see what''s going on here. You want me to accept the dark powers you provided, after following your plan got me here in the first place. Making it seem like my only way out is to use the dark magic you conveniently provided. Classic seduction of evil routine. You could have at least been a little bit subtle. I think this is the point where you remind me how bad my situation is.¡±
Zone: Vane Manor (Subterranean Ritual Chamber).
¡°Is that snark? Do I have a snarky user interface? Also, I know where I am.¡± He scowled. ¡°I have no idea where I am.¡± He looked at the dark cube he was holding in his hands. Despite the slickly-smooth surface it had no sheen, not reflecting the lamp light at all. If anything, it almost seemed to be absorbing the light. ¡°That¡¯s only completely ominous.¡± Jason picked up the lamp and panned it around the room. The magic circle, the covered body, the double doors leading into the inevitably perilous unknown. His whole reason for searching the room was to find any advantage before he went through those doors and his gaze drifted back to the cube. ¡°Why not?¡± he said. ¡°What¡¯s the point of going to magic land if you don¡¯t get a few magic powers?¡± He stood up, took a couple of deep breaths, then picked up the cube.
¡°What could possibly go wrong? Don''t answer that, just absorb the essence.¡± The cube suddenly turned sizzling-hot in his hand and he dropped it to the floor. ¡°What the¡­?¡± Dark smoke started rising up off the cube and Jason backed away. ¡°It¡¯s possible I made a bad decision here.¡± The smoke coming off the cube was rising up in narrow streaks, like black streamers. They twisted in the air, heading in Jason¡¯s direction. He backed away further, but was quickly moving out of the light coming from the lamp he had left on the table. The smoke followed him into the shadows where he could no longer see it. ¡°Sure, just get the dark magic powers. Good choice, idiot.¡± He felt the smoke reach him because of the same scalding heat he had felt from the cube. He screamed as the black steam forced its way over his face, invading his mouth, nose and eyes. At some point he passed out from the pain, his next sensation being waking up on the floor. Sitting up, he probed his face with his hands. The sensation of pain was completely gone and nothing was sensitive to the touch. His eyes seemed fine and he realised he could see the room as if it weren¡¯t dark at all. The colours were a little washed out, but he could clearly see into the parts of the room previously cast in shadow.
There was a mirror on one of the walls. It was huge, double the size of even full-length mirrors Jason had seen. There was a spiderweb crack coming up from the bottom, but mostly it was fine. He moved over to it, checking his face for burn marks. It was a little hard to tell, under the encrusted blood and tunnel grime, but he appeared unmarked. His eyes weren¡¯t even bloodshot. The rest of him was just as dirty as his face, his skinny frame smeared with filth. The quest reward pants, originally white, were stained to the point that they looked like camouflage. It was the first time he¡¯d gotten a look at himself since arriving. He¡¯d been imagining himself looking like an action hero, heading into act three with masculine dirt stains reflecting enemies bested and challenges overcome. Instead he just looked grubby and ragged, the skin visible under the filth pale and taut. His Japanese facial features, inherited from his father, were even sharper than usual, making his face look gaunt. His bald head and absent eyebrows made him look manic and unhinged. His skinny body wasn¡¯t flattered by all the muck on it either, looking less action-movie and more refugee-documentary. He sighed. ¡°Alright, lets take a look at my shiny new magic power.¡±
Ability: [Midnight Eyes] (Dark)
¡°At least it isn¡¯t complicated.¡± He looked around the room some more, the shadows no longer hiding anything from him. It wasn¡¯t like a low-light filter, as the lamp didn¡¯t interfere with his sight at all. Its light was more like a beam that brought things into full colour, compared to the muted look of the areas covered in shadow. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°That¡¯s cool, I guess,¡± he said. ¡°A little disappointing for a magic power, but I guess I¡¯m not getting fireball from a dark essence.¡± He looked over at the table and the round stone still where he left it. The magic stone of something-or-other would apparently give him another power, so he walked over and picked it up.
He thought about the excruciating pain that came from absorbing the essence. On the other hand, there didn¡¯t seem to be any after-effects, and he did get a magic power out of it. Before he used it, though, he made some preparations. One of the chairs he had seen scattered around the room was a deep, comfortable-looking arm chair. It was extremely heavy, but he managed to drag it out from under a fallen bookshelf and flip it back upright. It was a huge wooden affair with plush, stitched-in cushioning. He was sick of falling over in pain. He sat in the chair, the awakening stone in his hand. ¡°Absorb.¡± Rather than turn hot and dissolve into smoke, the awakening stone grew cold before growing soft and melting in his hand like ice cream. It seeped into his hand, filling his arm with a bone deep chill that once again left him yelling out in pain. It was not on the same scale as the essence. He kept control of his faculties while frantically shaking an arm that felt like it had been plunged into ice water. Eventually the bone-deep chill receded and the pain passed, leaving him sprawled in the chair, heaving in breaths.
Jason could feel a change within himself. It was something new, yet weirdly familiar, like when he was reading a language he¡¯d never seen before. The power was inside him, as if it had always been there, waiting to be awoken. He knew the power instinctively. It was waiting for him, eager to be used. He stood up and moved back to the mirror before using his new power. It responded immediately, as easy and natural as lifting his hand. Dark energy suddenly engulfed his body, hiding his visage in the mirror. It wasn¡¯t disturbing at all, feeling cool and refreshing. The energy coalesced into the form of a voluminous cloak, enshrouding his body and hiding his head within a deep, impenetrable hood. The cloak seemed more like an object of living darkness than fabric, dotted with tiny points of light. They shifted and twinkled, tiny stars in the night sky of the shadowy garb. Jason could feel the cloak, not like a piece of clothing, but like one of his limbs. He could feel its power. With a thought, the stars grew brighter to the point that they outshone the lamp. They dimmed until he couldn¡¯t even see himself in the mirror, disappearing into the shadows.
Ability: [Cloak of Night] (Dark)
¡°Water walking,¡± Jason read. ¡°Now that¡¯s a magic power.¡± He looked around the room. ¡°That I can¡¯t try out right now.¡± He instinctively understood how to use the weight reducing aspect of the ability and hopped lightly into the air. He went up much higher than he normally would and dropped back down much slower. ¡°It¡¯s like being on the moon.¡± He bounced around the room with a goofy grin on his face until he remembered the dead body. ¡°Not the time to be having fun,¡± he scolded himself. He experimented further with the magical cloak. He could see through it as if it wasn¡¯t there, so even with his head covered it didn¡¯t obstruct his vision. He could make any or all of it lose physical substance, so if he wanted to grab it he could, or his hand could pass through, unobstructed. ¡°Nifty.¡± He could make it vanish with a thought and pull it out again, which he tried several times. After the third attempt he suddenly felt woozy and had to sit down. He went back to the armchair and fell into it.
¡°I¡¯m out of mana already? Also, I have mana? Is there a mana bar or something?¡± Two horizontal bars appeared at the periphery of his vision. One was blue, but mostly empty, while the other was orange and about two-thirds full. Next to them was a silhouette of a person that was mostly green, but the head area and the left arm were yellow. ¡°Alright, so the blue bar is mana, the little body is health and the yellow bar is¡­ something?¡±
¡°Okay, stamina. I think I¡¯m getting a handle on this. I don¡¯t seem to have a lot of mana, though.¡±
Help: Mana
Jason let out a yawn. He had gone through a lot and his time unconscious was hardly restful. ¡°One last thing,¡± he said, pulling one of the skill books out of his inventory. He walked over to the comfy chair and fell into it.
Item: [Ritual Magic I] (iron rank, common)
¡°Yes.¡± The book floated out of his hand and into the air. The cover flung itself open and the writing on it started removing itself from the page, changing from black to gold as the disembodied text floated into the air. The pages started turning, faster and faster, gold text pouring into the air. Turning pages flicked over in a rush as the golden text formed a corona around the floating book. Then the flutter of pages started slowing, until the last page turned and the book fell to the ground, every page blank. The cloud of golden text swarmed over Jason like angry fireflies, disappearing into his body as it landed on his flesh with stinging bites. His mind was bombarded with information too quickly to process, leaving it lost and adrift. The pain and disorientation finally passed, leaving him in general control of his faculties, but dizzy and confused. He had no idea if seconds or hours had passed. He was weary to the bone, limbs as heavy as his eyelids.
Unable to keep his head up, he slumped over in the chair, fast asleep. After what felt like no time at all, he was jolted awake by a loud hammering. His head was still hazy, and he shook it clear in time to see two men storm through the now-broken double doors. The one in the lead was holding a hammer, the one behind, a shovel. ¡°Uh¡­ g¡¯day blokes. I don¡¯t suppose there¡¯s any chance you¡¯re not cannibals?¡± The pair scowled, the one with the shovel moving forward as he hoisted it menacingly. Jason scrambled to pull the curved dagger out from his inventory. He used all his knife fighting expertise, which was none, and the shovel slammed into his face. Jason dropped the dagger, staggering back with his hands over his nose, blooding spilling between his fingers. The shovel came down a second time and everything went black. Chapter 9: Escape The circumstances in which Jason regained consciousness were unpleasant for a number of reasons. He was cramped up in some kind of tight space, forced into a foetal position. His head was spinning, and there seemed to be a little man inside it, trying to pickaxe his way out. His nose was congested with what felt like a fistful of bees, and to top it off, he had a sudden urge to vomit. He lay curled up in the constricted space, throwing up on himself. As the vomiting subsided he noticed the head section of his health silhouette was now a warning orange. ¡°I am getting knocked out way too much.¡± He then heard a male voice. ¡°He¡¯s woken up.¡± Jason''s eyes swam into focus, although they felt puffy and didn¡¯t seem to open properly. He was in what looked like a dog cage, too small to stretch out his limbs. His new ability to see in the dark was intact, allowing him to make out that his cage was on a dirt floor in some kind of cellar. The roof and walls were rough timber, and there was a pervasive smell of damp earth. There were four more cages in the cellar with him, each containing a person. One had a black guy, two had white girls. The last cage was bigger than the others, with thicker bars. Inside was an enormous, impossibly hairy man. ¡°A Wookiee?¡± Jason asked deliriously. ¡°What¡¯s a Wookiee?¡± the hairy man growled. ¡°Hey,¡± the black guy called out to him. ¡°Did they put a collar on you?¡± ¡°Wha¡­?¡± Jason¡¯s thoughts refused to walk in a straight line. ¡°Try and focus,¡± the man said. ¡°Looks like you were hit rather hard.¡± Jason ran his fingers over his face, feeling the dried blood thickly caked onto it. He yelled in pain as his fingers brushed against what turned out to be his very delicate nose. ¡°Did they put a collar on you?¡± the man asked again. Confused, Jason reached up and patted his neck. ¡°No,¡± he croaked. ¡°Why would they put a collar on me?¡± ¡°To suppress your essence abilities. You can still use them?¡± Jason nodded, which annoyed the man in his head who went on a pickaxe frenzy. ¡°Ow. Yeah, I can use them, but I only have two.¡± ¡°Can they get you out of that cage?¡± ¡°One lets me see in the dark and the other makes me sparkle, so probably not.¡± ¡°Sparkle?¡± ¡°I¡¯d show you, but I think I might throw up again. Actually¡­¡± Jason vomited again, ending in a coughing fit, after which he passed out again. *** Jason swam at the edge of consciousness, hearing two people talk. ¡°He was in the underground ritual chamber?¡± a woman said. It was a controlled, elegant voice. ¡°Yes, milady,¡± a gruff male voice replied. ¡°You left him in quite a state.¡± ¡°Actually, milady, that¡¯s not much worse than how we found him.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t put a collar on him?¡± she asked. ¡°Mr. Caruthers only procured the four, milady. For the ones we were warned about.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± said the woman. ¡°Feel how weak his aura is. I doubt he has more than two or three abilities at most. Do you really think he¡¯s the one that killed Landemere?¡± ¡°That would be my guess, milady. He had more blood on him than wounds to produce it. He was also locked in the room with the young master¡¯s body.¡± ¡°How could he even do it?¡± the woman asked. ¡°He¡¯s so weak.¡± ¡°It seems the young master had mostly done himself in, milady. Summoning spell gone awry, from the looks of it.¡± ¡°Is that why all those little monsters are running around?¡± ¡°It would seem so, milady.¡±
Quest: [No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service]
Jason stifled a yelp. He had been pretending to be unconscious when a bright blue screen appeared in front of him and his whole body went tense. The pair continued talking, however, as if nothing had happened. ¡°So whoever this is got lucky and killed my son when he was at his most vulnerable?¡± ¡°Not that lucky, milady. He met me.¡± ¡°Just so, Dougall,¡± she acknowledged. ¡°Do we know what Landemere was trying to summon?¡± the woman asked. ¡°I had a bit of a potter through his notes, milady. It was one of them entities from beyond the void.¡± Jason heard the woman sigh. ¡°Astral beings,¡± she muttered unhappily. ¡°I told that boy it would be the death of him.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re a nice, traditional blood cult family. This nonsense about ineffable ancients from outside reality was never going to work out. What did you do with Landemere¡¯s body?¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Mulch, milady.¡± ¡°You mulched my son?¡± ¡°Well, he won¡¯t be mulched yet, milady. Composting isn¡¯t a quick process. I can fetch him out of the pile if you like, but milord wont be happy. He was quite specific as to the dispensation of the body.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what my stupid husband thinks; he married into the family. This is my manor, my family and we do things the traditional way. Goodness knows what poor Landemere will taste like after having gone in the mulch pile.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give him a good and proper wash before I bring him into the kitchen, milady.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dougall. Excellent work, as always. Now, do we know where this man came from?¡± ¡°No idea, milady. As you said, he¡¯s too weak to be an adventurer and he wasn¡¯t exactly well-equipped. He did have a good knife, though. Not sure if he took it from the young master, so I put it with the gear we took off these others.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think he¡¯s with them?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think so, milady. He wasn¡¯t up to much.¡± ¡°Did he say anything?¡± ¡°I think he might have been about to, milady, but that was when he walked into me shovel.¡± ¡°Why did you take his shirt?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t have one, milady. Didn¡¯t have the chance to ask why, on account of his walking into me shovel again. Do you want me to send him to the kitchen as well?¡± ¡°No. If he really did kill my son, I don¡¯t want him trotting off to death with his soul intact. Put him with the others for the blood feast.¡± ¡°Yes milady, although that will be one too many.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think the extra blood will be a problem.¡± ¡°I was thinking about the high priest, milady. You know how he gets.¡± ¡°Yes, quite right, Dougall. Very well. Pick out one of the others you like, and keep it for yourself.¡± ¡°Very generous, milady. I¡¯ll take the elf, if milady had no objections.¡± ¡°Are you sure, Dougall? Elves are quite stringy.¡± ¡°Derrick was keen to try one, milady. I told him, of course, but you know how young ones are.¡± ¡°Oh, yes,¡± she said. ¡°They never believe you until they suffer the consequences for themselves. Just look where it got Landemere, and my daughter isn¡¯t much better. If it wasn¡¯t for the cult, I swear I never would have had children. Go fetch my idiot son¡¯s body before you take the elf. I don¡¯t want him picking up any more flavour than he already has.¡± ¡°Of course, milady.¡± The pair left and Jason let out a long breath. He didn¡¯t know who those people were, but he heard enough to know that he wanted the hell out. He manoeuvred about for leverage and tried to force the door with his legs, but it wouldn¡¯t budge no matter how much strength he put into it. ¡°That¡¯s not going to work,¡± the black guy told him. ¡°Have you got a name?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I¡¯m Jason, and just thinking of you as the black guy is making me feel racist.¡± ¡°Rufus,¡± the man responded. ¡°G¡¯day,¡± Jason said. ¡°If you¡¯ve got a better idea, I¡¯m all ears.¡± ¡°Afraid not,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Unless you¡¯ve got some spirit coins tucked into those pants, you won¡¯t get it open that way.¡± ¡°Spirit coins?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ve got some, but how will that help? I don¡¯t think these cages are coin operated.¡± ¡°This guy¡¯s an idiot,¡± one of the women said. ¡°Not helping,¡± Rufus said through gritted teeth. ¡°Jason, you don¡¯t happen to have a silver or gold ranked coin, do you?¡± ¡°Hang on a sec,¡± Jason said, checking his inventory. There were sixteen silver coins and four gold ones, all looted from Landemere Vane¡¯s body. He took out one of the silver ones.
Item: [Silver Spirit Coin] (silver rank, common) A distilled quantity of raw magic. (crafting material, currency).
¡°Oh,¡± Jason said. He had previously examined the lesser spirit coins, which didn¡¯t have an option to increase attributes. He tried to remember if there was a strength attribute. ¡°So, I consume this to increase my attributes?¡± Jason said. ¡°Consume, as in, eat?¡± ¡°Yes, Jason, it¡¯s very easy,¡± Rufus said. ¡°You just put the coin in your mouth. Once you do, you¡¯ll only have a few moments to force open the cage.¡± ¡°So these attributes,¡± Jason said. ¡°I assume one of them is strength?¡± ¡°The power attribute increases strength,¡± Rufus said. ¡°The coin will increase them all, but only for a very short time.¡± Jason placed the coin uncertainly on his tongue, where it dissolved, like a soluble tablet. His body was immediately flooded a tingling sensation and he felt an immense sense of power. His senses were sharpened. Eyes, already able to see through the dark, suddenly took in everything as if seeing it for the first time. His ears picked up ambient sounds he had previously missed. He could taste the blood, sweat and dirt on the air. It only lasted a fleeting moment before the world went back to normal, suddenly seeming dull and plain. ¡°Uh, Jason?¡± Rufus asked. ¡°Yes, Rufus?¡± ¡°Did you use the coin?¡± ¡°I did, yes.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to pressure you, but did you, perchance, forget to open the cage?¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Jason said. ¡°I got distracted.¡± ¡°This is who you¡¯re relying on to save us?¡± the woman¡¯s voice spoke up again. ¡°Still not helping, Anisa,¡± Rufus told her. Jason took out a second silver-ranked coin and put it in his mouth. This time, as the sensation of power came over him, he placed his feet against the cage door, easily bracing himself in the tight confines. His feet pushed out with the temporary surge of strength, the hinges on the cage door immediately starting to warp. He pushed harder and the door fell away just as the strength drained out of him again. He crawled out of the cage and stood up. Waves of dizziness washed over him and he gripped the cage to stay upright. His body felt weak, even more than it had when he woke up. ¡°Are there side effects to those coins?¡± Jason asked. ¡°You used a coin with more power than your body could handle,¡± Rufus said. ¡°It will recover. A little more slowly, having used two of them in quick succession.¡± Jason looked over at the other cages, and a screen popped up.
New Quest: [Escape!] You have been trapped in the cellar of the blood cult and you need to get away.
¡°Good job,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Now you need to find something to get the rest of us out. Giving us some silver coins would work, if you have more. That won¡¯t be enough for Gary¡¯s cage, though. You shouldn¡¯t use more coins yourself until you¡¯ve recovered.¡± Jason pulled out the big key ring. ¡°I¡¯m hoping this does the job,¡± he said. ¡°Couldn¡¯t reach the lock from inside the cage.¡± ¡°Even better,¡± Rufus said. ¡°I¡¯d rather not have to fight our way out of here suffering the after-effects of using a coin.¡± Rufus pointing to the large, hairy man in the oversized cage. ¡°Him first,¡± Rufus said. Jason went over to the big cage, getting a better look at it¡¯s occupant. His body was size and shape of a professional wrestler and the parts not covered by his clothes were covered in fur. His head looked like a lion, complete with a glorious mane. ¡°So you¡¯re Gary?¡± Jason asked. He crouched down and started trying keys on the lock. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the big man said. His voice had a deep, growling timbre. ¡°I¡¯m Jason,¡± he introduced himself. ¡°You look like Ron Perlman from that old Beauty and the Beast TV show.¡± ¡°I have no idea what that means,¡± Gary said. ¡°I¡¯d say good to meet you,¡± Jason said as he continued trying keys, ¡°but the circumstances aren¡¯t terrific.¡± ¡°Thanks for not just running off,¡± Gary said. ¡°Are you kidding? I need you lot to get me out of wherever it is we are.¡± ¡°We¡¯re in a storage cellar,¡± Gary said. ¡°I can see that much,¡± Jason said. ¡°I meant this whole place. I have no idea where we are.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Gary asked. ¡°Did they kidnap you?¡± ¡°Someone did,¡± Jason said. ¡°I woke up in the hedge maze.¡± Gary the lion-man¡¯s voice seemed to be growly as a default. ¡°Look out!¡± Rufus called out and Jason turned to look around. There was a doorway that seemed to lead into another section of the cellar, through which the man Dougall had returned, shovel in hand. ¡°Cheeky little sod,¡± Dougall said. Jason tried to think quick, but his head was far from in its best state. Shoving the key ring back into his inventory, he got up from his crouch, but was hit by a dizzy spell and stumbled. The shovel came down and everything went black. Chapter 10: The Evil Pit of Evil Jason was jerked back into consciousness as his body choked out more vomit. His throat seared as his empty stomach tried to cast out what wasn¡¯t there, almost gagging him as it did. His head was filled with stabbing pain and when he opened his eyes everything blurred like he was underwater. The only clear thing was the little silhouette showing his health, the head now a glaring red. His thoughts skittered about like a roach, dashing out of reach as he tried to pin them down. Slowly, he came to something approximating his senses. There was a light source somewhere up ahead, but the light it put out was blood red. Otherwise, the tunnel was dark, but his new power allowed him to see through it. He was once again in a cage, but bigger than the last. It was the same kind of heavy cage the lion-man had been in, with thick, heavy bars. Apparently they didn¡¯t want him kicking the door open again. His cage was being taken down a wide, stone tunnel. It was more like a train tunnel than a cave, with an arched roof and flat floors. There was even a rail, like for a mining cart. His cage was on a platform, being pushed along the rail. Three more cages were being pushed the same way. The people doing the pushing were wearing bright red robes and ugly demon masks. More of them led the way up front, carrying lanterns with stained glass that produced the ominous red light. Jason wasn¡¯t thinking about what to do so much as desperately hoping the pain in his head would subside. He was concentrating on his breathing when a screen appeared.
Quest: [Escape!] New Quest: [The Blood Feast] You have been captured and are set to be sacrificed by a blood cult. You need to avoid becoming a sacrifice.
The long tunnel ended in a pair of enormous stone doors into which impressive but grotesque images had been carved, depicting some kind of cannibalistic orgy. Four cultists stepped forward, two to a door, grabbing the handles and pulling back until the doors swung ponderously open. When they did, red light flooded the tunnel, accompanied by an incredible heat and a bitter smell. It washed through the doors and over the group like a wave, carrying with it a coppery taste that lay thick on the tongue. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of red flags,¡± Jason said. A fist landed hard on the side of his cage. ¡°Quiet,¡± a harsh voice barked. Beyond the doors was a vast, circular chamber, like a great cylinder carved straight out of solid rock. Some twenty-five metres across and at least twice as high, it was enough to boggle Jason¡¯s mind even through his punch-drunk haze. The walls were black, like some long-dormant magma chamber, but even starting from a natural cavern it would have been a monumental labour to bring it to its current state. Flat stone slabs, carved out of the same black stone, had been inserted into the walls like pegs. They made a punishingly steep set of stairs that wound their way up to the higher parts of the chamber. Dominating the room was a red pool of roiling, bubbling liquid, taking up almost all the floor space. It was the source of the light, along with the heat and the coppery stench of blood. The centre of the pool churned, as if on the point of boiling. The sound of thick, sloshing liquid echoed up through the chamber. The red light shone from deep within the pool, washing the whole chamber in red as if everything was coated in blood. ¡°That isn¡¯t good,¡± Jason heard from one of the other caged people. It was Rufus, who had told him how to use the spirit coins. The lion man was there in his own big cage, along with one of the two women. The other was nowhere to be seen. One of the robed cultists bashed on the side of Rufus¡¯ cage. ¡°I said quiet.¡± ¡°Or what?¡± the lion man grumbled. ¡°You¡¯ll sacrifice us in your creepy ritual pit?¡± The other prisoners were also dirty and ragged, but nothing like Jason. He had no shirt, no hair, there was blood and old healing ointment crusted all over him. His face was coated in blood from his broken nose, along with puffy black eyes and flecks of vomit. The rail that had carried the cages on platforms through the tunnel ended at the door. The cultists lifted the cages off, two people to each small cage, and four to the large ones. They carried them up the steep stairs, audibly straining at the effort. The lion-man¡¯s cage was the most troublesome, even with four people lugging it. The stairs wound up and around the circular wall, the group pausing after a quarter turn. They had reached a platform, set into the wall like the stairs, but much larger. It extended out well over the blood pit below. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Leave the big one first,¡± one of the cultists said. ¡°No point carrying the heaviest one all the way to the top.¡± Jason recognised the voice of the woman he had heard in the cellar while pretending to be unconscious. ¡°Thank you, milady,¡± one of the cultists said gratefully. Jason recognised the voice as the shovel-carrying man she had addressed as Dougall. The cage holding the big man was left against the wall. Dougall and one of the other cultists walked over to the edge of the platform and took up a waiting position, facing out over the pool below. The rest continued on. The stairs continued to wind upwards beyond the platform, making another quarter-turn around the room before reaching a second platform. ¡°Leave the other big cage,¡± the woman said. ¡°Isn¡¯t he the one that killed the young master?¡± one of the cultists asked. ¡°You don¡¯t want to save that one for last?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to make you haul that thing all the way up for my own satisfaction.¡± ¡°Thank you, milady.¡± The four cultists roughly dropped Jason¡¯s cage up against the wall. As at the first platform, two cultists took up positions at the platform¡¯s edge while the rest of the cultists with the remaining two cages resumed the climb. Jason watched as they made another quarter-turn ascent to the next platform, which hid them from sight. Jason took a look around. His vision was still like looking through a stranger¡¯s glasses, but it was slowly improving. The platform he was on looked like rough-hewn obsidian, shiny and dark. He had no idea how the massive stone platform had been shoved into the wall like a six ton peg. Examining the cage, the bars were much thicker than the last one he had been in. Looking closer, there even seemed to be faint traces of magical engravings on them. Oddly, Jason recognised them as reinforcing magic. The knowledge from the skill book was making itself known. It was an odd sensation, remembering something he had never learned. He was certain the silver spirit coin he used before wouldn¡¯t be enough to break out, and he couldn¡¯t reach the lock through the narrow bars to try his key ring. Pulling out one of the gold ranked coins, he turned it over in his hand. Unlike the ones he got from looting monsters, this one was embossed with the profile of a serious looking man on one side and some kind of crest on the other, along with the engraved word ¡®Greenstone¡¯. His hope was that the gold coin would be powerful enough. He looked up at the two people standing at the edge of the platform. He couldn¡¯t tell if they were men or women in their hooded robes, but neither were paying attention to him. Instead they were at the edge of the platform looking out. If he could escape the cage quick enough, he thought there was a chance to rush at least one of them right off the edge He took a deep breath, focusing on the coin in his hand. He thought the silver coin had flooded him with strength, but compared to the gold, that had been a meagre trickle. It was like having a hurricane inside him and he lashed out with his feet, hoping it was enough to burst open the cage door. Instead of opening, the door shot off its hinges like it was fired from a cannon, metal screeching as the whole front of the cage was warped. The door moved almost too fast to see, barely deflecting as it slammed into one of the cultists, sending them flipping off the edge of the platform. They didn¡¯t even scream, dead the moment the cage door crushed the top half of their body.
Startled, Jason crawled from the ruined front of the cage and to his feet. The other cultist reacted quickly, turning and rushing Jason. The coin¡¯s power was fading quickly and Jason threw out a fist with the lingering strength of the coin behind it. To his horror, his fist buried itself in the cultist¡¯s chest cavity. The cultist let out a gurgling sound and died, dropping off Jason¡¯s fist as the strength from the coin left him. Jason looked in horror at his own bloody fist.
It wasn¡¯t just his newfound strength that left him as the power of the coin faded. The strain of the coin¡¯s power left him feeling enervated, barely staying on his feet. His eyes wanted to close, his body urging him just to lay down and sleep. He was jolted back to wakefulness by a powerful, roaring voice. ¡°THEY¡¯RE COMING FOR YOU!¡± Jason¡¯s head snapped up and saw multiple cultists coming back down the stairs. Looking around, the pair from below were coming up as well. Peering over the edge, he spotted the door below, on the far side of the blood-red pool. He had a terrible idea. ¡°Magic power, you¡¯d better work.¡± As he backed up, the starlight cloak formed around his body, shrouding him in light-speckled darkness. After a steeling breath, he ran to the edge, leaping out as he urged the cloak¡¯s power to reduce his weight. He sailed through the air, shadow cloak sweeping out behind him like a trail of stars. Floating over the bloody pool, he landed almost perfectly in front of the huge stone doors, still open. ¡°That went startlingly well.¡± He looked up at the stairs, spotting the cultists bolting down them in pursuit. He ran through the doors and into the tunnel, then stopped. ¡°Just run,¡± he told himself. ¡°You can¡¯t save them, you¡¯re terrible at everything. Just run.¡± Instead of running he ducked behind one of the heavy stone doors, which the cultists had not opened fully due to their enormous weight. He pressed himself between the wall and the door and waited. The cloak dimmed, going from bright stars to melding Jason into the shadows as he admonished himself silently. Well done, idiot. Now you¡¯re going to be tossed into a pit of blood by cannibals and then probably eaten. Good job. Cultists came rushing through the door, sprinting up the tunnel as fast as their bulky ceremonial robes would allow. None of them so much as glanced back at Jason¡¯s hiding spot. Jason stayed stock still as more cultists came through as he cowered behind the door. Chapter 11: Dashing Heroics Jason cautiously stuck his head around the door but didn¡¯t see any more cultists. Even going back into the chamber he didn¡¯t see anyone. Whoever hadn¡¯t chased up the tunnel were most likely on the platforms above. He made his way up the stairs as quietly as he could, still no cultists in sight as he reached the first platform. He dismissed the cloak as he approached the lion man¡¯s cage. It had the same heavy bars and large space as Jason¡¯s cage, but where Jason had been able to stretch out, the lion-man barely fit. ¡°Sorry,¡± Jason said as he fished the key ring from his inventory. ¡°I¡¯ve been hit on the head a lot today, so I don¡¯t remember your name.¡± ¡°Gary,¡± the lion man said, a low, rumbling growl to his voice. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you were coming back.¡± ¡°I tried to talk myself out of it, believe me.¡± ¡°Instincts of a hero,¡± Gary said. ¡°I¡¯d probably put it down to compromised judgement,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯ve been knocked out several times today.¡± Jason kept trying keys. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure one of these will work,¡± he said. ¡°I was hoping to do this quietly but I still have some more coins¡­ oh, there we go.¡± The lock clicked open and Gary squeezed his enormous frame through the door. Inside the cage, he had looked like a professional wrestler. Towering over Jason, it looked like he¡¯d eaten a professional wrestler. ¡°Is there a key for my collar on that thing?¡± Gary asked. Around his neck was a thick iron choker. ¡°No idea,¡± Jason said. ¡°Give me a look at that.¡± Jason handed over the key ring.It had an unhelpful abundance of keys and Gary started looking over them for what he needed. Despite his lion-like head, his hands were fairly normal, albeit huge, and hairy. While he went through them, Jason looked around. There didn¡¯t seem to be any cultists coming down the stairs or back in from the tunnel. What he did find was some kind of ceremonial bowl built in to the top of the cage. Inside was a round crystal, very dark red in colour. He picked it up.
Item: [Awakening Stone of the Feast] (unranked, common) An awakening stone that unlocks the power of consumption. (consumable, awakening stone).
He shoved the stone into his inventory. ¡°None of these are for a suppression collar,¡± Gary said. ¡°They got these collars especially for us, so whoever you took the keys from mustn¡¯t have been in on it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think he was on the outs with the family a bit,¡± Jason said. ¡°He seemed to have his own thing going on. What does that collar do exactly?¡± ¡°It suppresses all essence abilities,¡± Gary said. ¡°Some race powers, too, but not all of them.¡± ¡°Does it suppress you from being a huge guy who can kick the crap out of people?¡± A grin Jason could only describe as predatory crossed Gary¡¯s leonine face. ¡°No it doesn¡¯t.¡± Gary took the lead as they went up the stairs toward the next platform, which they reached unchallenged. Jason¡¯s cage was empty, the bars on the front bent outwards. The dead cultist was still laying on the platform with a hole in his chest. While Gary knelt down to examine it, Jason checked the top of his cage. There was another ceremonial bowl, but it had been dislodged. Jason looked around a bit and found another awakening stone of the feast, where it had fallen to the platform when he kicked his way out of the cage. He slipped it into his inventory. ¡°What happened to this guy?¡± Gary asked. Jason held up a still-bloody fist. Gary looked from the Jason¡¯s hand to the corpse to the blasted-out cage. ¡°I think at this point,¡± Gary said, ¡°they may be wishing they¡¯d just let you go. How did you get mixed up in this, anyway?¡± ¡°Not really the time,¡± Jason said. ¡°Right. Good job, though.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a good job,¡± Jason said. ¡°I killed someone.¡± ¡°What do you think they dragged us out in cages for?¡± Gary asked. ¡°It wasn¡¯t to dance for their entertainment.¡± ¡°Killing them in return doesn¡¯t make us any better than they are.¡± ¡°Sure it does,¡± Gary said. ¡°Better at killing. Look out!¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Jason turned to see three cultists coming down the stairs. Gary stepped forward to meet them, grabbing the first pair by the throat. He lifted them up, one dangling from each hand as he walked them over to the edge and dropped them into the blood pool below. As Gary walked off, Jason was left face to face with the third cultist, still on the stairs. Jason¡¯s eyes went wide with panic. He dropped to his knees, hands held out in supplication. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me. I don¡¯t want to die.¡± The cultist¡¯s surprise registered even through the loose robes and mask. Jason used that moment to shove a fist right into the cultist¡¯s crotch. A strained groaning came from behind the mask as Jason lashed out a second and third time, leaving the cultist doubled over. Jason stood up, grabbed the cultist by the robes and shoved him right off the side of the stairs.
¡°Did I just hear you begging?¡± Gary asked, walking back. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a lie,¡± Jason said. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to die.¡± Gary laughed as he led the way to the third platform, which was now unattended. Whoever had been manning it had either pursued Jason out the door or been thrown to the pit below. Gary and Jason walked over to the cage, which contained Rufus. Jason now knew the right key to open the cages, which he used promptly. Rufus crawled out the door and stood up, giving Jason his first clear look at him. Rufus had dark skin, a bald head and was stupidly handsome. Roughed up and grimy from his ordeal, he looked like an action hero heading into act three with masculine dirt stains reflecting enemies bested and challenges overcome. ¡°That¡¯s not fair,¡± Jason said. ¡°What isn¡¯t?¡± Rufus asked, his voice like dark chocolate. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Jason muttered. ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡± ¡°Too bad I don¡¯t have a weapon,¡± Rufus said, and Jason produced the evil trowel. ¡°It¡¯s not much,¡± Jason said, ¡°but it is suspiciously sharp.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± Rufus said gratefully, looking it over in his hand. ¡°It is suspiciously sharp, isn¡¯t it.¡± Gary and Rufus lead the way up, Jason pausing to snatch a third awakening stone from the top of Rufus¡¯ cage. As they ascended the stairs, a lone cultist walked casually down to obstruct them. The cultist pulled her hood back and took off her mask, revealing long, dark hair and the face of a young woman. She pulled a short sword out from within the folds of her robes. ¡°I¡¯ve got this one,¡± Rufus said, stepping past Gary. He brandished the trowel in the woman¡¯s direction. ¡°Alicia Vane, I presume?¡± he said. ¡°I was disappointed that I wouldn¡¯t get to cross swords with the famous Rufus Remore,¡± she said with a sneer. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m lucky after all.¡± Rufus didn¡¯t respond, instead lunging forward. What followed was a blaze of movement so fast Jason had, at best, a vague grasp of what was taking place. They bobbed and weaved, both restricted by the width of the stairs. Between them was a blur of motion, sword against trowel. Despite the inferior weapon and the lower ground, the cultist was being pushed back. ¡°That¡¯s enough, Alicia,¡± a voice came down from above. Jason recognised it as the woman from the basement. With a look of reluctance, Alicia disengaged from her fight with Rufus and started backing up the stairs. Rufus lazily tossed the trowel into the air, where Gary smoothly snatched it and launched it out with a flick of his powerful arm. The practiced ease of the pair¡¯s teamwork took Alicia by surprise; she failed to react before the trowel lodged itself in her throat. ¡°You¡¯ll die in pain for that, you hairy brute,¡± the woman¡¯s voice came fiercely down. As the woman yelled, Alicia dropped her sword, clutching at the trowel buried in her throat as she staggered and fell off the stairs. Rufus moved forward, snatching up the dropped sword as he went. he led the way up to the final platform. The last cage, and the woman inside it, were against the wall like all the others. The platform was slightly longer than the one below, with some kind of ritual altar on the end. There were two figures standing in front of it. Rufus and Gary stepped onto the platform first, while behind them Jason pulled a gold spirit coin from his inventory and discreetly palmed it. The final two cultists had both removed their masks and hoods. The woman seemed much younger than Jason expected for someone with adult children. To Jason¡¯s eyes she looked to be in her early thirties, no older than her son Landemere. She was beautiful, with the same olive skin and dark hair as her daughter. The man next to her, by contrast, was plain. In his ceremonial robes he looked like a chartered accountant at a costume party. Despite his appearance, the man quickly demonstrated his power was not to be dismissed. He threw out his arms and Rufus and Gary were both thrown back, slamming into the wall. Glowing chains emerged from the stone to wrap around their limbs, binding them in place. Jason, now the last one left, looked nervously at the now helpless pair. ¡°You¡¯re still causing trouble,¡± the woman accused Jason. ¡°First my son, now my daughter? They may have been worthless, but weren¡¯t for the likes of you to kill.¡± ¡°Not a lot of pictures up on your fridge, I¡¯m guessing.¡± ¡°SILENCE!¡± the man roared. ¡°You think you can stop what I will do today? You think any of you can stop me?¡± Whether due to the absurdity of the situation, the concussion or just pure adrenaline, Jason couldn¡¯t take the man seriously. Even with the power he had just demonstrated, he just seemed like a petty little man who hated to be ignored. ¡°Mate,¡± Jason said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if anyone told you, but you¡¯re very melodramatic.¡± The man¡¯s face flashed with fury. ¡°You will bow before the magic of Darryl Caruthers, worshipping my name as I...¡± ¡°Wait, wait, hold on,¡± Jason interrupted, holding up a hand. ¡°Did you say your name was Darryl Caruthers?¡± ¡°You have heard of my greatness!¡± ¡°Sorry, mate, no. It¡¯s just that Darryl Caruthers isn¡¯t exactly a high priest of evil kind of name.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jason gestured at the woman. ¡°I mean, what''s your name?¡± ¡°I am Lady Cressida Vane,¡± she sneered. ¡°See, now there¡¯s a quality high priest name,¡± Jason said. ¡°High Priestess Lady Cressida Vane. Just listen to it; you can practically hear the tyranny.¡± ¡°Stop babbling,¡± Darryl scolded. ¡°This doesn¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t they put you in charge?¡± Jason asked Cressida, ignoring Darryl. He gave her a sympathetic look. ¡°They didn¡¯t want a woman in charge, did they?¡± Darryl¡¯s face was starting to redden with anger. ¡°That has nothing to do with¡­¡° ¡°Oh, be quiet, Darryl,¡± Cressida spat out. ¡°You and I both know who should be running things, but they refused to let a woman take a seat at the Red Table. If I was¡­¡± ¡°Stop being hysterical, Cressida,¡± Darryl said. ¡°Hysterical? I should¡­¡± Neither had noticed Jason edging closer from the moment he started provoking them, or when he slipped the gold coin in his mouth as they turned on one another. Strength flowed through him, again, but this time joined by pinching, cramping pain. It was too soon since he used the last coin, and his body was paying the price. He fought through it and stepped between the bickering pair. They both looked at him in surprise as he shoved a hand out either side, one slamming into each of them. The result was like firing them from a catapult. They both hurtled through the air horizontally, not even arcing down with gravity before they smashed into the sides of the chamber. The sheer force crushed them into the hard stone, from which they tumbled down, out of sight.
Chapter 12: Sanguine Horror ¡°That was amazing!¡± Gary said, coming up to slap Jason on the back. Jason staggered forward to support himself on the altar at the end of the platform. ¡°The way you made them disregard you as a threat by appearing weak and harmless,¡± Gary praised. ¡°Feeble and helpless, even touched in the head a little. It was masterful how impotent you came across. Even after you kept escaping from the cage they had no respect for you as a threat whatsoever.¡± ¡°Please stop complimenting me,¡± Jason said. The strength of the coin was gone, and the backlash of two in quick succession was enervating. His mana and stamina bars had drained to almost empty, and adrenaline was the only thing keeping him awake. ¡°How did you get down off that wall?¡± Jason asked. ¡°The magic died with him,¡± Rufus said, also approaching. ¡°Which was lucky, because it doesn¡¯t always work that way.¡± ¡°You¡¯d have had a right problem getting us down,¡± Gary said. ¡°How about someone gets me out of this cage?¡± a female voice asked, impatiently. It wasn¡¯t the same voice that had been dismissing him back in the cellar. That person must have been the one whose place Jason took. Jason staggered over to the cage, swiping the stone on top into his inventory as he took the keys out. The woman inside the cage was pretty with strawberry blonde hair and a button nose. She was clearly unhappy, but that just left her looking rather adorable. Jason opened up the cage and let her out. ¡°Thanks for the rescue,¡± she said to Jason, tamping down her annoyance, before blasting it full force at Rufus and Gary. ¡°What the hell were you two doing? I had to get saved by a random homeless man?¡± ¡°He only seems like that,¡± Gary said. ¡°It¡¯s all a cunning ruse.¡± Jason left the three of them talking while he wandered back to the altar at the edge of the platform. It was decorated with grotesque carvings that appeared to feature teeth very heavily. On top of the altar was a thick book, left open halfway through. Glancing over the text, he could only understand fragments. Having used the ritual magic skill book he took from Landemere, the knowledge it imbued him with offered some insights, but this new book was still above his head. The contents seemed to involve a more specific field of magic, operating at a higher level than the skill book allowed him to grasp. ¡°What have you got?¡± The woman asked, walking up to the altar next to him. ¡°Not sure,¡± Jason said, pushing the book in front of her. ¡°Looks like they were trying to make something, but it¡¯s well beyond my expertise. I only found out magic exists today. I¡¯m Jason, by the way.¡± She gave him an odd look. ¡°Farrah. Thanks again for the rescue.¡± ¡°No worries. I figured the best way out of wherever we are was to get you three to help me. Can you make anything out from that book?¡± She turned her attention back to the pages in front of her. ¡°You¡¯re right about them making something,¡± she said, flipping through pages. ¡°Something not very nice.¡± ¡°I got that much from context,¡± he said, waving his hand at the chamber around them, black stone reflecting blood-red light from below. ¡°Fair point,¡± Farrah laughed. While she continued examining the book, Jason looked around some more, noticing Gary and Rufus were gone. ¡°Where¡¯d the others go?¡± he asked. ¡°They went to see if those cultists you led off are coming back.¡± Farrah said. ¡°I completely forgot about them,¡± Jason said. Looking around some more, he found a small white sack next to the altar. He picked it up and looked inside, seeing a white, crystalline powder. He pinched some between his fingers.
Item: [Salt] (normal, common) Ordinary salt (crafting material).
¡°Salt?¡± he muttered curiously. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°It¡¯s good for making quick and easy magic circles,¡± Farrah explained, not looking up from the book. ¡°A lot of ritual magicians keep some around. Me included.¡± Jason dropping the sack back down next to the altar. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything else of interest, but he noticed that Farrah had the same iron collar as Gary and Rufus. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose the key to your neck thing is here somewhere,¡± Jason said. ¡°Cressida had it,¡± Farrah said. Jason glanced at the wall where Cressida had crashed into it before dropping out of sight. ¡°Oh. Sorry I pushed her into the pit.¡± ¡°Things would have gone a lot worse if you hadn¡¯t,¡± Farrah said. Jason looked over at the stairs leading down. ¡°Can I ask you something about Gary?¡± he asked. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Are there a lot of lion people running around, or was he cursed or something?¡± Farrah looked up from the book, again giving Jason a curious gaze. ¡°You¡¯ve never seen a Leonid before?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not local,¡± Jason said. ¡°That¡¯s coming across,¡± she said. ¡°Leonids are a normal race you¡¯d see anywhere in the world.¡± ¡°Good to know,¡± Jason said. She frowned, curiously, but turned back to the book while Jason continued to look around. He peered over the edge, looking down at the red pit far below. It could have been his imagination, but the room seemed to be getting hotter. The sloshing noise of the pit below seemed louder as well. He spotted Rufus and Gary making their way back up the stairs. ¡°The others are coming back up,¡± Jason said to Farrah. ¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± Farrah said. ¡°That seems rude,¡± Jason said. ¡°No,¡± Farrah said, ¡°I mean I figured what the cultists were up to.¡± ¡°Bad?¡± ¡°Very bad.¡± She waited for Gary and Rufus to arrive before explaining. ¡°No sign of the other cultists,¡± Gary said, ¡°and one of the wagons was gone. I¡¯m guessing they came back, saw their high priest splattered on the ground and decided to make a run for it.¡±
Quest: [The Blood Feast]
Jason''s eyes lit up at the sight of another essence, but it wasn¡¯t the time to start going over his loot and he closed the window. ¡°I know what they were doing here,¡± Farrah told Gary and Rufus. ¡°I¡¯d assume some kind of summoning ritual,¡± Rufus said. ¡°More like trying to create something,¡± Farrah said. ¡°It¡¯s called a sanguine horror; an artificial creature made from alchemy, blood and things best left unmentioned.¡± ¡°Sounds friendly,¡± Gary said. ¡°It¡¯s an apocalypse beast,¡± Farrah said. ¡°A world ender. A hive mind made up of carrion leeches that rot your flesh as they drain you dry. It feeds on blood to multiply itself, growing in mass and power until there¡¯s nothing strong enough to stop it. Then it spreads and spreads until there¡¯s nothing left to consume.¡± ¡°Why would anyone create something like that?¡± Jason asked. ¡°They presumably had some way to control it,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Use it as a weapon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a big gamble with an apocalypse beast,¡± Farrah said. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s possible before it gets too powerful. Until it feeds enough to grow strong it remains vulnerable.¡± ¡°Still seems like way too high a chance of going wrong,¡± Jason said. ¡°Speaking of which,¡± Rufus said, ¡°have you noticed it¡¯s getting hotter in here?¡± ¡°No,¡± Farrah said. ¡°Yes,¡± Jason said at the same time. ¡°It¡¯s more noticeable closer to the pool,¡± Rufus said. ¡°The smell is stronger down there too,¡± Gary said. ¡°They should probably be tossing us into the blood pit by now,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Is something going wrong because we interrupted them?¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re overlooking something,¡± Jason said. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Farrah asked. ¡°Are we sure we interrupted them? They were going to throw the four of us into the pit, right?¡± ¡°Right,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Well,¡± Jason said, ¡°how many people did we throw in?¡± Farrah¡¯s pretty brown eyes went wide. ¡°Oh no,¡± she said, turning back to the altar and started madly flipping through pages of the book. As the others waited, a screen appeared in front of Jason.
New Quest: [The Sanguine Horror] Destroy the sanguine horror before it becomes too grave a threat.
¡°Oh crap,¡± Jason said. Farrah snapped the book shut. It was a hefty tome and she tucked it under one arm. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure we just finished their job for them,¡± Farrah said. ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll appreciate it,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Are we the blood cult now?¡± Gary asked. ¡°We have to get down there and stop it while it¡¯s still weak,¡± Farrah said. ¡°Will the book help?¡± Gary asked. ¡°Not at all,¡± Farrah said. ¡°If we have to do it, we have to do it,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Failing that, we go find someone stronger to deal with it. A lot stronger.¡± ¡°Do you think Emir has arrived yet?¡± Gary asked. ¡°No,¡± Rufus said. ¡°He¡¯s weeks away at best.¡± ¡°Then we need to handle this ourselves,¡± Farrah said. ¡°I don¡¯t trust the competence of the locals.¡± ¡°This guy¡¯s alright,¡± Gary said, dropping a hand on Jason¡¯s shoulder that almost knocked him over. ¡°I¡¯m not local,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯m concerned that we don¡¯t have our abilities with these collars,¡± Rufus said. ¡°You¡¯re sure there¡¯s nothing in the book about how to fight it?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not,¡± Farrah snapped. ¡°I¡¯ve had it for about eight minutes and it¡¯s written in a language that you haven¡¯t even heard of. So maybe there¡¯s something in there, but I¡¯m not going to find it by randomly skimming through a few pages.¡± ¡°Did you check for an index?¡± Gary asked. Farrah¡¯s eyes landed on Gary like attack dogs. ¡°I guess there¡¯s no time for research,¡± Gary said, quickly heading for the stairs. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Rufus said, following after Gary. Farrah watched them vanish down the steep staircase, then turned to the back of the book. Jason narrowed his eyes as he watched her. ¡°Are you checking for an index?¡± Chapter 13: This is the Part Where We Step Back The three former captives pounded down the stairs as Jason followed unsteadily behind. As they went down the steep staircase, the smothering heat rose up to engulf them. The air became wetter and heavier until even breathing was a chore. The copper taste of blood felt like it was coating Jason¡¯s tongue. The pool was churning loudly, as if something was thrashing just below the surface. The sound echoed loudly, especially as they neared the base of the chamber. Near the end of the stairs they stepped over the corpse of High Priest Darryl, splayed out like a discarded puppet. Jason touched a finger to the body as they passed.
Jason gave his mental assent as they continued down the stairs.
Like Landemere Vane, the high priest had been holding more than a thousand coins on his person. As to where he had them stowed away, Jason could only guess. ¡°Does everyone here have an inventory?¡± ¡°What?¡± Farrah asked loudly. It was hard to hear over the wild splashing of the blood pit as they drew closer. ¡°Nothing,¡± Jason said loudly. Jason¡¯s real interest was in the recovery potion, which he took form his inventory and tipped down his throat as soon as they reached the bottom of the chamber. Farrah saw Jason tip back the potion and threw out a hand in a warning gesture. ¡°Jason, don¡¯t¡­¡± The potion was already making it¡¯s way down Jason¡¯s throat. ¡°What?¡± Rufus asked, as he and Gary turned around to look. ¡°Jason just drank a potion,¡± Farrah said. ¡°Right after using a spirit coin?¡± Gary asked. ¡°Is that bad?¡± Jason asked ¡°Actually, why didn¡¯t the potion do anything?¡± The others only answered in sympathetic wincing. Moments later, his stomach was filled with cramping pains. He doubled, felt his body desperately wanting to vomit, but unable to do so.
Jason groaned. The initial pain passed, but now his stomach felt as awful as his head. ¡°I should have thought to warn you when you didn¡¯t know how to use spirit coins,¡± Rufus said. ¡°I didn¡¯t realise you had any potions. Are you alright?¡± ¡°Honestly,¡± Jason croaked, ¡°it isn¡¯t going to affect me that much. There¡¯s only so much worse I can get.¡± Rufus nodded, and they turned to the giant pool of churning red liquid, Jason very much at the back. The space near the large doors leading out was the widest area around the pool, with most of the room having only a small lip between the edge of the red liquid and the wall. When they first entered the chamber, the pool had been churning in the middle. Now the whole thing was like a pot of water threatening to boil over, splashing red liquid over the sides. ¡°That can¡¯t all be blood, right?¡± Jason shouted over the noise. ¡°It isn¡¯t,¡± Farrah called back. ¡°Mostly it¡¯s an alchemical mixture, although there is a lot of blood in there. At least a dozen people¡¯s worth. Maybe twenty.¡± ¡°Are you sure we need to fight this monster?¡± Gary asked. ¡°I¡¯d feel a lot better without this collar on my neck.¡± ¡°We all would,¡± Rufus said. ¡°I¡¯m just saying,¡± Gary said. ¡°If I¡¯m going to fight something called an apocalypse beast, I¡¯d rather have my powers.¡± ¡°We do what we can with what we have,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Complaining about what we don¡¯t have doesn¡¯t help.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t actually called an apocalypse beast,¡± Farrah said. ¡°That¡¯s more of an informal category.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we need,¡± Gary said, ¡°Pedantry.¡± ¡°Did you say podiatry?¡± Jason yelled. The churn of the blood-like pool was growing louder and louder. ¡°Is there something wrong with your feet?¡± ¡°I said pedantry!¡± Gary yelled back. ¡°Will you both please shut up!¡± Rufus bellowed. ¡°If we let this entity go,¡± Farrah yelled, ¡°it will get out and start feeding on the local animals. The more it feeds, the stronger it gets. If it eats its way through a village or a town, then it will get too strong for any of the local powers to stop it.¡± ¡°Can we even do this with our abilities sealed away?¡± Gary asked. ¡°A few cultists is one thing, but a world-destroying blood monster? We have one sword between us. Going for help might not be the worst idea.¡± ¡°Real help is a long way from here,¡± Farrah said. The pair looked to Rufus for the deciding vote, who turned his attention to Jason. ¡°You¡¯re the reason we aren¡¯t all monster soup right now,¡± Rufus shouted. ¡°The decision is yours.¡± Jason looked at the three of them looking back at him. They clearly had no idea of the magnitude to which he was out of his depth. ¡°What are our actual chances?¡± Jason yelled. ¡°Terrible, Gary said. ¡°Not good,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Getting better,¡± Farrah said, pointing. They all looked and saw Cressida¡¯s body hadn¡¯t fallen into the pool, but onto the stone floor at the edge of the chamber. Unfortunately, it was on the far side. That portion of the floor had barely a lip of stone between the pool and the wall, but Cressida had landed lengthways along it. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°She has the key to the collars,¡± Farrah said. ¡°If I can get this thing off my neck, I can blast whatever crawls out of this pit back into blood soup.¡± ¡°Not sure I¡¯d want to walk around the edge of that pool,¡± Jason said. ¡°Sometimes all your choices are bad, I guess.¡± ¡°We do it, then,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Farrah, go for the key, but be careful of the pool. Ideally you¡¯ll have it and be back before this thing emerges, but Gary and I will stall it if we have to. Jason, what kind of combat abilities do you have?¡± ¡°None,¡± Jason shouted ¡°I was taken out multiple times by a guy with a shovel. I am very bad at fighting.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Rufus shouted back. ¡°Just stay back and try not to die.¡± Farrah was already moving, putting the book on the ground and setting off around the pool, not waiting for Rufus¡¯ to finish talking. She carefully hugged the wall, wary of the churning blood pit. Suddenly the blood, which had been roiling like a stormy sea, went as still and serene as a sheltered pond. The roaring noise they had all been shouting over immediately fell silent. ¡°Here we go,¡± Rufus said, his voice an intrusion to the sudden quiet. Ripples disturbed the edge of the pool, and something emerged from the blood. ¡°Is that a leech?¡± Jason asked. It was the right size and shape for a leech, but had the gaping, tooth-ringed maw of a lamprey. ¡°I do not want that thing crawling up my leg,¡± Gary said. ¡°I think that¡¯s a consensus opinion,¡± Jason agreed. A second leech crawled out, then a third. They came two at a time, then five, ten until they were spraying out like runoff from a storm drain. They piled on top of one another, forming squirming, writhing mass. ¡°We should probably attack while it¡¯s still forming,¡± Rufus said to Gary. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you want to go first?¡± ¡°How am I supposed to fight a pile of leeches?¡± Gary asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think the sword will work. Also, you have our only sword.¡± Strips of blood-soaked cloth, long and thin like bandages, started pushing their way out of the leech pile. They wrapped themselves around the leeches, pushing the pile into shape. ¡°Any idea what it¡¯s doing?¡± Rufus asked. ¡°None,¡± Gary said. ¡°Jason?¡± When Jason didn¡¯t answer, they turned to look around, finding Jason was no longer there. Gary look up the stairs and out through the door, seeing no trace of Jason. ¡°He¡¯s done a runner!¡± There was no time for distraction and they turned back to the monster forming in front of them. More bloody strips were emerging from the pile, pushing into what they started to recognise as a humanoid shape. It was only a crude approximation, splitting at the seams as leeches spilled out between the bandages. It shambled forward, barely in half-steps, shedding leeches as it struggled to keep balance. ¡°Just stay close enough to keep its attention,¡± Rufus said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem very fast and we just have to stall it.¡± ¡°Or I could punch it,¡± Gary said. ¡°It¡¯s a person shape, now. I know how to punch people.¡± ¡°What? No¡­¡± Gary¡¯s fist slammed into the creature, passing straight between the red-stained bandages and burying itself in the creature¡¯s chest. It seemed to have no impact and Gary staggered back. His arm emerging from the leech monster with a sucking noise like pulling out a leg stuck in mud. It was covered in leeches, burrowing through his fur to sink teeth into flesh. He staggered about, yelling more in anger than pain as he started ripping them off. Chunks of flesh and fur went with them, clenched in rings of teeth. The bindings around the mass slowly tightened, giving it a more discernibly humanoid shape. It grew faster and more coordinated. Frowning, Rufus tossed aside the sword and picked up the heavy book Farrah had left behind. Winding up as he lunged at the creature, he took a huge, two-handed swing. The book slammed into the creature¡¯s torso, sending it staggering back. The bindings loosened, leeches once again spilling out of the main mass. The floor was now covered with them, crawling at Gary and Rufus, seeking out their legs. Rufus watched with satisfaction, stepping back from the seeking leeches. ¡°And she said the book wouldn¡¯t help.¡± Rufus failed to notice the leech crawling over the book until its teeth buried themselves in his hand, causing him to yelp as the book dropped to the floor. He tore the creature off his hand, a chunk of flesh going with it. He reached down for the book, but there were leeches crawling all over it. ¡°Help!¡± he heard Farrah call out, and he looked around. Gary was still wildly ripping leeches off his now blood-soaked arm. Farrah was most of the way around the pool, but bloodied bandages, like those wrapping the leech monster, had emerged from the pool and were trying to drag her in. Rufus looked around for where he had dropped the sword, picking it up and hurling it through the air. His confident throw was on the mark, dropping only a few feet from Farrah. She hauled back on the bandages trying to pull her into the pool, leaning hard for the sword. The leech monster, in the mean time, had once again tightened its bindings and started walking toward Rufus. He skittered back, still faster than the creature but its speed increased with every step. Rufus stumbled, falling onto his back with the creature still coming at him, when a bright light descended from above. Jason, starlight cloak floating around him at maximum illumination, drifted down to land between Rufus and the sanguine horror. Tucked under one arm was a small sack. Reaching into the sack, Jason grabbed a fistful of salt and tossed it at the horror. The creature recoiled and Jason did it again, forcing the creature back again. ¡°I¡¯m really glad that worked.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± Rufus asked, getting lightly to his feet. ¡°Salt,¡± Jason said, throwing out another handful. ¡°Did you use mana while suffering from mana toxin?¡± Gary asked, wandering over. His arm was drenched in blood and still looked to be bleeding freely, but the leeches were gone and he didn¡¯t seem worried. ¡°Seemed time sensitive,¡± Jason said. ¡°Oh, this hurts. I was pretty much bottomed-out on mana in the first place. Gary looked over Jason¡¯s cloak of stars. ¡°You weren¡¯t kidding about a power that makes you sparkle.¡± Suddenly an explosion of light and noise erupted from the other side of the pool. A bright stream of lava cut through the air like it was coming from a fire hose, crashing into the leech monster. Jason¡¯s head pivoted, goggle-eyed to the source of the blast. ¡°Was that frigging LAVA?¡± Farrah, collar now gone, was holding a glowing red hand out toward the creature. She mumbled something and a second stream of lava blasted across the chamber. The blood pit audibly sizzled as the lava seared over it, scouring moisture from the air. After two bursts of white-hot lava, the leech monster was largely destroyed, the bindings holding it together completely unravelled. ¡°This is the part where we step back,¡± Rufus said, putting a hand on Jason¡¯s shoulder. ¡°This is the part?¡± Jason could still feel the heat on his face as he staggered back behind Rufus, then back some more for good measure. He heard chanting from Farrah across the pool and looked over. There were several orbs of fire floating around her. One of the cloth strips burst from the pool to grab at her, but was intercepted by an orb, burning up on contact. She stopped chanting and Jason heard a rumbling from the direction of what was left of the leech pile. It started to scatter, but a cascade of lava geysered out of the ground underneath it. Gary, Jason and Rufus backed off even further as lava spattered around the geyser before it dwindled and came to a stop. Jason looked at the glowing hole left behind, jaw hanging slack. The red light from the blood pool faded and died, plunging the chamber into darkness. Only Jason¡¯s cloak and the remnant glow of lava provided any illumination. ¡°We need to get every leech!¡± Farrah called out. ¡°It can reconstitute itself, even from one!¡± Jason looked around the floor. The main mass of leeches had been incinerated, but many leeches had spilled onto the floor as Rufus and Gary stalled it. Salt bag tucked under his arm, he started flinging handfuls at the leeches while Rufus and Gary stomped them underfoot. While the leech mass had only recoiled from the salt, individual leeches vomited blood from their tooth-ringed mouths as they dried up and died. Eventually there was nothing left of the leeches but blood stains and ash.
Quest: [The Sanguine Horror]
Jason edged forward warily. He noticed a leech that had managed to get far enough away that it was burnt to a crisp instead of being completely annihilated. He poked it with his toe.
Jason gave his mental assent.
Jason looked at the listed awakening stone. Apocalypse. That didn¡¯t sound wildly positive. Books available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and Audible Firstly, I''d like to thank all the fantastic readers who have made this story a success. Royal Road has been an amazing launch pad that has allowed me to expand into ebook and audiobook releases, and the latest chapters continue to be released here. The rules for Kindle Unlimited mean that chapters for published books can no longer be made available here, with only a selction of sample chapters serving as an introduction. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Free chapters will continue to be released on the regular schedule going forward. This will continue all the way to the end of the story. The ebook, audiobook and paperback editions are available through Amazon via Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and Audible at the link above. Chapter 883: Why He Hasnt Jason thought he would never endure pain as comprehensive as the Builder¡¯s attack on his soul. The Cosmic Throne proved him to be profoundly mistaken. His true body was now an entire universe, and only an avatar had sat on the throne. Even so, the agony was mind-blanking. He awoke, face down on the throne room¡¯s grimy floor, having tumbled off the throne and down the stairs of the dais. ¡°Is it done?¡± he managed to croak out. ¡°It is done,¡± Raythe said. Jason rolled onto his back with a groan, then pushed himself to a sitting position. He looked around and saw that all the great astral beings were gone. Only Raythe remained, but her aura made clear that she was no longer possessed. The only other people in the room were Jason¡¯s familiars and the avatar of the tree city. ¡°How long was I out?¡± he asked. ¡°That is complicated,¡± Raythe said. ¡°We are at the boundary of reality and unreality, where time is subjective at best and arguably doesn¡¯t exist at all.¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s the long answer. Is there a short one?¡± ¡°Approximately seven hours, if we leave this place soon,¡± Shade said. ¡°Which I highly recommend,¡± Raythe said. ¡°The time here is synchronised with your universe while this castle is still connected to it, which it will only be for a short amount of subjective time. It would be best if you don¡¯t arrive back in your universe a year from now. Or a year before now. You don¡¯t have to rush out the door, but don¡¯t tarry longer than you need to recover.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be doing any rushing,¡± Jason said. ¡°The great astral beings didn¡¯t gather dust, though, did they?¡± ¡°When it was done, it was done,¡± Raythe said. ¡°There was no purpose in lingering.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t draw anything on my face before they left, did they?¡± ¡°No.¡± Jason groaned again as he got unsteadily to his feet. ¡°That shook my soul like it was a snow globe. Did it have any impact on my domains? More importantly, the people in them?¡± ¡°No. It was your mortal aspect that was inadequate to endure the task. Your transcendent aspect is a universe and can soak up a few spiritual tremors.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± He winced as he rubbed his temples with the heels of his hand. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you know a good hangover cure.¡± ¡°For the backlash of setting the new status quo for the cosmos while still mortal? I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll need to ride that one out, Jason Asano.¡± ¡°How bad did I mess it up?¡± ¡°The great astral beings are satisfied. That is as much as any could ask from you, and more than we expected.¡± ¡°All of them are satisfied? Or a motion-passing plurality, with the rest looking to hunt me down for revenge.¡± ¡°The nameless are unhappy, as they would be with anything short of complete cosmic anarchy. They will not seek you out. The others are satisfied.¡± ¡°Even the World-Phoenix?¡± ¡°It would seem that the restoration of the throne set a new status quo based on things as they were at the moment of restoration. The World-Phoenix in its current state is now its new baseline.¡± ¡°Winners all around, then. Now, what did I get wrong?¡± ¡°Wrong is not the right word. There were changes, and not all from you. After sundering the throne, the great astral beings placed strictures on the cosmic order, to maintain stability. They are now releasing those strictures.¡± ¡°Any of them I need to know about right now?¡± ¡°Not from what they have done.¡± ¡°Meaning there¡¯s something I did that I need to know about.¡± ¡°You will be able to sense it once your soul recovers from the shock. The throne could never be restored to what it was. Part of you was imprinted upon it. An echo of you, spread across the cosmos.¡± ¡°Did I just make Airwolf real in every universe?¡± ¡°No. You made your interface available to everyone with essences or the potential to get them.¡± ¡°Huh. Is that with all the special features?¡± ¡°Not as a default. It allows for people to view their own information and nothing more, but that has already started to change. Species gift evolutions and even essence abilities are expanding the base effects, just as yours did.¡± ¡°How did the cosmos spring this on people? Just windows popping up in front of them?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Did everyone freak out?¡± ¡°Surprise was a common reaction, yes.¡± ¡°How many people died?¡± ¡°The interface, or the System, as it¡¯s calling itself, appeared to wait for a moment of safety before revealing itself to individuals.¡± ¡°So, no traffic accidents because a window popped up in people¡¯s faces?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t say there weren¡¯t mishaps, but most of the deaths came from reactions to the System, not the System itself. Religious furore, superstition. Mass killings to keep the new power from teaching things to oppressed members of society.¡± Jason hung his head. ¡°I got people killed, then.¡± ¡°You may have reshaped the cosmos, Asano, but do not consider yourself so grand as to own tribalism, greed and prejudice. People are responsible for their own actions, and ignorance will take any excuse it can get. I shouldn¡¯t need to tell you that.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°I suppose not.¡± Jason turned to look down the hallway out. ¡°We should probably head back to my universe, right? I can feel this place detaching itself.¡± *** Miles Cotezee, a senior Adventure Society official, hurried through the Vitesse campus of the Magic Research Association. The always busy grounds were even more so than normal in the wake of what had just happened. Fortunately, Vitesse had not fallen into chaos. It took more than an illusionary window that told you your essence advancement to upset the cart. In a major adventuring city, it was just the latest oddity in a world full of bizarre events. If anything, it was refreshing that the new magic thing wasn¡¯t actively trying to kill them. The nature of this new ¡®System¡¯ was not completely alien to members of the major organisations in Vitesse and around the world. No small amount of analysis had been dedicated to Jason Asano¡¯s abilities and the System was swiftly linked to him. As such, the Adventure Society had deployed Miles to seek out Clive Standish. Miles had worked with Clive, Belinda and Sophie when the three of them were tracing a portal magic network the Builder cult had used. That was at a time when Asano was believed dead and their team was scattered in various pursuits. Standish had been silver rank when Miles worked with him, and was best known as a team member of Danielle Geller¡¯s son. Things were very different now. From revealing the impending messenger invasion to building a rival to the Magic Society, Standish was well and truly famous in his own right. In just a handful of years since its inception, the Magical Research Association had exploded into prominence. While the Magic Society leveraged its research and secrets for political power, the MRA gave open access to records and research libraries. Many of the most prominent academics continued to side with the Magic Society for the greater personal gain. The MRA was, instead, a bastion for young, bold and innovative researchers. The openness of the research association plundered patronage that once would have gone to the Magic Society. Compared the society hoarding their knowledge for political gain, organisations funded the MRA knowing the results would be freely available. Government authorities, the Adventure Society and a variety of Churches, especially that of Knowledge, all contributed. More than just funding, they were a shield against the Magic Society as it tried to crush its upstart rival. The future of the MRA looked bright, despite the Magic Society¡¯s best efforts. They were already closely associated with the new sky communication network, and there were rumours of a transportation network being quietly researched. This was the result of years of study into the same network Clive had been tracking years earlier. Miles and Clive had remained friendly over the years, making him the natural person to send when the Adventure Society wanted something from Clive and his association. The MRA campus was swarming with people in the wake of what had happened, but Miles was a known factor. He entered the administration building and managed fight his way to Clive¡¯s office through only a minimum of bureaucratic run around. Miles counted nine people gathered in the spacious outer office. This included Clive¡¯s assistant, Jeff, at his desk. Miles recognised a few upper-echelon members of the association, plus members of various other societies, associations and institutes. They were standing in silence with uncomfortable expressions on their faces. Miles realised why when moans of pleasure emanated through the closed door of the inner office. ¡°Oh, yeah. That¡¯s the stuff,¡± Clive¡¯s voice came through the door. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for this for so long. Knowing I could do this and having it denied to me was torturous. It¡¯s like something that¡¯s been pent up for years has started gushing out of me.¡± Miles moved up to Jeff. ¡°Who is he in there with?¡± ¡°I have no idea, Mr Cotezee,¡± Jeff said. ¡°No one came through this way, so they must have portalled in. His wife, maybe?¡± ¡°Have you ever seen her?¡± Miles said. ¡°The Adventure Society has been trying to identify her for years.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve just heard his friends talking about her, and he doesn¡¯t like it when they do.¡± Jeff leaned in closer. ¡°I don¡¯t think the marriage is in the best shape,¡± he said in a conspiratorial whisper. ¡°They don¡¯t seem to spend a lot of time together, and I¡¯ve heard, she¡¯s quite¡­ free with her affections.¡± An excited noise came from the inner office. ¡°Oh, wow! I didn¡¯t think so much would come out just from rubbing the shaft!¡± Miles and Jeff shared a look until Clive¡¯s door burst open and he emerged holding a magical staff. Sparks were streaming out from a metal cup set into the end. ¡°Jeff! Get someone from the Item Catalogue Department over here. They wildly miscategorised what this thing does. And see if you can find out where my party members are. I think we¡¯ll be getting together soon.¡± Clive finally seemed to notice all the people, panning his gaze over them unhappily. ¡°Yes, this was Jason,¡± he told them. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know how. Yes, I have guesses; no, I won¡¯t tell you what they are. Now, all of you go away.¡± ¡°Archchancellor Standish, I need to talk to about ¡ª AARGH!¡± The woman who spoke was sucked through a hole that appeared in the in the ceiling in a rush of air. Miles saw her hurtling skyward before the hole closed again. Clive swept back into his office and slammed the door as most of the others scrambled to leave. Only Miles and Jeff remained, looking up at the ceiling. ¡°She was silver rank,¡± Miles observed. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine, right?¡± ¡°The archchancellor has the landing zone fenced off so no one gets landed on. I can¡¯t believe he had all this installed and hasn¡¯t gotten around to an automated privacy screen.¡± *** Anna Tilden was in the home office of her New York apartment, looking out over Central Park. She was listening to her assistant, Michael Aram, as he summarised a report. ¡°¡­confirmed to be non-synchronous. That suggests there is an intelligence behind this ¡®System,¡¯ and that this intelligence is either benevolent or sees some benefit in minimising casualties from the event.¡± ¡°But there were casualties.¡± ¡°Most are related to reactions to the event, rather than the event itself. The death toll is surprisingly low, with stress-induced heart attacks being the main culprit.¡± ¡°Small mercies. No bonus points for guessing who the intelligence behind this is. Have you formally confirmed it?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve reached out to multiple contacts who have experienced Jason Asano¡¯s interface. The formatting of the interface matches their recall exactly. It¡¯s him, Ma¡¯am.¡± Anna ran her hands over her tired face. ¡°Remore was right,¡± she said. ¡°If anything, he was understating it. When Asano comes back ¡ª and we have to assume he will now, this world is going to change. I want the transcripts of every word Remore is known to have uttered since arriving on this planet, along with the latest analysis on Boris Ketland and the Taika Williams debrief files.¡± ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am. And, if I may say, the world already has changed.¡± ¡°I suppose so. Everyone on Earth who¡¯s hit puberty just got a taste of magic.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more fundamental than that, Ma¡¯am. This System will change the way whole sections of societies operate. As an example, the ability to accurately assess one¡¯s own condition will change the face of medicine. A number of online diagnostic websites and alternative health organisations are assembling a class action suit against the Asano Clan.¡± ¡°It hasn¡¯t even been a day.¡± ¡°No, Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Who do they even intend to serve? The Asano Clan have been buried under vampire territory for half a decade. We don¡¯t know if they¡¯re alive or dead.¡± ¡°I believe they intend to serve the Japanese Asano clan, residing in Asano Village in Australia.¡± ¡°I thought they and Jason had some kind of feud.¡± ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Speaking of vampires, do we know if this affected them?¡± ¡°Not confirmed, Ma¡¯am, although early reports suggest no. It seems that the vampires are learning that something happened to the humans from their feeding stock.¡± ¡°They¡¯re people, Aram. Not feeding stock.¡± ¡°Sorry, Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°What do you think will happen with the vampires when Asano returns?¡± ¡°Analysts have produced a number of potential scenarios, Ma¡¯am, but they are all wildly speculative due to lack of information. They¡¯re basically saying it¡¯s anyone¡¯s guess.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s your guess? You¡¯ve met him.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, I once watched a bronze-rank Jason Asano fight a silver ranker to a no-score draw. That was two ranks ago, minimum, and before he changed how the world works. If I were a vampire living on top of the land Asano gave his family, I¡¯d be looking into the viability of colonising Mars.¡± ¡°But Asano¡¯s power hasn¡¯t reclaimed his former territory?¡± ¡°Not as of the last report I saw, Ma¡¯am. That came in around two hours ago.¡± ¡°Alright. Go get me those materials.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± He turned to leave, but stopped at the door and turned around. ¡°Ma¡¯am, if Asano has the power to do this to everyone in the world, why can¡¯t he restore his domains?¡± ¡°I suspect that he can. That leads me to the question of why he hasn¡¯t.¡± Chapter 884: If We Can鈥檛 Change For the Better Jason slowly recovered as he hobbled along the path of light that stretched from his universe to the castle. The pathway was growing unstable, with parts blurring, dimming or falling away entirely. Jason, his familiars and Arbour were still in the company of Raythe who walked alongside them. ¡°Why did you stay?¡± Jason asked her. ¡°To check on you. Dawn will want to know how you are doing. And to remind you that you and I still have business, beyond that of the cosmic throne.¡± ¡°What kind of business?¡± ¡°That can wait. You¡¯ve been kept from friends and family long enough, and have plenty to deal with in the aftermath of what just happened. You need to form a prime avatar, and restore the bridge between worlds. That may seem like a small thing after restoring the cosmic throne, but¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± Jason said. ¡°It¡¯s not small.¡± Raythe smiled and nodded. ¡°You shall see me again when it is done,¡± she told him. Jason looked around as they drew closer to the end of the path. It terminated in a doorway, floating in the void. ¡°How are you getting out of here?¡± he asked. ¡°You can¡¯t just float around the astral, right? I know it¡¯s borderline for you, but you¡¯re still a mortal. Just.¡± ¡°This space belongs to the throne, and once this path is gone, the avatars of doom will resume their ancient charge. I have a vessel I left at the gateway to your universe.¡± ¡°It has a gate? My head is still an angry beehive, so I don¡¯t have a proper sense of things, yet.¡± ¡°Yes, it has gateways, although you are the impassable gatekeeper. Your soul is a universe, now. An actual pocket of reality in the astral, so it can be visited. But your universe is also a soul, so it cannot be penetrated without your allowance. Your astral kingdom will never have the vastness of a universe seeded by the Builder, but for all their grandeur, ordinary universes have their time. They die. Yours never will.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason said. ¡°I still haven¡¯t gotten my head around true immortality. Maybe I should do something that will help me comprehend the vastness of eternity.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°Well, I could binge-watch one of those soaps that¡¯s been running since the sixties. If that doesn¡¯t feel like eternity, I don¡¯t know what would.¡± ¡°You want to watch soap?¡± Raythe asked. ¡°Lady Raythe,¡± Shade interjected. ¡°Mr Asano is immortal, now. I believe that his deeds today will be the start of his life as a cosmic figure of note.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°Allow me to share some wisdom in advance that, with time, will doubtlessly spread across the cosmos: do not ask Mr Asano questions when he says things you do not understand.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that mean you sometimes miss information which is important to know?¡± ¡°That price, Lady Raythe, is entirely worth paying.¡± They reached the end of the path and entered the doorway in space. The pathway collapsed behind them and a heavy iron door slid across the doorway. They were standing on a catwalk over the magma pit in Jason¡¯s private fortress. ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to go and see what my universe is like,¡± he said. ¡°If nothing else, we need to find the exit where our guest parked her car.¡± ¡°It is not a car,¡± Raythe said. ¡°And surely you have recovered enough by now that you can take in the scope of your realm at a thought. It is your true self, after all. You are using that avatar to restrain your mind because you aren¡¯t used to thinking like a transcendent. That body you¡¯re in is not you any more than a breath, expelled from your mouth.¡± ¡°Yeah, I could let my mind go all transcendent,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯ve done it before ¡ª with mixed results. But where¡¯s the sense of exploration in that?¡± They took an elevating platform into the upper chambers of the fortress. The architecture was classically villainous, all massive hallways of dark metal and bright crimson, with sharp corners and stark decor. ¡°The layout appears to have changed,¡± Shade said. ¡°Perhaps you should take Lady Raythe¡¯s advice, lest we wander around lost.¡± ¡°What did I just say about a sense of exploration, Shade? The fortress can¡¯t have changed that much.¡± ¡°Mr Asano, that sign has directions to an airlock.¡± ¡°What?¡± *** Jason and the others were standing on one level of a multi-storey observation lounge, looking through a massive curved window that spanned every level. Through the window they could see an Earth-like planet. ¡°The shape of this window is rather akin to that of an enormous eye,¡± Shade observed. ¡°Is it?¡± Jason asked innocently. ¡°Mr Asano, are we in an evil space station in the shape of your head?¡± ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°It is, indeed,¡± Raythe said. ¡°My dimensional vessel is at a docking port. It seems that Asano chose a space station as the first port of call to those who approach his universe through astral travel.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t really choosing,¡± Jason said. ¡°This all just kind of happened.¡± ¡°Mr Asano, we will need to find a shuttle bay, or a teleportation room or whatever means you have to go to and from this place and the planet. Again, I ask you to allow yourself the knowledge of your new realm¡¯s geography.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°And deny myself the joy of discovery?¡± ¡°I am sorry, Mr Asano, but yes. The longer you wander around aimlessly, the longer until you start reuniting with your loved ones.¡± Jason looked over at Shade and sighed. ¡°Yeah,¡± he conceded. Jason stopped letting his consciousness focus into a single avatar and the avatar faded into nothingness. For the first time, Jason allowed himself to be actively conscious of his new nature as a living universe. It was miniscule, as universes went. Just a single planetary system. The sun at its heart blazed not just with heat and light, but with magic. There was one habitable planet, in a position equivalent to Earth. It was pristine, wild and untamed. The only developed area was Arbour, the tree city where the handful of people residing on the planet were located. The space station above the planet was the seat of Jason¡¯s power and the reliquary his astral king relics. It also served as an orbital station and point of entry for dimensional visitors. An avatar reappeared next to Raythe. ¡°I¡¯ll show you the way to your vessel,¡± Jason said. *** Clive marched back out of his office. His assistant and Miles Cotezee were sharing tea and scones. Jeff tapped a folder on his table. ¡°This is what I have so far on the locations of your team members, Archchancellor. I¡¯m still waiting on several more. Don¡¯t expect anything on Asano, Remore and Williams, of course. If they return to this world, I imagine you will know before any source I have.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Clive said. ¡°Why hasn¡¯t anyone from cataloguing arrived yet?¡± ¡°I believe there was some question of who to send.¡± ¡°Why not just send Mickel?¡± ¡°Security Director Warnock found out that he was a spy for the Magic Society, Archchancellor. You threw him through the ceiling.¡± ¡°That was him?¡± ¡°Yes, Archchancellor.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t they decide who to send instead?¡± ¡°They¡¯re afraid of being thrown through the ceiling, Archchancellor.¡± ¡°Are they spies too?¡± ¡°Not that I am aware, Archchancellor. I believe they are concerned about Herbert Norris.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°The former Vice-Dean of Alchemy. You tossed him through the ceiling for, and I quote, ¡®asking inane questions.¡¯¡± ¡°Oh, him. He was asking inane questions.¡± ¡°Some might suggest that was an overreaction, Archchancellor.¡± ¡°Would they, now?¡± ¡°Actually, no, Archchancellor. They¡¯re afraid of getting thrown through the ceiling.¡± Clive made grumbling sounds and took a device off his head. It was a metal headband with four vertical protrusions spaced evenly around it. He placed it on Jeff¡¯s desk, next to the tea tray, and then opened a small portal. He took a document from the portal and sat it next to the headband. ¡°Take this device down to the procurements office and have them replicate another ten. The designs for it are in the folder. Then send the original back here and the rest to the cataloguing department. I want every single item we have re-examined.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Miles asked, picking up the headband. ¡°It¡¯s a device for analysing items using a person¡¯s own aura and magic senses,¡± Clive said. ¡°Devices like this are nothing new, but the problem was always interpreting the results objectively. I made this years ago, trying to replicate Jason Asano¡¯s ability, but I could never replicate his interface. Now we don¡¯t need to, and it works perfectly.¡± Jeff took the device from Miles, grabbed the folder and headed off. Clive took his seat and grabbed a jam and cream scone. ¡°I imagine that the Adventure Society has a lot of questions,¡± Clive said to Miles. ¡°Everyone has a lot of questions, Clive. I was instructed to ask a slew of pointed and forceful questions while being very polite and not making you angry in any way.¡± Clive chuckled. ¡°That reminds me of my Magic Society official days. Trust me, Miles, you want to be on top of the organisational pyramid. Mid-level bureaucracy is no way to live.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, the Adventure Society makes you earn your promotions. Maybe I should have joined the Magic Society and bribed my way to the top.¡± Clive picked up the folder with the information on his team members and started flicking through the reports. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone is getting their answers, Miles. Not until Jason comes back.¡± ¡°Can you at least tell me when you expect that to be? If I don¡¯t give my bosses something, they¡¯ll just send me right back here.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be certain when he¡¯ll be back,¡± Clive said. ¡°If everything went as planned, Jason is a universe now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, did you just say that Asano is a universe?¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be news,¡± Clive said. ¡°After more than a decade of dealing with messengers, the society knows what an astral king is. The question is how quickly Jason can assemble a new body. He needs a prime avatar to go wandering around outside, and they are apparently hard to make.¡± ¡°So, you don¡¯t know how long it will take.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t. Jason has a plan, though.¡± ¡°You say that like it¡¯s a bad thing.¡± ¡°Jason¡¯s plans have a way of going really, really bad for someone. Mostly that someone is whoever he¡¯s up against, but not always.¡± ¡°And who is it that he¡¯s up against?¡± *** Yumi Asano walked into her office to find an avatar of her grandson sitting in her chair. ¡°G¡¯day Grandmother.¡± Magic left Yumi looking no older than Jason, despite the age difference. ¡°Jason, do have any idea of the chaos you¡¯ve caused?¡± ¡°You know, that¡¯s the same question you ask me every time I visit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you only ever visit after you¡¯ve tipped over the biggest applecart you can find.¡± ¡°I also came by on your birthday.¡± ¡°You did,¡± Yumi conceded. ¡°But most of the time, you aren¡¯t sending these avatars here for social visits. You could have warned us about this System business.¡± ¡°No, Grandmother, I couldn¡¯t. Otherwise, I would have. I just repaired one of the key mechanisms of the entire cosmos, and I had no idea how that would go. Was anyone hurt?¡± ¡°Was anyone¡­ you can¡¯t just skip past ¡®I repaired the cosmos,¡¯ Grandson.¡± Yumi staggered as the room pulsed, like a heartbeat. For a fleeting instant, she felt a power so vast it was like catching a glimpse of the universe and seeing how small she was within it. ¡°You will find, Grandmother, as will the Earth, that on this planet, I can do anything I please. Now, was anyone hurt when the System came into being?¡± Yumi looked at Jason warily, not answering. He looked like her grandson, but there was something inside him that was very alien. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder if any of the boy she knew was still in there. ¡°It is still me, Grandmother. We all change with time, magic or not. If we can¡¯t change for the better, we should at least change in ways that allow us to meet our responsibilities.¡± ¡°And what do you see as your responsibilities, Jason?¡± ¡°This family. This clan. The people who ended up in this place because of their connection to me. The troubles they¡¯ve faced; being trapped here. A lot of people have been caught in my wake. I can¡¯t give them back the lives they had, but I can at least make sure they aren¡¯t trapped in this astral space. Or stuck in my domains, worried about being grabbed and leveraged by the wider world.¡± Yumi nodded. ¡°I¡¯m glad you understand. People are worried, Jason. Less than fifteen years ago, no one knew magic existed. Now we live in an age of wonders and horrors. This magical realm is lovely, but we¡¯ve been trapped here for years. There are children in here who have never seen the world outside. Teenagers who have lived their whole lives inside your domains. How will you fix that? Or even get back to it? If you can do anything you want, why haven¡¯t you restored the domains and kicked out all the vampires?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get to that. How many people were hurt when the System first appeared?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this place a part of you? Can¡¯t you just tell?¡± ¡°Things were hazy for me at that time the system appeared.¡± ¡°We suffered little. A few scrapes and bruises. Taika¡¯s mother fell off her scooter, but she wasn¡¯t hurt. She¡¯s bronze rank and was wearing enchanted riding gear.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Now, why are there still vampires sitting over our heads?¡± ¡°I need to make what¡¯s called a prime avatar. Avatars like this one can¡¯t leave my territory, but a prime avatar can. I won¡¯t go into the specifics, but basically I have cosmic power and mortal power. The prime avatar is tied to my mortal power, which is much lower than my cosmic aspect. Accumulating the power to create such an avatar would take twenty-seven years at my current strength.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with vampires?¡± ¡°The most powerful vampires on Earth got that way by consuming blood infused with power stolen from reality cores.¡± ¡°I am aware.¡± ¡°The power of those cores is the kind I need to make an avatar. And, while I didn¡¯t use it much, I¡¯ve always had the ability to strip it right out of the vampires. That¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do.¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t going to enjoy that, are they?¡± ¡°No, Grandmother. They are not.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Chapter 885: We鈥檙e All Stuck in a Hole Nigel Thornton hadn¡¯t been the first person on Earth to hit gold rank, or even the first to do it without cores. The US had non-core training programs long before Farrah Hurin arrived, so that title went to some unnamed yank. Nigel¡¯s claim to fame was being the first outside of the US to hit the milestone core-free. The rest of his team were core users, and still only silver rank. There were only so many places on Earth that spawned gold rank monsters, and the cores taken from them were arguably the most precious commodity on Earth. They certainly didn¡¯t find their way into the hands of a squad of mercenaries. Nigel¡¯s team was the same nine-person unit it had been almost two decades earlier. Back then, magic was still a secret and they were part of the Network¡¯s secret paramilitary wing. His team had stayed together when the Network fractured, surviving through years of upheavals. From the reveal of magic to the vampire war, they had weathered countless storms. When the Network schismed into different factions, Nigel and his team had gotten out. Sickened by the infighting and the actions of the Australian government, they had decided to go it alone. The world had no shortage of work for people with a specific set of skills, and a gold ranker for hire was a rare commodity. Although they had done jobs for a variety of employers, they were most frequently contracted by United Nations official Anna Tilden. They had worked for her in their Network days and now they were her first call for black bag operations. That included their current assignment. They were embedded in France, deep inside vampire territory. It was a region they knew well, having been hired to extract people from vampire blood farms many times. They had been there for almost two months, watching the former Asano Clan land for changes. The first priority when embedded in hostile territory was to avoid being discovered. Fortunately for the team, vampires were prone to murdering one another. If the occasional one stumbled onto the team and went missing, its absence didn¡¯t alert the rest. The vampires weren¡¯t wary towards humans in the area as the only value it held was symbolic. Without the protection of the domain aura, the former Asano territory held no strategic or tactical value. That lack was not lost on certain members of the team. ¡°I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re still doing here,¡± Orange complained. ¡°Sitting in a building every day, watching the edge of a city? We can¡¯t see a damn thing from the outside, and if we tried going in, we¡¯d be lunch inside of an hour.¡± ¡°We¡¯re here because we¡¯re being paid to be here,¡± Darcy told him. They were in an underground room that Woolzy had made with magic, sealing the hard-packed earthen walls until they felt like smooth porcelain. One concealed entrance above them led to a section of woodland not too far from Saint ¨¦tienne. The room was loaded up with camping gear, but there was no getting around that they were nine people living in a hole in the ground. Even if three were always off on observation duty, it was starting to feel ¡ª and smell ¡ª like living in an old fried chicken box. ¡°You¡¯re both right,¡± Higgy said. ¡°Yes, this is the job, and we¡¯re being paid well. But he¡¯s not wrong to wonder what all this is in aid of, or how much longer we¡¯ll be out here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s obvious we¡¯re waiting for something,¡± Digit said. ¡°Something big enough that we don¡¯t need to get close to see it.¡± ¡°Then let them watch on bloody satellites,¡± Orange said. ¡°Why does the UN need us out here on the quiet? I thought the UN¡¯s job was to ask people to stop violating human rights, and then get sad when they say no.¡± ¡°Anna knows something,¡± Digit said. ¡°She knows something is going to happen, and she wants an eyes-on report the moment it does.¡± The others all turned to look at Nigel, sitting silently. ¡°Yep,¡± he said, and left it at that. ¡°Honestly, the why of all this isn¡¯t even the problem,¡± Orange said. ¡°My question is, why are we spending our lives living in holes in the ground? We¡¯ve been doing this long enough that I¡¯m richer than mud cake. Between the nine of us, we have family connections in every Network faction. This work has brought us contacts across the whole damn planet. Why are we crating ourselves in a dirt box instead of sitting on a beach?¡± ¡°I find that hard to argue with,¡± Higgy said. ¡°If we¡¯ve got enough money to live like kings¡­¡± He nodded at Darcy. ¡°¡­and one Queen, then why are we living in caves and digging bunkers out in the woods?¡± Of the six in the bunker, five again turned to look at their leader. ¡°You want to retire?¡± Nigel asked them. ¡°Don¡¯t you?¡± Higgy asked. ¡°As a matter of fact,¡± Nigel said, ¡°I do. Maybe not completely, though. Semi-retire. Live the high life, but if the right job comes along¡ª¡± ¡°Or the right payday,¡± Darcy cut in. ¡°Or the right payday,¡± Nigel conceded. ¡°Then, maybe we saddle up again. If that¡¯s what we want to do, then that¡¯s what we¡¯ll do. Together, like always. You¡¯re right, Orange; we have accumulated a lot of wealth. And the connections we¡¯ve built up are probably worth more than the money. But how much is enough? Where is safe? The United States and China are fairly safe for most people, but we aren¡¯t most people. What happens when someone in charge wants something from us that we don¡¯t want to give?¡± ¡°Thorny,¡± Higgy said to Nigel, ¡°let¡¯s not pretend like you can¡¯t write your own ticket. You hit gold rank outside of any of the big groups and they all want to recruit you.¡± ¡°Or kill you before someone else does,¡± Orange added. ¡°They won¡¯t try,¡± Nigel said. ¡°No one has managed to kill a gold ranker yet, even with other gold rankers. As far as I¡¯m aware, the only ones to die followed Jason Asano into the sealed transformation zone in Slovakia. One didn¡¯t come out again and another one did, then turned into a monster.¡± ¡°Which one was that?¡± Orange asked. ¡°Vietnamese guy,¡± Darcy said. ¡°Worked for the Chinese. Followed Asano into a transformation zone and turned into a tentacle monster when he came out. Every major magical faction had people there and they still barely managed to kill it.¡± ¡°There was Jack Gerling, too,¡± Higgy said. ¡°I thought he went to work for the vampires,¡± Darcy said. ¡°No, he¡¯s right,¡± Nigel said. ¡°I forgot about him because he¡¯s still around. He died in the transformation zone here in France. The vampire queen brought him back as some kind of blood clone slave.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°I guess the moral is to avoid following Jason Asano into big magic domes,¡± Orange said. ¡°Makes me think about those astral proto-spaces we went into with him. We might have been lucky to get out without turning into wombat snakes or something.¡± ¡°Wombat snakes?¡± Nigel asked. ¡°We have officially veered too far off topic,¡± Higgy said. ¡°Thorny, I can tell you¡¯ve got some kind of retirement plan in mind. But for some reason, you haven¡¯t told us yet.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Nigel admitted. ¡°I have a plan. And no, I haven¡¯t told any of you yet.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Darcy asked. ¡°It¡¯s too unreliable. Too many unknown factors. On a basic level, the plan is simple: we find a safe place to land. Somewhere the people in charge will value us without trying to bend us over.¡± ¡°And where do you expect to find that?¡± Orange asked. ¡°Some little island in the Pacific with white beaches and blue water? That¡¯s big enough to import beer, but too small for the Network to set up shop? We all get bungalows and clean up any monsters that turn up?¡± ¡°That actually sounds pretty good,¡± Higgy said. ¡°It does,¡± Nigel said. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.¡± ¡°But you have something else in mind, don¡¯t you?¡± Digit asked. ¡°Something more ambitious, meaning a huge pain in the arse for us.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Nigel said. ¡°Out with it then,¡± Orange said. ¡°It¡¯s going to sound like a terrible idea if I say it now,¡± Nigel said. ¡°Say it anyway,¡± Darcy told him. ¡°We¡¯re all stuck in a hole, Nige. It¡¯s not like you can run off.¡± Nigel sighed. ¡°Fine,¡± he said. ¡°I want to join the Asano Clan.¡± ¡°Are you out of your frigging gourd?¡± Orange asked. ¡°The whole reason we¡¯re here is that the Asano Clan vanished. Everything they had now belongs to the biggest, nastiest pack of ravening vampires on the face of the Earth. Jason Asano hasn¡¯t been seen in a squillion bloody years. His magic town probably lost its power because he cacked it and his family¡¯s most likely dead too. And we¡¯re here for what? To check if all these dead pricks are going to magically reappear?¡± ¡°In fairness,¡± Woolzy said. ¡°If they¡¯re going to reappear, then magically is how it¡¯s going to happen.¡± ¡°You weren¡¯t wrong about it being an unreliable plan,¡± Darcy told Nigel. ¡°Why is that where you¡¯re putting your hopes? What do you know that we don¡¯t? Is that why Anna sent us here, watching this place after years without change? She thinks the Asanos are coming back?¡± Nigel rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°She thinks they¡¯re coming back.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Orange asked. ¡°The vampires have been sitting on the holes the Asano Clan vanished into for years. We don¡¯t know if those astral spaces are even still there. Or if the vampires figured out how to crack them open and ate everyone inside. Or if the clan all starved to death in there.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t starve to death,¡± Higgy said. ¡°Thorny and I went into one once, playing bodyguard for Anna. They had full-blown farms in there, growing magic food like you¡¯ve never seen.¡± ¡°What very few people know,¡± Nigel said, ¡°is that right before we were sent out here, the Asano clan reached out.¡± ¡°How?¡± Higgy asked. ¡°Rufus Remore. He left the place the Asano clan are hiding and made his way though vampire territory, completely unnoticed.¡± ¡°Well, damn,¡± Digit said. ¡°We don¡¯t get any closer than the edge of the old clan territory, and that magic door the Asanos keep locked is right in the middle of it.¡± ¡°But he¡¯s alive,¡± Darcy said. ¡°And the rest of them too?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Nigel said. ¡°And they¡¯re getting ready to make a move. Remore reached out to certain people. Anna Tilden and Boris Ketland, for sure. I don¡¯t know who else, if anyone. For all I know, telling you just doubled the number of people who know about it.¡± ¡°So, the Asano Clan is coming back?¡± Higgy asked. ¡°Properly back? Magic domain, the whole lot?¡± ¡°Remore certainly thinks so.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s assume he¡¯s right,¡± Higgy said. ¡°The Asano Clan comes back out and reclaims their territory. Who is to say they keep it? They lost it once before.¡± ¡°According to Remore, it was some kind of ruse by Jason Asano,¡± Nigel said. ¡°A ¡®fool your friends to fool your enemies¡¯ scenario.¡± ¡°He¡¯s alive too, then?¡± Darcy asked. ¡°Is he coming back as well?¡± ¡°Yes. And supposedly with a dozen gold rankers as strong as Remore himself. And you¡¯ve seen that guy fight.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t,¡± Orange said. ¡°There¡¯s just a flash of light and every prick¡¯s dead. I wouldn¡¯t cross that bloke for quids.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Higgy said. ¡°Let¡¯s say all that¡¯s true. Asano and his clan come back, stronger than ever and rock solid. What makes you think that the clan is a good place for us to land, and that they¡¯ll even take us?¡± ¡°They¡¯ll take us because they know us,¡± Nigel said. ¡°They know who we are, what we¡¯ve done, and what we haven¡¯t.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Orange said. ¡°That¡¯s why they take us. Why should we take them?¡± ¡°Because they¡¯re loyal,¡± Nigel said. ¡°The one thing they¡¯ve consistently done is take care of their own. Not just themselves, but everyone who has helped them or gotten caught up in their mess. They took them in and shielded them. The only ones who they cut ties with was the Network, who screwed Asano time and again. And I¡¯ll remind you that we cut ties with them too. I¡¯m not saying the Asano Clan is perfect, or that I like every choice they¡¯ve made. But their leadership has demonstrated some actual integrity. That¡¯s a hard thing to find.¡± ¡°You say this based on what?¡± Orange asked. ¡°Rumours and second-hand stories? A few visits to clan territory when we were operating out of the military bases they hosted? That¡¯s without even thinking about Jason Asano himself? What changes when he shows up? That guy was a lit fuse when he sodded off.¡± ¡°I did tell you this was unreliable¡± Nigel said. ¡°That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t say anything until you all pushed. I want more information before we do a single bloody thing. That¡¯s why we¡¯re here. I want to see what the Asano Clan does when they¡¯re under the gun and not ready to put on a show for visitors. I don¡¯t want to make any promises to you all that I can¡¯t keep.¡± He checked his watch. ¡°It¡¯s time to relieve the others. Orange, Darce; you come with me.¡± *** The most dangerous time for Nigel and his team was when they were swapping out observers. This happened three times per day; twice during daylight and once at night, when the vampires were more active. Fortunately, Farrah Hurin had given them proper aura training, which they had been practising for well over a decade. They weren¡¯t sloppy at all with their aura control, and vampires were better at manipulating auras than detecting them. The major threat was a gold-rank vampire in the wrong place when the team made a move. The city had several, so even if Nigel could take on one, more would be on them before the fight was done. Accordingly, the team were always diligent. Each time they swapped out people at their observation post, they moved slowly and carefully. The observation post itself was on the outskirts of Saint ¨¦tienne, still in ruins from the original vampire occupation. Just outside of the area claimed by Jason Asano, it was a section of city not replaced with a replica made from Asano¡¯s weird magic clouds. Best of all, the vampires ignored it in favour of the luxurious cloud buildings of the city proper. The post itself was on the third floor of a mostly collapsed building. With the area around it surrounded by overgrown rubble, it was easy to approach from their bunker in the woods without needing to move into the open. As most of the other buildings had been toppled entirely, the sightlines from the upper floor were good. The area had been largely reclaimed by nature in the years since Jason turned a transformation zone into a domain under his control. Grass grew up through shattered streets while bushes, vines and moss grew over the rubble. Only a handful of buildings were even partially standing, and they too were covered in the encroaching green. Nigel, Orange and Darcy picked their way carefully through the overgrown ruins. The sky was clear, giving them enough moonlight to see. That also made them more visible to the vampires, or anything else roaming about. The magic level had been reduced since the clan domain went away, but even a silent kill on a bronze-rank monster could be a problem. The senses of a vampire were sharp already, but especially so when it came to smelling blood. They reached the right building without incident and slipped inside, joining Cobbo, Jonno and Green. What remained of the third floor was set up as their observation post. The handful of intact rooms offered views in multiple directions, including the Asano territory. They couldn¡¯t see deep into the city, but it was enough that any major events wouldn¡¯t be missed. The biggest problem was that the roof was not intact and none of the windows had any glass, making rainy days bad and windy, rainy days completely miserable. The inside of the room was etched with sigils that would mask their presence, from their auras to their body heat. Woolzy had learned them from Farrah back in their Network days and was now an old hand at them. Even a gold ranker would have to pay direct attention to the building to sense them. Despite requests from the team, Nigel had not allowed any rain-shielding magic. Nigel didn¡¯t ask if anything had changed. They had been in place for months, and if anything happened, the others would have mentioned it immediately. The trio being replaced got up to leave and their replacements prepared to settle in. It was a bright night, with a clear sky and a gibbous moon, so they noticed immediately when the change came. The silver moonlight spilling through the window was suddenly replaced with blue and orange. Chapter 886: A Silent City When the light coming through the window turned from moon silver to orange and blue, Nigel and his team moved to look outside. The moon was still there, but its luminance was being outshone by a massive, nebulous eye, floating over the city like an alien invader. Colour spread out from it, more like fire crawling across the sky than simple light. The orange danced like fire and the blue swam like water, painting the city below. They had barely caught sight of it when its aura hit them like a bomb. It had not just spiritual but physical force behind it, sending all but the gold-rank Nigel stumbling back. ¡°That¡¯s not even the full force of it,¡± Nigel said. ¡°We¡¯re on the periphery. It¡¯s much stronger inside the boundaries of the old clan.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t the full strength?¡± Darcy asked, wary of moving back to the window. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s him. Asano. You¡¯ve felt his aura before.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never felt anything like that,¡± Orange said. ¡°It¡¯s changed,¡± Nigel said, ¡°but I recognise the core aspects. But this is something we¡¯ve never seen from him. Get back to the others and move to fallback position three.¡± ¡°Three?¡± Orange asked. ¡°Whatever is happening here,¡± Nigel said, ¡°it just changed the colour of the sky. I want you all as far from this as you can possibly be.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t want you anywhere near this either,¡± Darcy said. Nigel turned to look at her. ¡°Whatever it is we¡¯ve been waiting for, Darce, it¡¯s happening now. I¡¯m the only gold ranker among us, meaning I¡¯m the only one with a real shot of getting in there, taking a closer look and getting out.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going in there?¡± Orange asked. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that just for a job.¡± ¡°I know. But. Whatever¡¯s going on out there, it¡¯s big. Getting ahead of the information curve will give us a better chance of navigating whatever comes next. I¡¯ll learn what I can and then get out. If I don¡¯t join you within three hours of reaching the fallout position, use one of our exfil plans; don¡¯t tell me which one. We¡¯ll regroup in Casablanca.¡± Nigel didn¡¯t wait for further argument, leaping through a window that hadn¡¯t held glass in years. *** As Nigel moved through the streets of what had once been Saint ¨¦tienne, the replica nature of the city started to reveal itself. What looked and felt like stone and metal warped like clay, the colour fading as sections of building and street turned into cloud substance. Nigel cautiously touched some of it and found it thick and sticky, like glue. The city¡¯s horrific denizens were taking to the streets, and the vampires weren¡¯t the greatest number. Many were ghouls; vampiric victims warped into mindless, withered servants. They were erupting from doorways and bursting up from cellars, driven to a frenzy by the aura. Vampires came out after them, trying and often failing to assert control. Nigel watched from hiding as the vampires themselves seemed to have trouble reining in their own mania. Wide-eyed and twitchy, some even joined the ghouls, scrambling up walls like animals or leaping right onto the rooftops. From there, vampires and ghouls alike started shrieking at the eye in the sky. Nigel had seen similar behaviour before. When vampires lost control of their predatory instincts, they became savage beasts, with no thoughts beyond killing and feeding. He also knew that these were the weaker vampires, far more aggressive, but mercifully less powerful. Nigel watched out for the frenzied ones, but it was the stronger ones he kept an eye on. They maintained control of themselves but looked unsettled, casting worried looks at the sky. Some tried to re-establish command over the ghouls and even their fellow vampires. Others moved up to the rooftops for a better look at the eye. More than a few started running, although there was no consensus on direction. From what Nigel could see, they chose to either head for the centre of the city, or to flee it entirely. Nigel followed those heading deeper in, spending more time hiding than moving. In his hand was a gold-rank pistol with a magical silencer; a rare gift from a powerful and grateful client. He used it to put down a couple of vampires, both slower-moving bronze rankers that caught him between hiding spots. He dropped them in an instant and moved on without bothering to hide the bodies. The gun made no sound at all and the smell of blood was already in the air. As the aura-induced madness intensified, ghouls were attacking their masters now, and the vampires were feeding on each other. Those trying to get them under control gave up and started running with the others. The aura driving their behaviour was tyrannical, angry and hungry, as if the aura itself had become vampiric. Nigel was relieved that, while terrifying, it did not affect him as it did the vampires. It was a cyclone of power that moved around him as if he were in the eye of the storm. He could sense that the aura was gold ranked, but also that some other power lay beyond it. He¡¯d never sensed anything beyond gold rank before, and that was rare enough. Whatever lay behind this aura, it was clearly not of the Earth. Nigel felt the moment the aura shifted. He wasn¡¯t sure how, exactly, as it still wasn¡¯t affecting him, but the vampires reacted immediately. The vampires and ghouls on the rooftops had been screaming rage at the eye in the sky, but now those screams turned to fear. They joined the vampires that had retained sense enough to run and started fleeing, either across the rooves or leaping down to the street. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The chaos made it harder to stay hidden and Nigel ducked down a stairwell and into a cellar. The ghouls that had once been inside had ripped apart the door on their way out. He had not been in there long when a gold-rank vampire entered in a blur of movement. Nigel froze. He was confident of fighting one vampire in isolation, but the fight would inevitably bring more down on him. He watched as the vampire panned its gaze over the cellar while sniffing the air. Its eyes passed over him as if he weren¡¯t there and, after a moment, it left. After it did, mist appeared around his body and a voice came from nowhere. ¡°You can move safely, now. They will neither see nor sense you, so long as they don¡¯t touch you.¡± ¡°Jason?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t really talk, Nigel; I¡¯m in the middle of a thing. G¡¯day, though.¡± Nigel made his way back outside, the mist shroud moving with him. The streets were teeming with ghouls and vampires. There were even some blood servants; humans who had been fed on vampire blood. They were stronger and faster than normal people, but enslaved by the blood¡¯s addictive properties. The rooftops and even the walls had ghouls and vampires running along them, clawed hands and feet digging into tile and brick. The buildings continued to devolve into thick cloud substance, sometimes forcing ghouls to yank themselves out. The buildings warped and undulated as Nigel watched, disgorging vampires right through the walls. He was careful to avoid all of it, but it was hard when the city itself was changing around him. A balcony he was hiding on might collapse, or the street turn to cloudy glue under his feet. Fortunately, the city¡¯s monstrous denizens were having as much trouble or more, and things only got worse for them. Nigel heard Jason¡¯s voice again, but not as a nearby whisper. This time, it crashed from the sky like thunder. ¡°BLEED FOR ME.¡± Nigel recognise the incantation from Jason¡¯s bloodletting spell, but the results were more extreme than what he had seen in the past. The effect on the ghouls was familiar, if exaggerated, as they bled from every hole in their bodies. The vampiric servants fells to the ground, in flailing seizures. As for the vampires, mist started rising from their bodies like steam, but darker. Nigel would have guessed it was red, but it was hard to tell in the eerie light. The smell was much easier to identify as the coppery tang of blood filled the air. There had already been a scent of blood carried on the breeze, but it quickly grew thick and heavy. Haze filled the streets as blood mist poured off the vampires, creating a sanguine humidity. Even the vampires that had maintained their senses were now turning to madness. Nigel leapt to a balcony and ducked down to avoid the tide of ghouls dotted with vampires. Nigel and his team had know there were ghouls in the city, which was normal for any vampire enclave, but the number of the emaciated creatures was startling. It looked like the vampires had been using the city to build a new army of them, probably using spent humans from the blood farms. Jason¡¯s voice spoke again, once more crashing from the sky. ¡°YOUR BLOOD IS NOT YOURS TO KEEP, BUT MINE ON WHICH TO FEAST.¡± The moment the thunderous incantation was completed, the blood haze filling the streets started to clear. It rose into the sky, splitting into streamers that converged on the giant eye. When they reached it, they were drawn in and devoured. As the eye absorbed more and more blood, it shifted from blue and orange to purple and red. The light coming from it changed with them until city looked painted in blood and shadow. On the streets, the fleeing ghouls and vampires were suddenly stopped in their tracks as a forest of bizarre shadow arms erupted from every dark crevice and cranny. The arms were void black and utterly inhuman; something between tentacles and the twisted branches of a dead tree. Each limb ended in fingers with too many knuckles, tapering to wicked points. As they dug into flesh, the vampires and their ghoul creations squealed like tortured pigs. A forest of bizarre limbs grasped arms and legs, wrapped around bodies and grabbed heads, sharp fingers jabbing into mouths and digging into eyes. More than just on the street, many were left hanging from walls, caught climbing or mid-jump. They now hung like insects in a web, and like a spider¡¯s prey, they were being drained. The vampires used a variety of powers to try and escape. Nigel saw one turn into a weasel and try to slip away, only to be skewered by sharp fingers and pinned to a wall. Similar fates met all those who shape-shifted into various animals. Those who turned into smoke and mist fared far worse. While they did escape the arms, a surge of aura surrounded them. Their smoke and mist forms turned dark, thickening into more of the blood mist and vanishing into the haze. As the blood evacuated their bodies, the vampires withered, their bodies emaciated and limp. Once the last gasps of blood mist sputtered from their bodies, they were barely distinguishable from the ghouls. The younger vampires fell apart into congealed gobbets, splashing onto the street. The older ones crumbled to dust and were carried away on the breeze. Only the vampires were shedding the blood mist. From the ghouls, blood spattered to the ground, thick and dead. Nigel noticed that some of the vampires weren¡¯t shedding mist. These were mostly weaker ones; bronze rank and a few scant silvers. They were still trapped, but their blood spilled from their bodies and onto the ground. Nigel made his way through the nightmare landscape, barely bothering to hide now. The freakish arms avoided him, and everything else was either dead or dying. He leapt onto a rooftop and saw only a handful of the blood mist streams still rising from the streets. He guessed that these were the gold rank vampires, apparently failing to escape the fate of their lessers. Nigel watched from a roof as the last of the blood haze rose from the city and was drank up by the eye. There were no more howls of rage or fear or agony. Only whimpers remained; a city of ghouls clinging to the last vestiges of their perverse existence, a scant few of their masters doing the same. Jason¡¯s voice rang out one more time, booming across a conquered city. ¡°MINE IS THE JUDGEMENT, AND THE JUDGEMENT IS DEATH.¡± All the blood collected in the eye erupted at once, up from the eye into a cloud that spread over the entire city. Blood rain fell, but each droplet was transformed before it ever reached the ground. Dark blood drops became shimmering motes of gold, silver and blue light. When they struck the mist shrouding Nigel, or hit the tiled rooftops, they vanished without effect. The ghouls and vampires did not get off so easily. Vampires and ghouls still trapped in shadowy limbs had their flesh explode where the rain touched them. The blood servants that hadn¡¯t already died in seizures didn¡¯t explode when touched by the shining raindrops. Only their blood did, turning each into a gruesome and extremely deceased mess. The process of killing off anything that had survived the blood draining was accompanied by fresh howls of intense agony. Nigel looked up at the eye, once more blue and orange. By the time the shining rain stopped falling, there were no more howls and no more whimpers. Nigel was the only thing alive in a silent city. Chapter 887: The Fundamental Things Nigel looked up, watching the night sky close over the nebulous eye. The blue and orange light painting the city disappeared with it, allowing the moonlight to once more have primacy. The macabre remnants of the city were illuminated in silver. The buildings were warped, like plastic models melted under a hot lamp. Some sections had broken down entirely, leaking cloud material that sparkled in the moonlight. Pools of blood and streaks of gore shone black under the silver light. They had no smell to them, as if everything that made the congealing fluids blood had been leached out of them. The sanguine aroma that had drenched the air was no longer carried on the fresh night breeze. ¡°You¡¯ve been diligent in your training, I see.¡± Nigel span around on hearing Jason¡¯s voice. His aura senses hadn¡¯t registered the man¡¯s approach and still didn¡¯t recognise his presence. To his supernatural perception, Jason Asano and the world around him were one and the same. Jason was standing on the roof in a floral shirt, tan shorts and sandals. He slouched casually, hands in his pockets. While moonlight washed the colour out of everything else, it lit him up like he was standing centre stage. ¡°Nigel? You okay, mate? You look a bit shell shocked.¡± Nigel continued to stare at him. ¡°You¡¯re going to ask that after what you just did?¡± ¡°Yeah, fair enough.¡± ¡°Are you back?¡± Nigel asked. ¡°Or are you some kind of illusion?¡± ¡°Not exactly. This body is an avatar. A physical projection from another universe, like an interdimensional phone call.¡± ¡°But you are still alive.¡± ¡°Was that even a question? The answer is more complicated than you¡¯d think, I¡¯ll admit. I guess it depends on how you define alive.¡± ¡°Are you undead?¡± ¡°No. I guess I¡¯m, I don¡¯t know. Geographical?¡± ¡°What does that even mean?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s put that aside for now. For practical purposes, I¡¯m alive. You thought I was dead, though? I¡¯d have thought the System would have put that idea to bed.¡± ¡°One of the prevailing theories is that the System is what¡¯s left of the magic that once inhabited this place. That the domains fell because you died and their power seeped into the planet, and once it permeated the entire earth, the System happened.¡± ¡°People actually think that?¡± ¡°The impossible isn¡¯t what it used to be, Asano.¡± ¡°I suppose not.¡± Nigel looked at the man, an utterly incongruous figure in the dark and blood-soaked city. ¡°You seem relaxed for a man that just turned a city into a grave.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to be a better man than the one who left this world. But I don¡¯t have it in me to mourn the ones who had it coming. Not anymore.¡± ¡°Who decides who has it coming? I won¡¯t argue about killing vampires, but I just saw a power this Earth has never seen. What is to stop you from deciding anyone you don¡¯t like has it coming? Where¡¯s the line?¡± ¡°Wherever I decide it is.¡± ¡°Why do you get to make that judgement?¡± ¡°Who do you think should decide where I use my power, Nigel? Some faction leader? A president or a prime minister? A parliament or a congress? The United Nations?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but you just wiped out a city. That¡¯s a dangerous power to leave unaccountable to anyone.¡± Jason tilted his head, peering at Nigel. He realised that Jason was reading the emotions in his aura. ¡°You¡¯re asking me this because you¡¯re afraid of yourself, aren¡¯t you? Of the power you have as a gold ranker.¡± Jason said. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Who do you work for now, Nigel? Who do you answer to?¡± ¡°Myself. My conscience. My team and I are private contractors. This job is for Anna Tilden, but my team and I aren¡¯t attached to any group. We answer to each other, choosing which jobs to take and which to refuse. My team are the ones who hold me to account.¡± Jason smiled. ¡°Mine too. I didn¡¯t have them on Earth, which is probably how I went so astray. If not for Farrah, I¡¯d have lost myself completely, I think.¡± ¡°Sometimes I question myself. The power I have at this rank is right out of a comic book. I could knock down a building with my bare hands. Throw a train like a javelin. My team are my brothers and sisters, but they don¡¯t have this much power. It scares me sometimes.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°I understand. Maybe more than anyone. You¡¯re a gold ranker with no affiliation? You got out when the Network fell apart?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°But you were silver, then, and no one much cared, right? Until you hit gold rank and suddenly everyone wants a piece of you, and they aren¡¯t scrupulous about how to get it.¡± ¡°No, they¡¯re not.¡± ¡°Sucks, doesn¡¯t it?¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t handle it very well, so I might not have the best advice. For what it¡¯s worth, though, I think you¡¯re on the right track. Listen to the people you trust. Let them show you when you¡¯re heading off the rails.¡± ¡°I need more than that. Sooner or later, someone is going to decide they don¡¯t like a gold-rank free agent and start looking for levers.¡± ¡°Your family. Your team¡¯s families.¡± ¡°Yeah. A lot of the team come from old Network families, so they have protection enough for now. But if people with real power come along¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t trust the Network factions to not sell them out.¡± ¡°Exactly. I¡¯ve been looking for a place we can all belong. Where our families can be safe and the people in charge won¡¯t use us for things we don¡¯t want to do.¡± ¡°Are you asking to join the Asano Clan?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯d have us, and I¡¯d want to know more before we agree to be a part of it. But I saw you, during your time here. What loyalty and betrayal meant to you.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°When you have so much power that you can solve most of the old problems,¡± he said, ¡°you realise that it¡¯s the fundamental things that really matter.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not going to say you can be in or out. I¡¯ll leave that to my grandmother. But I think it might be a good fit, so I¡¯ll have a word with her.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a few things I¡¯d like to know, Asano.¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s more than a few, but go on.¡± ¡°I understand you wanted to clear the city of vampires, but why do it this way? To show the rest of the world what happens when they cross you? Letting me see so I can go back and tell everyone how dangerous you are?¡± Jason shook his head. ¡°Nah, mate. The people who make the decisions in this world don¡¯t scare, no matter how real the threat. I learned that the last time I was here. Once I¡¯m back, they¡¯ll take their shots and pay the price for trying. I don¡¯t like it, but there¡¯s nothing I can do to stop it. Not without becoming just like them.¡± ¡°Like them how?¡± ¡°Letting innocent people pay the price for what I want.¡± Jason gestured at himself. ¡°This, the gawking tourist outfit, is aspirational. Casual. Fun. A little dorky. It¡¯s who I want to be. But this¡­¡± He spread his arms out to indicate the city around them. ¡°This is who I am. When I have to be. This wasn¡¯t a show, Nigel. This was a practical necessity. I left all these cloud buildings intact in the hope that the vampires would move in. I wasn¡¯t taking their blood, but the remnants of reality core energy, from when they were infusing the power of those cores into blood.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why some weren¡¯t drained,¡± Nigel realised. ¡°They were the younger ones, who had never fed on reality core blood.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How powerful are you? Are you at the rank after gold?¡± ¡°That¡¯s complicated. Technically, I¡¯m both gold rank and a rank that¡¯s beyond gold. In this place, my domain, I¡¯m extremely powerful. I don¡¯t like the term ¡®holy ground,¡¯ but that¡¯s essentially what we¡¯re dealing with. I¡¯m not a god, but I do certain things the way that gods do. When I come to Earth, it will be in a mortal vessel. Gold rank, like you. It will have power like what you saw here, but scaled back. It will be an extension of myself, a more developed version of this avatar. Killing it won¡¯t hurt me, just cost me time to make a new one.¡± ¡°Did the same thing happen in Slovakia as happened here?¡± ¡°Yes. But the vampires there kept their blood farm within the domain, so I was able to rescue those people. Here, the blood farm is off site, outside the reach of my power. This avatar can¡¯t go beyond the boundary of my domain, so I can¡¯t intercede there myself. You know the blood farms they used, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Nigel said. We¡¯ve been here for months, scouted it all out. We just didn¡¯t have the numbers to rescue the people, or a way to extract them if we did. After your domains went down, mainland Europe fell entirely to the vampires.¡± ¡°The clan can offer you numbers and safety. Is the rest of your team nearby?¡± ¡°Yeah. If I move fast, I can reach them before they evacuate the region.¡± ¡°Then please go and bring them back. In the meantime, I will clean the city.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite a mess.¡± A nearby patch of blood smeared across the roof burst into ghostly white flame. ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem,¡± Jason said. *** Sophie swung her leg in a horizontal kick that hit nothing. A wind blade shot out, widening as it passed over the plain. The horizontal wave of razor-sharp air passed over the grass, shimmering like a heat haze and humming like an engine. In its path was a massive horde of stonehide lizards, the crashing sound of their feet overpowering the sound of the wind blade. It was a large group, far too many to come from a normal manifestation. They were left over from the monster surge, four years previous, and hidden in an uninhabited mountain range. Sophie¡¯s contract was firstly to eliminate them before they caused havoc on the trading routes of the flatlands. Once that was done, she needed to investigate what had driven them down from the mountains. They¡¯d been up there for years without bothering anyone, and the Adventure Society wanted to know what had changed. As the wind blade struck the stampeding herd, secondary wind blades erupted from the struck monsters. Those in turn triggered more and more secondary blades, bouncing back and forth between the monsters until the massive herd became a meat grinder of rent armour and spraying blood. Sophie stood and watched, listening as the countless cracks of new wind blades rang like a thunderstorm. The gem in her wristband started blinking, indicating someone was contacting her sky talk tablet. She pulled it out of a dimensional pouch and accepted the call. Clive¡¯s face appeared on the tablet. ¡°It¡¯s time?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s time. The portal to Jason¡¯s soul realm has opened up again. Finish whatever business you¡¯re on and make your way to Yaresh.¡± Sophie ended the call, put the tablet away and turned back to the horde of monsters. Despite the power of her gold-rank wind blade, stonehide lizards were tough, even for silver-rank monsters. They were all savagely lacerated, but yet to fall. The only ones that had died so far were those trampled in the frenzied stampede. By the time the magic of her attack was expended and the blade storm came to an end, the stonehide lizards were rushing all the harder. Bellowing in rage, they hurled themselves across the plain in Sophie¡¯s direction. She watched their approach, took out a sandwich and bit into it. From the sky, a sound started at a high pitch, growing deeper as the source descended at breakneck speed. Humphrey landed in the middle of the herd like a bomb. The shockwave of his abrupt arrival flung the monsters away from his impact point. The force of the wave ripped bodies apart in the air, splitting them along lines broken in their armour by wind blades. Pieces of monster flew more than a kilometre away, several chunks avoiding Sophie as she manipulated the air to deflect them. A massive cloud of dust followed, again moving around Sophie thanks to her wind control. Visibility died as the cloud surrounded her. A figure came striding out, tall and broad shouldered. Dust had caked onto his armour, muting its colourful rainbow scales. He pulled his helmet off with a grin. ¡°Took you long enough,¡± she told him. ¡°I was starting think that Nik would rank up before¡ª¡± She dropped her sandwich as he pulled her into a passionate kiss. A moustachioed dog dashed out of the dust cloud like a cheetah, snatching the sandwich before it hit the ground. *** ¡°¡­whatever business you¡¯re on and make your way to Yaresh,¡± Clive said. The image on his tablet of Sophie nodded and the call ended. ¡°Would it kill you to say goodbye like a normal person?¡± he muttered, and shoved the tablet into his storage space. He got up and went to the outer office. ¡°Jeff, how are preparations for my trip away?¡± ¡°Vice Chancellor Grantham reported that she was read up on everything and ready to stand in during your absence. She did request a meeting to go over any last details, and update you on the portal network project.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Set something up.¡± ¡°She suggested a dinner meeting.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Tonight would be best, if she can accommodate it. I want to leave tomorrow.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure she will, Archchancellor. And, if I might suggest, sir, do dress up nicely.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Clive asked. ¡°I¡¯ve got too much to do to go fancying myself up just to eat and go over administrative details.¡± Jeff watched as Clive stalked back into his office, closing the door behind him. Jeff shook his head sadly. ¡°That poor, poor woman,¡± he muttered. Chapter 888: You Dont Want Glory Jason and his familiars stood in a doorway that opened onto a blank void, serving as a private dock to the deep astral. Any cosmic visitors had to approach Jason¡¯s astral kingdom from elsewhere, as this was for his use alone. It had once led to the Cosmic Throne, but Jason had relinquished that link. As they watched, a nebulous orange and blue eye opened in the dark. Motes of light, poured from it in a torrent, dancing sparks of blue, silver and gold. They swam through the void like a school of luminescent deep sea fish, lighting up the dark. Despite the appearance, they were not living things but shards of the fundamental substance that made up physical reality. First stolen from Earth¡¯s transformation zones, then consumed by vampires, Jason had subsequently sieved it from their bodies and taken it for himself. ¡°It is insufficient to complete your prime avatar,¡± Shade observed. ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason agreed in a dissatisfied tone. ¡°I don¡¯t like my options for getting the rest of what I need, either. Having Rufus raid the factions on Earth for any reality core stockpiles would make things very hard for Grandmother, diplomatically. The messengers are made of the stuff I need, but they¡¯re all indoctrinated slaves. Killing them in a war is one thing, but I¡¯m not going to have the team round them up and drag them into my domain for me to consume.¡± ¡°There are more vampires on Earth,¡± Colin said. ¡°The clan has strong people now. They could grab vampires for you to eat.¡± ¡°They could,¡± Jason mused. ¡°There¡¯s an argument that they¡¯re victims as well, but they¡¯re too far gone for any chance at redemption. But I don¡¯t want the clan doing something that predatory. I know I¡¯m not great leader material, but I am responsible for them. Part of leadership is about setting a culture, and I want them to be better than me.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t protect them from ever dirtying their hands,¡± Colin said. ¡°No,¡± Jason agreed, ¡°but only if they have to. I don¡¯t absolutely need this from them, so I¡¯m not going to send them off to kidnap things that think and feel, just so I can squeeze the life out of them and consume it.¡± ¡°I agree that would be best avoided,¡± Shade said. ¡°I have a suggestion,¡± Gordon said. The sweet tones of his voice emitted from all twelve of the spheres he had at gold rank, making him sound like a choir of angels. It masked what Jason knew to be the familiar¡¯s nervousness at speaking. He was new to being understood by everyone. ¡°Please, share,¡± Jason encouraged. ¡°You gave something to the goddess of death once, as part of a bargain.¡± Jason¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°That¡¯s brilliant, Gordon,¡± Jason said. Gordon¡¯s orbs dimmed bashfully. ¡°What am I missing?¡± Colin asked. He was in his blood clone form, looking like Jason but sculpted from wet, blood-red clay. ¡°I made a bargain with Death,¡± Jason said. ¡°To swear off resurrection, for myself or anyone else at my hands.¡± ¡°I remember,¡± Colin said. ¡°Really stupid choice. I can¡¯t believe you gave away power like that.¡± ¡°We needed a miracle,¡± Jason said, ¡°and we got one. I don¡¯t bring it up to relitigate that decision, though. The point is that I had the power to resurrect at the time. I¡¯d drained enough reality material from messengers to build myself a new body if I died. I gave it up to the goddess when I made the deal, but now that I won¡¯t use it to come back to life, she may be willing to return it.¡± ¡°Do you think that likely?¡± Shade asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Jason said. ¡°I probably got in her good graces by shutting Undeath down so hard. Can¡¯t hurt to ask.¡± *** Fiorella liked portal duty. A nice quiet room where nothing ever happened, and the best part: the chair reclined. For someone who enjoyed napping, it was the most coveted posting in the city of Rexion¡¯s militia. She had only been a girl when the old city fell, and had grown up in Rexion. She¡¯d been in the crowd, sitting on her father¡¯s shoulders when they had the big ceremony to name their new home. Her memories of those days were the hazy recollections of a child. Fear and hopelessness as the Builder cult, the messengers and then the undead came underground, one after the other. Abandoning their home. Hiding in some strange place her mother said was inside a man¡¯s soul ¡ª that part still didn¡¯t make sense to her ¡ª and finally arriving in their new home. People had been scared. They had gone through so much; lost so much. Seen people and experienced events that were powerful, confusing and bizarre. It was hard to tell saviours from enemies, especially when one became the other. It had been one thing after the next, and when they arrived in the city, what no one expected was peace and safety. For some, it took years to accept. Some never did, ever wary for some unspecified cataclysm. The city was no less strange than anything else they had been through. So empty, with how few Brighthearts were left. The buildings that turned into fog, reshaped themselves and turned into different buildings. It still happened occasionally, but it was all the time when Fiorella was still a child. More people from the surface arrived, but these were neither foes nor saviours. They came not for war but for trade. The new growing chambers produced so much food, and the people on the surface were apparently very hungry. She heard stories of them facing their own messengers, who destroyed their surface growing chambers, called farms. They needed food and had much to offer in return. Most valuable was what the Church of Fertility could provide: children. In only a few years, the streets had been teeming with them, too many to raise as anything but a community. The portal chamber had always been there, ever since the beginning. There were all kinds of stories about it. That it led to the place they had all sheltered in after fleeing the old city. That it was the inside of a person¡¯s soul. Fiorella¡¯s memories of being inside were patchy, just a few images and emotions. Mostly fear and loss. The portal was only ever used occasionally, by Council Leader Lorenn or visitors from the surface. Then, a few years ago, it closed. When that happened, the militia started putting on extra people. There was talk of some invisible protection having gone away. While many didn¡¯t believe it, Fiorella did. Her aura senses were a little stronger than most Brighthearts and she had felt the change. Something that had always been there, without her ever noticing, was suddenly gone. That had been Fiorella¡¯s impetus for joining the militia, but the results were not what she expected. For one thing, she turned out to have little talent for combat. She was trained to draw out her elemental powers, but she was never any good with them in the combat drills. She found her niche in the militia¡¯s logistics and administration divisions, cycling through a variety of duties in both. No new threat ever came. Council leader Lorenn had been diligent in safeguarding the city without the vanished aura and its mysterious, unspecified protection. Through years of negotiation, the surface entrances to Rexion were now administered by the city, alongside some organisation from the surface. Fiorella had been assigned up there a couple of times, finding the open sky unsettling, but also fascinating. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Although she was no slacker, Fiorella¡¯s favourite duty remained watching the portal chamber. It was a room that looked to be made of sand-coloured brick and no decorations. At one end, by the door, was a desk with a very comfortable chair. At the other was the portal itself: a white stone archway. It was closed by the time Fiorella signed on, but she had a memory of it from childhood. Swirling colours of blue, silver and gold. Pretty, but unnerving. Now, Fiorella¡¯s work roster left her periodically assigned to watched that very portal. It stayed closed, nothing ever happening. Napping wasn¡¯t strictly allowed, but more than one superior officer had quietly mentioned that alternating good naps with good books was an acceptable way to pass the time. The large reclining chair behind the desk was not as comfortable as it was by accident. Fiorella hadn¡¯t been on duty when the portal had opened again a little over a week ago. There had been a big hubbub at first, a group of combat militia replacing the one administrator in watching the portal. That hadn¡¯t lasted long. Council leader Lorenn had gone into the portal with a few of the city¡¯s elite veterans, returning quickly and removing the troops on her return. The role of watching the portal fell once more to administration and Fiorella was placed back on the roster. It had been exciting for the first couple of days, despite the inactivity. She¡¯d been briefed on all the people who might come out, and the ones who would inevitably visit from the surface. A device was set up in the corner so the sky network tablets would work through the portal. It looked like a lamp. After being assigned, she sat behind the desk, imagining all the exciting things she might witness. The list of people who were likely to come through in either direction were apparently all famous up on the surface. Some of the names in that briefing list she¡¯d heard in stories told by the older militia members. Stories she¡¯d always thought were fanciful, but now she would get to see these people and judge for herself. Two days into staring at the portal while almost nothing happened, the novelty had worn off. No one had arrived to go in, and one person had come out. When a priest of the Healer named Carlos Quilido emerged, she was bursting with questions. After one look at his stormy face, her questions died on her lips. He shoved a bundle of letters into her hands and went back without a word. If not for the briefings, she wouldn¡¯t have even known his name. The only real difference after the portal opened was the silver, blue and gold light filling the once-empty arch. The colours weren¡¯t especially bright, but they did swirl around a lot, making it harder to nap. Not impossible, however, and Fiorella was roused from sleep by a gentle knocking on the table. ¡°Denny?¡± she asked blearily. ¡°Is it shift change?¡± ¡°I have no idea. And my friends call me Jason.¡± Her eyes swam into focus as she sat up and looked at the man casually half-sitting on the table. He was a human, with a human face. It had hair on it. She wondered what a human was doing there. Her sleepy brain finally caught up with what was happening and she almost fell bolting out of her chair. ¡°You¡¯re him,¡± she said. ¡°You are him, right? Sorry, Mr Asano, sir. That is you, right?¡± She hoped the whimpering sound was only happening inside her head. This was the person they had talked about first and last in the briefing. The one who, should he emerge from the portal, meant she had to send a message to her superior and the Council Leader¡¯s office. It was supposedly his soul on the other side of the portal that people could somehow live inside of. ¡°Um, I need to go tell people you¡¯re here, sir. If that¡¯s alright.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make you a deal,¡± he said. ¡°You call me Jason instead of sir, and you can do whatever you like.¡± ¡°Uh, yes, sir. Jason. Sorry.¡± He let out a chuckle. It was friendly, comforting sound. With everything that had been said about him, she was expecting some intimidating patrician figure. Instead, he looked like any human she¡¯d see at the shaft market where most of the surface people shopped. ¡°Sir¡­ sorry again. Jason. Is it true that your soul is on the other side of that portal?¡± ¡°That¡¯s complicated, as you might imagine. But yes. How old are you? Early twenties? Old enough to have lived through all the trouble. You would have been a little girl when you and your people took shelter in there. I don¡¯t imagine you remember much, or clearly.¡± ¡°No, sir.¡± He smiled and shook his head. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Fiorella, sir.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably time you go tell someone I¡¯m here, Fiorella.¡± Her eyes went wide. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± After she bolted out of the room, Shade emerged from Jason¡¯s shadow. ¡°Why did you ask her name when you already knew it?¡± the familiar asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want to rub it in their faces that this place is my domain. This is their home. And it creeps people out when they know you can be ¡ª and probably are ¡ª watching them at every moment.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand why people have a problem with that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because watching people from the shadows is kind of your thing.¡± *** Council Leader Lorenn¡¯s office was modest. She was seated not behind her desk but on one of a pair of couches, with Jason sat opposite. ¡°Again, Council Leader, I¡¯d like to express my apologies for withdrawing the protection of my aura without warning, but I was always watching. I saw your efforts to protect your people, both militarily and diplomatically. You are a good leader.¡± ¡°I understand your reasons, Mr Asano. I might have had trouble believing them, had we not been through that transformation zone together. And while your aura may have gone, the infrastructure never showed the slightest indication of failure.¡± ¡°Fortunately, I didn¡¯t have to take things that far for my ruse to work. Even if my identity had been eliminated, my power would have remained.¡± Lorenn nodded. ¡°I won¡¯t pretend to understand the nature of the battles you fight, Mr Asano. What I will do is apologise, in turn.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°After the transformation zone, I was tired. Afraid to hope and quick to doubt.¡± ¡°That¡¯s nothing to apologise for, Council Leader. My tribulations are meagre things compared to what you and your people suffered, yet I handled them with not a scrap of your grace and equanimity. You have nothing but my admiration.¡± ¡°Thank you, although you had little time to see past the fa?ade. We all have our scars.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t we just.¡± ¡°My point, Mr Asano, is that you were off and away before I even began to grapple with what you had left us. This place is a wonder. People I have met from the surface say that cloud vehicles such as yours are rare and precious things. An entire city of such construction is unheard of, even amongst the marvels of the surface world.¡± ¡°The surface world has no shortage of wonders.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t doubt it, but this city stands amongst the best of them. The requests to come and study it have proven that.¡± ¡°Have you accepted any of those requests?¡± ¡°No. This is our city, but your power. I would not do so without your consent.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°There is a person who I have somewhat accidentally dodged for most of two decades, now. They are a diamond ranker and created my cloud flask. I think letting them study this place would be fair compensation, so long as they don¡¯t interfere with your people. Emir Bahadir will have their contact details.¡± ¡°Very well. But you keep deflecting from my topic, Mr Asano. After the transformation zone, I was bone weary. For so long, I had been putting one foot in front of the other, waiting for the next disaster. Always on watch for the next problem. Once I finally accepted that we have found safety, I looked back and realised just how much we owe you. It¡¯s obvious, but I was too caught up to see it until you were gone. You are the saviour of the Brighthearts.¡± ¡°Many people were a part of this. Including you.¡± ¡°Not everyone carried my people in their soul, or fought a god.¡± ¡°If you need someone to build a statue of, Council Leader, then choose Gareth Xandier. He fought that god too, and it¡¯ll look better anyway.¡± ¡°We did.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Mr Asano, you sheltered us when we were lost. Not just kept our people safe but welcomed them into your very soul. Then you reclaimed our home and rebuilt it out of miracles. The ground we walk and the homes we live in are expressions of your power. This is the kind of story myths are made of.¡± Jason leaned back into the couch and sighed. ¡°Then let it fade,¡± he said. ¡°Myths are just old stories. Let me be that. If you¡¯re going to talk about what happened here, don¡¯t make it about me. That doesn¡¯t help anyone. Talk about the people who came from the surface to help. That¡¯s useful. Something that can build bridges. Let me be a footnote.¡± ¡°Why shy away from fame? From what I can tell, you aren¡¯t short of it on the surface.¡± ¡°Maybe a while back. In certain places. But there are always new stories. New heroes. It¡¯s been time enough that I can be just some guy. As much as any gold ranker can be. If I do something a little special, that¡¯s expected of gold rankers. I won¡¯t stand out like before.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure that anyone but you believes that.¡± ¡°Call it a hope.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want glory?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had glory. It¡¯s an empty thing. The time it cost me with my friends and my family are among my greatest regrets.¡± ¡°I feel like you deserve more.¡± ¡°Fame isn¡¯t a prize, Council Leader. It¡¯s a price. Surely you know that.¡± Lorenn nodded contemplatively. ¡°Yes, I suppose I do. But surely there is something we can do for you.¡± ¡°Open a good sandwich shop.¡± Chapter 889: The Power Looming Over Us All Lorenn and Jason were on opposite couches. The setting was casual, but their discussion had the potential to shape the Brightheart city for generations. ¡°I respect that you have done what you can to give us autonomy,¡± Lorenn said, ¡°but there are some issues that can only be resolved by you.¡± ¡°Religious issues?¡± ¡°Yes. You are, of course, aware of much of the political situation in the city. Many diplomatic and religious issues are settled outside of your domain, however. In one of the surface shafts, a town has been dug into the sides. It was placed just beyond the area of control because it was first excavated when the transformation zone was active.¡± ¡°People waited there for the zone to drop. I remember.¡± ¡°Since that time, it has been massively expanded. We call it Outer Rexion now. The statue of your friend is there. The population is mostly transitory. Merchants and diplomats from the surface. Most of the churches regularly cycle through their assigned clergy, as few enjoy spending so much time underground. Only those worshipping gods such as Earth, Stone and Deep seem to like it very much.¡± ¡°But their inability to situate temples in the city proper is causing issues?¡± ¡°Yes. The priests tell me that you hold dominion and the gods cannot encroach upon it with their power.¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Lorenn gave Jason an uneasy look. ¡°It¡¯s true, then. You have the power to refuse the gods?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as contentious as you make it sound. It¡¯s true that I was mistrustful of gods when I first came to this world, but they¡¯re like anyone else. You have good ones and bad ones. I know that isn¡¯t news to you. Undeath is a complete prick, obviously, but some of the others have been kind and friendly to me.¡± He scowled. ¡°And a little thirsty,¡± he grumblingly added. ¡°Thirsty? Gods drink?¡± Jason let out a chuckle. ¡°Never mind. Tell me about the ramifications of the temples being excluded. I¡¯m assuming there has been some resentment?¡± ¡°There has. Not from the clergy, to my surprise. Their gods have apparently explained things to them and they¡¯ve been quite understanding. The resentment comes from two sides, each presenting their own challenges.¡± ¡°One being external, I assume? People asking that if you¡¯re refusing access to the gods, what are you hiding? Are the dark gods taking root here, far from the light?¡± ¡°Exactly. Even if the church officials and our diplomatic contacts understand, some people will believe what they want, regardless of the truth. Anger is easy to stoke, and those who would undermine our autonomy to exploit us are not shy about doing so.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not unique. I come from a whole other universe and the same thing happens.¡± ¡°What do you do about it there?¡± ¡°Mostly give rich people everything they want and then claim that we didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°How does that help?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you rich?¡± ¡°Extremely.¡± ¡°So, you haven¡¯t really done anything about it, then.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tempt me. I have this incredible urge to go back to my world and fix all the problems. I have wealth and power enough to reshape my home planet¡¯s entire civilisation.¡± ¡°Then, why don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been watching you for years, and you¡¯re a good leader. I am not. I have more power than any one person should, but not the knowledge, experience and wisdom to use it well. If I start instituting simple solutions to complex problems, I¡¯ll do more harm than good. But I can¡¯t just do nothing with it, either. When I act it has to be with caution. I need to rely on those with the knowledge and experience I lack. People like you. Even then, I¡¯m going to stumble, and I won¡¯t be the one suffering from unintended consequences.¡± He sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you even asked me that. I¡¯m not saying anything you don¡¯t know. You¡¯re a capable and experienced leader, where I¡¯m just some guy who stumbled into vast cosmic power.¡± ¡°That is exactly why. I lead my people, but you are the power looming over us all. Our autonomy exists only so long as you allow it. You saved my people and built our home, but you could equally bring it all down on top of us.¡± Jason frowned. ¡°I understand,¡± he told her. ¡°I don¡¯t like this power dynamic either. I preferred it when I could swan around, making jokes that no one understood but me. Now, I have to be careful with every word.¡± Lorenn nodded. ¡°Such is the nature of leadership and the danger of power. I will confess to not liking the fate of my people being in the hands of an outsider. I find it easier to think of you as a god.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a god.¡± ¡°For practical purposes, you are. You have unassailable power. A domain upon which even gods cannot trespass. Gods that treat you more like one of them than one of us. When I think of you as a divine authority, rather than a person, it becomes easier to accept your role in our lives. But, as you say, you are not a god. It comforts me that you understand your power over us is not to be used lightly.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t comfort me. I feel like a child who ate a spirit coin and could wreck anything they touch with their carelessness. All I can do is try to avoid doing too much damage while I learn about how to use my power ¡ª and how to not use it. If you are willing, I¡¯m hoping that you and I could speak on this topic from time to time. I could learn a lot about leadership from you.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°I am open to that.¡± ¡°Thank you. Now, speaking of leadership, let¡¯s get back to specifics. I imagine there is some resentment amongst your own people at the exclusion of temples from the main city.¡± ¡°Yes. We did have priests and temples in the old city. They fell defending it, shielding the rest of us as we evacuated. We honour those memories. Many would like to join those churches, but the temples are in the part of the city built for outsiders. It is an obstacle for many, and excluding the Church of Fertility is especially contentious. We were brought to the brink of extinction, and they are vital to rebuilding our population. Many consider it disrespectful to keep them at a distance.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°Now that the other claims on my spiritual attention have been completed, I can make some changes here. If I withdraw my dominion over certain parts of the city, the gods can claim them and temples may be built. Decide which temples you want built and where, and I¡¯ll make it possible.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need to negotiate with the churches.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your city, so I shall leave that in your hands. Let me know when you¡¯ve made your decisions.¡± ¡°And if you don¡¯t like my decisions?¡± ¡°It¡¯s your city,¡± Jason said again. ¡°It will take more than me disagreeing with you to intervene. I¡¯m not saying I wouldn¡¯t step in, but that would be an extreme measure. Anything that drastic is likely as repugnant to you as to me, like wanting to build a temple of Undeath.¡± Lorenn scowled. ¡°Repugnant indeed. I would like some measure of where you see the line, however. There is no escaping the fact that you are the ultimate authority here.¡± Jason nodded, staying silent for a moment as he thought about it. ¡°Here¡¯s an example,¡± he said. ¡°I detest slavery. That¡¯s far from a unique position when even the meagrest scrap of empathy or decency will get you there. It¡¯s a core value from the society I was raised in, and one that didn¡¯t waver for me when so many others did. Many societies on the surface use an indenture system that is little more than slavery with a coat of paint. Rife with corruption and abuse and absent of consequence. The usual exploitation of the powerless. If your ruling council wanted to institute that system here, I would argue against it, repeatedly and loudly. I would not, however, stop you. It is not for me to tell your people how to conduct themselves. To a point.¡± ¡°At what point would you intervene, then? ¡°If you implemented that system, it could easily devolve to a point that I can no longer tolerate the abuses. I could see myself stepping in, even knowing that doing so would have unintentional knock-on effects. If I judged that my intervention was worth the damage it would cause, I would act. But that would be a last resort, after failing to convince your leadership to shift course on their own.¡± Lorenn leaned back into the couch. ¡°I can¡¯t say I like the fact that you can come in and just change things, consequences be damned. But your reluctance to do so is more than I would expect for someone in your position.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°Power and ideals are a volatile mix. I¡¯ve managed to temper the latter as I¡¯ve acquired the former. Hopefully to the stage where I¡¯m not a complete disaster. I can¡¯t promise that I won¡¯t make mistakes, though. If anything, I can almost promise I will.¡± ¡°I think that we are discussing worst-case scenarios here,¡± Lorenn said. ¡°You and I seem to share more values than we conflict upon. I don¡¯t think that we can progress any further on that at this time, so let¡¯s table that discussion and move back to practical concerns.¡± ¡°Certainly. Please continue.¡± ¡°There is a matter that is less urgent than temple locations, and perhaps affects you more than me.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°There are priests staying in Outer Rexion.¡± ¡°I would expect as much, given the temples there.¡± ¡°It would be more correct to say that these are former priests. They are not here for the temples, but for you. They have been petitioning for residency in the main city. Thus far, we have refused them.¡± ¡°They¡¯re here for me?¡± ¡°They came here because our city is a manifestation of your power. That isn¡¯t something we tell people, but more than enough know for it to be called a secret.¡± ¡°What is their interest in my¡­ wait. How much do you know about these people?¡± ¡°That they claim you saved them. That they have spent two decades researching you, because you spent most of that time dead or in other dimensions.¡± Jason groaned and ran a hand over his face. ¡°I think I know who they are,¡± he said. ¡°What is their interest in you?¡± ¡°Centuries ago, there was a conflict. A cult to one of the great astral beings had a schism. A faction broke away, more interested in power and politics than the ideals they claimed to still follow. Common in the history of my planet, but we don¡¯t have gods stepping in to intervene.¡± ¡°Are these people from that cult?¡± ¡°No. This splinter group overstepped and ended up being hunted down by a bunch of churches. A lot of people from those churches were trapped and held in stasis for centuries. I released them around twenty years ago now, but many didn¡¯t have anyone to go back to. Some had descendents, and others went back to their churches. But some gave up on their faith after their ordeal, or weren¡¯t accepted back. Purity rejected all of them, probably because the real Purity had been replaced during their entrapment. You heard about the events surrounding the god of Purity?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°My guess would be that these people are former priests, looking for something to follow. I¡¯m mysterious enough that they don¡¯t realise how bad an idea it is to pick me.¡± ¡°So, they¡¯re priests of you?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°If I understand it correctly, this city is a temple to you.¡± ¡°No. I mean, kind of, yeah. But no.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to leave them to you regardless.¡± ¡°Oh, thank you. I can¡¯t wait to deal with that.¡± ¡°I can have them brought to the city immediately.¡± ¡°No. I¡¯ll go to them, once I have an avatar that can leave my domains. And there¡¯s one more thing we need to discuss.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°The old city had an astral space. The new one does as well, but I have kept it sealed.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°When I formed the city, the interior of the astral space was, for some reason, outside of my control. Or, more precisely, it was too delicate. It was in an embryonic state, not reaching completion until much later. I didn¡¯t understand why until I realised it was waiting for me to complete the transformation of my realm.¡± ¡°Embryonic?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Suggesting something was gestating in there. Waiting to be born.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Something you aren¡¯t happy to tell me about.¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be complicated for you politically, should word get out. But this is your home and you deserve to know, so I¡¯m going to show you.¡± *** Jason floated through the air so high he was practically orbital. Lorenn was beside him and they were both shrouded in an orb of invisible mist. The planet below was utterly unlike Earth, equal parts beautiful and apocalyptic. Elemental forces so vast they could be seen from space clashed upon the surface. Hurricanes crashed into supervolcanoes. Earthquakes carved canyons so massive that they became seas as tidal waves filled them. It was gorgeous, wild destruction. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how to understand what I¡¯m looking at,¡± Lorenn said. ¡°The sheer scale of it. I lived my life in a cave system even low-rankers could travel through in a day.¡± ¡°This the largest astral space I¡¯ve seen. And I can see how planets might be an alarming concept to someone who had never been on the surface of one.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t things fall off the bottom?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not getting into that. My friends will be arriving soon. Ask Travis Noble.¡± ¡°The astral space in our city wasn¡¯t this large. Not even a fraction of this.¡± ¡°That¡¯s one of the reasons it took so long to resolve itself. The other is the bit you aren¡¯t going to like.¡± ¡°And what is that?¡± The invisible sphere shot around the planet, chasing the sun. A shape crested the horizon as they moved, resolving itself into an impossibly tall tree, kilometres high. ¡°That is like the tree in the transformation zone,¡± Lorenn said. ¡°Yes. And more will grow here, in time. This is a messenger birthing planet, and the messengers that it births here are of the elemental type. It had been producing them for a few years now.¡± Lorenn wheeled on Jason. ¡°Elemental messengers?¡± ¡°I understand your concern,¡± Jason said, then shook his head. ¡°No, of course I don¡¯t understand. But I comprehend why you and your people would feel only hatred for them. The end of your civilisation began with elemental messengers. You naturally and obviously don¡¯t want them in your city, so I sealed this place away.¡± ¡°You should destroy them.¡± ¡°They¡¯re children, Council Leader. And they aren¡¯t the ones that destroyed your city. They aren¡¯t corrupted and mindless. I¡¯m only showing you this place because the aperture to this realm is in your city. I don¡¯t see a reason for your people to ever interact with it, but I¡¯m not foolish enough to assume it will never happen. I wanted you to know so you weren¡¯t blindsided should its existence ever become public.¡± Lorenn stared out at the planet below and the towering tree. ¡°I will need time to come to terms with this, Asano.¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll take you home.¡± Chapter 890: The Topic of Pants There were two shafts leading into the Brightheart city. One had been dug upwards by elemental messengers, and that had become the main shaft. The other had been dug down by regular messengers. It was now heavily fortified, even though the messengers on the surface were gone. In that second shaft, Jason¡¯s avatar floated in the air, at the very edge of his domain. There was a Brightheart fortress on the spot and Jason was hovering in front of a wall that sealed the entire shaft. A woman appeared in front of him, just outside his area of control. She had plain, stark features, pale skin and dark hair. She wore a simple grey dress with a faded blue flower pattern. ¡°You want something from me,¡± Death said. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Is a temple of my church in Brightheart territory conditional on getting what you want?¡± ¡°No. This is one thing and that is another. Your miracle helped save them. It put to rest their fallen who had been perverted into macabre creations. If they want to worship you for that, or even simply be grateful, I won¡¯t get in the way. To do so because you refused to give back something I already traded away would be petty.¡± Death nodded. ¡°Such would be unbecoming at our level. I will return what was taken, Jason Asano, now that it cannot be used for its original purpose.¡± She held out her hand and a sphere appeared over it, shimmering blue, silver and gold. Jason reached out to touch it and it vanished. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. ¡°Thank you for stymieing Undeath. The greatest opportunity to enact his purpose in centuries was quashed because of you.¡± ¡°It took a lot more than me to stop him, and he accomplished far more than I would like.¡± ¡°We share this view. But we must accept that we did all we could, and celebrate that it was more than what was likely. In immortality, there are no absolutes in victory or defeat, especially over time. People live and die. Civilisations rise and fall. There will be a time when even this planet will be gone, and we gods with it, yet you will remain. You are so very young for an immortal, and some things, only time can teach. But you will learn them, whether you like it or not.¡± ¡°I suppose I will. Thank you, Death.¡± ¡°Thank you, Jason Asano.¡± The pair vanished, and the Brighthearts watching from inside the fortress allowed themselves to breathe again. *** The creation of the prime avatar was a surprisingly unspectacular affair. The reality material taken back from Death was added to the swarm of lights in Jason¡¯s void and they coalesced into a body, floating naked and hairless in the dark. Jason stood at the doorway to the void in a basic avatar, along with his familiars. ¡°You should make some tweaks,¡± Colin suggested, pointed up and down at the body. ¡°You could change that part.¡± ¡°You just pointed at the whole thing,¡± Jason said. ¡°I know where I was pointing.¡± ¡°You do realise you look exactly like it?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I make this look good. It¡¯s about how you inhabit the body. Gravitas. You wouldn¡¯t understand.¡± Jason gave his familiar a flat look. ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad,¡± Colin said. ¡°I just happen to have a primal hunger that the ladies respond to.¡± ¡°Are you getting interested in women?¡± ¡°Ick, no. Wait, do I get to eat them?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Then definitely not.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t go around eating women.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that I can eat men?¡± ¡°Absolutely not.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± ¡°I said okay,¡± Colin insisted while Jason stared at him with suspicion. ¡°Colin.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t eat gender fluid and non-binary people either.¡± ¡°Oh, come on. It¡¯s like you don¡¯t want me to eat anyone.¡± ¡°You can eat monsters.¡± ¡°What about people who attack us? You want me to not help in fights until I make sure they aren¡¯t on the list of things I¡¯m not allowed to eat?¡± ¡°Look, if it comes to a fight, you can¡­ nibble.¡± ¡°Nibble?¡± ¡°Yeah. Nibble.¡± ¡°So, I can eat bits of people?¡± ¡°Bad people. In a fight.¡± ¡°That sounds like a double standard.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about context. It¡¯s like how, in everyday life, I don¡¯t get to stab people. But in a fight, I¡¯m allowed to stab people. So, when we get in a fight with people, that¡¯s when you¡¯re allowed to, you know¡­ eat them a little bit.¡± ¡°So, if I start a fight, I can eat people?¡± ¡°No starting fights. And if a fight does happen you can only eat them a little bit. No fully eating people.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Not ever?¡± ¡°Maybe if they¡¯re already dead. And they really sucked. Or it¡¯s really important you rebuild your biomass immediately.¡± ¡°This is all too complicated,¡± Colin said. ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re making it up as you go along.¡± ¡°That would be accurate, yes,¡± Jason acknowledged. ¡°See, this is the problem,¡± Colin said. ¡°The ladies like me because I¡¯m definitive in my actions. If I want something, I eat it.¡± ¡°Please stop saying ¡®the ladies.¡¯¡± ¡°One of us should,¡± Colin said, pointing to the avatar floating in the void. ¡°You clearly need some help, physically. Maybe reduce the chin a little.¡± ¡°The chin did reduce a little.¡± ¡°And there¡¯s that much left? How many rank ups will it take before you have a normal person¡¯s face?¡± ¡°You have the same face!¡± ¡°You need to grow back that beard. Do you still have some of Jory¡¯s hair growth cream?¡± ¡°Look, I just took the template for my body and adjusted for normal gold-rank changes. It will work better as a seat for my consciousness if I don¡¯t go messing around with it. And it¡¯s more an ointment than a cream.¡± ¡°Mr Asano,¡± Shade interjected. ¡°Could I, perchance, make a request?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Jason said. ¡°What do you need?¡± ¡°For this conversation to end before all two-hundred-and-eleven of my bodies decide to destroy themselves rather than continue listening to it.¡± Jason looked at Shade from under raised eyebrows. ¡°It might be time to get started, yeah.¡± Jason¡¯s basic avatar vanished. The prime avatar floated out of the void and through the doorway. As its feet touched the catwalk, it opened its eyes. Jason¡¯s consciousness settled into it, turning it from a thing into a person. Jason felt the spiritual noise fade away as he inhabited his new avatar. For years he¡¯d been dealing with an awareness of every action of every person in every domain he possessed. Louder were the countless people across the cosmos connected to the System. His perception of them was sealed away, lest it destroy his mind at his current level of power, but it was a cosmos worth of muted mumbles. His perception of his domains and the System were still accessible, should he have need of them, but they weren¡¯t pressing in on him. The prime avatar was like a quiet room in a busy house; the noise couldn¡¯t get in until he stepped outside. For the first time in a long time, Jason felt like a relatively normal person. He held out his hands and stared at them as he flexed his fingers. When he rubbed his hands together, he smiled at the sensation. ¡°A real body,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s still an avatar, I know, but it doesn¡¯t feel like one.¡± ¡°Fingers aren¡¯t all that,¡± Colin said. ¡°I went without fingers for years, and I turned out fine. Can we go eat something now?¡± Jason chuckled. ¡°Sure, buddy. Let¡¯s go get some lunch.¡± ¡°Can it be people?¡± ¡°No! We just talked about this.¡± ¡°Can we be flexible? How about if I eat a crappy person.¡± ¡°What did I just say about eating people, Colin?¡± ¡°Wash them first?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I said don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then can we go have a fight? You said I can eat people when we¡¯re fighting.¡± ¡°Mr Asano,¡± Shade said. ¡°Perhaps before we engage with the topic of lunch, you should engage with the topic of pants.¡± *** A spherical cloud plunged through the upper atmosphere, dropping from a space station shaped like Jason¡¯s head. Flames ignited around the cloud from the friction of their rapid passage, but the cloud was unaffected. Inside the cloud it was cool and stable. Jason, in his new avatar body, relaxed and enjoyed the ride. ¡°I need to deal with the things inside my realm first,¡± Jason told Shade. He was reclining in a cloud chair while Shade stood primly beside it. Colin and Gordon were eagerly watching the dancing orange light that filtered through the wall of the sphere. ¡°I would have thought you would rush outside your domain,¡± Shade told Jason. ¡°I want to, and that¡¯s why I haven¡¯t. I¡¯ve been in here so long that, once I leave, I¡¯ll keep finding excuses to not come back. Carlos has gone pretty stir-crazy as it is, and I should prioritise his work in any case. It can help a lot of people. Maybe even some of the vampires on Earth.¡± ¡°I counsel keeping your expectations measured, Mr Asano. Even if he is successful, in developing a treatment for vampirism, it will only work on lesser vampires. Those who have had the curse forcibly inflicted upon them. That is not common on Earth. The vampires there have always been cautious when propagating their own kind. They make ghouls and blood servants rather than lesser vampires.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Jason said softly. ¡°It¡¯s just that so many have died, or been bled out in those horrifying farms. It makes me wonder if I should have stayed and fought.¡± ¡°No, Mr Asano. I can confidently say that if you had stayed, you and the vampires would have ultimately entered a race to see who could inflict the worst atrocities on the other. I have no doubt you would have won against the vampires, but it would be the Earth that lost. Be it you or the vampire queen, the world would be ruled by a monster.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason agreed. ¡°I guess leaving was best.¡± ¡°And humanity must be allowed to resolve its own challenges.¡± ¡°Do you ever get sick of being right, Shade?¡± ¡°I have made my own mistakes, Mr Asano. You just don¡¯t notice with the frequency and magnitude of yours.¡± Colin utterly failed to smother a laugh while Gordon¡¯s giggle was the sound of a trickling stream. Jason shook his head at the abject betrayal of his familiars. As their descent continued, Jason pulled up his character sheet. Looking over his abilities, he smiled at the effects of using great astral beings to grind levels. His abilities ranged from the third to fifth level of gold rank, and for the first time, his perception power wasn¡¯t the highest, if only by a slim margin. His cloak power was integral to the way he fought, even the way he moved. It had become a part of him and he felt exposed without it. But while he had no shame in his chuuni ways, spending all his time in a cloak made of darkness was too edgelord for even him. The cloak was also the opposite of incognito. Now that Jason could disguise his magic eyes as normal ones, many activities would be a lot easier. Something as simple as going into a bakery and buying a pie would be less hassle if his nebulous eyes were hidden. A void cloak that was blown by dimensional winds would undermine that significantly. The biggest change was that he had left the identity of an outworlder behind. Originally, his character screen had listed his race as a formerly human outworlder. It now said ¡®nature¡¯ instead of race, calling him a ¡®prime avatar of an astral nexus.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t sure if dropping the term ¡®race¡¯ meant he was now beyond mortal classification, or if the system had gotten more politically correct. Was it an internal change, based on his nature or changing sensibilities, or something more external? Social change was slow in Pallimustus, but rapid in many parts of Earth, especially the ones Jason dealt with. Was the system reacting to changing values? He decided to put the question to Shade. ¡°The System is clearly tied to you, Mr Asano, but also to the cosmos at large, now. As such, I am not sure anyone other than you could determine the truth. If I were to forward a hypothesis, it would be that ¡®race¡¯ is a term you took from games on Earth and cannot adequately represent the breadth of individuals it now needs to. As such, it has taken the broad term ¡®nature¡¯ to represent the nature of people across the cosmos.¡± ¡°That makes sense. I¡¯ve still got the six powers that used to be racial gifts. They seem a bit OP, if I¡¯m being entirely honest.¡± ¡°Mr Asano, your transcendence, incomplete as it is, has taken the form of an astral nexus. While this is not something I am aware of from experience, it seems clear that what you are a nexus of is astral kings, great astral beings, and gods. The three supreme entities of the cosmos. You may be lacking in capabilities compared to each ¡ª often significantly so ¡ª but your power reflects aspects of all three. As your prime avatar is a direct embodiment of that power, were you expecting any less?¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair, I guess.¡± ¡°And you should not underestimate the abilities of others. What may seem unassuming at first may prove more powerful than you realise. Look at the abilities of Mr Standish. His gifts focus on knowledge and magic. Not overtly powerful, but in playing to his strengths, they led him down a certain path. Imagine if he had more generic abilities that did not make full use of his astounding mind. If he used special attacks instead of spells, like most humans. Would he be a middle of the road adventurer that no one had ever heard of, or a Magic Society official in a backwater branch? What of the knowledge he used to stop the Builder from initiating his invasion years early? Would he have spent the years of your absence devising a method to repair the link between two universes? You change worlds, Mr Asano, but so does he. Without him, you would have failed many times, and it was his inherent abilities and their evolutions that set him down that path. Just as your do for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s definitely true. My abilities almost seem disappointing when you put it that way.¡± ¡°I am disappointed in the one that allows me to turn my shadow bodies into transport. Now that it allows Colin and Gordon to alter a vehicle I create, I just know they¡¯re going add¡­¡± The shadow creature shuddered. ¡°¡­colours.¡± Chapter 891: Butchery Jason didn¡¯t need to fly around in a sphere or have Shade turn into a vehicle to get around his realm. But after years of being what amounted to a disembodied spirit in landscapes that were more metaphor than reality, he was enjoying the feeling of limitation. And, by alerting Carlos of his approach, the priest had the chance to prepare for an event he¡¯d been working towards for more than fifteen years. Carlos had been conducting his research inside Jason¡¯s soul realm because here the fundamental rules of reality could be altered. Pain, damage, even death itself could be suspended. He had been using that cheat to advance his research in ways that would otherwise be illegal, unethical and lethal. But, while Jason¡¯s avatars had been helping, making those changes at his direction, there was only so much his avatars could do without Jason¡¯s direct intervention. But now, with Jason¡¯s return the next big step cold be taken. Now that Jason was no longer distracted, he could give his full attention and focus to Carlos and his work. He let Shade glide him over the streets of Arbour as a black skimmer. The roads were collections of rocks set out in wide pathways, less surfaces to drive on than navigation aids for the winding routes through the tree city. The current residents were all high-rankers who could provide their own ¡ª usually flying ¡ª transportation. For the future, large constructs of living wood were scattered throughout the city. Shaped like buses, but on legs instead of wheels, they would provide a public transportation system, not just able to navigate the roads but also climb the larger trees of the very vertical city. While inactive, as they were now, they could sink their root-legs into the ground to absorb nutrients, or climb high into the trees for more sunlight. Shade¡¯s black skimmer was free of colour. Allowing Colin and Gordon to influence the vehicle would add defensive properties, but in Jason¡¯s astral kingdom, the greatest threat was something they could not guard against: a cranky shadow familiar. The vehicle slowed to a stop at a large stone building, set on the ground between a trio of massive trees. A group came out to greet Jason, comprised of Carlos, Cassin Amouz and one of Jason¡¯s avatars. Cassin Amouz had arrived within hours of Carlos giving a letter to the desk attendant in Rexion, stationed outside the portal to Jason¡¯s kingdom. A portal courier saw that the letter reached Rimaros with haste and another portal brought Cassin to Yaresh. His gold-rank speed allowed him to reach the shaft and descend with swiftness, now that it was largely safe. Cassin was heavily invested in Carlos¡¯ research, both literally and figuratively. He had poured the considerable wealth of his family into it, in hope of saving his son. Gibson Amouz had been held in magical stasis for years, and even then might have passed away without Jason¡¯s realm turning off death itself. He had been caught midway through an elaborate corruption ritual by the inaptly named Order of Redeeming Light. Saving Gibson was Cassin¡¯s goal, but for Carlos it was a first step. What they learned in doing so would hopefully lead to purging other dreadful afflictions, beyond even the most powerful essence abilities. Cassin had provided every resource necessary for Carlos to save Gibson, and pledged to support his research perpetually if successful. The avatar melted in an instant and flowed through the air as a liquid of red, black, blue and orange. Jason extended a hand and it was absorbed into his body. Absorbed with it was the knowledge and memories the avatar had acquired in more than a decade as Carlos¡¯ assistant. Jason blinked a few times as he processed everything the avatar had seen, done and learned working for Carlos. ¡°You¡¯ve been at this for a long time, Carlos, and I see from my avatar that you wasted none of it. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯d be happy to not stand on ceremony and just get to it?¡± Relief showed in Carlos¡¯ entire body as a nervous tension left it. Rather than respond, the Healer priest turned and went inside, waving at Jason to follow. What came after was lengthy and complicated. The interior of the building had a hospital¡¯s sterility, nothing like the earthy scents and warm colours of the autumnal city outside. The operating theatre was filled with specialised tools, many developed by Carlos in the preceding years. Dominating the room was a tank where Gibson Amouz was floating, upright and unconscious. The original research assistants were long gone, replaced with a slew of compliant avatars. They didn¡¯t even have Jason¡¯s appearance, the way the one he absorbed had, let alone any of his personality. These were simple dark figures, like bland copies of Shade, but each bearing a single nebulous eye on their heads. Carlos liked them because they were precise, tireless and silent. The process of saving Gibson had more in common with surgical procedures of Earth than traditional Pallimustus ritual healing. Carlos had developed a method of causing all the tainted magic in Gibson to physically manifest, then cut it right out and off of his body. It was grim, visceral work, with Carlos, Jason and the avatars being painted in blood and gore. A gold-ranker might have survived the process, but only Jason eliminating the concept of death and pain allowed Gibson to make it through. Finally, the corrupting magic was excised and Carlos used more traditional magic to restore the boy¡¯s savaged body. Cassin Amouz watched the entire process, hour after hour, with unflinching resolution. When all was done, Carlos ran every test he could to determine Gibson¡¯s condition. Declaring there was nothing left but to wait for Gibson to awaken, Carlos led Jason out, leaving Cassin with his son in a recovery room. Carlos and Jason staggered, exhausted, into crystal wash showers. They had burned through and recovered astounding amounts of mana over seven hours of intense ritual magic and painstaking pseudo-surgery. Elaborate sigils carved into flesh with painstaking precision. Mana carefully channelled through devices designed and built by Carlos himself in his research. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. They stumbled out of the building in fresh clothes and fell onto a wooden bench in front of the stone building. They took in the evening air, cool, fresh and earthy. Even Jason¡¯s prime avatar was strained by a sequence of interlocking rituals more intense and extended than anything he had done before. He did recover much faster than Carlos, however, drawing on the power of his kingdom. ¡°This is just the beginning,¡± Carlos declared with weary satisfaction. ¡°I hope you learn a lot from this,¡± Jason told him. ¡°I believe I will,¡± Carlos said. ¡°I had every measuring tool that could even potentially useful in there, and a few I invented myself. But there is a long way to go. The next step is refining the procedure. This crude butchery that relies on the local god to alter reality is an unsustainable approach.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a god, Carlos.¡± ¡°You suppressed the very concept of death.¡± ¡°At most, I¡¯ll accept god-adjacent.¡± Carlos turned to look at Jason. ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed, have you?¡± ¡°Noticed what?¡± ¡°How long have you been wearing that special avatar of yours?¡± ¡°Well, that took about seven hours, so, eight or nine hours.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve worked with your avatars for a long time now, Jason. They are a bland lot, for the most part, but I¡¯ve become familiar with the linguistic quirks they¡¯ve inherited from you. The way your translation power handles turning your language into mine. This new avatar isn¡¯t speaking my language.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not?¡± Jason said, listening to his own voice. He¡¯d become so used to his mouth using myriad languages it had become background noise. When he concentrated now, what he heard was English. ¡°You¡¯re speaking a language that my mind says is mine, but isn¡¯t. I have enough control over my perception to recognise that it¡¯s not my mind understanding you but my soul. It¡¯s how gods sound.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not good. I can mask my eyes now, so it¡¯s easier to buy pies, but now you¡¯re telling me voice is all weird?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that it sounds different. If anything, you sound more natural than ever. I suspect that people are going to hear their own language from you, whatever language you use.¡± ¡°Like when gods speak to people.¡± ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s like there¡¯s a power infused into your words. Not aura, exactly, but something similar. I¡¯m not sure how to describe¡ª¡± ¡°Authority,¡± Jason said. ¡°I suspect the word you¡¯re looking for is authority.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Carlos said, nodding. ¡°That¡¯s the word.¡± Jason shook his head. ¡°That might be a problem,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll have to see what I can do about suppressing it, but it¡¯s one more thing on the list at this stage. Training never stops does it?¡± ¡°Not if you¡¯re doing it right,¡± Carlos said with a chuckle. The apparent success of his procedure after so many years of build up had transformed the tense man into a languid puddle. ¡°What now for you?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Refining the procedure, obviously, but what¡¯s the next practical step?¡± ¡°Assessing young Gibson. Getting as much information as I can from him. I need to monitor his recovery closely and make sure it¡¯s complete. As for the procedure, I have two goals. One is removing the reliance on you, and the other is having the procedure work on the fully converted, not just someone halfway through the process of corruption.¡± ¡°How long until you¡¯re confident of working on someone fully affected by the Order of Redeeming Light¡¯s ritual?¡± ¡°You¡¯re thinking of Miss Wexler¡¯s mother?¡± ¡°All of them. While those we know matter to us, we have to keep sight of the wider implications. The greater good we can accomplish.¡± ¡°I am glad you¡¯re not short-sighted in this. While my goal is to escape reliance on your soul realm, it remains a valuable asset in the short term.¡± ¡°You should know that I will be taking my astral kingdom away in a little while. I¡¯ll be returning to my homeworld for a time, and I will need my prime avatar to open doorways to it.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t an issue before.¡± ¡°The rules are different now. Very different. The portals I established before were to a hazy half-reality. This place is only a pocket universe, but it is a universe, complete and whole.¡± ¡°That is unfortunate.¡± ¡°Possibly not. Much of what we did today was reminiscent of how medicine works on Earth, where I come from. I don¡¯t imagine there will be a lot of direct crossover, but there might be a lot for you to learn there.¡± ¡°You would take me?¡± ¡°I intend to take a lot of people. Seeing an entire other universe is a rare opportunity, perhaps especially so for you. My world has an entirely different medical paradigm, not to mention a very large number of vampires. Your ultimate goal is a cure for vampirism, is it not?¡± ¡°Lesser vampirism, yes. Those who have accepted it into their souls are beyond any intervention.¡± ¡°I have some things to settle here, before I set out. But you can work on the other victims here while we travel. How long will it take for you to consider using this process on those fully affected by the Order of Redeeming Light¡¯s influence?¡± ¡°I can do it soon, if they¡¯re willing to accept a butcher job like this one. I want to use those procedures to make the process less aggressive.¡± ¡°And therefore survivable outside my kingdom.¡± ¡°Precisely. How long that takes depends on how much we get from today¡¯s results. We need to see how Gibson progresses over the next few weeks. I¡¯ve been preparing for this for a long time, and I won¡¯t squander this opportunity by rushing things now.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s try and get the Redeeming Light victims sorted out first, then. I have some things to do before I head for Earth, so you¡¯ll have time to assess Gibson and decide if you want to join me. I genuinely think there are things for you to learn there and you¡¯ve been working for so long, with so much focus. You could stand to clear your head.¡± ¡°Arabelle keeps telling me the same thing.¡± ¡°And she¡¯s right. But I recognise how important this work is. I want you to know how much I admire what you¡¯re doing, and why you¡¯re doing it. I¡¯ve saved quite a lot of lives as an adventurer, but I¡¯m famously the guy with the evil powers. I have one cleansing power, and even that kills my enemies. The only solutions I have to offer come in the form of violence and horror. You¡¯re doing something that will help people heal from some of the worst things that can be done to a person.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a priest of the Healer. It¡¯s my duty.¡± ¡°Duty will take you far, Carlos, but this is well past that. I know you¡¯ve been through some things. I don¡¯t know what they are, but I¡¯m sure they¡¯re a part of what has made you so driven. That doesn¡¯t change the fact that you are doing something amazing here. Something good.¡± ¡°Good enough that you¡¯d put a temple of the Healer in the Brightheart city? Even before the portal shut, I wasn¡¯t going to church very often. It was too far away for me to leave the work that long.¡± ¡°Actually, Carlos, that¡¯s already in the works. If it¡¯s been a while, you might want to go say g¡¯day to your god, though. He might think you¡¯ve ghosted him.¡± ¡°My god does not think I¡¯ve abandoned him.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, mate. Someone doesn¡¯t hear from you in a while, they start to worry. Get insecure. Did something happen to Carlos? Is he alright? Has he been hanging out with other gods? I knew I saw him looking at the temple of Lust, and he says he wasn¡¯t, but I know what¡ª¡± ¡°With all due respect, Mr Asano, please go away.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Chapter 892: Just Some Guy As he walked the short distance between Carlos¡¯ research centre and the portal leading out of the astral kingdom, Jason contemplated what Carlos had said about how he sounded when he spoke. He drew up his character sheet and looked over the ¡®inherent gifts¡¯ his prime avatar possessed, replacing his old outworlder abilities.
Inherent Gifts
It would take time to fully explore these new abilities, but they were easy enough to categorise. He¡¯d lost very little, with most of his old capabilities consolidated into his new ones, with extra powers on top. It was certainly enough to make up for the first of his new abilities doing almost nothing, from a practical perspective. Prime Avatar was little more than the ability to have a prime avatar, offering neither combat nor utility powers. It was possibly his most important ability long term, however. The prime avatar would allow him to advance the aspect of his power that was still mortal and ultimately achieve full transcendence. The Sacred Phoenix ability combined powers previously gained from the World-Phoenix and the Death goddess. Palanquin was the closest to one of his old abilities, allowing Shade to take on travel forms and his other familiars to modify them. The three remaining gifts each seemed related to a different kind of transcendent entity. System Administrator, unsurprisingly, represented Jason¡¯s relation to the System now affecting essence users across the cosmos. His role in that was akin to that of a great astral being, but most of his control was sealed away until he reached full transcendence. Until then, he would have to settle for his prime avatar having a suite of System related abilities. Relics of the King allowed him to tap into his soul forge, astral throne and astral gate. His prime avatar couldn¡¯t draw on them as powerfully as his previous mortal body could, but it would suffer little to no backlash for doing so. He would no longer be wrecking himself for months after using them. The last inherent gift, Numen, was an overtly divine power, and the one Jason focused on.
[Numen]: Your transcendent power has aspects of divinity that are imbued into the avatar that is the mortal embodiment of your will and power. Your avatar can express that power in ways that reflect your hegemonic and defiant nature. Traits and abilities your avatar inherits include: establishing spiritual domains; Akashic Speech; stripping and transforming remnant magic from magic entities you have killed or destroyed; being immune to rank suppression as well as detection, tracking and assessment magic; negating aura-related abilities by fully suppressing the aura of the ability¡¯s user.
Shade emerged to float alongside Jason as he walked, looking at the system window holding Jason¡¯s attention. ¡°Priest Quilido is right, Mr Asano. That your power is partially divine in nature is not a question but a fact.¡± Jason focused on the Akashic Speech aspect of the ability.
Help: [Akashic Speech] Akashic Speech taps into the fundamental interconnectedness of all things in the cosmos to communicate in a way that is intrinsically understood by all things capable of communication. Despite the term ¡®speech,¡¯ this ability impacts all forms of communication, and is perceived by all entities in the form most natural to them. Full use of this ability is only capable by transcendent entities. Mortal limitations limit the effectiveness of this capability.
¡°Mortal limitations limit the effectiveness of this capability,¡± Jason read. ¡°Limit it by how much, do you think?¡± ¡°I imagine that any entity capable of something you would recognise as language would be covered, Mr Asano. Even extreme cases, such as communicating through telepathy, scent or colour coding, so long as the mentality behind it at least vaguely operates as a language. I suspect that only that which is wholly alien to you, not just in method but in mentality, will fall outside of that ability.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s basically a new version of my old translation power, bundled up with some of my other abilities and given a god polish. Collecting up my old abilities and giving me more seems a bit cheaty, even if the Prime Avatar ability is a dud, power-wise.¡± ¡°We have discussed this already, Mr Asano. Even simple powers can have formidable results.¡± ¡°I know. How much do you think that adding some god sprinkles to my powers will stand out? Do you think I can suppress it?¡± ¡°I think it will largely go unnoticed, Mr Asano. Your voice and your aura will be the most evident, so the effects on those will be what you need to suppress. I am afraid, however, that anyone sufficiently powerful or attentive will notice, unless you completely retract your aura and don¡¯t speak. As the former is not practical, and the latter isn¡¯t possible, I¡¯m afraid that anonymity will be difficult. On the positive side, that¡¯s not much of a change.¡± ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°Mr Asano, the Adventure Society crafted an entire new identity for you and you immediately revealed it to almost everyone you met.¡± ¡°There were extenuating circumstances.¡± ¡°Such as not being bothered to try very hard?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say they were good circumstances, just extenuating ones. Look, I¡¯ll probably be able to suppress the god taint to a degree, right?¡± ¡°Taint, Mr Asano?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t let myself treat being a bit goddy as a good thing. Next thing you know, I¡¯ll have eighteen wives and a gun stockpile in my wilderness compound. Rick Geller probably thinks I already do.¡± ¡°I will refrain from dignifying that. As for the question of suppression, the aura aspect will be easier to mask. You are well trained in that regard. Hiding the way you speak will be harder. Although people will hear your words in their native language, it is possible for those with strong control over their perception to recognise that you are actually using the old language.¡± ¡°The old language?¡± ¡°It has many names. The divine tongue. The words of creation. You have been using it for years. The name of your sword is engraved on its blade in that language. Your Mark of Sin ability burns the ideograph for ¡®sin¡¯ into people in that language. I suspect using that language is a key aspect of the ability.¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°You didn¡¯t think to mention that I was talking in some ancient god language?¡± ¡°I had assumed it was an aspect of your previous translation power. That ability allowed you speak in the languages of those around you, and you have been speaking primarily to great astral beings. It also happens to be my native language.¡± ¡°I suppose your dad is a great astral being. This speech power is going to make it hard to be a face in the crowd, even if people do hear it as if I¡¯m talking in their native tongue.¡± ¡°Yes. With your old power, you were actually speaking the languages, so you could only use one at a time. Now everyone will hear you in their own language. If people notice that different members of a group are perceiving the same words in different languages, that will certainly stand out. The only solution I can see, Mr Asano, would be to start learning languages and not use the Akashic Speech. I think, however, it may be time to embrace that you are not, as you said, ¡®a face in the crowd.¡¯ I suspect that more of your nature will be evident once you leave your own realm, suppressed aura or not.¡± ¡°Why do you say that?¡± ¡°Your prime avatar is something akin to a hole in the universe. A channel between this realm, which is your true self, and that body. An ambassador, if you will, of a place without limits. Here, in your astral kingdom, your avatar belongs. Once it enters a normal universe, it will be a living expression of infinite and alien power. A gate to something beyond mortal constraint. To most, it might seem like the normal presence of a high-ranker. And I imagine you will be able to mask your presence through aura manipulation, as before. But to anyone paying attention, there will always be indicators.¡± Jason sighed. ¡°I liked being just some guy. And I know that I haven¡¯t really been that in a long time, but it¡¯s about more than just what I am or what I¡¯m caught up in.¡± He tapped his forehead. ¡°Up here, I¡¯ve always been some guy, caught up in crazy cosmic forces. I know that, at this point, I am the crazy cosmic forces, but I don¡¯t want to let go of that part of myself. It feels like that sense of being an ordinary bloke is all that¡¯s keeping me grounded to what I was. That if I let that go, however much of a fiction it is now, I don¡¯t know what I¡¯ll become.¡± ¡°As someone who has lived for an extremely long time, Mr Asano, I have some bad news: change is inevitable. You will not be the man you are now in a million years. In a billion. The key is to not think in millions of years. That is how great astral beings think, and they need mortals to do their short-term thinking for them. Your ability to inhabit a moment is your strength. It¡¯s why the World-Phoenix sent Dawn to you. It¡¯s how you won the battle for the Cosmic Throne. Trust yourself, Mr Asano, and those of us who stand beside you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Shade.¡± ¡°Of course, Mr Asano. It is best that we had this talk now, before you take your prime avatar outside.¡± Jason looked ahead to the portal they had almost reached, standing in a clearing. ¡°This is going to be a whole thing, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°You may be forgetting, Mr Asano, but it always is.¡± *** The crowd of people was skittish, ragged and malnourished. They looked around, hunched and twitchy as if expecting an attack. Nigel watched, frowning at their condition as Asano clan members led them off, accompanied by the rest of Nigel¡¯s team. Nigel himself walked in another direction, alongside Rufus. ¡°Every time we liberate one of those damn blood farms,¡± Nigel said, ¡°the condition we find people in still gets to me.¡± ¡°Thank you for helping us with this one,¡± Rufus said. The Asano clan had inherited what remained of the military infrastructure left behind when the bases in their territory were abandoned. Much of it had been destroyed during the vampire¡¯s tenure, but what remained included a number of intact or salvageable vehicles. The blood farm victims had been brought to the clan in military trucks and would be housed in military dormitories for the immediacy. The dorms were cloud constructs, so more luxurious than they seemed at a glance. Nigel¡¯s team and the clan members moved the blood farm victims while Nigel and Rufus headed for a more modest vehicle that would return them to the city. ¡°How many farms were left running while the Asanos were hiding in their magic hole?¡± Nigel asked bitterly. ¡°It was an unfortunate necessity,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Necessary for what? What is worth all the suffering we could have stopped?¡± ¡°A battle on a scale you and I could never fully comprehend. Stakes than span not just this universe but countless others, on a time scale of trillions of years. If you want more details, ask Jason when you see him next.¡± ¡°He always used to talk about saving the world. I was never clear on what from, and now you¡¯re saying he¡¯s moved on to saving the universe?¡± ¡°This world almost broke apart like a biscuit in a cup of coffee. He stopped that from happening. Barely. As for his latest battle, again, ask him yourself. He¡¯ll explain or not.¡± They reached an open-top military Jeep that looked like it was from the eighties. ¡°They weren¡¯t using vehicles like this at the military bases,¡± Nigel pointed out. ¡°This one was created by the domain,¡± Rufus said. ¡°It¡¯s made of clouds.¡± Nigel looked it over warily as he climbed into the passenger seat. Despite looking like old, cracked leather, it felt impossibly plush. Rufus smiled at his startled expression and started up the vehicle. The military base was set away from the city proper, but not too far. It would only be a short drive through the countryside. ¡°You sound critical for someone who says he¡¯s looking to join our clan,¡± Rufus observed. ¡°I¡¯m not looking to join anything until I know what I¡¯m leading my people into,¡± Nigel said. ¡°The good and the bad. Then we can decide if we want in, and they can decide if they want us.¡± ¡°I can respect that,¡± Rufus said. ¡°I can tell you a little about how the clan works, if you want to hear it.¡± ¡°I¡¯d appreciate that.¡± ¡°The first thing you should know is that we don¡¯t work with traditional money. The coin of the realm here is either spirit coins or, more commonly, clan contribution points. You can exchange either for regular money at the clan exchange, along with most other luxuries.¡± ¡°Luxuries? What about the basics? You¡¯ve been isolated for years.¡± ¡°We¡¯re self-sustaining for the basics. The astral spaces provide plenty of food and water. We have some sizeable farms in there now. As for infrastructure, the land itself provides. Every clan member gets a home, and it¡¯s all made of clouds. It adapts to your needs. You can even just ask it and it¡¯ll change.¡± ¡°Tell me more about those clan contribution points.¡± ¡°Everyone gets what they need in terms of food, lodging and other basic needs. Free public transport, free healing. Simple clothes. No one has to wonder where they¡¯ll sleep that night, or where their next meal is coming from. But it¡¯s all basic. The fundamentals of living a life. Anything more requires contribution points. A nicer home. Nicer clothes. A jet ski. Going out to a restaurant.¡± ¡°And how do you get these points? Fighting monsters?¡± ¡°If you like. And you¡¯re qualified. But points are easy to earn. Maybe you¡¯re the one who makes those nicer clothes, or works in that restaurant. Training, too. We have a school for ritual magic. A training centre for those who do want to fight monsters. All the essence users have to go through a basic program there. Children accrue points for their families by attending school. Enough that they can afford essences when they¡¯re old enough to use them.¡± ¡°You sell essences for these points?¡± ¡°We do. Jason left us a significant supply, and we collect more in the astral spaces.¡± ¡°How expensive are they?¡± ¡°The costs for the common ones we collect ourselves are minimal. The high-rarity ones that Jason left behind that don¡¯t manifest in the territories here are the most expensive.¡± ¡°How many of the clan members are essence users?¡± ¡°Almost all. Basic essences are inexpensive enough, and there are many excellent yet affordable combinations. A few people hold out, saving up for more expensive essences. Some don¡¯t like the idea of changing themselves with magic, although they are very much a minority.¡± ¡°Health, long life and no longer needing the bathroom are strong motivators.¡± ¡°Indeed they are. Still, some refuse, whatever you tell them. Especially now that the combinations are becoming less reliable.¡± ¡°Less reliable?¡± ¡°The previously fixed essence combinations are starting to add variety to the confluence essences they produce. The same combinations no longer get the same result every time. It¡¯s been escalating here for a while. Haven¡¯t people noticed in the wider world, yet?¡± ¡°Maybe. My connections aren¡¯t what they were.¡± ¡°But you do have them. Someone sent you here.¡± ¡°Anna Tilden. You know her, right?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve met.¡± ¡°I need to settle up with her. We came here for a job, and it¡¯s only right we finish it before we look at joining your clan. Assuming you¡¯ll have us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s up to the Matriarch. And it¡¯s not my clan, as such. I¡¯m more of an honorary member. Formally joining would complicate things with my family back home. Our position is complicated.¡± ¡°Does an honorary member get contribution points?¡± ¡°Yes, if services are rendered. Your participation in the blood farm liberation will earn you and your team some as well. If you don¡¯t end up joining the clan, I would suggest exchanging them for spirit coins or Earth currency.¡± ¡°You can trade points for money?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Not all of my members are completely sold on my plan of joining the clan, but I think you just turned a couple of them around.¡± Chapter 893: On a Whim Jason stood in front of the portal. He took a long breath and let it out slowly. ¡°Here we go.¡± He stepped through and emerged in the portal room of Rexion, which had changed quickly in his absence. Previously empty but for one desk staffed by a bored attendant, it was now a combination greeting room and administrative centre. A path ran through the room from the portal to the door, with a half dozen staff now stationed to either side. In the middle of the room was Marla. The leader of the brightheart military was an arresting visage, with hair and eyes glowing like molten steel. She was no delicate beauty, however, with a powerful warrior¡¯s physique. As the others in the room gawped at Jason, her eyes only widened a little before she schooled her expression back to neutrality. ¡°You¡¯ve got quite the presence, Mr Asano. Did you eat that mountain shaped like your head?¡± Jason chuckled as a smile teased at Marla¡¯s lips. He¡¯d never seen her make a joke before, and for good reason. In the time they¡¯d known each other, they had been fighting for the survival of what was left of her people, in the ashes of their home. Seeing the lightness she had now made him smile. It was a good reminder that the struggles they went though had been worth it. ¡°I didn¡¯t eat it,¡± he said. ¡°Not exactly. What warrants a reception from someone as important as yourself?¡± ¡°No offence, Mr Asano, but when you show up, it usually leads to things that our administrative staff need to pass up the line.¡± ¡°Fair enough. But I have no business with Rexion today, other than finally moving beyond its borders. When your ruling council is done negotiating with the churches, I¡¯ll come along and deal with it. Just ask when you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Ask who? Will you be leaving a representative? Lorenn thought that might be a good idea.¡± ¡°Unnecessary. You don¡¯t need to ask anyone; you just have to ask. I¡¯ll know.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a little disconcerting.¡± ¡°Give it some thought,¡± Jason told her. ¡°Then you¡¯ll realise it¡¯s a lot disconcerting.¡± He looked around at the staff who were still staring at him like he had three heads. If it was this bad in his domain, it would be worse once he left it, so he concentrated on retracting his presence. It was similar to doing so with his aura, both being expressions of his soul¡¯s power. He saw the result in the faces around him as they became less slack-jawed and pulled themselves together. ¡°Better?¡± he asked. ¡°Better,¡± Marla confirmed. ¡°This may be more of a problem than I anticipated. Before I¡¯m out and about for the day, I could use somewhere quiet to practise keeping it under wraps.¡± ¡°I can arrange that. Fiorella?¡± After getting no response, she turned to look at one of the staff. ¡°Fiorella?¡± ¡°Yes, Commander!¡± the young woman said, shooting up from her chair. She shook her head and blinked rapidly while standing at military attention. ¡°See Mr Asano to Ambassador Suite Seven. I believe that one is empty.¡± *** Fiorella watched Asano float, cross-legged, in the middle of the room. It had been a well-appointed luxury suite when they arrived, but dissolved into cloud-stuff the moment they entered. It turned into a plain white room, empty but for a luxurious arm chair for Fiorella. Asano had said nothing and immediately floated up to meditate in the middle of the room. She had waited and watched as his arresting presence slowly diminished. When he¡¯d first emerged from the portal, it was like a bomb went off. The world wasn¡¯t literally bending around him, but it had felt like it was. He stood out like someone standing in front of a painted background instead of a real one. It was almost dizzying to look at, and distracting enough that she embarrassed herself in front of the commander. She had led Asano to the main diplomatic building, where visiting dignitaries were housed and could hold meetings. As they walked, she was building up the courage to ask a question when he spoke first. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again,¡± Asano told her. ¡°Sorry if I was a little more startling, this time.¡± ¡°You¡¯re always startling,¡± she said, immediately closing her eyes in a blushing wince. He let out a good-natured chuckle. ¡°Why are you so different?¡± she asked. ¡°When I¡¯m out and about like this, I¡¯m using avatars. Puppet bodies. This one holds more of my power than the others, and it tends to leak. I need to practise keeping it under control.¡± She sat and watched him do exactly that for several hours. When he roused, the room swirled and returned to its original state of well-furnished luxury. He grabbed a fruit from a bowl on a side table and fell into a chair, looking casual and relaxed. She felt just the opposite, her whole body tense as a tightly clenched fist. He chatted companionably, asking her questions about the city, the militia and her life living in both. She barely remembered her answers, her mind filled with his alien eyes that seemed to look right through her. He seemed genuinely interested, which surprised her. By the time he was done, he seemed much as he had in their previous encounter: imposing and powerful, but no more so than any other high ranker. There was still something there, though, that seemed a little off. Something about the way he spoke, like it was reaching into her mind without passing through her ears first. Looking at him, really looking, there was something about him she couldn¡¯t place. If she wasn¡¯t staring right at him, she doubted she would notice. Then she realised she was staring right at him, in complete silence. He laughed as she felt her face burn with embarrassment. ¡°How is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Do you think I can walk around without attracting too much attention?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°I told you to call me Jason.¡± ¡°People tell me a lot of things, Mr Asano. I¡¯m not always the best at following orders.¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. He laughed again, something she was finding he did a lot. It was a little unnerving, like watching a war golem fold laundry. ¡°Thank you, Fiorella. I think I¡¯m just about ready to get out and about. Thank you for keeping me company.¡± He stood up and she did the same. ¡°I can escort you to¡ª¡± ¡°I know the way. It was nice seeing you again.¡± He walked through the wall like it was an illusion. Fiorella walked over and ran her hand over it, finding it completely solid. *** Whether visiting or leaving, moving in or out of Rexion was for high-ranking individuals. A massive shaft was the way into and out of the brightheart city, and there were neither elevators nor stairs. It was wide enough that many flying vehicles could move up and down at once, and a handful belonged to the Rexion Transport Authority. Those mostly gathered dust, however. Anyone who could not arrange their own passage was strongly advised to stay where they were. Traffic in and out of the city went through a transport authority customs station in the cavernous tunnel leading to the shaft. Jason tested his ability to blend in by joining the queue for exit inspection. The people around him were mostly silver, but he spotted a few golds and some bold bronze rankers. He got a few odd looks, especially from the other golds, but gold rankers always paid attention to one another. To his satisfaction, there was nothing more to it than that. The transport authority staff were silver-rank brighthearts. Anything less and the high-rankers moving through customs would start pushing around their weight. From what Jason saw, the gold-rankers comported themselves with decorum, not deigning to make an issue of their power. On the surface, gold-rankers would normally get their own priority access for something like this, if they were subject to it at all. The transit station was still inside Jason¡¯s domain, however. Stories still made the rounds about what happened to troublemakers in the early days, and now rumours did much of their work for them. Reaching the front of his line without incident, Jason encountered an attendant in a security booth of magically reinforced glass. The attendant had silver hair and eyes, like Sophie, denoting a metal-aspect brightheart. She looked slightly bored but alert. ¡°Documentation, please.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t have any.¡± Her boredom was instantly replaced with professional wariness. ¡°What happened to it?¡± she asked. ¡°I never got any.¡± ¡°How did you get into the city without paperwork?¡± ¡°I, uh, built it.¡± ¡°You built your paperwork?¡± ¡°No, I built the city.¡± ¡°Who do you think you are, Jason Asano?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She sighed. ¡°Sir, please step out of the line and join that queue where they establish your¡ª¡± ¡°Bernice,¡± Jason said. ¡°Look at me. Really look.¡± She did, with a look of suspicion. ¡°How do you know my name?¡± ¡°I know more than your name, Bernice. I¡¯ve known you for most of your life. When you snuck off to swim in the kelp fields in the water chambers. I knew you when Giram asked you to marry him. When you cried alone on finding out you weren¡¯t pregnant, then cried with your husband when you finally were. He¡¯s bit of a blubberer, that husband of yours.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what game you¡¯re¡ª¡± ¡°Look at me, Bernice.¡± ¡°You are not going to¡ª¡± Look at me. Bernice¡¯s eyes went wide and Jason gave her an apologetic smile. ¡°Sorry to be forceful,¡± he said. ¡°I probably should have just skipped the line, but I wanted to check something. Were you warned I might be coming?¡± She gave a jerking, nervous nod. ¡°We were all talking about it, but we didn¡¯t think¡­¡± Jason chuckled. ¡°Not everyone thought I was real.¡± ¡°No.¡± Jason held out his thumb and forefinger and created a gold spirit coin between them. He imprinted his aura on it and tossed it to Bernice, who almost dropped it. ¡°Now,¡± Jason told her, ¡°you have something to show Herk next time he runs his mouth in the break room.¡± Bernice stared at the coin sitting in her hand, as if unsure it was real. ¡°Can I go, then?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hold up the line.¡± Bernice shook her head, as if waking up from a trance. She looked at the line behind Jason, who didn¡¯t seem to have noticed her borderline-religious experience. ¡°Uh, no,¡± she said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, a magic coin is great and all, but if I start letting people through with something like that, I¡¯m going to get fired. If you don¡¯t have papers, you need to join that queue back there and get new ones.¡± Jason turned and look at the slow-moving queue. ¡°Seriously?¡± She shrugged apologetically. ¡°Unless you want to force your way past,¡± she said. ¡°If you¡¯re really who you say you are, that shouldn¡¯t be hard.¡± Jason let out a groan. ¡°It was nice meeting you, Bernice.¡± He left the line and trudged over to the other queue. He could have easily circumvented the whole process, either with magic or by calling in a high-ranking bureaucrat. That would only cause problems for Bernice, however. He chided himself on getting other people caught up in things he did on a whim. *** ¡°And what did she do?¡± Marla asked as Fiorella gave her report. ¡°She made him go get his papers because he didn¡¯t have any.¡± ¡°How did she do that?¡± ¡°By telling him to, so far as I can tell.¡± ¡°And he did it?¡± ¡°It would seem so, Commander. He didn¡¯t jump the queue, either. Waited more than half an hour.¡± ¡°Anyone other than¡­¡± Marla picked up the personnel file on her desk and looked it over again. ¡°¡­Bernice notice anything about him?¡± ¡°No, Commander. From what I was able to tell, he stood out no more than any other gold ranker.¡± ¡°He adapts fast,¡± Marla mused. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing?¡± Fiorella asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t that why we¡¯re all in this city instead of the ruins of the one that used to stand here?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Marla said. ¡°But there¡¯s danger in someone with the power of a god and the thinking of mortal.¡± ¡°Does he really have the power of a god?¡± ¡°In this city he does.¡± She once more glanced over the file in her hands. ¡°Get me some more information on this Bernice. If she can handle Asano, I think she might be wasted where she is. Let¡¯s look into getting her a promotion.¡± *** The difficulties in navigating the shaft reinforced that this was not a place for low rankers. There was no illumination attached to the shaft itself, although the heavy traffic was a stream of lights moving up and down. Jason reflected that it looked like a busy highway at night. Most of the traffic was made up of flying trade barges, but there was no shortage of multi-person skimmers and personal transport devices, all shedding light of various colours. Some people, like Jason himself, simply flew without visible aid. Jason wanted to pause as he reached the threshold of his domain¡¯s power, but it would have held up traffic. As such, his first departure from his domain in years was an unceremonious thing. His power was harder to hide once he left, drawing a few nearby gazes, but he quickly got it under control. He wasn¡¯t the only one to demonstrate an unsettled aura passing in or out of his domain, so he didn¡¯t stand out too much. It was just outside of his domain that Jason found the border town that had built up at the outskirts of Rexion, dug into the walls of the shaft. It was managed by the brighthearts but had a mostly transient population of surface dwellers. It began as a small outpost, founded back in the transformation zone months. Years later it was a massive town ringing the shaft. Nothing was left of the original uncut walls. The natural stone had been carved out, leaving something like a subterranean Las Vegas ringed around the shaft. Magical signs and decorations washed everything in a mishmash of cyberpunk neon. A few establishments ran right up to the edge with massive viewing windows, but most of the space near the shaft was taken up by entertainment and shopping plazas. A few tunnels led deeper into the town, away from prime shaft-side areas too expensive for warehousing. The landing platforms were differentiated by usage. Large ones led to access tunnels that could accommodate the trade barges. Smaller ones fed visitors into the plazas lined with taverns, shops and gambling halls. Jason overheard someone call the area The Ring. Jason grinned as he floated towards a landing platform for individual travellers. In his domains, he saw everything. He didn¡¯t consciously process it, but if he wanted to watch something that happened in some corner of Rexion seven years ago, the memory danced up from the back of his mind. But this place was outside of his domain, offering all new experiences to explore. As he walked through the plaza with people bustling around him, he extended his senses through the town. He was gentle and delicate, to the point that most gold rankers wouldn¡¯t notice, and various places in the town were shielded against such perception. Not enough to stop a gold ranker, but enough that it would be rude and obvious if he pushed through to take a peek. What he did sense was an aura that was familiar, even though it was now gold rank instead of silver, and he headed in that direction. Chapter 894: Mandatory Team Activity The subterranean border town of Outer Rexion was a ring of lights in the dark. Accommodation anywhere but the back tunnels was expensive by most standards, but gold rank adventurers had standards all of their own. Zara Nareen entered her suite and immediately spotted something different from when she left it. Someone had been in her room, despite explicit instructions to the contrary. It was a multi-room suite, centred on two chairs and a couch set around a low table. There was something new on the table, but she didn¡¯t concentrate on that for the moment. Distracting her could easily be the plan, setting her up for an attack from behind. Instead, she pushed her magical perception out hard, in clear disregard of propriety. She sensed no one else in the suite. She felt the agitation of those in the nearby rooms, but they were suppressing their anger. Social norms were all well and good, but no one wanted to bang on the gold-ranker¡¯s door and tell them to stop making a magical racket. Zara took slow steps forward, looking around. If she couldn¡¯t sense anyone, either no one was there or the person there was very dangerous. She moved to the coffee table for a closer look at what had been left on it: a plate of red and white baked squares. Her shoulders slumped as the tension left her body. She smiled at a memory from half her lifetime ago. ¡°All these years and you¡¯re still barging in uninvited.¡± ¡°I think ¡®barged¡¯ is a little harsh,¡± Jason said as he stepped out of a corner shadow that should not have been able to hide a person. He shrugged off his cloak and it dissolved into nothing. Zara shook her head, picked up one of the slices and delicately bit off a corner. Then she elegantly lowered herself into an armchair as Jason dropped himself into the other like a sack of potatoes. ¡°I¡¯m a little surprised you¡¯re the first one here,¡± Jason told her. ¡°I¡¯m also a little surprised you¡¯re still turning your hair and eyes copper.¡± A contrite expression crossed his face. ¡°I had no right to tell you what to do with your body, even if my anger was justified. I¡¯m sorry for that.¡± ¡°We both made some bad choices back then. And you would have had to make fewer of them if I hadn¡¯t dragged you into my mess.¡± ¡°Those are old stories, and these are new times,¡± Jason said. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s time to let all that go. And it does look good on you, although I suspect most things do.¡± ¡°Are you flirting with me, Jason?¡± ¡°No, I just have eyes. Why are you still wearing a different colour?¡± ¡°The sapphire hair is iconic to the royal family. I¡¯m still adopted into House Nareen, and it makes things easier.¡± ¡°Still publicly on the outs with the royal family?¡± ¡°No. Politics is more changeable than the sea and there has been plenty of time for that to blow over. But I like being part of my mother¡¯s family, and staying there keeps me out of the worst of it. Especially since my cousin became the new Storm King. And my father has become softer since retirement. I was spending time with him in Rimaros when I was sent word you were back. That¡¯s why I¡¯m the first one here.¡± They sat back in their armchairs, looking one another over. Neither of them had aged, of course. Zara knew that ranking up had changed little about her appearance, but Jason was a different story. His face had already changed a lot at silver rank, but his strange, nebulous eyes always drew the attention. Now he had the same eyes he had when they met at iron rank; dark, challenging and playful. ¡°Have your eyes changed back, or are they a disguise, like mine?¡± ¡°Just a disguise. How effective it will be, I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯m having trouble containing myself.¡± ¡°You always did.¡± He flashed that infuriating impish grin. He was more handsome than when they¡¯d met, yet still somewhat plain by gold rank standards. His chin was still somehow too prominent after ranking up no less than four times. It left his face oddly out of balance, yet it suited him perfectly. He always had a way of leaving her off balance as well. More profound than the physical changes was the way his mental state affected his physicality. Back then he¡¯d been twitchy, wild and energetic, as if he were hopped up on something. His body language was like a rabbit hopping on the spot, unsure whether to play or run away. Now he was still. Certain. He looked at the world as if, whatever he decided, it was the world that would have to answer. Not many people recognised that look. Most never met a diamond ranker, let alone enough to know that they all had it. Zara was one of the few who did. ¡°Where did you get the ingredients?¡± she asked. ¡°The ingredients?¡± ¡°For the gem berry milk nut squares. We¡¯re so far underground that the rock around us would be molten if not for the natural array,¡± she said. ¡°The bronze rankers here have to wear specialised magic items just to survive.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ve been down here for what? A decade and a half?¡± ¡°About that.¡± ¡°So, where did you get gem berries and milk nuts to make this slice?¡± She took another bite, then spoke with her mouth full in distinctly unladylike fashion. ¡°It tastes exactly the same!¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯s the same batch,¡± he told her. She swallowed it all in a gulp, not carefully chewing as she had before. ¡°You fed me twenty-year-old baked goods?¡± He reached for the plate. ¡°If you don¡¯t want it¡­¡± Jason¡¯s hand was slapped away by a concentrated burst of compressed air that didn¡¯t disturb anything else in the room. He leaned back, his grin somehow becoming even more smug. ¡°That was some precise wind control.¡± ¡°I did do a little practise on the way to gold rank, you know. I hate to break it to you, but time moves on while you¡¯re off having cosmic adventures. The rest of us are living lives.¡± She barely caught the flash of sadness before he reached out for the plate again. He took a slice and stuffed half of it in his mouth, waggling his eyebrows at her. But the mask had slipped a little, and didn¡¯t quite fit anymore. ¡°It must be strange for you,¡± she said. ¡°You go off and do these amazing things. Walking between worlds. But then you come back and everything has changed on you. Missing the lives of friends. Some girl you met once used your name, landing you in the middle of a political tangle you neither asked for nor deserved.¡± ¡°Why did you?¡± he asked. ¡°I never cared to ask, back then, but why me? Like you said, we only ever met a few times. I¡¯ll grant you, that first time it was memorable, but I was no one back then.¡± ¡°Do you really want me to answer that?¡± ¡°Should I?¡± ¡°No. I complicated things for you the last time you came back. I hope I¡¯ve managed to learn better in all this time.¡± She sighed and set her half-eaten slice down on the plate before leaning back and staring at Jason. ¡°You know I¡¯ve been working with the team in your absence.¡± ¡°No you haven¡¯t.¡± Her eyebrows rose. ¡°You haven¡¯t been working with the team, Zara; you¡¯ve been in it. You¡¯ve spent more time working with them than I have, even having scattered since reaching gold rank. You¡¯re as much a part of the group as I am. Maybe even more so.¡± Zara took a long breath and let it out slowly as she stared at Jason. ¡°It took me a long time to feel like I belonged,¡± she said. ¡°Once I did, I felt an insecurity that maybe it was just in my head. That you would come back and kick me out. I asked to join you once before, and I know the circumstances were different, but I remember how angry you were. The way you looked at me.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t angry at you, Zara. I was just angry.¡± ¡°It felt like you were angry at me.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, maybe a bit.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I ever let go of that fear, not entirely. The way things ended with my last team¡­¡± ¡°Do you mind if I ask about them?¡± ¡°Rose retired. She works for the Adventure Society now. Orin is still adventuring. Hit gold rank not that long ago. He¡¯s in a team with Kasper Irios and his friends. He¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°The friend you invoked my name for so he didn¡¯t get stuck marrying you.¡± ¡°Yes. Not my finest hour. It turns out my father was already working to¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter. Kasper is an adventurer, now, and Orin is the only one on his team to hit gold so far.¡± ¡°Amos Pensinata¡¯s influence?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. No one¡¯s really seen him since the transformation zone. He was around for a little while, settling the affairs of Orin¡¯s team. Then he just kind of vanished. Some people say he retired, others that he¡¯s working on getting to diamond rank. He clearly wants to be left alone, so I never dug deeper.¡± She sighed. ¡°I still think about my old team a lot. I wasn¡¯t with them for all that long, but it felt like I was building a place to belong. They were a Rimaros team who trained the same way I did. We thought the same, tactically and strategically. It was different with your team.¡± ¡°Our team.¡± ¡°Our team. Thank you. They were still figuring things out when Sophie recruited me. Losing you, Taika and Rufus all at once left massive gaps in their tactical options. I felt like a stranger trying to fill three holes when I didn¡¯t fit in any of them. They didn¡¯t seem worried because the way they work is so adaptable, but that¡¯s not the way we train in Rimaros. For a long time, I thought I¡¯d made a mistake.¡± ¡°But not now.¡± ¡°No. When Sophie pulled me in, I felt bereft of purpose. She told me there are worse things you can dedicate a life to than helping people. It¡¯s strange how you can dismiss an idea for seeming so simple and obvious. I¡¯d convinced myself that I had to find something complicated and unexpected to set me on my life path. It¡¯s why I went chasing you.¡± ¡°Just that?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask again: do you really want me to answer that?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°Not today. Do you know when the others will get here?¡± ¡°Should be in the next few days. Travis will be soon, as he¡¯s still working out of Rimaros. He¡¯s been doing cloud flask research with House de Varco and that diamond ranker who hates you. The others are farther away, mostly Vitesse. Last I heard, Neil was in the Mirror Kingdom with Nik.¡± Zara was startled at the smile that lit up Jason¡¯s face. ¡°How¡¯s my little rabbit guy doing? He must have found a team by now, right?¡± ¡°Actually, he¡¯s been working with the Adventure Society. They shop him out for expeditions that could use a communications and coordination specialist. He¡¯s in very high demand, from what I¡¯ve heard.¡± ¡°That diamond ranker is going to come here, aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°I suspect so. They didn¡¯t like you dodging them for fifteen years.¡± ¡°Are you using non-binary pronouns or did this diamond ranker split themselves into multiple people with magic?¡± ¡°Pronouns. High-ranking shape-shifters often switch around their gender. Travis introduced the concept of chosen pronouns and it¡¯s catching on amongst gold and diamond rankers. Apparently. I don¡¯t talk to that many diamond rankers.¡± ¡°See, this is favouritism. Knowledge wouldn¡¯t let me go around disseminating ideas from Earth.¡± ¡°Only ones you didn¡¯t understand for yourself. You introduced several concepts related to cooking that I did not impede at all.¡± Zara looked around the room and saw nothing, but sensed a barely discernible divine aura. She looked to Jason, whose attempt at looking cranky was plainly undercut with amusement. ¡°Oh, look at this,¡± he complained to the room. ¡°I¡¯m out of my domain five minutes and already you¡¯re eavesdropping.¡± ¡°Are you saying you never used your omniscience within your domain?¡± Knowledge asked. ¡°Yeah, well¡­ shut up.¡± After some disembodied laughter, the divine aura vanished. Zara stared as he shook his head in amusement, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. ¡°Does that happen often?¡± she asked. ¡°You mean gods having a chat?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I dunno. How much is often? I¡¯m in the club now, so I imagine it¡¯ll keep happening.¡± ¡°The club?¡± ¡°My membership is a bit odd. I¡¯m not a god, obviously, but I¡¯m not entirely¡­ not a god, either.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a demigod?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more complicated than that. You want to see?¡± ¡°See what?¡± He didn¡¯t move. He stayed sitting where he was, eyes locked on her. His dark eyes gave way to the orange and blue ones, but there was no other visible change. At the same time, she felt the change, and she instinctively pushed back in her chair. Like a god¡¯s aura, it was vast and connected to some distant force. It was if he had become an unstable portal to some place of incomprehensible power. And as suddenly as the sensation appeared, it vanished. ¡°What are you?¡± she asked breathlessly. ¡°Complicated. I¡¯ll save the big explanations for when we¡¯re all together. I¡¯ll probably need Clive¡¯s help explaining certain parts anyway.¡± ¡°Things are going to get strange, aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Strange how?¡± Jason asked with unconvincing innocence. ¡°You know the Magic Society and Adventure Society are going to be all over you about this System thing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more worried about Clive, to be honest. How excited was he when it happened?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably best you don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°That bad, huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t make a big deal of it,¡± Zara lied. ¡°I¡¯d run off to the other universe without him, but I¡¯ll need him to set that up.¡± ¡°The other universe. Where you¡¯re from.¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll be heading over there in not too long. You¡¯re coming, right?¡± ¡°Can I?¡± ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s probably not up to you. I¡¯m guessing Hump will make it a mandatory team activity.¡± Chapter 895: Try Not to Bring Down Civilisation Outer Rexion had many temples, but they weren¡¯t clustered together, as was the norm. With the town itself circling a massive shaft, the temple district likewise took the form of a ring. Positioned just behind the shaft-side plazas and entertainment districts, the houses of the holy were conveniently located for post-sin repentance. What the locals called the Worship Ring was a wide boulevard. The cavernous ceiling accommodated the often exotic architecture of the temples, lining both sides of the broad street. Around each temple were annexes, stalls and shop fronts. Ritual supplies, holy books and iconography were all available, along with more specific products. In defiance of geology and physics, underground rivers fed the growth chambers that produced all the food and water for Rexion. Accordingly, there was a small temple to the god of rivers in Outer Rexion, abutted by the world¡¯s least successful fishing supply shop. Jason walked around the Worship Ring, down the wide and busy boulevard. He immediately recognised how much prime real estate had been allocated to the churches. He suspected the brighthearts had been generous when expanding the original outpost, since no temples could be built in Rexion proper. The original brightheart city had its own temples and priesthoods, devoted to the same gods the surface dwellers worshipped. Those temples were long buried and the clergy long dead. The domains of the gods had been overrun by the Undeath priesthood, following the spiritual rules of holy war. It was something Jason understood himself; an instinctive knowledge that came from possessing domains himself. Domains were, ordinarily, inviolable. A god could not move in on another god¡¯s territory, but their followers could. The first step was for the mortal servants of one god to conquer the territory around the spiritual domain of another. With sufficiently thorough control of the area around the domain, they could then invade it to claim for their own god. Just as Undeath had claimed the site of the old city, so did Jason in resolving the transformation zone. The priests were eradicated, along with the god¡¯s power, embodied in the avatar. When Jason conquered the transformation zone, there was no one and nothing left to contest the ground. As he made his way around the Worship Ring, he brushed against the domains of the various gods. It was a strange and complicated sensation, something between a handshake, a warning and a dating profile. He stopped in front of the temple of Hero, where a sculpture stood in the middle of the boulevard. An edifice of bronze, silver and gold, with a lot of dark iron, people had to navigate around it to continue along their way. The sculpture depicted a leonid figure. Fierce and menacing, it radiated power. The golden mane shone faintly with light and the dark armour glowed where the plates met. Jason could feel heat radiating from it. He wasn¡¯t sure how long he stood staring as the street traffic flowed past. He was stirred from his reverie by a voice right beside him. ¡°He wasn¡¯t like that. Angry and violent. He could be, yes, but only when he had to. So often are we only remembered for that which we didn¡¯t want to do in the first place.¡± Jason turned to see a man that looked to be in his mid-forties, but his silver rank meant that the real number would be much higher. ¡°You met him?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I once had the privilege. Quite a few years ago, now, on the other side of the world. But I have researched him quite extensively.¡± ¡°Vitesse?¡± ¡°Greenstone,¡± the man said with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re him, aren¡¯t you?¡± Jason took a closer look at the man. He wore simple coloured robes, like a priest of one of the more humble gods. Similar to those of the Healer, but without markings and a light sandy colour, rather than brown. ¡°You¡¯re one of them, aren¡¯t you?¡± Jason asked. ¡°The former priests.¡± ¡°We like to think of ourselves as seekers of purpose. But yes, Lord Asano. I am.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me Lord.¡± ¡°But that is what you¡ª¡± ¡°I know what I am.¡± ¡°Then what should we call you?¡± ¡°My name is Jason. If you insist on being formal, Mr Asano will do.¡± ¡°Many of us are here, waiting for your return. We keep watch on this sculpture, knowing that you would come. We have been waiting for so long. For your guidance. And our purpose.¡± ¡°Everyone seeks purpose. I¡¯m not your messiah.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you? We have studied your ways. Your nature. Your companions. You walk with gods and travel beyond reality. What was once yours alone you have gifted to every essence user. If you are not a god walking amongst us, you are akin to one. Do you even realise how your voice resonates in my mind like a song of the heavens?¡± Jason muffled a groan. ¡°If you want someone to worship, look around. There are literally temples in every direction. There¡¯s a reason I don¡¯t have one.¡± ¡°But you do. Rexion is your temple.¡± ¡°No, it isn¡¯t. It¡¯s a home for a people who were almost wiped out. It belongs to them.¡± ¡°But your power¡ª¡± ¡°Is irrelevant. You want me to be a god? If I hear about any of you proclaiming Rexion to be a temple or otherwise causing trouble for the brighthearts, then you will see my wrath.¡± ¡°Please do not be angry, Lo¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to listen, are you? It¡¯s been almost twenty years. Even if you had nothing left when I set you free, that¡¯s enough time to build a life all over again. To find a purpose, or to make one for yourselves. I know a lot of you have. But the ones like you, you¡¯ve spent it waiting for me to set you on some ill-defined path. And it¡¯s not even me you¡¯re waiting for? If you¡¯ve been at it this long, you¡¯ve built up some idea of me and convinced yourselves it will solve all your problems. That no one else can. I¡¯ve seen where that leads, on the world I come from. But I¡¯ll never be the person you¡¯re imagining. No one can be.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Jason threw out his arms, gesturing at the temples around them. ¡°That guidance you¡¯re looking for? That purpose? That is what gods do. If none of them can fill the hole inside you, I certainly can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Gods have failed us. You walk on the ground, yet possess their divinity. Not distant and heartless. You know what it is to struggle with the rest of us.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make me responsible for you. I¡¯m the guy that saved you a long time ago. I will accept your gratitude, but you¡¯re wasting the time you¡¯ve gotten back. I¡¯m not your path. You have to find your own.¡± ¡°We venerate you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Jason shook his head. He¡¯d used his aura as a privacy shield, but he could sense the people watching them from a distance. More like this man. Their emotions were singular and driven. Obsessive. None of his words had put so much as a dent in the feelings of the man in front of him. He was hanging on Jason¡¯s every word yet hearing none of them. He looked up at the Gary sculpture, angry more than anything at being interrupted. There was no point wasting any more words on the man so he didn¡¯t, vanishing into the sculpture¡¯s shadow. He emerged somewhere he really didn¡¯t want to be, but needed to. The temple was one of the more unusual ones, being a tower shaped like an arm jutting up from the ground. Clenched in the hand at the top was a head glaring imperiously down on the passers by. Jason glared back up at it. ¡°Really?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s religion,¡± Dominion said, appearing next to Jason. ¡°Showmanship is part of the deal.¡± None of the passers-by seemed to notice the god. ¡°I didn¡¯t handle that situation very well,¡± Jason said. ¡°There isn¡¯t a good way to deal with that kind. Unless you want to kill them all.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then, sooner or later, there¡¯s going to be a cult.¡± ¡°I think¡­¡± Jason trailed off, then let out a sigh. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to need some guidance. I¡¯m not ready for what the power I have now will mean to people.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re going to mess some things up. That¡¯s nothing new, but the scale you¡¯ll be doing it on is. You could do some real damage, now.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason agreed, his voice resigned. ¡°I was hoping you had some advice.¡± ¡°Have you considered giant banners with your face on them?¡± ¡°That¡¯s your advice?¡± ¡°This is how you ask for it? You know you¡¯re terrible at praying, right? Rocking up to a temple and glaring at it like it owes you money.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not entirely unfair,¡± Jason conceded. He turned to look at Dominion standing beside him. ¡°Do you actually rule anything?¡± Jason asked. ¡°My clergy knows damn well to follow orders.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s it, right?¡± ¡°I am not a ruler, Jason. Kings and emperors rule. Caliphs and prime ministers and greater district regional distribution managers. They rule; I am the very concept of ruling. I am not a hegemon but hegemony itself.¡± Jason thought on Dominion¡¯s words while looking up at the menacing temple visage. ¡°Showmanship is part of the deal,¡± he said. ¡°I was once told that you are the one that decides who rules and who serves. But that wasn¡¯t right, was it?¡± ¡°No. There is no divine right of kings. Mortals choose and I try to help them not make a complete mess of things.¡± ¡°That former priest was right, wasn¡¯t he? I¡¯m not just some guy. I can¡¯t be, anymore.¡± ¡°Not when they know who you are. But you don¡¯t have to let them. I wander around all the time and no one has a clue.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have some tips on hiding all that power? I can do it well enough when I concentrate, but it¡¯s like trying to hold in a poo. The moment things get exciting it¡¯s going to pop out, whether I like it or not.¡± ¡°I can help you with that.¡± Dominion casually held out a fist-sized orb. Inside, sparks of blue, silver and gold danced around one another. Jason reached out to accept it.
Item: [Projection Command: Presence] (transcendent rank, legendary) The authority to control the presence of an expression of transcendent power. (consumable, magic core).
¡°Thank you,¡± Jason said as he absorbed it into his inventory for later. ¡°You realise it¡¯s only a stop-gap measure. A way to hide yourself while you get a handle on interacting with the mortal world. You will need to get a handle on that if you don¡¯t want to be a god of chaos.¡± ¡°Still not a god.¡± ¡°Is there really a difference?¡± ¡°Well, someday this planet will die and you gods with it.¡± Dominion let out a wincing chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s a horrible thing to say.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Also, I know you¡¯re new to operating on a god level, but we tend to avoid the word ¡®poo.¡¯ It doesn¡¯t convey the dignity we¡¯re going for.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± ¡°Why did you really come here, Jason? You didn¡¯t need me to tell you that there¡¯s nothing you can do about your would-be followers. The Adventure Society is watching them, as are several churches, including mine. Even you aren¡¯t oblivious enough to not have guessed that.¡± ¡°What do you mean, even me?¡± ¡°I said what I said. Why did you come to see me, Jason?¡± Jason grimaced, not answering immediately. ¡°On Pallimustus, I¡¯m not an outlier. This prime avatar is just gold rank. If I try going rampant, there are forces that will spank me for it. I¡¯ve gotten away with a lot by being too important to someone or other to just get snuffed out, but I¡¯m immortal now. It¡¯s easy enough to kill my avatar and give me a quarter-century time out.¡± ¡°Ah. Your concern is the realm of your birth. The relative power you will have there.¡± ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s anyone on Earth stronger than I am now. Boris, probably. Maybe Rufus. But that only makes it worse. It¡¯ll be me and all my friends. We could probably conquer the world for a Sunday Fun Day. Just the possibility of that is going to get people making drastic choices.¡± ¡°Yes. Enough personal power makes you a political power, whether you like it or not. Every high ranker has to learn that lesson, but you¡¯re not practising with wooden swords, are you?¡± ¡°No. And it¡¯s going to be so much worse on Earth. Here, the cultures have adapted to individuals with so much power. Over there, power has always been collective. There have always been those who concentrated that power, but there were limits. They always needed people to make it work.¡± ¡°As I see it, you have two choices. Conquer your world, or stand apart from it. Above it. Like a god. You have to rule them, or make them realise that you are so far above them that you have no interest in their little games. Anything in between and it will be chaos.¡± ¡°No half measures.¡± ¡°No half measures,¡± Dominion agreed. ¡°When you act ¡ª however you act ¡ª it must be definitive. Beyond challenge. And when you refrain from acting, you must be beyond question.¡± ¡°How can I be beyond question? There will always be those who doubt and disagree.¡± ¡°When I say beyond question, I do not mean a questions of morals or values but of power. Make them see that they are nothing before you. That when you choose action, they cannot stop you. That when you choose inaction, they cannot compel you. Whether you are their ruler or their god, to see you, they must always look up.¡± ¡°Might makes right.¡± ¡°Yes. You don¡¯t like it, I know, but it is the reality. Civilisation is built on not just ideals, but the power to enforce them. And there are always hands in which that power disproportionately rests. The moment you arrive on Earth, those hands will be yours. So, try not to bring down civilisation.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Dominion grinned. ¡°You didn¡¯t come to me for easy answers.¡± ¡°It would have been nice, though.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it just. Speaking of power, though, there¡¯s some knowledge that Knowledge might not want you to know.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°She can peek into the head of your prime avatar, but not your true self. The living universe.¡± ¡°My consciousness is seated in the prime avatar. Isn¡¯t that the same thing?¡± ¡°No. You can keep things from your avatar, if you don¡¯t want them disseminated amongst the gods. Knowledge can be such a gossip.¡± ¡°By which you mean the goddess of Knowledge likes to spread knowledge.¡± ¡°It was more fun the way I said it.¡± Jason gave Dominion a curious look. ¡°No one has ever said that to me before. Can you teach me to hide things from my avatar?¡± ¡°Someone is already lined up for that. For now, just enjoy yourself. Your friends are about to start arriving.¡± Chapter 896: We Have Forever Trading with Rexion, even Outer Rexion, came with many complications. Both natural and magical environmental conditions outright killed people unless they were brighthearts or at least silver rank. The effects of the natural array inside Rexion were not as severe as when the array was rendered unstable by the messengers, twenty years earlier. It was still enough to cause problems for the weak and ill-prepared. The ambient magic interfered with many forms of elemental magic and was hostile to extremely high rankers. Diamond rankers and many at the peak of gold found themselves suffering headaches and vertigo. It wasn¡¯t enough to impede their formidable prowess, but it was highly unpleasant. There were also monsters. Most had learned to avoid the shaft, but some were freshly spawned and didn¡¯t know better. Others were just too stupid to care. As a result, those heading up or down the shaft needed protection, or the power to protect themselves. Because of the difficulties involved, guards nor manual labour could be found cheaply. Many turned to repurposed labour constructs, widely available after the reconstruction of Yaresh. While most merchants wanted them, the initial outlay was high. They were also expensive to repair, and not designed for combat. As a result, silver rankers filled the gaps. Many silver rankers were craftspeople looking to fund their work, or noble scions cut off from the family purse. For those unwilling to adventure, or sign contracts that would tie them up as noble family guards for years, there were limited opportunities to make money. While working the shaft didn¡¯t pay as well as adventuring, all it took was a desire for money and a willingness to suffer some indignity. That indignity often proved the sticking point that made silver rank labour a problem. Used to running a workshop or being served on by others, fighting and hauling goods was something they felt was below them. For some, it became a valuable lesson in humility. In others, it brought their sense of entitlement to the fore. Needing to prove they were more than just thugs and labourers, they started throwing their weight around. The brighthearts controlled Outer Rexion and the town at the top of the shaft, but the Adventure Society managed traffic moving up and down. The high-level society officials, up on the surface, considered this an excellent opportunity to track who came and went. The people actually doing the work considered the Office of Shaft Traffic Control one of the worst assignments available. Being a shaft traffic controller was a complex, frustrating and occasionally dangerous job. Frustrated, entitled silver rankers always thought that their business was the most important, and they were the worst done by. When things inevitably went wrong, they grew volatile. The Adventure Society maintained a security force, but they were sometimes slow to act. It didn¡¯t help that the security force itself was a punishment duty for recalcitrant adventurers. The society was at least wise enough to not put malcontent adventurers in charge of anything. A cadre of society officials held the positions of authority, charged with keeping the security force itself in line. These were not coveted roles. Miguel Ladiv had once foolishly imagined that a cushy job in the Adventure Society would be his for the taking. After all, his uncle was deputy director of the Adventure Society branch in Rimaros. He had seemed so welcoming, too, when Miguel said he wanted to follow him into society. Unfortunately, Uncle Vidal¡¯s enthusiasm for nepotism proved to be of the ¡®chance to prove yourself¡¯ variety. Before he knew what had happened, Miguel found himself deep underground, in charge of a cycling array of malcontent adventurers. ¡°Adventurers have to deal with monsters,¡± Vidal had told him. ¡°Adventure Society officials have to deal with adventurers, which is worse. I¡¯m not going to lie to you; this job will be awful. You may get beaten up and you¡¯ll definitely want to quit. But if you do the job, and do it well, you¡¯ll be setting yourself up for big things. For one thing, you¡¯re going to show the people that matter that you¡¯re not taking the easy way.¡± ¡°Okay, Uncle, hear me out: what if we try doing things the easy way so they think I¡¯m innovative and willing to do the unexpected?¡± ¡°The easy way is always expected, Miguel. Now, the other thing this job will do is let you run into some big names. A lot of important officials, diplomats and adventurers come through here.¡± ¡°You want me to suck up to famous adventurers?¡± ¡°No, that will just backfire on you. But people like that pay attention to what¡¯s going on around them. They wouldn¡¯t have lived that long if they didn¡¯t. If they see you doing your job well now, they¡¯ll remember that down the line. Getting into the top levels of the Adventure Society is a game of politics. Some day, a big adventurer who knows your face, and that you¡¯re diligent and capable, will open doors that all the hard work in the world will not.¡± His uncle had been right, of course. Miguel had definitely wanted to quit. He¡¯d wanted an easy life, and this was anything but. To his surprise, he never quite did. He wasn¡¯t heir to the family title, like his uncle, but he still had his pride. For five years now, he¡¯d been wrangling idiot adventurers to keep order over idiot non-adventurers. He was astounded there hadn¡¯t been some kind of blood bath between entitled merchant guards and his idiot adventurers. He¡¯d also seen some of those big names his uncle had mentioned. Members of famous teams like Moon¡¯s Edge and Biscuit. Even the Yaresh diamond rankers, Allayeth and Charist, although that was rare. The natural array made diamond-rankers uncomfortable, though, so visitors that prestigious were rare. Today was scheduled to be one of those rare days. The famous treasure hunter, Emir Bahadir was going to arrive. With him would be the inventor of the sky link communication tablets, along with a diamond ranker Miguel had never heard of. They would be arriving down the shaft as portals were extremely unreliable this close to Rexion proper. Even so, there was a small portal arrival area, tucked behind Miguel¡¯s office. Miguel¡¯s security office was right on the edge of the shaft, abutting the largest of the Outer Rexion¡¯s landing platforms. It was a curved quarter-dome of glass, opaque from the outside but allowing him to watch the shaft traffic from within. He knew the VIPs were arriving when he saw a large cloud vessel moving down. Cloud constructs were popular vehicles, but were notoriously unstable in the depths. They were also small, for personal use. Scaling the size up sent the price soaring, making other designs more viable. This vehicle was an oversized cloud carriage, able to hold a dozen or more in comfort. That made it too pricy for any but the larger noble houses, merchant barons or high-ranking adventurers. Miguel had some paperwork with the details of the visitors on it. He grabbed the folder and headed outside, meandering across the landing platform. A half-dozen bureaucrats from the Office of Shaft Traffic Control rushed past him, scrambling to meet the visitors. The cloud carriage reached the platform and was waved into position by the landing guide¡¯s signal flags. The vehicle was much too large for the four people who emerged. As they disembarked, the vehicle dissolved and was drawn into a locket around the neck of one of the four passengers. Miguel was certain that person was the diamond ranker, who went by Cloudweaver. It was unclear if he should address them as Cloudweaver or the Cloudweaver. Taking on such names had been common amongst high rankers for a long time. The non-gendered pronouns the paperwork warned him to use were new, but likewise a high-rank trend. It was unusual, but he had encountered them before in the course of his job. Despite their rank, Cloudweaver was visibly unremarkable. They looked like a woman to Miguel, albeit with short hair and a face that was boyish, but delicate and pretty. He couldn¡¯t sense an aura, but there was something about their presence that stood out. It was as if they was painted in vibrant colours while everyone else was washed out. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Of the two men, the taller was the most striking of the group. Impeccably dressed, handsome and black as midnight, he had rainbow beads woven into his hair. He was emitting a polite amount of aura, advertising his gold rank. That was clearly the treasure hunter. The woman next to him, also gold rank, was his wife. Her hair was long, dark and straight, so shiny it reflected the colourful lights of the nearby plaza. She panned over everything with a sharp gaze, Miguel flushing as she paused on him for a moment. The last member of the group had pale skin and a slightly nervous look about him. At silver, he was the lowest rank of the group and didn¡¯t look comfortable in his long coat, shifting as if unused to wearing it. His neck craned as he looked around like a country boy on his first trip to the city. The Adventure Society officials were attempting to greet the group, with mixed success. Emir Bahadir and ¡ª Miguel checked his paperwork ¡ª Travis Noble were chatting with each other, ignoring the officials. The diamond ranker looked angry and annoyed as they rubbed at their temples. Technically, Miguel¡¯s job was to stop these people from causing problems, just like he was everyone else. Anyone who thought that was remotely possible was an idiot. His real job was to stop anyone stupid enough to try and cause them trouble. Failing that, it was to scrape what was left of the troublemakers off the wall, then try to identify them for his report. The long-haired woman, Constance Bahadir, was the one dealing with the officials, and certainly seemed more professional than her companions. Miguel was introduced and spoke with her long enough to offer a security detail. She declined. Cloudweaver ran out of patience with the meet and greet. The air thrummed as aura erupted out of them and washed over the town. Miguel managed to swallow a groan at how much work that was gong to cost him as the whole town was disrupted. ¡°He¡¯s not here,¡± they growled. ¡°We came all the way down this hole full of headache-inducing magic and he¡¯s not even here?¡± ¡°He¡¯s probably doing something dimensional,¡± Emir said. ¡°He¡¯s always up to things like that. Let¡¯s go find somewhere to sit down and get a drink.¡± ¡°I would suggest the bar called the Speckled Egg,¡± Miguel said. ¡°It¡¯s pricy, but close, and the walls are enchanted to filter the natural array out of the ambient magic. Many of our more powerful visitors find it more accommodating to their needs.¡± Emir looked Miguel over for a second, then gave a small nod. Miguel pointed back at the plaza and gave Emir simple directions. The four visitors left, some of the officials attempting to talk their way into accompanying them. A couple flashed dark looks at Miguel, which he ignored. Miguel headed back for his office when he saw a line of dark energy, dancing like fire, appear on the ground in the portal area. From it rose an obsidian arch, containing a sheet of the same shadowy power. Portals weren¡¯t impossible to open in Outer Rexion, but they were difficult. Usually, only portal specialists made the attempt, and he waited to see who emerged. To his surprise, it was his uncle. ¡°Miguel? Perfect. Good news, nephew; I¡¯m getting you off this job.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Miguel asked, having trusted his uncle¡¯s good news too many times before. ¡°Because I¡¯ve gotten you a new one, obviously. You are going to be the Adventure Society liaison with Jason Asano.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the job you¡¯ve been constantly complaining about since I was little?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°I¡¯m quite certain it is. Remember aunt Maria¡¯s birthday when you accidentally drank the gold-rank wine? You wouldn¡¯t stop talking about it while the Healer priestess was removing the poison.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound familiar. You¡¯re probably thinking of something else.¡± Miguel was about to respond when a second person emerged from the portal. His aura was silver rank, projected just enough to be polite, yet his presence stood out like the Cloudweaver¡¯s. ¡°Your uncle loved the job,¡± the man said. ¡°We hardly ever used him as bait when trawling for sea monsters.¡± Miguel immediately understood two things. This man had to be Jason Asano, and he was not a silver ranker, whatever his aura claimed. ¡°It¡¯s an honour to meet you, sir,¡± he said. ¡°However, with respect, I feel that being your liaison with the Adventure Society is not a position that would have a positive outcome.¡± ¡°And why do you say that?¡± Asano asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of you, sir.¡± Jason laughed and slapped a hand on Vidal¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You were right, he¡¯ll do just fine. I have a long-overdue meeting with a diamond ranker, but get him set up.¡± Asano stepped into Vidal¡¯s shadow and fell into it, as if it was a hole in the ground. Miguel stared at the spot for a long time. ¡°Uncle?¡± ¡°Yes, Miguel?¡± ¡°Do you remember when I took this job and you told me I could quit if I wanted to?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to do that now.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re not.¡± ¡°Yes I am. I¡¯m doing it now. I quit.¡± ¡°Sorry, boy. You should have tried that before people realised you were competent. Now, follow me through this portal. I have a lot to explain.¡± *** Jason and the Cloudweaver were opposite one another in a booth. The bar was large and clean, but cultivated a dingy atmosphere with dim lighting and d¨¦cor heavy on dark wood and leather. Constance, Travis and Emir were sharing a round table next to the booth. Travis was already onto his third massive glass of some extremely blue beverage. ¡°What did you do to my cloud flask?¡± the Cloudweaver demanded. Jason grinned at the question. They had sat in seething silence through his reunion with Travis, Constance and Emir. He could feel them heating up like a kettle and finally sat down to talk before they boiled over. ¡°I turned it into my cloud flask,¡± he said. ¡°Leaving control access in a soul-bound item is always going to be unreliable, you had to know that. I pulled it into my soul instead of leaving it on the outside, and all your influence got pushed out.¡± ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°This is starting to feel like an interrogation, and I¡¯m not sure you¡¯re holding the moral high ground here. You¡¯re the one who left shady back door access in my cloud flask.¡± ¡°Shady Back Door Access,¡± Travis echoed, his words slightly slurred. ¡°Name of your sex tape.¡± ¡°Uh, that¡¯s great, mate,¡± Jason said. ¡°But maybe go over to the bar before the diamond ranker murders you with their eyes.¡± Travis looked at the Cloudweaver, visibly gulped and hurried off. He hurried back, grabbed his half-finished drink and hurried off again. ¡°If I choose to make this an interrogation,¡± the Cloudweaver continued, ¡°then that is what it shall be.¡± ¡°It will be a short one then,¡± Jason rebutted. ¡°I have neither interest nor obligation in putting up with you playing strict nanny.¡± The diamond ranker¡¯s presence pressed in on Jason with such precision that no one else in the bar so much as glanced over. Jason opened his avatar up to his true self, fending off their power. A crack appeared in the wall next to them and they both backed off. ¡°That¡¯s pretty good,¡± Jason said. ¡°You¡¯re on the road to cultivating a transcendent aspect. I haven¡¯t really looked into how ranking up through diamond works yet. But don¡¯t wave your stick at me, mate. Mine¡¯s bigger.¡± ¡°If I used aura instead of presence, I could make that puppet you¡¯re wearing bleed out its ears and die.¡± ¡°Sure, but that doesn¡¯t get you what you want. You¡¯re too smart to not know that. You¡¯re poking me to see what happens. I¡¯m guessing the diamond rank community is curious and wants you to feel me out.¡± The anger in the Cloudweaver¡¯s face vanished and they sat back with a smile. ¡°Yes,¡± they said. ¡°When you came to this world for a second time, you were unstable. Prone to lashing out and making angry decisions. That was containable when you were just some silver ranker. Now you¡¯re gold rank and something far more on top. We need to know if we should put you down while we still can.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Jason said. ¡°Wondering whether my power makes me too dangerous is kind of my thing.¡± ¡°Are you?¡± ¡°Probably, but you missed your window. I¡¯m fully immortal, now. No more conditional resurrections. You can¡¯t stop me from coming back because I don¡¯t have to. As you said, you can break the puppet, but I just have to build a new one.¡± He smiled. ¡°They call diamond rankers immortal, but we know you¡¯re not. Not really. You can make them stay down, with enough effort. It doesn¡¯t even take that much, really. Not with the right powers.¡± ¡°Is that a threat?¡± ¡°I have forever and can¡¯t be stopped. You came here to see what happens if you and your friends decide to string me up. Now you know.¡± ¡°We already knew. It was suggested that we point out that your friends are not as immortal as you are, and you¡¯ve sworn off resurrections for everyone, not just yourself.¡± ¡°It was suggested, was it?¡± ¡°It was.¡± ¡°And how was that suggestion received?¡± ¡°Some of us are very old, Asano. Old enough to have seen the world burn and history end. Magic helped civilisation rise up much earlier here than on your world. Earlier than most on this planet even realise. When diamond rankers go to war, only they survive. We want to avoid that just as much as you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a diamond ranker.¡± ¡°No. On the mortal plane, you are below us, but in the realm to which we aspire, we are below you. Our hope is that we can guide one another in the areas we each lack.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got too much going on to even think about a diamond-rank transcendent study group.¡± ¡°Of course you do. You¡¯re young. But we have forever. I¡¯ve waited almost two decades to just hear about what you¡¯ve done with your cloud flask. I would appreciate it if we could finally get to it now, though. If more of your friends arrive, I get the feeling it¡¯ll be another two decades at least.¡± Chapter 897: Like an Adventurer Rick Geller and his team arrived just as a brothel fire sent a group of scantily clad women stumbling onto the street and right into Jason. Dustin Kettering, from Rick¡¯s team, went in and used his ice powers to extinguish the blaze. ¡°Are you setting these up?¡± Rick asked Jason incredulously. ¡°I¡¯m genuinely not,¡± Jason assured him. ¡°Were you cursed by the god of lust or something?¡± ¡°No,¡± Rick said, then gave his wife Hannah a side glance. She gave him an admonishing slap on the shoulder. As Jason¡¯s friends arrived in ones and twos, the reunions were everything he¡¯d been hoping for: hugs and jibes and promises of countless stories. More than just his team, many of his friends had gathered. Danielle Geller and her husband, Keith. The Remore family, minus Rufus. Jory Tillman and Gilbert Bertinelli both arrived with Clive. Neil and Nik were portalled in from the Mirror Kingdom by the Mirror King¡¯s own portal specialist, courtesy of Team Shining Scabbard. They were led by Sigrid Freyn, a famously capable leader and healer Neil had been training with. Their teams had formed a friendship years earlier, going through the Reaper trials and training together at iron rank. Not having seen Jason since his first supposed death, Sigrid¡¯s now-husband, Prince Valdis, insisted on bringing the whole team along. ¡°Dad will miss Sigrid more than me,¡± Valdis assured Jason on their arrival. ¡°With how horny and immortal he is, the kingdom¡¯s thick with princes and princesses. He¡¯ll take a good adventurer over any of his kids.¡± ¡°Then perhaps you should focus on being a good adventurer, instead of a mediocre prince,¡± Sigrid pointed out. ¡°Also, that is a gross misrepresentation of your father and your king. Be more respectful.¡± ¡°This is why he likes her better,¡± Valdis confided. For all the joy of old friends coming together, Jason couldn¡¯t help but feel an undercurrent of melancholy. This wasn¡¯t the first reunion after events had dragged him away from his friends for years. This time he had missed more in their lives than before, and it would take time to learn who his friends were now. Belinda was so much more centred than before. She no longer skirted around the edges of the group like an uncertain outsider, instead standing comfortably amongst the others. Estella, next to her, was much more a part of the group now. Their awkwardness with Jory was noticeable, but also something they¡¯d clearly come to terms with. Just reading body language showed Jason the years-long stories he¡¯d not been around for. Humphrey had talked with him about his propensity for leaving the team for years at a time. They understood that Jason did not want to leave alone but, however justified, his extended absences came with consequences. Once everyone had arrived, they gathered around a banquet table in an outrageously expensive shaft-side restaurant. Sitting next to Jason, Humphrey leaned in close. ¡°Are you alright, Jason?¡± ¡°Yep. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Your face is kind of switching back and forth between happy and angry.¡± ¡°Happy means I¡¯m thinking about being back here with everyone.¡± ¡°And what does angry mean you¡¯re thinking about?¡± ¡°What happens to the next prick that tries to make me leave again.¡± *** ¡°And that,¡± Sophie said, ¡°was when he challenged Humphrey to a duel for my hand in marriage.¡± ¡°I would like to point out,¡± Humphrey said, ¡°that it would have been easier to de-escalate the situation if you hadn¡¯t been cheering him on.¡± ¡°But then he might not have fought you!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want him to fight me!¡± ¡°Oh, so you want one of those submissive wives that only do what you want?¡± ¡°What? No, that¡¯s not what I¡­ hey, don¡¯t you Jason me. I have Jason for that now.¡± She grinned and leaned in for a kiss, leaving his expression cranky but appeased. ¡°I assume you won, and Sophie doesn¡¯t have to marry some random guy, right?¡± Nik asked. He was seated on the other side of Jason from Humphrey. ¡°I certainly hope not,¡± Danielle said. ¡°I¡¯m not willing to give Sophie up as a daughter-in-law at this stage, and killing her new paramour wouldn¡¯t be good for my reputation.¡± ¡°I could do it,¡± Keith said. ¡°Of course you could, dear,¡± Danielle said, patting him on the shoulder. *** ¡°No,¡± Jason said. ¡°I didn¡¯t even say anything yet,¡± Clive complained. ¡°And you don¡¯t need to.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°That¡¯s just prejudicial,¡± Clive said. ¡°So, that¡¯s not a notebook you have hidden under the banquet table?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ no.¡± *** Late into the evening, the group had left the restaurant and taken over the lounge area of a nearby bar. Jason and Neil were sat together on a couch, a table full of empty glasses in front of them. ¡°So,¡± Jason said, slurring his words only a little, ¡°you just told her it was for the best and immediately skipped town?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Neil said, likewise slightly wobbly. ¡°I just kind of dropped it on her and left. I knew if I stayed, I¡¯d make some kind of stupid decision.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how fast you run when you make the stupid choice first. You seriously didn¡¯t go for a discussion before ending things? You just decided for both of you and did a runner?¡± ¡°I did discuss it.¡± ¡°With Cassandra? You said you blindsided her and bolted.¡± ¡°With Nik.¡± ¡°Well, I think I¡¯ve spotted where you went wrong there, mate: Nik is a different person. Also, how old was he back then?¡± ¡°Um, five, maybe.¡± ¡°Yeah, that was a great idea. And this was what? Ten years ago?¡± ¡°About that. Do you think I messed up?¡± ¡°Well, you dumped her, basically shouted why at her while bolting out the door and then ghosted her for a decade. I¡¯m going to say yeah, you messed up.¡± Neil let out a groan and Jason put a commiserating arm around his slumped shoulders. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, mate. We can fix this.¡± Neil perked up, eyes full of drunken hope. ¡°You really think so?¡± ¡°No, she¡¯s probably found someone much better. But we can try.¡± Neil slumped back and let out another groan. *** ¡°So, that¡¯s the plan,¡± Jason summarised. ¡°Head to Estercost to see how many people from Earth we can round up. Then we head to Rimaros, fix up the link between worlds and then ride it to the other universe. Anyone interested in seeing an alternate reality is welcome to come along.¡± ¡°You think it will be that simple?¡± Danielle Geller asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Jason said. ¡°But simple is not the same thing as easy, as Clive is happy to explain.¡± Zara¡¯s suite was large, but still crowded with all of Jason friends packed in. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t have time for that,¡± Clive said. ¡°Jason, you and I need to sit down and¡ª¡± ¡°No time! We have to plan sightseeing stops along the trip. Definitely Greenstone. I¡¯d love to see this world¡¯s version of Australia, but I¡¯m told everyone would die.¡± ¡°Jason,¡¯ Clive said through gritted teeth, ¡°we really have to¡ª¡± ¡°We can¡¯t just go making elaborate plans,¡± Humphrey pointed out. ¡°We tried that fifteen years ago and we only got from Rimaros to Yaresh. I think we should keep our plans more flexible.¡± ¡°Okay, you all need to stop¡ª¡± ¡°Good thinking, Hump. Keep our options open, that¡¯s sound tactical thinking.¡± ¡°Jason, you need to take this¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me Hump.¡± ¡°Did someone use silence magic on me? This is not¡ª¡± ¡°Good meeting, everyone. Give it some thought and we¡¯ll regroup in Yaresh.¡± ¡°Jason,¡± Clive warned, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare¡ª¡± A portal opened up, then closed again after Jason ducked through. The rest of the group filtered out, leaving Clive, Belinda, Estella and Zara. ¡°I forgot,¡± Clive said, shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s been too long, and I forgot.¡± Belinda gave Clive an awkward pat on the back. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to interrupt,¡± Zara said, ¡°but I need to go check out of the room.¡± *** Marcus Xenoria was a massive leonid who liked to wander around with a huge axe slung casually over his shoulder. On meeting him, many wondered how that was helpful when his job primarily involved politics and bureaucracy. By the end of that meeting, they¡¯d usually figured it out. As a high-level agent of the Adventure Society¡¯s continental council, Marcus was a troubleshooter and enforcer. On hearing of Jason¡¯s return, he had once again been dispatched to Yaresh. Technically, Asano has already made contact with the Adventure Society, although that didn¡¯t really count. He¡¯d portalled directly into the ¡ª portal shielded ¡ª Rimaros branch office, abducting the deputy-director. The higher-ups had not been mollified when Ladiv announced that his nephew would be the society¡¯s contact point for Asano. Miguel Ladiv was now standing next to Marcus at the Adventure Society campus teleport platform in Yaresh. The boy looked like nervous sweat would make his new suit slip right off his body. Asano emerged wearing a suit in the Rimaros summer style. It was more than a decade out of date, but he managed to make it look classic rather than dated. He managed this through a combination of excellent design and swagger with enough confidence to knock out a wall. He stopped, his eyes glancing over Miguel before fixing on Marcus. They were not the eyes Marcus remembered, instead being dark and human. Behind Jason, the group emerging from the portal was eclectic even by Marcus¡¯ standards. First came Jason¡¯s shadow familiar, who was also a little different. There were flecks of glowing white in his dark form, marking out eyes and what was possibly the outline of some kind of formalwear. Next came the most alien of the familiars, the avatar of doom. It had more orbs floating around it than before, but was otherwise the same at a glance. It was followed by what looked like Asano again, but with red orbs for eyes. He didn¡¯t carry himself quite the same, looking more like a boy trying to imitate his older brother. Marcus recognised Jason¡¯s familiars, but wasn¡¯t expecting the last figure to emerge. It looked like a wood carving of Asano brought to life, complete with a coarse hessian version of his cloak. He joined the others in flanking Asano. ¡°A little high rank for a new familiar, aren¡¯t you, Asano?¡± Marcus asked by way of greeting. ¡°Not a familiar,¡± Jason told him. ¡°This is Arbour, one of my Voices of the Will.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a phrase you might want to be careful about throwing around. We¡¯ve been fighting the messengers a long time, now.¡± ¡°Noted.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here because the Adventure Society is very eager for a debrief.¡± ¡°Just the Adventure Society?¡± ¡°We made sure the others will leave you alone. For a while, at least, and no promises if we don¡¯t get some answers out of you to pass along.¡± Jason smiled sadly. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of answers I want as well,¡± he said, then slowly turned on the spot while looking around. The Adventure Society campus was one of the few places left standing after the Battle of Yaresh, but he could see the reconstructed city all around. Most of the city was built into living trees, as was normal for an elf city. He could see one section of the city instead made from towers of glass, rising through the trees in the distance. ¡°Whoever they put me in a room with needs to understand that they get answers when I get mine.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll understand. We¡¯re getting used to getting caught in the wake of your chaos. You didn¡¯t see the political tangle as the churches of Liberty and Knowledge fought over those Builder cultists you ripped the star seeds out of. I¡¯m assuming that was one fo your questions.¡± ¡°It was,¡± Jason told him. ¡°Sorry if I¡¯m a little contentious. I was half expecting to find a gaggle of society officials waiting for me.¡± ¡°Oh, I imagine they¡¯ll find you soon enough. But for now, I¡¯m here to give you something we¡¯ve been remiss with in the past.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve spent your entire career dealing with things beyond the purview of normal adventurers. Well beyond. And every time you do, there¡¯s been someone waiting to give you grief when they should be throwing you a parade.¡± He held out his hand and Jason shook it. The size difference was like a child shaking hands with a big furry mascot. ¡°Thank you, Jason Asano, for saving us from whatever gods-bedamned cosmic nonsense was coming for us this time. And thank you for doing it like an adventurer.¡± Chapter 898: People Think You鈥檙e Blowing Up Cities Shortly after visiting Yaresh, Jason and Sophie had participated in a fighting arena. The venue, like most of the city, had been wiped out during the messenger invasion. As part of the reconstruction, the old arena was replaced with a massive mirage chamber. The domed building, constructed from hexagonal segments of stained glass, was a landmark that curved high over the trees. Mirage chambers created false environments where people could be projected into as illusionary doubles of themselves. Because these illusion bodies were made using soul projection, the real body could experience everything their replicas did. This meant that pain was real, but the only actual harm they faced was psychological. The doubles could be injured or even die without the real body suffering the same. Smaller mirage chambers were used for training purposes, such as the one at the Geller family training centre in Greenstone. Massive arena venues, like the new one in Yaresh, were designed for public spectacle. These were magical colosseums where the dead gladiators respawned at the end, ready to fight another day. The gladiators here were also not slaves. Dedicated mirage fighters were akin to sporting stars on Earth, earning wealth and fame for their skills. Despite the existence of such celebrities, however, the biggest spectacles came from the inclusion of famous adventurers on the drawcard. Whether against one another or the local professionals, adventurer participation always pulled in crowds. This was amply demonstrated by the full seating around the arena, despite the short notice of the current event. The Duke of Yaresh was in the largest of the VIP boxes. The size of a ballroom, it had one glass wall that looked out onto the arena, and could also serve as a projection screen when powers and the environment obscured the action. It wasn¡¯t the fighting that the duke was here for, however. Inside the room right now was arguably the most prestigious gathering the city had ever seen. With Yaresh attempting to re-establish itself as a regional power, social gathering like this would help mark it as a place of influence and power. That Yaresh had not just one but two resident diamond rankers was an incredible boon. Lord Charist was the more social of the two, but it was the more reclusive Lady Allayeth who graced the room with her presence today. Around her was the team she had raised up herself, Moon¡¯s Edge, now famous in their own right. Compared to some of the others present, however, they were practically anonymous. The duke had ¡ª in private ¡ª laughed like a madman as internationally famous adventurers descended on his city, one after another. Team Biscuit has been on the rise for years, much of their early reputation built right here in Yaresh. Not only were they known for their success in the field, but also boasted many impressive members. Gellers were always noticeable, of course, especially the son of Danielle Geller. They also counted the Archchancellor of the Magic Research Association in their number. He was famous as much for the Magic Society¡¯s hatred of him as the success of his fledgeling organisation. Then there was a former holder of the Hurricane Princess title. Zara Nareen wasn¡¯t technically a princess at the moment, but anyone who thought she was genuinely ostracised from the Storm Kingdom¡¯s royal family was a political buffoon. In the cavalcade of famous adventurers descending upon Yaresh, Team Biscuit was only the beginning. Team Blood and Gold had a husband-and-wife duo from the Remore family, plus the vaunted treasure hunter, Emir Bahadir. Team Shining Scabbard was a well-known group who apparently knew Team Biscuit from years earlier. They also had royalty in the group, although that was less impressive with the Mirror Kingdom¡¯s surplus of princes and princesses. That said, the duke admired the administrative prowess of Prince Valdis in assembling the arena event in less than two days. There were others as well. Danielle Geller was talking with the enormous Adventure Society official who mercifully hadn¡¯t brought his axe. There were also some local luminaries, although they seemed less impressive in this company. Notable in their absence were certain members of Yaresh high society known for letting their petty pride create diplomatic issues. The duke was pleasantly surprised at not only their absence, but their failure to come to his door, complaining at their exclusion. If he got nothing else from the night, he intended to learn how Prince Valdis had managed that minor miracle. The duke moderated himself while circulating amongst the visitors. As valuable as these connections were, he was cognisant of this being a genuine social event. These were actual friends, reuniting after a long time apart, not a calculated political exchange. The inclusion of select locals demonstrated the political dexterity of the Mirror Kingdom prince. The duke was diligent in his attention to all the attendees, not just those who were famous adventurers. This proved wise when the fashion designer turned out to be one of those octuplet sets that every major city seemed to have one of. The duke was careful not to offend any gods, let alone one as important as Fertility, and it reminded him to be wary of dragons lurking around Jason Asano. The person this gathering had been arranged for was the one the duke knew the least about. He had heard a great deal, but little of it seemed reliable. The stories surrounding Asano were contradictory, nonsensical and often straight-up unbelievable. Even so, he was unable to dismiss them out of hand. Too many had been confirmed by people whose judgement he trusted. Asano himself was standing in front of the glass, watching the matches below. The duke was patient, and perhaps a little trepidatious, given what he wanted to discuss. More than just taking a measure of the man, the duke needed to know if Asano¡¯s return heralded the same chaos as it had in the past. The duke moved to stand next to Asano when the stocky elf he was speaking with headed for the buffet table. Asano greeted him somewhat standoffishly, not taking his eyes from the match below. The duke followed his gaze to see Prince Valdis once again in a fight. An enthusiastic and repeat participant, his sword master specialty excelled against other essence users. The prince was fast, elusive and made powerful hit-and-run strikes in a skirmisher combat style. It had proven effective in duels against even the prestigious adventurers gathered around, and made a grand spectacle for the citizens of Yaresh. Its biggest weakness was against evasion-type protection specialists, as a dark-skinned woman with silver hair was demonstrating. The duel came to an end, the prince taking his rare loss in stride as he played up to the crowd. The illusionary arena of sand and stone vanished, revealing the very full stands arrayed around the mirage chamber. The duke stood beside Asano, watching the prince walk off as the next challenger came out. ¡°That is her husband, yes?¡± the duke said. ¡°They haven¡¯t married yet. Soon, I expect.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± ¡°She will. Humphrey is well-trained, but he¡¯s a monster fighter at heart. He was trained to work in a team, fighting hordes and giants, not people. He¡¯s good at it, don¡¯t get me wrong, but Sophie is something special. She learned to fight in a cage, where losing meant waking up in a ditch, or chained to a bed. That breeds a determination to win that¡¯s hard to match.¡± The duke found himself a little confused. Some of his advisors had warned that being in Asano¡¯s presence was intimidating, but he found it not the case at all. Asano radiated nothing more than a polite amount of aura that revealed his rank. ¡°You have a remarkable and loyal group of friends, to come running from across the world.¡± ¡°I do,¡± he agreed warmly. ¡°I simply wish I didn¡¯t find myself removed for them for so long. Or so often.¡± The duke steeled his resolve. He¡¯s been told that blunt honesty was the best approach with Asano, but that seemed dangerous. ¡°I hope you will forgive my rudeness, Mr Asano, but will you be staying in Yaresh long?¡± ¡°No. Worried I¡¯ll cause trouble?¡± ¡°Cause might be the wrong word, and I certainly want to make no accusations. That being said, Adventure Society branch directors have standing orders to go on low alert should you arrive in their area. That order was reissued when they got word of your return.¡± ¡°That seems a little excessive.¡± ¡°Perhaps so, Mr Asano. But when you went to Rimaros, the Builder almost dropped another city on it out of the sky. There¡¯s a new island there now. Here in Yaresh, the messengers tore the city down to the foundations.¡± ¡°The Builder attacked everywhere, as did the messengers. We only came to Yaresh because you were already fighting the messengers here.¡± ¡°But you cannot deny that both forces seem more interested in you than other adventurers. And from here, you went to the brightheart city which, to my understanding, you entirely wiped from reality.¡± ¡°I built a new one.¡± ¡°And a very nice one it is, but I believe most people are happy with the cities they already have.¡± ¡°Well, the brighthearts weren¡¯t. Theirs was an undead wasteland.¡± ¡°So I understand. But the fact stands, Mr Asano, that cities have a habit of requiring significant rebuilding after you¡¯ve passed through.¡± ¡°I do want to claim extenuating circumstances,¡± Asano acknowledged, his tone weary but amused. ¡°But there¡¯s only so many times every city you visit can blow up before people think you¡¯re blowing up cities.¡± Relief flooded through the duke. He saw a small smile cross Asano¡¯s lips and realised the man was probably reading his emotions. It was rude, but also a little impressive. It was hard to do so unnoticed on someone of the same rank, even if the duke got to gold rank through monster cores. ¡°You¡¯ve been to Rexion?¡± Asano asked. ¡°Many times. I was not being obsequious when I said it was a very nice place. The relationship with Rexion was critical to feeding my people in the early days of the reconstruction. We¡¯re still in the process of restoring the wider region, even now. Remnants of the apocalypse beasts unleashed by the messengers took years to fully root out. Even now, we can never be entirely certain we got them all.¡± The duke shook his head before continuing. ¡°Whole towns were depopulated, and trying to get people to move in and restart the farms was difficult. There was a lot of reluctance, and understandably so. Whole towns full of people who died under extremes of misery and violence? Seeing family members transformed into monsters and puppets? Quite aside from the trauma people need to confront, those are conditions for spawning some of the nastier kinds of undead.¡± ¡°I saw something similar in the original brightheart city.¡± ¡°No Undeath priests here, thankfully. There were some regular necromancers, but the Adventure Society deal with them quite aggressively.¡± ¡°It sounds like you¡¯ve had your work cut out for you.¡± ¡°Indeed. Before the messengers, there were always those looking to snake my position. Sniping politicians and backstabbing noble houses. Now they¡¯ve spent a decade praying for my good health. No one wants to be duke when it means rebuilding the whole damn duchy from nothing.¡± ¡°And now that you¡¯re seeing results, you don¡¯t want the city destroying guy to tear it all down again.¡± ¡°I do not mean to accuse or offend, Mr Asano, nor am I asking you to leave. But yes, I fear what your presence means for us. When fate places someone at the centre of events, it is those around them who tend to suffer.¡± ¡°Something I have sadly come to learn. I understand, Duke, and sympathise with your position.¡± ¡°Thank you. I won¡¯t pretend to understand the events you find yourself at the centre of. I am simply asking if your return signals a threat to Yaresh of which I am unaware.¡± ¡°Not that I¡¯m aware of, Duke. But it¡¯s the one you don¡¯t know about that gets you, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the duke agreed. ¡°Yes, it is.¡± *** Jason watched the duke move on to other conversations as Farrah took his place. Humphrey had lost, as predicted, but had made it harder on Sophie than expected. ¡°You¡¯ve been dodging me,¡± Jason said, keeping his gaze fixed on the arena. ¡°Odd behaviour for a reunion.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Farrah conceded, more subdued than he was used to. ¡°Something to do with you still being silver rank?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jason¡¯s team had all reached gold. Rick Geller¡¯s was getting there, with Rick and his sister Phoebe both having done so recently. The rest of their team were in the upper reaches of silver. ¡°We need to have a decent talk about things,¡± Farrah said. ¡°And I suppose I have a choice to make.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jason said softly. ¡°I felt it, you know? The moment you became¡­ whatever you are now. The System showed up for everyone, but I felt it.¡± ¡°I know. Have you talked about it with anyone?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Did you know?¡± she asked. ¡°When we formed that bond. When we strengthened it. Did you know?¡± ¡°No. Neither of us knew, back then.¡± ¡°Dawn didn¡¯t tell you something?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think even she knew. There are things she told me that she was absolutely wrong about. What¡¯s happening with me ¡ª with us ¡ª is probably not unique, but it¡¯s rare. Even by cosmic standards. We¡¯re making up the rules as we go.¡± He turned to look around the room behind them, their conversation kept private by his aura. ¡°We can have this out properly when we¡¯re alone,¡± he said. She nodded. ¡°It is good having you back, Jason.¡± She walked away and Rick Geller moved to join Jason in her place. They watched his sister walk out to meet Sophie in the arena. ¡°You and me in a mirage chamber again,¡± Rick said. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me,¡± Jason responded. ¡°You say that as if you weren¡¯t the one who had his whole team stomped by someone who didn¡¯t know magic even existed a year earlier.¡± ¡°By running around like a fool and cackling like a witch. Surely, it¡¯s been long enough that those recordings are all gone.¡± ¡°Are you kidding? It¡¯s required training material at the family training centre. I didn¡¯t hear the end of it when I spent a year instructing in Greenstone.¡± Jason waved over a server, grabbing glasses of wine for himself and Rick. Then he held up his glass. ¡°To Jonah.¡± Rick¡¯s eyes soften and he clinked his glass to Jason¡¯s. ¡°To Jonah,¡± he echoed, then drained the glass. Jonah had been a member of Rick¡¯s team until the ill-fated expedition from Greenstone that had killed many adventurers, including Farrah. Jonah had been captured and implanted with a star seed by the Builder cult, and died in the process of having it extracted. He had been part of the group that fought Jason all those years ago, in the Geller mirage chamber. Rick nodded to Jason and then moved on. The next person to circulate Jason¡¯s way was Clive, holding a notebook. He was shoved out of the way by an excited Prince Valdis. ¡°Jason! When are you going to get out there? Everyone wants to see how you got to gold rank when you spent the last fifteen years sitting in a magic box meditating or whatever.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not really how it worked.¡± ¡°Then show us!¡± ¡°Sorry about him,¡± Sigrid said, also moving past an increasingly cranky Clive. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that me going down there is a good idea,¡± Jason said. ¡°Mirage chambers are soul projection devices. I don¡¯t know how they¡¯ll interact with my avatar, which is also a soul projection device.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just scared of how badly I¡¯ll beat you, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You got me, Valdis. I¡¯m just scared.¡± ¡°Or harder to provoke than a nine-year-old,¡± Sigrid muttered. Clive, watching the exchange, turned to the room. ¡°Hey everyone!¡± he announced. ¡°Who wants to see Jason Asano in a proper gold-rank fight?¡± Jason gave Clive a flat look as the room filled with cheers. Chapter 899: We Need to Put a Stop to It Jason walked with Clive and Valdis down a tunnel towards the mirage chamber¡¯s participant lobby. The passage was cavernous, their footsteps echoing on the blue tiles. Glow stones set into the walls, ceiling and even the floor let off a teal light with a shimmer effect that made the hallway feel like it was underwater. ¡°This reminds me of the underwater subway back in Greenstone,¡± Clive said. ¡°Don¡¯t change the subject,¡± Jason said. ¡°This is not a good idea.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a great idea,¡± Valdis said. ¡°I can tell because it was mine.¡± ¡°We have no idea how my avatar will interact with the mirage chamber¡¯s soul projector.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Clive said. ¡°Maybe if someone took five minutes to answer a few questions, we¡¯d have a better idea of what is going to happen.¡± ¡°Five minutes? I know a lady who can more or less stop time, and even she couldn¡¯t get through your questions in five minutes. And if I did give you some time, are you suggesting we¡¯d get around to ¡®how does your prime avatar affect mirage chambers?¡¯ in the first five minutes?¡± ¡°We might have,¡± Clive said unconvincingly. ¡°Anyway, it should produce some interesting interactions. I wonder if they¡¯ll let me set up some testing equipment in their control chamber.¡± ¡°Clive was the one who peer pressured me into this. I should be fighting him.¡± ¡°Proposal rejected,¡± Valdis said. ¡°You couldn¡¯t duel worth a damn at iron rank, so I want to see what you¡¯ve got now. I heard about your duel in Rimaros. They said you dropped your opponent by looking at him and a gold ranker had to step in so you didn¡¯t kill him.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason said with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s why the diamond rankers wanted to check I wasn¡¯t a violent madman now.¡± ¡°Which diamond rankers?¡± Clive asked. ¡°Um, all of them, I think?¡± ¡°That would explain why my father was asking about you,¡± Valdis said. ¡°I think he loaned me his portal specialist so he can interrogate me about you later.¡± ¡°Forget that guy,¡± Jason said. ¡°Just bunk off to another universe with me.¡± ¡°Deal,¡± Valdis said, then looked slightly shifty. ¡°If the wife says yes.¡± *** The Yaresh mirage chamber was a lot larger and more involved than the one Jason had used back in Greenstone. There was a nest of control and service rooms, access shafts and mana conduit tunnels, and they were just the magical aspects. Like a sports arena on Earth, most of the attendees would be normal rankers, which meant toilets. Lots and lots of toilets. He had grown used to their absence, spending most of his time around high rankers, so it was jarring to see so much plumbing infrastructure. Valdis led them to a central participants lobby. This was a waiting area for fighters, and quite like the VIP room upstairs, with a lounge area, bar and huge viewing screen. Some of Jason¡¯s friends were down here, having already fought or waiting to go. The local fighters were watching them all like hawks, especially Valdis. Jason and Valdis circulated for a while, waiting for their turn. The walls in the lobby were artfully painted metal panels, and Clive was intercepted trying to discretely remove one in the corner. Jason left that behind as attendants led him and Valdis down different tunnels towards the projection booths. *** ¡°I just don¡¯t think we should jump right in without some kind of testing first,¡± Jason explained to the attendant. ¡°It will be just fine, Mr Asano. We¡¯ve had Lord Charist himself use this mirage chamber. You¡¯re not saying you¡¯ve got more power running through you than he does, are you?¡± ¡°Actually, that¡¯s a complex question with no definitive answer, which is kind of the whole point of¡­¡± Jason stopped trying when the attendant closed the door in his face, leaving him alone in the booth. There was no more to it than walls painted dark green, a flat couch and a dim glow stone in the ceiling. ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Jason told himself. ¡°If it can handle a diamond ranker, one gold rank flesh puppet isn¡¯t going to blow the whole thing up.¡± He lay down on the couch, expecting everything to go black, and his consciousness shift to an illusionary double. Instead, he felt the magic of it settle over him and bounce off. It seemed that Dominion¡¯s gift to help Jason contained his presence didn¡¯t leave enough for the chamber to latch on to. He relaxed his control, letting out enough for the chamber¡¯s magic to get a read on him. He hadn¡¯t done this in a long time and was now able to sense the magic going to work. It also wasn¡¯t powerful enough to knock him out. Instead, it split his attention in multiple places, much like when he went ¡®overseer god mode¡¯ in his soul realm. He put his hands behind his head, lay back and let his attention focus on the replica now standing in the main chamber. *** In the mirage chamber¡¯s core power distribution node, several artificers were supervising and maintaining the flow of power. The mirage chamber was more than just a spectacle for the populace, also serving as a regulation hub for the city¡¯s magical infrastructure. The need to rebuild the entire city had been a chance to recreate it as a unified, efficient and integrated system. One of the artificers, Munsen, was both new to his position and disgruntled to be in it. At fifteen years old, he was an apprentice artificer. He should have been learning to build sky ships or magic cannons for the walls. Instead, he was stuck in a humid room with a pair of old men. Munsen blamed his parents, mostly for calling him Munsen. Yes, he understood that an adventurer saved them while his mother was pregnant, but Munsen was no name for an elf. It was a name for someone stuck in a room watching magical readings not change. Then one did. Munsen immediately unslouched, sitting bolt upright. His eyes scanned over the panel in front of him, made up of tightly packed crystals. He watched lights trace their way through crystals in complex patterns. His eyebrows rose as he deciphered the light sequences, for while Munsen was a complainer, he was not a slacker. He might be new to the job, but he knew the job. ¡°Bob?¡± Munsen said, turning to look at the chief supervisor. Names really did curse people into this job. ¡°I¡¯ve told you to call me Roberto or Chief Supervisor,¡± Bob said. ¡°Alright, Chief Supervisor,¡± Munsen said. ¡°What does it mean when the mana flow conduit is showing on the board as teal?¡± ¡°Teal?¡± ¡°Yeah, teal. Blue-green. This one here.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. He pointed and the other two crowded around Munsen¡¯s chair to see. Bob was in charge, but Munsen had quickly learned that it was Aeoliandor who understood how it all worked. How he¡¯d wound up here despite having a proper elf name Munsen had no idea. ¡°Look,¡± Munsen said pointing. ¡°There¡¯s an ongoing power surge in projector booth seven.¡± ¡°We need to close that booth before someone uses it,¡± Bob said. ¡°That much power would kill a gold ranker.¡± ¡°Clearly not,¡± Aeoliandor countered. ¡°It¡¯s marked as active, with a gold ranker in there right now. But we should get them out, yes.¡± Bob wandered towards his office and the communication tablet he had in there. The remaining two continued to watch the board. ¡°Some kind of accumulator misalignment?¡± Munsen suggested. ¡°Feeding in too much power?¡± ¡°No, look,¡± Aeoliandor said. ¡°It¡¯s not feeding into the booth. It¡¯s coming out. An overflow, slowly spreading though the whole system and imprinting on all the mana.¡± ¡°Imprinting it with what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but we need to put a stop to it. Trigger the emergency shutdown.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Bob had the system removed. He said there shouldn¡¯t be a way to blackout the whole city just sitting around.¡± Aeoliandor glared in the direction of Bob¡¯s office. ¡°It wasn¡¯t just sitting arou¡­ damn it, Bob. Munny, you remember the procedure I showed you for manual shutdown?¡± ¡°Yeah, but doesn¡¯t that take a while?¡± ¡°Yes, Munsen, it does. That¡¯s why we had an emergency shutdown system.¡± *** The illusionary double of Valdis arrived in the arena first. That wasn¡¯t a surprise as he was well used to the process and Jason had still been complaining the last Valdis had seen him. The prince hoped it really was just grumbling, as he didn¡¯t want to miss this opportunity. Valdis had always loved pitting himself against well-known warriors. Winning or losing didn¡¯t matter. It was about pushing himself that little bit harder. Stretching his limits a little further. Jason Asano was a rare treat: a specialty Valdis had never faced before. Affliction skirmisher was a rare power set, and a very different beast to a normal affliction specialist. As for what kind of opponent he would make, he couldn¡¯t wait to see. The randomly selected battleground was disappointingly the same sandy arena he had faced Sophie Wexler in. It was popular as it made it easy for the crowds to see the action, but it advantaged some power sets over others. For Valdis, it was excellent, but it should be the opposite for Asano. His understanding was that Jason¡¯s style favoured complex environments. Finally, Asano appeared in the opposite alcove. He was still wearing the suit from the party, quickly put together by his tailor friend. Asano looked at him and started walking out, and Valdis did the same. Dark mist shrouded Asano for a moment, and he looked very different when he emerged. He now wore dark red robes, mostly obscured by a cloak unlike anything Valdis had ever seen. He knew Asano had the Cloak of Night ability, and that the look grew more individual to the user as it ranked up. This was the first time he¡¯d seen it look like a portal into some distant, starry void. Asano¡¯s human eyes were gone, replaced with twin nebulas glowing from within the dark hood. He was also not walking, instead gliding over the ground, his feet fully obscured by the cloak wrapped around him. Valdis grinned as they moved closer and drew his longsword. ¡°Very intimidating,¡± he said. ¡°Too bad about the arena, though. I would have liked to face you in a jungle or something. This open space is perfect for me, so maybe we do best two out of three.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯ll lose,¡± Jason said. His voice was different, lacking the usual playfulness. Valdis hoped that he had more to offer than just theatrics. ¡°You think I¡¯ll lose because I have the advantage?¡± Valdis asked. ¡°You¡¯ll lose because you look at the world and think you¡¯re the one that needs to change.¡± Valdis laughed with delight. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit! Ready to go?¡± ¡°Proceed.¡± With no more warning than that, Valdis vanished. He appeared behind Jason, his sword already cutting a horizontal path at Jason¡¯s neck. He abandoned the strike when he realised that shadow arms were stabbing out of Jason¡¯s cloak like a porcupine¡¯s quills, each holding a sinister black and red dagger. Valdis withdrew as Jason slowly turned, letting out a murderer¡¯s chuckle as the arms retracting back into his cloak. ¡°I hope that was just a test,¡± Jason said. ¡°If you¡¯re going to be that predictable, this isn¡¯t going to take long.¡± Valdis loved this kind of fight. Hit and run, trading barbs along with blades. ¡°You think you¡¯re disappointed?¡± he shot back. ¡°What happened to that talk about changing the world?¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Jason turned his head to the right, then panned it around. Everything that fell into his sight was plunged into darkness as the illusionary sun was blotted out. Not a complete absence of light but a deep twilight where countless shadows careened though the gloom. Fortunately, it could only impede Valdis so far. The dancing shadows were something real, but no more than blurs in the dark to his vision. His Mind¡¯s Eye ability compensated at close range, allowing him to perfectly sense the space around him. At greater distances, he could feel the auras moving around that had to be Asano¡¯s shadow familiar. Less fortunate was the fact that every shadow was duplicating Asano¡¯s aura. There had to be well over a hundred of them, maybe two hundred. It was good that this was a new, high-end arena that allowed summoned familiars to be called upon. Older and smaller venues lacked the feature. This suited Valdis just fine, as he wanted to face Asano¡¯s full capability. Asano¡¯s real body could be any of the auras Valdis picked up, or none of them at all. Making his aura vanish was another trick on the list Valdis was familiar with. ¡°Nice trick,¡± Valdis called into the dark. ¡°What ability are using to blot out the light?¡± ¡°Midnight Eyes,¡± Jason¡¯s voice came from all around in a chorus. ¡°Perception ability. Let¡¯s me suppress light sources as far as I can see, to the limits of my aura.¡± ¡°So, if I can suppress your aura, I can turn it off?¡± The only response was sinister laughter coming from every direction. Valdis was long past the point of being shaken by theatrics, but there was an unsettling glee to it that felt genuinely unhinged. Valdis grinned as a jolt of excitement ran through him. His normal duelling strategy was to keep the enemy of the back foot, interspersing quick exchanges with banter, at least in the early stage. The idea was to make the opponent fall into his pace and feel like they were being played with. Controlled. Asano turning the tactic back on him dispelled any lingering disappointment about the arena selection. Asano was clearly in no rush, either. On the top of the threat list for Asano, at least to Valdis, were his deceptively simple spells. Valdis excelled at deflecting magic projectiles and avoiding area spells, but Asano used little to none of either. His spells had minimal immediate effect, but they just landed. Without powerful resistances, a fully enclosed barrier or a few other niche protections, there was no evading them. Jason might not be a traditional affliction specialist, but afflictions were still his bread and butter. If he wasn¡¯t jumping at the first chance to apply them, it meant that he was toying with Valdis. Rather than be offended, he was excited. If Asano was this confident, he would surely make this an epic clash. ¡°Have you had enough time to adjust to the dark?¡± the chorus asked. ¡°Are you ready to start for real now?¡± ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re looking down on me.¡± ¡°I would never do that,¡± Asano said, this time only one voice. Valdis focused his attention that way and saw a lighter patch within the gloom. He suddenly could sense which of the auras was real, and saw Asano standing on the spot, casually eating a sandwich. Valdis almost took the bait. He felt the mana surge inside him to launch an attack, but his instincts pulled him back. ¡°You won¡¯t get me that easily.¡± ¡°No?¡± Jason asked. He reached out and plucked from the air a half coconut with a straw and a little umbrella. ¡°No,¡± Valdis said, but he gave Jason a flat look. ¡°Laying it on a bit thick, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Are you kidding? I just picked up fresh ingredients for the first time in years. You feel free to run around in the dark while I eat this and we can talk after you lose.¡± It was almost enough to make Valdis lunge at Asano, but he held back from the obvious trap yet again. He took a breath, clearing his mind from Asano¡¯s provocation. Then he swung his sword. At gold rank, seeker blade fired off a storm of curved force blades that sought out every enemy he could perceive. It was one of his favourites, a precious area attack when he had been limited in that area for so long. One of the blades shot out after Asano and his sandwich, but the real targets were all the other auras in range. Valdis felt the closer shadow bodies get mowed down, too close to avoid the blades. It was a good start, but most of the other bodies were startlingly effective at avoiding the attack. They could shadow jump freely in the gloom, but teleporting wasn¡¯t enough to avoid the blades. They would simply turn and hunt you down again. The trick with teleporting was to do so at the very last moment. The blades would explode on striking the target, so pinpoint timing was required. It also required an understanding of the ability, but it was both common and famous, so that was no surprise. The shadow familiar¡¯s precision was uncanny, almost none of the bodies falling after the initial burst. In total, he estimated having felled around a fifth of them. As for the blade that went for Asano himself, he ignored it and kept eating his sandwich. Four blue and orange orbs appeared around him, one turning into a shield that absorbed the strike. As the shield turned back to an orb, Valdis saw Jason dip the sandwich into the hood and it came out with another bite missing. As Asano looked back, Valdis couldn¡¯t see his expression under the hood, yet he was certain it was a grin. The half-finished snack and beverage vanished into dimensional storage and Jason casually brushed off his hand. Then he looked up at Valdis and spoke. ¡°Bleed for me.¡± Chapter 900: A Lunatics Nightmare The mirage chamber in Yaresh was one of the newest in the world and featured the latest design innovations. Seating was arranged by rank, not because of privilege but because the projections in each section were tailored to different perceptual speeds. When gold rank fighters were just a blur to lower-rank spectators, it required a curated experience of replays and slow motion for them to enjoy the experience. Jason had seen some of this in the VIP section, finding it startlingly similar to sports coverage on Earth. There were even commentators. That audio hadn¡¯t been piped into the VIP room, it had been playing quietly in the participant¡¯s lounge. The projections not only slowed things down but allowed the audience to see through things they normally couldn¡¯t, like the darkness Jason had plunged the arena into. While it looked impressive to the naked eye, it wasn¡¯t conducive to keeping track of the action. From the stands, the arena was filled with shifting shadows, dancing like a fire that absorbed light instead of shedding it. Just enough of the arena¡¯s illusionary sunlight filtered through to create a perpetual murk. Occasional flashes of purple and orange lit up the dark for fleeting moments, revealing glimpses of disturbing silhouettes. Inside the darkness lurked dark and alien figures. They had a multitude of arms like the branches of barren winter trees. The limbs jutted up from trunks that were vaguely human-shaped, before twisting down like the legs of a spider. Clasped in the pointed fingers at the end of each arm were vicious daggers. Ornate workings of glossy red and black, they would not have looked out of place on a sacrificial altar. The core bodies of the monstrosities were only the size of a person, but they crowded the arena, leaving no space to hide. What had once been an empty ring of sand was now a bizarre garden of horrors, stolen from a lunatic¡¯s nightmare and hidden in the unnatural dark. In the middle of this was the flashing form of Prince Valdis. Like a fabled hero, he dashed through the nightmare creatures, fending off daggers with his gleaming sword. Too fast for almost anyone to follow, only the projections showed his struggles in any comprehensible way. *** Valdis was a gold ranker, and he hadn¡¯t gotten there by ever letting himself take the easy way. He¡¯d fought monsters and cultists. Hunted down necromancers and soul engineers. This was not his first time dancing through the madness of some wizard who turned the world around him into a weapon. Valdis was as orthodox an adventurer as Jason was bizarre. His essences were common; his ability list full of famous, yet basic, abilities. It was not hard to research what Valdis was capable of, compared to the strange ability combinations Jason was unleashing. Even so, others found Valdis extremely hard to beat. Yes, his abilities were simple and predictable, but they were common as dirt for a reason. Surprise was all well and good, but surprise worked once. Speed, efficiency and versatility worked every time. Valdis was a sword master first, and everything else second. Everything he did was either to advance his training or eliminate an obstacle to that training. If he hadn¡¯t found someone he loved in his team, he wouldn¡¯t have married because it would have been too much of a time sink. The result of all this was that Valdis was not intimidated by the terrifying display Jason was putting on. Yes, it was a field of nightmares, but Valdis had slain nightmares before. His mind was razor focused on what to avoid, opportunities to strike, and ameliorating mistakes already made. It was interesting that he was fighting the very origin of the System to which everyone now had access. It had told him about the mistake he had made in attempting to cut down all of Asano¡¯s familiars. Not only had most of them survived, but it had acquainted Valdis with one of Jason¡¯s more annoying abilities.
The message read as if the afflictions were retaliation for attacking the originator of the system, but that was just how the system referred to Asano. This was a function of Jason¡¯s aura ability, afflicting any who came after his allies. Even the normally potent affliction-absorbing power Valdis possessed was unable to stop it, although the affliction alone did little. The issue was how it interacted with Jason¡¯s other abilities to reduce resistances and increase necrotic damage. It wasn¡¯t hard to get information on Jason¡¯s core abilities. They were much less common than those of Valdis, but Jason had been around long enough, and was famous enough, that many of his powers had been tracked and catalogued. The Sin affliction only increased any subsequent necrotic damage, not dealing any itself. It meant that Valdis needed to avoid follow-up attacks, but avoiding hits was what he did. Jason¡¯s familiars were almost unrecognisable with twisted tree-branch arms sprouting from them. Unlike trees, however, they were extremely mobile. Valdis was constantly on the move as they shadow-jumped through the gloom, constantly occupying the space he was in. It took more than raw speed to evade them, even with the speed Valdis had at his command. Fortunately, he had no shortage of evasion abilities. Even amongst orthodox sword-masters like Valdis, each adventurer¡¯s power set had its own nuances. Valdis¡¯ specialty was force projections. Blade projections helped him attack at range or increase his damage up close, but his real signature was afterimages. He had a slate of evasion powers that left behind images that, at low rank, had been illusions that made useful distractions. At gold rank, they did so much more. Many of his afterimage abilities now produced full force constructs. Some were dangerous and explosive, a threat to anyone trying to hunt him down. Others were hardy, long-lasting and could even fight on their own. *** The crowd was eating the battle up and the commentators played up the dark wizard and shining hero narrative. ¡°Keep an eye on those replays, folks. At any given moment, our valiant prince seems on the cusp of being taken down, only to escape the clutches of sinister sorcery yet again! And remember, this blink-and-you¡¯ll-miss-it action is being brought to you by Barrington¡¯s Barrels, the best coopers in Upper Fisker! If you¡¯re buying a barrel, you¡¯d best be buying a Barrington¡¯s Barrels barrel. Gods bedamned, who writes this crap?¡± ¡°Ted, they can still hear you. Putting your hand over the pickup doesn¡¯t stop the sound projector.¡± ¡°What? Oh, sorry, folks, there was a little magical issue with the announcement system there¡­¡± *** Valdis dashed through the arena, barely a blur as his gleaming swords deflected the rain of daggers stabbing at him from every direction. His raw speed, incredible as it was, wasn¡¯t up to the task of fending off the forest of blades alone. His abilities left behind afterimages that would fight back and slow down the pursuing familiars, or even explode and wipe one or two of them out. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The afterimages were key to buying Valdis enough breathing room to devise a counterattack. He was still in a constant state of flight, but he was at least free enough to consider how to turn the tables. The critical point would be identifying where Jason himself was amongst all the shadows and dagger-wielding tentacle arms. While Valdis was working to give himself space, Jason wasn¡¯t idle, sending out an array of spells. All of the familiars echoed his chanting, so Valdis couldn¡¯t trace him by sound. It was also impossible to track his location by aura, when every familiar possessed a perfect replica of it. What Valdis suspected Jason didn¡¯t know was that he was already sneaking an extra trick from his sleeve. The advantage of having such a well-known power set was that people didn¡¯t expect to be surprised by it. But, as Valdis had learned, that expectation could kill. While the gist of his power set was a surprise to no one, few people outside his own team knew every quirk and nuance. That was especially true as he ranked up, not just from fresh aspects to the abilities but synergies that people weren¡¯t expecting. Valdis couldn¡¯t see through darkness with his perception ability, but it did give him perfect awareness of his surroundings within a short distance. It was the cornerstone of his uncanny ability to dodge and deflect attacks, and perfect for someone needing to track a storm of daggers jabbing in from every angle. What was much less known was that it gave him the same ability to sense the space around each of his long-term afterimages. While it seemed like he was being chased around the arena at random, he was, in fact, building a network of perception nodes. While this was happening, Jason continued his attack. Spells were flung in Valdis¡¯ direction, and even he couldn¡¯t dodge every attack from the forest of arms. The cuts from the daggers weren¡¯t a threat by themselves, but the afflictions they delivered were a different story.
Sword Soul was an extremely powerful defensive ability. Not only did it absorb almost any affliction, but passively buffed his other abilities for any unused capacity. It gave Valdis breathing room against someone like Jason, but he¡¯d never experienced its capacity draining so far or so fast. Many essence users and monsters had a few afflictions, but the rapid depletion of his Sword Soul capacity was more terrifying than all of Asano¡¯s theatrics. There were some afflictions that Sword Soul wouldn¡¯t absorb, however. More Sin stacks piled up as the afterimages fought off Jason¡¯s familiars. It also didn¡¯t stop wounding effects, like Jason¡¯s famous bleed attacks.
The bleeding and necrotic damage were stacking up, with all the Sin stacks Valdis had taken, but he was gold rank. It would take more than that to slow him down, let alone put him in real danger. The true threat was his Sword Soul running out, at which point afflictions would start landing on him like bricks from the sky. He needed to hunt Jason down before his Sword Soul was expended, but Asano was making himself hard to find. Jason was almost indistinguishable from his familiars, wrapped in a cloak he turned black and sprouting the same nest of arms. In the gloom, there was no telling the difference, visually. This was where the experience Valdis had built up came into play. As the son of the Mirror King, Valdis was more experienced than most with people using illusions and mirror duplicates to hide themselves. Using essence abilities was the key to being a good adventurer. Going beyond them was the key to being a great one. Valdis has spent years learning the hard way how to spot the potential tells that differentiated a magician from their clones, duplicates and illusions. Some made a mistake with disguising their aura, while others left small visible flaws in their disguise than a keen eye could spot. The real experts didn¡¯t make such mistakes, however. The secret to teasing out their real location was in watching behaviour, and that was the case for Asano. His aura control was perfect and the gloom covered minor visual inconsistencies. But Asano and his familiars were not the same entity. Even disguised as his familiar, there were subtle differences in the way he moved. It shouldn¡¯t have mattered. Even with perception powers, Asano was so hard to make out that anyone busy dodging daggers in the dark wouldn¡¯t notice. What Valdis had learned from hard-earned experience was that the things that shouldn¡¯t matter were often the keys to victory. His network of afterimages wasn¡¯t just fending off shadow familiars but also letting him watch them. One of his afterimage variants lasted a long time, making his search for Asano possible. They were turning red, which he¡¯d never seen before, but whatever Asano was doing, it didn¡¯t seem to work. The afterimages were immune to most afflictions and weren¡¯t being destroyed, and that is what mattered. They let him keep an eye out, and let him spot one of the creepy arm trees moving a little differently than the others. Without hesitation, he pounced. Part of being an orthodox human essence user was being very focused on special attacks. Valdis had a smorgasbord of such abilities, for killing things in every situation. Some specialised in cutting down spectral monsters, others in cracking armour or breaching magical barriers. For Jason, he appeared out of nowhere and unleashed his attack for absolutely killing the damn thing right now. Cross Slash was one of the most common attacks in the world. Easily obtained through the sword essence, it allowed for multiple, near-instantaneous strikes. At low ranks, it was a solid workhorse of a move, useful for dropping weaker creatures in a single hit. As things grew much tougher at silver rank, it became a mana efficient means to pile-on damage. At gold rank, however, it became a different beast entirely. At gold rank, a mana-intensive, long cooldown variant became available. It could inflict countless strikes so swiftly that it bent time itself to do so. It became such a trump card that Valdis had lost his fight with Sophie Wexler when he was gobsmacked at how she countered it. She had accelerated time herself, perfectly blocking each strike with raw skill, then punched him in his astonished face. That was not something Jason could do. Valdis¡¯ sword passed right through Jason¡¯s body before he had a chance to react. Through his neck and through his head. Through his limbs so many times they were not just cut off but cut to pieces, all in a single instant. It was so fast that Asano was still standing when he started to fall apart. Chapter 901: When People See My Powers Life force was an odd thing. The more Jason rose in rank, the more his body became an arbitrarily shaped collection of blood, flesh and bone. The very concept of life force was increasingly divorced from the condition of his body, becoming more like abstract health points from a game. The way life force manifested at high levels differed from person to person. For most, they seemed impervious to damage when their life force was high. Their health points were reduced with minimal, if any, injury to show for it. For others, including Jason, it worked differently. Like a vampire, his body seemed almost too vulnerable for its rank, yet instantaneously healed outrageous and seemingly lethal injuries. Valdis was well versed in the variations of life force. For all the damage he had unloaded on Jason, he knew there was no one-shotting a gold-ranker. The moment his attack landed, he dashed back to avoid dagger-wielding shadow arms. Staying on the move, he unleashed another of his big-ticket attacks, Blade Wave Barrage. As the name suggested, it sent a storm of razor-sharp force waves in Jason¡¯s direction. By the time they arrived, Jason¡¯s segmented body had already made itself whole. Strands of blood had reached out, grabbed the chunks of his body and yanked themselves back together as if nothing had happened. Jason pulled his cloak around himself, appearing as if he were a portal to a starry void. Valdis believed it was nothing but more theatrics until his blade waves shot through the portal and sailed off into the void. ¡°Wait, what?¡± *** In the participants lobby, Emir and Constance were lounging by a projection screen watching the fight and listening to the commentary. He had a beverage in a long-stemmed glass, while she was empty-handed, keeping her mind on her own upcoming fight. Although she had reached gold rank, she had always been a better administrator than fighter. She was nervous about fighting in front of such a large crowd. Emir didn¡¯t care, being fighter enough to have long ago learned how to take the losses. He chuckled when Valdis¡¯ attack vanished through Jason, who was apparently now the living portal he looked like. ¡°I was waiting for that,¡± he said, saluting the projection screen with his glass before sipping from it. ¡°What was that?¡± Constance asked. ¡°That cloak ability of his,¡± Emir said. ¡°Most people think that the gold-rank ability just turns you insubstantial, and it does, but that¡¯s more of a secondary effect. What it really does is become an aperture to a dimensional space. I know a guy who likes baiting charge attacks into it. Living things kind of pop back into normal reality, but it messes them up quite badly.¡± ¡°That sounds strong.¡± ¡°Very. It¡¯s a fantastic ability, but timing and judgement is everything. The mana consumption is apparently heinous, so you have to pick your moments carefully. I¡¯ve never known anyone who could sustain it for more than a few seconds at a time.¡± The commentator was likewise astounded by the turn of events. ¡°What did we just see? Have my eyes gone wonky? Judging by the roar of the crowd I can hear all the way from my booth, I¡¯m going to say no! Our dark sorcerer just turned into a hole in the universe that sucked away our hero¡¯s attacks! We thought the prince had finally caught the villain by the ankle, but he¡¯s once again on the back foot!¡± ¡°What exactly is the point of this man?¡± Constance asked. ¡°We can see what¡¯s happening without him explaining things.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about excitement,¡± Emir said. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with a little showmanship. Jason understands that very well.¡± ¡°A little too well,¡± Constance pointed out. ¡°And I don¡¯t think this commentator is very good. I think he¡¯s meant to be contextualising the curated events being slowed down and displayed, but he¡¯s mostly just yelling.¡± ¡°WOO!¡± The commentator yelled. ¡°Distracted by whatever we just saw, Prince Valdis is once more fleeing the creepy dagger trees. The crowd is going absolutely wild! It feels like the roof could blast right off the arena. Ted, what did I tell you about coming into the booth while I¡¯m¡­¡± There was some mumbling through which only a few words could be made out. ¡°¡­why would maintenance¡­ imprinting on what... you said covering it with a wet towel would¡­¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Emir said. ¡°I think you¡¯re right about him not being very good.¡± The commentator returned, sounding much more subdued. ¡°Sorry about that, audience. I¡¯ve been asked to very specifically assure you that the arena is not going to blow up. On a completely unrelated note, I¡¯ll be taking a short break, during which my assistant, Ned, will be taking over commentary.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Get in here, Ned.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to, Ted. You heard what they¡ª¡± ¡°Get in the damn chair, Ned!¡± There were sounds of shuffling. ¡°Uh, hello. I¡¯m Ned.¡± ¡°Gods bedamned, Ned, talk about the action!¡± ¡°Oh, uh, Prince Valdis seems to have resumed his attacks on Asano¡¯s real body¡ª¡± ¡°Call him the dark sorcerer, Ned.¡± ¡°That seems weird.¡± ¡°Just do it!¡± ¡°Um, okay. Valdis is once more attacking Dark Sorcerer Ned in a series of hit-and-run exchanges¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call him Ned! That¡¯s your name!¡± ¡°You said to call him Dark Sorcerer Ned. Everyone heard you.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Oh, sweet gods.¡± *** Valdis was getting a handle on dealing with the shadow arms. They were impervious to normal attacks, but his Spectral Slash could easily destroy them. Asano was then forced to recreate them to keep the pressure on in the face of Valdis¡¯ speed. That also cost mana, which was now an important factor. That cloak portal trick could absorb almost any attack, but anything that powerful had to burn through mana like fire in a paper factory. Asano was adapting in turn, however, using the shadow arms to limit the potential angles of attack. He was also more skilled with the arms attached to his own body, one of which used a sword instead of a dagger. Even so, Asano was taking solid hits on a regular basis. Valdis had a variety of special attacks, letting him mix up trickiness and raw power. He was also just faster. If not for Jason¡¯s absurd regenerative power, the fight may well have been over, but it was like trying to fell a tree that kept growing back. The potency of Asano¡¯s healing was bad for Valdis, who preferred a more in-and-out approach. He was forced to go on the offence harder, burning more mana and taking more hits himself. If he ran out of mana or Sword Soul capacity before Asano ran out of health, it was over. Asano pulled out the orbs belonging to his familiar again. Valdis was able to break them down using his array of tailored attacks, but it cost him critical time. He pushed all the harder, and could see Jason flagging as his life force was cut away, slash by slash. *** ¡°Munsen, what is happening with the mana imprinting?¡± ¡°It¡¯s everywhere, boss. The manual shutdown isn¡¯t working. Unless we physically start hacking apart conduits with an axe, it¡¯s going to do whatever it¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°An axe? Those things are built to handle diamond-rank mana flow. Unless you have a diamond-rank axe essence you didn¡¯t mention in your job application, we¡¯re going to need another idea.¡± ¡°All out, boss, sorry.¡± ¡°At least it doesn¡¯t seem to be volatile, so probably no explosion. That leaves the question of what it is doing.¡± *** ¡°Uh, Ted? What¡¯s that thing on the projection?¡± ¡°Is that¡­ the System?¡± ¡°Look, it¡¯s got the health and mana of the fighters, that¡¯s handy. Wow, Valdis is low on mana and¡­ what¡¯s a Sword Soul?¡± ¡°Yeah, but look at Asano¡¯s health. If he doesn¡¯t do something, this fight will be ending very soon.¡± *** Valdis was looking for an angle for what he hoped was a final push. He would probably have to accept whatever one Asano set up for him and trust his skills to fight through the trap. That was when he realised that Jason had set the trap long ago. Valdis had committed a cardinal sin: fighting against a shadow magician and watching every shadow but his own. Despite the gloom, there was never a total absence of light. Valdis himself had a shadow, almost invisible in the darkness, but still there. Dagger wielding arms erupted like the tentacles of a kraken, trying to stab and entangle him. It was a testament to his miraculous reflexes that he managed to dodge, weave and parry enough that his last shred of Sword Soul capacity wasn¡¯t snatched away. Unfortunately, fights were all about stealing the critical moments. Valdis knew well that to win those was to win the fight. With the speed gold rankers were capable of, it was more the case now than when he was lower rank. While Valdis was dodging, Jason was taking the chance to cast one of his slightly longer spells. ¡°Your blood is not yours to keep, but mine on which to feast.¡± That was Jason¡¯s life drain spell, Valdis knew. It would heal him a little, but not much. Valdis couldn¡¯t stop his life force from being drained, but he was the only living thing to target. One person wasn¡¯t enough to¡­ When red lines started streaming through the dark around him, Valdis had no idea what was happening. There was no way Asano could or would drain the audience. Then Valdis saw what was happening and not for the first time, was taken aback. Valdis was very much about skill and persistence over surprise in combat, but he was forced to admit that surprise had its place. Jason was draining life from the afterimages that Valdis was using to occupy most of the shadowy arm trees. He had seen Asano turn them red somehow, but now he was actually draining life force from them. That should not have been possible, yet not only was it happening, but it was killing the afterimages. They weren¡¯t just dying, either, but drooping in the air like bloody ghosts. That was when things got bad. Freed of the images keeping them occupied, every shadow tree converged on Valdis, right as he was escaping the attacks from his own shadow. He kept ahead of the attacks, every moment a hair¡¯s breadth from defeat as he moved, dodged and deflected with every skill and defensive power at his command. That he could manage it under the circumstances was a little astounding, even to him. But while he was doing this, Asano cast another spell. ¡°As your lives were mine to reap, so your deaths are mine to harvest.¡± Once more, streams of life force snaked their way through the dark for Jason to absorb. The bloody ghosts that had been Valdis¡¯ force constructs now finally disappeared, whatever magic they had consumed by Jason. That was when the fighting stopped. The arms stopped pursuing and the familiars backed away. Valdis stood, panting, even his gold rank stamina pushed to the limit. The shadow arms retracted, leaving a crowd of Jason¡¯s shadow familiars around them. Only the arms jutting from Jason himself remained, daggers still in hand. The gloom around them started to break, slowly letting the sun back in. The arena once more became a circle of sand. Jason moved slowly towards Valdis, looking at him with those merciless, alien eyes. In one of the shadow hands was a sword, glowing red runes carved into the black blade. Jason pushed the hood of his cloak back, revealing his face. ¡°You look spent, swordsman,¡± he said. ¡°You look fresh.¡± ¡°That and then some. I¡¯ve got more health and mana than when we started.¡± He raised his sword. ¡°Shall we make a show of it, at the end?¡± ¡°You¡¯d challenge me to the sword?¡± Valdis asked. ¡°Are you looking down on me?¡± ¡°Just the opposite. Why do you think I let you push me into this? I¡¯ve spent a lot of time working on my swordsmanship. I want to see how it fares against a true swordsman.¡± Valdis nodded and raised his sword, then was on Jason in a blur. They clashed, one sword against a sword and six daggers, Jason¡¯s speed approaching that of Valdis himself. The sword master wasn¡¯t surprised, knowing that this was a trick of Asano¡¯s. If he had fallen foes to drain, he started moving and healing much faster than before. It shouldn¡¯t have been a threat with no dead foes to drain, but Asano had managed it anyway. The arms Jason used himself were an order of magnitude different to those wielded by his familiar. Those were powers, working on an echo of the true master, much like Valdis¡¯ own afterimages. The daggers and sword clashing with Valdis were something else entirely. It was a strange fighting style, not bound to the human form. This was what Valdis was constantly in search of: aspects or swordsmanship unlike anything he¡¯d seen before. This was no gimmick, however. As much as anyone, Valdis recognised the fruits of long, hard training. Asano knew well how to make the most of his strange combat style, and was clearly experienced in its use. The two men clashed across the battlefield at speeds staggering even by gold-ranks standards. The projection slowed the action down, struggling to catch up even with pauses between exchanges. Both men were soon grinning as they pushed the very limits of their skills. Jason¡¯s inhuman swordsmanship was no shallow trick, but a well-honed style. It suited someone with so many strange aspects to his power set, but that was also the problem. Jason¡¯s approach not just to combat, but adventuring as well, required so many skills that Valdis had no idea how his swordsmanship was this good, but Valdis was a man of the sword alone. If this was the beginning of the fight, and if this was the way they had fought it, then Valdis would have won. Even dealing with a half-dozen extra arms, he was landing more hits than Asano. But this was not the beginning of the fight; it was the end. Valdis was low on mana, while Jason was flush with health and mana both. Valdis could no longer pull out any big attacks, and Jason just healed through anything else. The end came when Valdis¡¯ Sword Soul finally gave out. Rather than experience a slow and horrific ugly defeat, he yielded the match. The magic keeping the sound out dropped and the roar of the crowd crashed over them. People were on their feet, stomping and cheering. Jason turned slowly on the spot, taking it all in with wide eyes. ¡°Soak it in,¡± Valdis said, and slapped him on the back. ¡°Never done an arena before?¡± ¡°No. Normally, when people see my powers, they run.¡± Chapter 902: Listening For Whispers ¡°Now that I¡¯ve seen you in action,¡± Valdis said, ¡°I see a lot of potential angles to take another run at you.¡± ¡°I hate to break it to you, but I¡¯m not a big arena guy,¡± Jason said. They were in the participants lobby, lounging with drinks, snacks and some of their friends who either had fought already or were getting ready to. ¡°You should rethink that,¡± Valdis said. ¡°They loved you out there.¡± ¡°It was a different experience,¡± Jason admitted. ¡°I suppose they know that real dark wizards don¡¯t usually show up for spectator fights.¡± ¡°And they didn¡¯t see what your powers actually do to people,¡± Neil added. Neil was waiting for a healer match against Sigrid. That involved two identical teams of illusionary warriors clashing, with the healers on each providing the difference. It was a slower event than high-ranking combat, and lacked in flash, but it was something that most watchers could observe normally instead of relying on the projections. Jason looked over curiously at a pair of lobby attendants. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re out again. What¡¯s happening to them all?¡± ¡°It¡¯s these out-of-town adventurers,¡± the other one said. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll take that tray over to the buffet table if you like.¡± ¡°Thanks, Mike. When did you grow the moustache, by the way?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s new. Do you think it works?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yes?¡± The two parted ways, ¡®Mike¡¯ heading for the buffet table until his colleague was out of sight. He then immediately scarpered so suspiciously he looked like a cartoon bank robber. Over at the buffet table, a local fighter watched him go with a confused expression. ¡°Where¡¯s he taking all the biscuits?¡± *** ¡°No,¡± Clive told Valdis firmly. ¡°Jason is not going back into that thing until we figure out what he did to it. Clive, somehow, now seemed to be in charge of mirage chamber operations. The staff weren¡¯t precisely sure how that happened, but it had involved stabilising the power distribution and whatever had happened to its mana flow. It also involved scathing responses to any questions deemed insufficiently insightful. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Valdis wheedled, more like a child than a gold-rank prince. ¡°Nothing blew up.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t understand how the System managed to imprint itself on the mirage chamber projectors and what the long-term effects will be.¡± ¡°People love the System integration,¡± Valdis said. ¡°People love a lot of things that might get them killed, Valdis. I wasn¡¯t allowed to cancel the upcoming events, but at least that allows us to monitor what¡¯s happening. It would be even better if Jason was here to answer questions instead of sneaking off.¡± *** ¡°¡­and Granny Danielle helped me arrange secretly digging out the underground storage,¡± Stash explained. He was walking down a hallway beside Jason, looking like a more boyish version of Humphrey but with silver hair and eyes. He appeared as his actual age, which was his early twenties. Jason looked much the same, at a glance, which was normal for essence users. People could see the age in them, though, in the way they carried themselves. ¡°She doesn¡¯t mind you calling her Granny Danielle?¡± Jason asked. ¡°No, she loves it! Humphrey doesn¡¯t, though.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°He says it¡¯s giving her ideas.¡± Jason let out an easy laugh. They heard a raised voice through a door as they passed. ¡°¡­what do you mean, you¡¯re adding Ned full-time? I don¡¯t care if the audience ¡®loved the interplay,¡¯ the audience are imbeciles who¡¯ll eat whatever we feed them. Have you heard those sponsorship announcements? You know Ned writes those, right?¡± *** Glass towers jutted from the central district of Yaresh. The tallest of them tapered to a point, a flat plate on the blunted tip allowing room for one person to stand. The building itself offered no access, but it offered a vantage from which one could turn and look over the whole city. Doing just that, Jason mused that design was probably not by accident. ¡°You¡¯re in my spot.¡± Jason smiled, then turned to look at Allayeth. The diamond ranker was hovering in place, wings spread out behind her. The wings had wooden frames and leaves as feathers. ¡°That¡¯s new,¡± he noted. ¡°Item?¡± ¡°Yes. Not all of us just start yanking new and strange powers out of nowhere.¡± ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± A line of cloud material snaked out of Jason¡¯s cloud flask, currently hanging on his necklace as an amulet. The cloud took the form of a floating chair and he sat in it, then waved at his previous perch invitingly. Allayeth drifted over and waved a hand over the flat, round platform on the building¡¯s peak. The plate on the tip of the building descended into the tapered roof, leaving a hole. Up through the hole rose a luxurious chair, anchored on a swivel. Jason laughed as her branch wings retracted out of sight and she floated into the seat. ¡°The city is beautiful,¡± Jason said, and meant it. He had an affection for tree houses, which Yaresh always had, but now everything had been built to a cohesive plan. The housing wards were tightly packed, with rope bridges between decks and platforms. Trade districts were more open, and included more of the local dark grey stone. The river was no longer lined with piers, docks and warehouses, but now featured a swath of parkland on either side. ¡°Master craftsmen from the skybranch elves spent years helping with the reconstruction,¡± Allayeth explained. ¡°They¡¯re a magical variant of elves, much like the brighthearts originated with the smoulder. I helped them once, as you did with the brighthearts, although the threat was nothing so drastic. It was enough that they were very generous with Yaresh, and gifted me these wings when the job was done.¡± ¡°The results are impressive.¡± ¡°The changes go beyond simple looks. Utility infrastructure, magic distribution, evacuation bunkers. The defence systems were completely overhauled. Your friend Travis helped with the new city defences. You can¡¯t see it now, but if the defensive barrier gets breached, the trees will grow what he called to as ¡®rotary spear cannons¡¯ out of stone and wood.¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯d like to see that in action.¡± ¡°I hope you never do. When my home and family were destroyed as a child, the idea of a safe home became quite important to me. My inability to protect it from the messengers troubled me greatly. I was unable to even attempt advancing through diamond rank for many years. Now that it is restored, and more defended than ever, I have finally achieved a measure of peace.¡± ¡°Only a few diamond rankers involve themselves in the affairs of society, yes? You and Charist here. The Mirror King and Roland Remore.¡± ¡°Most move unseen, seeking a path to whatever lies at the peak of diamond rank. To me, it¡¯s unclear to the point of not being sure it exists.¡± ¡°It exists.¡± ¡°I suppose it must seem straightforward to you, living the life you do. For me, it¡¯s listening for whispers in a storm. Perhaps things will be clearer for you. You seem to have little trouble finding the path, and you are not alone in this. I am young by diamond-rank reckoning, but your generation of adventurers is the strongest I have seen. Not just in how powerful you all are, but in how swiftly you advance. A product of coming up in an age of turmoil, I suppose.¡± ¡°There is a curse on the world I come from: May you live in interesting times.¡± Allayeth laughed. ¡°I see. These last couple of decades have been a crucible. The great monster surge, timed alongside the Builder invasion, was just the beginning. The world has been at war with the messengers ever since. They sweep through an area, in search of Purity¡¯s legacy relic. Then they move on. Sometimes they leave behind some of their number to rule an enslaved region. Other times, they leave only ruins, depending on how hard they were fought.¡± ¡°How well are they being fought off?¡± ¡°Well enough in the core regions. Adventurers and resources are centralised in large population centres, too heavily for the messengers to strike at without massive cost. More isolated regions have been the focus; there are many remote city-states like Yaresh. Vulnerable regions rely on the holy armies raised by the gods and, increasingly, those of nations and city states. Knowledge was preparing her army before anyone knew they needed to, and War did the same in response. Nations and other churches have been copying their example for years, now, but there are only so many essence users to go around.¡± ¡°Standing armies were never something this world had, right? Pallimustus has always relied on adventurers.¡± ¡°Yes, and adventurers are still the tip of the spear. But they are individualistic by nature, and do not make good soldiers. They don¡¯t like taking orders, and anyone who has been on an expedition knows the challenges that come from wrangling them in large groups. There are not enough to make true armies of them anyway. The problem with using anyone else is that the most basic messenger is silver rank. There is little point sending waves of bronze rankers to die just to eliminate one of them. Those commanders who try have been savagely rebuked.¡± Jason let out a sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve returned to a war, then.¡± ¡°Yes. Yaresh has been quiet since the last of the messengers were wiped out. The messengers move like locusts in search of their goal. If they do not find what they want in the more rural regions, they will eventually make more concerted attacks on the cities.¡± ¡°I suppose I should go sign up.¡± ¡°And you would be welcome. But I think, perhaps, you¡¯ve become so used to being the focal point of events that you forget not everything is about you. This is the world¡¯s war, not yours, and we¡¯ve done well enough in your absence. I know you intend to return home, and you have earned that. We¡¯ll continue doing fine without you, and there will be plenty of messengers to fight on your return.¡± ¡°Thank you. I¡¯d invite you to come with us, but Earth isn¡¯t ready for diamond rankers. It barely has the magic for gold rankers, and there are still mana deserts where it¡¯s rough for them to be.¡± ¡°It would be fascinating to see, but I still have much to do here. Yaresh is rebuilt, but the surroundings regions are not so far along. We still rely on the brighthearts for much of our food as we establish new farming towns. Getting people to repopulate the existing ones has been something of a disaster, so building fresh ones is proving more effective.¡± ¡°It¡¯s easy to overlook what comes next when your job is in fleeting moments of violence and destruction. How hours, even minutes of fighting can mean months and years of recovery.¡± ¡°Yes, but those of us who fight have our place as well. Thank you for preventing an unstoppable army of undead from rising out of the ground and flooding my home with death and despair, by the way.¡± ¡°It took a lot more than just me, but you¡¯re welcome.¡± ¡°You were in charge, Jason. That means you take the credit, even if you sat back helplessly and did nothing.¡± ¡°Hey, who have you been talking to?¡± *** Although there was a river running through Yaresh, few of the docks and industrial facilities that once lined its shores had been rebuilt. What remained was all near the downstream river gate, where the water passed under the wall and out of the city. Memorial Park now occupied most of the shoreline on both sides of the river. Full of open space, greenery and picturesque bridges. The park was dotted with statues, sculptures and memorial walls dedicated to those who had fallen, and those who protected the ones that survived. Jason found Farrah standing in front of a sculpture of Gary fighting a messenger. Unlike Jason and his team, who had been in the thick of the fighting, Gary had single-handedly led a large group of survivors to safety. They had mostly been craftsmen and manufacturers, and on hearing of Gary¡¯s death, they had not only sponsored, but created the display. It showed him roaring in defiance at a messenger, sheltering people behind him. ¡°Why do they only show him fighting and roaring, like some savage warrior?¡± she asked as Jason stood next to her. ¡°This isn¡¯t him. Statues are about what people need, not the people they show, and these people needed heroes. Fighters. The man he was, who he really was, isn¡¯t for the people visiting this park to remember. It¡¯s for us, the people who loved him. We¡¯re his true memorial, not a statue in a park or a plaque on a wall.¡± She reached out, hesitant, and brushed her fingers against the stone. ¡°I can¡¯t keep looking at this,¡± she said, then turned and strode away. Jason followed, a few steps behind, until she arrived at a wooden bench by the water. They sat, letting the sounds of the park wash over them. The sun was high, the sky was clear and there were a lot of families out enjoying the park. Children laughed as they chased small animals into the bushes and parent warned them not to wander too far. Teenagers splashed around in the river, which was clear down to the bottom. The new sanitation infrastructure and lack of river industry had left the water pristine. ¡°You said you didn¡¯t know, but you kind of did,¡± Farrah said after minutes of neither saying a word. ¡°You know how this works. I have vague ideas at best about what¡¯s happening with me. This time it was you and me, but the uncertainty is the same.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to be just some attachment to you. Or a slave.¡± ¡°You know better than that.¡± ¡°Of course I do, but you¡¯re the one with all the power. I¡¯m the one being turned into some kind of magical servant. I¡¯m not your familiar.¡± ¡°I know that. I like to think that being my familiar isn¡¯t so bad, but you aren¡¯t some astral being. Your idea of existing is very different from theirs. I would never expect you to see things the way they do.¡± ¡°What am I, then? Whenever you did¡­ whatever it is that you did, the bond between us got stronger. A lot stronger. My abilities won¡¯t advance until I accept this damn thing.¡± She brought up a system window.
¡°It needs to get into my soul, Jason. To change me. It already has enough access through our bond to mess me up. It¡¯s holding my advancement to ransom.¡± ¡°I know. And I¡¯m sorry. You¡¯ve had to live with this, not knowing if there was any solution while I was out of reach. I was aware of it, on some level, but I couldn¡¯t fix it while I was still fixing myself. And I can¡¯t do it here, either.¡± ¡°What do you mean by fix it? Sever the bond?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s what you want. I¡¯m hoping that I can do better, though. I need to get you into my astral kingdom so I can take a proper look at our connection. If you still trust me enough to go somewhere I have all the power.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot. I still trust you. Why did you wait until now to come to me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been watching your emotions.¡± ¡°Through the bond?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do that. I¡¯ve just been peeking with aura senses, rude as that is. And I think you knew that. I¡¯ve been waiting for you to be ready, and I think that you came here because you are, now.¡± She nodded, Jason¡¯s heart breaking at the fearful hesitance in one of the strongest people he knew. A portal arch of white stone opened in front of them and filled with gold, silver and blue light. He stood up and held his hand out to her. She reached out and took it. Chapter 903: Defier Farrah stepped out of the portal onto sand. She was on a beach that ran from turquoise water up to rainforest. A trail went off though the trees and a pier led into the water where a cluster of bungalows sat on stilts. The beach wrapped around a lagoon, sheltering the over-water bungalows. Looking back over the trees, several small mountains were visible, waterfalls spilling off their sides. Jason stepped out of the portal to join her, the archway then vanishing into the sand. She looked up at the clear sky, feeling the fresh sea breeze take the edge off the sun¡¯s heat. ¡°I feel odd,¡± she said. ¡°Something is¡­ my powers are gone.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jason said. ¡°But I don¡¯t feel uncomfortable, as if they were being suppressed. They¡¯re just¡­ not there.¡± ¡°When I was making this planet, I didn¡¯t pay specific attention to every little detail. It was more like creating a seed with certain parameters and letting the laws of physics and magic sort themselves out as it grew. There are a few places I did pay closer attention to, though, and this is one of them.¡± ¡°A prison?¡± Jason let out a wincing laugh. ¡°That¡¯s a little hurtful, after the effort I put in. Does it look like a prison?¡± ¡°Then why suppress powers?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not suppressed. They just don¡¯t exist here. This island is named Refuge, and it¡¯s what it says on the tin. It¡¯s a place where I, and the people most important to me, can get away from all the travails of the cosmos. It¡¯s about letting go of the responsibilities that we have to deal with everywhere else. Here, we take things slow. No powers. You¡¯ll even find that your speed and strength are capped, if you try to push them. Even my prime avatar is affected.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if Sophie is going to like that.¡± ¡°She¡¯ll get over it. Shade has been working on his cocktail game.¡± ¡°Mixology, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°Sorry. He¡¯s been working on his mixology.¡± Farrah stared at Jason¡¯s shadow. ¡°Is he never not in there?¡± she asked. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Farrah looked at her own shadow, then back up at Jason. ¡°Just so you know,¡± he said hastily as he sped up his walking speed, ¡°I¡¯m still working on options to fix our bond. Overmind Jason is, anyway. Prime avatar Jason is still here.¡± ¡°Then prime avatar Jason needs a talk about boundaries and where his shadow familiar goes.¡± ¡°Ooh, I bet the view from that bluff is excellent,¡± he responded, speeding up again. ¡°What happened to taking things slow?¡± she called after him. While Jason¡¯s avatar guided Farrah through the rainforest trails, Jason delved into the magic of the bond linking them together. It was distinct from the connections he had with his familiars, where he was the origin of the bond. His connection with Farrah had originated with her ability to bond with people, acquired when she resurrected as an outworlder. It had reacted with the changes in Jason until they noticed the bond and had ultimately chosen to enhance it. Now that Jason had a vastly powerful transcendent aspect, his power was trying to make use of that bond. And, as much as Jason was loath to admit it, the more tyrannical aspects of his subconscious were trying to subjugate her through it. That was not something he was going to put up with. He explored the magic involved, gaming out possible ways the bond could be manipulated. While he was doing this, Farrah and his avatar reach the main buildings of the island resort he¡¯d created. The buildings were made from bamboo, wood and natural stone, and set to maximise the feel of a rainforest grove. Several creeks and streams flowed under little bridges and even under the buildings, and a river flowed nearby. Farrah spotted bungalows, indoor and open air lounges, a bar and a games room. In the open-front buildings by the river she saw canoes and what looked like wooden jet skis. ¡°Jason, this is all very nice, but this is not what I¡¯m here for.¡± ¡°I know. I¡¯m working on it.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you basically a god here?¡± ¡°Nothing that limited. But it¡¯s not like they put you through a two-week orientation course when you become half transcendent. I still have a lot to learn, and I can¡¯t afford to make a mistake here. Not with you.¡± They made their way deep into the island. Trails of packed earth and fallen leaves gave way to rough-cut stone steps as they began a gradual ascent. Finally, Jason brought her to a grotto half set into a cave. Water spilled down over rocks, into a pool of pristine water, from where it drained off into a little creek. The rocks were flat, and many were covered in soft-looking grasses and moss. Near the entrance was a gazebo of wood and bamboo, containing a picnic table, benches and a grill. ¡°I want to bring everyone here, in time,¡± Jason said. ¡°I want this place to be where we come to be together and forget about all the troubles the cosmos sees fit to pile onto us. And I want to start by fixing something that I¡¯ve put on you, however inadvertently.¡± ¡°You can fix the bond?¡± ¡°I have some options. The power disparity between us is a problem, I won¡¯t lie. My power wants to make you obey.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Then tell it no.¡± Jason grinned. ¡°I was thinking the same thing,¡± he told her. ¡°Obviously, making you subject to my will is unacceptable. After looking for some kind of workable compromise, however, I realised that just isn¡¯t viable. So, if only extremes will work, I wondered what would happen if we went the other way?¡± ¡°Other way?¡± A system window popped up in front of Farrah.
Farrah stared at the window for a long time. ¡°What is this?¡± she asked finally. ¡°We both know that I can lose my way. I¡¯m better, now, but the future is long and uncertain. You¡¯ve always been the one I could trust when I couldn¡¯t trust myself. That¡¯s hard if you don¡¯t have the power to stop me when I need to be stopped. This would give it to you.¡± ¡°You have so much power. You can¡¯t use it outside of your private universe yet, but some day you will have that power.¡± ¡°Yes. And you know I¡¯ve been worried for a long time about not having a check on that power. I¡¯m asking you to be the one that holds me to account.¡± ¡°Immortality.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°True immortality.¡± ¡°Yeah. You¡¯ll outlive the sun. We can have a sandwich to celebrate.¡± He wandered over to the gazebo, making his way up the short stairs. A tray of sandwiches was sitting on the table, along with a large pitcher and two glasses. ¡°Not to pressure you or anything, but there¡¯s some iced tea up here was well. It¡¯s peach.¡± ¡°Are you attempting to bribe me into immortality with a light lunch?¡± ¡°It¡¯s immortality. I shouldn¡¯t have to sell it, right? But if you don¡¯t like the immortality options, I can sever the bond altogether.¡± ¡°It feels like this should be more of a conversation. Immortality isn¡¯t a small thing.¡± ¡°No,¡± he agreed, giving her a sad smile. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I only missed fifteen years or so, and that was so long in the lives of my family back on Earth. I never intended to stay away so long. And that¡¯s just a drop in the ocean compared to what immortality has to offer. People will live out entire lives while we remain unchanging. We¡¯ll love them, for the time they have, and lose them. It won¡¯t be small thing.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve thought about this a lot.¡± ¡°That, and there¡¯s a lot of books and TV shows exploring the idea.¡± ¡°Is it stupid to hesitate at the idea of immortality?¡± ¡°Of course not. And that¡¯s without even broaching the topic of what this means for you and me. Come up and have a sandwich and we¡¯ll hash it out.¡± *** Jason, Clive, Travis and the Cloudweaver were in a workshop, in the Yaresh branch of the Magic Research Association. They were seated around a table on which rested Jason¡¯s cloud flask. Jason flicked it and smoke started pouring out, black instead of the usual white. It formed a cloud that filled the room to the high ceiling before it stopped spreading. Points of light appeared in the smoke like stars in a night sky, silvery lines linking them together in constellations. As more and more stars and lines appeared, it went from constellations to a celestial spider¡¯s web to something far too complex and dense to be either. ¡°Normal so far,¡± the Cloudweaver said as they observed the process. Then their eyes went wide as some of the points started changing colour. The dots of light and their connecting lines started turning blue and orange, slowly at first but rapidly accelerating. They glowed brighter as they went, making the observers lose track of specific points as the light diffused in the black smoke. By the time it was done, it looked like a blue and orange eye, glowing from within the dark. ¡°Well, it¡¯s certainly dramatic,¡± the Cloudweaver said. ¡°It¡¯s Jason,¡± Clive said. ¡°It always works like this. We¡¯re lucky the mirage chamber didn¡¯t just blast a massive aura projection over the city. Again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to need my tools to get a better look at what¡¯s going on here,¡± Cloudweaver said. ¡°Did you say they have a mana spectrum prism matrix?¡± ¡°They do,¡± Clive said. ¡°They¡¯re bringing it down now. I thought a localised refinement differentiator would be useful as well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡± the Cloudweaver said. ¡°That¡¯s my cue to leave,¡± Jason said. ¡°It sounds like magic Star Trek in here. Have fun with your deflector dish, and don¡¯t get too pokey or the flask will smite you.¡± Jason got up and walked out, leaving the other three behind. ¡°He was joking about the smiting, right?¡± Travis asked. ¡°Probably,¡± Clive said. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t hurt to be careful as we go, though.¡± *** Jason left the trio to examine his cloud flask, one of the last tasks before he and his friends packed up to leave. Much of the reunion group had already left, having their own preparations to make before the expedition to Earth. Jason had several stops to make, including rounding up the Earthlings in Estercost and anchoring the link between worlds, which he would do in the Storm Kingdom. Leaving the main workshop building, Jason headed for a nearby loading area. Normally used for bringing in supplies to the workshops, Humphrey and Neil were preparing a huge pile of goods. Once Jason got the flask back, it would all be loaded into a cloud vehicle. While heading in their direction, he spotted Danielle Geller and changed course. ¡°Danielle. We never had a chance to catch up properly.¡± ¡°It seemed like you were having a busy week.¡± ¡°Tell me about it. Adventure Society briefings. Parts one and two of the Clive sessions, which I¡¯m assuming will continue until I die.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you immortal?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t remind me. I just convinced someone else to join the immortal club.¡± ¡°Farrah?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°How is she?¡± ¡°Asleep. The process of change was one thing, then it was like her halted advancement was unleashed all at once. Half of her abilities advanced simultaneously, which was apparently rough. She¡¯s still a step or two from gold.¡± ¡°But immortal now.¡± ¡°She¡¯ll have time, yes.¡± Danielle shook her head. ¡°I remember when Rufus Remore came to visit me in Greenstone, telling me he¡¯d met an unusual young man. And now that young man is casually mentioning how he¡¯s made a woman he once resurrected immortal now.¡± ¡°It was the Reaper on the resurrection, and circumstance on the other thing. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m running around, handing out immortality tickets.¡± ¡°Well, if you do, let me know. There was something you wanted to discuss?¡± ¡°Some things I¡¯d like your advice on, if you can spare a few moments.¡± ¡°Certainly. Shall we take walk?¡± ¡°I could show you my universe. It¡¯s not as big as some, but I could whip it out right here.¡± They turned at hearing Neil laugh and saw him pointing at them. A disgruntled Humphrey fished a gold spirit coin from his pocket and handed it over. ¡°I do believe that you just lost my son a bet,¡± Danielle said. ¡°Probably best not to ask what about.¡± ¡°Oh, I think I know.¡± ¡°As do I, sadly. Fascinated as I am to see your own little universe, it might be best to take a regular walk instead of nipping through a portal together.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re right.¡± Chapter 904: Vast Cosmic Power Types Compared to most of Yaresh, the district containing the Magical Research Association campus was heavy on stone and light on trees. It certainly had none of the towering glass of the central district. Located right across the road from the campus was the Alchemy Association¡¯s main research centre. The urban planners in charge of rebuilding Yaresh wanted to centralise the places most prone to unexpected explosions, inadvertent poison fog and accidental fire titan summoning. Both organisations had argued that such stories were ¡ª mostly ¡ª overblown, but it had made no headway with the planners. Not only did they put the two buildings together but also surrounded them with the blandest district in Yaresh. There were only a few scattered trees, and none of the thick varieties used as part of the buildings. The buildings were all heavy, magically reinforced stone. There were no houses or shops, only long-term storehouses and other low-traffic facilities that minimised collateral damage risk. That made it one of the least interesting districts for Danielle and Jason to take their walk through. The buildings were largely square and dark grey, with only a few lonely trees to break up the monotony. While the footpath was made of familiar flagstones, the road, like others in Yaresh, was sealed in some manner of brown concrete. With nothing more interesting to catch his eye, it was what caught Jason¡¯s attention. He crouched beside the road to run his fingers across it. ¡°It looks almost like tree bark in colour, but it feels like regular asphalt concrete.¡± ¡°Regular?¡± Danielle asked. ¡°This seems like unusual road surfacing, to my eye.¡± ¡°Regular for Earth. We don¡¯t have a lot of stone-shapers in civil engineering, so this is normal there. I haven¡¯t seen a lot of concreting in Pallimustus. This looks more like it was laid the Earth way, though.¡± He stood up and they continued their way down the footpath. ¡°Is civil infrastructure an interest of yours?¡± Danielle asked. ¡°Sort of. My father is a landscape architect, and you pick things up. I know more about grass than you¡¯d imagine. He did a lot of work in front of government buildings, so he dealt with a lot of driveways. He¡¯d love to see what they¡¯ve accomplished with Yaresh.¡± ¡°Then show him. You can take people there, so surely you can bring others back.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a matter of ability. I intended to bring them last time, but¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°It didn¡¯t work out.¡± ¡°You¡¯re concerned about complications on your return.¡± ¡°Yeah, but isn¡¯t it always like that with family? Especially after a long time away with no communication.¡± ¡°I suppose so,¡± Danielle said. ¡°Things are a little different in my family. We have essences, to extend our lifespans, and expectations of duty.¡± She scowled. ¡°Expectations are very big in my family, which can be a point of pride. But while they can drive someone like Humphrey to greatness, they can crush others beneath them. Your family was unused to the power and longevity that comes of magic, were they not?¡± ¡°They weren¡¯t,¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°I took them halfway around the world, leaving them with a handful of essence users, a stockpile of essences and a couple of magical cities to live in. Then I disappeared on them. No communication for over a decade. I was able to send them Rufus, but not much else.¡± ¡°Magical cities? Like Rexion?¡± ¡°Yes. They¡¯ve been living in cities built from my power. Not just with my power, but literally made of it. The streets they walk and the houses they live in. And, like in Rexion, there are children who grew up hearing my name but never seeing me. I was a distant and abstract figure, spoken of, but never present. Yet my power was everywhere, like some ancestral ghost. And that power was not always consistent. I had to hide it for a long time, trapping the clan in astral spaces.¡± ¡°But they are out, now? And you¡¯re in contact with them, using your avatars?¡± ¡°Now, yes, but most still haven¡¯t seen me. And that¡¯s not a normal way to encounter a person. Popping in and out of existence, reshaping the world around them on a whim. I¡¯m lucky they didn¡¯t see me deal with the vampire city that was over their heads for a decade.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know how to act when you return properly.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t. Magic is still relatively new to Earth, and my power is like nothing else on it. No one knows how to treat me, and I¡¯m unsure how to act. I suppose things were very different for you, coming from a big adventuring family.¡± ¡°Yes. For mine, power is long established. The trouble it brings comes from the expectations that power brings. Only a fraction of the family become adventurers, and only a fraction of those become high-rank and famous. But there¡¯s a pressure on all of us as children, to at least potentially become one of those few. To maintain the family legacy. We¡¯re all expected to strive for that until we prove ourselves. Or prove ourselves inadequate. There¡¯s little consideration for anyone to want something else until they¡¯ve been branded a failure at what matters most. I had a sister who¡­ suffice to say, I am proud of our family and its name, but I do not care for some of the culture we¡¯ve built up trying to maintain it. Sometimes I wonder if Humphrey wouldn¡¯t have been better off as a soft-hearted labour manager in a spirit coin farm.¡± Jason laughed at the image. ¡°He¡¯d be such a soft touch as a boss.¡± ¡°This issue with your family. Not knowing how to act. Am I correct in guessing that this is only peripheral to what you really wanted to discuss?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You want to know how to act on a larger scale. Not just with your clan, but with the whole world.¡± ¡°Exactly. What do I do when I¡¯m the most powerful person on the planet? Turning up with a collection of gold rankers who could conquer the place in a week is extremely political, whether I like it or not. And I am not as adept at politics as I thought I would be before I actually involved myself in them.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Danielle chuckled. ¡°I remember your antics back in Greenstone. You have a political mind, Jason, and see through more than most. But when it comes to your own designs, you get impetuous. Distracted by ideas that appeal more for their cleverness than their practicality. That is when you get blindsided by consequences.¡± ¡°Oh, I remember, and I can¡¯t afford that this time. This isn¡¯t messing with some shady local bureaucrats and a dodgy indentured servitude contract. This is world leaders being scared of a potential tyrant.¡± ¡°And people take drastic steps when they feel scared and powerless. If I recall correctly, that is kind of your thing as well.¡± ¡°No kidding. With Earth, I¡¯m heading into a situation that can¡¯t really hurt me. If people start declaring war on me or something, though, a lot of innocent people could get caught in the crossfire. Back in Greenstone, I had you and Emir to bail me out when I got it wrong. This time, I¡¯m the high ranker, and the responsibility stops with me. I¡¯ll have my friends with me, but it¡¯s my world.¡± ¡°And the power you bring will reshape it, simply by existing.¡± ¡°Yes. Even if we hide it away and never use our power, people will react to its very existence.¡± ¡°This is a complicated issue, Jason. A lot more than we could cover on a short stroll, even if I did have an understanding of your world¡¯s politics. Which I do not.¡± ¡°But you understand diplomacy. You understand the kind of power that Earth is only just coming to grips with. Most importantly, I can trust you. The people who already know Earth politics are all on Earth, and most I wouldn¡¯t trust to burn if I threw them in a volcano. Which I¡¯m hoping it won¡¯t come to.¡± Danielle laughed. ¡°You said most you wouldn¡¯t trust. Suggesting there are a few you would.¡± ¡°Not many. There¡¯s someone who works for my grandmother now. She would be an asset, but I¡¯d really like to recruit a woman she used to work for, to cover the knowledge of Earth politics I don¡¯t have.¡± ¡°The way you¡¯re attempting to recruit me know?¡± ¡°Not exactly like this. I thought it might be best to let other people make the pitch to her.¡± ¡°There¡¯s contention between you and this person?¡± ¡°It¡¯s complicated. The first time we met in person, I broke into her house in the middle of the night.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°To make a point. I¡¯d just been kidnapped by some associates of hers and I was worried about people targeting my family.¡± ¡°So, you escalated by proving you could target hers?¡± ¡°I did say I wanted help with diplomacy, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m starting to see how good an idea seeking out assistance might be for you.¡± ¡°Yes. I asked everyone if they wanted to come along on this trip, but for most I just wanted to give them a chance to expand their horizons. That¡¯s the best part of being an adventurer, right? My intentions for you are a little more selfish, though, yes. I was hoping you might take a role as a political advisor. Not just for the trip, but in the time leading up to it. I need to be preparing now, not just heading for Earth and winging it. Diplomatic training. Strategising over what approach to take. I¡¯ve already discussed this with Dominion, but I wanted to contrast that with a more grounded perspective.¡± ¡°What did he suggest?¡± ¡°That I either become their king or their god. Neither is a surprising take, given the source, but he made some compelling points.¡± ¡°How often do you talk to gods?¡± ¡°Not that much. Way less than priests, I imagine. And I doubt the clergy have those really tense standoffs, like the one you saw with Undeath. That guy sucks.¡± ¡°That would be the encounter where you threatened the gods of undeath and destruction.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t threaten them. I even gave Undeath that gobbet of corrupt energy to get rid of. I just suggested that maybe they want to choose their enemies with more care.¡± ¡°Their enemies are everyone and everything, Jason.¡± ¡°Which is an extremely careless approach to take, I think you¡¯d agree.¡± She shook her head in a very motherly display of exasperation. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can help you on the level you operate at, Jason.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about the high-end stuff. When it comes to the vast cosmic power types, it seems to be a do-your-own-thing situation. What I need help with is operating without harming the people who someone like me could hurt without even noticing. I don¡¯t like the idea of putting myself above people, but pretending I don¡¯t operate on a higher level than most will only cause more harm.¡± ¡°I need to think about this, Jason. You¡¯re asking me to take on a lot of responsibility, here.¡± ¡°Of course. We have some time, although the more of it I use to prepare, the better.¡± She nodded. ¡°Tell me more about this person you want to recruit on Earth.¡± *** Getting information out of Europe had been difficult for years, but whatever happened in the old Asano territory had kicked a hornet¡¯s nest. Vampires were moving on a scale they hadn¡¯t been in years. Based on new capture and kill numbers, there were more of them still hidden away than anyone realised. That, fortunately, was not Anna Tilden¡¯s problem. Her problem was representatives from the UN member nations beating down her door about what was going on in Europe. Every nation with a spy plane or observation satellite had been watching the vampires gather in the old Asano territory, only for those observation tools to all get interfered with by an intense magical field that extended into orbit. In the wake of the mysterious event, the vampires had become extremely agitated. It was bad enough when people were coming to Anna because it was her job. Now, it had gotten around about her having an off-the-books observation team on the ground. Instead of assistants of assistants of deputy liaisons knocking at her door, she had to deal with people she couldn¡¯t just brush off. Her blanket denials were starting to wear very thin. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Senator,¡± she said into the phone. ¡°Even if there were such a team, any information I could get from them would only arrive when they checked in after the fact. If they existed, they could very easily have died in the incident and we would never know.¡± It took a while longer to finish the call, continuing to blank wall him like she did everyone trying to strong-arm or wheedle information out of her. Despite taking a grim satisfaction that her claims of not knowing anything were true, she was halfway to hunting down Nigel Thornton herself and choking him to death. She left her office, which was novel. She¡¯d been sleeping on the couch for five days and having her staff cycle the same three suits through the dry cleaners. She made her way down to the garage, declining the offer of a driver. An office driver might turn around and bring her back, if ordered to by her boss. Inevitably, she got a call halfway home, and while tempted not to answer, she accepted the call by tapping the screen on her dash. ¡°Secretary Lin, what can I do for you?¡± ¡°I need to you to come to my office.¡± ¡°Sorry, Secretary, but I¡¯m already on my way home.¡± ¡°Then I need you to turn around.¡± ¡°With all due respect, Secretary, if I go through another weekend without going home and seeing my wife, I¡¯m going to quit and let whoever you get to replace me handle whatever crisis just blew up.¡± ¡°Anna¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®Anna,¡¯ me, Shu-Chen. Don¡¯t think I missed that word got around about my people in Europe roughly four seconds after I told you about them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we need to discuss. You have to give us more information on¡ª¡± ¡°I gave you the information I have, Shu-Chen. If I get more¡­ well, I¡¯ll probably keep it to myself. You¡¯ve got a big mouth and it¡¯s not technically ¡ª or legally ¡ª part of my job. This was a team I put in the field, on my own. No department funds, no department contacts.¡± ¡°Dammit, Anna, people are thinking Asano¡¯s back.¡± ¡°He might be. I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Anna, I¡¯m hearing dangerous things. Rufus Remore announced that Asano was coming back and would more or less do whatever the hell he wanted with the planet, and then this so-called System happened. It¡¯s left a lot of people spooked. Powerful people. The things I¡¯m hearing range from nuking France to strange magical crap I don¡¯t know whether to believe.¡± ¡°At this point, it¡¯s safer to believe. Look, I¡¯m hearing things as well, but I genuinely don¡¯t have anything more to add. To be honest, it¡¯s looking increasingly likely that my people got caught up in whatever it was, and we¡¯ll never hear from them.¡± ¡°Then your information is out of date. Satellites are operating over France again and I have visual confirmation of Nigel Thornton and his team liberating a blood farm and bringing the people back to territory that appears to be once again under Asano control.¡± ¡°Well, they haven¡¯t reached out to me.¡± ¡°We know. We¡¯ve been monitoring all your communication channels.¡± ¡°God dammit, Shu-Chen. Are you trying to get me to quit?¡± ¡°You know you won¡¯t, Anna. You¡¯re too driven to try and make things better, despite all the ugly politics. It¡¯s why you left the Network for us. Who is going to give you a better seat at the table than we can?¡± Chapter 905: Objectives Located safely away from Yaresh was an outdoor testing facility for the Magical Research Association. The Yaresh branch was one of the first, when the association was still looking to establish itself, and Clive had selected the location carefully. At a time when Yaresh was still rebuilding and struggling to control the surrounding region, the guards protecting the testing centre were, by default, required to safeguard a wide area around it. Clive had situated the facility between two major trading routes; the river and one of the few intact major roadways. Having outside forces secure them when the city was at its most strained for resources was a major boon. This, in turn, made the city look very poorly on any attempt by the Magic Society to undermine the association as it established itself. The testing centre itself was a series of reinforced buildings, underground bunkers and open platforms, scattered across a wide area. The land took minimal clearing for construction, as it had once been farmland. The former landowners were long dead, and the nearest town was abandoned. One of several open platforms at the facility was simple but very large, designed for the maintenance and modification of large-scale vehicles. Right now, five people stood in the middle of the platform, around a flask. ¡°Turned out not be as tricky as we feared,¡± Travis told Jason. ¡°I have been doing this for many years,¡± the Cloudweaver explained. ¡°I have created cloud vehicles and structures for several churches, and they like to incorporate the power of their god into the design. I suspected that your case might be similar, and while there were additional complications, the principles were much the same.¡± ¡°What kind of complications?¡± Jason asked. ¡°The power of a god is simple. Clean. Focused. It doesn¡¯t need to be sophisticated because the power is, for practical purposes, infinite. Examining your effect on the flask, it¡¯s obvious that your powers are messy. Complicated. I am correct in deducing that you are at least partly divine, am I not?¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Hector de Varco said. ¡°You¡¯re part god?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not exactly accurate,¡± Clive explained. ¡°It¡¯s more a case that his transcendent aspect has certain capabilities that functionally operate in the same manner as gods perform similar tasks, rather than Jason being a god himself. Of course, with the transcendent aspect of his being and his ability to undertake the aforementioned tasks, the practical difference is¡ª¡± ¡°He means no, but kind of yes,¡± Jason said. ¡°Jason,¡± Clive said, ¡°that¡¯s very reductive.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jason agreed. ¡°Clive, I don¡¯t have time for the long version, and I¡¯m immortal.¡± ¡°Part god,¡± Hector said. ¡°It makes me feel a lot better about you winning our duel just by looking at me.¡± House de Varco was one of the larger noble houses in the Storm Kingdom who did not have their family seat in Rimaros. As with any aristocratic family, they counted adventurers in their number. Their influence and reputation, however, came from the construction and trade of magical vehicles. During Jason¡¯s long absence, Hector had risen to prominence in the family by championing a new enterprise: cloud construct modification. While cloud flasks were rare, less extravagant cloud constructs were not. Small personal transports were relatively affordable, after which things went sharply up in price. They still weren¡¯t cheap compared to things like floater discs, but they were convenient to store in small vessels, like the amulet mode of Jason¡¯s cloud flask. They were also fashionable, with features like trailing sparks, shifting colours and other effects that led to very full coffers for House de Varco. ¡°Your power serves much the same function within the cloud flask as a god¡¯s, but with some key differences,¡± the Cloudweaver continued. ¡°Your power¡¯s influence was not part of the original design, so mapping out how that affected the functionality of the flask was difficult. Rather than a well of divine power for the flask to tap into, your power affects the flask in almost every aspect. This is why my override no longer works, and that¡¯s how your constructs can function as portable temples.¡± ¡°Temples to whom?¡± Hector asked, then looked at Jason. ¡°To you? Because of the part god thing?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°Did they not tell you about this stuff?¡± ¡°They only just brought me in on this,¡± Hector said. ¡°I¡¯ve done some contract work with Travis on vehicle weapon systems, and he said he had a special project. Going back to the temple thing, is that something we could reproduce? I bet the number of churches looking for cloud vehicles will shoot right up, if that¡¯s an option.¡± ¡°I was thinking the same thing,¡± the Cloudweaver said. ¡°Now that we understand most of your cloud flask¡¯s underlying structure,¡± Clive explained, ¡°we can look at incorporating some modifications that Travis has been working on for years.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a side project I¡¯ve been tooling around with,¡± Travis said. ¡°I¡¯ve done weapons for your cloud flask before, but that was years ago. My magical knowledge was still very Earth-based, and I only tapped into a fraction of the potential. Doing contract work with House de Varco got me thinking about it again. A lot of my work wound up in Emir Bahadir¡¯s flask, but obviously yours has some unconventional properties. And many of the ideas I had weren¡¯t viable, once we got a proper look under the hood. Of the ones that were, we picked out a few that were extra special and Hector had his people put a rush on manufacturing.¡± ¡°Just what we¡¯ve learned from working on this makes it worth it for us,¡± Hector said. ¡°You¡¯re going to have the most personalised weapon systems on any cloud flask that I¡¯ve ever heard of. Anyone foolish enough to get in a fight with your cloud constructs will definitely know who they¡¯re up against.¡± ¡°There are still a few aspects of your flask we weren¡¯t entirely able to decipher,¡± the Cloudweaver admitted. ¡°I¡¯m still unsure exactly how it seems to have ranked up alongside you. No special materials, no upgrade ritual. The aspect we had the most trouble with was some kind of minor functionality which seems linked to external items. Without them, the function appears to be lost.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s part of a three-item set. I got this linking item back at silver rank when I killed this intelligent gold-rank dinosaur guy and looted his body.¡± ¡°You killed an intelligent gold-rank monster at silver?¡± Clive asked. ¡°I told you about this,¡± Jason said. ¡°Most of the work was done when a proto-astral space closed with us inside. It spat us back out, with him most of the way dead. I just finished him off.¡± ¡°How did you survive?¡± the Cloudweaver asked. ¡°Oh, I was all the way dead. But coming back from the dead is¡ª¡± ¡°Kind of your thing,¡± Clive said. ¡°Yes, we know.¡± ¡°I remember that,¡± Travis said. ¡°You¡¯re talking about Makassar, right? The footage was all over the news. Am I remembering you turning into a giant bird made of stars?¡± ¡°The star phoenix, yes.¡± ¡°Can you still do that?¡± Travis asked. ¡°This avatar can, yes.¡± ¡°That was sweet. Taika can turn into a big magic bird, too. Maybe I should build a jetpack with wings, like General Hawk.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°From G.I. Joe?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Are you people utterly incapable of staying on topic?¡± the Cloudweaver asked. ¡°Yeah, pretty much,¡± Jason agreed as Clive and Travis nodded their agreement. ¡°Well, the point is, I would like to thank you for giving me access to your cloud flask. It took significantly longer than I had hoped, but that was ultimately more valuable, given the effects of your current condition on it. I am curious about that other functionality, however.¡± ¡°Oh, it just lets me pull out a little bit of cloud stuff and use it to make shields and such. It¡¯s only strong enough to be effective against things lower than my rank, though, so I usually use it to make chairs. I was originally disappointed, if I¡¯m being honest, but it¡¯s turned into one of my favourite things.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been looking into cloud furniture,¡± Hector said. ¡°I haven¡¯t managed to make it cost effective yet.¡± ¡°We¡¯re expecting the materials for the upgrades to arrive some time in the next hour or so,¡± Travis said. ¡°We¡¯ll get them in, do a little testing, and then we can finally get on our way. Everything else is ready to go right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason said. ¡°We¡¯ve just been waiting on a ride.¡± The Cloudweaver shook Jason¡¯s hand. ¡°I must confess that I was trapped in traditional thinking for a long time,¡± they said. ¡°Failing to innovate is one of the traps that come with longevity. Following the lead of House de Varco, the last decade has seen some remarkable leaps in ¡ª what was the term you used, Travis?¡± ¡°Aftermarket modification.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t like the phrase,¡± Hector said. ¡°Yes, there are Adventure Society trade hall markets where you can buy cloud constructs, but that¡¯s for the more affordable personal transports. Cloud vehicles and their modifications are a prestige product. The implication that you can buy them from a kiosk doesn¡¯t engender the kind of image my family is looking for.¡± ¡°While we¡¯re waiting,¡± Clive said, ¡°perhaps you could answer another few questions I have about the system.¡± Jason let out a groan. ¡°Fine.¡± ¡°Excellent,¡± Clive said and plucked a notebook from a pocket from somewhere inside his flowing wizard robe. ¡°Now, last time we were discussing the degree to which you were conscious of the System as it operated in the vicinity of your prime avatar¡­¡± *** Jason¡¯s first encounter with a cloud vessel was Emir¡¯s. It sailed into Greenstone, the size of an ocean liner, not flying due the low magic levels. Now that Jason was gold rank, he could finally produce a vehicle of similar size, and it flew away from Yaresh alongside Emir¡¯s. Both vessels looked markedly different from that first look Jason got of Emir¡¯s. Cloud substance remained as the underlying structure, but significant external panelling lined the exteriors. For Emir, the panels looked something like blue solar panels, letting off a faint glow. They drew on ambient magic to fuel Emir¡¯s vessel more efficiently, saving on spirit coin expenditure. Jason had the advantage of powering his cloud ship with his personal universe, skipping that requirement altogether. The dark red panels on his vessel were more defence-oriented, in case of monster attack. As their route would be taking them just north of the Pallimustus equivalent of Australia, this was considered a wise move. The island continent was known for high-ranking and dangerous monsters, and it was not uncommon for one to swim or fly northward. Jason and Danielle were on the open deck above the bridge where Shade was piloting the vessel. ¡°You know that you could portal around the world, right?¡± Danielle asked. ¡°We don¡¯t have to go the long way.¡± ¡°Sometimes, the long way is the point. If nothing else, I need to visit places before I can portal there. Same for Clive, and Humphrey¡¯s teleports. I know they got the chance to travel a lot in my absence, but there is always more to see. And as for me, I didn¡¯t get that chance. I¡¯ve missed a lot, and I¡¯m going to make up for it. I want to see the world, not teleport past it.¡± ¡°I recall my son telling me about this exact plan a long time ago. Roaming around the world on your eventual way to Estercost. You didn¡¯t make it past Yaresh.¡± Jason turned to look behind them as they sailed over the trees. He could just make out the light gleaming off the Yaresh towers. ¡°We have now. It took us longer than I expected, but here we go. I wasn¡¯t expecting the great astral beings to show up and tell me I had to play IT guy to the cosmos.¡± ¡°IT guy?¡± ¡°Yeah, they broke their magic throne, so I had to go turn it off and on again.¡± ¡°If I¡¯m going to be your political advisor, I¡¯m going to need you to start talking to people in ways they understand. Especially me.¡± ¡°You understood. Context clues.¡± ¡°Jason, you want me to instruct you on matters of diplomacy, yes?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll try to explain things as we go, since telling you to do the opposite of every instinct you have might be considered hurtful.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re not going to tell me that?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Somehow, it still feels hurtful.¡± ¡°Then you need to harden up. I remember when you arrived in Greenstone. I remember the furnace of fear and panic burning at the heart of your aura, hidden under the bravado and the strange behaviour. But those days are long behind you, Jason. Back then, you were a boy with potential. Now, you have to be a man who lives up to it.¡± ¡°My first day in this world, Rufus straight up told me that I had to choose if I was going to take responsibility of my own fate. Things escalated a bit more than either of us anticipated. I was never ready for dealing with all these entities who were so much more powerful than me. Now, I¡¯m not ready to be the one with the power. It feels strange that I need to learn to be more diplomatic to avoid using it. If I just haul off on everyone that tries to treat me like they did last time I was on Earth, I¡¯ll end up going to war with the whole planet.¡± ¡°The good thing is, having that power and not using it will be a valuable asset. Diplomacy is a war, and like any war, it involves influence, positioning, allies and, yes, power. Of many kinds. You gather intelligence and hope you know more about them than they know about you, without ever being truly certain. Everything is an advantage to be won and lost. If you¡¯re going to annoy someone, it needs to be for a purpose. Deliberate. If that purpose is your personal amusement, you¡¯re giving away advantage for nothing.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a part of me that wants to march in and demonstrate that there¡¯s no one on Earth that can stop me from doing whatever I want.¡± ¡°I imagine that would be very satisfying.¡± ¡°Yes. And it would start going wrong almost immediately. But I know it¡¯s going to be hard restraining myself when I see something I can¡¯t abide. I know that having the power to make changes isn¡¯t the same as it being a good idea, not when my understanding of a situation is too shallow. That doesn¡¯t make holding back easy.¡± ¡°I said that diplomacy is war, Jason, and wars have objectives. It seems that, right now, you¡¯re not thinking beyond a desire to avoid causing problems.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s a pretty valid desire.¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s not a goal. Is it something you honestly believe you can hold yourself to? Can you stand by as some travesty takes place and just leave it to the people of Earth to handle?¡± ¡°Probably not, if I¡¯m being honest. Here, on Pallimustus, things are simpler. No one is going to look at it as a challenge of sovereignty or a violation of local culture if you punch a monster until it explodes. Even when problems get political, the people here understand individual power. On Earth, they don¡¯t understand the ramifications of people like us existing. They think of them as extraordinary threats, rather than the new way of the world. And when they realise that it will be a new way, the people who like things the old way will start getting nervous. Desperate.¡± ¡°Is that you¡¯re objective, then? To help Earth smoothly transition to a new paradigm of power?¡± ¡°No. That will take time, and it needs to be the people of Earth that find their own way forward. I¡¯m not one of them anymore, not really.¡± ¡°Then you need to find what your objectives are, even if only preliminary ones. It will focus your efforts, and let you go to Earth with more than anxiety that you¡¯re about to break it.¡± ¡°Danielle, I can feel you pulling me by the nose towards something. Just spit it out.¡± ¡°You want to change things, yes?¡± ¡°Yes, but don¡¯t tease me, Danielle. I¡¯m not a quick learner, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to get the idea of unintended consequences through my skull. I¡¯m not just going throw that out the window.¡± ¡°You really aren¡¯t a quick learner, are you? Yes, if you bolt off with no real understanding of what you¡¯re doing and try to fix problems, you¡¯re going to make even more. But why am I here right now?¡± ¡°To help me with the things I¡­¡± Exasperation at his own stupidity crossed his face. ¡°¡­to help me with something I don¡¯t properly understand.¡± ¡°There is your goal, Jason. You want to use the power at your command to address problems that others can¡¯t or won¡¯t. You need to find the people that can help you do that without making things worse.¡± ¡°This sounds suspiciously like what Dominion suggested about taking over. Or a Team America: World Police situation.¡± ¡°Jason, what did I just say?¡± ¡°Right, sorry. What you¡¯re talking about is a sophisticated undertaking, though, with a lot of steps. We¡¯re talking about establishing something between a think tank and an intelligence agency. And that isn¡¯t me making strange references, by the way. I¡¯ll explain the concepts to you later, because they¡¯re going to be important. And even assuming we can make that work, we¡¯ll have to deal with the consequences of doing so. Negotiate how and when we can intervene when things happen. And what happens when we go back to Pallimustus. We¡¯re going to be visitors on Earth, not residents. What happens if we build the Justice League and then run off back to Palli?¡± ¡°Jason¡­¡± ¡°Sorry. But politically and diplomatically complicated doesn¡¯t begin to describe what taking this approach would entail. And once we navigate them fearing us, they¡¯re going to try and exploit us.¡± ¡°That sounds familiar. Perhaps politics aren¡¯t so different over there.¡± ¡°What¡¯s our first step?¡± ¡°Aside from me teaching you to avoid spouting a constant stream of nonsense? Information. Always information first. If you can contact this person you want to recruit on Earth, you should do so with haste. Before anything else, we need to understand what we¡¯ll be walking into.¡± Chapter 906: The Protection of a Dictator Having been established decades ago, the Holy Army of Knowledge had many elite units at silver and even gold rank. Other armies, both of nations and other gods, had lacked the forewarning of the goddess of knowledge. Without the lead time for recruiting and preparation, their ranks were mostly comprised of people who had ranked up using monster cores. They hadn¡¯t intended to be adventurers, having little combat experience outside of monster surges. But when the call to war from their monarchs and gods came, they had not shirked their duties. After more than a decade of war, many of these forces were battle-hardened veterans. There were always new recruits, however, and even veteran troops fell short of adventurers with the same level of experience. Many forces were reliable and experienced, but less powerful due to fewer resources and less training. They often had an elite core leadership of current or former adventurers, but they were inevitably lacking compared to premier armies and Adventure Society task groups. That was not to say that these lesser groups had no value. Experienced hands were always assets, and there were far too many places for the elite groups to be stationed. Low-priority areas where the messengers had shown no interest were often protected by locally raised armies, taking on not just messenger threats but monster hunting roles when so many adventurers were busy. In low-threat zones, these less powerful groups were usually enough. War, however, was capricious and cruel. Circumstances could change suddenly and without warning, turning a quiet backwater into a contested battleground. Such was the case in Segurado, a small city state in what, on Earth, would be Uruguay. The Segurado army was not an elite force. Even the adventurers leading them were those that could be spared from more critical areas. There had been no indication that the messengers had any interest in the area until, suddenly, they were everywhere. They had flown low, over and even through the jungle, so as to avoid detection from flying observer patrols. There was alarm magic in the jungle, but it had been avoided or disabled. That was always a threat, given the superior ritual magic of the messengers. The messenger force had closed on the city walls before anyone realised, watchful defenders only sensing them as they made their final approach. Instead of moving straight to the attack, however, they abandoned their low altitude positions and soared high into the air. Their numbers were so great they darkened the sky, as if storm clouds were passing over the city. What they had in store for the people below, however, was far worse than wind and rain. More numerous than the messengers themselves were their bizarre summons; an expendable army of creatures ranging from the monstrous to the utterly unnatural. Disembodied eyes, encircled by concentric metal rings. Giant bone cubes with mouths on each side, prehensile tongues slithered from each sharp-toothed maw. Round cages filled with hundreds of arms that grasped through the bars at empty air. There was a pause, as if the messengers were waiting for the residents to look to the sky and panic. That malevolent mercy proved short-lived, with the populace and the city¡¯s defenders still scrambling when the messenger army descended. The dome of the city¡¯s magical barrier snapped into place as monsters and messengers rained attacks upon it. The faint blue shield shook under the downpour, from projectiles, beams and explosions to the brute force of fists, claws and tentacles. The defenders hurried to take positions, knowing the dome would not last long. As with Yaresh, years earlier, the barrier protecting the city had been designed to repel monster surges, not organised invasion. The messenger force lacked the powerful artefacts that had collapsed the barrier in Yaresh, but Segurado was smaller than Yaresh, with a commensurately less powerful barrier. The invaders didn¡¯t need anything but brutality and time. The Segurado army managed to assume defensive formations before the barrier began collapsing, but they knew it would do them little good. They were far from elite, and the freakish monster army had them massively outnumbered. The leader of the Segurado army was General Millicent Marks, an elven adventurer in the classic spellcaster style of her people. She was stationed on the flat roof of the city¡¯s highest tower, alongside several other spellcasters. The city¡¯s defences didn¡¯t stop with the barrier, the tower serving to enhance the range and strength of spells. ¡°They may be more interested in us than we hoped,¡± she said, looking up at the foes pounding the barrier. ¡°At least we aren¡¯t too much of a priority. They¡¯ve used summons for most of their army, and there aren¡¯t lot of gold rankers up there.¡± ¡°Small mercies,¡± said her second in command. Like most of the people on the southern half of the continent, he was an elf. ¡°Milli, do you think we can hold? Honestly?¡± ¡°We have a chance,¡± Millicent said. ¡°But even if the city holds, it¡¯s going to burn.¡± The barrier was designed to hold off monsters while adventurers went out to meet them. No one was foolish enough to take that approach against the merciless and intelligent messengers, as that was asking for death. The most the dome could do for them was buy time for the populace to reach monster surge bunkers and the Segurado army to take defensive positions. Some took formations on the ground, others in the air. A few took positions in defensive emplacements like the magic tower. Millicent braced herself. She was gold rank and would almost certainly survive the coming battle. But she knew doing so would involve leaving her subordinates, the city and its people to a grim fate. She wondered if it might not be better to stand her ground and go down fighting. Silver and gold rankers were hard to kill and good at staying alive, especially adventurers. When messengers won a battle, most of the Pallimustus elites escaped to fight another day. Quite often, those victories came because the messengers were more willing to trade lives than the adventurers. The messengers would fight battles of attrition, going life for life until the armies and the adventurers could no longer tolerate the losses. Millicent wondered if winning the war required people with the grim resolve to make the same sacrifice. Perhaps what she needed was not to escape but to take as many of them with her as she could. Her emotions wanted her to fight to the bitter end, but she knew it was futile. While the messengers were outnumbered on Pallimustus, there were more of them in the cosmos than stars in the sky. Battle-ready silver-rank messengers could be grown and trained in batches, for a fraction of the time and resources required to produce an equivalent essence user. If the messengers had a secure and established summoning station anywhere in the area, they could always replenish their numbers. Millicent closed her eyes, forcing herself to take calming breaths as the barrier started to give way. She only allowed herself a moment of that before snapping her eyes back open. As the barrier collapsed, it didn¡¯t crack and shatter like glass. Ripples formed, like the surface of a pond, with holes at the centre of each ripple. Monsters poured through as the ripples kept expanding, running into one another until the barrier fell apart entirely, dissolving like mist. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The enemies that had yet to move plunged downward in a cascade of alien war beasts, with glorious winged warriors following behind. The monsters let out alien howls, spine-tingling shrieks and sounds that no living thing should be able to produce. The bone cubes let out noises like the grinding of teeth, amplified through a bullhorn. Other made sounds like metal shearing and warping. Their collective auras came down like a hammer. The emotions of the summons were clear, if largely incomprehensible. There was an alien malice, drowned in the madness of minds fundamentally different from ordinary people, or even most monsters. As for the messengers, only the silver rankers were readable, and only to gold rankers like Millicent. They held no hatred, only superiority, purpose and obedience. She couldn¡¯t read their minds, but their emotions suggested they had few thoughts not given to them by their distant kings. Millicent could also sense the emotions of her fellow defenders, and the populace they were defending. Both were filled with despair that reflected Millicent¡¯s own. Few had any hope, and the little to be found was dying fast. Then something changed. Millicent wasn¡¯t sure what, at first, but the reaction from the enemy was evident, immediate and extreme. Their descent stopped instantly, like a snap-frozen waterfall. Their auras roiled, a mix of fear, fury and confusion striking the messengers. Millicent hadn¡¯t known, until that moment, that fear was something they could even feel. She¡¯d heard stories of captured messengers defying torture to the last scrap of life. As for the summons, she¡¯d never sensed anything from their auras before than gibbering madness. They were suddenly coherent, focused on something high above, like a mouse watching a perched owl. The sudden change was unsettling, even with the relief that their attention was no longer on the city. Millicent was immediately sure that something had appeared above the messengers. She couldn¡¯t get a good read on it through the storm of enemy auras, and there were too many to see past. Then an aura cut through everything, and she knew immediately that it was responsible for whatever had just happened to the messengers. The aura was gold rank and far too powerful to come from a person. She¡¯d sensed aura amplification like this before, built into the defences from major churches. It wasn¡¯t a god¡¯s aura, but not quite that of a mortal¡¯s either. In any case, there was no temple in the sky above the city, last time she checked. Then she realised she had sensed something like it. Just once, very briefly. Every essence user had, in that strange moment when the system first appeared. What that meant, she had no idea, but in a city starved of hope, she¡¯d take it. Whomever or whatever that aura belonged to, she could feel the messengers trying and failing to suppress it. It was oppressive, yet benevolent, like the protection of a dictator. While that was certainly worrying, at that moment it was good enough. She was looking up, trying to see past the throng of enemies. The summons had always been a chaotic mess, but now they were a maelstrom of activity, dashing around and sometimes even fighting one another. They were fighting something else too, as were the messengers, but Millicent couldn¡¯t see what it was yet. Millicent tapped the collar on her neck. Communication systems had advanced in leaps and bounds over that last decade, and she could use the collar to speak to all her troops at once. ¡°Whoever is up there,¡± she announced, ¡°they¡¯re battling the messengers. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re fighting for us, but they¡¯re fighting, and I won¡¯t let them do it alone. All squads capable of air combat, go full assault. Right now.¡± Wind gusted around Millicent, picking her up and carrying her into the sky. She didn¡¯t allow herself to get carried away, letting the more defensive elements of her forces lead the way. Not only was she a ranged fighter but she needed to keep a broader view of the battle. This warred with her desire to launch forward and discover the nature of their mysterious reinforcements, but she was an experienced commander and knew what rashness would cost. The Segurado army assaulted what was now the rear of the distracted messenger forces. It was still unclear who or what was above them, but Millicent delighted at the distracted enemy. As she unloaded her powerful wind magic, she got her first sense of their presumed allies as she felt other essence users manipulate the wind. One worked similarly to Millicent, creating storm-like destruction over a wide area. Another was much more personal, passing unharmed through the magical storms at speeds Millicent could only sense, not see directly. She started spotting what had to be adventurers as they took the fight to the messengers. A man in rainbow armour ploughed through the messenger forces with seeming impunity, on the back of some shape-shifting creature. One moment it was an eagle ripping the wings from messengers with its talons. The next, it was a floating slime that absorbed and disintegrated the messenger summons. The man riding it swung a massive sword from which waves of force erupted out, striking the clustered summons like a hurricane hitting mosquitos. More presumed allies appeared, all apparently gold rank. Several were flying around inside a tortoise shell whose upper and lower halves were connected at the corners but otherwise open-sided. Multiples spellcasters and healers appeared to be operating from within, protected by the strange vehicle. Millicent watched several attacks fired at the open sides blocked by shell that grew up to shield them before retracting again. A massive set of spinning wheels appeared in the sky, lined up next to one another like giant slices of sausage. They had symbols on them and occasionally the wheels would stop and fire off various effects. Some buffed and healed their allies, both the new adventurers and Millicent¡¯s forces, even those still on the ground. At other times, the wheels launched a dazzling variety of magical attacks at the enemy, from waters jets and fireballs to crippling debuffs. The more wheels with matching symbols, the stronger the effect and the more people were affected. One oddity she noticed was the presence of butterflies across the battlefield, glowing blue and orange. The messengers avoided the beautiful creatures as if they were death incarnate, launching attacks at the butterflies to keep them away. It didn¡¯t seem to help much, as the struck butterflies exploded into clouds of sparks. The clouds then sought out enemies, mostly finding the less wary summons. Wherever the clouds landed, the victims immediately started to rot horrifically, even the ones that weren¡¯t flesh. Those touched by the butterflies had a similar, but much slower effect. They started to produce more butterflies, however, that grew out of their bodies and flew off in search of more victims. As the messenger forces lost cohesion and their numbers fell, Millicent was able to identify more of what she hoped were allies. Each one seemed to be not just a gold ranker but a gold rank elite. The messengers evaporated in front of them like morning mist before the sun. Millicent was finally able to spot the source of the massive aura, floating in the sky. It looked like an eyeball the size of a castle estate, everything but the blue and orange iris encased in dark red armour. Floating around the iris were smaller but otherwise identical orbs, each one the size of a house. These smaller orbs were the source of the butterflies, which poured out of them like water spilling off a cliff. The messengers were not fighting tactically, for which Millicent was glad. They seemed obsessed with one of the combatants, either fleeing from him or chasing after him with wild-eyed fury. The man had a dark cloak with shadow arms sprouting from it, like the branches of a macabre tree. She heard more than one of the frenzied attackers screaming ¡®heretic king,¡¯ whatever that meant. Explanations could wait until after the fighting was done. Still throwing out spells, Millicent watched what was quickly turning into a massacre. The messengers were caught between her forces and these newcomers, small in number but great in power. With the messengers barely paying attention to them, the Segurado army made them pay, while safely evacuating their injured to the healers. By the time the battle was over, dead messengers scattered across the city below. The visiting adventurers had made them lootable and left them for her people to collect, rainbow smoke raising as messengers turned into magical weapons and supplies that would undoubtedly be put to good use. Millicent hadn¡¯t suffered a single death amongst her forces. There had been a couple of close calls, but more than once a shield had snapped into place right before one of her people had suffered a killing blow. Only a short time ago, she had been contemplating whether to die fighting in defence of her home. Now, the invaders were dead, and her people were safe. She had some profound thanks to give. Chapter 907: You Want Your Adventurers Happy In the aftermath of the battle, Millicent stood atop the magic tower. As the highest point in the city, it allowed her to survey the goings on below, without the need to start flying around. There were going to be a lot of anxious aristocrats and city officials so, for the moment, she wanted to be stationary where people could find her. Ribbons of rainbow smoke rose up as her people looted the dead messengers where they had fallen into the city. There would be damage from an army of dead angels landing on things but hopefully minimal casualties. The populace had evacuated to bunkers while the defensive barrier still held, but there were always those who were too stubborn, too old, or too sick to move. A woman was suddenly next to Millicent, arriving almost too fast for even a gold ranker to sense her approach. She¡¯d realised, belatedly, who these people were. If not distracted by the existential threat to her home, she might have recognised some of their more distinctive members. The man in rainbow armour riding a shape-changing dragon definitely should have been a giveaway. They were Team Biscuit, who had recently returned to Yaresh along with other famous adventurers for reasons unknown. This woman had dark hair and a swarthy complexion, so she wasn¡¯t the team¡¯s famously beautiful speedster. But the team leader¡¯s mother was even more famous than the team itself, and this woman did fit the description. ¡°You¡¯re the Time Witch of Vitesse,¡± Millicent said. ¡°I¡¯m actually from a place called Greenstone. And I prefer to be called Danielle, to be honest.¡± Danielle offered her hand and Millicent shook it. ¡°You¡¯re in command of the local forces?¡± Danielle asked. ¡°General Millicent Marks, Segurado Defence Force.¡± ¡°Danielle Geller.¡± ¡°Thank you for the help. Our forces are battle hardened, and determined to protect their homes and families, but determination isn¡¯t always enough.¡± ¡°No,¡± Danielle agreed sadly. ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± Millicent looked up at where the strange, humungous eye had transformed into a mass of cloud. It was now slowly taking the form of a sky liner, the largest class of airship. ¡°Is that what you travel around in?¡± ¡°For the moment,¡± Danielle said. ¡°The man that owns the vessel has a penchant for the dramatic.¡± ¡°Is this what it¡¯s like?¡± ¡°It?¡± Danielle asked. ¡°Being a famous adventurer. I was born and raised here in Segurado. Trained here, not in some big city like Vitesse. I had this dream, back when I was iron rank, about hitting gold rank and swanning into one of the famous adventurer cities like a queen. In the end, I never roamed far. There was always too much to do, and it was always going to be a dream. By gold rank standards, I¡¯m a little fish.¡± ¡°There are no little fish at gold rank.¡± ¡°Of course you¡¯d think that. Your life is all world travel and transforming sky ships. Swooping in to rescue little no-name places you won¡¯t remember in a week. I¡¯m not trying to sound ungrateful ¡ª I¡¯m profoundly thankful for the swooping in, believe me. It just makes me realise that, even if I hadn¡¯t been stuck guarding this place for all these years, I wouldn¡¯t be anything special in a place like Rimaros or Kacha Kille.¡± ¡°Believe me, Miss Marks, you are special. I have known many adventurers from outside of the famous cities, and few choose to stay and protect their homes after reaching high rank. Of those that do, it is less often out of duty than a desire to be a big fish.¡± ¡°You said there were no little fish.¡± ¡°And I meant it. Even those who reached gold-rank with cores are notable people, but those who did not still have the potential to go further. Many famous gold rankers never reach diamond, while some that no one in Rimaros or Vitesse has ever heard of reach diamond. The path is long and strange, and many lose sight of duty as they walk it. If you told the Adventure Society that you were leaving this place behind, who would stop you? The society, and the leaders of this city would ask you to remain, but they would do no more than ask. Because you¡¯re a gold ranker, and that makes you special, wherever you are from.¡± ¡°Did the Adventure Society send you here?¡± ¡°Yes. They¡¯ve been using the sky link communication network to report messenger movement. They¡¯ve also been asking us to move through more remote areas on our travels, where the society can¡¯t afford to station major forces. We happened to be in the area just as a messenger army decamped and headed your way, so they asked us to intervene. We were lucky to be in the area.¡± ¡°Not as lucky as we were.¡± Danielle nodded. ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate that so many lives are reliant on luck, but that is the situation in which we¡­¡± She trailed off as two arguing voices reached them from above. Two men were floating down on a small cloud, approaching the tower. ¡°¡­every city, just most of them,¡± Neil said. ¡°I have never destroyed a city,¡± Jason shot back. ¡°I¡¯ve been to lots of cities, and hardly any of them were destroyed. Look at this one. It¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°How many is hardly any?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Three. Four, I guess, but one was more of a big town. And the brightheart city was basically destroyed before we even got there. Also, don¡¯t act like you weren¡¯t there for half of them.¡± ¡°Is four counting Rimaros?¡± ¡°Why would I count Rimaros?¡± ¡°That flying Builder city was dropped on it.¡± ¡°It was dropped near it, Neil. And there was hardly any damage. The priests of Ocean stopped the tsunami.¡± ¡°So, just the four, then.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°You do realise that four is a lot when you¡¯re talking about destroyed cities, right?¡± Danielle let out a motherly sigh. ¡°I may,¡± she said to Millicent, ¡°be forced to acknowledge your point about what my life is like.¡± The pair landed and the cloud they were riding on streamed into an amulet hanging from one the men¡¯s necks. The other moved forward to shake her hand. ¡°Neil Davone,¡± he introduced himself. ¡°Team healer.¡± ¡°Were you the one putting shields on my people?¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I might have tossed the odd barrier out, here and there. Nothing remarkable.¡± ¡°You saved lives that would otherwise have been lost. The lives of my people. You have my thanks.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. And this is¡ª¡± ¡°John Miller,¡± the other man introduced himself as he moved forward to shake her hand. ¡°Team cook.¡± ¡°Cook?¡± He certainly wasn¡¯t dressed for adventuring, in a floral shirt, shorts and sandals, topped with a straw hat. It was appropriate for the sunny day, but not for fighting monsters. His aura was human and silver-rank, with the signature taint of monster cores. He looked every bit the auxiliary adventurer, yet he seemed a little off to Millicent. He had a translation power that sounded a little odd, and seemed to own the cloud transport they were riding on. Comfortably carrying two meant it was expensive, even if he was working for famous adventurers. How much did they pay their cook? Mostly, it was the way he carried himself. He was a core using silver ranker, surrounded by gold-rank adventurers, some of whom were extremely famous. Even Millicent was uncharacteristically hesitant around the Time Witch of Vitesse. This man showed none of the wariness or deference she was used to from lower-ranked people. He acted entirely as if he belonged. She took a slightly rude glance at the emotions in his aura. She saw little more than the same confidence displayed in his. He gave her an amused smile, as if he realised what she was doing. He certainly shouldn¡¯t have been able to, but could probably guess from the curiosity in her gaze. He took his leave, asking if he could use the elevating platform, leaving her with the adventurers. *** An impromptu street festival had sprung up seemingly from nowhere, long tables and food stands filling the market district. While the city of Segurado celebrated their reprieve, Millicent¡¯s concerns were with what came next. She wandered through the crowded streets as people feasted, sang and laughed. She didn¡¯t join in, mentally exhausted after going from one meeting to the next for almost two days, often repeating the same things over and over. There was the Duke and his people, the city parliament, the local Adventure Society, then representatives from the Continental Council. It had been two nights since the battle, during neither of which she had found a chance to sleep. She had finally slipped away, but instead of finding a bed, she found herself walking the streets in the late morning. People teemed around her, not recognising her with her aura carefully retracted. Her mind was still racing, preoccupied with the next threat. The populace was celebrating, but their leaders still didn¡¯t know what brought the messengers to their gates. Was it a part of their ongoing search for the rumoured artefact, or something more specific? Would they return, with a greater force? The Adventure Society had no more idea than she did, spending two days asking her questions to which she had no answers. The smells coming from the stalls took her back to her days as a girl at market. Her family were never poor, or she¡¯d never have gotten essences, but she hadn¡¯t lived in the fancy part of town, either. Her parents were fruit merchants, and she¡¯d grown up around markets and trade halls. She knew these streets. The yelling and laughing, the aromas of the food vendors. When an unfamiliar scent wafted her way, it arrested her attention. Her gold-rank senses allowed her to track the scent like a hunting dog. What she found was a stall where a group of local stall vendors were crowded around an outsider, as if he were holding court. ¡°¡­season with some salt and then caramelise them in the oven with oil. Nice and simple. I like to add a splash of water to help them soften. Now, let me explain how we make fresh pasta back home. It¡¯s so fresh you can practically cook it by waving it over the steam from a kettle. Pass me that roller¡­¡± Millicent found herself listening discreetly out of the way. There was definitely something unusual about the Team Biscuit cook. After around ten minutes, the group started breaking up. Then she heard him whisper, too low for anyone but an attentive gold ranker to make out. ¡°Can I offer you a meal, General? Pop around behind the booth.¡± She hadn¡¯t realised he¡¯d noticed her, in the middle of teaching the locals a foreign recipe. But she shortly found herself in an area boxed in by stalls, shielding them from prying eyes. A folding table and chair set awaited her, draped with a tablecloth and festooned with dishes, plates and bowls. She could sense the magic of gold rank ingredients. Was this how Team Biscuit always ate? ¡°One of the secrets of Team Biscuit¡¯s success,¡± John Miller said as he sat down. ¡°Live off spirit coins when you have to, but eat proper food when you can. Well-fed adventurers are happy adventurers. And you want your adventurers happy, believe me.¡± She looked from the food to him as she sat down. As she did, he pulled out a privacy screen device and activated it, setting it on the table. ¡°I thought a woman of your stature would appreciate some discretion,¡± he said. He ladled food from various dishes onto a plate that he set in front of her. He then made up a plate for himself, apparently unworried about what gold-rank food would do to a silver ranker. ¡°It would take a lot of strength, and a lot of finesse,¡± she said, ¡°to create an aura mask than would fool a gold ranker. Something that would hold up, even if the gold ranker gets pushy and starts probing for emotions.¡± ¡°Messengers are good at that,¡± Miller said. ¡°I¡¯ve even seen them mask people they were using as spies.¡± ¡°It sounds like you¡¯ve had a lot of strange experiences for a cook.¡± ¡°A cook can see a lot in search of new recipes,¡± he said, and skewered a chunk of saucy vegetable with a fork. ¡°And new ingredients.¡± He plopped it into his mouth with a grin. ¡°Is that why you¡¯re travelling with Team Biscuit?¡± He didn¡¯t answer until he was done with his mouthful. ¡°More of a happy accident,¡± he said. ¡°An opportunity I take advantage of while attending to other tasks.¡± ¡°How did you end up with them?¡± ¡°I knew some of the team before they were famous. You might say I hitched a ride on their coattails.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been there since the beginning? I¡¯ve never heard of you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m the guy who makes the food. Who talks about the cook when there are people fighting monsters?¡± ¡°It sounds like you get to see a lot of cities destroyed.¡± ¡°I have been unfortunate enough to witness some tragic disasters, but that was just Neil teasing. Which I hope was obvious.¡± ¡°Even so, you strike me as someone who can¡¯t help standing out.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t strike me as someone rude enough to sit down with a cook and not touch his food. Doesn¡¯t smell to your taste?¡± She took a slice of bread, dunked it into a thick soup and took a bite. ¡°It¡¯s good,¡± she said. ¡°Thank you.¡± They chatted intermittently as they ate. ¡°You know who else I haven¡¯t heard of?¡± she said lightly. ¡°That man in the battle with the dark cloak and the shadow arms. I¡¯ve also never heard about Team Biscuit riding around in a giant eyeball that shoots butterflies of death.¡± ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t want to meet him. He¡¯s not very nice.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Remember when I said you want your adventurers happy? He¡¯s how I figured that out.¡± ¡°Why does the team keep him secret? Or is he just travelling with you, like the Time Wi¡­ like Danielle Geller?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s part of the team. Has been from the beginning.¡± ¡°Like you.¡± ¡°Yes. He¡¯s just been away for a long time. I imagine he¡¯ll be known soon enough.¡± ¡°What kept him away? Conflict in the team?¡± ¡°He has responsibilities that he¡¯s finding increasingly tiresome. He¡¯s looking to wrap them up and get back to adventuring.¡± He looked her dead in the eyes. ¡°Without anyone making a fuss.¡± ¡°That might be hard if he keeps fighting messengers. They had a rather drastic reaction to him.¡± ¡°He has a lot in common with the messengers.¡± ¡°Like a talent for aura masking?¡± ¡°Try the casserole before you finish the soup. I think you¡¯ll find it¡¯s a nice accompaniment.¡± They ate in silence for a while. ¡°People are going to have a lot of questions,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s a known quantity. To those who need to know.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that if I don¡¯t know already, I shouldn¡¯t go asking?¡± ¡°I would advise against it. The Adventure Society can be touchy when it comes to him.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± He raised his eyebrows and she sighed. ¡°Right, I shouldn¡¯t ask.¡± He plucked an envelope out of the air, accessing some dimensional storage power. He sat it on the table, next to her plate. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± she asked. ¡°You told Danielle Geller that you were born and raised right here in Segurado. And you¡¯re still here protecting it, even with all the opportunities your power would afford you.¡± ¡°She told you that?¡± ¡°I overheard you on that tower.¡± ¡°You have good hearing.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t we all?¡± ¡°What¡¯s in the envelope?¡± ¡°Are you familiar with Lady Allayeth, of Yaresh?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a diamond ranker that¡¯s active in the general population. Of course I have.¡± ¡°Have you met?¡± ¡°Yaresh may be somewhat close, but she¡¯s a diamond ranker. Even gold rankers don¡¯t just call by for a cup of tea. Why bring her up?¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing that your choice to stay and protect your home during the messenger invasion is bound up in the path that got you to gold rank.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see how that¡¯s your business.¡± ¡°Call it reciprocation for you poking around about Jason Asano.¡± ¡°I suppose that¡¯s fair. Yes, that sensibility was integral to reaching gold rank.¡± ¡°Lady Allayeth is on a similar path. She may be able to help you on yours, so perhaps you should call in for that cup of tea.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know that she¡¯d even see me?¡± He reached out and tapped the envelope on the table. ¡°A letter of introduction to break the ice.¡± ¡°Cook for her too, do you?¡± A smile teased the corners of his mouth. ¡°Once. Just recently, in fact.¡± He pushed his chair back and stood up. ¡°I need to get back to the stall,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the rest to you.¡± He walked off and was just about to disappear around the side of a stall when she called out. ¡°Wait.¡± He stopped, half turning to look back. ¡°I already expressed my gratitude to the others. Thank you for saving my city, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what we do, General.¡± Chapter 908: Making Things Worse Being less central had left Segurado vulnerable, lower priority meaning fewer resources and weaker troops. The same thing affected the more isolated messenger groups, making them ripe for Jason and his companions to strike. The team had zigzagged down the Pallimustus equivalent of South America, hitting targets of opportunity fed to them by the Adventure Society. Their navigation continued to prioritise sightseeing over efficiency as they left the continent behind. Although their path would take them to the southern tip of what, on Earth, was Africa, they chose to take a wide curve over the south pole rather than a more direct route. The Pallimustus version of Antarctica was not the icy wasteland it was on Earth. Known as the Dragon Lands, it was the native land of the large, scaled humanoids known as draconians. Rather than the populace, however, the island continent was named for its signature geological features. Where Greenstone had many apertures to an astral space that provided the desert with water, the Dragon Lands had subterranean apertures to a realm of fire. The result of this was a land filled with active volcanoes, steaming hot springs and the flame geysers known as ¡®dragon mouths,¡¯ for which the region was named. The whole team came out to watch as the sky ship approached the coast, giving them their first look. Mountains of dark stone jutted from verdant, green lowlands, a mix of sprawling forest and vast agriculture. From altitude, they could make out the outline of fields as if the land below them was a giant map with borders drawn onto it. The plant life was very different from the tropical and subtropical climates they had been passing through, reminding Jason more of Scotland or Ireland. ¡°There are a lot of active volcanos, right?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Do they have an ash cloud problem?¡± ¡°We¡¯re definitely going to see them,¡± Zara said. ¡°But the magic leaking out of the astral spaces has earth affinity, along with fire. It draws the ash from the sky, and absorbs it into the group, creating the famously rich farmlands. If you want gold-rank cooking ingredients, there¡¯s no place better than here. It¡¯s how they make a lot of their money.¡± ¡°I thought the draconians were all isolationist,¡± Jason said. ¡°They do a lot of trade?¡± ¡°Exports,¡± Neil said. ¡°Agricultural products from the Dragon Lands are the second-largest trade that passes through the Greenstone port, after low-rank spirit coins. They use proxies outside their own lands, though, and aren¡¯t very welcoming to strangers.¡± ¡°Their goods are heavily tariffed by most nations due to political issues,¡± Zara explained. ¡°That makes it even more expensive than high-rank produce normally is. The quality is what gets people buying it anyway, but obviously that falls under the luxury food market.¡± ¡°I did hear the food they produced was good,¡± Jason said. ¡°Jason,¡± Neil asked. ¡°Why did we come here again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a tour,¡± Jason said. ¡°We decided on this route when we left Rimaros.¡± ¡°Before fifteen years of war with the messengers made an already xenophobic people even more wary of outsiders. Is this about anything other than you getting a line on cheap ingredients? Can¡¯t you just make as much money as you want and buy this stuff somewhere more hospitable?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a value in farm fresh,¡± Jason said defensively. ¡°It¡¯s going to be fine.¡± *** Astral kings rarely mingled their forces, to avoid confusing the most critical element of messenger culture: hierarchy. When operating on a large scale, like a planetary invasion, cooperation was managed through regular meetings between Voices of the Will, the commanders of each astral king¡¯s local forces. Navise Den Rigal¡¯s astral king was a minor figure, compared to the Council of Kings, and secretly one of the Unorthodoxy¡¯s rare astral kings. Every Voice of the Will paid close attention when they met with others of their kind, but Navise was especially sensitive to any change that might signal a danger to her king¡¯s true allegiance. Slipping Boris Ket Lundi into Vesta Carmis Zell¡¯s service had already been more risk of exposure than she or her astral king liked. When she arrived at a messenger stronghold, she went straight for the meeting room. It was a spherical chamber accessed through a hole in the ceiling, and the group met by floating in a circle. She noticed a number of missing attendees, all Voices belonging to members of the Council of Kings. Looking around, she saw that others had noticed the same thing, and shared her wariness. It did not take being a secret traitor to be cut down by other messengers. As the discussion began, it quickly became evident that this wasn¡¯t related to the Unorthodoxy, but to a much more localised threat. The Voices stood around a projection showing a zigzag pattern across the lower half of one of the planet¡¯s continents. Navise listened to a pair of her fellows argue without interjection, as did the rest of the group. ¡°There is no reason for us to not put together a force and strike them down. They are being allowed to rampage through our territories unabated.¡± ¡°They have left our territories. They are someone else¡¯s problem now.¡± ¡°Yes. Our failure to quash a handful of insignificant locals will be a stain on our names forever.¡± ¡°I would hardly call the Heretic King insignificant.¡± ¡°That is a fool¡¯s title to keep the pawns from getting confused.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not working. There is talk of a traitor astral king and of what that means. That is the kind of thinking that leads to the Unorthodoxy. My astral king will not be happy if I have to purge most of my forces again.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s kill the source. If we destroy his avatar, we won¡¯t have to deal with him again until we are done with this planet.¡± ¡°Killing him has been tried before, when he was far weaker. More importantly, the Council of Kings had specifically instructed us not to provoke him.¡± ¡°And none of our astral kings belong to the council. My king proposes that we collect our forces, set a trap and crush Asano.¡± The pair were unable to reach a consensus and would not let it go until each of the others said their piece. Most of the group advocated letting it go, moving any forces out of the Heretic King¡¯s path to minimise losses. When pushed, Navise took her usual path of following the group to avoid standing out. ¡°I say we simply allow the king to pass,¡± she said. ¡°In the end, the issue is one of being inconsequential.¡± The main advocate for killing Asano scoffed. ¡°If he is inconsequential, then what harm is there in killing him?¡± ¡°I speak not of him, but of us,¡± Navise said. ¡°He is not inconsequential to us, or we would not be having this meeting. We are inconsequential to him. He strikes at us incidentally, as opportunity presents. We should minimise his opportunities, reserving our forces, and simply let him pass. We can resume our operations once he is gone, having lost fewer people and revealed less information.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. As Navise looked around the circle, all now staring at her, she realised she had made a mistake. ¡°We are inconsequential?¡± One of the others asked. Anything resembling humility was not the thinking of an orthodox messenger. A wave of power flooded from Navise, slamming the others into the wall as she bolted for the hole in the ceiling. *** Anna took the coffee from the street vendor and started trudging back to her office. Once again, she was running on not enough sleep, but felt no concern for her safety as she took a shortcut through an alleyway. She might not have combat training, but she was silver rank. Anyone who could bring her trouble wouldn¡¯t need to use an alley. ¡°You aren¡¯t as safe as you think,¡± a voice said, stepping out of the shadows, startling her. ¡°There are people watching me, you know, Mr Remore.¡± ¡°No, there aren¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh. Will they live?¡± ¡°By silver-rank standards, they¡¯re practically unharmed. It¡¯s become hard to have a discreet conversation with you, Mrs Tilden.¡± ¡°Everyone wants to know what¡¯s going on in your territory. We¡¯ve seen your people reclaiming the area, but there¡¯s only so much that the many, many satellites pointing at your territory can show us. Then there¡¯s the vampires acting up, globally no less. Presumably in response to whatever happened to the vampire army formerly occupying your clan territory. An army that seems to have vanished entirely during some manner of surveillance blackout. Then there are the ongoing concerns about the System and Asano¡¯s potential return.¡± ¡°Not potential. Six months to a year is the current timetable.¡± ¡°How solid are those numbers?¡± ¡°Things can happen, especially with Jason. But he seems confident.¡± ¡°He always does. You¡¯re in regular contact?¡± ¡°His power grows, and he can reach out to us with ease, now. When he returns, it won¡¯t be like last time he was here.¡± ¡°If he¡¯s strong enough to settle old grudges¡ª¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what he wants. He wants to come home without making things worse. For his return to be peaceful. He believes that you can help make that happen.¡± ¡°And how does he expect me to manage that?¡± ¡°He is aware that his understanding of the political realities he¡¯s walking into is shallow. He wants to hire you to be his senior political advisor for Earth affairs.¡± ¡°Does he have someone doing that for the other world¡¯s politics?¡± ¡°He does.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you expect from me. Nigel Thornton vanished into the Asano Clan and didn¡¯t come out.¡± ¡°He wanted to. He considers himself to have an obligation to you, which I respect. But the moment he shows up in an airport, someone or other will try and take him into custody. They¡¯d try to do the same to me, thus my discretion.¡± ¡°How badly did you hurt the people following me? I¡¯m not sure ¡®practically unharmed¡¯ means the same thing to you as me.¡± ¡°What have I ever done that you would think me a savage?¡± ¡°I saw what your world did to Jason Asano.¡± ¡°And I saw what yours did. At least on mine, we stab people in the front. I did less to the people following you than I would have in my world. More than if they were here to protect you, instead of to watch for someone like me contacting them. But silver rankers heal well.¡± Anna shook her head. ¡°I need to retire.¡± ¡°Perhaps just a change of employer.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you want? For me pack up my wife and move to the middle of vampire-infested Europe?¡± ¡°You did it before. You were the first UN liaison to the Asano Clan.¡± ¡°Yeah, and that position fell apart once the French realised the clan had no intention of giving back the chunk of their country they took. I don¡¯t see the UN or anyone else being more accommodating once Asano is back.¡± ¡°Which is why Jason wants your help. France hasn¡¯t existed for almost two decades. You can talk about governments in exile all you like, but the reality is that your world has undergone a fundamental change. The sooner the people who rule it understand that, the sooner they can stop fighting over the ashes of a world that no longer exists. It¡¯s time to look to the future, and Jason wants to help this world understand that.¡± ¡°Is that his intention? To come back and fix the world according to his standards? It¡¯s certainly in character.¡± ¡°You will find that Jason is not the blunt object he once was. That he wants your guidance should tell you that, but yes, he¡¯s the same in many ways. He has power and wants to use it for good, and that hasn¡¯t changed in all the time I¡¯ve known him. What has changed is his realisation ¡®good¡¯ is a more nuanced concept than he understood when he was younger. He wants your help figuring out how to act responsibly, and that starts with how he returns. The first job he would have you work on is figuring out how he comes back without the world deciding to go to war with him.¡± ¡°He could give them the things they want.¡± ¡°Tell that to him, Mrs Tilden. I¡¯m just a messenger today.¡± Anna sighed. ¡°My experience tells me that he wants me to smooth things over because he wants to keep his toys to himself. That he realises he can¡¯t fight the whole world to keep them. But that¡¯s not who he was, when I knew him. The man I knew would fight the whole world, if it came to that.¡± Rufus chuckled. ¡°It seems that you do know him. Come to Europe, Mrs Tilden. You don¡¯t have to make any decision now. Talk to Jason. Talk to Nigel.¡± ¡°Even if I was willing to consider it, you know I¡¯ll need to clear this. I¡¯m not going to sneak off with you in the night.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ten-thirty in the morning, Mrs Tilden. And I suspect that your people will be more than happy to get some eyes on the inside.¡± *** The sky ship accelerated rapidly out of Dragon Lands airspace. Clive scurried down one of the airship¡¯s hallways, casting anxious glances behind him. ¡°CLIVE!¡± Humphrey¡¯s voice roared as he stormed around a corner and into the hall. ¡°What in the goddess of pain¡¯s needle pit where you thinking?¡± Clive stopped and let out a nervous laugh. ¡°Did we get away?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes. And we¡¯re not being chased, thanks to Stash being an actual dragon. Why did you go into that temple?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t an actual temple. They venerate dragons rather than gods; there¡¯s no divine power there. It¡¯s more of an academic hall dedicated to draconic magic. I didn¡¯t know they¡¯d get so angry about me going in.¡± ¡°They had a sign out front that read ¡®outsiders strictly forbidden!¡¯ In adventuring circles, Clive, that is what is referred to AS A CLUE!¡± ¡°I actually went in at the side, not the front. And it wasn¡¯t a big sign. More of a plaque, really.¡± Humphrey conjured his sword and Clive bolted down the hall, Humphrey chasing after him. Jason, Sophie and Belinda watched them go, having been drawn by Humphrey¡¯s yelling. ¡°I¡¯m just glad it wasn¡¯t my fault,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Sophie said. ¡°My money was on you getting us chased off on the morning of the second day. How did you last a whole week without causing trouble?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been working on my diplomacy. Belinda, did you make a betting pool again?¡± ¡°Yeah, and Clive made me a bundle by beating you out. And if he¡¯d just asked me, I¡¯d have gotten him in there without anyone being the wiser.¡± ¡°You know,¡± Jason said, ¡°people always accused me of getting us into these things, but I¡¯m starting to suspect that all of you are the real troublemakers. Except Zara. I¡¯m not the biggest fan of royalty, but at least she was trained to have some decorum.¡± Jason watched Belinda and Sophie share a look. ¡°What aren¡¯t you telling me?¡± he asked. ¡°So,¡± Sophie began, ¡°there was this draconian prince. Not much of a prince. One of those eighty-seventh in line for the throne types. He decided that Zara was going to be his fourth wife, and didn¡¯t see much point in consulting Zara on that decision.¡± ¡°What happened to the prince?¡± Jason asked. ¡°When things happen to princes, it tends to get around. I can¡¯t tell if not having heard anything is good or bad. Is this what it¡¯s like running around with me?¡± Sophie and Belinda nodded in unison. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that we were on the way to suggest we skip town when Clive got in trouble,¡± Sophie told him. ¡°Yeah, that imprisoning ritual is going to hold the prince for another day, tops,¡± Belinda said. ¡°And that¡¯s assuming no one finds him. I assume someone will be looking for him.¡± ¡°Not his first three wives, if his personality is anything to go by,¡± Sophie said. Belinda snorted a laugh. ¡°What¡¯s this about an imprisoning ritual?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Well,¡± Belinda said, ¡°I wanted to disappear the guy, but Stella thought killing him was a bad idea.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very confident it was.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Leaving him alive might be worse, after Zara¡¯s response to his proposal. I didn¡¯t even know you could put storm magic inside someone¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°No need to talk about that,¡± Zara said, sticking her head out of a cabin door. ¡°Humphrey doesn¡¯t need to hear anything about it.¡± She retreated into the room, only for her head to immediately shoot back out. ¡°Neither does my father.¡± Jason sighed. ¡°Her father is definitely going to hear about it, isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± Belinda said. ¡°She left stains in that room that I¡¯m not sure crystal wash could get out. Why he had so much¡ª¡± ¡°Let¡¯s skip the details,¡± Jason said. ¡°For now, at least, while I go talk to Danielle about this. I expect we¡¯ll want all the grisly details later.¡± Chapter 909: Sometimes We Need Scars When she¡¯d been young ¡ª well, younger ¡ª Jennifer Landry had loved having visiting adventurers stay at her boarding house. All those powerful and attractive young people, politely calling her ¡®Madam Landry.¡¯ As years went on, the desire for excitement slowly gave way to a desire for reliability. Rather than cater to out-of-towners who were often interesting but frequently volatile, she shifted to catering to locals. She didn¡¯t aim for the top-shelf adventurers, which they actually had now in Greenstone. The training program set up by the Geller and Remore families were producing better adventurers, especially now that Adventure Society assessments were being conducted legitimately. Madam Landry found that the second-tier adventurers were the perfect clientele. Long-term tenants, they had the money to pay but the humility of not being the cocks of the roost. It was an unconventional bit of excitement, then, when one of her adventurers came bursting to the lobby, almost taking the door off the hinges. ¡°Dean Tuckell, if you take that door off, you¡¯re the one paying for a new one,¡± she scolded. ¡°Sorry, Madam Landry, but I just heard something incredible at the Adventure Society. Is Jerrick here?¡± ¡°He¡¯s in the bath house, dear, but I¡­¡± Dean shot off without listening. ¡°¡­don¡¯t think he¡¯s alone.¡± *** Gold-rankers were figures of legend in a low-magic town like Greenstone, making Emir¡¯s visit all those years ago a real event. Jason remembered his cloud ship sailing up to the private Adventure Society dock in grandiose fashion. But he had also known that Emir had been in the city for days before, in secret. Jason followed this model, quietly reaching the city with several of his friends, days before his official arrival. His goal was to reacquaint himself with the city, indulging in the nostalgia of his early days as an adventurer. Jason, Belinda and Estella Warnock portalled to an old spirit coin transport waystation, not too far from the city. It had been abandoned years ago, after the local Magic Society director and a local crime boss had an adventurer tortured in the storeroom. Emerging from the portal, The trio immediately staggered. ¡°It¡¯s like trying to breathe when the air¡¯s too thin,¡± Belinda gasped. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±
¡°Oh,¡± Belinda said, reading the system message. She pulled out her summoned familiars, an astral lantern that orbited droopily around her, and an echo spirit that looked like a blurry version of her. She plucked a handful of spirit coins from her storage space, pushed one into the lantern and handed the others to Gemini, the echo spirit, and Estella. She ate one herself as Jason declined the one she held out to him. ¡°I think I can compensate by drawing magic from my astral kingdom,¡± he said. He was half crouched, hands on his knees. ¡°I¡¯m still figuring out what I can and can¡¯t do with this body. Just give me a few minutes.¡± While Jason concentrated, occasionally making sounds like he was having trouble using the toilet, Estella and Belinda looked around. They were in an area between the sprawling river delta and the bone-dry desert. The waystation itself was an area of magically flattened stone, largely covered in windswept sand. There was a security booth, the glass in the windows long gone, and a large storage bunker. Of the bunker¡¯s double doors, one was missing and the other dangled precariously from the remaining hinge. Beyond, stairs led down. ¡°How is this a memorable enough place to portal to?¡± Estella asked. ¡°You haven¡¯t been to this city in a couple of decades, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason croaked. Belinda looked around, ending with her gaze fixed on the broken door. ¡°Jason, is this¡­?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he confirmed. ¡°Why would you bring us here?¡± ¡°Like Stella said, it¡¯s memorable. You can still feel a little of my aura imprinted down there, if you look closely. Some things linger. Oh, bugger this, I¡¯ll try again later.¡± Jason took out a spirit coin and ate it, making a distasteful face as it melted on his tongue. Shade and Gordon appeared. Shade took a coin from his own storage space and consumed it while Jason tossed another into the nebulous void that was Gordon. He held his palm out and a leech crawled out through his skin. Jason held out a spirit coin for the leech to eat, but it turned it¡¯s tooth-ringed maw away. ¡°Come on, Colin.¡± The leech let out an alien screech of rejection. ¡°If you don¡¯t eat this, you won¡¯t be able to come out and eat anything else.¡± While Jason was coaxing Colin into eating something that wasn¡¯t at least recently alive, Belinda and Estella made their way to the door. ¡°That¡¯s a good boy,¡± Jason said, scratching the top of the leech after it finally ate the coin. As Colin retreated back under Jason¡¯s skin, Jason moved to join the others as they looked down the stairs. ¡°Shade and Gordon weren¡¯t with me when this happened,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯d just fought a water tyrant. Silver rank. It destroyed both of their vessels and left me with what, to this day, remains my largest scar. Colin was with me for this, though. Wouldn¡¯t have made it through without him.¡± ¡°Made it through what?¡± Estella asked. Instead of answering, Jason walked around them and went down the stairs. ¡°Jason,¡± Belinda called after him. ¡°Are you sure you want to go down there?¡± *** Elspeth Arella was not happy. Being director of Greenstone¡¯s Adventure Society branch was always intended to be a stepping stone. The first stage in a career that would lead her out of the magical and literal desert that was Greenstone. Then came the disastrous expedition. The aftermath of that failure, and the investigation that followed, undid everything she had worked for. Her backroom dealings were dragged into the light, as was her status as daughter of an Old City crime lord. She barely held on to her position, which went from the first step in a storied career to a purgatory she could not escape. Twenty years later, nothing had changed. Even her father had risen, from last man standing of the Big Three crime lords to legitimate mayor of Old City. They were both important members of Greenstone Society, now, but where he felt elevated, she felt trapped. Leaning against the desk in her office, Elspeth rubbed her temples as she stared at a spot on the floor. Twenty years ago, she had used her powers to lift some jumped up iron-ranker by the throat, dropping him on that very spot. Now, that same speck of nothing was scheduled to arrive in just a few days, to great fanfare. Twenty years on, things were very different. He was a gold-ranker, well-trained and battle hardened, with countless accolades to his name. She was a core-using silver-rank bureaucrat with a dead-end career. She¡¯d heard the stories, even across the world. Running around with diamond rankers, coming back from the dead. Driving off the Builder, which was even more nonsensical than the rest. It all sounded like fanciful nonsense. But she¡¯d seen the missives from the Adventure Society, and they weren¡¯t treating it like nonsense. There was an actual standing order to put a branch on low alert if he entered its jurisdiction. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. She had been much happier when Asano was dead the first time. Giving his life to save the city made him a useful figure of noble sacrifice, but martyrs were awkward if they didn¡¯t stay dead. There was even a statue of him somewhere on the campus grounds. She¡¯d had a bush grown in front of it after he came back to life. She doubted he would forget that she tried to teach him a lesson that didn¡¯t take. Two ranks higher than him, her power wrapped around his throat. She didn¡¯t even remember what it was about. What she didn¡¯t forget was the defiant eyes that would rather let her choke him out than yield to her authority. Would he kill her on this very spot, where it happened? The Adventure Society would give him a slap on the wrist, if that. They wouldn¡¯t chastise their interdimensional golden boy over a dead bureaucrat with a dead-end career. Not after everything he¡¯d gotten away with already. She sighed and pushed herself off her desk. There were a lot more feathers than hers to unruffle before Asano arrived, so she might as well get to it, on the off chance that she survived his visit. *** Jason reached the basement storage area. The dry climate had preserved the interior enough that it hadn¡¯t completely degraded, but it showed the years of abandonment. A little sand had blown down the stairs, although not so much as to cover the bloodstain spread out like a carpet. The blood pool spread out through the large storage room, too much to have come from one person under normal circumstances. Jason¡¯s self-healing had replenished him over and over as he bled out, but only Colin¡¯s help sustained him. His own regenerative power had been insufficient to last him through the ordeal. The chains were still there, seized and rusty now. They lay on the floor where he¡¯d yanked them from the ceiling in his escape. When he was last in the room, there had been a pile of tiny star seed fragments, pushed out of his body and leaving many small scars behind in the process. Those were long gone, no doubt claimed by the magic Society. Those were the early days of the Builder cult becoming active, making the fragments prime materials for study. Belinda and Estella followed Jason down the stairs. They didn¡¯t share Jason¡¯s ability to see perfectly through the dark, so Belinda tossed out a floating glow stone to reveal the macabre scene. ¡°What is this?¡± Estella asked. ¡°Is that your blood?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°All of it?¡± ¡°It was a rough day.¡± ¡°What happened here?¡± ¡°This is where I found out who I am,¡± Jason said. ¡°When you strip away everything until there¡¯s nothing left to take. I don¡¯t recommend the experience.¡± His gaze didn¡¯t shift from the blood stain. The two women shared a side glance, then looked at Jason still facing the other way. ¡°This seems like a bad place to forge a personal identity,¡± Estella said. Jason laughed, the sound incongruous in the grim remnants of the torture chamber. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said. ¡°It very much is. But sometimes, you don¡¯t get to choose.¡± ¡°You said you found yourself down here,¡± Estella said. ¡°That¡¯s a little concerning, if I¡¯m being honest. Who did you find out you were?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t encourage him,¡± Belinda hissed. ¡°We don¡¯t want him going all dark and broody again.¡± Jason turned and gave her a smile. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Lindy. Sometimes we need scars to remind us that we can heal. Yes, the worst experience of my life happened in this room. But a lot of who I am, good and bad, began right here. If I can¡¯t face that, I¡¯ll be stuck in this room my whole life. And as for your question, Stella, I was put here by a conspiracy of forces that included a church, a cult, a crime lord, a corrupt Magic Society director and a great astral being. I was iron rank. Ambushed by a silver ranker and chained up, naked but for a suppression collar.¡± ¡°How does that explain who you are?¡± Estella asked. ¡°Lindy, do you remember what I was doing when you all arrived and found me?¡± ¡°You were upstairs, adjusting the cuff links on your suit like you¡¯d just walked out of the theatre.¡± ¡°That¡¯s who I am, Estella. The guy who wins. It doesn¡¯t matter who or what you are. How many people or how much power you have. You might kill me, you might scour my soul, but I¡¯ll come back stronger, and I still won. That¡¯s who I am.¡± He walked past them and back up the stairs. ¡°That,¡± Estella said, ¡°is the single most arrogant thing I have ever heard in my life. And I spend a lot of my time spying on aristocrats.¡± ¡°Well, sure,¡± Belinda said, ¡°but we¡¯re all shaped by our experiences. I¡¯ve seen Jason fight a god, but I¡¯ve never seen him lose.¡± Estella looked at the blood stain again. ¡°Did all that really happen?¡± Estella asked. ¡°The crime boss, the church, everything.¡± ¡°It was the Church of Purity, before people started to realise they were going bad. We actually killed the archbishop not that long after this.¡± ¡°And Jason just walked away?¡± ¡°Oh, gods, no. That thing with the cuff links? It was basically the last vestiges of his mind doing what he does, which is put on a smug fa?ade to hid that he¡¯s half a step from losing his mind. What he didn¡¯t mention was the months of catatonia and intensive therapy that followed. Not many people manage to throw off a star seed implantation, so they called in a mental specialist and a soul specialist. The best the church of the Healer had. It still took them months to stitch a functional person back together.¡± ¡°So, the cult and the corrupt official and whatever else. What did an iron ranker do to get that many people going after him?¡± Belinda looked up the stairs. ¡°You remember Jory?¡± Her face took on an uncomfortable expression. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Me and Soph were in a real bad spot. And I mean it started bad and had been getting worse for months, like fermenting a turd.¡± ¡°Lindy¡­¡± ¡°Sorry. But the whole city was hunting us. Duke¡¯s guards, adventurers, everyone. Even the crime boss that was meant to be protecting us was getting ready to sell us out. Jason and Clive were the ones that caught us. Jory wanted to help, but how could he? He¡¯d have to go up against some of the most powerful people in the city.¡± ¡°Which sounds like exactly what Jason would do.¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re getting it.¡± ¡°But he was the one that caught you?¡± ¡°Clive caught me. Didn¡¯t think the Magic Society had anyone that smart. Jason caught Sophie; messed her up bad in the process. Those afflictions of his, you know? Caught up to her being healed by Jory, and that¡¯s where things get interesting. He found out that Jory wanted to help us, and Jory was his friend, so he did. Just like that. No questions, no hesitation. Went up against the Director¡¯s of the Adventure Society and the Magic Society, for two thieves he only knew from the time one of them kicked him in the face. We all thought he was crazy.¡± ¡°But he wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Yes, he was! The guy¡¯s a lunatic. Make those sorts of enemies and you¡¯ll find yourself chained up in a hole somewhere, being bled out.¡± Estella turned back to look at the blood stain and the rusty chains. Belinda leaned against the taller woman, slipping an arm around her. ¡°He saved Sophie and me when everyone else couldn¡¯t or wouldn¡¯t,¡± she said. ¡°He went up against powerful people to make that happen, but he won. This was the price he paid.¡± ¡°Is he going to be alright, coming back here? ¡°I don¡¯t think he would have, if he wasn¡¯t. It¡¯s kind of his thing. One time, we were out on a road contract, and he took us to a place where a cult tried to sacrifice him to summon a blood monster.¡± ¡°Is that the same cult involved in all this?¡± Estella asked, gesturing at the blood pool. ¡°No, it was a different cult.¡± ¡°And different to that Order of Redeeming Light Purity cult back in Rimaros? The one Sophie¡¯s mum belonged to?¡± ¡°Yeah. Also different to the Order of the Reaper, which Sophie¡¯s mum also belonged to, and the Cult of the Reaper, which Sophie¡¯s mum¡¯s boyfriend belongs to.¡± ¡°Why does he keep getting involved with cults?¡± ¡°I stopped asking questions like that a long time ago. You just have to go with it.¡± *** Dean didn¡¯t notice the sounds coming from inside the bath house as he tossed aside the ¡®occupied¡¯ sign in front the door, which he flung open and rushed through. There was an immediate splashing and yelling. A few moments later, Dean had his back turned and his arm over his eyes for good measure. His teammate was in the bath, half-standing to shield the elf lady sharing the bath and using him as a privacy screen. ¡°I¡¯m charging an extra half if he¡¯s going to watch,¡± she said. ¡°Dean,¡± Jerrick growled. ¡°What in the Healer¡¯s bag of smoking herbs inspired you to come in here like that?¡± Dean moved to turn around in his excitement but managed to stop himself. ¡°I heard something at the Adventure Society,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯d have heard something inside this bathhouse if you weren¡¯t fired up like a bog lurker in heat. What¡¯s got you so¡ª¡± ¡°He¡¯s coming back! Jason Asano is coming back to Greenstone!¡± ¡°When?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just heard it and rushed straight over.¡± ¡°Well, we need to find out more.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Jerrick lurched out of the bath and started rubbing himself dry with a towel. ¡°Sorry, Lucy, I have to go. Feel free to charge me for the whole hour.¡± ¡°Damn straight, I¡¯m charging you for the whole hour. I don¡¯t care how big your¡ª¡± ¡°Jerrick, are you coming or what?¡± Dean called from outside. *** Jason parted ways with Belinda and Estella, after several reassurances to Belinda that he was fine. Once she accepted that he wasn¡¯t lying too much, she took off with Estella for the city, in a Shade-produced land skimmer. Jason looked to the nearby delta edge, a shift from desert to verdant growth so neat it could only be magic. The Mistrun River carried water dense with life and water energy, making for the rich and swampy delta. Greenstone rice and tea from further upriver were both local specialties, although a small slice of trade compared to spirit coin export. Back before he had a team, Jason would blow off steam by heading into the delta on foot. He¡¯d roam the tall embankment roads that ran between mangrove swamps and paddy fields, moving from village to village. He developed a gliding-running style that used his cloak to reduce his weight. It allowed him to travel at relatively swift speeds without exhausting his mana or stamina. It was a technique he had long ago left behind. Before Shade, before he had a team around him. Before the Builder¡¯s star seed was put inside him, setting him on a course to fight angels, gods and monsters with the fate of worlds on the line. He had used the technique to roam the delta for a week or more at a time, taking trips alone to clear his head. He¡¯d roam the towns and villages of the delta, healing the sick and clearing off contracts from their adventure boards. He looked back at the storage room door, then back at the delta. He laughed to himself, conjured his cloak and set off. Almost immediately, he stumbled and landed face first in the sand. He laughed again as Shade emerged from his shadow. ¡°Mr Asano, what are you doing?¡± ¡°An old trick. I seem to have lost the knack.¡± Chapter 910: Thats What Adventurers Do With the impending arrival of a literal shipload of gold rankers, things had been busy for the senior officials of the Greenstone Adventure Society branch. Everything about Vincent Trenslow was drooping except for his immaculate moustache, poking stiffly out from each side of his face. He was going through a list of requests from local nobility who, sadly, held enough influence that he couldn¡¯t just dump the whole stack of papers in the bin. He looked up at a knock on his office door, grateful for any reprieve. ¡°Sir?¡± his assistant Gretchen said after poking her head in. ¡°We¡¯ve had bit of an odd report from the jobs hall.¡± ¡°Odd how?¡± She opened the door properly and moved into the office. ¡°It¡¯s about adventure boards in the delta. Someone has been marking off contracts as complete, but none of them have been turned in at the hall.¡± ¡°How many contracts?¡± ¡°As far as we can tell¡­ all of them. In about a day and a half. A few adventurers came back from the delta and reported that every village had the adventure board marked as complete. We¡¯ve sent people confirm, and the monsters are gone in every instance we¡¯ve checked.¡± ¡°I assume some of the delta residents had some light to shed. Surely someone saw whoever was responsible.¡± ¡°Yes, sir. Some reported a stranger who did some healing and, in one case, briefly operated some kind of food kiosk at a lumber camp.¡± Vincent leaned back in his chair and let out a long, slow breath. ¡°You know what this is, sir?¡± ¡°I do,¡± he said wearily. ¡°Tell the jobs hall to mark the contracts as closed, no reward claimed.¡± ¡°Is this about the gold rankers?¡± ¡°No, and that¡¯s an order. The official position of the Adventure Society is that there are no gold rankers operating in the city or its surrounds until they arrive here by ship the day after tomorrow. Do not let me hear you have been so much as implying anything else, Gretchen.¡± ¡°Is it that big a deal, sir?¡± Vincent sighed. ¡°Dear gods, I hope not.¡± *** Hiram had been climbing the mountain trail most days, for most of his life. Age had been catching up to him, but his limbs carried him now with fresh vigour, courtesy of his bronze rank physique. He had told his granddaughter not to waste the hard-fought earnings of an adventurer on an old man and she, of course, had ignored him. He¡¯d saved and scrimped from before she was even born to give her the opportunity. More than giving him his own chance to become an essence user, she repaid him with the joy in her eyes when she came home and told him the story of her adventures. He looked up at the water roaring out from a hole in the side of the mountain. The torrent became deafening as he ascended towards the tunnel that would lead him inside. It was even louder in the cave, echoes thundering like the bellow of some primordial beast. The air in the cave was wet, leaving the boards of the wooden walkway slick, thus the grit adhered to the planks for grip. It was getting on time to replace some of the boards and apply fresh grit to the others. The cave was still beautiful to his eyes, even after all these years. Glow stone lamps lit up the green stone. At the end of the cave was a cavern where the torrent passed through on its way out of the mountain. It was travelling so fast it moved horizontally through the air, a fast-moving wall of water. Blue light shone from it and spray became a sparkling mist that filled the cavern. Hiram shook his head with a chuckle, remembering when he¡¯d been caught in the water, carried down the tunnel and shot out into the air. He¡¯d been certain he was going to die, and instead ended up with one of the precious essences he was able to gift his granddaughter. The half of the cavern that didn¡¯t have water rushing through it had been carved to a flat surface, with a metal safety rail to keep anyone from getting too close to the water. It was a lot stronger than it once had been, after the incident. Attached to the cavern was a room carved into the wall, with a large window and a door for access. Made to keep monitoring staff warm and dry, the room was larger and more comfortable than it had been when Hiram was a young man. He''d thought the job would tide him over until he found something better, and he never did. It was an easy job, monitoring the water aperture, so long as you didn¡¯t mind climbing the mountain every day. Hiram headed for the booth to relieve Dave, who was bit of an odd sort. Didn¡¯t much care for people, or for daylight, but was friendly enough if you left him to himself. He did get cranky for a bit after Martha¡¯s boy Henry became mayor and had the Adventure Society check he wasn¡¯t a vampire. When Hiram got to the window, he saw it was steamed up from the inside. That happened when someone cooked, but Dave normally brought a packed meal from the Madson girl who was sweet on him. Hiram opened the door to a humid food smell and someone talking. ¡°¡­use all kinds of fillings, but I like pork the best. You don¡¯t have that here, but the gonku lizard I used in these is pretty close. Which is weird because it¡¯s, you know, a lizard.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Dave¡¯s response was an incoherent mumble, due to the dumpling sticking out of his mouth. The room was basically a lounge area, with a large low table in the middle that was enchanted to function as a self-cleaning cooking surface, and there was a pan of dumplings sitting on it. Dave was facing the door while the room¡¯s other occupant sat across from him, with his back to Hiram. The man turned around, flashing a big smile at Hiram. It had been a long time, and his features had been smoothed out by rank-ups, but Hiram would never forget Jason Asano. Not only had they been flung off a mountain together, but Jason went on to save the village from a terrible monster, almost dying in the process. They¡¯d found him, almost cut in half, in the rubble that had once been their village. He¡¯d also gifted Hiram with what became the first of his granddaughter¡¯s essences. Hiram knew Jason hadn¡¯t been a wealthy man back then, just a freshly minted adventurer. Even so, he¡¯d handed it to Hiram with a smile on his face, as if he was loaning a neighbour some tea. ¡°You look good, Hiram. All those mountain hikes are keeping you in shape.¡± *** Hiram refilled Jason¡¯s teacup. ¡°We didn¡¯t know what to make of it,¡± Hiram said. ¡°First, we hear you¡¯re dead. Then we hear you¡¯re alive again, and the stories only got less believable from there. But whatever people say about you, good or bad, you¡¯re a hero to the people in this town, Jason. The young ones like Dave don¡¯t remember, but those of us who were around back then¡­¡± He let his words linger as he sipped at his tea. ¡°That day was a nightmare. You hear the stories of some high-rank monster tearing through a town, but you don¡¯t expect it to happen. Monsters are always a threat, out in these rural areas, but something like that?¡± ¡°Yeah, there was a thing messing with the monster surges,¡± Jason said. ¡°It made the monster spawns a bit off. It¡¯s fixed, now.¡± Hiram shook his head. ¡°The why doesn¡¯t matter to folks like us. What matters is children screaming as their parents drag them out of collapsing buildings. Pushing people onto wagons even as they¡¯re taking off. Afraid that, at any second, some big watery tentacle will crash down and kill you all and there¡¯s nothing you can do to stop it. You were just a kid, but you stood up. Put yourself between us and it. Bought us the time to get everyone out and safe. Now look at you, the big-time adventurer. You know, we never got to thank you properly for that.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have to thank me, Hiram. That¡¯s what adventurers do.¡± ¡°I was there, boy. I saw the looks on your friends¡¯ faces. I may not have seen you in twenty years, but I get the feeling you spent a lot of it doing things that maybe adventurers don¡¯t do.¡± Jason chuckled. ¡°Maybe so,¡± he conceded, and sipped at his tea. ¡°What about that granddaughter of yours? Did she ever become an adventurer?¡± ¡°Indeed, she did. A more modest one than you, I reckon, which suits me just fine. I like her coming home with stories of travel and adventure. I don¡¯t want anyone fishing her out of the ruins of someone¡¯s house, looking more dead than alive. No offence.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s a wise approach. Not in the cards for some of us, though. Did I ever tell you where I came from?¡± ¡°Not that I recall. I think you said it was somewhere remote. I remember thinking that it was a bit strange for an adventurer, some of the things you didn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not your granddaughter, but let me regale you with some of my stories of travel and adventure. Do you know what a universe is?¡± *** Time always moved on. For long-lived adventurers, things stretched out, and change was slow. Exploring Greenstone, Jason was confronted with how different it was for those without access to age-extending magic. He stood on a rooftop, his cloak melding him invisibly into the shadow of a chimney. He watched a yard below, where a spry woman of late-middle years was hanging out washing on a line. ¡°Did you find out who she is?¡± ¡°I did,¡± Shade said. ¡°This is Juliette Landry, the daughter of your former landlady. She inherited this property from her mother, who found a great deal of success in her later years. She ended up owning five establishments in total. Each is now operated by her daughter or one of her nieces: Josephine, Joanne, Jennifer, and Bertha.¡± ¡°Bertha?¡± ¡°Madam Bertha Landry hosts the property with more structural reinforcement enchantments than the other. Her clientele can be quite rambunctious.¡± ¡°When did my Madam Landry pass?¡± ¡°Seven years ago. Apparently to the lament of several elderly but vigorous men who were rather unhappy to find out about each other after the fact. It was, by all accounts, a quite exciting memorial service.¡± ¡°Good for her,¡± Jason said with a sad smile. ¡°All the years I was off doing weird dimensional stuff. How much did I miss back home, Shade?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t called Earth home in a long time, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°I suppose I haven¡¯t.¡± *** ¡°You know that Arella thinks you¡¯re going to kill her,¡± Vincent said. ¡°I¡¯ve killed people for doing a lot less than she did,¡± Jason said. ¡°But I¡¯m not here to kill anyone.¡± ¡°Do you mind if I go change out of this bath robe?¡± Vincent asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t dress for a home invasion.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Jason said. ¡°I wanted to be discreet. That¡¯s why I waited until your husband left.¡± ¡°Oh, he¡¯d have been delighted. He loves the adventurer stuff.¡± Vincent left the sitting room of his town house and continued the conversation from the other room. ¡°You¡¯d think that the messenger war and the rest of it would dampen his enthusiasm,¡± Vincent said. ¡°He¡¯s like a child sometimes, always looking for an adventure story.¡± He walked back out in simple linen pants and a tunic he¡¯d implausibly managed to put on without disrupting his moustache. ¡°Why are you here, Jason?¡± ¡°There are some organisational things we should probably sort out to make things go more smoothly.¡± ¡°Yes, but I have office hours.¡± ¡°But you were very clear with Gretchen that I¡¯m not officially here.¡± ¡°You¡¯re spying on me?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ no?¡± Vincent sighed. ¡°Gold rankers. This is why I transferred back to Greenstone, you know. I¡¯ll go get my notebook.¡± He walked over to a chair where a satchel had been tossed. He pulled out a notebook and a pencil, then gestured Jason into a seat. He sat opposite and was about to ask Jason a question when he stopped and set the pencil and book down on the couch beside him. ¡°How is Rufus?¡± he asked softly. ¡°He left this world. Fifteen years ago, now.¡± Vincent sat bolt upright. ¡°He¡¯s dead?¡± ¡°What? Oh, sorry, no. I mean he literally left this world. He¡¯s been living on the one I came from. He¡¯s fine. He¡¯s really into jellybeans, like really into them. The fancy ones with weird flavours like ¡®Barcelona asphalt¡¯ or whatever. He¡¯d definitely have diabetes if he wasn¡¯t magical. I sent him to meet this person I¡¯m trying to recruit over there, and he came back with about a wheelbarrow full of them.¡± ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. Which is very nostalgic for me, so I suppose we¡¯d better get to it.¡± He picked his notebook back up. ¡°Now, we might as well start with nobles who want a meet and greet on arrival versus those asking for a more in-depth meeting.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no reason for me to¡­¡± Jason stopped himself, grimacing as he thought back over Danielle¡¯s lessons. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ¡°Okay,¡± he said. ¡°Nobles who want meetings, you say.¡± Chapter 911: A Matter of Mindset As the ship approached Greenstone¡¯s artificial island, Jason and his companions were gathering in a space not unlike a hotel lobby. Aspects of the vessel were similar to a cruise ship, although heavier on amenity and utility spaces and lighter on accommodation. Even Emir only travelled around with fifty or so staff, and Jason had far fewer people on board than that. Jason was walking towards the lobby with Sophie and Humphrey as Sophie voiced her unhappiness with the destination. She hadn¡¯t joined Belinda in their early visit to their hometown, and she wasn¡¯t keen on going now. ¡°I don¡¯t see why we¡¯re even here,¡± she said. ¡°What does this place have to offer us anymore? And I know you don¡¯t like all this pageantry, Jason.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve always liked your ostentation spontaneous,¡± Humphrey pointed out. ¡°Having it scheduled and organised doesn¡¯t seem like you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not for me,¡± Jason said. ¡°Or for you, Humphrey. A special event doesn¡¯t seem special to you because you¡¯re the prince of this town. It may have a Duke, but everyone knows that the Gellers are the real power here. You were born for bigger things than this town has to offer, so a triumphant return visit doesn¡¯t mean much.¡± ¡°Then what is all this for?¡± Humphrey asked. ¡°Every aristocratic house in Greenstone will be represented in the crowd waiting for us. Not just some pointless nephew, either. Elders, heads of house. Organisations, too. Directors of the Magic Society, the Adventure Society, the Alchemy association. There are as many of Greenstone¡¯s silver rankers gathered here as have ever come together in one place before.¡± ¡°What do you care about the nobility of some low-magic backwater?¡± Sophie asked, not hesitating to talk down about her hometown. ¡°You socialise with gods and kings and diamond rankers.¡± ¡°I told you, it¡¯s not about me. Right now, all those people are gathered at the Adventure Society¡¯s VIP dock. And who are they waiting for? It¡¯s not me. People haven¡¯t been talking about me for years, and I was only famous amongst Adventure Society insiders. These people are gathering for Team Biscuit. Adventuring legends and hometown heroes. For you, Humphrey, that¡¯s not a big deal. Everyone expected big things of you. But think about all those people, and who else they¡¯re here to see.¡± He glanced at Sophie. ¡°People know your story, Sophie. They¡¯ve doubtless mythologised it well outside anything that¡¯s actually true, but that¡¯s not what matters. What matters is that a pair of girls from Old City became famous adventurers. And now they¡¯re coming home, celebrated by the city¡¯s elite.¡± ¡°I never wanted to be a role model.¡± ¡°Too bad. And it¡¯s not just for the next little Sophie and Belinda, either. Neil¡¯s family have been stuck as what amounts to servants to the Mercer¡¯s for years, but now the most powerful people in the city have to show them respect. Today they get to stand tall as Neil comes home, probably dressed in his aunt¡¯s awful clothes. And you know who else is waiting for us? A clan of eel farmers. The important people of this city would cross the road to avoid them, but today, those eel farmers will be front and centre, waiting for their boy to come home. And those important people are stuck standing behind them.¡± ¡°Does it always have to be a speech with you?¡± Sophie asked. ¡°You could have just said it will be nice for Neil and Clive¡¯s families to see.¡± ¡°That seems a little reductive.¡± ¡°I think you just like hearing yourself talk.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Everyone loves hearing me talk.¡± *** The Adventure Society VIP dock was on the ocean side of Greenstone¡¯s artificial island. The expectation was that if your vessel needed a sheltered harbour, you weren¡¯t important enough to use it. Near the dock was a large building normally used for social events, as the dock itself spent most of its time empty. This also allowed the attending luminaries to save face. They could tell themselves they were attending a social function, not standing around, waiting for more important people than them to arrive. The building had been restructured just a couple of years ago, and most of its three stories were glass walls. Elspeth Arella looked out at the ocean from the third floor, radiating a lack of desire for company. Most of the attendees were looking to ingratiate themselves with the Geller boy and his famous team. Jason Asano was a name that hadn¡¯t entered their minds in years, and it seemed only Elspeth herself was focused on him. If they were all very lucky, that wouldn¡¯t change. She had been expecting to sense the ship before she saw it, but was proven wrong as it crested the horizon. Even as it drew closer, revealing how large it was, she sensed nothing, even staring right at it. She knew that most of the attendees would not notice, let alone understand the significance. They were socialites and merchant barons, not warriors and soldiers. The Messenger War had left Greenstone largely untouched. That vessel was a message about power and who held it, and it was not one that the Director of the Adventure Society missed. She also knew that it was not accidental; Danielle Geller was on that ship. She did not send unintended signals, and she did not like Elspeth. As the ship neared the shore, the collective group went outside. She glanced around, watching the crowd with her aura senses as well as her eyes. She¡¯d put reliable people in key positions, hoping to keep volatile elements under control, but the potential for disaster was very real. One moment, a lord¡¯s idiot son might be mocking the clan of eel farmers, unhappy they were given pride of place. The idiot would be hurtling out to sea at the hands of a gold ranker in about three seconds and things would only devolve from there. Elspeth¡¯s spectrum for the success of the event ranged from a brawl to a massacre. The massive vessel pulled up at the dock, larger than the building in which people had been waiting for it. Elspeth couldn¡¯t help but remember the similar scene of Emir Bahadir¡¯s arrival. This ship was different, in that the cloud material of the vessel was only visible in sections between large panels that covered it. Elspeth wondered if the different ship signalled a different outcome. Emir Bahadir wasn¡¯t easy to handle, but the treasure hunter knew how to navigate the locals on a visit like this. Jason Asano was smooth as sandpaper, always rubbing people wrong. During his time in Greenstone, he¡¯d somehow befriended every person who was powerful and independent enough to make Elspeth¡¯s job hard, and annoyed everyone else. Clouds wafted from the ship to create a wide bridge, and a gap opened in the side of the ship. The Gellers emerged, Danielle and her son who was becoming as famous as she was. Next to the Geller boy was a man who looked similar enough to be a younger brother, but with silver hair and eyes. It was only after Humphrey Geller left Greenstone that Elspeth discovered that he¡¯d been wandering around with an actual gods-bedamned dragon the whole time. She¡¯d known he had a shapeshifting familiar, of course, but an actual, true blood dragon? His mother had told her it was a lyre drake, but Elspeth should have known better than to trust Danielle Geller. She catalogued the rest as they came over the bridge. The thieves she¡¯d once tasked her society branch to hunt down, not knowing the chaos that would ensue. Asano, the main perpetrator of that chaos. The Magic Research Association¡¯s archchancellor. The uncultured cheering that arose from the grubby-looking farmers at the appearance of the refined man of magic was a strange incongruity. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Elspeth¡¯s gaze moved back to Asano. He caught her gaze for a moment before looking away, chatting amiably with the Devone boy. Then she felt a strange shimmer of aura around her and the sounds around her deafened. Asano¡¯s voice came out of nowhere. ¡°It¡¯s not me you have to worry about, director. I¡¯m not the one you tried to sell to Lucian Lamprey as a means to slake his deprived appetites. But you don¡¯t really have to worry about Sophie, either, because she¡¯s dedicated herself to being a good person. She has this friend, though. You might want to check under your bed for alchemical bombs until we¡¯re gone again.¡± Elspeth was at the front of the line for meet and greets. Asano was polite, as if meeting a passing acquaintance after a long time. ¡°I¡¯d like the chance for you and I to talk, Mr Asano. Adventurer business.¡± ¡°Of course, director.¡± What came next was a lengthy and tedious sequence of introductions and reintroductions, carefully orchestrated in order and length. After her experiences with Asano in the past, she was amazed that it all went to plan. There was none of his signature disruption or anti-authoritarian antics. It seemed that he had learned some diplomacy in the last couple of decades. As for who had managed to wrangle the lunatic, she noticed Danielle Geller throwing glances his way. By the time it was all over, the one thing Elspeth least expected to happen had taken place: everything had gone to plan. No aristocratic feuds flaring up. No spoiled rich kids had made trouble out of arrogance and pride. Asano hadn¡¯t decided to take umbrage with anyone and start throwing people into the ocean now he was gold rank and no one could stop him. As she made her way back to her office, she felt a strange relief, even as a new worry plagued at her mind. She would need to look closer into those former thieves, and she had just the person to ask. On reaching her office, she changed into a hooded outfit that would not look out of place in the Old City, then headed out to see her father. *** Adris Dorgan was a happy man. Once a powerful crime lord, he found that legitimacy sat very well with him. As mayor of Old City, he¡¯d dragged it kicking and screaming from the old days into a new era. Aristocratic families, as it turned out, were far more criminal than the old crime families, and with none of the sense of code or community. Now that Adris could shield the people from at least some of that, Old City was becoming a better place for its people. His daughter was less happy. She had wanted to leave the city and rise through the ranks of the Adventure Society, and that had all come to nothing. Once, that had angered him, but those days were long gone. Greenstone was quiet, far from the Messenger War. The days of the Builder cult and the strange monster surges were almost two decades gone, and Greenstone was safe. Having his daughter safe and close were treasures to a father. Walking through his library, he stopped dead. His mind flashed back to an encounter twenty years ago, where he found a young man staring at a picture in the library of his old home. The library was different, but it was the same man doing the same thing now, having once again ignored his security. Adris moved to where the man was staring at the painting. ¡°A long time ago,¡± Asano said, not looking from the painting ¡°you offered to help me get my hands of a work or two by Moher. Said he was a family friend.¡± ¡°He still is.¡± ¡°I might take you up on that, if the offer is still open.¡± ¡°I suppose that depends on what your intentions are otherwise.¡± ¡°I gave your daughter a little prod and she¡¯ll be coming to see you. I thought it might be a good idea for her and I to have a little chat.¡± ¡°I once warned you about interfering in my daughter¡¯s affairs, Asano. I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re some all-powerful gold ranker, and I¡¯m just a politician who got to silver with cores. If you do anything to her, I¡¯ll find a way to kill you.¡± Asano finally turned from the painting to flash a smile. ¡°I like you, Mr Dorgan. Family is important. Nothing will happen to your daughter from my people, even if she does have it coming. That¡¯s not what we¡¯re here for. I¡¯d like to clear the air, now the power dynamic has shifted since my last stay in Greenstone. Also, there¡¯s something she wants to discuss with me, and I thought it might be awkward in a room where she once dangled me in the air by the throat.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re sure she¡¯s coming here?¡± ¡°She¡¯s crossing the bridge to Old City now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re having her watched?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m just tracking her with my aura senses.¡± ¡°How do you extend your perception that far without washing the city in your aura?¡± ¡°Practise.¡± ¡°Well, can I offer you a cup of tea while we wait?¡± ¡°That would be lovely, thank you.¡± *** Jason sat across from Elspeth in one of her father¡¯s entertaining courtyards. It had enclosed walls covered in plants growing out of alcoves, and was open to the sky. The furniture was ornate wrought metal, with plush padding. A tea set occupied most of the table between them, complete with scones with gemberry jam and huge dollops of whipped cream. Jason paid more attention to those than he did the Adventure Society director. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± he asked as he dabbed at the cream around his mouth with a napkin. ¡°How familiar are you with Boko, Mr Asano?¡± ¡°A city to the north of here. A lot older than Greenstone, with a population native to the area. If I recall correctly, most of Greenstone¡¯s people are descended from the original Estercost immigrants, I think, only a few centuries ago. Boko is a city of academics, if I recall correctly.¡± ¡°Scholars of the arts. Painting, poetry, sculpture, dance. People travel from across the continent and beyond to visit their theatres.¡± ¡°I only passed through briefly. A portal stop, in the aftermath of that disastrous expedition. It¡¯s pretty, as I recall. Lots of gardens.¡± ¡°Do you happen to recall a group of raiders that came south during your time here?¡± ¡°I do. I was part of the group that dealt with them. They were rural tribesfolk, weren¡¯t they? From the areas around Boko?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we thought at the time. As it turns out, their origins were in Boko proper. It began as some kind of anti-intellectual movement amongst low rankers and escalated from there. Moved out of the city and into areas where education was less of a priority. There, it festered like a sore. Getting back to primal manhood, that kind of thing. It thrives on low-rank, disenfranchised young men.¡± ¡°I¡¯m familiar with the basic idea.¡± ¡°We had thought this particular movement had died out, but there has been a resurgence in the last few years.¡± ¡°Why bring this to me? Isn¡¯t this a low-rank problem?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your rank that makes me want you involved. I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on this alongside my counterpart in Boko. Our initial belief was that this was a naturally arising, decentralised movement. It probably was, in the beginning, but we¡¯re starting to suspect some manner of organisational force behind it. Whether they were there at the beginning, or co-opted an emerging cultural phenomenon, we believe they are using it building a powerful political block, the arms of which don¡¯t even realise they are heads of the same hydra. They keep their hands hidden, using populist groups as their face. Now it controls large portions of the rural areas around Greenstone, Boko and the Veldt. If we tried to reach out and quash it, we¡¯d have towns and villages across half the continent in borderline rebellion.¡± ¡°Do you have any sense of their objective?¡± ¡°Industry, to start. The production of spirit coins and our signature green stone is a lot of money, when taken as a whole.¡± ¡°You think someone is looking to control small local governments? Extort shady tariffs on everyone operating in the region?¡± ¡°Something like that. If money is their end goal, we live with some graft. It¡¯s not like the aristocrats are any better. Our concern is if they have a larger and more sinister agenda. Moving their power base into Greenstone and Boko, maybe. Or quietly supporting more traditional problem groups in other regions. Illegal magical research requires funding, after all, just like the legitimate research. Whatever the ultimate purpose, it¡¯s an ongoing concern.¡± ¡°So, why not go in and clear them out?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t seen an approach like this before. It¡¯s a matter of mindset. On this world, we always think top-down first. Rank hierarchy, which is why you get to come into my city and make a giant mess. The golds do what they like, the silvers run most of it and the bronze rankers do what they¡¯re told.¡± ¡°I never had much time for that.¡± ¡°Oh, I remember. This operation, movement, whatever it is, they think differently too. Bottom up. People barely think about the iron-rankers and the normal. Even in a low-magic zone like Greenstone they don¡¯t hold a lot of influence. This movement takes the people our way of thinking ignores and melds them into a power built not on magical strength but ideological indoctrination. Taking disenfranchisement and isolation and turning it into a sense of belonging, welded to cultural concepts that make them easy to manipulate.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that whoever is behind this isn¡¯t operating like someone from your world.¡± ¡°Back when you were living here in Greenstone, even I kept hearing about your endless pontificating about how our society was all wrong. People were dodging you in the admin building so they didn¡¯t have to listen to it. And I remembered my horror at hearing that more of your kind had arrived. That was two monster surges ago, and I never heard anything else about it. But when we heard you were coming back, Vincent Trenslow remembered enough of what you would talk about then to put things together. Power derived from large groups of the weak.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how I put it.¡± ¡°But I think Vincent was right. He suggested that whoever is behind all this might come, not from our world, but from yours.¡± Chapter 912: Posturing Children ¡°Let¡¯s assume,¡± Jason told Elspeth, ¡°that someone from Earth is pulling the strings. There were a bunch of them in Estercost and I left them twisting in the wind for years. It only makes sense that they¡¯ve gone out and started doing things. But, even assuming that someone from Earth is your problem, my being from Earth too doesn¡¯t solve it.¡± He sighed, then sipped at his tea appreciatively. ¡°You know, Greenstone really does have the best tea I¡¯ve had in Pallimustus.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here to talk about tea.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a shame,¡± he said, and set his teacup down with a regretful glance. ¡°I was enjoying making purely social calls lately.¡± ¡°Asano¡­¡± He groaned. ¡°Director, let¡¯s take a look at your situation. The Ustei tribesmen who came south during my time here in Greenstone predate the arrival of more people from Earth by what? Three years, give or take? Assuming that there is someone manipulating this movement of yours, and further assuming that they¡¯re from Earth, this means that they inserted themselves into an existing situation.¡± ¡°The violent ones aren¡¯t the issue. Those we can just deal with. It¡¯s the groups that are building up, growing their influence amongst the population, but not taking any violent action. They¡¯re digging into the small rural communities. Influencing the populace and putting their own people into positions of local authority.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s your real problem. Hidden powers moving in secret to manipulate one or more grassroots movements. The movements themselves aren¡¯t aware that they are slowly but surely being twisted to serve the very forces they believe they stand against. This happens in my world across the political spectrum.¡± ¡°What do we do about it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°How do they deal with this issue on Earth?¡± ¡°Most with sensationalist journalism and calling each other Hitler on the internet.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t, Director, and that¡¯s your problem. If we knew how to stop it, we would.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying you can¡¯t help.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not. Your hidden influencers, we can probably deal with. My group includes some people who excel at infiltration and information gathering. They can probably root out your masterminds, and then I¡¯ll deal with it, if they are from Earth. If not, we¡¯ll leave them to you. That will stop whatever agenda they have, but that doesn¡¯t solve your larger issue.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°Whoever you¡¯re after didn¡¯t invent these groups. They came in and made use of what was already there. You delete the person behind the scenes, the groups themselves won¡¯t even notice. They¡¯re going to keep winning hearts and minds in all these small towns and villages. The places where people with power and money only visit if they absolutely have to. Those groups rose up for a reason. You¡¯re going to be dealing with them until the reasons they formed in the first place get addressed.¡± ¡°I have no problem with these groups existing. That¡¯s for the Dukes to deal with. My concern is someone using this movement to fund things the Adventure Society has to deal with. Red Table cultists, restricted essence research, messenger collaboration. Things that get a lot harder to stamp out if we don¡¯t catch them early.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, Director, but whoever is manipulating these people is an opportunist. We can get rid of them, fine, but if the opportunity is still there, you¡¯re just going to get someone else moving in. This is a very Earth-style operation they¡¯re running, but there¡¯s no reason someone from this world can¡¯t do it. Especially now that someone has demonstrated how.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not responsible for unhappy low rankers.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t do anything. Spend the rest of your career cleaning out maggots because you refuse to remove the rot.¡± ¡°What exactly are you suggesting?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve got my own political mess to walk into, back on Earth. You can sort this one out. But, maybe try asking these people what they want, instead of telling them they don¡¯t matter and to shut up.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what we¡¯re doing.¡± ¡°Yes, it is. You think these people don¡¯t have power because they can¡¯t throw lightning or breathe fire. They can¡¯t rise up in violence, but they can down tools in protest. What happens if all the quarry workers and spirit coin farmers stop working?¡± ¡°The families who own the quarries and farms get more workers.¡± ¡°Oh, come on, Elspeth. You¡¯re too smart not to see where that road goes, long term. It just keeps getting worse, and how long can Greenstone¡¯s export economy survive like that? Once supply interruptions become a regular thing, trade partners start looking for more reliable alternatives.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Still not my problem.¡± ¡°Then stand by and watch the city die. I¡¯ll be long gone.¡± Elspeth scowled, picked up a scone and shoved it in her mouth, chewing angrily. ¡°Elspeth, I¡¯m not trying to tell you how to approach social change. I¡¯ve figured out that I¡¯m really bad at it. But maybe try to convince the Duke to sit down with some of these people. Find out what they want and maybe even think about giving it to them. It¡¯s probably not that much.¡± Elspeth finished her scone, looking slightly embarrassed as she wiped the cream from around her mouth. ¡°You missed a bit on your chin,¡± Jason said. ¡°No, the other side. Yeah, that¡¯s it.¡± She put down her napkin and sighed. ¡°So,¡± she said. ¡°That was the famous Jason Asano ¡®change everything about your society¡¯ speech, was it?¡± ¡°I suppose it was. Look, I did one semester of political science before dropping out over a girl, so my expertise is limited.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means.¡± ¡°It means that I once learned just enough to be wrong about a lot of things. But sometimes, when you have power, you have to deal with those things anyway. Despite your insistence that this is the Duke¡¯s problem, I think you know that.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Elspeth conceded. ¡°I have my own mess that I¡¯ll be walking into on Earth. I¡¯m trying to find people who can help me not make a giant mess of things.¡± ¡°Geller?¡± ¡°Amongst others, hopefully. I think you would be a good fit, but while you have the political acumen, I wouldn¡¯t trust you to make moral choices. I¡¯ve done terrible things, out of anger, frustration or ignorance, but I¡¯ve always regretted them. You do them out of cold calculation.¡± ¡°This is about the Wexler girl.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t sell people to twisted deviants, Director, however much doing so might advantage you.¡± ¡°Not all of us get to waltz through life with gods and high rankers giving us special treatment, Asano. Some of us have to fight and scrape for every little thing we get. Not everyone gets to walk the easy road and have things just handed to them.¡± Jason smiled. ¡°Do you remember, back when I was iron rank, and I didn¡¯t give much of a care for what rank difference meant you could say to someone?¡± ¡°How could I forget?¡± ¡°You should be very grateful that, for all that I have changed since then, that has remained the same.¡± He stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll find your masterminds, Director. If they¡¯re from Earth, I¡¯ll deal with them myself.¡± ¡°You said that before. You should hand them over to the Adventure Society.¡± ¡°I tried that once, Director. You sold them to a pervert.¡± ¡°And your hands are clean, are they? I remember someone who murdered five Adventure Society members, not that far from where we¡¯re sitting.¡± ¡°My hands are filthy, Director. But at least I try.¡± ¡°So? It¡¯s results that matter, Asano. Trying doesn¡¯t matter a damn.¡± He sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t think anything productive will come from us continuing this conversation.¡± ¡°Agreed. Are you still willing to loan me those infiltration and information experts you mentioned? The only ones we field here in Greenstone belong to the aristocratic families, and are deployed against each other. They aren¡¯t up to something on this level. I checked.¡± ¡°I set them to work about ten minutes ago.¡± ¡°While we were talking?¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t worth my undivided attention, Director.¡± She also stood up. ¡°I¡¯m going to regret you coming back to my city, aren¡¯t I?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t already?¡± ¡°I suppose I do.¡± *** Li Li Mei loved Boko. It was a beautiful city, filled with gorgeous architecture and wondrous gardens. She was going to miss it. Someone was looking for her, and had gotten far too close before she noticed. Despite the go-betweens, cut-outs and false identities, someone was zeroing in on her. For weeks they¡¯d been digging their way through her layers of protection, and she only noticed now through sheer luck. Whoever it was, they were extremely good at what they did. Her decision to abandon the entire undertaking was immediate and without hesitation. She was leaving behind a lucrative operation, but she¡¯d sent enough money away that it hadn¡¯t been wasted time. Gold rank cores were wildly expensive, but at least they could be had for money. On Earth, they were the rarest and most valuable commodity, perhaps other than reality cores. The only thing she stopped to grab was a go-bag she had stashed for this exact eventuality. She took it and descended the tower she owned, not by the elevating platform but by the stairs. A secret door led into a basement that no one but a long-dead stone-shaper knew about. From there, a long tunnel led into the sewers. The sewer tunnels were massive, reminding her of a video game more than the actual sewers of Earth. There were sinister types to be found down here, but she let out just enough silver-rank aura to warn them off. Li Mei had learned the importance of good aura control over the last decade and a half. She¡¯d known that Jason Asano had far superior aura control to anyone else on Earth, but she hadn¡¯t realised how bad they all were until she arrived in Pallimustus. Looking back, it was no wonder he treated Earth¡¯s magical factions like posturing children. She absently wondered what had happened to the man. The Earth refugees had all been cooped up at the Geller compound in Cyrion waiting for him. Then they were told that he wasn¡¯t coming. The stories as to what had happened were unclear, but many of the Earthlings believed him dead. Li Mei did not share that opinion. She took to the streets further from her storehouse than she would like. It was close to one of the city gates, and had no ties to her on paper. It would be found eventually, she was certain, but she intended to be long gone by then. A well-dressed Chinese woman walking through one of the seedier sections of a city full of black people would be easy for her pursuers to find out about. Hopefully, she would be well away before that happened. The storehouse had a large, fully loaded camping skimmer. It had amenities and supplies that would let her lay low on the inner reaches of the continent until she made her way to other parts of the world. She didn¡¯t trust hiring a portal specialist, and while ships were also a risk, it was one she could ameliorate. She wouldn¡¯t use her own shipping contacts, but she had a list of dockmasters who would reliably stay bribed and direct her to a captain to discreetly sail her out. She breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the storehouse. She slipped down an alley beside it and carefully swept her sense through the building. Sensing nothing but the skimmer and its supplies, she used a very expensive crystal to unlock the reinforced door. She opened it and duck inside, using the crystal to lock it again. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s her.¡± Li Mei froze. She slowly turned to find three people looking at her, including two women she didn¡¯t recognise. The man looked different, and it had been more than fifteen years, but she recognised him immediately. ¡°G¡¯day, Miss Li. It¡¯s been a while.¡± Chapter 913: This Is Not a Cliff Li Li Mei was rooted to the ground as if a landscaper had planted her there. Her body was rigid, her face locked on the man in front of her. Jason looked more relaxed, but the rigidity of his casual posture told a different story. ¡°You know this lady?¡± Belinda asked. ¡°I do,¡± he said. ¡°Does your planet only have seven people on it?¡± Estella asked. ¡°Why do you know them all?¡± ¡°I vaguely recall Taika mentioning that I knew more people amongst the Earth refugees. And that they didn¡¯t join him and Travis because they didn¡¯t want to be sent to me.¡± ¡°And they bet on the kindness of strangers over getting help from you?¡± Estella asked. ¡°How bad is your reputation where you come from?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not great,¡± Jason admitted. ¡°I can tell by the way she¡¯s looking at you,¡± Belinda said. ¡°That¡¯s the way sandwiches look at Neil.¡± Li Mei remained frozen as Jason wandered closer. He was not a tall man, and stood eye to eye with her. ¡°Hello, Miss Li. How have you been?¡± She finally found her voice. ¡°You really are alive then?¡± ¡°On and off. The people from Earth think I¡¯m dead?¡± ¡°Some. I didn¡¯t believe it.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°We thought you were crazy, back on Earth. Running around, treating governments and magic factions like they were inconsequential as you did¡­ whatever it was you were doing. You never explained it properly.¡± ¡°No one was willing to listen. All any of you heard was the word ¡®power¡¯ running through your heads in a loop.¡± ¡°It was a time of unprecedented opportunity, or so we thought. Only after I spent time in this world did I realise that we were dogs, fighting over scraps. You were doing things like they do them in this world, because you thrive here. You fit.¡± ¡°No, he doesn¡¯t,¡± Belinda called out. ¡°He¡¯s weird everywhere he goes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of nice knowing that it¡¯s not just here,¡± Estella said. ¡°It does feel like a vindication of all the things we say about him behind his back.¡± Jason turned to look at them from under raised eyebrows. ¡°Do you two mind?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯re good,¡± Belinda said. ¡°She¡¯s very pretty,¡± Estella observed, drawing an exaggerated look of exasperation from Belinda. ¡°You are such a skirt chaser. I cannot take you anywhere.¡± ¡°All I said was that she¡¯s pretty.¡± ¡°I¡¯m standing right here and you¡¯re eyeing off other women, right in front of me.¡± Jason shook his head and turned back to Li Mei. ¡°Come on,¡± he told her. ¡°We¡¯re taking a walk.¡± *** Li Mei¡¯s storage building was in one of Boko¡¯s less reputable areas, a warehouse district far from the gardens and universities. ¡°The gold rankers in Greenstone,¡± she said. ¡°That was you, obviously.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°I heard it was some famous team out of Vitesse.¡± ¡°My team. I just haven¡¯t been on it for a while.¡± ¡°I never liked following adventurer news. Clearly, I should have been more diligent.¡± As a foreigner and a small woman moving alone, she¡¯d constantly caught looks as she made her way through the streets, fending off unwanted attention with her aura. Moving through those same streets with Asano was a completely different experience. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± she asked him. ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked. ¡°We¡¯re very obvious outsiders here, but people are stepping around us without so much as a glance. It¡¯s almost like they¡¯re pretending they don¡¯t see us.¡± ¡°They¡¯re subconsciously not paying us any attention. If we do something too unusual, they¡¯ll notice. And a small number of people respond with aggression and anger instead of getting lulled in.¡± ¡°You¡¯re doing this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s become a habit. I try to avoid attention when I can, these days. I can stop it, if you like.¡± ¡°How? Some kind of mind control?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think magic can do that, at least not directly. The soul barrier shields the mind, so you have to use workarounds. Physiologically manipulating the brain, that kind of thing. The goddess of knowledge can¡¯t read minds, but she has access to all knowledge, so she effectively can.¡± ¡°Then how?¡± ¡°Aura manipulation. I can¡¯t alter their auras, but I can modulate mine to something that most people will instinctively and subconsciously overlook. It¡¯s like how you never look at your habitual surroundings unless something changes and makes it stand out. I¡¯m giving off ¡®that chair in the corner you never sit in¡¯ vibes.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re doing it for both of us.¡± ¡°I first started working on this back on Earth, based on some vampire tricks. I¡¯ve had a lot of practise and training with my aura since then.¡± ¡°Now that I¡¯ve seen this world, I can only wonder how much you could have offered us back on Earth. If we¡¯d treated you like a visiting dignitary instead of a commodity to be divided up.¡± ¡°My knowledge was limited. Farrah was the one you should have gone after.¡± ¡°No offence, Mr Asano, but you were a lot easier to manipulate. She knew to shut up and walk away when she didn¡¯t know something.¡± He let out a chuckle. ¡°You have more knowledge now,¡± she said. ¡°As do I. You were here for what? A year and a half before going back? I¡¯ve been here ten times that. The things I could do on Earth now. I could change the world.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Miss Li. The world changed on its own.¡± ¡°You have contact with Earth?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here for me to answer your questions, Miss Li. We¡¯re here to decide what happens to you now.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything illegal.¡± ¡°Pallimustus takes more of a ¡®spirit of the law¡¯ approach than Earth does. Which you know, or we wouldn¡¯t have caught you running.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ve been given discretionary power over me.¡± ¡°If someone had to give it to you, it¡¯s not real power. Especially not in this world. You¡¯ve been left to my discretion because I took that authority, and because no one with the power to challenge me will do so. Not over you. Which is why I am assuming you chose this low magic zone for your little scheme.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t that little.¡± ¡°A matter of perspective, I suppose.¡± ¡°You were like this on Earth, too. Acting as if our concerns were too small for you to bother with on anything but a whim.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°They were.¡± ¡°I realised that, after coming here. But now we¡¯re here, and you¡¯re still acting more important than everyone else.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not me that¡¯s important. I have responsibilities.¡± ¡°Saving the world again? In an unexplained way, from an indeterminate threat, but trust you, it¡¯s really important?¡± ¡°Stop that. You know I like banter, so you¡¯re trying to engage me. Make me like you.¡± ¡°Is it working?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had better,¡± he said, but a smile teased the corners of his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m not going to kill you, Miss Li, or hand you over to the local authorities. As much as I do like the directness of how things are done here, the more discretionary the power, the greater the chance for corruption. This place can be barbaric, and the only check on that is the moral compass of whoever has the power.¡± ¡°No world is perfect, I suppose.¡± ¡°No. Same for the people in them, even those of us who get to travel to both.¡± Their meandering path led out of the warehouse district and into a nicer area, close to a small university campus. The buildings were a mix of sandstone blocks and the region¡¯s signature green brick. There were tall, thin trees, similar to palms. Leafy green plants grew out of pots and alcoves, or dangled from balconies. Water features were prominent, from channels that fed the abundant plant life to fountains placed at road junctions as roundabouts. ¡°They call this the Oasis City,¡± Li Mei said. ¡°There are multiple apertures to the water astral space here. Apparently, some cult tried to sabotage them years ago, but they are well guarded, here. The cult had more luck out in the desert, so I¡¯ve heard.¡± ¡°They did.¡± ¡°You were involved?¡± ¡°Peripherally. I was still in training when the big battle took place in the water astral space itself, so I missed out. Which was good, because a lot of people more powerful than me died, including my friend Farrah.¡± ¡°This is a different Farrah from the one with you on Earth?¡± ¡°No. I died too, later, fighting the being that cult worships. When I came back to life on Earth, some cosmic entities decided that she should as well. They thought there should be at least one person I can trust there.¡± ¡°There were a lot of reports, back on Earth. Interviews with people who encountered you. You used to talk off-the-cuff about things so outlandish that we would dismiss them as nonsense. Like coming back from the dead. Now, I realise that at least some of them were true. I¡¯m more credulous than I was, but cosmic beings bringing people back from the dead is a lot, even for this world.¡± ¡°Go ask the goddess of death. Her church gave me a certificate to say how many times I¡¯ve died.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the death god a man?¡± ¡°Gods like to keep things flexible in that regard.¡± ¡°You say that like you know a lot of gods.¡± ¡°How much of this is you pretending not to have exhaustively researched everything you could about me after getting to Pallimustus?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°Your aura reveals your emotions to me, Miss Li. You are doing a remarkable job of hiding your fear, by the way. I used to do that, but I lost the knack. It¡¯s healthier to work through the emotions than bottle them up, believe me.¡± ¡°I saw you murder people on television with your mind, Mr Asano. I believe you.¡± ¡°Good. Now, enough about me. Tell me about this operation of yours. The local authorities are worried that you¡¯re quietly fundraising an undead army or something.¡± ¡°Why would I do that?¡± ¡°They don¡¯t know you. They have no idea what you would and wouldn¡¯t do, and the worst-case scenario is always bad on this world. It wasn¡¯t that far from here that a blood cult was trying to summon a world eating leech monster.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you summon a leech monster?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a good boy,¡± he said defensively. ¡°Anyway, the point is that they don¡¯t know what you want because they don¡¯t know you. You were careful about that part.¡± ¡°Not careful enough.¡± ¡°You were doing quite well, until gold rankers came along. In this part of the world, that¡¯s bringing a bazooka to a knife fight. Belinda and Estella have decades of experience at spying and thieving. Disguise magic too strong for anyone here to see through, and perception that can listen to you from three buildings over. Hardly anyone uses privacy magic here. Few people have the perception to make it worthwhile, so using a privacy screen here makes you stand out more than whispering in a corner in a big black cloak.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how they found me? Because I was using a privacy shield?¡± ¡°It was a data point. Overall, they were very impressed with how you set everything up. They suggested I hire you.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to build up a staff, to smooth out my return to Earth. It¡¯s going to get complicated, especially once they think they know how powerful I am.¡± ¡°Once they think they know?¡± ¡°Best they don¡¯t find out how powerful I actually am.¡± ¡°And telling me means either you¡¯re lying and want me to tell them, or you don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to.¡± A sanguine smile was the only response she got. ¡°You know that going back to Earth is no small thing, magically. I looked into it.¡± ¡°I have better options than most.¡± ¡°Any options are better options than most. Messenger magic?¡± ¡°Amongst other things, but we¡¯re talking about you. Take me through the basics of your operation.¡± ¡°Simple enough. A basic protection racket using disenfranchised workers as my leverage. Wouldn¡¯t work in the cities where the industry associations work a lot like unions. In the remote areas, though, it¡¯s all aristocratic owners and exploited workforces. All I had to do was exploit them better. A town meeting here, a pamphlet there. A few well-placed figureheads who are handy with a rhyming slogan. Did you ever see the episode of Justified where Boyd Crowder convinces the townsfolk to sell their land to Mags Bennett?¡± ¡°How good was Walton Goggins in that? My sister said he had a tooth essence, of all things. Sorry, what was your point?¡± ¡°I paid charismatic people with folksy charm and no morals to convince people to do what I want. I may have also accidentally invented country music here.¡± ¡°The good kind? I love me some Dolly Parton or Johnny Cash.¡± ¡°No. The kind that panders to the audience with iconic rural imagery to mask an underlying political agenda.¡± ¡°Maybe I should hand you over to the Adventure Society. You¡¯re a monster.¡± ¡°The point is, I rile people up until they cause trouble, then the families pay me to grease the wheels of industry. I get paid and the locals get some token gesture so they feel like they got a win.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t get pushback from the families?¡± ¡°They sent some people to look around. Rough up random people. If they were competent, they wouldn¡¯t be working as thugs for aristocrat families at the bottom of the magical barrel. They quickly realised I was careful enough that paying me would be cheaper than finding me.¡± ¡°Is that why you did it here, so close to where I lived? The low grade of industry thug?¡± ¡°In a way. What the low magic gets me is an absence of everything that high magic gets me. Do you know what it¡¯s like in a big adventuring city?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°But not in the same way I do, I suspect. You had proper adventurer training. Powerful connections. It¡¯s different when you¡¯re an untrained core user from another world. In the big cities, that makes you a waste of potential at best and an experimental subject at worst.¡± ¡°A big change from your treatment on Earth. Low magic zones gave you some of that back?¡± ¡°Yes. I got out of Estercost. The whole country is bubbling with magic. I did some wandering. It was easy enough to pass for an aristocrat from some place no one has heard of, on the outs from my family.¡± ¡°You seem to have done alright for yourself.¡± ¡°I discovered the advantages of low magic zones. They don¡¯t look down on core users as much, and silver rankers are the peak elites. In places like this, I got some of the respect that I missed from Earth. And once I had that, I could make money.¡± ¡°For what? I¡¯ve heard you¡¯re raking it in, but if it¡¯s not to fund a wacky necromancer, what are you doing with it?¡± ¡°Did you know that you can buy gold-rank monster cores here?¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°So? Do you have any sense of how hard those are to get your hands on back on Earth? They let me look at one once. Through reinforced glass while flanked by armed guards. Here, you can just walk into a trade hall and buy them. It takes an ungodly amount of money, thus, the racket, but you can just buy them. For money!¡± ¡°You want to reach gold rank?¡± ¡°Who doesn¡¯t want to reach gold rank?¡± ¡°Fair enough. You couldn¡¯t find anything more legitimate?¡± ¡°Breaking into new markets is hard, and I was no mercantile expert on Earth, let alone this planet. But people, when you get down to it, are always the same. Australian, Chinese, elf, leonid. People are people, rich people are rich people, and they do what rich people do.¡± ¡°Exploit poor people.¡± ¡°Exactly. I¡¯ve been running this game all over. For years, now, going from one low magic zone to the next. Never pushing too hard, never overextending, and never overstaying my welcome. This isn¡¯t the first time I was heading to a sudden and discreet exit. Just the first time I was caught.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not what I¡¯d call moral.¡± ¡°There are worse things to do that stir up people with legitimate grievances. I may even have accidentally instigated positive social change, once or twice.¡± They were passing by a water fountain with a lot of foot traffic moving around it. There was a wide, slightly damp lip for people to sit, and Jason did so. Li Mei followed suit. He contemplated her words for a while, wondering how much was true and what was a lie. He could read the emotions in her aura, but using that as a lie detector was more complicated than he made out. Which he was certain she knew. He could read her emotions, but her aura control was very solid now, which it had not been on Earth. She was very good at regimenting how her mind was reflected in her aura, making it harder for an observer to glean information from it. He had to respect that, given that it was a talent he excelled at himself. He also suspected that her actual mind was as well-organised as her aura, something he had not exceled at. She was good at framing the facts in such a way that they pointed where she wanted, instead of at the truth. ¡°If you came to work for me,¡± he said, ¡°your loyalty would have to be to me. Not China, not one of the magical factions. Not even my clan, back on Earth. To me.¡± ¡°You want to offer me a job?¡± ¡°Maybe. Haven¡¯t decided, yet.¡± ¡°When I saw you in my storage building, I thought it was the end. The dangers back on Earth were sedate for someone like me. When we met, you were fun, na?ve, charming. A little dangerous, but that was exciting. By the time you were killing people with your aura on television, I knew all that was left was dangerous. I thought you were a maniac. Then, I¡¯m about to go on the run and there you are. It felt like I was standing with a cliff at my back, and you were there to push me off. I remember what you were like, back on Earth. At the end. No one knew if you were going to make a joke or snap and kill twenty people.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had a lot of therapy. And I know what it¡¯s like to be desperate and alone, in a world you don¡¯t understand. This is not a cliff, Miss Li, and I¡¯m not trying to push you off.¡± ¡°So you say. What if I tell you that I don¡¯t want to work for you?¡± ¡°Then you can catch a ride back to Earth with the rest. Any earthlings I can round up. I¡¯ll take you all back to Earth, unless you don¡¯t want to go.¡± ¡°I want to go. After everything I¡¯ve seen and learned here? I¡¯m going to have so much money and power it¡¯s obscene.¡± ¡°Not interested in working for me, then?¡± ¡°Of course I¡¯m interested. In this city, diamond rankers are practically a myth but, from what I hear, they¡¯ve been hanging around you like you¡¯re all golf buddies. I¡¯ve heard that you tend to get caught up in crazy things, but everyone in your orbit is wealthy and famous. Standing next to you is like complaining that the hailstones are made of gold. The only problem I¡¯ll have is getting you to trust me. Because you probably shouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not promising to take you on, just take you to Earth. But if Stella and Lindy say you¡¯re worth it, I¡¯m not going to ignore that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to say yes to that. Or no. If your offer is real, I¡¯d like to talk to some of your people. See what I¡¯m potentially getting into.¡± ¡°And I need to look into what you¡¯ve been up to before I make that offer. See what kind of person I¡­¡± She looked at him as he trailed off, looking around with suspicion on his expression. ¡°Something¡¯s here,¡± he said and stood up off the side of the fountain. ¡°Something that¡¯s very good at¡ª¡± A massive sword blade erupted from his chest. Chapter 914: Cook the Crap Out of Some Toast The blade sticking out of Jason¡¯s chest was wide and thick, more suited to bludgeoning than cutting or stabbing. It had been shoved through his body with raw force, the dark metal jutting from his torso. He tried to shove it back out of his body, but his arms wouldn¡¯t move. His entire body was paralysed. He felt the blade draining his energy, but this was no mana drain. It was tapping into the fundamental energy of his being, and that was a problem. His core power flowed from the universe that was his true body, and that power was infinite. His body was unable to contain infinite power, however, and he doubted the sword drinking it in could either. Once one or both reached the limits of their capacity, that magic was going to erupt. ¡°What the¡­?¡± The words of what presumably was his attacker were timed with a tugging on the sword, but it was lodged in his body. His body wasn¡¯t moving either, anchored in place as the power from his universe was leached out, blending into Pallimustus. Jason was frozen in place, but the surge of power was charging his aura like a toaster running off a fusion reactor. It was going to burn out real soon, but it was going to cook the crap out of some toast. He fired off some quick messages as he expanded his senses over the city. If he couldn¡¯t get away from it, he would get everyone else away from him. *** Li Mei was a bundle of frayed nerves. For fifteen years she¡¯d been afraid of meeting Jason Asano again. Would he kill her? Ignore her? Completely forget who she was? When they finally met, the prim, collected persona she built up over the years fell apart. It felt oddly like when her father had sent her to the USA to study, as if nothing she had learned had prepared her for it. Maybe that¡¯s why she fell back into her old patterns from that time. Loose, confused, uncertain. Trying to paint over a rising panic with forced casualness. In the end, none of her fears came to pass. She didn¡¯t bear the brunt of old grudges, and she wasn¡¯t some forgotten irrelevance. Of all the potential outcomes, she hadn¡¯t expected to be offered a job. Her instinct was to leap at the chance, but she knew that two worlds worth of complications would come from that. It was not a decision to be made quickly or lightly. ¡°And I need to look into what you¡¯ve been up to before I make that offer,¡± he said as they sat on the lip of the fountain. ¡°See what kind of person I¡­¡± He trailed off, looking around as if he¡¯d heard something suspicious. ¡°Something¡¯s here,¡± he said as he stood up. ¡°Something that¡¯s very good at¡ª¡± She didn¡¯t see it coming. One moment there was nothing, and the next, a man in black and red armour was standing behind Asano. A massive sword, if you could even call it that, had been run through Asano¡¯s body. The blade was more a slab of black metal, streaked with red, than a plausible weapon. It looked like something from an anime. Asano wasn¡¯t moving, hanging from the blade like a corpse. The attacker yanked on the blade, but it refused to budge. He said something in a language she didn¡¯t know, sounding surprised. That was when a system window appeared in front of her.
System Alert: Boko
¡°What?¡± Li Mei said, as did many of the people around her. Then aura flooded out of Jason like the descent of a god. Her mind went blank as a whimper escaped her. When she came to her senses, she was floating over the city along with what looked like the entire population, flying over rooftops like a swarm of insects. There were cries of alarm as others came to and realised what was happening. That aura was still present, battering against her mind like a hurricane ripping at shuttered windows. Below, more people were rising into the air, through windows and out of doors that slammed open. She saw a roof rip itself off a building and set down on a nearby one, a large group rising from the now-open room beneath. She twisted as much as she could in the air, feeling like she was clutched in some kind of invisible cushion. As best she could tell, the population of Boko were being lifted into the air and being moved directly away from Jason and his attacker. *** Back in Greenstone, Clive was in a bakery. With him was the childlike humanoid version of Onslow, his shell parked on the street like a carriage. Stash was sitting on top of the shell in the form of a young man, drooling over the baked goods displayed in the window. The staff were gathered around Clive¡¯s adorable familiar, handing him free samples as their manager looked on unhappily. Clive gave him an awkward smile and apologetic shrug.
System Alert: Boko and Greenstone Region
¡°We¡¯re going,¡± Clive said, pushing past the bakery staff to pick Onslow up like a child. He marched outside as Onslow¡¯s shell grew even larger to accommodate them. Clive, Stash and mini-Onslow stepped inside, and the shell lifted into the air.
As Onslow sped through the air, Clive opened a portal in front of them and they passed through it. They arrived in Boko, in the square set aside for teleport arrivals at the Adventure Society campus. It was a scene of chaos as people streamed out of buildings, dangling in the air as if held by invisible hands. There was yelling and powers being fired off. Clive saw an adventurer teleport and arrive right next to Onslow¡¯s shell, looking at it in surprise before yelping as she was yanked into the air again. Humphrey teleported in with Sophie and Farrah. His mother did the same a moment later with Neil, as well as Gabriel and Arabelle Remore. They piled into Onslow¡¯s shell and it took off. ¡°That message said blast,¡± Danielle said. ¡°That man was born to agitate people.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the wide area ritual magic specialist,¡± Clive said to Farrah. ¡°How fast can you improvise a large containment ritual?¡± ¡°Lindy¡¯s help would be good,¡± she said. ¡°She¡¯s the improvisation expert. We¡¯ll need your abilities to cast something that big, that fast, though.¡± Shade emerged from Farrah¡¯s shadow. ¡°Miss Belinda is being flown here as we speak,¡± he said. ¡°Miss Estella is being evacuated with everyone else.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Shade, what¡¯s happening?¡± Humphrey asked. ¡°Mr Asano has been subject to an attack. The attack is apparently an attempt to kill him using some weapon that drains his power. Unfortunately, his power in infinite, and the weapon just keeps draining it.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s going to reach a threshold where either the weapon or Jason¡¯s avatar can¡¯t contain it and its going to blow up,¡± Clive realised. ¡°We need to get this ritual going fast.¡± ¡°What about the attacker?¡± Humphrey asked. ¡°The attacker is currently unknown, but appears to be a human in armour. He also appears to be stuck to Mr Asano, which appears to be a surprise to him.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think my skill set will help us here,¡± Danielle said. ¡°I¡¯m going to find the city leaders and see if I can help bring some order to what is going to be panic and chaos. Gabriel, Arabelle, will you join me?¡± ¡°Gabe will,¡± Arabelle said. She was staring out at the people still flying out of the city, screaming and yelling. ¡°I¡¯m going to start organising healers. Even if everyone gets out alive, this is going to be a mess. Neil, will you join me?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Neil said. *** Four Voices of the Will stood around a viewing pool. The image in the still water was from a vantage point far above Boko, and they watched their assassin appear. His weapon punched through Asano¡¯s body, which went limp. ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± one of them said. ¡°Our forces are marshalled,¡± said another. ¡°Prepare to activate the gates,¡± the third commanded. ¡°It is time,¡± the fourth said, ¡°for an example to be made. To the denizens of this world, and our own kind, too timid to act.¡± *** Onslow wove a path through the air, Clive standing atop his shell. A trail of gold was left behind by Clive¡¯s outstretched hand, sky-writing a massive ritual circle. As he went, the runes on Onslow¡¯s shell lit up and floated into the air, becoming part of the ritual. Inside the shell, Farrah and Belinda were madly going through books and scribbling notes, yelling up instructions at Clive. ¡°How are we doing?¡± Farrah asked Humphrey. ¡°Uh, quite well,¡± Humphrey said, sounding surprised. He was standing at the edge of the shell, holding out a measuring device Clive had given him. It looked like a glass plate with an image like shifting water projected onto it. A rod ending in an orb jutted from the bottom. ¡°It should not be really good,¡± Belinda said. ¡°It says the power levels are decreasing.¡± ¡°Sophie,¡± Belinda said, eyes still on her work. ¡°Please make sure he¡¯s not holding it upside down.¡± ¡°Is the rod and orb thing meant to pointing up or down?¡± Sophie asked. ¡°Up.¡± Humphrey sheepishly turned the device around in his hands, then looked at the readings again. ¡°Oh,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s going really badly.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Sophie said, patting him on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re still pretty.¡± *** Jason¡¯s body was still frozen and his overcharged aura was growing more unstable by the moment. He ignored the pain searing through his body as the power ramped up. It was enough that if he let go, he would explode, and he wanted to do exactly that. The longer he held on, the greater the blast would be, but the containment ritual wasn¡¯t yet in place. He had sent the city residents as far away as he could. He¡¯d dropped them in the desert, as far as he could from the city walls. It would hopefully be enough to save them from the blast, so long as it was contained. The city was now empty, other than his team and anyone who could hide from his aura senses. The temples were dark to his perception, and there could always be some powerful people lying low. They would have to take care of themselves.
*** The Duke of Boko looked at Gabriel¡¯s increasingly worried expression. ¡°Is something bad happening?¡± he asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him,¡± Danielle said. ¡°That¡¯s about something else.¡± *** Fragments of Jason¡¯s body were turning to rainbow smoke and coming off him in streams. He still hung limp, impaled on the sword that was stuck in place as if by glue. Jason was long past recognising his surroundings and hadn¡¯t seen his attacker cut his own arm off. It hadn¡¯t helped, the severed stump still gripped by the magic.
Jason exploded. It was perfectly silent, eradicating everything in its path in a wave of gold, silver and blue light. It expanded out until it reached the invisible dome of the containment spell, covering most of the city. The dome became visible, shedding blue and gold light. It was comprised of interlinked hexes, each with a rune set into it. The dome shuddered, the runes glowing brightly while emitting a high pitch sound. The tone lowered over time, from a screech, all the way down to a thunderous rumble. By which point the dome was shaking like a bouncy castle full of kids hopped up on sugar. The runes started going dark, first at scattered points and then in larger clusters. *** Jason¡¯s friends looked back as they flew across the sky inside Onslow. He was fast and they didn¡¯t want to risk a portal with so much magic floating around. The dome wouldn¡¯t last long, and they could all feel the magic from above, now. ¡°That¡¯s portal magic,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°I¡¯ve never felt it on that scale. How does that even work in a low-magic zone like this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Clive said. They leaned out of the shell to look up. As they had sensed, massive portals started opening up in the sky. ¡°We¡¯ve seen this before,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Yes, we have,¡± Clive said grimly as messengers geysered from the portals. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what to do about that.¡± Their eyes were drawn back to the dome as explosions started sounding out. Hexes were shattering and force was shooting out through the gaps. The gaps grew larger and larger, letting more force out, but most of it had been spent while the dome still held. Inside the dome, the light was gone, as was almost any trace of the city. A perfect sphere had been carved out of the ground, as if simply deleted, leaving behind only smooth, round sides. The only remnants of the city were temples now floating in the air, shielded from the blast by divine power. The only other thing in the sphere was a small cloud of darkness, within which sparks of ethereal light danced like the ghosts of fireflies. The stillness inside the space was sharply contrasted by violence outside of it. The explosive force from the detonating dome tore through the parts of the city left outside the containment area. Buildings were levelled and gardens stripped down to the dirt. Trees and chunks of building were flung through the air, adding to the damage. Onslow sealed the sides of his shell to protect his occupants, mini-Onslow clinging to Clive¡¯s leg as the shell rocked like a boat in a storm. ¡°We need to regroup with the others,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°I didn¡¯t see how many messengers that was, or how strong they were, but we¡¯re about to have a fight on our hands. They knew this was coming, and we didn¡¯t, so expect them to have every advantage.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this normally the part where Jason comes back to life and does something ridiculous?¡± Belinda asked. They all looked at each other, then waited awkwardly. ¡°Okay,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°It would have been nice. But it looks like¡ª¡±
System Alert: Sacred Phoenix Chapter 915: The Benevolence of a Nightmare God The city of Boko was gone. The outer regions had been left as little more than rubble when the blast containment zone gave out, and the space within the zone was just a hole carved out of the ground. All that remained were floating temples, shielded by their gods, and a cloud of darkness in the middle. In the wake of the destruction, numerous massive portals had opened, high above the ruins. Sheets of gold, silver and blue light, they disgorged an army of messengers into the sky. This was no heavenly host, however, as they descended from the sky in the direction of the city¡¯s survivors. Most of Boko¡¯s ninety thousand people had been evacuated. Jason had used aura control to bodily lift them out of the city. His aura had been overcharged with a flood of power from his astral kingdom, making the astounding feat possible. But as the power had grown, and Jason¡¯s avatar further degraded, his control over than power had slipped. His aura became a spiritual wildfire, beyond his ability to contain or direct. Local essence users did their best to protect the low rankers around them from it, but they were weak and poorly trained themselves. Many normal-rank evacuees, mostly the very old and the very young, were outright killed. Brain haemorrhages and heart attacks took those too weak to survive the stress the aura placed on them. Then the blast came, and the aura was gone. There was an eerie stillness, like the calm before the storm, as the messengers descended in silence. Adventurers prepared to fend off the assault, but the messengers kept gushing from the portals by the thousand. Boko was not a strong adventuring city, and even with visiting gold rankers, the battle ahead was a grim proposition. Then the aura came back. It was just as powerful now, if not more so, but no longer harmful to the people of Boko. It was completely stable and in control, calming those previously traumatised by it, even settling some of the panic that set in from the evacuation. It was a promise to shield them from those who had taken their homes and were even now descending from the sky. A promise to make their attackers pay, and to make them pay in torment. It was the benevolence of a nightmare god, filled with wrath at the transgression against his chosen. Those it protected, the confused and despairing, gained fresh hope. More than that, they gained a shared certainty that it was about to become a very bad day to be a messenger.
System Alert: Sacred Phoenix
A dark shape rose from the hole in the ground that was once the city of Boko and ascended towards the messengers. A vast, dark bird, speckled with lights like a starry night, limned in ethereal silver flames. It made no sound, yet the same aura that offered hope to the people below resounded like thunder to the messengers. It erupted amongst them like an explosion, battering them into one another. Wings and limbs tangled, turning diving attacks into uncontrolled falls. The messengers fell into chaos, their formations falling apart as they were knocked around like laundry in a tumble dryer. The adventurers on the ground had been steeling their resolve for the battle ahead. Now they watched as the bird of flame-wreathed darkness rose to meet the messenger army. It flew into the host, not crashing into them but passing through like a ghost. Every messenger it touched began a process of slow, miserable death. Their skin blackened with necrosis and feathers fell from shrivelled wings. Ethereal fire flared on their bodies, the ghost flame not burning but accelerating the rot. From the dying messengers, butterflies of blue and orange started to emerge and spread to others not yet affected. Each one that reached a messenger put them on the same path to a torturous demise. More butterflies spread from them in turn, as their flesh decayed and their bodies lit up with ethereal silver flames. The messengers attacked the butterflies to stave them off but, on destruction, the butterflies turned into clouds of sparks. The clouds moved slowly, but the messengers were thick in the air and still being battered by the aura. The sparks didn¡¯t spread more butterflies, but anything they touched still decayed. The ghost fire phoenix arced a graceful path through the messenger host. The heart of the invading army had become a realm of misery and death. On the periphery, messengers gave up on the attack and were fleeing as fast as their wings would carry them. Their wings cast shadows onto their bodies from the sun overhead, and from those shadows came their doom. Shadowy arms, thrust out of the shadows on their bodies, like spiders digging their way out of egg sacks. The dark limbs were angular and macabre, and each held an ornate black and red dagger. Those daggers stabbed into the messengers again and again, the wounds swiftly turning black as the flesh around it died. *** Danielle Geller looked up in the sky as the dark bird rose from the ruins of Boko to meet the messengers head on. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the power on display. It was immediately apparent that her greatest fear, an attack on the evacuated populace, had been forestalled.
System Alert: Ambient Magic Change
She frowned at the system message. This was god-level business, and that was when innocent people got killed. Collateral damage in the wars of giants. She turned her attention back to the scattered people of Boko, milling in an understandable panic. She did note that the rise of the bird and the aura that came with it had a blessedly calming effect on the people, as reflected in their own auras. She saw immediately that the biggest threat after the messengers would be the sun. The locals were used to the climate, but that included making thorough preparations before heading out into the desert. Being ripped from their homes and dropped amongst the empty dunes was the opposite of being prepared; as the early afternoon heat intensified, things were only going to get worse. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Of tens of thousands of evacuated citizens, most were normal rank, and would die without water and shelter. They were also traumatised by exposure to Jason¡¯s unstable aura, many left incapacitated and some even killed. Those ostensibly in charge were struggling to find one another, let alone bring any kind of order of the chaos. People were doing their best, be they adventurers, Adventure Society officials, civic administrators or simply anyone else able to keep their heads. Small groups were doing what they could on their own. A local Magic Society official had managed to get some of his people together and start distributing a simple climate control ritual that would set up small zones that cooled the people within. While each zone could only accommodate a few families, the ritual only required spirit coins as a material component. It was also simple enough that anyone with a basic knowledge of ritual magic could enact. It was a race against time as the desert heat ramped up. Fortunately, the increased level of magic Jason had created made larger and more powerful rituals an option. The efforts to implement those were being led by ritual magic experts like Clive, Farrah and Belinda. Clive had even put aside his scorn for the Magic Society to take charge of their people. The Magic Society branch director let the higher rank Clive take charge of the magic, focusing instead on finding and organising his people. He was issuing directives as Clive drew out a massive ritual diagram nearby. He looked at the lines of golden light, a match for the ones he¡¯d seen drawn in the air during the evacuation. ¡°Were you the one who put up that containment dome?¡± he asked. ¡°Not just me, but yes.¡± ¡°How did you use magic on that scale when the magic level is so low?¡± ¡°The containment dome fed off the magic it was containing.¡± ¡°And you just happened to have a perfectly calibrated ritual designed to do that over such a large area, in these specific conditions, with that specific kind of energy?¡± ¡°Of course not, but I was already familiar with the energy in question. The rest we figured out as we went.¡± ¡°Are you saying you improvised a city-scale, off-rank ritual magic off the top of your head?¡± ¡°Like I said, I didn¡¯t do it by myself.¡± ¡°Even so, that¡¯s madness.¡± ¡°Look around, Director. When you get days like these, only madness will do.¡± ¡°You say that like you¡¯ve seen things like this before.¡± ¡°Not many times, but yes.¡± ¡°Who are you people?¡± Belinda ducked in front of the director and shook his hand. ¡°Team Biscuit, pleased to meet you. Clive, you done? We need you.¡± ¡°Give me thirty seconds.¡± *** The messenger army had departed from a shared staging area inside a region on the far side of the planet. Massive portal gates floated in the air, through which the army had departed, leaving behind only a fraction of the forces belonging to the four astral kings who owned them. Inside a nearby room, four Voices of the Will were observing the far side of the portal gates through a viewing pool. They watched as the ghost fire phoenix ravaged their army. Although none of them would ever voice the sentiment, each were happy that their portals only operated one way. They were startled when they sensed a new portal open in the staging area, but a small one, sized for a person. The messenger who emerged could have passed for a very tall human. His wings were nowhere to be seen and he stood only seven feet tall, short for a messenger. His clothes, brown and dark red, were more fitted than the loose apparel most messengers favoured. He also walked on the ground in boots, rather than floating over it in bare feet or sandals. He strode across the staging area, a furious expression on his face. Every messenger who looked his way fell to the ground and had a seizure. He reached the room containing the four Voices, and instead of flying in through the entrance above, he tore a hole in the wall with his aura. Inside, the Voices lined up like soldiers under inspection. ¡°I have no interest in dealing with minions,¡± the newcomer said, his fury caged inside his curt tone. ¡°Get out here. Now.¡± The four Voices floated to the ground and dropped to one knee. Above each, a ghostly image of their astral king appeared. The astral kings all bowed their heads before the man who had called on them. ¡°We pay respect to Jamis Fran Muskar,¡± one of them said. ¡°Respect?¡± Jamis snarled. ¡°You directly defied the explicit instructions of the Council of Kings, and then have the mind-bogglingly incomprehensible GALL to utter the word ¡®respect¡¯ to me?¡± ¡°We felt¡ª¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you felt. It matters what you were told.¡± ¡°We are all astral kings, Jamis Fran Muskar. The Council of Kings may guide us, but you do not rule us.¡± Jamis stared at him, the anger in his expression replaced with contemplation. ¡°We let you think that,¡± he said, ¡°so you wouldn¡¯t go off and do something stupid out of misguided rebellion. But since you¡¯ve gone and done it for the sake of stupidity, let me make it clear: yes, we rule you. And you will pay for your defiance.¡± ¡°Jason Asano¡ª¡± ¡°Matters a lot more than you. How old are you all? A few centuries? A millennium? What have you accomplished, beyond treading the path that was laid out for you? We are the ones who allowed you to become astral kings, and what have you done with that opportunity? Walked the most well-trodden road you could find. Never deviating. Never innovating. Never setting your own course. Asano has accomplished more in half a century than all of you put together.¡± ¡°Many of those accomplishments come at our cost!¡± ¡°So? Which of us has not fought against another of our kind? We are kings, with few true sins to be committed, yet you seem intent on committing them all. Let us start listing them with your loss of control. Your diamond rankers refused to take part in this debacle. That is what we call a hint that you may want to reconsider your approach.¡± ¡°Mah Go Schaat convinced our diamond rankers to abstain.¡± ¡°Wisely,¡± Jamis said, gesturing at the viewing pool. ¡°That is cosmic power he¡¯s wielding out there. He¡¯s holding back so he doesn¡¯t blow a hole in the side of the universe. If they had faced Asano like that, they¡¯d have died, just as Mah Go Schaat did. And, in the absence of your diamond rankers, you committed the second sin: debasing yourself by making a deal with lesser beings. A deal that I am now obligated to honour, despite the disaster you¡¯ve made of it. Which brings us to your final and greatest sin: failure.¡± ¡°Who could have anticipated something like this?¡± ¡°THE COUNCIL OF KINGS!¡± Jamis roared, as if shouting could drill his words through a wall of obstinate stupidity. ¡°The council explains nothing.¡± ¡°Because the council does not answer to you. You answer to it, and when you decided not to, you made a grand mess that I now have to clean up.¡± ¡°What would you have us do? Is Asano is allowed to strike at us, without our striking back?¡± ¡°Yes. He is of my kind, not yours.¡± ¡°We are all astral kings.¡± ¡°But we are not all relevant. I don¡¯t know your names, and after today, you should be very careful about my not needing to find them out. You are inconsequential, when I¡¯d offer him a seat on the Council of Kings today. If he¡¯d take it.¡± ¡°He is our enemy.¡± ¡°For now, yes. But he is fighting us in passing. Protecting his lands and his people, as any of us would. What you have done here will echo through time. Asano is one of us, and will be forever. You¡¯re trying to kill him why? To deny him a prime avatar for a quarter of a century? Let¡¯s put aside the fact that he will certainly find a way to shave most, if not all of that time away. The real point is that it leaves an eternity for him to remember.¡± ¡°We are immortal. He cannot kill us, however much he wants it.¡± ¡°And he won¡¯t. But a millennium from now, someone is going to tell you that every birthing planet you own just got destroyed. We need him to forget the concerns of his mortal life, and you are searing them into his mind.¡± ¡°Is your intention to try and punish us?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have to,¡± Jamis said. ¡°I already told you that he¡¯s one of us. Your failure to grasp the ramifications of that only compounds your failure.¡± ¡°Ramifications?¡± Jamis grinned. ¡°There are many, but what should concern you right now is one of the most fundamental. It apparently never occurred to you that, as an astral king, he has an astral gate.¡± That was when they sensed the shift in the portals outside. The sheets of gold, silver and blue energy trembled like a pond during an earthquake. Then the one-way portals were suddenly two-way, and dark tentacles burst through. Heading straight for the building, some passed through the hole Jamis had made, while others made holes of their own. The images of the astral kings vanished, their confused Voices of the Will coming to their senses just in time to get grabbed. A tentacle went after Jamis, throwing off sparks like an arc welder as it met an invisible barrier and was stopped dead. Jamis stood casually, hands in his pockets as the voices were dragged away. Chapter 916: Pretext The messenger host of more than ten thousand had been cut down to stragglers. A swarm of shadowy figures dashed through the air through the air, collecting the rotted husks of the dead as they fell. The bodies were all dropped into the hole where the city of Boko had once been. The great portals in the air were gone, having trembled and ultimately collapsed. The last messengers to emerge had been dragged out by the dark bird wreathed in silver flame. Tendrils of darkness had extended from its body, reached into the portals and dragged out four Voices of the Will. Even bound up, they had started to domineeringly demand their freedom. Their arguments lasted only a few words before the tendrils cut them into slices like vegetables. The shadowy figures moved to collect the pieces and deposit them with the rest. When the last of the messengers were dead, the ghost fire phoenix descended into the hole, now host to a small mountain of corpses. The bird shrank as it neared the bottom of the hole, transforming into a naked man as it reached the ground. Blood seeped from the man¡¯s pores to cover his body, then coagulated and dried into a set of dark red robes. ¡°Thank you, Colin,¡± Jason said quietly.
System Alert: System Administrator
Jason grimaced as he stared at the pile of dead. He no longer had trouble maintaining his identity while in a transcendent state, but it was still a deeply altered state of mind. In that condition, his emotions were pushed aside. It was useful for acting with a clear head, but the emotions had returned now he once more occupied a mortal avatar. His true self was a living universe from which he projected his consciousness, but that was something he was still getting used to. He remained mortal in many ways, especially in mindset. It was not something he regretted, even as it subjected him to negative emotions. He¡¯d felt people die under the influence of his aura, helpless to stop it. Anger and regret roiled inside him, and that was something he did not want to lose. He looked up at the temples floating in the air. They still had chunks of ground underneath them, torn from the city during its destruction and shielded by the power of the various gods. Now that Jason had withdrawn his influence over the area, the temples were on the move, drifting up and out of the massive hole. Moving in as they departed was a flying tortoise shell full of adventurers. Jason¡¯s team gathered around him, looking him over with concern. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said to the unasked question, but the grim quiet in his voice was unconvincing. ¡°Do we know how many people died yet?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still a mess out there,¡± Farrah said. ¡°We won¡¯t have a solid number for a while. Hundreds, certainly. Probably over a thousand. Hopefully not over two.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t your fault, Jason,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°It may have been your aura, but¡ª¡± ¡°I know where the blame lies,¡± Jason said. ¡°For the most part, anyway. The messengers are dead, although they had someone far more powerful with them. Him, I couldn¡¯t touch.¡± ¡°Not a messenger?¡± ¡°An astral king. In a prime avatar, like me, but without the power reduction. His strength was somewhere around Dawn¡¯s level.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bad enemy to have,¡± Neil said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure he was an enemy. Something in his aura. The only other astral king I¡¯ve dealt with is Vesta Carmis Zell, and her hostility burned like a fire. This man was calm. Detached. At least towards me. The only anger I felt was directed at the Voices of the Will.¡± ¡°The ones you dragged out of the portals and chopped up?¡± Belinda asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What are you doing with all these bodies, anyway?¡± Sophie asked. ¡°You might want to stand back for this,¡± Jason warned them, then quietly incanted a spell. ¡°As your lives were mine to reap, so your deaths are mine to harvest.¡± A red glow rose from the mountain of corpses as Jason¡¯s spell drew out the remnant life force. The air was flooded with the coppery taste of blood, the life force tingling at the senses of Jason¡¯s friends as they backed off. The red light gushed out like a wave to crash over Jason, obscuring him from sight until the torrent of life force diminished and finally depleted. Shade had touched all the bodies while collecting them, so Jason was able to loot them all at once. The mountain broke down as the bodies dissolved into rainbow smoke. A vast plume rose from the hole in the ground, rising into the sky as if from an active volcano. Jason¡¯s friends backed off even further from the stench. Jason didn¡¯t move, standing and watching until it was done. Jason¡¯s friends approached again, once it was safe for their noses. ¡°Is that enough to restore your avatar with the bird thing again if your avatar is killed a second time?¡± Neil asked. ¡°No,¡± Jason said. ¡°It was a lot, but not enough. Too many silver rankers and not enough golds.¡± ¡°We need to hunt some gold-rank messengers, then,¡± Sophie said. Jason pulled a sword from his inventory that was more like a metal gangplank than a sword, despite the lengthy handle. The metal was dark, with red streaks. He held it out for Clive. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Something from the loot?¡± Clive asked. ¡°No. When I was on the verge of erupting, the power around me became volatile and killed the man who stabbed me with this. Once it was no longer in someone else¡¯s possession, I could pull it into my inventory. I was able to discharge it safely in my soul realm, but the power inside my body was too far gone. I couldn¡¯t stop it from detonating, even though the thing causing the problem was removed.¡± Clive took the hefty weapon in both hands and examined it.
Item: [Lesser Celestial Gorger (broken)] (gold rank, uncommon) A specialised weapon designed to absorb magic from matter that combines physical and spiritual energy. It is a crude attempt to replicate a more sophisticated weapon. The large size is to accommodate crude adaptations when the original design could not be functionally duplicated. This weapon has been damaged by excess magic absorption. (weapon, replica, broken).
¡°This is designed to kill gestalt entities like you,¡± Clive said. ¡°Someone designed a weapon just to kill Jason?¡± Humphrey asked. ¡°I doubt it,¡± Clive said. ¡°It was probably designed to kill messengers.¡± ¡°Do you think you can figure out where it came from?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Someone other than the messengers was involved with this.¡± ¡°Why would someone with a messenger-killing sword be working with the messengers?¡± Humphrey asked. ¡°More than that, why would the messengers work with them? They like obedience, not bargains, but I don¡¯t see anyone with a messenger-slaying sword being one of their cowed slaves. And sneaking up on Jason is no small feat, given the power of his senses.¡± ¡°I think his armour might have been designed to hide from messengers,¡± Jason said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t grab it to check, but even when he was right behind me, he was hard to examine. It was like my perception just slid off him.¡± ¡°It might be possible,¡± Clive said. ¡°Our supernatural senses use our auras as a base, and gestalt entities have fundamentally different auras. You could target those aura aspects with specialised stealth equipment. It wouldn¡¯t work against regular essence users, but it would have superior effects against Jason or messengers.¡± ¡°Anything we can use to track my attacker down?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I have some knowledge of magic devices, but we need a specialist for something like this. There used to be someone in Greenstone, Russel Clouns. He helped us figure out what the Builder cult devices did, when the cultists were trying to steal astral spaces. I can check if he¡¯s still around.¡± ¡°You might want to show Carlos Quilido, as well,¡± Neil said. ¡°Why Carlos?¡± Clive asked. ¡°He¡¯s a soul healing specialist.¡± ¡°Early in the war,¡± Neil explained, ¡°he was involved in research on anti-messenger weapons. They thought his speciality might help. Inflicting spiritual damage rather than healing it. Remember when he wanted to experiment on Jason¡¯s gestalt body?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Jason said. ¡°You think he¡¯ll know something?¡± ¡°He might not,¡± Neil said. ¡°Carlos is a priest of the Healer, like me. Using our knowledge of healing techniques to design weapons is the opposite of what we do. Carlos realised he¡¯d lost his way after what happened with Jason and left the project early. Refocused on his vampirism cure project.¡± ¡°We can ask and see where it goes,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°We¡¯ll need to put off our current agenda to hunt down¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± Jason said. ¡°If we were the right team to follow this thread, that would be one thing. But I think this will be a long, slow investigation. This weapon was some kind of replica. I think whoever is using it might be a group, not just one person who decided to work for the messengers on this. The only thing we have to go on is this sword, and if Clive says we should hand it over to a specialist, we should. Let the Adventure Society deal with it.¡± ¡°They came after you!¡± Sophie said. ¡°It¡¯s not about me. I¡¯m alive, but there are plenty of people who aren¡¯t. I¡¯m not going after some group with weapons specialised not just to hurt me, but turn me into a walking disaster zone for any innocent people around me. We can probably manage the risk, now that we know about it, but I¡¯d rather not have to.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of letting some mysterious group just float around out there,¡± Belinda said. ¡°We don¡¯t know what they want, or when they¡¯re going to strike next. Stella and I could¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± Jason said again. ¡°I lost fifteen years letting other people turn me away from my own intentions. I¡¯m not going to let the messengers or whoever is behind this sword dictate my actions.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t just let this stand,¡± Sophie said. ¡°We won¡¯t,¡± Jason said. ¡°I killed all the messengers here. I even dragged out their Voices of the Will and killed them, too, but that doesn¡¯t matter. The astral kings don¡¯t care about their slaves. They¡¯ll live forever and just churn out more as they keep going. This planet, the next one, going on forever.¡± ¡°That¡¯s disheartening,¡± Neil said. ¡°You¡¯re saying there¡¯s nothing we can do?¡± ¡°There¡¯s something I can do,¡± Jason told him. ¡°They have forever, but so do I. So do you, if you reach diamond rank and stop getting older. We can¡¯t kill immortals, but we can destroy everything they¡¯ve built up. Right now, I¡¯m vulnerable. There are too many people I care about that they can hurt. A thousand years from now, those people will be strong enough to protect themselves, or long dead. I can spend an eternity unmaking messenger society. Burning every birthing tree. Razing every indoctrination centre. Freeing every slave and turning them against their masters, until the only messengers left don¡¯t serve the astral kings, but fight them. It might take a million years. A billion, but I have a billion. What I need is a purpose to fill all that time.¡± Jason looked around at his friends. They watched him with worried eyes as, with calm determination, he announced a billion-year jihad. ¡°Perhaps we should focus on a more immediate timeframe,¡± Humphrey suggested. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to helping the displaced population. You might want to donate all the loot from those messengers to the reconstruction¡­ Jason?¡± Jason had turned his head as Humphrey was talking, staring at an empty space nearby. Moments later, a portal appeared and a man stepped out. He was extremely tall, with copper hair and dark eyes. His clothes were red and brown, cut in the fitted Estercost style. Jason saw what he was immediately, while his friends were wary but uncertain. Humphrey conjured his armour and sword as he stepped to the fore. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Humphrey,¡± Jason said. ¡°He¡¯s here to talk.¡± ¡°Who is he?¡± Humphrey asked not taking his eyes from the man. ¡°And how can you be sure?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know who he is, just what he is. And I¡¯m not sure, but if he wants to kill us, there¡¯s nothing we can do to stop him. But I don¡¯t think he¡¯s willing to pay the price.¡± ¡°The price?¡± Sophie asked, moving next to Humphrey. ¡°Authority is a complicated thing, and there are rules to invading a world. You think the messengers needed locals to summon them to start their invasion? With the dimensional magic they have? Those summonings were an invitation. A pretext for the messengers to intrude on our world.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Neil asked. ¡°This man is an astral king,¡± Jason said. ¡°That¡¯s a prime avatar, like mine, but he has fully developed his mortal power.¡± ¡°This is the one you mentioned earlier,¡± Humphrey realised. ¡°Yes. But there are rules, and if an astral king acts directly, the gods get a pretext of their own. They¡¯ll start scouring messengers from the face of the planet like sweeping up crumbs.¡± He brushed past Humphrey and Sophie. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Mr Astral King?¡± ¡°The name is Jamis Fran Muskar,¡± the man said, after patiently waiting for Jason and his team¡¯s discussion. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking forward to meeting you, Jason Asano.¡± Chapter 917: Eternity Awaits Us ¡°I¡¯ve been looking forward to meeting you, Jason Asano.¡± Jason¡¯s feet lifted off the ground as he floated forward, coming eye to eye with the much taller man. His friends watched warily from behind. ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°These are not the circumstances under which I hoped we would meet. I am here to apologise. I won¡¯t pretend that the people who died here matter to me. That I care about the homes they¡¯ve lost or the impact this will have on their entire lives. But those things matter to you, and that matters to me.¡± ¡°If you think an empty apology will make me less angry instead of more, you have made a dire miscalculation.¡± ¡°I do not intend it to be empty, but we can discuss that in a moment. You and I will know each other for longer than time can measure. This first meeting is no small thing, and I would like to do it properly. When I said these are not the circumstances I hoped for, that was not just a glib line.¡± Jason stared at the messenger for a long time. ¡°Who are you, Jamis Fran Muskar?¡± ¡°I am a member of the Council of Kings, as you have most likely guessed. Some consider me the leader of it, although it has no such thing.¡± ¡°Why do I get the feeling that it does?¡± A flicker of a smile teased the messenger¡¯s lips for just a moment. ¡°A first amongst equals, perhaps. Do not expect me to repeat that in other company, however. Sometimes, to lead means standing behind. You are just beginning your political education, but I have no doubt that time will see you master the nuances.¡± ¡°You know me.¡± ¡°You first came to my attention during your conflict with Vesta Carmis Zell, whose influence has sharply diminished after her failures here. Pursuing her own objectives while the rest of us moved with shared purpose was a dangerous move for her, politically. Failing was disastrous. She was never the most influential member of the council, and now even her position on it is in danger.¡± ¡°Will she be back?¡± ¡°No. Her objective was lost to you, and to join the larger cause now would look like crawling back. She needs to cut her losses and rebuild her power base with other endeavours.¡± ¡°Then I don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°No? In time, she will come at you again.¡± ¡°Let her.¡± A smile twitched on Jamis¡¯ lips again. ¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°Dwelling on defeated enemies is not the way of one who stands at the pinnacle. It is the attitude that an original should have. Do you know much about the originals?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°I know this is far from an opportune time, but would you like to?¡± Jason frowned. He glanced back at his companions, their expressions all saying no. Even Clive, information hungry as he was. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he told them, then turned back to Jamis. ¡°Let¡¯s take a walk.¡± He drifted to the ground and set off, across the curved base of the massive hole. He walked through the space where the mountain of messenger corpses had been, but no trace of them remained. Every scrap and stain had dissolved into rainbow smoke. The crater was barely curved at the bottom, being the size of a city. It was barren and smooth, sealed by the power that hollowed it out. ¡°The originals are like you,¡± Jamis said. ¡°Those who were not messengers yet became astral kings anyway, except they were never just astral kings. You, the astral nexus, blend elements of gods, astral kings, and great astral beings. The astral colossus has a prime avatar larger than most planets. He spends his time drifting through the void of various universes for reasons I could never determine. The astral beast has no prime avatar, as you and I would understand it. He possesses armies of living creatures, spawned from his astral kingdom.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not an original. You¡¯re a normal astral king.¡± ¡°To my envy, I am not of your kind. I told the fools who attacked you that they were not like you and I, but the truth is, I am closer to them than you. Messengers and astral kings are obsessed with superiority, but the truth is, you stand above us all. We tell ourselves differently, but those of us who remember the originals know. Even the name we changed. You were called originators, at first, but it didn¡¯t fit with the myths we built around ourselves.¡± ¡°Originators. The originals were the origin of the messengers?¡± ¡°Yes. We were your messengers. But, over time, the originators retreated into obscurity. More rose, from time to time, but few are like you, Jason Asano. Left to our own devices, we started telling ourselves stories. That we were the prime species of the cosmos, messengers of the cosmic will. Our originators became the originals, not our makers but merely the first of us.¡± ¡°But you know all this.¡± ¡°We are immortal. Records are almost as easy to find as wilful ignorance, and I am a student of our history. And we do encounter them, from time to time. Stumble into whatever interest they¡¯re pursuing. Sometimes we even fight them, as we are fighting you here. Most are older than us. Your youth is part of what makes you such a contentious figure for us.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me all this?¡± ¡°My interest here is in the future. You and I will still know each other when this planet has been swallowed by its sun. Our relationship will be so much more than this world. This war. I want you to understand what you are, and what we are. That there are those, like me, who understand that the originals are more than just astral kings. That you stand above us.¡± ¡°Most of your kind don¡¯t see it that way.¡± ¡°But they feel it. That is why their reaction to you is so polarised. You trigger an instinct within us, to fight you or obey you, because you make us want to kneel.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°But not enough that I can make you leave this planet.¡± ¡°Instincts can be overcome.¡± ¡°Why do you need this? What makes the Purity artefact so precious you would spend lives by the tens of thousands to obtain it?¡± ¡°Because of you. The originals. You can come from every species except the messengers, and I want to change that. To be like you. More than just an astral king. But that is not something one can become from simple desire. It takes the right circumstance, the right opportunity, and this relic is the beginning of that for me.¡± ¡°You want to be an original.¡± ¡°Yes. You are each unique. All of you reached that point in different ways, and I would do so as well. But to snatch that chance, it takes a resolve that never wavers. Whatever the damage, whatever the cost, you must seize the opportunity when it appears. You are one of the few who truly understand this.¡± ¡°Then you know me less well than you think. I don¡¯t do what I do for power. That came as a consequence of fighting for the things you dismiss. The price of your power. To you, the lives of innocent people are a cost. To me, they are the entire point. I am not an astral king first, or an original. I¡¯m an adventurer.¡± He moved in front of Jamis, staring up at him. ¡°And adventurers stand between innocent people and things like you.¡± ¡°Yes. I know that what has happened here will only further poison you against us. My hope is to ameliorate that damage. You and I are enemies, today, but eternity awaits us. I hope that one day, you and I can be friends. Amongst my kind, such sentiment is considered a warning sign of Unorthodoxy sympathising.¡± ¡°I am going to burn down your entire civilisation. Do you think we can be friends after that?¡± ¡°I do. Perhaps we can even change things together, but that is for another day. On this one, I have come to make an apology. Not an empty one, although I know there can be no true restitution for what my people have done here. Turning the power you use to protect into the weapon that killed a city. It was not the council¡¯s intention, for what little that is worth. The council¡¯s directive to not target you was explicit, but those instructions were defied. The plan to attack you was not sanctioned.¡± ¡°What was the plan? Use the weapon to kill me and the city, then occupy the rubble with their army?¡± ¡°The interaction of your power with the weapon was unanticipated. The plan was for the weapon to weaken you, then for the messengers to strike. Kill your avatar and make an example of the city.¡± ¡°Where did the weapon come from?¡± ¡°Some group that has been giving us trouble for years. Energy vampires. Their powers are required to make their weapons work, but they have only used them on messengers, to my knowledge. They have never used them on a Voice of the Will, let alone a prime avatar before. No one knew what would happen, but while the means of the city¡¯s destruction was accidental, the destruction itself was not. The messengers would have razed it to the ground anyway. Slaughtered or enslaved the population.¡± Jason didn¡¯t respond, but his expression was answer enough. ¡°I know you will never overlook what has happened here,¡± Jamis continued. ¡°And I know what happens if you go to war against us in earnest, here on this planet. I think you see this hole where a city once stood, and you know it too. You attack our forces. Drain them for the power to use that bird form to resurrect your avatar. We escalate with high rankers in retaliation, creating a cycle of triggering your resurrection and you slaughtering us with it. Our search is slowed to a crawl as this planet is ravaged by our battles. We astral kings are forced to intercede with our prime avatars which, in turn, allows the gods to act more directly. I don¡¯t know who wins all that, but I know who loses. The innocent people of this world as our war escalates until craters like this are scattered across it like sprinkles on a cake. That doesn¡¯t matter to me, but it matters to you.¡± ¡°You want us to be friends?¡± ¡°I do. I hope that happens someday.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t. Not until those people you don¡¯t care about start to matter. Earth has its share of monsters, but they are nothing next to you. Their atrocities last decades at worst. How long have yours gone on already? Centuries?¡± ¡°Millennia.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve made a lot of glib comments in my life about fighting evil. But you¡¯re it. The real thing. I think you¡¯re right in that you and I will know each other for a long time. And I¡¯ll be fighting you for all of it.¡± ¡°I can live with that.¡± Jason scowled. ¡°You have a proposal. You said restitution.¡± ¡°I did. I want to blunt your fury against us. Avoid the destruction I described. In short, to have you continue as you were instead of focusing your actions on us. This event will only reinforce those of us who understand the threat you pose. I want you to go about as you have been. Fight our messengers as they come across your path, but don¡¯t actively campaign against them. In return, I have been empowered by the council to offer you the withdrawal of a significant number of our occupying forces from areas around the globe. Every location in which we have completed our search operations but still hold territory, we will abandon. Immediately.¡± Jason rose in the air, his feet leaving the ground as he came eye to eye with Jamis. ¡°Your proposal is that you abandon the areas now useless to your larger goal. The ones controlled by those who, like the astral kings that attacked me, have lost focus? Freeing them up for you to reconcentrate your resources on your actual objectives?¡± Jamis smiled. ¡°I should have been hoping you wouldn¡¯t realise that part, yet I find myself glad that you were not so easily deceived.¡± ¡°You expect a counteroffer.¡± ¡°I do. But it cannot be to give up and leave. I will not surrender this opportunity, even for you. We are enemies, today. But if I can settle some of your enmity over what has happened here, I will. I know the price will not be cheap, but greatness comes from the resolve to pay the price others won¡¯t. You claim that we are not alike in this, but we both know what it is to push on when those around us falter and lose their resolve.¡± Jason stared at Jamis, his nebulous eyes burning. ¡°Abandon all the occupied territories?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Jamis said. ¡°That could be acceptable, but you don¡¯t get the messengers.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The messengers in those territories. You don¡¯t just get them to redeploy. They come to me. Their astral kings set them free of their marks and I take them.¡± ¡°All of them?¡± ¡°All of them.¡± ¡°That would require getting numerous kings to give up the entirety of their forces on this planet. What happened here already demonstrates that the Council of Kings is not absolute in its power. Even if it was, I can¡¯t sell this to them. I¡¯m not a dictator, and controlling the council is a delicate affair. You understand that blunt solutions like this only cause trouble.¡± ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s your politics. Your troubles. You want me to be an enemy and not a nemesis? Then you have to hurt for what your people have done here.¡± ¡°The council will see it as handing an army to the Unorthodoxy.¡± ¡°Killing and draining the life force from that many messengers would restore my power to use the ghost phoenix form. That is what was taken from me here.¡± ¡°I have studied you closely, Jason Asano. You don¡¯t want these messengers to kill. You want to set them free.¡± ¡°Has the rest of the Council of Kings studied me closely as well?¡± Jamis blinked. ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°No, they have not. And slaughtering quarter of a million messengers for personal power is exactly the kind of thinking that makes sense to them. Setting them free on moral principle is what they would find outlandish.¡± He turned from Jason to pace contemplatively. Jason noted that it was a very human behaviour, compared to the imperiousness of normal messenger body language. ¡°You would have to take them into your astral kingdom,¡± Jamis reasoned. ¡°And not let them out again, at least not here. And best not at all, until our operations on Pallimustus are done. And you couldn¡¯t use that time to turn your astral kingdom into an Unorthodoxy training camp. If you unleashed a quarter-million strong Unorthodoxy army on the cosmos, the full force of the council would come after us both. You aren¡¯t ready to endure that. Yet.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not looking to turn slaves into soldiers. Their choices will be their own, and some will want to join the Unorthodoxy. I will hold them until your people are done with this planet, but if they want to fight you when that time is over, I won¡¯t stop them. But I have a little experience in this. Most messengers aren¡¯t ready to escape the indoctrination. It will be hard on them. Confusing, rage inducing. Some will even want to go back to your side.¡± ¡°We wouldn¡¯t take them.¡± ¡°I know, and that only frustrates them further. Again, I have no interest in creating soldiers. Not for the Unorthodoxy and not for the astral kings. I want to let them be innocent people. The kind that were killed and displaced here today. Anything else is for them to choose on their own.¡± Jamis turned back to Jason who had again floated to the ground. ¡°I cannot promise anything,¡± he said. ¡°I will do what I can.¡± Chapter 918: A Time to Slumber In the end, only one place had the space, resources and accessibility to immediately shelter and house a city worth of people on short notice. The brighthearts had once formed a massive queue to file into Jason¡¯s soul realm for shelter, and now the people of Boko did the same. Little explanation was given and little was needed; escape from the sun to a place of shelter and abundance was all most people needed to see. Jason built a city in a desert for them to occupy. Another oasis city, reminiscent of the home they had lost. He¡¯d been unsure about using that design, worried about causing fresh trauma, but ultimately decided that something familiar would be best. Putting them in a completely alien place would only unsettle them further. Days after the citizens of Boko had been evacuated to the astral kingdom, the area around the crater was occupied by outsiders. Civic authorities from Boko, the Adventure Society and a dozen other organisations had people in the area. Some were investigators, others were cleaning up the temporary camps. Many seemed to have no purpose at all, but refused to be excluded from the goings on. There was a new panic as portals once more appeared in the sky, high above the crater. These were even larger and more numerous than those used by the messenger army days earlier, and for good reason. Messengers poured out of them, far more than the invasion force, but they never came close to the people scrambling below. On the ground, Jason was with his team and his team leader¡¯s mother. They were running a catering operation, pretending like they weren¡¯t waiting for the event that would kick a fresh hornet¡¯s nest. The people under the canvas sun shelter couldn¡¯t see what was happening, only the panic of those outside. Soon they were dropping everything and running. Jason sighed, looking at the food that had been tossed aside on the ground. He figured something like this would happen, which is why he¡¯d been running a sausage sizzle with cheap bread and bruschard sausages. The giant worm meat was plentiful in the area, and the first alien meat Jason had learned to cook. Among the yelling and screaming, he calmly took off his apron and walked out to look up at the sky. His team moved to stand around him protectively, although no one was paying attention. The only threat was being bumped into by people who couldn¡¯t seem to agree on which way to run. Jason extended his power and a humongous ring of white stone appeared in the air. Larger even than the portals spewing out a deluge of messengers, it was positioned between them and the ground. It flared to life with portal energy, a massive sheet of silver, gold and blue light. Jason had gritted teeth as he exerted his power. To maintain such a large portal, he was tapping into his astral gate, pushing the limits of what his avatar body could manage. The people on the ground were unsure of what to do. The handful of adventurers on site would have no chance if they confronted the messengers and they knew it. Everyone else was just fleeing, running for skimmers or escaping through portals of their own. ¡°We should have warned people this would happen,¡± Humphrey said for the hundredth time in the last few days. ¡°We discussed this,¡± Danielle said. ¡°For one, there was no certainty it would happen. More importantly, the Continental Council would want to insert themselves. Complicate matters that need to be kept simple. There is a time to act with caution and care, but also a time to be bold. As much as Jason needs to learn circumspection, the approach that comes more naturally to him has its place.¡± The messengers didn¡¯t come near the ground. It was soon evident that they were disappearing into Jason¡¯s portal as suddenly as they appeared from their own. That didn¡¯t stop the panic below, but it gave the adventurers thinking they were about to die hope that the chaos above would leave them be. ¡°Jason,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Once it¡¯s over and people calm down, people will come looking. They watched the entire population of Boko troop through one of your soul realm portals, and it won¡¯t take them long to realise that¡¯s a giant-size version up there.¡± Jason only nodded, still concentrating. Humphrey didn¡¯t bother him further, having discussed all this before. The plan was to leave Humphrey, Danielle and Farrah to deal with the immediate fallout. ¡°The interest in you will be bad enough right away,¡± Danielle said. ¡°But once they realise where all those messengers decamped from, the real storm begins. Everyone is going to want answers. Everyone.¡± Finally, the last of the messenger deluge vanished. The portals all disappeared, leaving an empty sky above and a confused crowd below. One of Jason¡¯s regular shadow portals opened beside him, and he led most of his team through. The last three stayed, as planned, and stepped back into the shade of the catering tent. ¡°Is Jason alright?¡± Humphrey asked. ¡°He¡¯s still barely talking.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not as fragile as he used to be,¡± Farrah said. ¡°He hates what happened, that he couldn¡¯t save everyone. Same as the rest of us.¡± ¡°The rest of us didn¡¯t die,¡± Humphrey argued. ¡°I know he cheated death ¡ª again ¡ª but he feels it, doesn¡¯t he? When he¡¯s dying?¡± ¡°He does, but it¡¯s not the dying that bothers him. He¡¯s used to it. Used to the pain. And he doesn¡¯t blame himself for the casualties of the messenger attack, even though it was his power. He knows he wasn¡¯t responsible. His problem is the killing he did on purpose. I have trouble looking at the messengers as anything but enemies, but he sees them as indoctrinated slaves. To his mind, he killed ten thousand victims.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how anyone is meant to move on from something like that,¡± Danielle said. ¡°I¡¯ve had extreme experiences as an adventurer, but what happened that day wasn¡¯t adventuring. That was the wrath of an angry god.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s how he deals with it,¡± Farrah said. ¡°Part of him is beyond mortality, and he has to accept that part of himself to unleash the power that comes with it. The mindset of a god. His mind while he was in his phoenix form was much like when he fought Undeath¡¯s avatar in the transformation zone. He¡¯s better at holding himself together, but there¡¯s a detachment that helps him.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°You seem confident in your insights,¡± Danielle said. Farrah tapped her forehead. ¡°It¡¯s the bond we share,¡± she said. ¡°I can feel what he¡¯s feeling. I could feel it when he was the phoenix, and I can feel it now. He can hide his emotions from me if he wants, but he¡¯s not doing that. He wants me to know he¡¯s not spiralling. He hates what happened, but he knows that it had to be done. That if he hadn¡¯t killed the messengers, it would have been a fight that the adventurers of Boko weren¡¯t ready for. It would have been ugly, and we probably would have lost.¡± ¡°That¡¯s certainly true,¡± Danielle said. ¡°But even if he¡¯s come to terms with what happened, others haven¡¯t. The power he showed that day already has people on edge, and this will only make it worse. Messenger strongholds across the entire planet just depopulated. Everyone will want to know to why, whether they¡¯re coming back and what Jason intends to do with them. Very understandable questions that I¡¯d quite like to see answered myself.¡± ¡°He said that they won¡¯t be anyone else¡¯s concern now,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°That they won¡¯t be coming back. For now, we trust his word, and the details will come later.¡± ¡°I know. But he needs to be stable right now. How he handles the Adventure Society and other authorities over the next few days will define those relationships into the foreseeable future.¡± ¡°How widely do people know he was the big magic bird?¡± Farrah asked. ¡°Is his name being thrown around by people in general?¡± ¡°Not from what Stella and Lindy could tell,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°I¡¯ve had them keeping ears and eyes out for trouble. The Boko population, and even most of the people here now aren¡¯t talking about Jason by name. They¡¯re talking about the Hegemon as some mysterious figure, and erroneous rumours are already circulating.¡± ¡°The Adventure Society officials and anyone relatively well informed know, of course,¡± Danielle said. ¡°That the Hegemon was Jason isn¡¯t a secret, exactly, but Jason¡¯s name wasn¡¯t in those system messages, and the Adventure Society isn¡¯t making any announcements. They seem happy to not point out how much power belongs to one gold ranker. If he was diamond, that¡¯s one thing, but this breaks the understood power hierarchy, even if it¡¯s a contingent event. For now, the society seems happier to let the Hegemon be a strange and powerful mystery.¡± ¡°Speaking of which,¡± Farrah said, nodding her head at an approaching group. ¡°I think we¡¯re about to be asked some pointed questions.¡± *** Jamis Fran Muskar¡¯s dimensional ship looked out of place on Pallimustus. The sleek, sweeping lines were more akin to a spaceship than anything else in a world of wizards and dragons. It floated over an expanse of lawn that had belonged to a local lord before the messengers conquered the region. Jamis was preparing to take the ship and leave Pallimustus when a Voice of the Will approached. The messenger landed and immediately dropped to one knee. The image of her astral king appeared above her. ¡°Many question your actions, Jamis Fran Muskar. It is unlike you to be so overt. Your influence has been damaged by this.¡± ¡°Is that so, Astrid Ela Dain? Then why have you been supporting me? You saved me several complications in pushing the lesser kings to surrender their forces.¡± ¡°I see where this road ends. When you have your grand kingdom, just remember who helped you claim it.¡± ¡°I always remember those of good foresight and sound judgement.¡± ¡°So long as you maintain yours. The lesser kings fear you, but they have always feared you. Now they question you behind your back. Your enemies on the council are already looking to make use of them.¡± Jamis smiled. ¡°Let things rest for the moment. Remain neutral, and don¡¯t push back on my behalf.¡± ¡°Why not? Disrespect leads to ambition and betrayal. This is a tumour that needs to be cut out before it spreads.¡± ¡°There is a time to slumber in the depths of the lake. To let the weak and the foolish frolic on the shores, telling themselves it belongs to them. And then there is a time to rise from the lake, and remind the world why those waters are best left undisturbed.¡± ¡°You want your enemies to gather. To feel emboldened. You¡¯re waiting for the snake to rear before you cut off its head.¡± ¡°Exposing an artificial weakness is always a risk. Authenticity is always best, and since I needed to expend some of my influence, this makes a good opportunity. Our losses today are the seeds of tomorrow¡¯s gain. And I thank you, Astrid Ela Dain, for your support in minimising those losses.¡± ¡°Is he worth it, this man? Our success here is a break point for your plan.¡± ¡°There is little loss in angering those who have become distracted, like Vesta Carmis Zell. It sends a message to the others about maintaining focus. And yes, it is worth not setting this man on a vendetta against us.¡± *** ¡°Help me understand, Mr Asano¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already explained the events in question, Mr Billings. Several times. At this stage, your lack of comprehension is your failure, not mine.¡± In Greenstone Adventure Society conference room, Jason was allowing himself to be debriefed by an investigator from the Continental Council. On the investigator¡¯s side of the table was a small crowd of assistants and notetakers. On Jason¡¯s side he had only himself and Danielle Geller. ¡°The issue, Mr Asano, is that I don¡¯t see why the closest thing the messengers have to a supreme leader would see you as a sufficient threat to make the concessions that they have.¡± Jason¡¯s gaze fixed on the man across the table like a rifle scope. ¡°That sounds like you¡¯re accusing me of being a liar, Mr Billings. You can phrase it as a speculative question all you like, but I will remind you that I am here as a courtesy. If what you are looking for is discourtesy, I find myself increasingly enthused to accommodate you.¡± Danielle placed a gentle restraining touch on his forearm. ¡°Mr Asano has made himself very clear as to what transpired,¡± she said. ¡°His role here is to tell you what happened, Mr Billings. He has done so multiple times, in deference to your requests for clarification. It¡¯s not going to get any clearer, and I think we¡¯ve reached the end of what this meeting can productively achieve.¡± ¡°Forgive me, Lady Geller, but the events as described simply do not make sense.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you refuse to look at them through any lens but your own power paradigm,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯m not a gold ranker when I¡¯m negotiating with the Builder or the gods or the leader of the messengers. I can¡¯t afford to be that small.¡± ¡°Nor when you are fighting an army alone, it would seem. We have a record of your essence abilities, Mr Asano, but there is a question of where your other capabilities come from. What is the source of the power you displayed in Boko?¡± ¡°Spinach.¡± ¡°We are done here,¡± Danielle announced. She rose from her chair and placed a hand on Jason¡¯s shoulder. He glanced up at her, nodded and likewise stood up. ¡°Mr Billings,¡± he said, giving the man a nod, then followed Danielle out of the room. As soon as they were in the hall, she tapped a brooch to activate a privacy screen. ¡°I know you don¡¯t want to do this,¡± she told him. ¡°Putting up with it now, however, will make things easier with the Adventure Society down the line.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it will help if I start murdering their executives.¡± ¡°You did well,¡± she said. ¡°I was getting stroppy at the end.¡± ¡°But you managed to keep your aura restrained.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to lose control of it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not worried about what you¡¯ll do with it by accident. I¡¯m worried about what you¡¯ll do on purpose.¡± ¡°Billings is a gold ranker, and he might use cores, but his aura training is obviously thorough.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my concern. If you thought he could take it, you might be inclined to show him what he was failing to learn by listening.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not unstable, Danielle, just frustrated. And what I need isn¡¯t to take out those frustrations on some bureaucrat.¡± ¡°Then, what do you need?¡± Chapter 919: I Know You Cant Control Yourself Any Longer Li Mei had been hoping to remain forgotten in the aftermath of Boko¡¯s destruction. When Boko¡¯s population had been sent through a portal to somewhere, most of the non-residents who had been in the city were sent to Greenstone. Blending in with them, she had been trying to find anyone who had used a recording crystal during the events. Li Mei herself had done so, pulling one out as Jason¡¯s power carried her out of the city after he was attacked. She had been far from alone and had managed to buy copies of recordings made by other evacuees. She had a feeling that, if she really did return to Earth, information about Jason Asano would be a richer currency than spirit coins. Her recordings were taken when the Adventure Society caught up with her. That was the beginning of what they insisted several times was not an interrogation. They met her requests to leave with a strong suggestion that it would be an unhealthy decision for her. The questioning happened in a blank room, sitting across from a pair of blank-faced Adventure Society investigators. One was a man and the other a woman, Glen and Glennis. Their bland sameness made them seem like brother and sister from a family of career bureaucrats. Even their skin tone was a match for the beige walls. At first it was the same questions, over and over. What happened when Jason was attacked. Every detail, again and again. What the attacker looked like. What his equipment looked like. What his aura felt like. What did he say? ¡°I told you, I don¡¯t know what he said. Which means he probably wasn¡¯t a local. I learn languages very quickly. It¡¯s one of my abilities. I can learn a region¡¯s languages and dialects in about an hour of people watching at the town market. Which I did here, in Greenstone, even down in Hornis. I don¡¯t know the language he used, so I don¡¯t think he was from around here.¡± The questions started shifting away from the events in question and towards Jason in general. It started obliquely, but it was obvious they were edging towards something else. She stonewalled, pushing back on the relevance of their questions while trying to figure out what they were after. They were starting to get pushy when a dark figure rose from her shadow. ¡°That is as far as Mr Asano will allow you to take this,¡± the shadow creature said. ¡°Miss Li will be leaving now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re his familiar,¡± said Glen, the male investigator. ¡°I am. You may address me as Shade. It is a mononym.¡± ¡°What we do with witnesses is not for Jason Asano to decide,¡± Glennis said. ¡°It¡¯s certainly not for him to send his familiar with instructions for us. If he wants to come down here and say something, he can.¡± ¡°If that is what you wish,¡± Shade said. ¡°Mr Asano will come here and deal with you personally.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Glen said, throwing glances at Glennis. ¡°Well, I mean, he can¡¯t,¡± Glennis said. ¡°Not here, here. This section of the building is dimensionally warded. He¡¯ll have to go to administration and talk to¡­¡± She trailed off as an obsidian archway rose from the floor. ¡°That¡¯s a portal arch, right?¡± Glen said. ¡°It¡¯s his portal arch,¡± Glennis responded. ¡°How can he open a portal in here?¡± ¡°He can¡¯t. I don¡¯t think.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to agree. How strong is that dimensional warding?¡± The pair looked at the empty arch. ¡°Probably not that strong,¡± Glennis said. ¡°This isn¡¯t the high security wing, and you know how barren the magic is in this city. Apparently not strong enough to stop a gold ranker. Or whatever Asano is.¡± ¡°Given that his response to being assassinated was to turn into a bird and kill an army, I don¡¯t imagine some moderate anti-portal magic is going to stop him.¡± The empty arched flared to life, filling with shadowy energy, roiling erratically. Glen turned to look at Shade. ¡°When you said he was going to ¡®deal with us,¡¯ what exactly did you mean?¡± Jason stepped out of the shadowy arch. He smiled and grabbed Glen¡¯s hand to shake it, despite it not being offered. ¡°Mr Costling. I appreciate the diligence you and your cousin have shown in your rigorous investigation of last week¡¯s events. Unfortunately, I now need to take Miss Li with me. But again, I appreciate your diligence.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t just¡­¡± Glennis¡¯ words trailed off as Jason turned to look directly at her. His expression had a friendly smile and kind eyes, yet it left the hair on her arms standing on end. He held her gaze for a long, silent moment before breaking eye contact before turning back to Li Mei. ¡°Through the portal, Miss Li. If you would.¡± *** Li Mei emerged from the portal into what had to be Jason¡¯s famous cloud building. She looked up and down the hall while Jason exited the portal and it closed behind him. They were in a tunnel of fog, circular and wispy, with sky blue carpet running along the floor. There were clear patches, like windows, that could be seen through, and she moved to the closest one. Neither wind nor sea spray came through what looked like a hole in the wall, despite a raging ocean outside. Waves pounded against the walls of fairytale cloud castles, floating on the open sea. The fluffy white buildings didn¡¯t budge, in spite of the churning waters crashing into the walls. At water level, the buildings were connected by a flooded layer of flat cloud. Passage between the castles was achieved through a series of connecting sky bridges, one of which they currently occupied. ¡°Where are we?¡± ¡°I set up my cloud palace offshore from Greenstone. You can see it from the city if you fly over it.¡± She could hear music coming from down the hall and Jason made an inviting gesture in that direction. ¡°Is that¡­ Gloria Estefan?¡± Jason led her down the tunnel and into a large room. It looked something like an open plan loft, laid out into sections. The furniture was a mix of the dense cloud substance and more traditional materials like wood and marble. The largest areas had multiple couches and armchairs, enough for a dozen people. They were arrayed around a large square coffee table, currently covered in notebooks and loose papers. The music was coming from that area, a recording crystal projection of Miami Sound Machine floating below the high ceiling. The man and woman talking as they went over the notes on the table has the shimmer of a privacy screen around them, probably to dampen the noise right over their heads. There was a long dining table in another area, also occupied by two people. One was a staggeringly beautiful woman, even by gold rank standards, with copper hair and eyes that marked her as a celestine. She was sharing a sandwich the length of her arm with a husky elf in what looked like an ugly Christmas sweater. Multiple tables were central to a third area, where most of the people were. The tables had what looked like board games from Earth, and she watched Jason groan at the result of a dice role. ¡°This is why I hate dice-based combat. You can do everything right and still get gutted like a fish.¡± The last area was the kitchen, where two people were dancing to the music as they made food. Alongside Jason was a woman Li Mei recognised, Farrah Hurin. Li Mei looked from the Jason playing a game to the Jason cooking and dancing to the Jason standing beside her in the doorway. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°The cloud palace is my domain,¡± he said. ¡°I can express more of my power here.¡± ¡°Which one is the real you?¡± ¡°None of them. This body is the closest, though. The others can¡¯t leave here.¡± She stared at him for a moment, the back at the group laughing and enjoying one another¡¯s company. ¡°I don¡¯t wish to be indelicate,¡± she said, ¡°but you¡¯re having a party?¡± ¡°You¡¯re wondering why we¡¯re celebrating when so many people just died.¡± ¡°I am.¡± He nodded and led her over to the lounge area. He nodded to the man and woman in their privacy screen and claimed a couch. Li Mei joined him, leaving a space between them. The air shimmered around them and the music was reduced to a muffled background noise. ¡°I can¡¯t speak for you,¡± he said, ¡°but everyone else in this room has mourned those they failed to save. Too many times, and there will be too many more. We¡¯ve had days to be maudlin, and we were. But we also have to pick ourselves up and try to save the next people who fall into danger. If we let it grind us down¡­ well, you¡¯re from Earth. You saw what I was like. At the end of my time there.¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°That is not a good place to be. If I had the power I had now, but was in the mental state I was then, the people here would hunt me down. And they would be right to do so. We¡¯re powerful enough now that we can¡¯t afford to be unstable. We can do too much damage. So, we have to take care of ourselves, mind, body and soul.¡± He looked around the room with a smile. ¡°And we need to take the wins where we can get them,¡± he continued. ¡°Yes, a city was lost. The social and economic ramifications of that will be continent wide and linger for decades. A home for ninety thousand, and a regional economy, gone in minutes. For many, they lost everything they ever knew. But something like ninety-eight percent of the population got out alive. The messengers sent an army, but we had zero combatant casualties and a civilian survival rate that is astounding, given how suddenly it all happened.¡± He gave her a sad smile. ¡°It¡¯s easy to dwell on our failures, be we need to celebrate what we accomplished as well. We¡¯re not going to be dancing around in front of the people who lost family, friends and homes. But here, when it¡¯s just us? We were sad yesterday and we can be sad again tomorrow. Today, we¡¯re going to be happy. Now, let¡¯s get something to eat.¡± *** In the kitchen, Farrah glanced over at Jason¡¯s prime avatar chatting with Li Mei. ¡°She¡¯s pretty,¡± she observed to the avatar cooking with her. ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± Jason said. ¡°How aware?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that.¡± ¡°You brought her in here.¡± ¡°She¡¯s from Earth.¡± ¡°We found her while looking for someone doing sketchy stuff, Jason. And it was her. She was doing the sketchy stuff.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve done worse. If I look back at when I came to this world, there were challenges, yes. But in a lot of ways, it bent over backwards to give me the opportunities I needed to get where I am now. She arrived with little knowledge, little training and already dosed up on monster cores, so no one was going to help her change that. She didn¡¯t have you, Rufus and Gary to put her on a right path. That she¡¯s managed to self-start like this? Work towards earning the cores to actually reach gold rank on her own?¡± ¡°She manipulated people. Fomented trouble amongst those who already have a history of doing terrible things.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve manipulated people too. Hurt people. Killed people. Out of pride and vanity. Too arrogant to look for a better way. If I can forgive myself for that much, I can forgive her for less. If we give her better opportunities, I think she¡¯ll do better. Be better. It worked on me.¡± ¡°You know China didn¡¯t send someone who looks like her to you by accident. Just because you didn¡¯t fall into the honey trap then, it doesn¡¯t mean you won¡¯t now.¡± ¡°That was almost twenty years ago.¡± ¡°And she looks exactly the same.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no honey trap here.¡± ¡°Uh huh.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no point to a honey trap. We¡¯re gold rank. Everyone we meet is crazy hot.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that she¡¯s crazy hot?¡± ¡°Of course she is. Denying it would be stupid.¡± ¡°Well, there you go.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t go. There¡¯s no going.¡± ¡°Uh huh.¡± ¡°Stop that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying.¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re saying.¡± ¡°That your judgement isn¡¯t always the best.¡± ¡°My judgement is fine. You¡¯re acting like I¡¯m James Bonding my way across Pallimustus.¡± ¡°There was that time you went off to ¡®train your aura¡¯ by sleazing on women.¡± ¡°I was not sleazing on women. And that¡¯s a legitimate way to practise aura refinement. Using techniques I learned from the little black book of sex magic that you gave me, by the way.¡± ¡°Uh huh.¡± ¡°Will you stop saying that?¡± ¡°She¡¯s very pretty.¡± ¡°Go back to chopping your vegetables.¡± *** The Continental Council¡¯s chief inspector reminded Jason of Rufus, with his dark skin, bald head and looks that stood out, even at gold rank. ¡°Chief Inspector Krensler,¡± Jason greeted him, shaking his hand. They were standing in one of the Greenstone Adventure Society¡¯s marshalling yards. ¡°Are you ready, Chief Inspector?¡± ¡°I am.¡± Jason opened a portal to his soul realm and they stepped through. On the other side was the flat roof of a tower made from sandstone brick and green stone. It was the highest point of the city that now housed the population of Boko, offering an impressive view. The same construction materials could be seen all over, dotted with water features and painted with greenery. Artificial waterfalls spilled out of buildings as much as five storeys up, splashing into palm groves and garden-lined streets. The buildings themselves were overgrown with lush, leafy vines. ¡°Where did an empty city like this come from?¡± Krensler asked. ¡°I made it.¡± Krensler looked at him, then back out over the city. ¡°When?¡± ¡°A few days ago, when it was needed.¡± ¡°Just like that?¡± ¡°You stand in the heart of my domain, Chief Inspector. Surely you¡¯ve heard about astral kingdoms, and the fact that I have one. The power your investigators are so curious about comes from here.¡± ¡°As best we can tell, that celestial phoenix creature displayed god level power. Rising to wipe out the messengers like that was, for all intents and purposes, a miracle.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Jason said noncommittally not turning his gaze from the city below. ¡°We aren¡¯t officially commenting on your identity in this, but anyone with any connections will find out easily enough.¡± ¡°I appreciate the society¡¯s discretion.¡± ¡°There is the open question of where that power came from.¡± ¡°I just told you, Chief Inspector. You¡¯re standing in it. This pocket universe is the source of my power.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know a lot about astral kingdoms. We do know they are what the messenger leadership has, which raises more questions about your possession of one. We¡¯d like to know a lot more.¡± ¡°I imagine you would, but I have no interest in advertising any potential strengths and weaknesses.¡± ¡°You do have weaknesses, then.¡± ¡°What is the Adventure Society¡¯s stance on me going to be?¡± ¡°The star ranking system gets a little unclear at gold rank. Gold rankers are more autonomous, with missions being handed out by liaisons more often than being posted in the Jobs Hall. There¡¯s often an urgency to gold-rank missions not reflected in most of lower-rank. Even so, the star ranking system is still in effect. A gold will often go through a jobs hall and clear out the older contracts that no one else was taking. We like it when they do that, but they need to adhere to their star ranking. Few gold rankers are one star. Two or three is the norm, as most who reach that point are already experienced in delicate affairs.¡± ¡°I imagine I¡¯ll be getting three stars? I know my diplomacy needs work, but I deal with kings and diamond-rankers a lot. Things above them, too, but that¡¯s more my thing. The society just gets in the way at that point, which I suppose is where most of our problems start.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve noticed,¡± Krensler said wryly. Jason snorted a laugh. ¡°To be honest, Mr Asano, there has been a debate as to whether you even belong on the roster. The goodwill you¡¯ve earned since your return has done a lot to swing things your way. Your team¡¯s efforts in following society directives in your strikes against the messengers have been greatly appreciated. And now it seems that you¡¯ve removed something like a quarter of the world¡¯s messenger forces, liberating countless regions in the process. I want you to know that we aren¡¯t overlooking that and just grubbing after the power you displayed in Boko.¡± ¡°Good to know. But I¡¯m guessing a lot of powerful people are nervous about what happens when I¡¯m not being such a good boy.¡± ¡°They are. You disappeared a city full of people into the same hole as all those departed messengers.¡± ¡°The messengers are on a separate planet.¡± ¡°A lot of influential people have questions. What is happening with those messengers? When will you return the people of Boko?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re here, Chef Inspector. For you to talk with the people of Boko. They¡¯re free to come and go as they please.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more complicated than that.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it always?¡± Krensler took out a small box and handed it to Jason. Jason opened it to find a new Adventure Society badge, gold, but with a diamond symbol where there would normally be one, two or three stars. ¡°We¡¯ve decided to treat you by diamond-ranker rules. You¡¯ve been acting like one for long enough, and it might cover some of the issues we keep having when interacting with you. Soramir Rimaros suggested this, back when. We resisted when you were silver rank, but you¡¯re gold now. More importantly, we¡¯ve been informed that the diamond-rank community has more or less accepted you. It seems foolish to resist, at this stage.¡± ¡°What are the diamond-rank rules?¡± ¡°Similar to gold rank, but with what amounts to full autonomy. If you tell us to pay attention to something, we do. And when the big stuff happens, there is an expectation that you will step forward. If you need to be reined in, it won¡¯t be us coming for you, it¡¯ll be diamond rankers.¡± ¡°You said there was a suggestion of removing my membership?¡± ¡°There was.¡± Jason ran his fingers gently over the badge. ¡°Thank you, Chief Inspector. I know that I haven¡¯t always been the easiest member to deal with, but my identity as an adventurer is extremely important to me. I¡¯ve been through a lot, and come close to losing myself more than once. Being an adventurer was always an important anchor for me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that.¡± Jason put the lid back on the box and put it in his inventory. ¡°Well,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s go meet the Duke of Boko and talk about when the population will be leaving.¡± ¡°Looking at this place, I¡¯m not sure they¡¯ll want to.¡± ¡°I did my best, Chief Inspector. But I can never replace what they lost.¡± ¡°No, I suppose not.¡± Chapter 920: Truly Outrageous Things The Continental Council wanted Jason and his companions to stay while the aftermath of Boko¡¯s destruction was being dealt with. As that would take months, if not years, they had decided to move on. Jason didn¡¯t know when he would return to the city where he became an adventurer, and refused to let meetings and briefings be his last memory of the place. A local festival made for a good final day, so the team scheduled their departure for the day after. Jason went out early to ride the water tunnel subway with its colourful mosaics, the same as he had on his first day in the city. Late morning, he and his friends joined Neil¡¯s family in the park district for a picnic lunch. The park was busy, people out and about for the festival day. They joined some locals in a game of tri-ball that immediately went off the rails once the cheating with powers began. It started subtly, but soon the locals were watching wide-eyed as force tethers and magic barriers were used with shameless abandon. It was early afternoon when they split up to attend the main festival area in the Divine Square. A massive open space, surrounded by temples, Jason¡¯s first visit had also been his introduction to the gods. This time, he was less interested in religious pursuits than culinary ones. Food stalls had been set up in front of the houses of worship, boasting wares thematically linked to the gods they were fundraising for. It was a fun way for Jason to spend an afternoon, just another person in the heavy crowd. The square was packed with people, stalls, stages and stands. This was courtesy of the religious festival, the specifics of which Jason hadn¡¯t paid attention to. Rather than a sombre and ceremonious affair, it was more like a carnival. Families were everywhere, children eating food on sticks and playing games for dubious prizes. There were stages where religious stories were being performed. These were the fun ones with heroes and monsters, not the weird ones about stoning people to death for having the wrong nipple ring or wearing purple during autumn. Some of the performances used actors while others were puppet shows that delighted the children and creeped out the adults. A few used illusion magic, although these seemed to be less popular. There was something impersonal about them that didn¡¯t fit with the feel of the day. Jason was roaming around, one hand holding an enormous drink he¡¯d purchased in front of the temple of Ocean. It came with a decorative glass stein that showed off the blue colour. In his other hand was a candy on a stick from the temple of Lust. It was shaped like a dancing woman, using the stick as a pole. Neil was with him as they went through every food stall and meal tent they could find. They were escorting three of House Davone¡¯s young scions, Uncle Neil¡¯s niblings. To Neil¡¯s delight, they had refused to go along while he was wearing the clothes his aunt had given him. He was accordingly dressed well for once, showing off his actual physique instead of just looking chunky. That was especially valuable as Jason and Neil packed away their body weight in food, to the increasing astonishment of the kids. Jason and Neil ran into their other friends from time to time. Zara, Sophie, Belinda and Estella were together, earning glares from the wives of staring husbands. Neil drew his own share of thirsty glances as the elf with gold-rank looks showed off how good he turned out to be with kids. Humphrey was with his mother, shoving one stuffed animal after another into his storage space as she won them. Clive was not present, being not beloved by several churches. They preferred people who found their divine relics to return them, rather than attempt to reverse engineer them. There was a lull as the sun started to go down. People moved off to the feasting tables set up on the surrounding streets while the Divine Square was prepared for the evening. The festive atmosphere of the day would be replaced by a more ceremonial tone when the dinner feast was done. The ceremonies were universally viewed as the boring part, but most people stayed because of the ending. The ceremonies would culminate with a release of sky lanterns, a cloud of lights, rising into the dark sky. Everyone was able to release their own lantern, many families making a craft project of it with their children. That was still to come as people wandered out of the Divine Square at dusk. The stalls and stages were already starting to come down as they shuffled out. They would come back after long dinners of hearty winter food, even through the city never grew very cold. Neil went off to join his family for the feast while Jason lingered in the Divine Square. Stalls came down as clergy emerged from the temples, putting up ceremonial displays with the help of volunteers. Jason found his way to a booth being packed up by a stocky bald man with skin so dark blue it almost looked black, marked by glowing sigils that looked like magic tattoos. He had broken down his booth and was loading the pieces into a large cart. ¡°Need a hand?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Oh, so the great and mighty adventurer is willing to do some manual labour?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far.¡± All the pieces were lifted into the air by Jason¡¯s aura, floated into the wagon and arranged themselves like Tetris blocks. Some of the surrounding stall workers glanced over before turning back to their own work. Even in a low magic city like Greenstone, it wasn¡¯t that much of a surprise. Arash shook his head. ¡°Still can¡¯t help but make a display of yourself, can you?¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve been here all afternoon, and no one even noticed. I didn¡¯t have a loud and inappropriate conversation with any of the gods or anything.¡± ¡°Then I suppose I should thank you. If you¡¯re going to magic things up anyway, can you do something about the cart, so I don¡¯t have to haul it home?¡± Jason touched the cart and it vanished into his inventory. ¡°Shall we, then?¡± They walked together out of the Divine Square, Arash directing them towards his home. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°I have all the drinks made up and crated in the warehouse you rented,¡± Arash said. ¡°You¡¯re sure that ritual will keep them fresh?¡± ¡°If Clive says it¡¯ll work, it¡¯ll work.¡± ¡°Took me a week to make them altogether, even with my nephew helping me.¡± ¡°He¡¯s as good at making the drinks as you?¡± ¡°Oh, he¡¯s quite the talent. Which is good, given that his ambitions of adventuring went so terribly.¡± ¡°Bad experience with a monster?¡± ¡°No, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to kill things. Even monsters. He even gets a bit funny at the butcher shop these days. That made it hard to pass the society assessment.¡± ¡°Fighting monsters is a fairly critical element.¡± Arash gave Jason a side glance, Jason sensing the uncertainty in his aura. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I have a request. It¡¯s not a small favour, and feel free to say no.¡± ¡°What do you need?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I¡¯ve always been happy with my lot. Selling my fruit, making my drinks. I¡¯ve got my family, my friends, and a successful business that I¡¯m proud of. I never had a need to go out and see the world when I was happy right here. My nephew, though, he¡¯s got the wanderlust. Wants to see the world.¡± ¡°Thus, the ambitions of adventuring.¡± ¡°Exactly, but he doesn¡¯t have the killing in him. Which I am not sad about, but it does make things difficult for him. He wants the travel, the experiences, but those are hard unless you¡¯re an adventurer or an aristocrat. Giving him essences was already as much as the family could fund.¡± ¡°No adventuring means no adventuring income.¡± ¡°Indeed. I honestly don¡¯t think he would have done well, regardless. His results were middling at the training centre. Frankly, his talents lie elsewhere. I taught him to make drinks myself, and he worked the bar at the Norwich Distillery. He can put together near any drink you can think up, if you get him the ingredients. He¡¯s kitchen manager there, now. He manages food service for the dinner crowds. And that cloud boat of yours looks to have room for a lot of people. I was wondering if maybe it could use a good bartender and kitchen manager.¡± ¡°My friend Emir keeps telling me I need to expand my staff. He¡¯d definitely get to travel and have new experiences. But being around me isn¡¯t always the safest place, even if you¡¯re staying back on the boat. I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s dangerous, exactly; it¡¯s an extremely well protected boat. But when only something truly outrageous can threaten you, only truly outrageous things do. Drastic things happen around me, from time to time. Like at Boko.¡± ¡°You had something to do with that? I had been wondering¡± ¡°I had quite a lot to do with it, sadly. We managed to get most of the people out alive, but not everyone.¡± ¡°I told him much the same myself when he started talking about becoming an auxiliary adventurer. That being around people who dive into danger is dangerous itself. But the young, you know? They¡¯ll see a whole square full of people bowing before a god and stay standing like a damn fool.¡± Jason chuckled. ¡°He should know that I¡¯ll be leaving this world soon. We¡¯ll be back, but he¡¯ll be a lot more than just a portal away from home. If he finds he wants out, it¡¯ll be some time before he can come home.¡± Arash shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s a warning that¡¯ll work on someone like me, but the boy¡¯s a little more like you, I fear. Another world. I can¡¯t even conceive of such a thing. You know, I¡¯ve never been further than Hornis, down south. But Jamar, I know hearing that would only excite him more. We all make our mistakes and learn our lessons, and he¡¯ll be no different. I just want him to live long enough to learn from them. I imagine you made your share of mistakes, getting from where we met to where we are now.¡± Jason let out a wincing laugh. ¡°You have no idea.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve made my own, as well. But here, I always had family. Friends. Church. Community. There was always a helping hand when I needed it most.¡± ¡°You want to make sure your nephew is taken care of. Not left to blindly stumble through a big, dangerous world.¡± ¡°Just so.¡± ¡°I can tell you this, Arash. I¡¯m very powerful, now. That¡¯s not a boast, just a reality. And those mistakes I made came with hard lessons. Power comes with the responsibility to avoid hurting the people around you. To safeguard them. What happened in Boko taught me that all over again. Taking care of my people is what matters most to me, and it¡¯s not just about safety from danger. The world can hurt you without leaving a scratch. If your nephew comes along, he¡¯s one of my people. That means we go to the wall for him.¡± Arash nodded. ¡°I know you¡¯re a good man, Jason, but I also know that you¡¯re a great man. And as you said yourself, people like that are dangerous to be around. When they make a statue of a someone, they don¡¯t sculpt in all the dead folk around them.¡± ¡°No,¡± Jason agreed. ¡°No, they do not.¡± ¡°I went to see the statue they put up of you, back when we thought you died saving the city. Was a little hard to find. Out of the way, and someone planted a bush right in front of it.¡± Jason chuckled again. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said. ¡°I know who that was. I¡¯ll take your nephew with us, Arash. Jamar, you said his name was?¡± ¡°Yes. Thank you.¡± ¡°The next few months should be relatively quiet. The messengers are wary of me now, and we¡¯re mostly just touring around. It sounds like what the boy is looking for, and we can see if he¡¯s a good fit. If not, I¡¯ll portal him home before we go somewhere he can¡¯t easily come back from.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t say I like the idea, but I appreciate it. Honestly, I hoped you¡¯d say no. But the boy has wanted an opportunity like this for a while now. Then you knock on my door, the best opportunity he could hope for. It would be an unkindness to not ask. And if we don¡¯t let him go, it¡¯s only a matter of time until he runs off into the night. We¡¯ll wake up to a note explaining he signed up to fetch and carry for some adventuring team. Who knows if or how people like that will look out for him. They might use him as monster bait, for all we know. Standing next to you might not be the safest place, but I don¡¯t know. I¡¯d wager that, some days, it¡¯s the safest place there is.¡± The pair were well away from the Divine Square at this point. Jason stopped at a street junction as the aroma of roasted meat drifted up the street. ¡°You, know,¡± Jason said. ¡°This cart is going to keep where it is. I could take it back to your place later.¡± It was Arash¡¯s turn to chuckle. ¡°I was going to join my family at the feast once I delivered the cart back. Would you like to join us?¡± Jason looked contemplatively down the street where the smell was coming from, along with the sounds of laughter and celebration. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to make a big deal of it. I mean, I know I¡¯m not that famous, all these years later, but people remember. This time should be about friends and family.¡± ¡°Yes, it should. And yes, they do remember.¡± ¡°Great, let¡¯s go,¡± Jason said, and set off towards the feast. ¡°You can introduce me as John Miller.¡± They joined the stream of people heading for the food tables. ¡°You realise they¡¯re going to know who you are, right?¡± Aresh asked. ¡°My false identity is very rigorously put together. And I am excellent at maintaining it. Everyone says so.¡± ¡°Jason, very few silver rankers pass through this city, outside of the monster surges. Golds are almost never here, and my family know that you were a regular at my juice stand, all those years ago. If I show up with you, they¡¯re going to realise immediately.¡± ¡°There are all these investigators here because of Boko. I could be one of them, taking the day off for the festival. I¡¯m already making my aura read as silver rank.¡± ¡°That might work. Your being less handsome than most gold rankers will help.¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Jason said in mock affront. ¡°How would you know what gold rankers look like? How many have you even seen in Greenstone?¡± ¡°Today? Quite a few, and they all turned heads, except for the one with the big chin.¡± ¡°My chin is fine,¡± Jason said defensively as he prodded it with his finger. ¡°I do remember it being larger. Memory is a funny thing, I suppose.¡± Chapter 921: A Framework For Leadership Jason¡¯s cloud ship sailed north from Greenstone. He stood on the top deck, leaning on the rail as the fresh ocean wind washed over him. Nik stood beside him, only the head and shoulders of the diminutive rabbit man reaching above the railing. ¡°How was it, being back in Greenstone?¡± Jason asked him. ¡°You kind of vanished on arrival, and we didn¡¯t see you much. I didn¡¯t even see you at the festival.¡± ¡°It was strange,¡± Nik said. ¡°I lived there for longer than you did, when I was training. But so many of the people I knew are gone, or older. It was like the world was passing me by while I was stuck in place.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be, sometimes. Especially in places like Greenstone, where even the adventurers are mostly low rank. People will get old, live out their lives. It¡¯s places like Vitesse and Rimaros that have more people who age slowly or not at all.¡± ¡°You spend a lot of time around powerful people, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Are you worried about losing touch with regular people? Growing apart from them as everyone you know stays the same, decade after decade?¡± ¡°I am,¡± Jason said. ¡°That¡¯s one of the reasons I went back to Greenstone. Meeting people I knew back then was nice. When you¡¯re an adventurer, you are often meeting people on the worst day of their life. I went to a village I last saw as rubble. People are happily living their lives, now. It was twenty years ago, so only the older people remember what happened as anything but a story. There¡¯s a man there who, back then, told me about his hopes for his granddaughter. This time, he told me about how those hopes had been fulfilled. It''s good to remember what we fight for.¡± ¡°But we aren¡¯t a part of their world anymore, are we?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s important that we visit, to remind ourselves what it¡¯s all about, but we don¡¯t belong there. We have our own community to be a part of. Vitesse should be a good place for that.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a nice city.¡± ¡°Wait, even you¡¯ve been there? I¡¯ve been trying to get to Vitesse for twenty years. I didn¡¯t even know.¡± ¡°Dad, you created me out of thin air like you were starting your own bible, sent me to violence boarding school and then vanished for a decade and a half. With parenting skills like those, are you really surprised you missed a few things?¡± Jason winced. ¡°I haven¡¯t done as well by you as I would have liked. I can¡¯t make more of your kind, turn you into a species proper, until I reach the fullness of my power. But we¡¯ll be on Earth soon. You don¡¯t know them, but you have family there.¡± ¡°Do they know about me?¡± ¡°I told my sister, and my grandmother. It¡¯s kind of hard to explain that you made your own universe and created a guy. That has connotations, back on Earth. You know, I could try making a female lehenik. Can I get one of your ribs, real quick?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a tool, Dad. Also, trying to make a woman for your son is creepy. You¡¯re not leaving her a lot of room for agency, there. Also, she¡¯d be my sister. And my clone, maybe? Yeah, I don¡¯t think creepy really encapsulates how gross that is.¡± ¡°Okay, that was a bad idea. In fairness, another guy did it first. I didn¡¯t love his book, but there¡¯s not a lot of reference material for this stuff.¡± ¡°See, this is why I didn¡¯t introduce you to my friends in Greenstone. They all think you¡¯re this awesome adventurer, and I don¡¯t want to ruin it for them.¡± A grin crept across Jason¡¯s face. ¡°Your friends think I¡¯m cool?¡± ¡°Calm down, Dad. I didn¡¯t say cool. No one said cool.¡± ¡°You said awesome. That¡¯s like the better version of cool.¡± ¡°No, that just means things explode around you a lot.¡± ¡°How is that not cool?¡± Jason laughed as Nik shook his head. The smile slid off Jason¡¯s face, replaced with a contemplative expression. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing most of the time,¡± he admitted. ¡°I meant it when I said that I want to do better by you. I hope you¡¯ll give me some time to figure that out. Trying to explain you ¡ª and me for that matter ¡ª to our family back on Earth. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to work until we¡¯re there. Emi is not going to stop hugging you for the first week.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a stuffed toy.¡± Jason put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°I know, buddy. Sometimes there are things about ourselves we just have to live with. There are worse things than being crazy adorable.¡± Nik looked up awkwardly at Jason. ¡°You know,¡± he said hesitantly. ¡°You could hug me. If you wanted.¡± Jason looked down at him with a warm smile, then dropped to one knee and gathered him into a hug. *** Boko had been a coastal city. When the section of crater closest to the ocean had collapsed, the water spilling had turned it into a harbour. An inlet led into what could have been a lagoon if it wasn¡¯t so large and deep. Islands dotting the water were once temples, shielded from the city¡¯s destruction by their gods. The cloud ship was anchored offshore from the inlet. The shores of the new harbour were swarmed with essence users and ritual magicians. They were working to stabilise the area, making it safe and ready for a new city to be constructed. A skimmer set out from the cloud ship, passing over the water of the inlet and entering the harbour. Jason and Danielle rode in black and dark grey shades of luxury as the vehicle steered itself. ¡°Boko was never the port city that Greenstone is,¡± Danielle said. ¡°Neither had a natural harbour, which is part of why Greenstone¡¯s artificial island was constructed.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like being back here,¡± Jason said. ¡°It reminds me of what can happen if I lose control.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t lose control. You were attacked.¡± ¡°I know. But what we know and what we feel can be very different things.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Danielle agreed. ¡°They can.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t help that we have this last bit of unpleasant business on the way out of the region. We¡¯ve been here for well over a month now, and the idea was to stay for a week. I¡¯m thinking that we put aside the sightseeing and make a beeline for Estercost. Round up as many Earthlings as we can and maybe just portal straight to Rimaros. I¡¯ve got forever to sightsee later.¡± ¡°I think the group will be open to that. You¡¯re the only one who has never seen Estercost. Why Rimaros for the bridge to Earth, though?¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°It¡¯s not Rimaros itself we¡¯re going for. I don¡¯t know what kind of side effects may come from completing this dimensional bridge. I was advised to anchor it somewhere remote, and the people that were sucked through from the other end demonstrated the value of that advice. There¡¯s an uninhabited island in the Storm Kingdom. The Builder installed astral magic infrastructure there to ensure I arrived at that location. It¡¯s already attuned to the link between worlds and it¡¯s robust enough to meet our needs.¡± ¡°Why did the Builder want you to land in Rimaros?¡± ¡°The Builder¡¯s prime vessel overstepped. The Builder was forced into limiting who he would send to kill me. He made another deal with Disguise, who everyone still thought was Purity, to try and get around the first agreement. Sophie¡¯s mother was one of fake Purity¡¯s brainwashed lackeys and the idea was to use her to use Sophie to lure me into a trap and kill me.¡± ¡°That sounds so convoluted that I can¡¯t believe anyone thought it would work.¡± ¡°I know, right? I think the Builder was transitioning prime vessels at the time. He didn¡¯t have his regular guy to do his mortal-level thinking for him. In fairness, it did almost work. Only because Princess Liara realised the Builder was after me and used me as bait, though.¡± ¡°She used you as bait?¡± ¡°She bailed me out, in the end. I did force her hand a little, but I¡¯m pretty sure she would have done it anyway. Eventually. But Melody¡¯s interest in me was peripheral. Once the god let Melody¡¯s daughter matter to her through the brainwashing, she became obsessed with getting Sophie back. Carlos and Arabelle think that¡¯s a cognitive key they can use to smooth the mental strain of purging her condition.¡± ¡°When will you be doing that?¡± ¡°Whenever Carlos and Melody are ready. Probably in the next few days. But the point is, the Builder had some serious dimensional magic infrastructure put in place on the island. Farrah and Clive think we can use it as a foundation to anchor the dimensional bridge.¡± ¡°They want to use something the Builder left behind?¡± ¡°They think it¡¯s safe. And who would you get in for a second opinion?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. We should check in with the Adventure Society contingent here.¡± ¡°Good idea. No point having them interrupt us if we can avoid it.¡± The skimmer turned towards a group of stone-shaped buildings on the shore. *** Jason had avoided naming the city in his astral kingdom after Boko. Given its nature as an oasis, he decided to name it New Water. In the city¡¯s administrative centre, the Duke of Boko was holding a management meeting. ¡°Over the next week, I will be finalising departments and assigning sub-management roles to¡­¡± He trailed off as a portal opened in the room and Jason stepped out. ¡°Lord Asano,¡± the duke said in greeting. ¡°Still not a lord, Duke Boko,¡± Jason replied, his tone curt. ¡°Come with me.¡± Jason went back through the portal without checking if the duke would follow. The Duke didn¡¯t hesitate, not even pausing to instruct his subordinates. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m meant to follow?¡± the Duke¡¯s assistant asked, then the portal closed. ¡°I suppose not,¡± she said. *** Of the various factions involved in studying the aftermath and preparing for the next step, the officials from the Boko government were the largest contingent. They were mostly senior executives from the old Boko government, along with an administrative staff and a team of experts from various departments. Their mandate was to assess the viability of reconstruction and begin preliminary planning. When the Duke emerged from a portal in the middle of their camp, they swarmed him, firing off questions. ¡°Please,¡± the duke said, holding up his hands for calm. ¡°I know that there is a lot you want my input on, and I know that you have not had access to me while I have been in New Water. That city must be the priority now, and my focus must be leading our people as they settle into a new home. Anything you feel you need me to decide, simply use your best judgement. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, Lord Asano and I have matters of import to discuss. Perhaps a walk along the shore as the sun sets, Lord Asano.¡± The duke immediately started walking off towards the shoreline, leaving an array of confused and frustrated people behind. Jason watched the display with a frown, then moved to the leader of the government contingent. ¡°Some people are coming to get things organised,¡± Jason quietly promised. ¡°For now, let your people take a break. Let them go see their families.¡± A wide portal arch rose from the floor. ¡°That will take you to a public square in the main residential district. I¡¯ll leave it open for the moment, so your people can come and go.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lord Asano.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a lord. You can call me Mr Asano or, even better, Jason.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mr Asano.¡± Jason nodded and followed the duke who was slowly strolling along a path by the shore. Remnants of ritual magic and stone shaping marked the embankment, along with hardy desert spear grass that had been planted to stabilise the slope. It was late in the day and the sun dipped close to the ocean, soon to drop out of sight. ¡°What can I do for you, Lord Asano?¡± the duke asked as Jason caught up to his meandering pace and matched it. The duke was a silver-ranker, courtesy of monster cores, which was the norm for political leaders. He was a dark-skinned human, typical for Boko¡¯s population, with long hair bound into thick strands by ornate gold clasps. His physique was essence-user lean, but there was a softness in how he carried himself. He had none of the sharp energy of an adventurer, always watching for threats. ¡°Duke Boko, I told you that you can ask me to connect you to your people here at any time. You have, thus far, only availed yourself of this twice. The last time was almost two weeks ago.¡± ¡°Matters in New Water warrant my attention. The vast majority of my people are there. Not only do I have to plan for their wellbeing, but I must also look ahead as the first city leader on an entirely new world. Your astral kingdom¡ª¡± ¡°Duke Boko,¡± Jason cut him off. ¡°Lord Asano, you may call me Kalar.¡± ¡°I call you Duke Boko because that is both who and what you are.¡± ¡°Actually, I was thinking that people should start calling me¡ª¡± ¡°You are not Duke New Water. You are Duke Boko, and that¡­¡± He pointed at the water. ¡°¡­is Boko. That is what you rule. The full extent of what you rule. Your attention, Duke, should be here. This is a tragedy, but also an opportunity. To build a city from nothing. To plan out that which, before, grew up in a tangle over centuries. To make use of a harbour you never had before. To heal the wounds of what happened here, both in the hearts of the people and in the entire regional economy.¡± Jason stopped, turning to look out over the water. ¡°This time is critical, Duke Boko. I know this is hard, no doubt harder than I can understand, not being in your position. But you need to remember where you are from instead of looking to make something new. You need to concern yourself with your people, not your desire to be the first ruler on a new world.¡± ¡°My lord Asano, I¡ª¡± ¡°I know everything that happens in my astral kingdom, Duke. Every word you say. Every ambition you whisper to your pet songbird. Privacy screens don¡¯t hide you from me.¡± ¡°Lord Asano, New Water is a city inhabited only by my people. They trust me. Respect me. You need a steady hand in these times of turbulence.¡± ¡°On that, we agree.¡± ¡°We do?¡± the duke asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jason pointed out at the water where three dark skimmers were approaching the shore from the direction of the temple islands. It was hard to spot them under the darkening sky. They moved onto the land and settled into the grass. The people disembarking all wore the garb of clergy. The first group had robes of crimson with gold trim. Their sigil was a hand gripping a planet, the symbol of Dominion. The next group had plain robes of undyed linen, followed by a group wearing muted blue. ¡°Thank you all for coming,¡± Jason said. ¡°If you follow the path back that way, you¡¯ll find the portal amongst those stone-shaped buildings.¡± He turned back to the duke, who was staring in confusion. ¡°I have asked some of the gods to help me assess and manage the situation in New Water,¡± Jason explained. ¡°Dominion will help me construct a framework for leadership. I have given them general parameters for a governance framework. Beyond that, they will be consulting with the new residents as to how best to lead the populace and administer the city. The final say is mine, of course, but I think the people who live there should have a voice in how it should be run.¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°The priests of Hearth and of Refuge will be organising the people. Who wants to settle permanently, who wants to find a new home, and who wants to wait for the reconstruction of Boko.¡± ¡°I know the archbishops for all of those churches. I can¡ª¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ask the archbishops, Duke. I asked their gods. I also asked Dominion to take a look at how you¡¯re managing the affairs of your fallen city. As your city state is now underwater, there is some question as to whether you will continue to enjoy his endorsement. My recommendation is that you go back to your people and work very hard to demonstrate your value in leading them.¡± The Duke stared at Jason. ¡°Why are you doing this to me? You can¡¯t do this to me!¡± ¡°Duke, you and your people have been through a lot, so I am doing my best to be gentle. But I say again that I know everything you have done while in my kingdom, and you have butted against the limits of my gentility. You will never enter New Water again.¡± ¡°The noble houses won¡¯t stand for that.¡± ¡°The noble houses of Boko are free to leave. New Water has no aristocracy, which is one of my parameters for the Dominion priests to work with. Anyone who stays will not have any noble title recognised.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t tolerate those conditions.¡± ¡°I have neither the time nor the interest to listen to you go through the denial stage, Duke Boko. I¡¯m going to pick up my friend from the Adventure Society camp and leave. I imagine we will meet again, to discuss matters regarding the population. I hope you give matters some clearheaded consideration before that time.¡± Jason headed for the closest skimmer as the other two dissolved into clouds of darkness that vanished into his shadow. The skimmer took off as the sun set on the still water that was once the city of Boko. Chapter 922: It鈥檚 More Complicated Than That Aircraft had been one of the earliest examples of integrating magic and technology. Long before magic went public, the Network had been employing private planes with unadvertised optional extras. After twenty more years of development time, and no more need for secrecy, private air travel involved some of the most advanced magitech available. Annabeth Tilden¡¯s plane rocked as if struck by turbulence, but the cause was rather more dangerous. She had participated in enough combat training to not be useless in a pinch, but she was not a fighter. She was especially not up to the task of fending off monsters attacking her aeroplane while in flight. She couldn¡¯t properly see their attackers through the window of her passenger seat, given the speed and the dark. She did spot silhouettes in the flashes of blue as the monsters struck the plane¡¯s shielding. They looked like round bodies with wings sticking out, in flagrant defiance of aerodynamics. Armour plating dropped over the windows, cutting off her view entirely. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, Mrs Tilden,¡± the man sitting opposite her said. Morris Manning was a slight man, short and lean. He didn¡¯t look like much, but he was both her bodyguard and her minder. He was an operative from the US Department of Supernatural Affairs, what the US Network had ultimately morphed into. On loan to the United Nations for this trip, he was a likely candidate for reaching gold rank without cores. ¡°The plane¡¯s defences can handle it?¡± Anna asked. She glanced at her wife, asleep in the seat beside her. Susan could sleep through a bombing run. ¡°It¡¯ll hold up to attack for a good while, but the weapons won¡¯t be able to kill them. If they¡¯re not enough to drive the creatures away, Mr Clovis will handle it.¡± There were sixteen passenger seats on the plane, all occupied. Six were delegates sent to meet with the Asano clan, including Anna. Susan and a nine-person security detachment occupied the remaining seats. Morris was the leader of the security contingent, meaning he did the administrating and organising. The most powerful member of the group was a gold ranker, Patrick Clovis. His infrequent words came in a thick Bostonian accent. ¡°Not going out for some jumped-up sky chickens,¡± Clovis said. ¡°Do it yourself, Manning.¡± ¡°Sadly, Mr Clovis, my power set is ill-suited for high-speed flight. Ms Keener, would you be so kind?¡± Another member of the security team got up and moved towards the back of the plane. There was a hatch in the rear compartment that allowed people to exit mid-flight without disrupting the rest of the plane. ¡°Travel in Europe is dangerous,¡± Morris explained to Anna. ¡°It¡¯s not the vampires, though, but the monsters. The vampires don¡¯t clear them out unless they threaten a blood farm or one of their other interests.¡± ¡°Oh, I had no idea,¡± she said lightly. An awkward smile crossed his face as he looked across at the former Network branch director and current Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Supernatural Affairs. ¡°Apologies, Mrs Tilden.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mr Manning. Monsters were only to be expected when approaching the Asano territories. The magic level is higher, making the monsters commensurately more powerful.¡± ¡°We avoid referring to them as Asano territories or anything similar,¡± another delegate said. ¡°It implies that those lands belong to them and not the nations of France and Slovenia.¡± Ma?l Baffier represented the French government in exile. Anna didn¡¯t point out that France, like most countries in Europe, hadn¡¯t functionally existed in well over a decade. The negotiations for who would join Anna on her visit to the Asano clan had gone on for weeks. Knowing Jason and his grandmother, the clan matriarch, she had a feeling on how they would respond to the self-invitees. The UN and the other factional and government interests hadn¡¯t consulted Anna very much, despite her being the ostensible leader of the delegation. She¡¯d been open about Asano wanting to recruit her, which had eroded trust in her as she had not pre-emptively refused. She remained in charge on paper, however, as without her, there would be no getting eyes and ears on the ground inside the Asano clan. The delegates themselves were politicians, and she was certain that most of the security team were all former or current intelligence operatives. The plane¡¯s intermittent shaking stopped and the armour panels over the windows retracted. Moments later, Kenner returned, dirty and drenched. ¡°That,¡± she said, ¡°was unpleasant.¡± She took the bag containing a change of clothes from under her seat and then headed back to the rear compartment. *** The captain had announced a short time ago that they were approaching Asano territory, prompting a scowl from the French delegate. Anna looked up from her tablet as Morris tilted his head, listening to something on his earpiece. He looked over and asked her to follow him to the cockpit. Susan stirred as Anna stepped past her. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Are we there yet?¡± she asked blearily. ¡°Almost, love.¡± ¡°Did I miss the meal?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a protein bar in the arm rest.¡± ¡°Boo,¡± Susan jeered. Morris watched the exchange with amusement before leading Anna to the front of the plane. The pilot had arrested the plane¡¯s movement, tilting the engines for vertical take-off and landing mode. They were hovering near, but not directly over, what had once been the city of Saint-¨¦tienne. After claiming the territory originally, Jason had reproduced the city, previously ravaged by vampires and then wiped out entirely by a transformation zone. Only the areas outside of the domain showed the broken remnants of vampiric occupation. Now, the ruins around the clan¡¯s domain had been cleared away, leaving only the city inside the domain of Jason¡¯s power. The architectural style remained the same, but there were distinct changes from when Anna had lived there as liaison. Largest was a massive expansion of green areas and waterways. Streams ran through parklands and a whole section of the city had canals in place of streets. What it did not have was an airport. ¡°Ma¡¯am,¡± the Captain said. ¡°Our original instructions were to land at the former military base site, but it no longer appears to exist.¡± ¡°It was there,¡± Morris said. ¡°We had satellite footage from yesterday with it there. You know the Asano clan best, Mrs Tilden. Any suggestions?¡± ¡°We wait,¡± Anna said. ¡°I imagine this is something to do with Jason Asano¡¯s flair for the dramatic.¡± As if waiting for her prompt, an area at the edge of the city was suddenly engulfed in fog. Once it cleared, there was a space that looked like an oversized helipad, with a symbol of a plane painted on it. ¡°I believe you have your landing zone, Captain,¡± Morris said. *** Two people were waiting as the delegation disembarked. One was Ketevan Arziani, assistant to the Asano clan matriarch. She had once been Anna¡¯s own deputy, back in Australia during her network days. They had remained friends, only losing touch when the Asano clan had vanished. Susan gave her a wave, earning a quickly supressed smile but no other response. Standing next to Ketevan was Rufus Remore. ¡°Interesting,¡± Morris murmured. ¡°No Asano family members.¡± Anna understood that, in diplomacy, every choice sent a message, intended or not. ¡°They want to show us that the clan is more than just the Asano family band,¡± she murmured back. ¡°Show us, or show you?¡± Morris asked. ¡°That¡¯s your friend over there, isn¡¯t it?¡± She gave Morris a side glance. The man clearly did his prep work. As Rufus and Ketevan approached, the security team took reserved defensive postures, cautious but not provocative. The exception was Patrick Clovis, the gold ranker striding out to position himself between the delegation and the clan representatives. Anna and Morris let out simultaneous sighs. ¡°Clovis, you aren¡¯t here to protect us from the Asano clan,¡± Morris said. ¡°Here, it would be pointless to try. If they want to do something to us, not even you can stop them.¡± ¡°Because of this guy?¡± Clovis asked, nodding at Rufus. ¡°Yes. Clovis, you¡¯re here to protect us from vampires and monsters, should anything go wrong. Don¡¯t be what goes wrong.¡± Clovis stared at Rufus for a long moment, then back at Morris. He growled like an animal but stalked back to the rear of the group. ¡°Is he really the best you could get?¡± Anna said. ¡°Sadly, yes,¡± Morris said. ¡°Every stakeholder insisted on sending a gold ranker, but refused to volunteer one of their own. I had to sit through weeks of pointless staff proposals before they gave me this guy.¡± Ketevan and Rufus approached them, now that Clovis was out of the way. Ketevan smiled at Anna and Susan, but her focus was on Morris. ¡°My name is Ketevan Arziani, chief of staff to the clan matriarch. This is Rufus Remore.¡± ¡°Morris Manning, security detail chief.¡± ¡°The patriarch would like to begin things socially,¡± Ketevan said. ¡°Anna, Susan, please come with me while Mr Remore sees to the rest of your group. Once the luggage is unloaded from the plane, it will be delivered to your accommodations.¡± ¡°You said Patriarch,¡± Morris pointed out. ¡°Asano is back?¡± ¡°No,¡± Rufus said. ¡°He¡¯s still in the other world.¡± ¡°Everything will be explained to our satisfaction, I assure you,¡± Ketevan continued, prompting a smile to twitch on Morris¡¯ mouth. ¡°Please see to the luggage. The staff will take it.¡± ¡°The staff?¡± manning asked. A dozen cloaked figures manifested out of nowhere, the cloaks empty but for a glowing, nebulous eye in each hood the size of a face. After raising an eyebrow, Manning went about the task of getting the luggage unloaded and keeping the delegates settled. Anna was a little surprised that Baffier didn¡¯t argue as he and the others were led away by Rufus. She¡¯d been worried about the French diplomat, but he thankfully knew when to vent his frustrations and when to do his job. Left alone, Ketevan gave Anna and Susan a quick hug each. ¡°Susan, I¡¯m so glad you decided to come.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy convincing this one,¡± she said, jabbing a thumb in Anna¡¯s direction. ¡°She thought it was too dangerous for me.¡± ¡°How did you win her over?¡± ¡°By pointing out that if she comes and works for you, me being left behind would be even more dangerous.¡± Ketevan nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that Jason¡¯s offer put you in a tough spot. It would be great to have you here, though.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more complicated than that, Keti,¡± Anna said. ¡°It¡¯s not just about accepting a job or not.¡± ¡°I know. And so does he, but we can get to that later. How about we have some brunch and catch up?¡± A stream of cloud rose from the tarmac and turned into an open top car. ¡°Is this how it works here?¡± Anna asked. ¡°Everything you need just magically appears? Things weren¡¯t so accommodating during my brief tenure as liaison here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not usually like this, although more than back then,¡± Ketevan said. ¡°For some things it is. If you want to knock out a wall in your house or something, you can just ask.¡± ¡°Ask who?¡± ¡°The wall, I guess. Jason is more powerful, now, and his influence here is stronger. I don¡¯t want to talk business, yet, but I should warn you that you can¡¯t escape his attention here. He¡¯s not actively watching, as I understand it, but if he wants to know what you¡¯re doing or something you did, he does.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a little invasive,¡± Susan said, looking around as if she would spot drones spying on them. ¡°More than a little,¡± Anna said. ¡°You get used to it,¡± Ketevan said. ¡°It¡¯s odd, especially at first. It helps that Jason was more of a story than an actual presence, for a lot of years. But now that he¡¯s more active, that¡¯s good too. Old people have fallen down stairs that turned into a cloud cushion and they were unhurt. Kids have gotten stuck places that just opened up to let them out.¡± She got into the driver¡¯s seat of the car, Anna and Susan getting into the back. ¡°Oh, this is comfortable,¡± Susan said. ¡°I know we weren¡¯t here for long, but I missed cloud furniture.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get used to it,¡± Anna told her. ¡°Or do,¡± Ketevan teased. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t hate having you back here for good.¡± Chapter 923: A Long Few Days Ketevan drove Anna and Susan through the city. Back when Anna had lived there, the domain had only just been established. The vampires were storming through Europe and no one knew how reliable the protection of Jason¡¯s power would be, especially in the absence of the man himself. The humans changed by the transformation zones were still new to their conditions and pouring into clan territory as refugees. Years later, they had clearly integrated. As the car passed an outdoor caf¨¦, more eyes were on the strangers in the car than the man with green scales and cream on his nose from an iced chocolate. Susan pointed out a beautiful winged man flying over the rooftops. ¡°It¡¯s like the bar in Star Wars, but French,¡± Susan observed. ¡°I love it. I wonder what the art scene is like, here.¡± ¡°Small, but has some unique aspects you might find fascinating,¡± Ketevan told her. ¡°It all looks so normal,¡± Anna observed. ¡°Not long ago, you were all hidden in an astral space while vampires ruled here.¡± ¡°A lot of people are still in there,¡± Ketevan told her. ¡°Out here, it¡¯s closer to how the rest of Earth is. The astral space is more overtly magical, and a lot of the clan grew up there. It¡¯s the world they know.¡± ¡°But the clean-up and restoration after the vampire occupation seems to have gone quickly,¡± Anna said. ¡°Nigel will explain that. He¡¯s been talking about owing you a debriefing for a long time. He just couldn¡¯t do it while you were in the US. He¡¯d have been snatched up at the airport, and even if he snuck in, you were always being watched. Suffice it to say, by the time we emerged, there were no signs of vampires in clan territory. We¡¯ve been expanding out since, clearing out blood farms and purging vampires.¡± ¡°You mean killing them,¡± Susan said. ¡°Yes,¡± Ketevan agreed. ¡°I mean killing them.¡± ¡°Are we sure they¡¯re not redeemable? Susan asked. ¡°Craig Vermilion was always so nice.¡± ¡°And still is,¡± Ketevan said. ¡°I had lunch with him last week. We have a large vampire population in the Slovakian territory. Jason¡¯s power shields them from the effects that turn the others bad. But the ones out there¡­ the weak ones are feral, now. Little more than animals with an insatiable thirst for blood. The more powerful ones are worse. They kept their minds but lost anything approaching a conscience. They know what they¡¯re doing to the people in those blood farms, and they just don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°If their numbers were smaller, perhaps something could be done,¡± Anna said. ¡°There are more vampires and more victims than were ever made public. The official numbers are nowhere close to accurate. The evacuation of Europe is the largest mass-migration event the world has ever seen. So many were lost along the way, turned into ghouls, blood slaves or more vampires. Most ended up in the farms, though. The food supply. The unreleased casualty estimates put the numbers close to World War Two.¡± ¡°But a lot of those people have been rescued, right?¡± Susan asked. ¡°From the blood farms?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Ketevan said, ¡°but many more remain, still feeding the vampire population. Now that the global militaries aren¡¯t operating in Europe, we¡¯re holding the people we rescue in the astral space here in France. We didn¡¯t put them with the vampires, for obvious reasons. We have medical professionals helping as best they can, but the physical and mental trauma they¡¯ve suffered is indescribable. I don¡¯t even know how someone would come back from that. Once relations are re-established with the wider world, we¡¯ll have them join other refugees from their respective countries.¡± Ketevan sighed. ¡°I wanted this to be a fun catch-up,¡± she said. ¡°At least for a little bit. I suppose I¡¯ve gotten used to the clan being isolated and surrounded by a continent of vampires. I can see how that would be alarming to visitors.¡± ¡°What happened when you had to hide away?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Were you safe?¡± ¡°Very,¡± Ketevan said. ¡°I¡¯ll leave that for Rufus and Jason to explain, but the short version is that Jason needed to seem weak.¡± ¡°To deceive the vampires?¡± Anna asked. ¡°The vampires don¡¯t worry him. He was apparently fighting something like gods at the time, and he needed to trick them.¡± ¡°Something like gods?¡± ¡°The actual grim reaper, amongst others. Or so I¡¯m told. It all sounds extremely far-fetched, but far-fetched is what we do here, so who knows? Not my department, fortunately. As I said, Rufus and Jason will explain.¡± ¡°That would be a first,¡± Anna muttered. *** Ketevan was driving them to the home of Erika Asano and her husband, Ian, located close to the administration tower. The tower was a looming edifice of renaissance architecture, the most overt divergence from the original design of the city. As promised, Anna and Susan¡¯s first engagement in the Asano clan was social. Now that Erika and Ian¡¯s daughter had moved out, they lived in a modest townhouse in the shadow of the tower. The front faced one of the city¡¯s major thoroughfares, leading to the admin centre. Behind the townhouse row was a shared parkland. Also present at the gathering was Nigel Thornton, who was apologetic about never delivering the report she sent him out for. His deference marked a sharp difference to the other gold-rankers she¡¯d met for her work, of which there had been quite a few. The nations that boasted them were not shy about reminding people. Their hosts had set up a picnic lunch on the patio, with a rustic wooden table and benches. They watched families play in the park, and a bunch of kids playing cricket. The food was astoundingly good, courtesy of their chef hostess, but Anna recognised very little of the food. ¡°We farm the ingredients in the astral spaces,¡± Erika explained. ¡°The magic is rich, and the agricultural land is varied. Too much to be naturally occurring, but ideal for producing all kinds of food.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have trouble providing for people during your exile, then?¡± Susan asked. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I think exile is a harsh term,¡± Ian said. ¡°From our perspective, it was a safe haven while the world outside was struggling. Hundreds of millions of refugees, pouring into Asia, Africa and the Americas. From what we¡¯ve heard, it caused a new wave of food shortages after things had finally recovered from the monster waves.¡± ¡°Magitech largely solved the supply problem,¡± Anna said. ¡°The farming stacks produce a lot of food cheaply. The real issues around the food supply are political and economic. It¡¯s the largest shift in how agriculture operates since the introduction of electricity and internal combustion. The entire industry is being turned on its head, at least in developed countries. So much of US agriculture was centred on corn, and that¡¯s collapsed under the practicalities of how the world works now. A lot of the American Midwest has gone the way of the steel towns forty years ago. Australian agriculture fared just as badly, if not worse.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s the refugees themselves,¡± Susan added. ¡°The population of the United States grew by half within a year.¡± ¡°A logistical disaster,¡± Anna said. ¡°And that was moderate, compared to places with large tracts of unoccupied land. Canada, Australia, and large portions of Africa, China and Russia. Any place that magitech could make liveable quickly.¡± ¡°Australia¡¯s population is now seventy-five percent European refugees,¡± Susan said. ¡°The political chaos that resulted is still going on. Australia has always had an unpleasant intolerance streak around migrants and refugees, and that really spilled over in the time you were all hidden away.¡± ¡°We heard about the turmoil,¡± Ian said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe they took in that many people.¡± ¡°There was a lot of international pressure,¡± Anna said. ¡°A lot of resistance, too. There was a double dissolution of government, for only the second time ever. Things still haven¡¯t settled.¡± With the conversation moving to the heavy topics they had previously avoided, the group moved inside. They discussed a mix of global events and events within the clan. The clan members had missed a lot in their isolation, even before fully withdrawing into the astral spaces. As for Anna, she was currently the eyes of the world on what was happening in Asano territory. Some still believed that Jason was dead, while others saw his impending return as a Sword of Damocles, poised over their heads. Nigel finally got to tell the story of the day the vampires who had claimed the Asano territory died. He was the sole witness, and his account of Jason¡¯s wrath sounded like an Old Testament story. ¡°¡­the blood rain turning into this colourful, sparkling light, destroying what was left of the vampires and their minions. Then I was alone, the last one standing in a city that stank of death. Until Jason showed up. Or his avatar, however that works. It seemed like he was really there.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t smell the same,¡± Erika said. ¡°The avatars. Jason smells like flowers and cut grass. Taika, too. Something about being a cosmic entity. His avatars don¡¯t smell of anything, and they feel like rubber to touch.¡± ¡°What did Jason say to you?¡± Anna asked Nigel. ¡°We talked about having power, and the people who wanted to use it. He saw that I was gold rank and deduced the problems I¡¯ve been having. He said it was a lot like what he went through, during his time here. And we talked about the possibility of my team and I joining the clan.¡± ¡°Which you did,¡± Anna said. ¡°Yeah. The clan has been quietly smuggling our families in while we participate in rescue and reclamation.¡± ¡°Retaking the areas around Asano territory,¡± Anna said. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°There is some concern about the clan¡¯s ambitions towards Europe.¡± Erika snorted her disgust. ¡°Our ambitions are dealing with the vampires and the people they¡¯re still holding in their blood farms. You just told us about the refugees from here clogging up the infrastructure across the planet, but the people in charge are already looking to divvy up Europe between them.¡± ¡°You say that,¡± Anna told her, ¡°but we¡¯re sitting in what was French territory before your brother claimed it for himself.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t French territory,¡± Jason said. Everyone turned to look at him in the doorway. He was holding a plate with a sandwich that looked to be made from the leftovers of their lunch. He looked at it with a frown. ¡°I forgot that I can¡¯t taste things with my avatar,¡± he said sadly, sat the plate on a side table and walked into the room. ¡°Don¡¯t just leave things sitting around like that,¡± Erika scolded. Jason groaned and the plate floated off the table and out through the door. He moved to join the others and cloud rose from the floor to form a chair under him as he sat. ¡°It wasn¡¯t French territory,¡± he said again. ¡°It was vampire territory. And I didn¡¯t ask to take it. I didn¡¯t even know it was possible before Slovakia, and I had no choice anyway. I had to take them.¡± ¡°You had to?¡± Anna asked. ¡°Yes. Do you know what a transformation zone is, Anna? It¡¯s a scab, over an open wound in the side of the universe. Mostly, the wound heals and the world limps on. But some scabs aren¡¯t enough. Left alone, the wound under them will rip a hole in the side of the universe. The resulting rupture would annihilate the Earth, at the very least, and probably the solar system. And that¡¯s assuming it didn¡¯t chain react from there and start tearing the whole universe apart, although the likelihood of that is small. And it would be stopped if that started happening.¡± ¡°By you?¡± ¡°Not my area, and beyond the scope of even my real power. There¡¯s an entity called the World Phoenix who would cauterise the wound from the outside. The side effects of that would have been drastic, but pointless to all of us, who would have been dead.¡± ¡°You do this, Jason,¡± Anna said. ¡°Grand proclamations. Fate of the universe. But all we have to go on is your word. You never tell us enough to check for ourselves.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°Back then, I was more inclined to kill you all myself. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t have the power to conquer the world back then.¡± ¡°Implying that you do now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the same world you left, Jason.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m not the same person who left it.¡± He sighed. ¡°Anna, we¡¯re falling into old patterns here. I¡¯m falling into old patterns, and that¡¯s not going to be productive. I know that I never explained myself the way people wanted, but I hope you understand why.¡± Anna gave a reluctant nod. ¡°I remember a lot of conversations where I had to explain that the Network people that came after you this time were another faction that had gone rogue. I can¡¯t blame you for refusing to work with us anymore. Given how it all ended, it seems that it was all just rogue factions, acting in their own interests. I suppose you saw that before I did. The clarity of an outside perspective.¡± ¡°Anna, I believe that you were never like that. That you were trying to do the right thing. That¡¯s why I want to work with you now. And to start, I¡¯ll answer any and all of your questions. About back then, about now. I¡¯ll offer you what proof I can, when I have it. But I¡¯ll warn you now, there are some things that will be hard to believe, and all I have for you is my word. I can show you more once I arrive in person, but I can¡¯t wait for that. We need to start preparing now.¡± ¡°For what?¡± she asked. ¡°Rufus Remore said you wanted to work with me, but he didn¡¯t say why. What is it that you want?¡± Jason nodded contemplatively, more to himself than to her. ¡°My intention today is to help you understand that I will be coming back to Earth with unassailable power. Limitless, for most practical purposes. Anything I want to do, I will be able to. Anything I don¡¯t want to do, no one will be able to make me. Conquer the world, erase nations. Eliminate every head of state on the planet in an afternoon. Whatever threat the people of this world think I pose, I can promise you that it is much, much worse.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Anna said. ¡°Let¡¯s suppose that I believe you. Why am I here, listening to you tell me that?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to be the thing that terrorises the world. I don¡¯t want to bring down governments and make nations collapse. What worries me is that the fear of my doing so will lead the powers of this world to force my hand. My first goal is to avoid having my return to Earth destroy it.¡± Anna looked at Jason, eyes examining him as her mind ticked over. ¡°You really think that you¡¯re that important? If Rufus hadn¡¯t come out and told everyone that you¡¯re some great big threat, they wouldn¡¯t have thought it.¡± ¡°No,¡± Nigel interjected. ¡°They¡¯d have tried to exploit him, just like before. Anna, I don¡¯t think I properly conveyed what I saw that day. It wasn¡¯t the power of a man. It was the power of a god.¡± Anna looked at Nigel, then back to Jason. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re a god, Jason?¡± ¡°That¡¯s complicated. I think we¡¯d better get into those questions; it¡¯s going to be a long few days.¡± Chapter 924: A Thing That Makes the Car Work Anna and Susan sat on a park bench. It was early evening, and parents from the surrounding houses were calling their kids in for dinner. A nearby picnic table had a blanket draped over it, with a mix of mechanical and magical tools laid out. A leonid was tinkering with what looked like a Rubik¡¯s cube, but with runes instead of colours on the sides. Anna had seen enough Leonids to mark him as a teenager, but he had the confidence of a professional as he worked. A human woman walked over to stand by his table. She looked to be in her early twenties, but so did most of the population. An astounding number of Asano clan members were essence users, suggesting a staggering access to resources. Anna took a second look at the girl and her rank-polished features. It had been a lot of years, but she looked like¡ª ¡°Emi,¡± the leonid said as she approached. ¡°I told you that you should have let me look at these long ago. Your problem isn¡¯t the magic, it¡¯s the mechanics. The transitions aren¡¯t smooth enough, so when you switch configurations, it¡¯s causing wear on the¡­ are you even listening?¡± Emi had sensed Anna¡¯s attention and turned to look back at her observer. She narrowed her eyes for a moment, as if trying to recall an old memory. She nodded to Anna, then turned back to the leonid. ¡°Sorry, Gary, you were saying the transitions are causing wear?¡± ¡°Yeah. Who¡¯s that?¡± Emi threw another glance Anna¡¯s way. ¡°Someone my uncle used to work with.¡± ¡°I thought all the outsiders were stuck in the mushroom farm.¡± ¡°Not all of them. Wait, mushroom farm? They¡¯re in the visitor dorms Uncle Jason made. That¡¯s practically a palace, not a farm.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s still a place to keep them in the dark and feed them bullsh¡ª¡± ¡°Just pack up and we¡¯ll go, Gary. Your mother told me to bring you home for dinner.¡± ¡°Are you and Vincent eating with us?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Gary put his tools and blanket away in a large backpack and they wandered off. ¡°Is that Jason¡¯s niece?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Anna said as they watched the pair walk away. ¡°If the Asano clan¡¯s isolation ends, there¡¯s going to be a lot of attention on her.¡± ¡°And what about you? If you decide to become a part of all this, you¡¯re going to be the clan¡¯s diplomatic face to the world. Is that something you want?¡± Anna leaned wearily into Susan¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I don¡¯t know where to even start considering it. Three days we¡¯ve been going through it all. Three days of every new claim being crazier than the last. When you ask a guy if he thinks he¡¯s a god, any answer but ¡®no¡¯ means he¡¯s probably stockpiling weapons and trying to convince people to be sister wives.¡± Susan laughed. ¡°How are you not blown away by all this?¡± Anna asked her. ¡°I¡¯ve been living in a world of magic my whole life and I don¡¯t know how to take it. I can¡¯t imagine what it¡¯s like for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing, love: this isn¡¯t my first time.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Like you said, you grew up with this. Your family have been Network insiders for generations. When you told me that magic was real, I thought it was some kind of prank. Then I thought you were crazy. Then you showed it to me, and I thought the world was crazy. Now, you finally know how I felt back then.¡± ¡°Okay, but the scale of it. How many times in the last three days did Asano say ¡®I can show you once I¡¯m there in person?¡¯ Assuming that he isn¡¯t lying ¡ª which is quite the assumption, given his claims ¡ª then we¡¯re talking about a scope that dwarfs us. What is a country when he has his own solar system? A planet, when he¡¯s rewriting the rules of the cosmos? If he¡¯s lying about it all, that¡¯s trouble, but trouble I can at least get my head around. If he¡¯s telling the truth, then we¡¯re nothing to him. He operates on a scale that makes everything we know a tiny speck of nothing.¡± Susan nestled her head onto Anna¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re not insignificant, love. Not you and me, and not the Earth. Not to him, or he wouldn¡¯t have gone to all the trouble of bringing you here.¡± ¡°But doesn¡¯t it make you feel small?¡± Susan considered a moment before answering. ¡°From how he explained it,¡± she said, ¡°all of these great magic bibbity bobs¡ª¡± ¡°Great astral beings.¡± ¡°¡­are there to make the universe work. They¡¯re the mechanisms by which everything works, right? Life, death, time, etc.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how he explained it.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Susan said. ¡°Remember that road trip we took on the Great Ocean Road, right before we got married?¡± ¡°Sure. That was a good trip.¡± ¡°Remember the car? Your old MG?¡± ¡°Of course. I loved that car.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Yes, you did. Would you say that car was a significant part of the trip?¡± ¡°Absolutely. What does any of this have to do with Jason Asano fighting a magic bird that stops universes from breaking open?¡± ¡°Stick with me, love. Do you think that the concept of internal combustion was significant to our trip?¡± ¡°Uh, no.¡± ¡°Exactly. Internal combustion is extremely important to a petrol car, and that¡¯s what we were driving, but it didn¡¯t matter to us. On a larger scale, it was significant, but it didn¡¯t matter to us at all. So, yes, if you¡¯re looking at these great space jibber jobbers¡ª¡± ¡°Great astral beings.¡± ¡°¡­then we are insignificant. But if you¡¯re looking at us, they¡¯re the insignificant ones. Just a thing that makes the car work.¡± Anna looked at her wife, then drew her in for a lingering kiss. ¡°You are amazing, you know that?¡± ¡°Yes, but you could stand to say it more often.¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t want it to go to your head.¡± Anna leaned back on the bench, feeling more relaxed than she had in a week. ¡°If Jason is really as powerful as he claims,¡± Susan said, ¡°then he¡¯s bending over backwards not to rub that power in everyone¡¯s faces.¡± ¡°He had Rufus Remore fly across the planet to hold a meeting where he explained how powerful Jason is.¡± ¡°Did he? I wasn¡¯t there for that. Did Rufus explain everything we¡¯ve heard over the last few days? Or is that something he¡¯s only telling you?¡± Anna tapped her lips thoughtfully. ¡°No,¡± she realised. ¡°Rufus as much as said Jason was coming back with a squad of gold-rank powerhouses. He made a few implications ¡ª how could he not, with Jason tied to the System ¡ª but nothing like what we¡¯ve been hearing.¡± She sat up straight, frowning as she gamed out Jason¡¯s agenda. ¡°Jason is positioning himself as a power, but one the existing powers here can understand. Come to grips with. Enough that he¡¯s someone they have to deal with, rather than exploit. If they genuinely believed that he was as powerful as he claims, I have no idea what would happen. The whole planet would go into crisis mode. Some very bad decisions would be made.¡± She leaned back again. ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to destroy the world just by arriving in it. That¡¯s what he said. And if he¡¯s that powerful, he probably would.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s hope he is,¡± Susan said. ¡°You don¡¯t think it would be better if there wasn¡¯t a demigod with a history of anger issues and recklessness descending upon the Earth?¡± ¡°I think that bringing you here, telling you everything, shows us his intentions, one way or another. If he¡¯s being honest about possessing all that power, it shows us that he wants to use it responsibly. To seek out sound advice, act with care and avoid mistakes when he can. But if he¡¯s not as all-powerful as he claims, and this is all a ruse¡­¡± ¡°Then he¡¯s running a game, with me in the middle of it,¡± Anna finished. ¡°Yes. But even if he¡¯s lying, he¡¯s still going to have a lot of power. This whole city is something he made and can change on a whim. If he comes to earth with ill-intent, he can cause immeasurable damage.¡± ¡°Which do you think it is? Honesty or lies?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a lot like you, you know?¡± ¡°Like me?¡± ¡°I remember back when you were running the Network branch in Sydney. Not coming home for days. Arriving furious when you did. Frustrated that the people who should have been shielding the world from magic were playing politics. Isn¡¯t that what happened to him, the last time he was on Earth? Trying to do the right thing, only to be undermined by the ambitious?¡± ¡°I suppose it was. This is you saying that you think he¡¯s being straight with us?¡± ¡°This is me saying that if he really is like you, things have a chance of turning out alright. And if he¡¯s not, you need to be here anyway, to ameliorate the damage of whatever he¡¯s really up to. We both know that you won¡¯t walk away and leave it to be someone else¡¯s problem.¡± *** Anna and Susan found Jason in the kitchen of the guest house they had been assigned. He was wearing an apron with pink flowers on it. As they entered the kitchen, his back was to them as he managed several pots on the stove. ¡°Come and check this sauce,¡± he said without turning around. ¡°I can¡¯t taste anything with this body, so I can¡¯t manage the salt levels on my own.¡± Anna looked at him from under raised eyebrows, but Susan moved forward. She tasted the offering from the end of a wooden spoon. ¡°Ooh, that¡¯s nice. But yes, a little more salt.¡± ¡°Were you listening to us talk?¡± Anna asked. ¡°One of the most important things about power,¡± he said as he turned back to the stove, ¡°is knowing when not to use it. If you have a hammer, it¡¯s easy to look at every situation as a nail. But sometimes force, no matter how precisely applied, will only make things worse.¡± ¡°You¡¯re good at that,¡± Anna said. ¡°Cooking?¡± ¡°Implying you answered a question that you did, in fact, not.¡± Jason turned his head just long enough to flash her an impish grin. ¡°I think you and I could have fun together, Anna. I do hope you accept my job offer.¡± ¡°I am leaning that way, but I want a better understanding of what I¡¯m walking into.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Jason said. ¡°And you will be forced to make certain concessions.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°No more supermarket bread. I know you and I have talked about this a long time ago, but a little bird told me that you did not heed my advice.¡± Anna turned a glare on Susan, who did a reasonable job of looking innocent. ¡°We don¡¯t have supermarkets here at all,¡± Jason continued. ¡°It¡¯s more of a permanent farmers¡¯ market situation, plus bakers, cheesemongers and the like. It¡¯s not as convenient, I¡¯ll grant you, but it helps foster a sense of community. I leave management of the clan to my grandmother, for the most part, but this, I insisted on. The food is free, though. The staples, at least. Rufus has to import his jellybeans himself.¡± ¡°I was more talking about some verification of the claims you¡¯ve made about the power at your command. If what you¡¯re saying is true, you must be a legendary figure in the other world.¡± ¡°Farrah has been throwing the word ¡®mythic¡¯ around. But Pallimustus doesn¡¯t have the same media saturation and mass communication Earth does. The powerful people know who I am, but the population at large doesn¡¯t. My team is a lot more famous than me. There are a few places they know my name, but I can get away with using a fake one. There aren¡¯t news reports and online videos to plaster my face everywhere.¡± ¡°Do they know, there? Just how vast the span of your power is? You claim that it extends beyond not just Earth or their planet, but the entire universe. Every universe.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more of a potentially vast span, at least until my mortal power grows. I have limited ability to manipulate the System, although I do have some. Around my avatar and here in my domains. But I can¡¯t just use it like it¡¯s my personal toy. There are rules I need to adhere to. I spent fifteen years fighting to see them enforced, after all. That includes on me.¡± ¡°I know that I can¡¯t test your immortality, or see this universe of yours.¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite small, as universes go.¡± ¡°I would at least like to see one of the astral spaces, where your power is stronger. To get a taste of its full scope.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy enough to manage. There are portals in the admin tower.¡± ¡°Even with all that, though, this cosmos level power is hard to acknowledge.¡± ¡°Vast cosmic power is the term. I used to have it on a t-shirt, although I think Emi has it now.¡± ¡°The assumption is that the System is connected to you, but it could just be some cosmic force that finally reached Earth. You could be leveraging your early access to it to make us think you are in control of it.¡± A window appeared in front of her.
¡°Cute,¡± she said. He turned around from his cooking to look at her. ¡°Can I take it that you are at least provisionally accepting my offer?¡± She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good. Step one, you eat. Step two, an astral space tour. Step three, we figure out what to do with the minders you brought with you. They¡¯ve been getting increasingly cranky, despite their accommodations being quite luxurious.¡± Chapter 925: A Long Time Coming ¡°This,¡± Anna said, ¡°is not a professional environment.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Jason asked. Anna gestured at her wife who was just then entering the cabana having changed into her new swimsuit. She also had grilled meat on a stick and a drink with a little umbrella in it. ¡°What?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Your wife doesn¡¯t think we should have this meeting at a water park,¡± Jason told her. ¡°Well, I think it¡¯s a great idea. But you can¡¯t properly enjoy it right? With that avatar body?¡± ¡°Sadly, no,¡± Jason said. ¡°Because your real body is in the other universe.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not technically my real body either, but for practical purposes, yes.¡± ¡°What are you doing over there right now?¡± Susan asked. She moved to the cushioned bench next to Anna, who was doing her best to treat a folding picnic table and chair as office furniture. ¡°I¡¯m currently working with my new bartender to try and reproduce Earth cocktails using Pallimustus alcohol. We just made some dirty Shirleys, and there¡¯s a princess who can¡¯t get enough of them.¡± *** Zara slammed her empty glass on the counter of the cloud ship¡¯s rooftop bar. ¡°Another one,¡± she demanded, wobbling slightly on her barstool. Jason arrived on the elevating platform just in time to overhear. The look Jamar threw Jason from behind the bar was a clear plea for help. ¡°Zara, we only have so much of each liquor in stock,¡± Jason told her. ¡°We have a lot more drinks to try out, so maybe let Jamar try something else. We¡¯ll restock once we know how much we want of which types of plonk.¡± Zara picked her glass up again and slammed it forcefully back down. The counter turned squishy so it didn¡¯t break, and the glass became stuck. Zara glared at it for its rank betrayal before wheeling on her stool to glare at Jason, almost toppling off in the process. ¡°Portal off and get more!¡± she demanded. ¡°Zara, have you, by any chance, been talking to the Storm King again?¡± ¡°Stupid Emiliano,¡± she slurred. ¡°Yes, I could have been more diplomatic with that stupid princeling, but he wanted to buy me like I was cattle at market.¡± ¡°Far be it from me to tell you to be more diplomatic,¡± Jason said. ¡°Not with my history. And the guy did have it coming.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Zara said as she jabbed a finger in Jason¡¯s direction. ¡°Father has been so good about it. He¡¯s says I did great. He¡¯s much more relaxed, now that he¡¯s not king anymore.¡± Sophie flew onto the roof from a lower deck, not bothering with the elevating platform. ¡°Sophie!¡± Zara exclaimed. ¡°Tell Mr Evil Stabby to go buy more¡­ whatever it is I was just drinking.¡± Sophie looked at her with an amused expression. ¡°You drank out the bar?¡± ¡°No. Yes. Maybe. Shut up.¡± Sophie slowly coaxed the drunk princess towards the elevating platform and an inevitable nap. Jason sat down, giving Jamar a sympathetic look. ¡°How much of the gold-rank stock did she go through?¡± ¡°Enough that I could work for a year without being able to afford it. Before this job, anyway. Are you sure you¡¯re happy paying me that much for kitchen and bar services?¡± ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a dangerous job, Jamar, but you might find yourself danger adjacent, from time to time. More than that, you¡¯re probably going to see some things. Like a drunk princess whose brother is stuck with a diplomatic disaster after she inserted some outside magic into a draconian prince¡¯s very inside place. This needs to be a place where my friends and I can relax without being worried what we say or do. When I interviewed you for this job, I told you that the most important parts of this job are loyalty and discretion.¡± ¡°Yes, sir, Mr Asano. No one will hear anything that goes on here from me.¡± ¡°And that is what your renumeration reflects, Jamar. It¡¯s not about slinging the best drinks or managing food service efficiently, although you do need to do that. It¡¯s the fact that you are going to be around powerful people who do very important things. Not just my people, but anyone we host here. Betraying our trust could be very lucrative, should you pick your moment well. In appreciation of that, I want to make sure that you don¡¯t feel like your discretion is being undervalued.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very grateful for the opportunity, sir.¡± ¡°Good. I should warn you, though, that you won¡¯t need to go looking for someone to sell information too. You¡¯re going to be approached more or less any time you¡¯re away from the boat.¡± ¡°I would never¡ª¡± ¡°I know. But not everyone will just come up and offer a bribe. You might find that an attractive young¡­ lady?¡± Jamar nodded. ¡°You might encounter an attractive woman who finds you more charming than you¡¯re used to being found. Or someone who skips the money offer and goes straight to more physical means of compulsion. In preparation for such eventualities, we¡¯ve taken precautions to secure your safety for when you aren¡¯t on the ship. You won¡¯t notice them, but you will be one of the most protected individuals in any place you visit. I want you to feel secure, and not worry about people targeting you for your connection to us.¡± ¡°To be honest, sir, I wasn¡¯t really worried. Until just now, when I find myself quite worried. What exactly do you mean by ¡®physical means of compulsion?¡¯¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Jason said as he stood up. ¡°Sorry. Still, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s going to be fine. Do you need me to portal off and pick up some more drinks?¡± ¡°Uh, yes, sir.¡± ¡°Make me a list.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. *** ¡°This has been a long time coming,¡± Jason said. The magic around Vitesse was more than strong enough to let the cloud ship fly, but Jason left it on the water. Most of his friends were with him on the rooftop bar, having just enjoyed a lunch under the hot equatorial sun, cooled by the fresh sea air. Nik and Jason stood at the front railing, Jason waiting for his first glimpse of the city. For many of his friends, it was home. It wasn¡¯t the capital of Estercost, but many considered it the adventuring capital of the continent. The high level of magic meant that monster manifestations were powerful and frequent, not just in the around the city but across the entire region. That was a critical threat when Estercost was filled with towns, villages and smaller cities, due to the idyllic climate and rich natural resources. As with many high-magic zones, the local Adventure Society was much better at intercepting monster appearances than somewhere like Greenstone. Instead of leaving notes for wandering adventurers, they had something akin to the grid on Earth that detected magic across a wide area. The grid on Earth was based on the same principles as natural arrays, using the geography of the planet for its structure. On Pallimustus, their detection networks were less advanced, requiring towers that were subject to weather and monster interference. They needed regular maintenance and replacement, but they also had advantages over the Earth grid. Where the grid only gave the exact information it was designed to originally, the Pallimustus equivalent could be tuned and calibrated to a variety of purposes. That was how Jason¡¯s cloud ship had been detected on its first approach to Rimaros, and how it was again on its approach to Vitesse. Nik pointed out the city¡¯s famous flowering towers, their tops just coming into view. Jason looked over at where he was pointing, but his real attention was on the essence user he sensed approaching. The same thing had happened on his approach to Rimaros, a local official heading out to greet ¡ª and check up on ¡ª approaching powerful visitors. It was a normal process, affecting every boat, sky ship and caravan emanating enough power to be a potential threat. In Rimaros, that was how Jason had first met Vidal Ladiv. That man¡¯s nephew was now one of Jason¡¯s growing entourage. ¡°Shade, would you ask Miguel to come up? It¡¯s time our new Adventure Society liaison made himself useful.¡± *** Jason¡¯s first visit to Vitesse quickly proved to be everything he had hoped for. The City of Flowers lived up to the name, with skyscrapers draped in flowering vines. Trees lined every street, heavy with blossoms. Social programs and labour laws meant that even the poorest sections of the city were safe and relatively prosperous. This was made possible by an economy thriving in multiple sectors, especially agriculture and the growth of alchemy supplies in the magic-rich soil. Adventuring was likewise lucrative, with a steady stream of silver and gold-rank monsters to harvest with efficient looting protocols. Vitesse adventurers were also in high demand around the world, many places paying generous fees to have experts deal with intransigent problems. The Magic Society likewise offered lucrative services, such as portal travel and airship construction. Jason¡¯s favourite aspect of the city was that it was full of extremely powerful adventurers. This meant that if some crazy monster or lunatic cult showed up, he could relax and hear about it all later, just like everyone else. The only sad undertone was that most of his companions had friends and connections in the city to catch up with, even Nik. Each new introduction, every fun anecdote, reminded him of all the time he had missed. The years of joy and trouble that he¡¯d missed while supreme beings were using his soul as a battlefield. He forced himself not to dwell on a past he couldn¡¯t change, and instead focused on making new memories. He finally got to see the Remore Academy, finally proving that Rufus¡¯ family did, in fact run a school. He met Kenneth, son of Brian, now one of the most celebrated adventurers in Vitesse. While Jason was more than happy to hear all about the famous duel where he defeated a young Rufus, Jason was more interested in having him speak with Nik. Kenneth¡¯s monster-tracking skills were highly vaunted. Rather than have a permanent team of his own, the Adventure Society regularly attached him to teams in need of his specific skills. Nik¡¯s ability to coordinate teams had put him in a similar situation, but Jason knew that he had some insecurities around not having a team of his own. Nik had confessed as much as he watched Jason and his own tight-knit team during their travels. Jason hoped that spending time with Kenneth and discussing their experiences would help Nik come to terms with his adventuring career. If not, he would make sure Nik found an excellent team, regardless of what the Adventure Society wanted. If nothing else, Rufus had been training up the Asano clan youth, and had several excellent silver-rank prospects. While Jason spent time with all of his friends, most of it was spent touring around the city with Nik. Jason enjoyed the anonymity, and Nik likewise luxuriated in not being the centre of attention. He did get looks because of his inescapable cuteness, but Vitesse was the most metropolitan and multicultural place Jason had ever encountered. There were all manner of people, from every essence-using species and some that weren¡¯t. The brighthearts weren¡¯t the only people with enough inherent magic to have their own unique powers, many of which were visibly apparent. Jason and Nik spotted a variety of them, from a group of nine-foot humanoids with green skin and red tattoos to elves with wings who would likely be mistaken for short messengers. All that was without even counting the adventurers with their exotic magic devices, wonderous familiars and flashy powers. During their days in Vitesse, Jason and Nik spotted all manner of strange and wonderous people. One woman had fire for hair and rode a bat made of crystal, with a visible skeleton inside. Another man was in a constant state of shape-shifting. His hair was always in flux, changing length, colour and style. His skin was pale one moment and red the next before turning into iridescent fish scales. Countless different transport methods were also on display, from flying carpets to a giant hamster wheel making short teleport hops. The familiars were of such frequency and variety that places close to the Adventure Society campus felt like they were under monster invasion. Jason, with glowing eyes and an adorable companion didn¡¯t warrant a second glance. Jason carefully avoided any entanglements with the various societies and associations, but he did have a few appointments to keep. One was to join the same guild as most of his companions, the Burning Violet guild. Another was an invitation to afternoon tea from what was arguably the most famous and prestigious citizen of Vitesse, Roland Remore. The last was to pick up his new wardrobe from the shop of Gilbert Bertinelli, now operating out of Vitesse. Jason had taken a day all to himself to go and visit Bert. They had lunch together and discussed all they had been through since their Greenstone days. In the end, Jason left behind an exorbitant amount of money, and took with him an extensive wardrobe. The Burning Violet guild house was a large but unassuming building, directly across from the Remore Academy. This was the location it had moved to following the takeover of the guild by Roland Remore long ago, and while the diamond-ranker no longer managed it, his presence loomed large. The building was centuries old, but the magical reinforced stone was barely weathered. Like most buildings in Vitesse, it was decorated with living plants, although more sparingly than most. There were a few balconies with planters from which vines draped, and ivy climbing sections of the walls. Most of the greenery was around the sides on the building, expanding into what looked like gardens around the back, only partially visible from the street. There were no less than four sets of double doors in the front, all of which were busy with messengers and functionaries coming in and out. There were quite a few adventurers as well, the others giving them a respectfully wide berth. This included Jason, who modulated his aura to a polite expression of his genuine rank. It was not an occasion to be deceptive and, while gold rankers always stood out, they did so less in Vitesse. Wearing one of his new suits, he entered the cavernous lobby. Several staff members were approaching people as they entered and directing them variously to different reception desks, any of the several stairs or internal doorways, or occasionally sending them back out entirely. Jason, being gold rank, was attended to immediately. He was approached by an immaculately dressed young bronze ranker before he had a chance to get anywhere near a queue. The man had no trace of cores in his aura, so Jason assumed he was an adventurer in training. Unlike Greenstone, the more dangerous Vitesse environment meant that no adventurers below silver operated unsupervised. Rufus, Gary and Farrah had roamed abroad in search of adventure without minders watching over them. ¡°What can I do for you, sir?¡± ¡°I was hoping to apply to your guild.¡± ¡°An excellent choice, sir. Are you looking to transfer from an existing guild?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ve never been in a guild before.¡± ¡°That should simplify the application process, then. I will warn you in advance that rank is no guarantee of acceptance, however.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Then please go through that door over there and the receptionist inside will take your details.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Chapter 926: A Big Juicy Hole Jason entered the room just off the lobby. It was a smaller reception area with just one desk. It was well appointed, rich but tasteful, with dark wood and earthy colours. Another door led deeper into the building. A receptionist sat behind the desk, greeting him with a smile. She was human and a bronze ranker with no sign of core use, which seemed to be standard for the guild¡¯s functionaries. She had the dark skin of a Vitesse native, and long hair tied into thin braids. Her smile was genuine, which Jason found interesting, but realised would be a necessity. Bronze-rankers hiding spite behind a customer service smile would be seen through by the high-rankers they met on a daily basis. ¡°Good day, sir. You¡¯re looking to apply to the guild for membership?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Please sit.¡± She tapped a crystal on her desk and a cloud of dust emerged from the floor and coalesced into a chair near Jason. There was a click as the door locked. ¡°So we won¡¯t be disturbed,¡± the receptionist said, seeing Jason glance in that direction. ¡°Please take a seat.¡± She waited for him to sit before she did the same. The chair wasn¡¯t cloud furniture comfortable, but it was close. She took a form from the drawer and a pencil. ¡°Might I begin with your name, sir?¡± ¡°Jason Asano. And yours?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Monica.¡± He registered the mild surprise in her aura that didn¡¯t make it to her face. ¡°Do people normally not ask?¡± ¡°Not gold rankers, sir.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to keep calling me sir.¡± ¡°Is there a manner in which you would prefer to be addressed?¡± ¡°Jason is fine. Mr Asano, if you must.¡± ¡°Very well, Mr Asano. Speaking of your rank, it means that your application will be assessed by a guild executive, including an in-depth interview. I¡¯ll be asking you some preliminary questions to help the process go smoothly. Is that acceptable to you?¡± ¡°Does anyone ever say no?¡± ¡°You would be surprised, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°Go ahead and ask; I have nothing to hide. Well, that¡¯s a lie. I have many, many things to hide, but what gold ranker doesn¡¯t? I just don¡¯t think they¡¯ll come up in a guild application unless this guild is involved in some extremely unusual affairs.¡± ¡°The guild is definitely involved in some extremely unusual affairs, Mr Asano.¡± He laughed and she smiled. ¡°It¡¯s normal to be nervous, Mr Asano. Applying to any guild on this level is no small thing for anyone. Burning Violet are elite amongst elites.¡± ¡°You think I¡¯m nervous? Oh, because of the rambling. No, that¡¯s just me. I always feel that when you¡¯re asking someone to involve themselves with you, it¡¯s only fair to give them a genuine sense of what they¡¯re getting into.¡± ¡°That attitude will do you very well when the executive is interviewing you, Mr Asano. Their questions will be rather more probing than mine, and they will be more expectant of thorough answers. I¡¯m just looking for some foundational information. Basic background details, your current adventuring status. You are entirely free to decline answering at this stage and defer your answers to later. I can tell you that openness now will work in your favour with the executive interview.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start with some background. Your identity will be confirmed later, using your Adventure Society badge.¡± ¡°Has anyone actually tried to enter the guild under a false identity?¡± ¡°It happens. There was one woman who actually had three different memberships. A shape-shifter, obviously.¡± ¡°She was kicked out?¡± ¡°No, if you can believe it. She revealed the truth herself and then helped improve the security protocols. That was before my time, though. She ended up teaching at the Remore Academy, which is how I heard about it. I took her Introduction to Improvisational Rituals course. Barely passed, but I loved it. She always had the best stories. She used to be a thief, if you can believe it.¡± ¡°Oh, I can believe it.¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m getting off track. Lord Bassingthwaite is always criticising me for being too personal, but I think you can be personal and professional at the same time.¡± ¡°I completely agree, but I don¡¯t have ¡®lord¡¯ at the start of my name.¡± ¡°I know, right? That does bring us to the next question, though. Do you hold any royal or noble title, or position within a recognised governmental authority?¡± ¡°No. Would that help with my application?¡± ¡°Not at all. It can even be an impediment in some cases. Nobility and sovereignty often involve complications the guild would prefer to avoid.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve noticed those complications myself, from time to time.¡± ¡°Oh, I bet you have. Gold rankers have the best stories, but most don¡¯t give a bronze ranker a second glance, you know? If you don¡¯t mind me saying, Mr Asano, you are a very approachable man.¡± She made a circular gesture in his direction. Stolen story; please report. ¡°You¡¯ve got, I don¡¯t know, kind of a weird presence. Most gold rankers are all imposing, but you have that tamped right down. It¡¯s there, in the background, but there¡¯s something casual and inviting about you. Are you doing that with your aura on purpose?¡± ¡°I like to be friendly with people.¡± ¡°Well, I appreciate it. I would never normally be this open with the people who come in here¡­¡± Jason sensed a lie in her aura for the first time. ¡°¡­but sitting across from you is like having tea with a friend.¡± ¡°I appreciate you saying that, Monica. Perhaps, though, we should move on to the next question.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re right. I get to chatting, then some silver ranker gets held up waiting and he thinks he¡¯s all important because his dad¡¯s friend¡¯s uncle killed a dragon once. He throws a fit, and then who ends up getting an earful from Lord Bassingthwaite? Me, that¡¯s who.¡± ¡°Then, maybe we try and avoid that?¡± ¡°Well, I could hide, but I work here. He¡¯d find me eventually.¡± ¡°Uh, I was more thinking that getting through those questions might be a better approach than hide and seek with your boss.¡± ¡°That does make sense. Keep it practical.¡± She looked down at her form. ¡°Right, we¡¯re up to¡­ species. You appear human, but not of an ethnicity I recognise, and I can¡¯t read it from your aura. Again, I will remind you that you can decline to answer any of these questions, although they will be asked again, later in the process.¡± ¡°Then I might exercise my right to decline. I will say that I was born human, but the adventuring life found me, rather than the other way around. There¡¯s quite a story to it.¡± ¡°Oh, I bet there is. You¡¯re sure you can¡¯t¡­ no, we need to get through this. Do you mind answering where you¡¯re from originally?¡± ¡°A little town you won¡¯t have heard of, called Casselton Beach. Lovely beaches, as you¡¯d expect from the name. No adventurers, very low magic levels. I did my training in Greenstone, though.¡± ¡°Oh, wow. The shape-shifter lady I told you about is from there. The one whose course I took in¡ª¡± ¡°I remember, yes.¡± ¡°The magic there is so low, but the Geller-Remore facility they built has produced some exceptional adventurers over the last decade. I applied to the program there myself, while I was at the Remore Academy.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. Intensive program, independent monster hunting. Getting a slot is really competitive.¡± ¡°Like joining this guild.¡± ¡°Exactly! You know, the Gellers train their best prospects down there in Greenstone.¡± ¡°So I¡¯ve heard. About those questions¡ª¡± ¡°Did you train at the Geller-Remore facility? I haven¡¯t heard about any of the graduates reaching gold rank yet.¡± ¡°It was just after my time. They were just starting some pilot programs at the end of my time in Greenstone. I was actually part of the very first course on aura control.¡± ¡°Oh, that must have been amazing. Did you get to meet any of the famous Gellers?¡± ¡°I did, as it happens.¡± ¡°You know, most of the Gellers operating out of Vitesse are members of the guild here.¡± ¡°I was told that, yes.¡± ¡°Do you think any of them would remember you?¡± she asked, then leaned forward conspiratorially. ¡°I¡¯m not being strictly professional by telling you this¡­¡± Jason awkwardly cleared his throat. ¡°¡­but if they did remember you, that would give a nice bump to your chances of being accepted.¡± ¡°I think some of them might recall me,¡± Jason said. ¡°Do you need to write that down, or do we just move on to the next question?¡± ¡°We cover that at the end, so we can keep going,¡± she said and checked her form again. ¡°I mentioned that we¡¯d do the bits about your connections and associates later, and that¡¯s now. I don¡¯t see the point of some of these questions, if I¡¯m being honest, but they make us do the whole form. As if anyone would admit to being in a cult or trafficking restricted essences. Anyway, are you currently or have you previously been a member of any magic, adventuring or craft related guilds, societies or associations?¡± ¡°Just the Adventure Society. Standard membership.¡± ¡°Star rating?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ less standard.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that. Having one star at gold rank is more common than people think, and certainly not a disqualifying factor. Burning Violet is exclusive, but it¡¯s also really big. You don¡¯t have to be some tricky politician or expert ritualist. They need some good head-breakers just like everyone else. Look, so long as you can assure us of your good standing with the Adventure Society, we can leave the details of your ranking to the later interview with the executive. No one is going to make an issue of it until they do the full identity check, before the interview.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably for the best, thank you. Why don¡¯t they check identity until that late in the process?¡± ¡°It¡¯s part of the protocols. If we catch people too early, they haven¡¯t done anything shonky enough, we have to just kick them out. Once they¡¯ve been properly shady, though, we can take them out back and deal with them ourselves. They call it the ¡®enough rope¡¯ protocol.¡± ¡°I do have connections within other groups and associations, I should perhaps point out. No memberships with any of them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. It would be a little strange if you reach gold rank without making connections. If you don¡¯t mind me asking, if you got to gold rank without ever joining a guild, why now?¡± ¡°I have friends in the Burning Violet guild. The rest of my team, in fact. I¡¯ve wanted to come to Vitesse for a very long time, but circumstances have always conspired to keep me away. Now, I¡¯m finally here.¡± ¡°Oh, I know a big juicy hole where a story goes when I hear one. You couldn¡¯t get here in all the years it took to get to gold rank?¡± Jason let out a chuckle. ¡°I will confess that the story might have a little juice.¡± ¡°Aah, you¡¯re not going to tell me, are you?¡± ¡°We do need to avoid you getting yelled at by Lord Bassingthwaite.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t yell. He does that ¡®I¡¯m not mad, I¡¯m disappointed¡¯ thing. He¡¯s actually a pretty good boss, all said and done. But yeah, we¡¯re almost done.¡± She read directly from the form. ¡°Have you ever, at any stage, faced reprimand from the Adventure Society, Magic Society, any government authority or church over your association with¡­¡± She looked up from the form. ¡°Look, have you ever got caught doing bad stuff with bad people?¡± ¡°I did get demoted once, at iron rank. There was a corruption enquiry at the Greenstone branch and they blanket demoted everyone at two or three stars at the beginning of the investigation. They bumped people back up afterwards.¡± ¡°Oh, that doesn¡¯t count. Those isolated branches always go dirty and need a clean out every few years. My friend Denise works for the Adventure Society and got roped into a Continental Council. She had to live on this archipelago in the middle of nowhere for half a year.¡± She looked down at the form. ¡°Okay, the rest is basically just a list of known associates. It¡¯s not a dealbreaker, unless your mum is a rival guild master or in the Red Table or something. Really, this is a chance to list any existing guild members you know, or can get away with saying you kind of know, like the Gellers we were talking about. You said your team were all in the guild, right?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s about as close to a guarantee as you¡¯ll get, so let¡¯s start there. What¡¯s your team name?¡± Monica was looking down at the form, her pencil poised to write down names. When Jason told her the name of his team, she froze. Then, moving like the first thaw of spring, her head rose to stare at him. ¡°Did you just say¡ª¡± ¡°You sent a gold ranker to Monica without checking who they were?¡± A voice boomed through the door that led further into the building. ¡°Do you have any idea who is in the city this week?¡± The door was flung open, revealing a harried man with a coal black face and snow-white beard. He was one of the older-looking gold rankers Jason had seen, and would have passed for being in his sixties on Earth. ¡°I¡¯m terribly sorry, sir,¡± he said, stepping forward. Jason rose from his chair to shake the offered hand. ¡°Not at all,¡± Jason said. ¡°Monica has been excellent. A consummate professional.¡± The man threw a suspicious glance at Monica, still staring bug-eyed at Jason, before turning back to Jason as well. ¡°My name is Neiman Bassingthwaite, and I¡¯m the chief membership officer here at the guild. May I ask your name?¡± ¡°Jason Asano.¡± The hand holding Jason¡¯s went dead still. ¡°The, ah, Jason Asano who¡­ did all of the things?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s an honour to meet you sir. We were wondering if you were going to call by, but were expecting something more of an entourage.¡± ¡°I was hoping to take care of things quietly.¡± ¡°Yes, well that was never going to happen, I¡¯m afraid, through no fault of your own. You and I should have a chat.¡± Chapter 927: A Sense of Responsibility Jason followed Neiman Bassingthwaite deeper into the guild building. It had the feel of an ancient estate, appointed in rich fabrics and old, dark wood. The tapestries, sculptures and decorations held the weight of centuries and would not have looked out of place in a museum. ¡°I apologise for your reception, Mr Asano. I¡¯m not sure how Monica ended up on membership intake today, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°She was not what I was expecting.¡± ¡°Monica excels in her role here, but is best used judiciously. The Burning Violet guild is not prejudicial as to the background of our members, which makes our roster rather eclectic. They come from cultures across the world, some born with every advantage while others fought their way up from nothing. Those of a more aristocratic bent have an expectation of detached professionalism from our staff. Those who are more down to earth, however, often find this approach elitist and exclusionary. Monica excels with the guild¡¯s more rough-and-tumble adventurers, but should not have been screening unvetted applicants. I¡¯m not sure who assigned her today, but I will look into it. I suspect it may be related to larger issues within the guild.¡± ¡°Issues?¡± ¡°There is a long-standing contention within the guild that is at a dangerous apex right now. I am hoping that no one was foolish enough to try and use you as a game piece in our internal politics. It¡¯s through here, Mr Asano.¡± He opened the door to his office for Jason to enter. ¡°Can I offer you a cup of tea? *** Jason leaned back in the comfortable leather chair, one of several in Neiman¡¯s spacious domain. He sipped at a cup of tea with a splash of liquor in it. Neiman, looking more dishevelled by the moment, was on his third cup of liquor with a splash of tea in it. ¡°If I understand what you¡¯re saying,¡± Jason said, ¡°there are two factions within the executive members of the guild. One wants to excise the guild from what they see as the oversized influence of the Remore family. The other faction opposes this, either through loyalty or fear the guild will collapse without them.¡± Neiman nodded as he took another gulp. ¡°Yes. And I¡¯m afraid that your membership threatens to be the flashpoint that could set the whole guild ablaze. We are well aware of you and your history, Mr Asano. That the Adventure Society is essentially treating you as a diamond ranker, and of your close ties to the Remore family. Roland Remore already looms large over those who are against his family¡¯s control of the guild, and adding you would likely spell the doom of their intentions.¡± ¡°So, the anti-Remore faction would see my joining the guild as a second diamond-ranker joining the opposing group.¡± ¡°Precisely. It¡¯s no secret that your team and many other friends of yours are already on the guild¡¯s books, and there has long been an expectation that you will join them. Your arrival in Vitesse may have been low-key, but it has not gone unnoticed.¡± ¡°Are you a part of the group against Remore influence on the guild?¡± ¡°I am not. Nor am I an advocate for it.¡± ¡°But you are asking me to refrain from joining the guild, are you not?¡± ¡°Defer, rather than refrain entirely. Until the current tensions have been diffused, one way or another. My agenda is to keep the guild from tearing itself apart.¡± ¡°You think my entry to the guild would cause people to take drastic measures.¡± ¡°That is exactly my concern. There are enough people on both sides of this that the guild could fragment, and that¡¯s just one potential outcome. There¡¯s no predicting what a group of powerful adventurers will do if they think their backs are to the wall.¡± ¡°That¡¯s certainly true,¡± Jason agreed. Neiman gave up the pretence of drinking tea and refilled his cup directly from the liquor bottle. He shook his head before taking a swig. ¡°The most infuriating part is that only a small fragment of guild leadership has any investment in this. Most of our members don¡¯t care who controls the guild, so long as it¡¯s run smoothly. The guild is meant to be an asset for them to use, not a problem for them to bother with. If the conflict escalates and the members are forced to choose sides, they¡¯ll choose neither, and go find a guild that works the way it¡¯s supposed to.¡± ¡°You paint a bleak picture.¡± Neiman nodded. ¡°It¡¯s not so dire as I make out ¡ª not yet, at least. I¡¯m far from the only one attempting to settle this before it escalates. My fear is that you could be what triggers that escalation.¡± ¡°Then why am I only hearing about this now? Why didn¡¯t anyone tell me about this before I came anywhere near the building?¡± ¡°That decision was not mine to make. It was ultimately decided that an active approach on our part would put flame to the kindling. Having you come on your own terms, in your own time, was better. We did ask the Remores not to involve themselves, but we were expecting your team to accompany you. Arriving quietly alone caught us unawares, or I would have attempted to intercept you earlier. Our information is that you are rather fond of a spectacle. As is Gabriel Remore, with whom I know you to be travelling.¡± ¡°Rufus¡¯ dad? He never seemed like that much of a showboat to me.¡± ¡°I suppose it¡¯s a matter of perspective. Not all of us blow up cities everywhere we go.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I don¡¯t¡ª¡± Jason cut himself off, leaned forward and placed his teacup on its saucer. ¡°Lord Bassingthwaite, I hope you¡¯ll understand if I don¡¯t take everything you say at face value. All I have on this is your word, and we¡¯ve only just met.¡± ¡°Of course, Mr Asano. Naturally, you would be an asset to any major guild, but the timing right now is the opposite of ideal. I wouldn¡¯t blame you for running for the hills and having nothing to do with any of it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my inclination, Lord Bassingthwaite. I have more than enough to deal with, without adding guild strife on top of it. Shade, what are Gabriel and Arabelle doing?¡± ¡°Shopping,¡± Shade said from Jason¡¯s shadow, surprising Neiman. ¡°Your familiar is here?¡± ¡°He is,¡± Jason said. ¡°He wasn¡¯t detected.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of his thing, Lord Bassingthwaite.¡± ¡°Yes, but the guild hall has measures in place to keep track of such things.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± A look of realisation crossed Neiman¡¯s face. ¡°Miss Callahan is on your team, isn¡¯t she?¡± ¡°She is. Shade, would you ask if Gabriel and Arabelle would join us?¡± ¡°I have already informed them, Mr Asano. They are awaiting your portal.¡± ¡°Portals won¡¯t work in¡­¡± Neiman trailed off as Jason¡¯s portal arch opened. ¡°I didn¡¯t realise that you were a portal specialist, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°More of an enthusiastic amateur, Lord Bassingthwaite.¡± Arabelle and her husband came through the portal. ¡°Bassingthwaite,¡± Gabriel said gruffly and headed straight for the liquor cabinet. ¡°Lord Bassingthwaite,¡± Arabelle said more cordially as she sat down. ¡°I am distressed to hear that internal guild politics have reached such a precarious point.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Dad,¡± Gabriel said from where he was mixing a drink. ¡°He¡¯s always treated the guild like it¡¯s his own little fiefdom. The Queen would be happy to give him an actual fiefdom, if he just asked, but not Roland Remore. He¡¯s too good for aristocracy. Our family works for what we get, as if we weren¡¯t a de facto bloody noble house. Our son grew up playing with the crown princess!¡± ¡°I suspect it¡¯s more than just your father, dear,¡± Arabelle said. ¡°As I married into the family, my perspective is a little more detached. The Remores more involved in administration than adventuring can lose sight of what the guild is actually for. As for your father, he¡¯s a diamond ranker. They have a habit of just assuming that everything around them will move to their will.¡± Jason sipped at his tea rather than meet Arabelle¡¯s eyes as she looked in his direction. ¡°Have things truly reached the boiling point, Lord Bassingthwaite?¡± she asked. ¡°I am afraid so, Mrs Remore.¡± Jason let out a sigh. ¡°The question,¡± he said, ¡°is what do I do? I have no interest in getting involved, but the fact that I didn¡¯t hear any of this until now suggests that someone wanted me involved.¡± ¡°These tensions have been simmering for a long time,¡± Gabriel said as he walked over and handed his wife a glass before sitting down with his own. ¡°The debate over Remore influence on the guild is older than I am. I would have warned you if I¡¯d realised things had gotten this bad.¡± ¡°You said that the decision not to warn me wasn¡¯t yours,¡± Jason said to Neiman. ¡°Whose was it?¡± ¡°The guild master¡¯s,¡± Neiman said. ¡°It was not universally endorsed by those of us trying to keep the peace.¡± ¡°And he¡¯s neutral in this?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Famously so,¡± Arabelle said. ¡°Perhaps we should talk with him.¡± ¡°No,¡± Jason said. ¡°I came in here because I wanted to join the guild with my friends, not to get involved with guild politics. I asked you and Gabriel here to give me some context of what I¡¯m dealing with. Now that you¡¯ve done that, I¡¯m walking away.¡± ¡°If someone is determined to get you involved, that might not be so easy,¡± Gabriel said. Jason got to his feet. ¡°When I¡¯m on Earth, I¡¯ll deal with politics like I¡¯m on Earth. While I¡¯m here, I¡¯ll deal with things the way they do here.¡± Neiman also got to his feet. ¡°Meaning what, exactly?¡± ¡°Meaning power rules,¡± Arabelle said. ¡°Jason, things aren¡¯t that simple. You know this.¡± ¡°They are with enough power,¡± he said darkly. ¡°Jason¡ª¡± ¡°No, Arabelle. I won¡¯t hear it. I am done with letting people sidetrack me with whatever they have going on. Lord Bassingthwaite, I don¡¯t care about your guild politics and, if I¡¯m being honest, I don¡¯t care if the whole guild collapses. I¡¯m going to go now, and get back to enjoying my time in your lovely city. Thank you for the tea.¡± He strode to the still-open portal and vanished through it. Arabelle pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long, calming breath. ¡°I need to talk to Danielle,¡± she said, also getting to her feet. Rather than use the portal, she left through the door. Neiman fell back into his seat and poured himself another drink. ¡°How bad is this?¡± he asked. ¡°Depends,¡± Gabriel said. ¡°Do you know who is trying to bring Jason into this?¡± ¡°Best guess? Your father. His thinking is long-term enough that he can accept harming the guild if he thinks he¡¯s amputating rotten meat. He¡¯s also one of the few people that could genuinely push the guild master.¡± *** Jason was sitting alone at a bakery caf¨¦, a parasol shielding him from the hot sun. In front of him was a pitcher of chilled milk and a large tray of miniature cakes. A dark-skinned man with a bald head took the seat opposite. Jason understood a little better why so many expectations had fallen on Rufus when he looked so much like his diamond-rank grandfather. ¡°It was you, then,¡± Jason said coldly. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m going to cancel our scheduled meeting.¡± ¡°You¡¯re angry.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re young.¡± ¡°Is that what it is to be old? Only seeing tools instead of people?¡± ¡°Sometimes,¡± Roland admitted. ¡°If you want to move in our circles, Jason, you¡¯ll need to move with consideration rather than emotion.¡± ¡°I think that emotion has its place. Which is fine, because I have no interest in your diamond-rank clique. And I won¡¯t let you ruin my experience here, so leave me out of your guild politics.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get to declare what you are and are not embroiled in. It¡¯s not that simple, as my daughter in law has already reminded you.¡± A portal opened next to their table. The runes around the aperture marked it as belonging to Clive, but it was Humphrey who stepped through. He tossed a pouch on the table in front of Roland, who opened it to find a clutch of guild membership pins. ¡°Team Biscuit withdraws from the Burning Violet guild,¡± Humphrey told him. ¡°Are you coming, Jason?¡± ¡°Let me get these in a box to go,¡± Jason said, then got up and went inside. ¡°He was looking forward to meeting you, you know,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Not the great Roland Remore, but the grandfather who means so much to his friend.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not someone who can afford to be sentimental.¡± ¡°Trust me, Mr Remore: we should all be very thankful he is.¡± Jason returned from inside. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said and followed Humphrey through the portal. It closed behind them and Victor Volaire, the Mirror King, was suddenly sitting at the table. ¡°Are you sure about antagonising him?¡± Victor asked. ¡°Asano has a habit of picking up powerful allies like they¡¯re fruit at a market stall. I had to make it clear that I wasn¡¯t one of them. He doesn¡¯t want to share my enemies right now, and I certainly can¡¯t afford his.¡± ¡°Your grandson won¡¯t be happy.¡± ¡°No, but I¡¯m not going to burden his friends with my battles when they have enough of their own. I¡¯ve made enough mistakes with Rufus already. Too much pressure, too many expectations. He¡¯ll understand, in time.¡± ¡°You know they¡¯ll be part of this eventually. Asano has been on a course to clash with the order for a long time. He uses their combat arts.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t care about things like that. They left those skill books scattered over half the planet.¡± ¡°You know it¡¯s more than that.¡± ¡°What about your son? He¡¯s back in Asano¡¯s circle, now. You want him involved?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± ¡°There you are, then.¡± ¡°Did you have to do it this way, though? Couldn¡¯t you have just explained things to them?¡± ¡°Asano has a sense of responsibility. The Geller boy, too; he¡¯s a good lad. Once they know, they¡¯ll involve themselves. They deserve a break.¡± Chapter 928: Trouble Always Knows Where to Find Me Cassandra Mercer wandered out of the jobs hall with two members of her team after dropping off a completed contract. Jiralla was the team frontliner, standing head and shoulders above the other two women. Henrietta Geller was another adventurer from back home. After bouncing around a few different teams without success, she¡¯d filled a hole in Cassandra¡¯s after they lost a member in the last monster surge. Her many summons and familiars made her a versatile addition to the group. Cassandra wanted nothing more than a hot shower to sluice away the muck of combat. The bog monsters they¡¯d been contracted to hunt reminded her of similar creatures common to the delta back home, although these had been silver rank, rather than iron or bronze. Some crystal wash would have been ideal to flush out the sticky mud that wormed its way into every crevice, but her normal suppliers had been sold out. Apparently the trade hall had been swept clean a week earlier, while they were still out on the hunt. She was quiet as the other two chatted away, her mind elsewhere. She knew that they¡¯d arrived in Vitesse, and maybe that was why she¡¯d picked the contract she had. Normally the team would avoid a mission that meant trudging through bog mud for days on end, although it did come with a nice bonus. No one else wanted the mission either, so the jobs hall had added some nice incentives. She hadn¡¯t heard much since their arrival. A few people discussing the return of Team Biscuit to Vitesse. Their involvement in some city in the middle of nowhere being wiped off the map. They hadn¡¯t sought her out, and maybe they weren¡¯t going to. Perhaps she was a memory they had no interest in revisiting. It was just as she was resolving to put them out of her head when she spotted him. He ambled across the park-like grounds of the campus as if he¡¯d stepped right out of her memories. The ridiculous shirt. Gazing around like a tourist as he munched on a meat wrap, dripping sauce onto the grass. He ambled towards them like someone without a care in the world. Her friends saw that she¡¯d stopped walking and followed her gaze. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Jiralla asked. ¡°Her ex,¡± said Henrietta. ¡°That Neil guy she¡¯s always talking about?¡± ¡°Not always,¡± Cassandra said. ¡°And no. This was from before that.¡± ¡°Jason Asano,¡± Henrietta said. ¡°You know him, Henri?¡± ¡°He¡¯s on my brother¡¯s team. Been away a long time, though. Haven¡¯t seen him in twenty years.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that Neil guy on your brother¡¯s team as well?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Cassie, you should really consider expanding your dating pool. Are you going to go for Henri¡¯s brother, next?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll catch up with you later,¡± Cassandra said, then set off to intercept Jason. He threw a wave in Henrietta¡¯s direction and she returned it before leading Jiralla firmly away. Cassanda arrived in front of Jason. He looked different, yet the same. The eyes sparkling with amusement. The beard that failed to hide his jutting chin as well as he thought it did. His features were sharper and less boyish. He had the smooth, almost artificially perfect skin that came with high rank. ¡°Hey, Cassie.¡± ¡°Hello, Jason.¡± ¡°I thought we could catch up. If you would like.¡± ¡°How did you find me?¡± ¡°Your aura. The city isn¡¯t that big.¡± ¡°Yes, it is.¡± ¡°I suppose. They get a lot bigger, where I come from.¡± ¡°You really spread your perception across the city without people noticing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure a few did, but I¡¯ve gotten pretty good at hiding it. Gold-rank tricks.¡± It was more than just a gold-rank trick and they both knew it. ¡°You can¡¯t be that far from gold yourself, right?¡± It irked her a little that the man who hadn¡¯t even believed in magic when she hit bronze rank had beaten her to gold. Not as much as Henri, who had been grumbling for months about being eclipsed by her little brother. ¡°It¡¯s not easy, getting your head around how high-rank advancement works,¡± she said. ¡°Or maybe it is, for you. Your whole team got there, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason said. ¡°We all had to find our own way, though. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find yours.¡± They started walking, Jason falling into place beside her. ¡°Is Boko really gone?¡± she asked. ¡°It is,¡± he said, stashing his food in his storage space. ¡°I heard some things, but no one seems clear on exactly what happened. Your team was there, though, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°You always did have a knack for winding up in the middle of things.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather not, sometimes, believe me.¡± ¡°So, what did happen?¡± ¡°The usual. Bad people trying to do bad things. Innocent people getting caught in the middle. Most of the population got out alive, but more than I¡¯d like did not.¡± ¡°A messenger army and a destroyed city. That¡¯s ¡®the usual¡¯ for you, is it?¡± It took him a long moment to answer. She could see a shift in his body language, as if something was weighing him down. ¡°I don¡¯t think what¡¯s usual matters,¡± he said, the lightness in his tone now absent. ¡°I had a bad day, yesterday. I finally went to join a guild, something I¡¯ve been looking forward to for a long time. The whole experience went very unpleasantly, and it got me thinking about being an adventurer. It¡¯s something that¡¯s been important to me, over the years, more so as time goes on. But what happened yesterday made me realise that my experience isn¡¯t what other adventurers go through.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Taking contracts. Using them to build a track record and get better contracts. Joining a guild, building a team and travelling around with them.¡± ¡°You have a team.¡± ¡°Whose defining experience with me is waiting years at a time for me to come back. Wondering if I¡¯m even still alive. After yesterday, I started thinking about how different my experiences are from other adventurers, and it got me wondering if I¡¯m really one of them. I haven¡¯t really done a lot of what normal adventurers do since Greenstone. There¡¯s always some mad crisis, pushing me to the edge. Taking me away from my team and never letting me get back to basics. The last few months, I felt like I was finally living the adventuring life everyone else gets to, and then Boko happened. Reminded me that I¡¯m not like everyone else. Then, yesterday brought home the fact that if I try to be like other adventurers, it¡¯s just a performance. Playing pretend.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Jason, I¡¯ve heard the stories about you. If even a fraction of them are true, you live a life that other adventurers long for. Walking with kings and gods. Wielding power most only dream of.¡± Jason shook his head. ¡°Those things aren¡¯t what matter. What matters is knowing that my actions have kept someone safe. Shielded them from something that would have ripped their life apart. But you know that feeling. Every good adventurer does. And that¡¯s when I realised that I really am an adventurer. It¡¯s not about having stories told about you, and it¡¯s not about the milestones that regular adventurers have, but I missed. My first night in this world, Rufus Remore told me what an adventurer was, and I¡¯ve realised all over again that he was right. Strip away everything else, and an adventurer is someone who puts themselves between the bad things and those who need protection from them. Everything else is just embellishment or a distraction.¡± He flashed a smile, heavy, but satisfied. ¡°As long as we do that,¡± he said, ¡°we¡¯re adventurers. I think that maybe I¡¯m a bit thick, since everyone else seems to realise that¡¯s obvious. I second guess myself too much, I suppose.¡± Cassandra gave him a side glance as they walked. ¡°I remember that night we met,¡± she said. ¡°You seemed so free, so unburdened. You really aren¡¯t the person I knew, are you?¡± He flashed the impish grin she remembered, the impudent boyishness shining through. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s still in there,¡± he said. ¡°All said and done, I¡¯m kind of happy that yesterday didn¡¯t work out. It helped me with the ongoing process of accepting who I am, and letting go of who I¡¯m not. The same as everyone else, I guess.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been struggling with that as well. Is that the secret to reaching gold rank?¡± ¡°Part of it, sure.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m doing so well in that regard. I have trouble moving on from old history.¡± ¡°Neil is an idiot.¡± ¡°Neil is an idiot,¡± she agreed. ¡°But he saw it in me. That there are things I couldn¡¯t let go of.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°He shouldn¡¯t have handled things the way he did. He should have talked things through, instead of deciding for both of you and running away. He was so scared of losing you that he gave you up first. Like an idiot.¡± ¡°He wanted me to meet you. To see how different you were. As if that would somehow fix everything.¡± ¡°Which was extra foolish. I¡¯m much sexier now, so that definitely won¡¯t cure you from pining for my masculine embrace.¡± She looked at him from under raised eyebrows. ¡°You haven¡¯t completely changed, then.¡± He flashed another grin. ¡°I told you that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still an idiot.¡± ¡°Hey, I thought we were talking about Neil.¡± ¡°You¡¯re both idiots. It¡¯s Nik I feel sorry for, growing up with you two as influences.¡± ¡°He wants to see you, if you don¡¯t mind. He feels bad about his part in convincing Neil to end things.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Neil¡¯s fault for taking romantic advice from a three-year-old. I would love to see Nik again.¡± ¡°And Neil?¡± ¡°No. He hurt me, Jason. Even if he thought he was doing the right thing, he wasn¡¯t really considering me. He hid his feelings instead of sharing them. He decided everything for himself and ran away before I had a chance to get my head around any of it.¡± They walked in silence for a while. They had no destination, but the sprawling gardens of the Adventure Society campus gave them no shortage of places to wander. ¡°Could you tell me about what you¡¯ve been doing since Greenstone?¡± Cassandra asked. ¡°Maybe it will help me to, I don¡¯t know, put down some old baggage.¡± ¡°Only if you tell me about what you¡¯ve been doing since Greenstone as well.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve just been doing normal adventurer things. Nothing like what you¡¯ve done.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Jason told her. *** ¡°¡­the wrong spell, and the hydra exploded. And I mean exploded, chunks flying everywhere. Being so big, we were drenched in its blood and guts. Because it was only bronze rank, it didn¡¯t burn us, but it dissolved all our clothes away.¡± Jason let out a laugh, then sipped from his glass. He¡¯d pulled out some of his blended juices from Greenstone, giving Cassandra a taste of home. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve had my clothes blasted off a time or three as well. I assume you had more to change into.¡± ¡°Yes, but it was right at that moment that the reinforcements arrived. And you know which church they ended up getting them from?¡± ¡°Lust?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that have been nice? No, they were from the church of Chastity!¡± Jason snorted juice out of his nose, then started coughing. ¡°How did that go?¡± he asked after recovering. ¡°Oh, about as well as you¡¯d expect. Jiralla was the only one of us still decent, because of her heavy plate armour, but she kept complaining about it pinching and started stripping off. Right in front of the priest!¡± ¡°You¡¯re kidding.¡± ¡°The woman has no shame.¡± Cassandra noticed Nik sitting on a park bench and nibbling nervously on a biscuit. She stopped walking and Jason did the same. They turned to look at each other. ¡°So,¡± she said. ¡°I suppose this is it.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this will help you find some closure, or come to terms with anything from the past, but I had a nice afternoon. It was good seeing you again, Cass.¡± ¡°You too, Jason. Tell Neil¡­ I don¡¯t know. That if I want to see him, I¡¯ll come find him. Tell him not to look for me himself.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°We live long lives, Cassandra. Too long to hold onto every mistake, but also too long to hold onto every person. Only you can decide if you want to forgive Neil, or forget him.¡± She bowed her head. ¡°It feels like if I agree to see him now, I¡¯ll be acknowledging that he was right. That he was right to hurt me that way.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°As I said, life is long. You don¡¯t have to decide anything now, just because we happen to be in town. We¡¯ll cross paths again.¡± *** Jason watched the flowering towers of Vitesse shrink away as the cloud ship moved further into Estercost. He could sense his companions in various places around the vessel, including Neil drowning his sorrows at the bar. After one last glance at Vitesse, Jason opened a portal arch to his soul realm and stepped through. He arrived in the forest city of Arbour. The city remained largely uninhabited. Like Jason himself, the soul within his soul that comprised the city was still finding its way. When it first formed, the city had been a homogeneous place, basically flatland filled with sequoias and treehouses. There were now hills and valleys, rivers with castles set on grand bridges and gorges where buildings clung to the walls, covered in ivy. Much of the city still held its original disposition, however, and Jason arrived in one of these areas. It housed the research centre for Carlos, and the accommodation for his test subjects. Jason¡¯s power suppressed the magical influence that had brainwashed them, but only Carlos could free them from it entirely. The time was approaching for Sophie¡¯s mother to go through the process, which was still being refined. ¡°Tomorrow,¡± Carlos said without preamble as Jason walked into his study. ¡°We¡¯ll be ready tomorrow.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the man setting the schedule,¡± Jason told him. ¡°Better to do it right than fast.¡± ¡°Better right than fast,¡± Carlos echoed. ¡°Looking into that sword they attacked you with only slowed me down a little.¡± Carlos had spent some time with the investigation team in Greenstone that was studying the attack on Boko. They were focused on Jason¡¯s attacker, who had not been a messenger but wielded unusual equipment. He had rejoined Jason and his companions recently via portal travel. ¡°That sword was definitely based on the weapons we were developing at the start of the messenger war,¡± Carlos said. ¡°We gave up on them back then because they weren¡¯t cost efficient. The idea was to create weapons that would make less combat-oriented silver rankers more of an opponent to a messenger. The results were never worth the outlay, though, so we moved on. It seems that someone continued that work after we abandoned it, as that sword was made recently. It also showed some signs of having been advanced from what we created, but the improvements were marginal. Not enough to pick up the project again.¡± ¡°Someone obviously felt differently about that.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Carlos said. ¡°But unless you¡¯re going to pull on that thread yourself, it¡¯s for the Adventure Society to investigate. I¡¯ve been away from my work here long enough.¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy to leave it to them. We have enough going on without chasing after something others are happy to pursue themselves.¡± ¡°On that, I agree. If possible, I¡¯d like to get all the Order of Redeeming Light members treated before heading for Earth. I¡¯m hoping to use my time there to explore the medical knowledge of your world, and its potential applications for my work. How long do you think we have before heading to your home universe?¡± ¡°I think that depends on how scattered the people from Earth are, and how many even want to go back. I¡¯m not going to force anyone who wants to stay. We¡¯ll get more information on them in Cyrion, and go from there. Once we¡¯ve rounded people up, it¡¯s back to Rimaros to finally complete the bridge between worlds. Clive thinks that will be relatively quick. I imagine that we¡¯re looking at heading to Earth in weeks, rather than months, assuming that nothing goes wrong.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just going to say that out loud? Aren¡¯t you asking for trouble?¡± ¡°Trouble always knows where to find me,¡± Jason told him with a malevolent grin. ¡°And it knows what it gets when it does.¡± Chapter 929: Tactical Playbook Springclaw gorillas were weak, as gold-rank monsters went, but they were smart and spawned in large herds. When one such herd had hidden away in the mountains, the first group of adventurers sent after them had not done well. After a week of fending off guerilla tactics from the gorillas, they had only a handful of kills and a lot of frustration. Resupplying in a large town at the base of the mountain range, the adventurers encountered Jason and his team doing the same. Humphrey offered to take the contract off their hands, without taking the contract rewards. The adventurers were suspicious until they discovered they were dealing with Team Biscuit, looking to rebuild their tactical playbook after ranking up to gold. The team had spent limited time together over the last few years as they followed their individual pathways to gold rank. They needed to revise the strategies they had developed and honed over more than a decade, along with reintegrating Jason into the team dynamic. They had been working on it during their travels, but Humphrey was satisfied with nothing less than perfection. And once perfection was reached, they could train even harder to maintain it. Each team member had their own new tricks, with even basic abilities growing ostentatiously powerful at gold rank. Humphrey¡¯s Mighty Strength power, arguably the most common power in the adventuring world, could now expand his size. The mana cost became more exorbitant the larger he grew, but it allowed him to physically confront the often-enormous gold-rank monsters. Sophie¡¯s speed left even a fully buffed Jason in the dust, and her aura let her walk through a town, healing the sick like a saintess. Neil¡¯s summon was a trump card against hostile magic, drawing it in like a black hole before transforming into something that countered all it had absorbed. Belinda was the right answer to every question, whether it was controlling enemies, empowering allies or using items to transform into a warrior or powerful magician. Clive remained both the weakest individual combatant, and most powerful damage dealer. Zara could match him over wide area, and Jason could over time, but when it came to hurting one thing now, neither came close. His previous spikes of destructive output now came much closer together, with catastrophic secondary effects. Clive also had several powerful buffs that enhanced Humphrey and Sophie especially. One delivered powerful retribution effects to anyone who attacked them, while the other surrounded them with consumable runes whose effects were varied and random, but always potent. Neil¡¯s means to enhance the team had likewise reached a new level. Zara¡¯s power progression was somewhat unusual in that her powers grew smaller, rather than bigger. Her area attacks had always been fitting for her former title of Hurricane Princess, being as powerful as they were imprecise. She now had options that would concentrate the power of a storm to the size of a fist, tearing through enemies like a chainsaw through custard. Humphrey¡¯s role in most of their tactics was to be the buff-laden centrepiece of the team. This usually left him as some combination of initiator, primary weapon, distraction and bait. Clive and Neil used Onslow¡¯s shell as a secure battle platform while the rest of the team were mobile and flexible, in accordance with the team¡¯s needs and current strategy. The springclaw gorillas were cunning opponents, not just pouring out of their hidden mountain lair in a wave. They went for merchant caravans and brief hit-and-retreat raids, scouting out targets and drawing off defenders with feint attacks. They demonstrated a clear recognition of the threat posed by adventurers, even before encountering them. This was a hallmark of intelligent monsters who came into being with knowledge already imprinted on their minds. Rather than charge into the mountains like the last team of adventurers, Humphrey decided to make use of Belinda. She had several abilities that let her use specialised item sets to awaken temporary powers, usually taking on warrior or spellcaster roles. Her Instant Adept power could make her a swift striker or powerful archer, but also take on utility powers as well. With equipment suited to a wilderness scout, she awakened a suite of useful tracking abilities. Humphrey didn¡¯t allow the team to make use of their various flight options, both for the training value and to escape easy detection. The gorillas would spot them easily if they flew around, and were stealthy enough to avoid distant observers. Like many ambush predators and high-intellect monsters, they could suppress their auras until even Jason would have trouble sensing them. The previous team had taken a flight-and-scan approach to poor effect. Most of the time they had found nothing, only to be ambushed on getting complacent. This was the source of their few kills, but they hadn¡¯t come close to finding the main lair. The team entered the mountains on foot, relying on Belinda¡¯s temporary powers. The terrain was inhospitable, with dense forest growth and steep inclines. The sharp cliffs and hidden crevasses made the terrain dangerous, not from a potential fall but from the constant threat of ambush. Springclaw gorillas also came in less aggressive natural variants, rather than monsters, and such terrain was home territory for them. Humphrey had his team make their way on foot. Navigating forests and scaling cliffs was well within the capability of their gold-rank attributes, but they needed the skill and experience to make use of them. ¡°Jason,¡± Humphrey said, his voice a warning. ¡°Yes?¡± Jason asked innocently. ¡°Your climbing skills seemed to have improved considerably, all of a sudden.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because of your excellent leadership.¡± ¡°So, you didn¡¯t shadow jump to that last city and buy a climbing skill book?¡± ¡°Absolutely not. You just lost track of me because of my inherent stealth.¡± ¡°You realise that you¡¯ve given the whole party access to the tactical map, right? The one with our locations on it?¡± ¡°I, uh, did forget about that, yes.¡± *** The mountain pass was beautiful and green in the summer, spanning out ahead of Jason and his team. The ground was a mess of thick scrub and rocks dotting the landscape. A narrow river spilled down in their direction, with a disused and overgrown road running alongside it. ¡°You said these things are smart, right?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I did,¡± Clive said. ¡°Are we talking ¡®dog that knows how to open the bathroom door¡¯ smart or ¡®get a bunch of ghillie suits and bait us into a trap¡¯ smart?¡± ¡°That depends,¡± Clive said. ¡°What¡¯s a ghillie suit?¡± ¡°A non-magical disguise. The kind you wear when you¡¯re gearing up to kill some folk.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Definitely that one,¡± Clive said. ¡°You think they¡¯re out there?¡± ¡°They¡¯re out there,¡± Belinda said. ¡°This is home territory for them. They¡¯ll have realised that we¡¯re tracking them by now, and I think the last team showed them that small ambushes won¡¯t stop adventurers. They need an environment where they still have a chance of getting the drop on us, but will let them bring their numbers to bear.¡± ¡°With us just standing here talking,¡± Neil said, ¡°they probably know we know they¡¯re there.¡± ¡°And that we know they know we know they know,¡± Belinda added. ¡°Don¡¯t start,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°What do you think, a double scoop slam?¡± ¡°They probably won¡¯t bite unless we wander in looking oblivious,¡± Sophie said. ¡°Then that¡¯s what we do,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Lindy, do you want to go backline or be in the mix?¡± ¡°Backline,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll help Zara and Clive blanket bomb the zone.¡± ¡°Zara, cover the others as they withdraw when it kicks off.¡± ¡°On it,¡± she confirmed. ¡°Jason, I want you trimming the edges. They¡¯re smart, so there¡¯ll be runners once things go badly for them. Mop up most of them, but put a tracker on a couple and let them run. We can trace them back to their lair.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± ¡°You realise they might not even be out there,¡± Neil said. ¡°Unless someone is sensing something I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sensing it,¡± Jason told him. ¡°You¡¯re just not paying attention.¡± ¡°To what?¡± Neil asked. ¡°You¡¯re focusing on the gorillas,¡± Jason said. ¡°Look for the auras of everything else. The animals out there that haven¡¯t run already are skittish and hiding.¡± ¡°And stop suppressing your sense of smell,¡± Belinda added. ¡°Your mundane senses are incredibly sharp at gold rank.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m well aware of that,¡± Neil said. ¡°I took one sniff of a city and choked off my sense of smell almost entirely. I would have shut it off entirely, if that didn¡¯t make food taste bland.¡± ¡°Your priorities might be a little off kilter,¡± Zara suggested. ¡°No, I¡¯m happy with where they¡¯re at,¡± Neil told her. ¡°Enough chatter,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Stash, you ready?¡± The hill mouse in Humphrey¡¯s pocket made an adorable ¡®chu¡¯ sound. ¡°Alright,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Move forward, and try to look oblivious.¡± ¡°But they definitely know we know,¡± Neil said as the group moved forward. ¡°Why the pretence?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®know we know they know¡¯ chicken,¡± Jason said. ¡°Whoever pretends to be surprised best wins.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure whoever kills everyone on the other team wins,¡± Sophie said. ¡°And I¡¯m pretty sure I said enough chatter,¡± Humphrey reminded them. ¡°You always do,¡± Sophie told him. ¡°It¡¯s adorable that you still try.¡± *** The gorillas waited until the team had well and truly walked into the middle of them before they triggered the ambush. Jason was impressed to see they actually were wearing something like ghillie suits, the monsters seeming to erupt from the landscape. They leapt at the party who sprang into action. Jason and Sophie both vanished, Sophie in a blur and Jason into the shadow of a rock. Stash leapt from Humphrey¡¯s clothes, transforming into some creature Jason didn¡¯t recognise. It was something between a bird and a lizard, or perhaps one and a half of a bird and lizard. It had three heads, three wings and three arms that dangled down from a central body. Existing in flagrant disregard of both aerodynamics and biology, it looks like it should get tangled in itself, fall to the ground and beg to be put out of its misery. Instead, it flitted like a hummingbird, snatching up Neil, Clive and Belinda before taking to the sky. Zara shot up next to Stash¡¯s monster form on a blast of wind. Humphrey was left behind, becoming the last target standing for the leaping monsters. Springclaw gorillas were more agile than their Earth counterparts, as appropriate for their rank. They were named for their signature leap attacks and the sharp claws delivering anticoagulant venom. Their favourite tactic was to deliver rapid strikes and then back off, letting their enemies bleed to death. The gorillas had learned that their preferred tactic was a poor one against adventurers. The presence of healers and potions made counting on bleed afflictions an unreliable strategy, but they were smart enough to devise a counter. Much of the group turned from Humphrey as the easy target and focused on the withdrawing backliners. They didn¡¯t know which one was the healer, but quickly guessed it was one of those trying to escape. Using their powerful leaps, they launched into the air at Stash. What they met was a descending wall of wind and water, dropping on them like a concrete slab. It smashed them back down, right on top of Humphrey and the gorillas he was fighting. At the last moment, Humphrey teleported away, leaving the monsters to crash into one another. What was left was a mess of confused gorillas, bodies tumbling and limbs tangling together as Zara¡¯s water bomb washed over them. The ambush had gone very wrong very quickly, with almost a hundred monsters scattered and disoriented. They recovered quickly, however, getting up and looking around for their targets. A handful of gorillas started grunting out orders. The moment the monsters showed signs of reorganising, Sophie reappeared. Dashing through the monsters, she left behind afterimages, seemingly in four places at once. The gorillas resumed their leap attacks at the afterimages, all of which imploded. They turned into points of dimensional suction force, the aggressive jumps from the gorillas again turning into helpless tumbling. The areas around the imploded afterimages were covered with disorienting illusions, triggering vertigo in the monsters as they attempted to recover. Wind blades shot out from the suction points still yanking gorillas off their feet. While this was going on, Clive had called out Onslow, the flying rune tortoise expanding his shell to let Clive, Belinda and Neil inside. ¡°Second scoop,¡± Humphrey said through voice chat. Belinda, peering out from the edge of the shell, looked to the ground below. The four suction points formed a square, and she conjured a force tether right in the middle. A crystal rod rose from the ground and a force beam shot out, connecting with every gorilla in the area. The way Belinda¡¯s Force Tether power worked was to drag every tethered creature towards it. It inflicted little damage to those that allowed themselves to be dragged, inflicting escalating damage to those that resisted. In this instance, the suction points from Sophie¡¯s mirage power did the resisting for them, yanking the gorillas away from the tether rod. The gorillas were physically powerful enough to resist both effects, but the disorienting illusion from Sophie¡¯s power made it hard to get their feet under them. Slowly but surely, Belinda¡¯s force tether won out as Sophie¡¯s power faded. The gorillas were yanked into a pile as the screech of a descending missile filled the air. Humphrey landed right on top of the force tether, destroying it immediately. This triggered the detonation effect of the tether on top of the explosion of Humphrey¡¯s Dive Bomb power. Neil¡¯s Burst Shield power snapped into place right before Humphrey landed, absorbing the damage from the tether blast on Humphrey and detonating itself, inflicting a third blast on the beleaguered monsters. After the execution of the double scoop slam, the monsters were scattered, hurt and confused. They scrambled to even understand what was happening, let alone mount a counterattack. Clive and Zara started blanketing the area with destructive magic, Belinda alternately reducing their cooldowns and copying their powers. The gorillas that had been furthest from the centre saw the battle was lost and moved to escape rather than join their fellows. They bolted for the surrounding forests and cliffs, their loping runs punctuated by huge leaps. As they fled, shadowy arms jutted from the shadows of the rocky landscape, stabbing at them with red and black daggers. The damage seemed negligible, so they ignored the minor wounds and continued their flight. Jason, unnoticed as his cloak pulled shadows around him, softly incanted his Castigate spell. The Mark of Sin it inflicted would let him track them, should any of them survive the other afflictions his shadow arms had delivered. *** Jason and Humphrey cleaned up the handful of monsters that survived Zara and Clive¡¯s indiscriminate blasting. Without any kind of healing, the monsters that fled fell to Jason¡¯s afflictions. He could sense the ones he had marked converging on what was presumably their lair. After looting the dead monsters, the team tracked them down, mopping up what was left of the herd. Only a handful of monsters had been left to guard the cave system they had made a home of, against other monsters and magical beasts. ¡°That was clean,¡± Humphrey said in the aftermath. ¡°I think we¡¯re starting to get our cohesion back. Let¡¯s not get complacent, though.¡± Jason slapped Neil companionably on the back. ¡°Mate, I saw the timing of that shield you dropped on Humpy. That was immaculate.¡± Neil gave Jason a suspicious look, waiting for a backbiting comment that never came. Jason had moved on, slinging an arm around Clive¡¯s shoulder. The team looted the monsters and recovered what they could of what the gorillas had taken from raiding towns and caravans. They then portalled back to the town where they¡¯d left the cloud ship. The adventurers whose job they¡¯d taken over said they would go check the battle site before reporting the contract completed. Humphrey gave them directions and left them to it. Jason and his companions returned to the cloud ship and moved on. Chapter 930: I Dont Blow Up Cities on Purpose Cyrion was the capital of Estercost, and encompassed far more than the urban centre at its heart. A series of concentric walls ringed the city proper, with vast spans of agricultural land in between. Home to some of the most magical and valuable growing land on the planet, it was accordingly under impressive protection. The messengers had, to date, made no attempts to invade Cyrion, focusing their efforts elsewhere. In the days before the messengers invaded Pallimustus, the Builder had not been so reticent. His cult had committed an unprecedented force to attacking the city, the remnants of which still lay beyond the outermost wall. The Builder¡¯s world engineer golems rivalled any diamond-rank monster for size. Almost two decades after their demise, their toppled and overgrown forms looked more like hills than engines of war. Jason and his friends looked down on the fallen golems from an observation lounge on the underside of the cloud ship. The hull was completely transparent from the inside, allowing unrestricted views of the landscape. It did lead to an odd effect where the furniture seemed to be floating in the air. ¡°We managed to stop those things from activating in the Reaper¡¯s astral space,¡± Neil said. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine actually fighting them.¡± ¡°We were bronze rank,¡± Humphrey pointed out. ¡°It would be different now.¡± ¡°Not that different,¡± Clive said. ¡°These golems are realms beyond anything we can create on this world. Actual, diamond-rank constructs. Even the diamond-rankers on our side wouldn¡¯t have been enough without the city defences.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Danielle said. ¡°In the entire history of Cyrion, the battle that left those things here was the only instance of even the outer wall being breached. Those golems made it past three layers of defence.¡± ¡°Why did they leave them there instead of clearing them away?¡± Neil asked. ¡°Surely the salvage would be worthwhile, being cosmic super golems.¡± ¡°Even dormant, they were dangerous to approach,¡± Danielle said. ¡°They were sealed off and left behind while the city focused on repairing the walls, in case the messengers tried to take advantage of the damage. Those inside the walls were cleared out, but the ones outside were left where they fell. They were sealed off, to keep the bold and curious from danger. Only years later were the areas around them unsealed and swept for lingering dangers.¡± ¡°I hope they got it all out before leaving them to grow over,¡± Neil said. ¡°They did,¡± Belinda said. ¡°Clive and I had a discreet poke around a couple of years ago. Got some good base material if we ever want to knock out some constructs of our own, but all the fun stuff was gone.¡± Jason looked through the hull in the direction of the wall. ¡°We¡¯re approaching the defence perimeter,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s a city official on his way here in a small vessel. Come on, Miguel.¡± Miguel Ladiv and the bartender, Jamar, were standing on the translucent floor, wobbling as if they had vertigo. ¡°What?¡± Miguel asked, looking up. ¡°Right, sorry.¡± He headed for Jason with the delicate walk of someone afraid the ice would crack under their feet. ¡°You¡¯re not going to fall through, Miguel,¡± Jason told him. ¡°Uh huh,¡± Miguel said, and kept going as he was. *** Even discounting the agricultural sectors, Cyrion was the largest city in the world. Even flying over it, it stretched out to the horizon in every direction. Few cities on Pallimustus had the sheer scope of Earth¡¯s major cities, but from the air, Cyrion looked like Tokyo by way of the Emerald City of Oz. Grand towers shone in the sun. Massive lakes and whole forests fell within the urban sprawl. The sky was filled with air traffic, from small personal vehicles to massive airships the size of Jason¡¯s and larger. Shade was piloting the airship, but a city official was standing next to him on the bridge, guiding him along a very precise path. Even cloud ships were common enough in the city that it was fully prepared to accommodate them. They flew to one of the lakes where they were given space to convert the ship into a floating cloud palace. Jason¡¯s plans for his time in Cyrion didn¡¯t involve sightseeing, the way they had in Vitesse. It was time to get serious about the return to Earth. During their travels, Jason had been studying more than a decade of work from Clive on restoring the bridge between Pallimustus and Earth. Once the expatriate earthlings were collected, they would be ready to head for Rimaros and the final stage. In preparation for trying to collect the scattered Earth refugees, Jason had been working on his control over the System. The plan was to send out a message that would only reach the earthlings, calling them back to Cyrion. They had all started there, and most remained, making it the logical gathering spot. For the first few days in Cyrion, Jason holed himself up in his cloud palace on the lake. Meditating for hours on end, he refined his control over the System with Li Li Mei as a test subject. Messaging her as an earthling proved much harder than targeting her as a specific individual. It took several days of practise before he was ready to take things wider, and those days were mercifully peaceful. Cyrion was one of the few places where a cloud ship full of gold rankers could arrive without it being a major event. While Jason was practising, his team were hunting earthlings by more conventional means. Danielle went to the Geller compound in the city where she herself had gathered them following their arrival. That had been for their protection, given that dozens of outworlders make an enticing study opportunity. Both legitimate and less ethical researchers were eager to get their hands on such a large sample. Once it was clear that Jason wouldn¡¯t be coming to handle them, the outworlders had to be allowed out of protective custody. Many had the misfortune of discovering why they¡¯d been in it in the first place, winding up on the table of some sketchy researcher. The Adventure Society ended up retrieving many of them, many traumatised and some dead. That was the thread Humphrey pulled on, looking into the Earth people through Adventure Society records. As the rescued ended up in the hands of the Healer¡¯s church, Neil pursued that avenue. Estella took the approach of looking for rumours and stories in the city. Many were tragedies, tales of exploitation and experimentation. Most, however, were almost startling mundane. The earthlings were mid-rank core users in a large city, and met the same fate as locals in that position: being hired by noble houses. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Being a guard for a noble house was a role that became increasingly odd the more prominent the family. The most prominent members of such houses were usually adventurers, whether active, retired or semi-retired. Anyone capable enough to protect such people were too powerful and important in their own right to be a servant. Most house guards were failed adventurers, and were treated as such. They served as thugs for family interests or security for family assets. The more capable amongst them were assigned to protect house scions yet to gain their essences, or low-ranking family members who never had adventurer training. The most important role of a family¡¯s private guard was to simply exist. Any aristocratic house lacking a staff of essence users would find its status within society in jeopardy. Many of the Earth essence users met the exact criteria for a house guard, being trained in combat but having advanced through monster cores. Their unusual backstory proved exotic enough that they were able to command high salaries from noble houses that valued such things. By the time Jason was ready to send out call through the System, his companions had already built a solid list of Earth expatriates. If Jason¡¯s message didn¡¯t work out, they would still be able to collect a lot of people. It was the ones who had gone roaming, like Li Li Mei who would be the problem. Without a way to call them back, they would have to be abandoned, at least for the immediacy. Jason had no intention of chasing down trails a decade or more old, hunting them one by one. Jason sent out his message, and his diligence in preparing for it seemed to pay off. It did appear to target the earthlings and no one else. The people who answered the call were all from Earth, at least at first, and there were no reports of anyone else getting strange messages about another world. Those enthusiastic to return home were the first to respond, arriving at Jason¡¯s cloud palace as directed. Others were uncertain about giving up their new lives, seeing little value in what they¡¯d left behind almost two decades ago. For many, that was half of their lives or more. Some were on the fence, heading to Jason¡¯s cloud palace in search of others like them. They wanted to discuss with other Earthlings whether they should go back. They also had stories of those who had no interest in going back, to the point of fearing they would be forced to. It prompted Jason to send out a second message, telling all who wanted to stay that they were free to. Whether they wanted to return to Earth or not, many came to cloud palace wanting to meet Jason and his famous companions. Especially amongst those serving major families, many had heard of Jason, Team Biscuit and their exploits. After the first day, a different kind of problem occurred. People who had never been to Earth were turning up, claiming they had. Some were laughably transparent fakes, trying to escape debts or other problems. Others were better prepared, often would-be spies for various organisations, legitimate and otherwise. Jason and Farrah ended up screening people. As even an outworlder aura signature could be faked, their screening process had to be more creative. ¡°Best Mad Max movie?¡± Farrah asked. ¡°Fury Road,¡± the man in front of her said. ¡°Incorrect.¡± ¡°What do you mean, incorrect?¡± ¡°The correct answer is Beyond Thunderdome.¡± ¡°The one with Tina Turner? She was terrible in that movie!¡± Jason rushed to restrain Farrah, who was jabbing a finger at the man as she yelled at him. ¡°You shut your filthy mouth! You¡¯re never getting back to Earth, you hear me? The planet¡¯s better off without you!¡± Jason was certain that many of the genuine humans had been paid handsomely by different interests for a variety of tasks. That was not a disqualifying factor for those genuinely from Earth, but they did get a warning as to what would happen if they caused trouble. The next problem was harder to deal with than people clearly not from Earth attempting to synopsise the Police Academy films. ¡°Jason, none of these people were alive when those movies were released,¡± Farrah pointed out. ¡°Even the people from Earth can¡¯t tell you what happened in them.¡± ¡°Exactly. Anyone who gives it a go is clearly not from Earth.¡± People from Earth now working for the noble houses turned out to be the largest issue. If the guards were happy to stay, that was fine. Many had built good lives in the service of the aristocracy. The nobility had proven unwilling, however, to release those who did want to go back to Earth. It wasn¡¯t every house, but enough to be a problem, the nobles leaning on local laws to keep their people where they were. Cyrion¡¯s laws were very much built to favour the aristocratic families, and house guards were technically a form of indentured servitude. Very well-paid servitude, but if the noble houses wanted to make an issue of it, they held all the power. Many of those houses were using that power to prevent their guards from leaving. It didn¡¯t take a lot of investigation to confirm Jason¡¯s immediate assumptions. None of the Earth people were so valuable that the houses had a real need of them. The value they held was that Jason wanted them, and that was an advantage the nobles could leverage. *** ¡°I don¡¯t blow up cities on purpose,¡± Jason muttered to himself. ¡°I don¡¯t blow up cities on purpose.¡± It was Jason¡¯s eleventh day in Cyrion, and the fourth day of meetings with representatives of the noble houses. Ignoring his instincts to do something drastic, Jason had chosen a diplomatic approach. He had set up meetings with the aristocratic families, their chosen representatives being a message in and of themselves. An important family member being present was a signal of respect, while a bureaucratic functionary was a slight to Jason and his team. Some of the meetings were one to one, while others brought all the representatives together. Jason handled the talks himself, for the most part, drawing on the lessons in diplomacy and etiquette he had received from Danielle. She was with him, occasionally taking the forward position, but mostly leaving it to him. By the fourth day, however, Jason¡¯s patience was dangerously thin. These families were opportunists, using legal privilege and what amounted to slave laws to get what they could out of him. There didn¡¯t even seem to be something specific they were after; they had found a lever to pull and saw no reason not to pull it. In return for releasing the guards they were asking for anything from Team Biscuit¡¯s services in their family¡¯s interests to insider information from Clive¡¯s Magic Research Association. Seeing Jason teetering on the edge of doing something very true to his nature, Danielle ended the meetings for the day and led Jason out. The venue was Jason¡¯s cloud palace, so they went further in while avatars led the representatives out. ¡°You¡¯re doing very well,¡± she said. ¡°In terms of keeping your temperament, at least.¡± ¡°These talks are going nowhere in a circle.¡± ¡°Because you¡¯ve been unwilling to make any concessions. If you want them to give something up, you need to as well.¡± ¡°Their stance is immoral.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t care. Or even share your opinion. In the culture of Cyrion high society, this is all normal.¡± ¡°I¡¯m entirely happy to respect someone¡¯s culture, so long as that culture is at least nominally worthy of respect. I can accept people having different values to me, but there has to be a line. Using what amount to slave laws to trade people like chips in a card game is over that line for me.¡± ¡°Then you are at an impasse.¡± ¡°Not necessarily.¡± ¡°Meaning?¡± she asked, her voice thick with suspicion. ¡°I realised from the beginning that these people were simply being opportunistic. They saw that I valued something they had more than they did, and could use the circumstances here in Cyrion to take advantage. While we¡¯ve spent four days running around in circles, I¡¯ve been preparing something that could possibly recontextualise those circumstances.¡± ¡°Jason, what did you do?¡± ¡°Nothing. Yet. I wasn¡¯t even sure I could make it work. Figuring out how to target messages to the people from Earth was good practise, though. I¡¯ve been building on that to do something a little more widespread.¡± ¡°Please tell me you aren¡¯t going to try and blow up Cyrion.¡± ¡°Nothing like that.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°Well, I started by getting a list of all the countries and city states that have indentured servitude laws¡­¡± Chapter 931: Following Through on Bad Ideas Hils Jaramaris was not a happy man. He had been happy, enjoying his role as the Storm Kingdom¡¯s ambassador to Estercost. The nations were rivals, but friendly ones, their distance leaving them with few reasons for conflict. This meant that Hils, for the most part, was a glorified mailman for diplomatic messages. This suited him just fine, allowing him to pursue his alchemy far from domestic Storm Kingdom politics. It was the arrival of Team Biscuit that cast a shadow over his sunny days. It had been shaping up to be a relaxing month. Finalising a trade accord, cycling through some new staff members, fresh from home. Then the king¡¯s sister and her adventuring team arrived. He¡¯d known they were coming, of course, and that the problem would inevitably be Jason Asano. He knew the man mostly from reputation and Adventure Society alerts. Hils had met the man briefly, but that had been two monster surges ago. It was right before Hils had reached silver, back when he was still adventuring full time. He¡¯d been with his friend Orin, who went on to travel with Asano, but Hils knew better than to ask. Orin wasn¡¯t one to talk much, especially about the days with his old team. They had followed Asano into a hole in the ground, and most of them hadn¡¯t come back. Compared to what Hils had been afraid of, the arrival of Team Biscuit and their first days in the city were unremarkable. No royal entanglements, no mass destruction. He¡¯d read the Adventure Society reports of the latest city to be destroyed with Asano in the middle of it. It seemed that Asano had realised Cyrion wasn¡¯t some backwater where he could throw around his gold rank like a hammer. Hils even had a nice dinner with Zara, where he¡¯d managed to get some more insight into Team Biscuit. She was an old friend from back in their days as young Rimaros aristocrats. That was before she went off adventuring, first with Orin¡¯s ill-fated team and then with Asano¡¯s. She¡¯d been willing to offer details of that time he couldn¡¯t get from Orin himself. While she was open with stories more than a decade old, she was more careful regarding her current team. Her firsthand knowledge filled gaps in the reports he¡¯d seen, but she withheld occasional details and refused to answer certain questions. Team Biscuit had its secrets, especially Asano himself. Hils had been optimistic about Zara and her team¡¯s visit. He¡¯d started hearing about issues between Asano and some of the noble houses, but nothing that required intervention. The issue was comfortingly normal, being that the noble houses had found leverage on someone and were looking to squeeze everything they could out of them. The question was how a team of gold rank adventurers would react. Looking into it, Hils found the issue both straightforward and minor. Asano wanted a group of people to leave with him, but many were stuck under indenture contracts. The families were looking to gouge Asano¡¯s team for their release, and he was being intractable about making concessions. To get his way, all Asano needed to do was give the families their pound of flesh. It was standard diplomatic fare, and they wouldn¡¯t push too far. Instead, Asano kept talking about moral imperatives, which would get him nowhere. The kind of public attention he would need to shine on the families to make them even pretend to care would be immense. Then he remembered what he¡¯d read of Asano¡¯s history, and what he¡¯d learned directly from Zara. Almost a week into Asano¡¯s conflict with the nobility, there were signs of trouble. Asano had ceased all efforts at negotiation and hadn¡¯t been seen in days. Hils reached out to Zara, and her immediacy in setting up another meeting only added to his concerns. Hils met with Zara in a parlour inside the Rimaros embassy building. It was a small and intimate space, shrouded in the most potent privacy magic available. Located close to one of the more discreet entrances to the building, the room¡¯s usual purpose was for clandestine meetings with close allies. He was not happy when she requested they use it. Their meeting began with small talk, plus the obligatory questions on when she would return to Rimaros and rejoin the royal family. Hils had no investment in that, but he was under very clear instructions to bring it up every time they met. With incidents like Zara¡¯s encounter with the draconian prince, returning to the fold would offer her greater diplomatic protection. The questions came from both the current and previous Storm Kings, so there was no way Hils would skip them, even if it annoyed the former Hurricane Princess. He pushed through them as fast as he could, however, having more of an agenda this time. ¡°Zara, what is going on with Asano? Is he about to do something ill-advised?¡± ¡°Usually, yes.¡± ¡°Zara, this is serious.¡± ¡°I know, Hils. And what I¡¯m about to tell you, I¡¯m only able to do so because of a favour to me. Since I¡¯m on his team, and my family is my family, Jason decided to let me give them a few days warning of what is about to happen.¡± ¡°Let you? Whatever politics might be at play, Zara, you¡¯re a princess of the Storm Kingdom first.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t try to lecture me on conflicting loyalties, Hils. A good boy like you has no idea of what I¡¯ve had to navigate over the years.¡± ¡°Which is why your father and brother want you to come home.¡± ¡°They are not the highest authority in the Storm Kingdom, Hils.¡± ¡°They are the current and former Storm Kings. Who is higher than that?¡± Her only response was a flat look. ¡°The founder?¡± he asked. ¡°His Ancestral Majesty?¡± ¡°During the last monster surge, Ancestor Soramir personally took me aside. He told me that Jason Asano is the most important political relationship the Storm Kingdom has had since its founding.¡± ¡°That seems a bit much.¡± ¡°I can see how it could, from the outside. But I don¡¯t need you to agree with me, only to warn my brother. Jason has offered our kingdom a head start on formulating a response.¡± ¡°A response to what?¡± ¡°I need for you to understand something, Hils. My expectation is that you will respect the courtesy we are being shown here. That means not letting what I¡¯m about to tell you get out. No using the water links or the sky links when you take this to my brother. You are going to portal back to Rimaros in person.¡± ¡°Zara, what is this about?¡± ¡°The System.¡± Hils was informed enough to know that the System was allegedly connected to Asano, although few details had been confirmed. Supposedly, the new means of interfacing with magic was identical to a personal power Asano has possessed years earlier. What was confirmed was how important the System had become in a very short time. More than just personally valuable to essence users, many organisations were increasingly relying on it. From craft guilds and local governments to the Magic Society, the System was rapidly being adopted into their operations. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The Adventure Society was especially enamoured of the advantages it offered. From quantifying powers to identifying people with restricted essences to managing and identifying loot, the System had been an absolute boon. Previously unseen essence abilities tapping into the system were starting to appear, and ritual magic that relied on it was being developed. ¡°What about the System?¡± Hils asked warily. ¡°In a few days, Jason is going to turn it off in every country and city state that has indentured servitude laws.¡± Hils blinked. A few moments later, he blinked again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to turn off the System in each nation and¡ª¡± ¡°He can do that?¡± ¡°He can.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see in a few days, but yes. I believe that he can.¡± ¡°How? Where does he get that kind of access? That level of control?¡± ¡°It hasn¡¯t been spread around, but I suppose it will be soon. Jason is the System, Hils.¡± ¡°What does that even mean?¡± ¡°Just what I said. He is the System. It¡¯s an extension of him. He¡¯s still learning how to control it ¡ª he told me it was like learning a new language ¡ª but he¡¯s confident he can do this.¡± ¡°He is the System?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So, if he dies, the whole thing goes away.¡± ¡°He can¡¯t die. Not anymore.¡± ¡°Are you saying that he¡¯s the god of the System?¡± ¡°The great astral being,¡± she corrected. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know if there¡¯s going to be a god of it. The goddess of death and the Reaper, for example, have distinct roles in administering dead souls. He doesn¡¯t know if a similar situation will require a god of the System to form. Even if one does, it will probably take a few centuries. Look how long Purity is taking to come back. We still aren¡¯t sure exactly how long Disguise was acting in his place.¡± He stood up and paced around the room, running his hands through his hair distractedly as he thought. He finally stopped, leaning on the back of his chair with both hands as he looked at the still-sitting Zara. ¡°Okay,¡± he said. ¡°Disregarding, for the moment, the idea that Asano is some kind of god-adjacent supreme being, you¡¯re saying that he can just turn off the System on a whim?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more involved than that, to my understanding. At least until his power grows. But yes, that¡¯s essentially what I¡¯m saying.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying he can do this, and his power is still growing?¡± ¡°Hils, do you understand what a great astral being is?¡± ¡°Obviously not, but I know the Builder was one. Now you¡¯re saying that Asano is the same, and he¡¯s going to use his power to try and hold the world hostage.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how he framed it, but your description is at least broadly accurate.¡± ¡°People are going to throw a fit. The adoption rate for using the System in every group from governments to churches is¡­ are there any exemptions? Churches, the Adventure Society?¡± ¡°No. And just between us, he¡¯s already secured endorsements of his plans from Dominion and Liberty. That¡¯s going to matter, given how rarely they agree on anything.¡± ¡°If the churches already know, I don¡¯t see why you¡¯re being so secretive. It¡¯s definitely going to come out ahead of time.¡± ¡°The churches don¡¯t know. Not yet.¡± ¡°You just finished saying he had the endorsements from the churches of Dominion and Liberty.¡± ¡°No, Hils, I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Wait, were you talking about the actual gods?¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be that much of a surprise. Surely, you¡¯ve heard about what he¡¯s like with them. He had them around for a cup of tea with the whole team. It was a very odd experience.¡± ¡°Gods can drink tea?¡± ¡°They¡¯re gods, Hils. There isn¡¯t much they can¡¯t do, whatever Jason might say about their limitations.¡± ¡°And they¡¯re going to support this publicly?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That changes things significantly. Or maybe it doesn¡¯t, I don¡¯t know. I have no frame of reference for some gold ranker holding the planet hostage by threatening to turn off a major facet of magic itself. Because he¡¯s actually some kind of ridiculous being. I saw one report claim he was one of the messengers¡¯ gods.¡± ¡°He is, and they¡¯re called astral kings.¡± ¡°I thought you said he was a great astral being.¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s all very complicated. What you need to understand, Hils, is that Jason isn¡¯t threatening to do anything. He¡¯s doing it. I¡¯m here so the Storm King has a chance to get out ahead of it.¡± ¡°Ahead of it how? He wants to abolish indentured servitude? That¡¯s a cornerstone of the legal system for most of the civilised world. What does he want us to replace it with? Those places where they lock people up for years on end, the way they do in Kurdansk? Even ignoring what the point of it is, do you have any idea of the operating costs of those places?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not making specific demands beyond the elimination of indentured servant laws.¡± ¡°Meaning that he expects us to throw out a major part of the justice system and offers nothing to put in its place.¡± ¡°Do you think it would be better if he did start dictating how countries should change things?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what he¡¯s doing!¡± ¡°Well, yes,¡± Zara conceded. ¡°But he wants everyone to find their own solutions, rather than dictating them himself. Which is what Dominion said he should do, by the way.¡± ¡°Why does Dominion even approve of this? Shouldn¡¯t he be in favour of indentured servitude? Or any servitude, for that matter.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I wondered the same, but Jason said that Dominion isn¡¯t what most people think he is. We didn¡¯t sit down for a theological discussion, though. What we did talk about was potential replacement systems for indenture. Jason won¡¯t dictate what people should do, but favours a shift in the current system that only makes limited changes.¡± ¡°How limited?¡± ¡°His problem is the slavery aspect.¡± ¡°Indenture isn¡¯t slavery.¡± ¡°Except that sometimes it is, Hils, and you know it.¡± ¡°No system is perfect, Zara.¡± ¡°Which is not an excuse to not make them better. The current practise is to sell off indenture contracts, or give them to the criminal¡¯s victims. Jason favours taking what were indenture contracts and replacing them with public service orders. For most practical purposes, the systems stay as they are, but without selling people. Local authorities use the labour for public service, with regulation in place to reduce and remedy instances of abuse.¡± Hils rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ¡°So, mostly just shifting the indenture holders from private individuals to government authorities.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an option. One that has already been working in some city states for decades. There are still problems, but the worst of the abuses have been curtailed.¡± ¡°Worst of the abuses. We¡¯re talking about criminals, here, and it¡¯s not as bad as you make out.¡± ¡°Do you genuinely believe that?¡± ¡°Of course I do. If I didn¡¯t, what kind of monster would that make me?¡± ¡°An unfortunately common variety. You know of Sophie Wexler, from my team?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Did you know that she was an indentured servant?¡± ¡°I think I recall reading about that.¡± ¡°The local Magic Society branch director was obsessed with her. The Adventure Society director made that happen in return for certain concessions. It took Jason and Emir Bahadir stepping in to prevent that from happening.¡± ¡°See? The system works.¡± ¡°People with undue influence stepping in to stop other people with undue influence isn¡¯t the process working, Hils. It¡¯s the process being so broken that the corruption is folding in on itself.¡± ¡°Look, Zara, I don¡¯t entirely disagree with you. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s as bad as you make out, but what I¡¯m really telling you is what everyone else is going to say.¡± Zara nodded. ¡°I told him much the same. As did Danielle Geller.¡± ¡°Did you tell him that he¡¯ll be standing up to every government in the world?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°And what did he say to that?¡± ¡°That he¡¯s stood up to worse. That people know who he is, now, so it¡¯s time to show them what he is.¡± Hils let out a groan. ¡°He¡¯s one of those obnoxiously melodramatic people, isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Oh, you have no idea. Sometimes I¡¯ll spot him with one foot propped up on something, staring into the middle distance.¡± ¡°Zara, this is going to be a mess. Countries aren¡¯t going to cave in to some random guy telling them to change how their legal system works. I don¡¯t care what he is or how crazy the stories about him are. Even diamond rankers don¡¯t act like this.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not a diamond ranker, Hils. He¡¯s a man who invites a couple of gods around for a cup of tea and they actually show up.¡± ¡°Then maybe you should go around and tell everyone that story. See how that works out.¡± Zara got to her feet. ¡°Hils, I¡¯m not here to convince you of anything. This is just a chance for our country to get a few more days than everyone else to formulate a reaction. What my brother does from there is up to him.¡± ¡°This is a bad idea, Zara. You should try and stop him from doing this.¡± ¡°If people could stop Jason Asano from following through on bad ideas, the world would be a different place. I told him how messy this was going to be.¡± ¡°What did he say?¡± ¡°Something about a spider and responsibility and his uncle, I think? It didn¡¯t make a lot of sense.¡± Chapter 932: Heavily Compromised Baked Goods Garret Headingway was an upper-echelon member of House Headingway, one of Estercost¡¯s pre-eminent families. He was taking breakfast when his butler arrived. ¡°Morning mail, my lord.¡± ¡°Anything interesting, James?¡± ¡°Something from Jason Asano.¡± ¡°Oh? He¡¯s been locked up in his cloud palace for days, seeing no one. Do you think he¡¯s finally come to his senses?¡± ¡°As the one who investigated him for you, sir, my guess would be no. More likely is that he¡¯s about to do something drastic, as I warned you.¡± ¡°This is Cyrion, James, not the Geller¡¯s little domain down south. There¡¯s only so drastic he can be, here.¡± ¡°I would reiterate, my lord, that his record suggests that may not be the case. At the very least, I doubt he agrees with you.¡± Garret finished buttering his savoury scone, then took an appreciative bite. He sat it down and wiped his hands on a napkin before picking up the letter James had set on the table. To whom it may concern, I am sending a number of these letters to the various interests who have been negotiating for the freedom of my fellow Earth expatriates over the last week. Although you are the catalyst for what is about to happen, please know that you are not the cause. Instead, I would like to thank you for reminding me of a promise I made to myself long ago, when I was a powerless young man in a world of vast magic. Power is a dangerous and wonderous thing. When given the chance to do whatever we want, we show the world what we always wanted to do. Sometimes we lose our way, or forget the principles that guided us when we were powerless. Do we become tyrants, claiming everything for ourselves? Do we embrace the moral responsibility of using our power to improve the world around us? Trying to make the world better is a very good way to make it worse, but to have the power and do nothing is an abdication of responsibility. Many years ago, I promised myself that, should I have the ability, I would try to wipe out the blot that is slavery, whatever terms its perpetrators couch it in. When you, the recipients of this letter, used such laws to keep people from returning to their homes, you reminded me of that old promise. Of other friends exploited. So now, at the risk of adding to the harm, I am attempting to make things better. Let me be clear that this is not a negotiating position. There is no talking this down, making exemptions or trading the freedom of the people of Earth for amelioration. While that conflict is the instigation point for what is about to occur, these events are larger than a group of petty aristocrats. While you can be thanked for inspiring my actions, you are ultimately unimportant. Regards, Jason Asano. Garret handed the letter to James, waiting while his butler read it over. ¡°It would seem that you were right, James. He doesn¡¯t say what he¡¯s going to do, but his ambitions are certainly grand enough. He¡¯s going to attempt something drastic.¡± ¡°It would seem so, my lord.¡± ¡°Any idea what?¡± ¡°Given the scale his letter implies, my guess would be something either related to the gods or the System.¡± ¡°The System? Right, your report on him mentioned that he¡¯s related to it in some way. Was that confirmed?¡± ¡°My sources inside the Adventure Society say yes.¡± ¡°Well, see if you can find out some more¡ª¡±
System Alert: Reduced Service Areas
Garret skimmed the list. ¡°This is everywhere,¡± he muttered. ¡°If one dismisses remote, rural and low-magic areas, certainly.¡± Garret took another bite of his scone while he considered the message. ¡°James, in your assessment of the man, do you think Asano can really do something on a scale that this letter implies? And if he can, will he, or is it a bluff?¡± ¡°My assessment would be that he does have the ability. If it is a bluff, it¡¯s not one I would recommend calling.¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to make a world of enemies with this.¡± ¡°I believe you will find, my lord, that powerful enemies are kind of his thing.¡± Garret looked up from where he was rereading the message. ¡°That¡¯s an odd turn of phrase, James. I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve ever heard you use it.¡± ¡°To be honest, my lord, James is unconscious in the basement. How strong is your poison resistance, by the way? I have no idea how he put so much of it in those scones without them tasting funny.¡± ¡°What?¡± Garret asked, and suddenly realised that his vision was going blurry. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°You know, it¡¯s good to have Jason back,¡± Belinda told him. ¡°Humphrey never lets me kidnap people.¡± *** Jacinda Adeline was having a very bad day. Being director of the Adventure Society¡¯s Cyrion branch was one of the most demanding and political appointments in the entire organisation. This was never more so than when something extreme happened, from the appearance of a diamond-rank monster to the coronation of a new monarch. Adventurers themselves were often as not the problem. Every time some diamond ranker showed up, looking to take off with half the city¡¯s gold rankers on some personal project, Jacinda felt like she was getting a stomach ulcer. She wasn¡¯t, because magic, but it felt like it. While she had been aware of Team Biscuit¡¯s arrival, and of the history around Jason Asano, it had been one more thing on her plate. She¡¯d been monitoring his interactions with the Cyrion noble houses, more closely since he cut off dialogue without results, but it all fell under the heading of minor concerns. That changed drastically with the System announcing that it would no longer be available as of tomorrow morning. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Asano wasn¡¯t mentioned by name, but the wide-ranging messages that took place in Boko made reference to the ¡®System Administrator¡¯ as well. People were already putting the pieces together, and the doors of Asano¡¯s cloud palace had a bigger crowd than the door to Jacinta¡¯s office suite. In the dozen or so hours since the message appeared, she¡¯d been dealing with aristocrats, guilds, royalty, the Magic Society and even her own people. There was a knock on the door, her assistant not waiting for a reply before opening it. ¡°She¡¯s here, Boss.¡± ¡°Send her straight through.¡± Jacinta stood up and headed to a painting on the wall that reached floor to ceiling, depicting some adventurers looking generically heroic. She tapped a specific point on the frame and the painting retracted into the wall before sliding aside to reveal a full bar. She didn¡¯t know which of her predecessors had it installed, but on days like these, she sent them silent blessings. Jacinta was pouring the second glass of amber liquid when Danielle Geller walked into the office, closing the door behind her. The women wordlessly moved to one of several couches in the spacious room and sat down, side by side. Jacinta handed over one of the glasses and they clinked them together before drinking. Danielle took a sip while Jacinta emptied her glass in one gulp. ¡°I thought you might be having that kind of day.¡± ¡°Dani, what in the dark gods¡¯ armpit sweat is going on?¡± Jacinta exploded. ¡°You told me that he hired you to stop him from doing things like this.¡± ¡°I did suggest a more measured approach. Strongly suggested.¡± ¡°He clearly didn¡¯t listen.¡± ¡°No, he did.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me that this is the more measured approach?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°He kidnapped seven members of some of the most influential families in Estercost.¡± ¡°Allegedly.¡± ¡°A copy of the same letter from him was found in each location, along with heavily compromised baked goods.¡± ¡°That does sound like him,¡± Danielle conceded. ¡°And that letter sounds like a manifesto.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not trying to force anyone into anything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what he¡¯s trying to do. And it won¡¯t work.¡± ¡°He¡¯s aware. That¡¯s why I say he¡¯s not trying to force anything. He is fully aware that whole nations are not going to bow to his whims. He is choosing to no longer share a capability under his control as he feels it would be an endorsement of practices he finds morally repugnant. In short, he¡¯s not going to support any authority that tolerates slavery or slavery-like social structures.¡± ¡°Indenture isn¡¯t slavery.¡± ¡°If you want to make that argument to Jason, I¡¯d recommend beating your head against the wall instead. You won¡¯t have to leave your office, and the wall might actually budge. Jason won¡¯t, especially if Sophie Wexler is in the room.¡± ¡°The former indenture on Asano¡¯s team.¡± ¡°And the only one who could actually get Jason to reverse his position, not that she will. She¡¯s his biggest supporter in this.¡± ¡°I read the reports of her pre-adventuring history, but they were quite lean.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll bet they were,¡± Danielle muttered. ¡°You were involved?¡± ¡°No. It all went down while I was off on a major expedition where the Builder cult tore us to shreds. While that was going on, the corrupt Adventure Society director was cutting a deal with the even more corrupt Magic Society director. The plan was to sell Wexler to him, for reasons exactly as nasty as you¡¯d imagine. Asano and Emir Bahadir managed to stop it, but I would advise against telling Wexler that indenture isn¡¯t slavery.¡± ¡°She won¡¯t be open to convincing Asano to not do this, then.¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m just telling you this so you realise that your best shot is such a bad one that you shouldn¡¯t bother.¡± ¡°He can¡¯t be convinced to make an exemption for the Adventure Society?¡± ¡°I tried that tack. He said that if he makes one compromise, it will become a constant pressure to make more. He¡¯s not wrong. For all that he hopes for change, Jace, he isn¡¯t expecting anyone to make any concessions. He¡¯s resolved to make no concessions in return.¡± ¡°Surely he understands that he can¡¯t do this?¡± ¡°Do what, Jace? Take away something he gave everyone for nothing? The System was always his to give, and his to take away. All that¡¯s changed is that now people realise it. They¡¯re probably about to start worrying about how much of their information he can tap into.¡± ¡°He can just pull anything from the System out of the air?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. He says he can¡¯t, but I don¡¯t know to what degree he really means won¡¯t.¡± ¡°But he has the control to do what he¡¯s threatening?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a threat, Jace. It¡¯s happening.¡± ¡°How is that even possible?¡± ¡°As someone who¡¯s known Jason for a long time, I can tell you that question comes up a lot. The answers range from the nonsensical to the non-existent, and you eventually realise that it¡¯s better not to ask.¡± ¡°That is a spectacularly unhelpful answer. Dani, I have everyone from the Magic Society director to the Queen harassing me for answers. I need something better than ¡®some guy turns out to have god-like power over the System, but I don¡¯t know the details.¡¯ They aren¡¯t going to like that anymore than I do.¡± ¡°Tell them that Pallimustus has gotten by without the System for the entirety of its history. It¡¯s going to keep getting along just fine without it.¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t how people work, and you know it. If you give them something they like, only to take it away, they¡¯re going to throw a tantrum. And people love the System, Dani. I love the System.¡± ¡°Then they have to decide if they like their slaves more. If withholding the System was going to cause people harm, he¡¯d be more flexible, but it wasn¡¯t something they knew they wanted until they had it. They don¡¯t need it, so he has no compunction about taking it from them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that simple, Dani, and you know it. Asano isn¡¯t some god we can¡¯t do anything about. He¡¯s a person, and everyone knows where to find him.¡± ¡°If you believed that, Jace, you¡¯d already have the society beating down his door. He¡¯s not a god, but he moves in the same circles as one. The Cyrion nobles might not know what they¡¯re dealing with, but you do. You¡¯ve seen the reports.¡± ¡°Reports? I had the damn archbishops of Dominion and Liberty in here. Seeing those two agree on anything was downright creepy. What I¡¯m looking for is some insight on how to handle this situation. How do we get Asano to not do this?¡± ¡°He¡¯s been clear on that, Jace. I know that¡¯s not going to happen, and so does he.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s the point of all this? What does he want?¡± ¡°The Cyrion nobles he¡¯s been dealing with have been squeezing him because they think they can. I think that has triggered memories of his time on his own planet. That was a bad time for him, and I think he¡¯s looking to work out some of that old anger here.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t he planning to go back there?¡± ¡°Yes, which I imagine is part of this. He knows that if he throws his power around there, he can do real damage.¡± ¡°He¡¯s doing damage here!¡± ¡°No, Jace, he isn¡¯t. He¡¯s taking away people¡¯s shiny new toys because he doesn¡¯t like some of the things they¡¯re doing. He wants to show, once and for all, that he¡¯s not a tool for people to pick up and use. He¡¯s challenging the world to try, so that everyone can see what happens.¡± ¡°What am I meant to do about that? People aren¡¯t going to accept the loss of the System.¡± ¡°Make them. If you want to blindside Jason, prove him wrong. Tell him that the world won¡¯t force him into anything, but it won¡¯t be extorted either. It will live without the System, but he doesn¡¯t get to tell nations what their laws should be.¡± ¡°And if he decides to push his agenda harder?¡± ¡°He won¡¯t. His friends will stop him, if nothing else.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have stopped him earlier?¡± ¡°Probably. But sometimes extreme results require extreme actions. Jason has proven that time and again, and we aren¡¯t opposed to his principles in this.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sitting there and telling me that extremism is a good thing?¡± Danielle drained what was left of her glass. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Jace. I can¡¯t fight gods. I can¡¯t destroy cities and conjure new ones out of thin air. I can¡¯t put a stop to laws that most of the world thinks are normal and natural.¡± Jacinta rubbed her temples against an encroaching headache. ¡°I¡¯m not going to get any more from you than that, am I? You¡¯re saying to tell him that he can¡¯t have what he wants, but we won¡¯t try and take what we want.¡± ¡°Like many things with Jason, all you can do is limp away from the mess.¡± ¡°And the nobles he took?¡± ¡°Allegedly.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be disingenuous, Dani. Their families are going to go after Asano for that, evidence or not. His team, too, including your boy.¡± ¡°Oh, I think they¡¯ll find there¡¯s someone else they need to deal with first.¡± ¡°Dani, what did Asano do?¡± *** Garret Headingway awoke to a throbbing pain in his everything. His senses slowly fought their way through a fog, coming into focus one by one. He could taste the air, too hot and dry for home. He smelled sand and dirt, felt bare earth beneath him. His silver-rank hearing picked out the sounds of people, muffled by thick walls. There was a mix of languages, only a few he recognised. He was somewhere in the desert regions, well east of Estercost. He opened his eyes on a dim room, light passing through a small, slatted window. It was an empty room, or maybe a shed, with adobe walls. He was one of seven people in the room, most of whom were still unconscious. The one person already awake was leaning against the wall, looking disgruntled. Garret recognised him, Patterson Kennington. Looking around, he realised they were all Cyrion noblemen. From houses who had been in negotiation with¡ª ¡°Jason Asano,¡± Patterson said bitterly. ¡°He put us here.¡± ¡°You saw him?¡± Garret asked. Patterson shook his head. ¡°Did you get a letter?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Garret said. His groggy brain finally noticed a thick collar around Patterson¡¯s neck, made of dark, crude metal. He reached up and felt an identical one around his own neck. ¡°Don¡¯t bother with magic or aura senses,¡± Patterson told him. ¡°It¡¯s a suppression collar. A specific kind of one, if my guess about where we are is right. The walls are reinforced, too, so don¡¯t bother trying that either.¡± Garret glanced at the wall beside Patterson. The mud bricks should have parted like paper to Patterson¡¯s silver-rank strength, but several shallow fist marks were all it had managed. ¡°Where do you think we are?¡± Garret asked. ¡°Eastern desert?¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± Patterson sneered. ¡°Ever hear of a little dirtball country called Sadi Andali?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s famous for being almost lawless. The Adventure Society doesn¡¯t even have a branch here. They just send people in from time to time, sweeping for illegal research and restricted essences. They find plenty of both.¡± ¡°What are we doing here?¡± ¡°Remember when I said almost lawless? The one set of laws they do have governs the slave markets.¡± Chapter 933: The Line Between Mortal and Immortal Vandrick arrived at the entrance to Jason Asano¡¯s cloud palace. There was a mob out front, and had been since the System went dark. They were pretending to be a spontaneously formed group, protesting the heavy-handed influence of the outsider. Anyone with any real knowledge was aware they had been placed by certain noble houses of Cyrion, anticipating negative attention regarding potential actions against Asano. The ¡®spontaneous¡¯ crowd was one of the ways they were working to shape the narrative. The palace was on a lake reserved for cloud constructs and other temporary floating structures. Vandrick recognised the palace of Emir Bahadir floating nearby, the man and his retinue having arrived the day before. Vandrick respected his loyalty, arriving to support a friend who had much of the world against him right now. Vandrick let out the faintest whiff of diamond-rank aura as he approached the crowd. They were instantly falling over themselves to clear a path. They were gathered on the shore where a cloud bridge extended to the palace. The bridge itself being empty suggested it would disappear from under the feet of unwelcome visitors. Vandrick walked slowly across, observing the cloud palace. Rather than one massive structure, it was a complex of buildings, linked by enclosed sky bridges and underwater tunnels. The design of the buildings was in the Vitesse style, complete with plants growing over and out of every part of the building. Moss covered much of the white cloud walls. Leafy vines dangled from balconies and flowers bloomed on windowsills. Even the underwater tunnels were coated in kelp and coral. Asano apparently favoured tropical plants, with vibrant greens and large, bright flowers. The large double doors opened at Vandrick¡¯s approach, revealing an atrium more like a garden than a room. He stepped inside and immediately froze, having felt something he hadn¡¯t in a long time: threatened. A small smile played across his lips. ¡°Interesting,¡± he murmured as he looked around. The entrance was a multi-storey atrium, with even more plants than the exterior. Multiple waterfalls spilled from mezzanine levels into water features, running through the garden that filled the floor. Paths led through the gardens and over little bridges to doors and stairwells set into the walls. The air was humid, with the splashing of the waterfalls and the sounds of birds and insects. High above, the atrium seemed open to the sky, but Vandrick could sense a barrier of invisible mist. His gaze settled on the one feature whose purpose he wasn¡¯t sure of. An alcove in the wall had a series of narrow poles that appeared to rise into the upper reaches of the building. There was a sign with a name on it behind each pole, matching each member of Asano¡¯s team. He noted that the one labelled ¡®Neil¡¯ had a thicker pole than the others. Vandrick heard something from above, and a moment later, someone slid down one of the poles. Both his aura and the sign behind his pole said that this was Jason Asano. He was wearing tan short pants, sandals and a colourful shirt with a tropical flower print. ¡°G¡¯day, bloke. What can I do you for?¡± ¡°The Queen of Estercost and several other interested parties have asked me to arbitrate over your withdrawal of the System.¡± ¡°Meaning they asked you to come in here, hold me upside down and shake me until the System falls out.¡± ¡°They phrased it differently, but that was the general sentiment.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re not going to do that, are you?¡± ¡°No. But it is time someone sat down with you and had a discussion.¡± ¡°About?¡± ¡°You stand with a foot on each side of a dangerous line, Mr Asano. I¡¯m hoping to help you navigate it successfully.¡± ¡°That sounds good. And call me Jason.¡± ¡°Very well, Jason. My name is Vandrick Macarro, but you may call me Van.¡± ¡°Okay, Van. I just made some scones I¡¯ve got on a cooling rack upstairs, so we¡¯ll have to chat there.¡± Vandrick glanced over at the alcove with the poles. ¡°We don¡¯t have to use those, do we?¡± ¡°No,¡± Jason said with a laugh. ¡°They¡¯re for coming down only.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem efficient when gold rankers can levitate quite effectively, even without your aura advantages.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s definitely not efficient. But what¡¯s the point of living forever if you don¡¯t take the time to have fun?¡± Jason started floating into the air and Vandrick followed. On the highest mezzanine, they landed and walked down a hallway where the floor was wooden slats over running water. Plants lined the walls, and a fresh breeze blew through. ¡°That music is unlike anything I¡¯ve heard,¡± Vandrick said. ¡°Is it from your world?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s Laura Branigan.¡± Jason led Vandrick to an expansive kitchen that opened onto a covered balcony. Flowering vines draped from overhead, dangling over a picnic table. Sitting at it were four people, including one with the characteristic broad shoulders and chiselled features of a Geller. That would be Humphrey, one of the family¡¯s more famous members. The woman next to him was probably his mother, based on their shared complexion and the interaction of their auras. Sitting opposite them were Emir Bahadir, who Vandrick had met, and a woman who was likely his wife. ¡°I¡¯m just going to sell my cows at Kansas City,¡± Emir said. ¡°Give me six extra dollars.¡± ¡°You know you¡¯ll lose points for that,¡± his wife told him. ¡°And if I don¡¯t get more money, I won¡¯t get any more points than what I have.¡± In the kitchen, two women were wearing aprons and stirring something in a large bowl each. ¡°No, Sophie, stop,¡± one of them said. ¡°Oh, come on, Ketis. What¡¯s wrong now?¡± ¡°You¡¯re going too fast. Even ignoring the spatter, we¡¯re making whipped cream, not butter.¡± ¡°I like butter,¡± Sophie said defensively. ¡°This is for the scones.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°I like butter on scones.¡± Ketis noticed them enter, despite Vandrick¡¯s aura being fully withdrawn. She was the only one who stared, the others glancing his way before going back to what they were doing. It was a novel experience for Vandrick, the diamond ranker normally getting a very different reception. ¡°Who¡¯s your friend?¡± Sophie asked. ¡°The Adventure Society finally send a diamond ranker to spank you?¡± ¡°Something like that. Everyone, this is Vandrick. Vandrick, this is everyone. Well, not everyone. Where are the others?¡± ¡°Like you can¡¯t sense exactly where they are,¡± Sophie told him. ¡°I like to give people their privacy,¡± Jason said. ¡°Zara, Farrah and Lindy are still swimming,¡± Ketis said. Her tone was distracted as she continued to stare at the diamond-rank visitor. ¡°Humphrey¡¯s dad kept trying to pinch the scones and Stash dragged him away. He knows a lot about baking for a dragon.¡± ¡°The others should be back soon,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°They went to the market to see how many types of jam they could find.¡± Emir and his wife rose from the table, approaching to offer a respectful greeting. He introduced his wife, Constance, then they went back to their game. Danielle Geller didn¡¯t move to introduce herself, but did nod a greeting when he spotted her looking him over. In their previous meeting, Bahadir had the fear Vandrick was used to from people when meeting diamond rankers. The rest of the group seemed the same, aside from the one girl still staring at him. He was halfway tempted to leak some of his aura to see what happened, but squashed the immature urge. Jason led Vandrick into an adjoining room, a door of mist forming to seal them off. When it did, the sound from outside vanished, despite this room also being open to the outside. Again, Vendrick sensed a powerful but invisible mist barrier. The room was a meditation space, in a rustic tropical style with woven floor mats. It reminded Vandrick of Arnote, the least populous of the three islands of Rimaros. At a gesture from Jason, two streams of cloud rose from the floor. They took the form of wicker chairs, facing one another. Jason claimed one while waving Vandrick towards the other. ¡°So,¡± Jason said. ¡°What brings you by, Van?¡± ¡°You¡¯re in a very odd position, Jason. You¡¯re gold rank, but you¡¯re also somewhere on the far side of diamond. We diamond rankers, and now the Adventure Society, have largely decided to split the difference and consider you a diamond ranker.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been told as much. I¡¯m guessing this is the conversation where you give me the talk about how to behave like a good diamond ranker.¡± ¡°Not exactly. Diamond rankers, as a rule, don¡¯t like being told what to do. They tend to react quite drastically.¡± ¡°I should fit right in, then.¡± ¡°Actually, yes, although your unusual circumstances present commensurately unusual challenges. The line between diamond rank and everything below it is more extreme than at any other rank. The line between gold and diamond is the threshold between mortality and immortality, with diamond rankers being ageless and near immortal. Accordingly, we move away from mortal concerns, all the more as time rolls on. We don¡¯t have rules, as such, although we do step in when those amongst us get out of line. What we do have is etiquette.¡± ¡°Meaning that if I¡¯m a naughty boy, I won¡¯t get the rest of you coming down on me. You¡¯ll just all think that I¡¯m an arsehole.¡± ¡°Something like that, yes. I had a discussion with the Queen, along with other members of the Estercost elite and a number of ambassadors. I told them that the position of the diamond rank community is that the System is yours to administer.¡± ¡°Meaning you told them they aren¡¯t allowed to go after me over it.¡± ¡°Yes. But that also means that if anyone should go after you, they are disregarding us to do so.¡± Jason narrowed his eyes. ¡°You want me to be the one who smacks down anyone who decides to come after me over it.¡± ¡°We do. Which brings us back to points of etiquette. Diamond rankers, on this world, at least, are the ultimate symbols and expressions of power. We expect one another to respect that, and act in such a way that the rest of the world does as well. There are several tenets to this, and one is that we take care of our own business. That is not to say that we don¡¯t lean on our friends and connections, but we are expected to hold our own. When a diamond ranker helps another diamond ranker, it is because they are friends or allies, not out of diamond ranker solidarity. If you can¡¯t stand alone, the rest of us will stand by as your legs are cut out from under you.¡± ¡°So, the first rule of being the most powerful is you have to be the most powerful.¡± ¡°Precisely. The second tenet of diamond-rank etiquette is to respect the boundary between mortal and immortal. When a diamond ranker is young, we are a lot more flexible about this. You have descendants to watch over, interests from your mortal days you don¡¯t want to see fall apart. Most of all, you still think like a mortal. But after half a millennium or so, you are expected to step back. If we do everything for them, and never let them find their own way, we stunt them. Left to their own devices, mortals will always surprise you. There is a drive that comes with mortality that pushes them to innovate. To make things better. The passion of youth.¡± Vandrick pointed a casual finger at Jason. ¡°That¡¯s where you are now. You have power, maybe more than you ever thought you would. You want to use it, to make things better.¡± ¡°And hopefully not make them worse.¡± ¡°That is always the danger,¡± Vandrick agreed. ¡°We give more leeway to young diamond rankers, but the danger of them causing harm is why we expect them to limit themselves. Let us look at some of the young diamond rankers you know. Allayeth and Charist limit themselves geographically, for example, restricting themselves to Yaresh and the surrounding regions. The Mirror King is much the same in his own territory. Roland Remore¡¯s agenda is more expansive, but he rarely brings his direct power to bear. He limits himself to mostly working through agents and proxies.¡± ¡°And you expect me to limit myself.¡± ¡°No one is going to force you. What we hope is that you come to understand the virtues of limiting our influence on the mortal world. I suspect, given your positions on power and authority, that this would be a natural fit for you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not wrong,¡± Jason conceded. ¡°I will say this,¡± Vandrick said. ¡°There is an expectation that very new diamond rankers will run a little wild. Settle old scores and instigate changes in mortal society they have always wanted to. So long as they don¡¯t take anything too far, the rest of us let this go. What¡¯s the point of achieving more power than almost anyone, ever, if you¡¯re just going to be told not to do the things you always wanted to do?¡± ¡°That seems reasonable.¡± ¡°I think so. The rule of thumb is that everyone gets one. One great big world changing action that affects the mortals. After that, you¡¯re expected to be more nuanced in your approach. You have forever, so there is an expectation that you will be patient.¡± ¡°And mine is using the System to try and get everyone to abolish slavery.¡± ¡°Yes. As such, no one from the general diamond rank community will challenge you on this. I cannot speak for individuals, however. If you infringe on a diamond ranker¡¯s personal interests, you might find them getting in your way.¡± ¡°Good to know, thank you.¡± ¡°Now, we should address some of the issues that stem from your particular situation. Every diamond ranker has their own circumstances, but yours are more drastic than most.¡± ¡°In that I¡¯m not actually a diamond ranker.¡± ¡°Yes. You straddle the line between mortal and immortal. It is not our place to tell you not to intervene in mortal affairs while you are still a gold ranker. But we also won¡¯t stand aside if you start intervening in mortal affairs using your far-from-mortal aspects.¡± ¡°Meaning that you¡¯ll let me extort everyone with the System this one time, but I need to start using my big boy powers like a mature adult.¡± ¡°In short, yes. Handle mortal affairs like a mortal and immortal affairs like an immortal. That way, when some monarch asks us to rein you in, we¡¯ll tell them no. And we expect the same consideration from you. Diamond rankers handle their own business amongst themselves. When we drag mortals into our affairs, or let them drag us into theirs, people die. Wars happen. Whole nations are wiped off the map.¡± ¡°Everything I¡¯m scared of happening if I misuse my power.¡± ¡°Yes. Most of the diamond rankers you¡¯ve met are young. Five centuries old at most. There are gold rankers older than most of them. Soramir Rimaros and Dawn are both exceptions, but both spend most of their time out in the cosmos. If you feel the need for guidance on how to handle immortal power in a mortal world, I want to be available for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡± ¡°All this being said, I¡¯m not going to intervene in your business with the Cyrion noble houses. You made that mess on a mortal scale, and you¡¯re expected to clean it up in the same way. No turning into a giant bird and wiping out entire families.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t the plan, but I¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡± Vandrick stood up. ¡°I think this went well,¡± he said. ¡°But that is ultimately up to you, and time will tell. If you need me, I¡¯m confident you can find me easily enough. If you come looking for advice, I will be happy to offer it. If you come looking for help, you will find me less willing.¡± Jason stood up and shook his hand. ¡°Understood.¡± Chapter 934: A Petty Tyranny Nine people marched across the bridge towards Jason¡¯s cloud palace. They were clearly unlike the people Jason had been negotiating with, although they were from the noble houses currently missing people. These were not articulate servants or refined aristocrats. These were adventurers. Their gear was worn and practical, their weapons carried with the familiarity of years. They were slung ready for use, not displayed for the decorative value of their bejewelled hilts. They stopped in front of the large doors, which turned into mist and vanished. Behind them was a garden atrium with sunlight spilling from above. In the doorway was the dark figure of Shade. ¡°What can I do for you, gentlemen?¡± ¡°My name Ben Headingway, of House Headingway,¡± the man at the front said, his voice as gruff as his appearance. ¡°Each person here represents a noble house of Cyrion; I think you can guess which ones. We want to speak with Asano.¡± ¡°Of course, Lord Headingway. Please come in.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not going in there,¡± Ben said. ¡°He has all the power in there.¡± ¡°If his power in here is your concern, Lord Headingway, I¡¯m afraid you have some bad news coming about out there. I¡¯m sorry we couldn¡¯t accommodate you today.¡± Mist started to form new doors, then dispersed again. ¡°Hold on, Shade,¡± Jason said as he floated into view from above. ¡°These people are clearly adventurers. Good adventurers don¡¯t walk into places filled with unknown power and uncertain threats.¡± ¡°If that is the metric, Mr Asano, wouldn¡¯t that make you a mediocre adven¡ª¡± ¡°That will be all, thank you.¡± ¡°Very good, Mr Asano.¡± Shade vanished into Jason¡¯s shadow as he landed just inside the doors. That placed him right in front of Ben, who was significantly taller. He had the dark skin of a Cyrion native, his long hair woven with beads which Jason could feel radiating magic. ¡°I hope you¡¯re not here to fight,¡± Jason said. ¡°I don¡¯t like fighting other adventurers,¡± Ben said. ¡°I like fighting monsters. Protecting people, providing for my house. Being the foundation holding it up, as my ancestors were before me. But you came into that house, and you took my family away. I don¡¯t like fighting people, especially when there are stories around them like the ones around you. But I will, if that¡¯s what it comes to. You took my nephew.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°Without admitting to any action on my part, I¡¯m sure you could understand why I might do such a thing.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Ben acknowledged. ¡°The thing about noble houses is that when they get old enough, most of the people in it start to forget things. Become entitled. Forget that the money and power and influence doesn¡¯t come from some inherent greatness they were born with.¡± He rested a casual hand on his sword hilt. ¡°It comes from this. From the people willing to get dirty and bloody. To die for the family, if that¡¯s what it takes. They forget that if they try to exploit the wrong person, it¡¯s people like us who bleed to set things right.¡± ¡°You see, this is where you¡¯re losing me, Ben. Your problem seems to be who your family exploited, not that they were exploiting people at all.¡± ¡°Ideals are all well and good, but power is what brings about change. Your ideals around slavery, for example, mattered to no one until you took away the System.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t argue with that.¡± ¡°Then let us set aside wishful thinking and deal with the practicalities. Our families thought they could extract some cheap benefits from you. They were wrong, and paid the price for that. As we speak, all of our families are absolving the contracts for the people from your world. We¡¯re even giving them generous severance bonuses.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can see the warm glow of having done the right thing radiating out of you.¡± ¡°Asano, you know that we won¡¯t back down until our people are returned to us. You took them, leaving only two things: a letter from you and poisoned food that would render them unconscious, rather than kill them. You wanted us to know they were alive and that you took them.¡± ¡°Allegedly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not here for games, Asano, or the cheap words of politicians. I don¡¯t want to fight someone like you, but we will not allow you to keep our people. You are powerful, and have powerful friends. But you have made a lot of enemies by taking away the System, and the noble houses of Cyrion also have many connections. If we move against you in earnest, we will find no shortage of allies.¡± ¡°You say that like your families won¡¯t come looking for revenge after they have their people back.¡± ¡°You came into our homes and took members of our families.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t start this fight. The people from Earth mean very little to your families. Even though I find the indenture system laws unconscionable, I offered to buy their contracts at more than fair prices. Instead, your families used those laws to hold them hostage. To try and extort me. Because they had the power to do so and, as you said, power is what mattered. In fact, you¡¯ve been right about everything. Ideals accomplish nothing alone, and you did try to exploit the wrong people.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°We have moved to rectify this situation and make amends. Yes, I am certain that my family will try to make you pay for what you have done. That was inevitable from the moment you chose to do things this way, and you¡¯re smart enough to know that. And that the enmity between us will be very different if our people are not returned. Give them back, and you¡¯ve delivered a political humiliation. Don¡¯t, and you¡¯ve started a war.¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t have your people,¡± Jason said. ¡°I did hear something that may be relevant, though. A friend of mine popped over to Sadi Andali recently. She¡¯s very fast, even without portals, and she had a few things to sell off. She heard that some unusual products are moving through the slave markets there. What seemed to be aristocrats, from their rank and bearings.¡± The people behind Ben stirred, but didn¡¯t speak up. Ben¡¯s gaze became even more flinty, as if it could bore through Jason¡¯s head. ¡°The Sadi Andali slave markets.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I heard.¡± ¡°Which one?¡± ¡°Split between them, from what I heard. Not sure which ones, so I suppose you¡¯ll need to hit them all. Simultaneously, or you might find yourself dealing with hostages. You should probably call in some favours from those many connections you mentioned.¡± ¡°This is your price, then? The destruction of the Sadi Andali slave trade?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure this won¡¯t stop it. The fact that the country still exists at all tells me that. It¡¯s too convenient a place for powerful people in need of dirty deeds but clean hands. Not that I¡¯d exploit that to make some kind of point. You have a good day, bloke.¡± The mist doors reformed, removing Jason from view. *** The desert town was a ramshackle place, mostly tents of washed out brown and yellow, pitched alongside a river. Some crude mud brick buildings were scattered around, and a few large colourful tents stood out from the others. The town was never meant to last, and the people in it were clearly used to adventurer raids. Those that could, fled. The slaves would normally refuse to go through portals with rescue at hand, but few could tolerate the pain collars. Ben watched the adventurers swarm over the town. This was not his first time on such a raid, and he knew the routine just as well as the residents. Asano was right about the long-term efficacy of the operation. Even hitting every slave market in the tiny nation at once would only slow them down, ultimately stopping nothing. There were churches here, although the nomadic nature of the town meant they were not actually sanctified. These were the larger and more colourful tents, not holy ground or, in most cases, unholy ground. Dark gods, their temples hidden away in civilised society, were openly worshipped here. They could flaunt their existence, at least until adventurers came calling. Even then, the clergy mostly escaped. The dark gods made sure that their thralls were elusive. Not every church tent belonged to a dark god. Deities like Strength and Desolate weren¡¯t considered evil, but didn¡¯t care about the morality of their followers. There was an agreement with such churches that they wouldn¡¯t shelter residents during adventurer raids. In turn, the adventurers would leave their tents in peace. Most such churches were of lesser gods, the exception being a bright red tent in a prime position upstream. The operation was largely wrapped up, with none of the family members found. Ben made his way to the large red tent, as it never hurt to pay respects to Dominion. To his surprise, he sensed a gold-rank presence within. He was clearly sensed in turn as a priest came out to meet him. ¡°Priest,¡± Ben said in greeting, not knowing the man¡¯s name. ¡°I am Benjamin Headingway, of House Headingway.¡± ¡°I have heard of you. I am Brian, priest of Dominion.¡± ¡°What is such a high-ranking priest doing in this place?¡± Brian let out a chuckle. ¡°Our church is an organisation built more on doing what you¡¯re told than asking why.¡± ¡°We are seeking members of the noble houses who have supposedly been sold here.¡± ¡°I thought it might be something like that. As it happens, I did come across a noble slave in the market here.¡± ¡°Do you know what happened to them?¡± ¡°I do. I suspected that something like this might happen, and that it would be best to keep him safe until someone like you arrived. So, I bought him.¡± ¡°You bought him?¡± ¡°Yes. He¡¯s inside.¡± Brian gestured in the direction of the tent. ¡°Please.¡± Ben followed Brian into the tent. While the rich, crimson fabric of the tent was enchanted against sun bleaching, the interior was plain and functional. There was an altar with kneeling mats set out in front of it, and a private living area, sectioned off with standing screens. Off to the side was a thick wooden post, driven into the hard earth floor. Ben could sense the reinforcement magic that prevented the man chained to it from freeing himself with silver-rank strength. Ben recognised Patterson Kennington. They had no acquaintance, but all of the rescue teams had been shown images of the targets. He was on his knees, forced into hugging the post with his arms chained together on the other side of it. He was unconscious, slumped against the wooden pole. ¡°You left him like this?¡± Ben asked. ¡°He¡¯s a slave, and a disobedient one at that. Most owners faced with a slave like this would whip him and throw him in a hole until he learned his place. By disobedient slave standards, this is downright palatial.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not a slave; he is a nobleman of Estercost.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯ll find, Lord Headingway, that slavery isn¡¯t a volunteer position. If someone has the power to make you one, you are one, and you don¡¯t get a say in the matter. It¡¯s not fair, but while ideals are all well and good, it is power that brings about change.¡± Ben¡¯s gaze snapped from Patterson to Brian. ¡°Asano set this all up,¡± he realised. ¡°Even this, and you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°Why would your church agree to be lackeys to Asano? Isn¡¯t Slavery a subordinate god to yours? Why would you work with someone working to destroy it?¡± ¡°The irony of our church, Lord Headingway, is that those most favoured by our god will never be in it. We guide them, and sometimes we serve them. I am a priest of Dominion. We do not venerate power itself, but the establishment of power over others. Rulership. The exercising of authority. Yes, slavery is one form of power and control, but it is a small thing. A petty tyranny. My lord looks higher.¡± ¡°Higher?¡± ¡°Look at what¡¯s happening out there, and all across Sadi Andali. Someone has set the great and noble houses of Cyrion dancing to his tune.¡± ¡°You truly think that Asano is so grand?¡± ¡°I never said a name.¡± Ben snorted derision. ¡°If he¡¯s so great, why play political games? He has what he wanted. Why make enemies by humiliating us like this?¡± ¡°Because you tried to put him in his place. He no longer has time to educate small concerns like you, one at a time. He is busy figuring out how to not conquer a world. My god values that far more than auctioning off shackled victims. Speaking of which, will you be taking this slave?¡± ¡°Of course I will.¡± ¡°Excellent. Will you pay in spirit coins, or a promissory note to the church?¡± Chapter 935: Reason Eighty-Seven Duke Percival Headingway was the patriarch of House Headingway, holder of the family¡¯s highest title. While the same title was claimed by rural aristocrats in their remote city states, his title came from Cyrion, the heart of civilisation. He might serve under the throne, unlike the city-state rulers, but his power dwarfed even the most prestigious of theirs. It was galling, then, that one man had been leading his prestigious house around by the nose. Once the problems had escalated to his personal attention, he had not liked what he found. If the issue was external aggression, that would be one thing. He could mobilise the power and influence of the house without impacting its reputation. Instead, some of the family¡¯s lesser lights had aggravated a man who didn¡¯t blink when gods became his enemies. As with any noble family, the true power of House Headingway came from their adventurers. Politics were unquestionably important, but lesser affairs could be left to lesser family members. In this case, however, those lesser members had shoved the family¡¯s arm shoulder deep into a snake hole. It could have been worse, Percival reflected. Asano was serving up humiliation in forcing the families to rescue their errant members, in very public fashion. But while they had been roughed up, he made sure the Dominion church kept them from any genuine danger. From what Percival had seen of young Garret, the experience may have even knocked some sense into the boy. When Percival was young, adventurer training had been mandatory in the family. Only those with talent and inclination followed through, but it helped them understand the foundations of what made the houses strong. It might be time to bring the practice back. The loss of reputation from these events was unpleasant, but far from unendurable. Enough of the major families had shared the same fate that the tide was lowered for everyone. The smart move was to move on, which was exactly what Ben, the family¡¯s top gold ranker had said. ¡°We started something with someone we shouldn¡¯t and took our lumps. Take the lesson and move on.¡± That was exactly what Percival intended, but a faction within the family were advocating retribution. These were the pure politicians, the kind who hated the influence of the adventurers. They weren¡¯t complete fools, now believing they knew who they were dealing with in Asano. They wanted the response to be proportional and political; not making a true enemy but making it clear that House Headingway was not to be trifled with. Percival knew full well that they were wrong. Asano was an adventurer and he thought like one. Political games only worked so long as the opponent was unwilling to flip the board, and Asano was demonstrably willing to do that. Even if the family could hurt Asano, they would only end up dragging each other down. He was drafting an announcement on the issue for a family meeting when his office was intruded upon. Mariska Headingway managed the family¡¯s business affairs and, in most instances, was the epitome of formality, politeness and respect. She burst through his office door like a siege engine. ¡°Percy, are you out of your gods-damned mind? You were the one who pushed for the expansion of our trade operations using the sky link system.¡± ¡°Yes, Mary, I am. Hello, by the way, and do feel free to come in. Maybe treat yourself to some context.¡± ¡°Do you know who invented the sky link system? And who operates it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t recall who invented it. It¡¯s managed by the Magic Research Association, is it not?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Mariska said pointedly. ¡°It is.¡± Her sharp gaze bored into him as she waited for him to connect the dots. ¡°Oh,¡± he said. ¡°The Magic Research Association was founded and is now led by a member of Team Biscuit.¡± ¡°Oh, it doesn¡¯t stop there,¡± Mariska said, growing increasingly manic. ¡°Did you know that one of the developers of the sky link system is right here in Cyrion? She¡¯s travelling with her very close friend, Jason Asano.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°And here¡¯s the topper, Percy. The other founder, Travis Noble, lives in Rimaros, but is not from there originally. Do you want to guess where he¡¯s from?¡± ¡°Just spit it out, Mary.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not from Pallimustus at all. He¡¯s an outworlder. From the group who arrived here fifteen years ago. The group our illustrious family decided would be good leverage to extort a man WHO BLOWS UP CITIES! Not a metaphor, Percy! He literally blew up a city last month. Not the first, by the way. And he did it by accident. Someone assassinated him and his power went out of control and wiped out a city. Then he came back to life, turned into a bird and killed an entire army of messengers! I¡¯d say that¡¯s the most insane thing I¡¯ve ever heard of, but I¡¯ve been reading about the rest of the things he''s done! And we thought what? Let¡¯s really make him angry in return for some very minor gains?¡± ¡°Mary, I¡ª¡± ¡°Do you know what it takes to have Undeath see you as a personal antagonist?¡± ¡°Mary¡ª¡± ¡°I do. Now. You blow up a city full of his people, Percy. Priests, an undead army, even his damn avatar. You wipe it out of reality and build a new city out of clouds, because at that point, why not? On the way to your office, I heard people talking about getting this guy back. Get him back? What we need to get him is a gift basket and the ten best doxies in Cyrion! Do you know if he likes men or women?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not hiring prostitutes, Mary.¡± She gave him a flat look. ¡°Not for this,¡± he amended. ¡°Percy, you don¡¯t know this, it being a day-to-day operations matter, but I¡¯ve been trying to get a personal sky link call with Travis Noble for several months. To discuss a special rate on sky link services, given how large and early a customer we¡¯ve been. And, of course, due to the prestige of associating our name with the service. Funnily enough, Percival, I finally got that call. And he had some very specific ideas about a special rate for our family. Should, and I quote, ¡®the Sky Link company decide that continuing a relationship with House Headingway is appropriate going forward.¡¯ You know what that means, Percy?¡± ¡°That they¡¯re threatening to cut us off.¡± ¡°No, Percy, they¡¯re giving us reason eighty-seven why you don¡¯t fuck with Jason Asano. Losing the System was already an issue, but we aren¡¯t the Adventure Society; we can live without it. If we lose the sky link, though, we¡¯ll have to downsize our business infrastructure.¡± ¡°There¡¯s still the water link system.¡± ¡°Percy, we beat out the competition by jumping on the potential of the sky link while everyone else was afraid to take the risk, sticking with the water link. That¡¯s how we surged ahead over the last decade.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°How badly will it hurt us? Are we overexposed on this?¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be a collapse. We¡¯ve been aggressive with our expansion, but I¡¯ve always made allowances for an eventuality like this. What it will mean is winding down a lot of operation. Basically, we¡¯ll be winding back the clock to where we were ten years ago.¡± ¡°Which we do not want.¡± ¡°No, Percy, we do not. You need to shut down this continued antagonism of Asano and the outworlders.¡± Percival pushed the sheet of paper on the desk in front of him forward for Mariska to see. She span it around and started reading. ¡°What is this?¡± she asked. ¡°The draft of my announcement to the family that we will be explicitly avoiding any continued antagonism towards Jason Asano.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me this when I came in? You could have saved me from yelling about prostitutes.¡± ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t like the family announcement approach, Mary, we could try your gift basket and prostitute idea.¡± ¡°I was kidding about the doxies, Percy.¡± *** Jason watched the man guiding Shade as he piloted the cloud ship out of Cyrion. ¡°You seem nervous,¡± Jason told him. ¡°Are you up to something?¡± He turned pale. ¡°No, sir. My supervisor was very explicit about getting this right.¡± ¡°Well, calm down, bloke. You want some fruit? Someone gave me a fruit basket and I haven¡¯t seen most of the stuff in it before. There¡¯s this thing called a prappas, you ever see one of those?¡± ¡°Uh, yes, sir. They grow them to the east of here.¡± ¡°Do you like them?¡± ¡°I find the texture rather odd.¡± ¡°I know, right? It¡¯s kind of halfway between a pear and a pineapple. I¡¯m not sure if I love it or hate it yet, but I¡¯m definitely not ambivalent about it.¡± *** Jason¡¯s cloud ship had a larger passenger manifest than previous trips, due to the people from Earth. As the vessel was the size of a cruise ship, it wasn¡¯t hard to accommodate them. Fifty-three people had signed up for the return to Earth in Cyrion. After that, the crowds surrounding the cloud palace became more trouble than they were worth, harassing anyone who came by. A new rendezvous was set up in another city, small and quiet, in the mountains to the north. This would be one of a series of stops to pick up earthlings. Li Mei had done a good job of tracking and reaching out to those who, like herself, had long ago left Cyrion. With the aid of Farrah and the sky link system, she had arranged several centralised pickup points. The total returning to Earth, assuming everyone turned up, would be seventy four. That left around thirty who had no interest in returning, couldn¡¯t be found, or were dead. *** Darryl was an anomaly amongst the outworlders who had been pulled to Pallimustus from Earth. He was, to his knowledge, the only one who wasn¡¯t an essence user. A troll were-crocodile from the rainforests of Far North Queensland, he was a member of the Cabal. His trollish fae blood let him shapeshift into a form that could pass for human, especially in rural pubs. Disguise was less of a requirement on Pallimustus, one of the reasons he liked it. He¡¯d been uncertain about a potential return to Earth, not sure if he could fit in any longer. It was a talk with Jason Asano himself that had turned him around. Speaking over the sky link network, Asano told him about magic on Earth being much more open than after the reveal. The Cabal held sway in large parts of the world, with its members able to operate out in the open. Darryl was quite happy with this, and Asano even apologised on finding out his living-under-a-bridge joke was racist. The mountain city he was in had a large sky port, relative to its size. Specialty airships that could only run in high-magic zones were a signature of Estercost, and approaching the city by land was difficult. That hadn¡¯t stopped Darryl, his physique more powerful than most essence users of his rank. Unlike most of the Earth refugees, Darryl hadn¡¯t been hindered by ranking up with monster cores. He naturally grew more powerful, only the weak ambient magic of Earth having held him back. He had gone from barely silver rank fifteen years ago to pushing against the gates of gold. Unfortunately, his progress had slowed and he wasn¡¯t sure why. The bottleneck in his growth was what had ultimately turned Darryl around about joining those returning to Earth. The magic there was reportedly higher now, but it was the proximity to Asano and his team that Darryl wanted. He¡¯d never built up the connections in Pallimustus that would get him access to magical knowledge, while Asano¡¯s friends were famous. He hoped that they would be able to help his breakthrough to gold. There was a group of people from Earth gathered at a tavern near the sky port. Darryl had spoken with them briefly, before sitting alone. Aside from not being an essence user, they had only known the Cabal as a sinister and mysterious group. At the time they had all been pulled to Earth, the vampire lords were only beginning to schism from the Cabal. They all moved together, however, when a commotion started outside. It sounded like the sort of panic that arose from a monster attack. The earthlings, along with various others in the bar, moved outside to look. It didn¡¯t take long to see that the attack was coming from above. A group of the city¡¯s adventurers had intercepted some flying monsters before they could attack the sky port. They now clashed in the air over the side of the mountain, a vast drop below them. The monsters had the shape of dragons, each around the size of a school bus. Rather than living things, however, their bodies were chunks of rock, tethered together by arcs of electricity. They almost looked like fossil displays in a museum. Some of the people from the bar took to the skies, either on devices or through their own power. Some were escaping the fight while others were rushing to help. The people from Earth remained grounded, observing as they stood outside the tavern. ¡°Stormspire drakes,¡± Darryl said. ¡°We should help.¡± ¡°Bugger that,¡± one of the essence users said, his accent marking him as a fellow Australian. ¡°Yeah, screw that,¡± another said. ¡°I can sense at least one gold rank ranker amongst those things.¡± ¡°But most are silver,¡± Darryl argued. ¡°And there are a lot of them. The adventurers might not have the numbers.¡± ¡°Others are going to help,¡± the Australian said. ¡°I¡¯m not getting myself killed right before I finally escape this heretical planet and its false gods.¡± ¡°False gods?¡± Someone asked in a New Zealand accent. ¡°I¡¯ve seen lots of gods. There¡¯s a really good bar and grill near the divine square in the town where I¡¯ve been living. I¡¯ve seen so many gods there that I¡¯m surprised a god of sausages didn¡¯t show up.¡± The others turned to the newcomer, who hadn¡¯t been with them in the tavern. He was a M¨¡ori, but much leaner than the famous Taika Williams. ¡°You¡¯re not a core user,¡± the Australian said. ¡°Nah, mate. I was visiting my mum at the portal site when I got sucked in with everyone else. I trained up here, so no cores.¡± He looked over at Darryl. ¡°What¡¯s your deal, mate?¡± ¡°Troll were-crocodile.¡± ¡°No bull? That sounds pretty sweet. Want to go fight some weird rock lightning dragons?¡± ¡°Hell yes. The name¡¯s Darryl.¡± They shook hands. ¡°I¡¯m Koa. Can you fly, or will you need a piggyback or something?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll manage.¡± *** Jason and Humphrey moved onto the bridge of the cloud ship, looking out at the mountain in the distance. ¡°The sky port should have sent someone by now,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Maybe they don¡¯t do that here, being a smaller city,¡± Jason suggested. ¡°The sky port there is still big. Will your aura senses reach from here?¡± ¡°Probably,¡± Jason said, then closed his eyes and concentrated. A moment later, they snapped open. ¡°Monster attack,¡± he said. ¡°One gold and a lot of silvers. Looks like adventurers are fighting them off, but I¡¯m guessing they¡¯d appreciate a few more, given the numbers. If that¡¯s alright with you, team leader?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± *** The cloud vessel approached the rear of the battle at speed. Along with adventurers flying around, several airships were employing their weapons, and the sky port itself had fixed defences. Jason and his companions were arrayed on top of the cloud vessel, those who couldn¡¯t fly inside Onslow¡¯s expanded shell. Nik was included, as most of the foes were silver rank. ¡°This looks like a mess,¡± Humphrey said, surveying the chaotic battle. ¡°Port defences, civilians helping, multiple adventuring teams. A small horde of gold-rankers diving in might do more harm than good, especially if we start using the ship weapons. Nik, your specialty is group organisation, right?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Nik confirmed. ¡°I¡¯m used to jumping in with groups who don¡¯t know me. Want me to start getting this lot in line?¡± ¡°Connect me in when you link communication to everyone,¡± Miguel Ladiv said. ¡°I¡¯ll identify myself as an Adventure Society official and give you organisational authority. It should save time.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll definitely help,¡± Nik said. ¡°Thank you, Miguel,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°I¡¯ll, uh, go back inside and make snacks for when everyone is done,¡± Jamar said. ¡°And drinks,¡± Neil called after him as he left. ¡°I want to see multiple jugs of that fruit punch when we¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Hey, look at that,¡± Jason said. ¡°Is that a giant crocodile man swinging like Tarzan on a rope made of blood, hanging from a lightning dragon in flight?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Danielle said. ¡°Who¡¯s Tarzan?¡± A huge grin split Jason¡¯s face. ¡°I have to say it: I love being an adventurer.¡± Chapter 936: Having Strangers Come Along A line of red and gold electricity flashed through the air. It burst into the form of a M¨¡ori, right above the stone and lightning body of a stormspire drake. Koa dropped lightly onto the drake¡¯s back as it passed under him. The drake half rolled back and forth trying to shake its rider. Whips of lightning lashed at Koa, only to vanish without visible effect. Unphased but not unbalanced, he crouched on the largest of the stones making up the drake¡¯s main body. He placed both hands on the rock he was kneeling on and the electricity holding the drake together started to dim. The drake¡¯s thrashing grew worse, but Koa might as well have been glued to it. The rocks making up the front of the drake shifted, causing its neck to grow. Once it had extended enough, the drake twisted its head back to snap at Koa. Koa reached out, catching its nose in the palm of his hand. The electricity connecting the rocks in the drake¡¯s head and neck vanished and fell away. Even headless, the drake continued to fly, but not for long. The rest of its lightning dimmed and shrank until the drake was nothing but inert rock, falling and scattering as it fell towards the mountain below. Koa¡¯s Absorb Electricity power was more useful than he¡¯d feared on first picking it up. Draining the natural electricity out of a person was, as it turned out, very bad for them. While generally not very harmful to anyone of the same rank, just a touch could send them falling into seizure or unconscious for a brief but critical moment. There were circumstances, however, when Koa could use his power to truly cut loose. Thunderstorms. Electric death towers. One guy that looked like William Shatner and hurled bolts of lightning. Best, though, were electric monsters. Storm lizards. Deadpond eels. This was Koa¡¯s first time fighting stormspire drakes, but he did so with a savage grin. The electricity coursing through them was second only to lightning elementals. There was little point throwing the electricity he drained back at them, as was usually the case for such monsters. Instead, he used the absorbed power to refill the mana of his very hungry power set, and to overcharge some of his other abilities. The rock Koa was attached to was plummeting through the air, no longer connected to the rest of the drake. Koa moved from a crouch to a standing position, still standing on it as if glued by the feet. He glanced around, seeing the crocodile man at around the same altitude. He was also riding a rapidly descending drake, having hooked its wings with some manner of blood rope. Koa looked up at the huge swarm of drakes above. They were relatively weak, as they had to be to manifest in such numbers. There were two gold ranked ones being engaged by the local gold-rank adventurers. Koa wasn¡¯t fool enough to insert himself into that fight, no matter how advantageous his powers. He picked one the other drakes flying around that no one else was fighting. He raised his arm towards it and chanted a spell. ¡°Let the heart of the world beat.¡± His Ignite Stone ability caused rock to rapidly melt. The harder and more magical the stone, the more powerful the effect. Not only were the drakes both very hard stone and very full of mana, but Koa had overcharged the spell with the power drained from the last drake¡¯s electricity. The stone fragments of the drake grew hot, throbbing red with a heartbeat rhythm. The pulse grew faster and faster, the stone hotter and brighter until it was dripping molten rock. Finally, the drake exploded, showering others nearby in glowing shrapnel. It wasn¡¯t enough to do the other drakes real damage, but the distraction allowed adventurers to pounce on them for easy kills. Koa once again turned into electricity, flashing towards his next victim. He was halfway through draining it when he stopped, continuing to ride as it feebly flew on. His attention had been grabbed by a pair of new airships arriving in the battle. They weren¡¯t the first, and while they were among the biggest, that wasn¡¯t what stood out. They were both cloud ships, with hull panels set over the cloud material. The larger showed off more of the underlying cloud material, at least at first. This one accelerated ahead of the other, huge weapons emerging from the uncovered cloud sections. It was the second ship, however, that drew the eye. Not only was it radiating a domineering gold-rank aura, but it was transforming. The sky ship had arrived in the shape of a massive seagoing vessel. As Koa watched, the decks and hull panels were absorbed until it was just a mass of cloud. The transformation wasn¡¯t swift, so he finished off the drake and moved onto another before checking again. By that point, the cloud mass had taken on a ball shape. Triangular panels were emerging from the inside, so black they seemed to absorb the light around them. They each fit together around the cloud mass to form a humungous icosahedron, white light highlighting where each panel met. In the centre of each black panel was a blue and orange eye. There was something indefinably baleful about them, Koa instinctively glancing away when he tried to stare at them directly. The drakes filled the sky like hornets born of a storm, and the vessel ploughed right into them. Beams blasted from every eye, some blue and some orange. When the blue beams struck, the drakes¡¯ lightning was washed away like a sandcastle struck by a rogue wave. Only chunks of inert stone were left behind, falling away to tumble down the mountainside. The orange beams instead burned the rock away like dry leaves before an encroaching bushfire. The airships seemed focused on the silver-ranked drakes, not interfering with the local adventurers as they tackled the twin gold-rank drakes. Koa grinned and finished off his own drake, ready to seek out more before they were all gone. *** ¡°Configuration D20 is complete,¡± Shade announced on the sky ship bridge. ¡°The monster swarm has been engaged.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe you can modify your ship on the go like that,¡± Emir said through voice chat. ¡°No putting back in the flask, no complex redesign. How is that fair?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what, Emir,¡± Jason said. ¡°How about we swap airships, but the next time someone has to fight a great astral being or a god or a messenger army single-handed, that one¡¯s on you.¡± ¡°Oh, I couldn¡¯t give up my airship,¡± Emir said hurriedly. ¡°I¡¯ve put so much work into it.¡± Jason laughed and put a hand on Nik¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You ready, buddy?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Nik said, rolling his shoulders. ¡°Then go for it. Just don¡¯t get mad, alright?¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Just get started.¡± *** Daryll didn¡¯t have the range of abilities an essence user enjoyed, but he did have a few tricks up his sleeve. The combination of his troll body and his were-crocodile form gave him the strength of a might essence, the fortitude of an iron essence and the regeneration of an immortal essence. He could supplement those with his versatile blood magic, made all the stronger by the troll blood in his veins. It could reinforce his crocodile hide, add blood venom to his bite, even create prehensile ropes of blood and tendon, with toothy clamps at the end. After landing on the back of a Drake, Daryll shot a blood rope from each hand, clamping them onto the wings. He yanked hard, locking himself in place and disrupting the creature¡¯s flight. The monsters largely ignored aerodynamics, but their wings held the magic that governed their flight. Having them interfered with sent the creature into a half glide, half fall, Daryll riding it as it dropped through the sky. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Daryll ignored the electricity crawling over his feet. His magically reinforced hide was a surprisingly good insulator, and his regeneration healed what little damage got through. The only thing he had to manage was the cramping and reflexive jerking the electricity caused in his muscles. The gold rank aura that had washed over the battlefield was impossible to miss, but Daryll had felt the lack of hostility, at least to him. It wasn¡¯t a drake¡¯s aura, and that was enough. While he was too busy to investigate the aura, there was no ignoring the drone that flew down to buzz around his face, matching the speed of the drake. The earthling did a double take at seeing something so obviously technological in Pallimustus. Keeping pace with him, the drone projected a hologram that looked like a computer screen from thirty-year-old science fiction.
YES/NO
Daryll wasn¡¯t an essence user, so had never had access to the System. From the complaints over its recent withdrawal, however, it was something worth having. ¡°Yes!¡± he yelled, still struggling with the drake. Its neck had been growing longer, the rocks making up its body slowly rearranging. It now had a long enough neck to snap at him, but he lifted one foot to kick it on the stony snout. While that was happening, the drone had flown out of sight behind him. He did not see it deploy several long, thin needles, but he felt them jam into his back, just below his neck. It passed through his reinforced magical hide without resistance, jabbing the flesh underneath. He was immediately distracted by a heads-up display appearing, reminiscent of video games he hadn¡¯t played in fifteen years. There were bars for mana and stamina, and a green silhouette of his body to indicate his health. To the right edge of his vison was a list of status effects, tucked out of the way but easy to read if he focused. It showed the magical enhancements he had given himself, plus the muscle spasm effect in his legs. To the left was a column of status boxes for the rest of the group, just health and mana bars with a background coloured by rank. Aside from that, there were tags on the monsters and the fighters on his own side, complete with honest-to-goodness health bars over their heads. The sudden visual clutter was disorienting, and he almost missed the drake attempting another bite. Once more, it got a kick to the face for its trouble, just as another window appeared. This one was not projected by the drone but part of his new interface.
¡°Accessories?¡± He ignored the sudden appearance of startled voices in his head. He felt the spasms in his legs ease, and what looked like a padded metal girdle appeared around his waist. There were spikes around the girdle that shot out, digging into the drake¡¯s body. Metal cables tethering the spikes to the belt tightened, securing him in place.
Daryll grinned and let go of his own tethers of blood and sinew. He then conjured up a hammer in each hand, made from bone and dripping with blood. His laughter was a crocodilian roar as he started smashing the drake with them, the metal tethers holding him secure. The drake was tough, but Daryll was a powerhouse, his twin hammers smashing its body to rubble and dust. In short order, the electricity holding its body together vanished and the remaining rocks fell from the sky. The metal girdle vanished in a pop of dimensional energy as Daryll dropped alongside the remnants of the drake. He had fallen well below the battle, and even the level of the mountain city. On one side of him was cliff face, and on the other, open sky. He felt something appear on his back and straps wrapped around his waist and shoulders. A helmet encapsulated his head and he heard a roaring blast behind him. There was a fierce jerk, and he was yanked skyward once more.
¡°Oh, hell yes!¡± Daryll exclaimed as he started rocketing upward. ¡°Is this a Rocketeer helmet?¡±
¡°What is going on?¡±
¡°Uh, okay?¡± He looked up at the people still fighting the drakes. The jetpack steering was intuitive, following whatever direction he was looking. Some of the people above started glowing blue in his new interface.
¡°Oh, I think this is going to work out.¡± *** Danielle joined the voice channel of the local gold rankers fighting the two gold rank drakes. ¡°This is Danielle Geller. At my command is a large force of gold-rank adventurers. Would you prefer us to aid with the gold-rank monsters, clear out the silvers or a mix of both?¡± ¡°Are you going to listen, or just do what you like?¡± an adventurer asked bitterly. ¡°We are just guests here, and freshly arrived ones at that. Your house, your rules.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got the golds contained. Having strangers come along now will just mess things up. Take care of the silvers.¡± ¡°Very well. Reach out if you need anything, and we¡¯ll talk again when it¡¯s done.¡± *** The gold rankers pouring out of Emir and Jason¡¯s cloud ships took to the silver-rank drakes like a flamethrower hitting a bug swarm. Humphrey swung his sword to send waves of destructive force like skyborne tsunamis. Zara created living clouds that flowed around adventurers to envelop the drakes. It turned the monsters¡¯ own electricity against them, destroying them with their own power. Others focused on crowd control, especially as the drakes started to flee. Jason hunted down runners, dosing them with afflictions and moving on. Lightning dripped blood and stone turned to rot as drakes fell from the sky, too weak to stay in the air. The mountainside became splattered with their gooey remains. The rest either chased down runners with Jason or kept loose drakes from reaching the city as they scattered. Sophie and Danielle kept an eye on the adventurers and civilians who had joined the fight, intervening as needed with their blinding speed. *** The intercession of the gold rankers marked the effective end of the danger, both to the city and those who rushed to defend it. Once the last of the drakes were done, those not out looting gathered in the sky port. Overhead, sky ships that had avoided the fight were left in holding patterns. Those that had engaged the monsters and been damaged were prioritised for repairs and were being brought in to dock. Sharp wind pushed snow along the ground, the high-altitude city unfriendly to low rankers. Jason and his companions endured the weather easily, gathered on the tarmac at the base of a sky port docking tower. There was a large crowd of likewise high-ranking adventurers, along with civilians who had participated. Everyone not off looting monsters had come together after the fight. There were a lot of gold rankers, many of them famous, leaving a lot of silver rankers starry-eyed. Jason¡¯s identity hadn¡¯t been noticed yet, at least by anyone that cared, so he¡¯d quietly switched to civilian clothes and disguised his aura as silver rank. He was talking with Nik, complimenting his efforts. Nik was sounding like a telegram machine as most of what he yelled at Jason was bleeped out. ¡°It¡¯s matter of professionalism,¡± Jason told Nik. ¡°How would you know?¡± Neil chimed in, earning him a scathing look from Jason. ¡°I¡¯m trying to teach a lesson here, Neil.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m wondering when you learned it yourself. You realise your intimidation routine works better when you don¡¯t have a recording crystal playing Wang Chung, right?¡± Jason turned as a loud voice yelled out in a New Zealand accent. ¡°Lady Danielle! Over here!¡± A young M¨¡ori man pushed his way through the crowd. ¡°Howsitgoin?¡± He asked Danielle. ¡°I¡¯ve been in town a couple of days. Want to know where to get the best chips?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Nik said, heading in that direction. ¡°How are you, Koa?¡± Jason looked at the New Zealander with no trace of cores in his aura. ¡°Who is that?¡± Chapter 937: Taking Things Slow After collecting the people from Earth and turning his sky vessel back into a passenger ship, Jason and his companions set off for the next pick up. Most of the earthlings had been assigned to comfortable but basic dormitory lodging, with some attached activity areas. ¡°Mr Asano,¡± Shade said, after getting the new people settled. ¡°The ship has more than enough room to give them individual cabins.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m a little worried about what happens if they¡¯re all isolated. Plus, if they¡¯re interacting, some of them might let something slip if they¡¯re up to something.¡± Having stepped up in the defence of the cloud city, Daryll and Koa had earned themselves cabins instead of being shoved in with the others. Jason was heading to the lounge bar to speak with them while Koa¡¯s mother moved her things from the dormitory to the cabin suite she would now share with her son. In the lounge with Jason, Danielle, Nik and Neil, the two earthlings told their stories. Daryll was from Far North Queensland, part of the Cabal faction monitoring the stone circle when it sucked everyone across worlds. Koa¡¯s story was one of teenage rebellion and unfortunate timing. ¡°My mother worked for the Network,¡± he explained. ¡°I was visiting her at your knock-off Stonehenge, where she was working. She told me not to sneak off to get a closer look at the thing, so I did it as soon as I had a chance. Of course, that had to be when it did the magic wibbly thing. The worst bit is that mum brings it up every time she thinks I¡¯m not listening.¡± ¡°Once it became clear you wouldn¡¯t be coming to deal with them yourself,¡± Danielle said, ¡°I had Koa and his mother sent to Greenstone while we kept the other earthlings at our compound in Cyrion. He wasn¡¯t quite old enough for essences, but he was close.¡± ¡°Mum works for the Gellers now,¡± Koa said. ¡°She stayed in Greenstone until I became an adventurer, then moved to Cyrion.¡± ¡°He was starting his training just as I was finishing up,¡± Nik added. ¡°Koa,¡± Jason said grimly. ¡°Just so you know, I¡¯ve been in contact with Earth for a little while now. Before we head back there are some things you need to know about what happened to New Zealand. I want to prepare you for it now so it isn¡¯t as much of a shock when we arrive.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Koa asked. Jason leaned forward in his chair, eyes filled with sympathy. ¡°New Zealand¡­ got real bad at rugby.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I know. There¡¯s so many white dudes on the national team, they had to change the name from the All Blacks to the Semi-Blacks. Koa gave Jason a flat look. ¡°I heard a lot of things about you, over the years. No one ever mentioned you were a giant prick.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t have heard that much, then,¡± Neil muttered as Jason laughed. *** Collecting the rest of the people from Earth proved less exciting than at the mountain city. The final location was in a vast flatland crossed by many waterways, known as the River Table. It had supposedly once been a mountain range, with stories of its levelling being many and varied. Most settled on either the wrath of the gods or a grand battle between diamond rankers, but neither the gods nor any diamond rankers had weighed in with an answer. After arriving in the night and collecting the earthlings, the plan was shuffle everyone into Jason¡¯s astral kingdom in the morning, then portal to Rimaros. Jason was walking through the cloud ship with Humphrey, discussing last-minute details. ¡°I think that¡¯s everything,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°On a side note, you might want to keep it quiet that your soul realm circumvents normal portal limitations. Do you have any idea how open to abuse that could be? Merchants would sell you their children for that.¡± ¡°I made a point of telling the Adventure Society, so I imagine word will get around. It¡¯ll take a merchant with hefty nuggets to come around proposing a deal, though.¡± ¡°You told the Adventure Society?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve already seen its usefulness for mass evacuations, with Boko and the brighthearts. The Adventure Society knows about those, but I wanted to make it clear that it¡¯s an option if they need it for some fresh catastrophe. I¡¯m not saying that I want a catastrophe to happen, but it would be nice if they had to call me in, instead of already being in the middle of it.¡± Humphrey slapped a hand on Jason¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s good that you let them know. Being there for people to rely on is what we do. But don¡¯t forget that you need to rely on people as well, sometimes. I know that you have that vast cosmic power you¡¯re always talking about.¡± ¡°Not always.¡± ¡°Sure. But remember that while you may be a big cosmic special man, you¡¯re also still just a man. Who needs help sometimes.¡± ¡°Big cosmic special man?¡± ¡°It feels like you¡¯re not focusing on the important parts of what I¡¯m saying, Jason.¡± ¡°No, I get it. I¡¯ve learned my lesson about going it alone.¡± ¡°Good. Now, I¡¯m going to leave you alone. See you in the morning.¡± Jason chuckled as his friend wandered off. Jason kept moving, riding an elevating platform to the bridge, then walking out and up some exterior stairs to the top deck. A cloud lounger rose from the deck and he fell into it, happily looking up at the night sky. Only one of the moons was visible, but it was full, turning the clouds into wisps of silver against the black. He luxuriated in the view and the quiet, halfway between meditation and a nap. He was unsure how long he¡¯d been there when Zara made her way up. The grace of her footfalls on the stairs made no sound, even to gold-rank hearing, but nothing was hidden from him within the cloud ship. He sensed the hesitant irregularity as she ascended the stairs; the tiny pause before she stepped onto the deck. ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful night,¡± he said. ¡°A river of silver, spilling across the sky. I¡¯m glad that not every wonder needs magic to exist.¡± ¡°You¡¯re on a flying ship made of clouds,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Well, some do need magic. That¡¯s only fair.¡± He sat up and turned to look at her, standing almost nervously at the top of the stairs. Many years ago, he had told her to change her hair from the famous sapphire of the Rimaros royal bloodline. Despite his having apologised for imposing on her body autonomy, she had hidden its true shade since, even in his long absence. Now it was back to sapphire, sparkling like gemstone threads in the moonlight. He wondered absently if she saw him freeze at the sight, then got to his feet with not quite the grace a gold ranker should have. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°You know,¡± he said, ¡°everyone on this ship is an essence user, or magic in some way.¡± ¡°I know,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re bringing it up.¡± ¡°No one on this ship is ugly, is what I¡¯m saying. We¡¯re all pretty to one degree or another, even if it does leave us looking annoyingly like our brothers.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a universally applicable observation.¡± ¡°Maybe not. My point, though, is that on a ship full of beautiful people, it¡¯s hard for someone to be so stunning it seems like the god of low self-esteem put them here to make the rest of us feel bad. Is there a god of low self-esteem?¡± ¡°Not that I¡¯m aware of,¡± she told him, snorting a little laugh. ¡°Dark gods are tricky, so you can¡¯t be sure, but I don¡¯t think so. If there is, I don¡¯t imagine it¡¯s happy. It would have Despair, Misery and maybe even Pain bossing it around.¡± ¡°They do sound like bad bosses.¡± She was wearing a white dress that starkly contrasted her hair in the moonlight. Her sapphire locks shimmered as she walked across the deck to stand in front of him. He had on a floral shirt and shorts. ¡°Hello,¡± she said with a nervous smile. ¡°G¡¯day.¡± Neither said anything else for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m starting to feel underdressed,¡± he said finally, and a giggle burst out of her. ¡°You were wearing almost the exact same thing when we met.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea how nervous I was back then? I was avoiding¡­ whoever that guy was, and I ducked into a random tent. Then, standing right in front of me, was the most beautiful woman I¡¯d ever seen.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah.¡± ¡°What about Sophie?¡± ¡°She¡¯s gorgeous, don¡¯t get me wrong, but we all have our own tastes. For one thing, the first time I saw her, she kicked me in the face immediately. Our relationship didn¡¯t get any less complicated from there. Also, it¡¯s possible I have a thing for blue hair.¡± Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. ¡°Is that why you told me to recolour my hair? Because it made it easier to stay angry at me?¡± ¡°No. Maybe. Shut up.¡± She laughed again. ¡°You didn¡¯t seem nervous, back then,¡± she told him. ¡°I was rambling like a fool.¡± ¡°You always ramble like a fool. You gave me a plate of confectionery slices and said I¡¯d regret not taking you up on your dinner offer.¡± ¡°It has been pointed out, from time to time, that I might be a little bit arrogant.¡± ¡°You were right.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take back the thing about being arrogant, then.¡± She shook her head in exasperation, but couldn¡¯t hide the smile teasing her lips. He stepped back, turning away and walking over to the deck railing. He leaned against it and looked up at the moon. She moved to join him, her hand almost touching his on the rail. ¡°You¡¯re putting an end to Zara Nareen,¡± he said. ¡°Princess Zara Rimaros is making her triumphant return.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about triumphant, but it¡¯s time.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I want the Storm Kingdom to be the first to eradicate indentured servitude laws.¡± He turned his head to look at her. ¡°Don¡¯t do this because of me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about you,¡± she said, keeping her eyes on the moon instead of looking back. ¡°You know that what you did won¡¯t make anyone change, right?¡± ¡°I do. You can¡¯t impose real change, especially as an outsider. People have to want it. Be ready for it. Best case for me is that I inspire someone who can actually accomplish something.¡± She turned to look him straight in the eye. ¡°Oh. Wait, you said it wasn¡¯t about me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not. What you¡¯ve done is something I can use as a pretence. Leverage. Too many times, I¡¯ve taken drastic steps to get what I want, and reaped the consequences.¡± ¡°Like trying to extort every nation on the planet into ending slavery?¡± ¡°Maybe not that drastic. You always have to do things a little bigger than everyone else, don¡¯t you? Or a lot bigger.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an approach I¡¯ve come to occasionally regret,¡± he confessed. ¡°This time, I don¡¯t want to rush what I¡¯m doing. No big, overt moves in service of quick results. I want to build the foundation of a movement. Move carefully and quietly to gather support. Show the people who think they have something to lose what they instead have to gain. Like being the only major nation on Pallimustus with full access to the System. Like an aristocracy that earns the respect of the populace instead of demanding it.¡± ¡°You could abolish the aristocracy altogether.¡± ¡°That would come under the heading of large, drastic moves. I need to take on a fight I at least have a chance of winning.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying.¡± ¡°Well, don¡¯t. I¡¯m already going to be accused of trying to end slavery as the first step in dissolving the legal standing of noble titles. Doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s true. Those who gain money and power through exploitation aren¡¯t shy about lying and cheating to keep that power.¡± ¡°That, I¡¯m sadly aware of.¡± ¡°And I meant it when I said this isn¡¯t about you. Yes, what you did has given me a chance to take this step. But what inspired me more than you has been the last fifteen years. While you were off fighting some cosmic battle, I¡¯ve been with your team, out having adventures. ¡°Our team.¡± ¡°Our team,¡± she corrected. ¡°You know that we¡¯re something of an oddity, amongst adventuring teams.¡± ¡°Always have been.¡± ¡°Humphrey and Sophie set the agenda, mostly. They had us picking up the contracts other people avoid. Helping towns and villages with no wealthy residents to add hefty bonuses. Neil too. I know how he comes off, but he has so much compassion under all of the¡­ Neil. He¡¯s a priest of the Healer.¡± ¡°I always thought the reason was that he stumbled into their booth at a jobs fair.¡± ¡°You should be nicer to him,¡± she chided. ¡°But the team couldn¡¯t just be doing low-value contracts. Low paying for silver, anyway. Even basic silver contracts pay well, but running a silver-rank party isn¡¯t cheap.¡± She tapped the railing. ¡°Especially not when we don¡¯t have a free mobile base to operate out of. Lindy made sure we took enough jobs for the money. Humphrey and I might have family wealth, but at our rank, we¡¯re expected to add to it, not take it away. Pay for the next generation to enjoy the same advantages we did. And you should make enough money to have some fun along the way.¡± ¡°If you can¡¯t enjoy life at silver rank, you¡¯re doing it wrong.¡± ¡°Exactly. But the point is, we always had a focus on helping people. Zara Nareen saw a world that Zara Rimaros had always been shielded from. We¡¯ve fought against outright slavery, and undermined indenture programs where the people were being exploited. Lindy and Stella got very good at that. But, satisfying as they were, those actions never brought real change. If anything, they only reinforced the same oppressive systems. We¡¯d gotten rid of the bad apples, so people said everything would be fine, now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m familiar with that particular brand of context blindness.¡± ¡°My reputation in the Storm Kingdom isn¡¯t the best. I did foolish things when I was younger, and that stain will follow me. But it will also cover me a little. People will dismiss my efforts at the beginning, when they are most vulnerable to interference. They won¡¯t waste resources fighting me because they don¡¯t think I¡¯ll accomplish anything.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bet against you.¡± ¡°Yes, but your judgement is questionable.¡± He let out a mock-hurt chortle. ¡°You wound me, good lady. But I suspect you¡¯ll get more support than you expect, even if it¡¯s for reasons you won¡¯t like.¡± ¡°What reasons are those?¡± He took a deep breath and slowly let it out as he looked once more out at the night. Somewhere far below were the lights of a town they were passing over. ¡°There¡¯s a very famous legend back on Earth, that starts with three goddesses. They¡¯re arguing amongst themselves over who is the most beautiful, and for some reason decide to make some idiot prince the judge. They all try to bribe the guy, of course, because why pick a judge with integrity, and the goddess of love promises him that the most beautiful woman in the world will fall in love with him.¡± ¡°Gods can¡¯t do that. The soul barrier¡ª¡± ¡°Will you just let me tell the story? I¡¯m trying really hard here; I didn¡¯t even make an Orlando Bloom reference.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Where was I?¡± ¡°Goddess of love.¡± ¡°Right. So, she bribes him with the most beautiful woman in the world, and he accepts because he¡¯s a sleazy turd. Soon, he finds himself on a diplomatic mission to another country and, wouldn¡¯t you know it, the queen just happens to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Long story short, she stows away with Prince Douche Canoe when he heads home, and her country starts a war to get her back. Since Prince Trust Fund¡¯s country is on an island, that means a massive naval force. And, to this day, we say that a woman with world-shaking beauty has a face to launch a thousand ships.¡± Zara gave Jason a long, assessing look. ¡°So, you¡¯re comparing me to the queen in this story?¡± ¡°That was the idea, yes.¡± ¡°The Queen who gets mesmerised by a god, handed over to some man as a bribe and doesn¡¯t get to make any choices for herself. Anything done to or for her is just because she¡¯s pretty.¡± ¡°Learn to take a compliment! I just compared you to Helen of Troy.¡± She put her hand over her mouth, which did nothing to stifle the giggles that crawled into his brain and hit a big button labelled YES PLEASE. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re teasing me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re fun to tease.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m fun to do all sorts of things to.¡± The cold night air suddenly felt very warm, and they were very aware of how close they were standing. ¡°Uh,¡± Jason said, then pointed to the stairs. ¡°I¡¯m going to go. To bed. By myself. Uh, have a good¡­¡± He gave up on trying to make words good and hurried away in a manner not at all suggestive of running away. He stopped at the top of the stairs, though, and looked back. ¡°You aren¡¯t stopping in the Storm Kingdom full time, right? You¡¯re staying with the team?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m going to plant some seeds while you and Clive build your magic bridge, and let them germinate while we¡¯re on Earth.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°I told you that I¡¯m going to take things slow.¡± ¡°Eminently sensible.¡± ¡°Not that you have to take everything slow.¡± ¡°Good night,¡± he said and rushed down the stairs. Chapter 938: The End of What Can Be Productively Achieved Here It was Clive who portalled Jason to his destination. Jason had been to the target location before, but only once, and it had changed greatly since. When he and Farrah had arrived, years previously, it had been an uninhabited island, pounded by a localised magical hurricane from which the Sea of Storms took its name. Years later, it was a very different prospect. The island had a large town situated on it, and the windmill-like storm accumulators surrounding it offshore both shielded the island and delivered the magic that fuelled its infrastructure. All of this was a result of the island being purchased and developed by the Sky Link Company. Jason¡¯s second visit began in a town square set aside for teleport arrivals. He looked around at the building painted in vibrant colours. Blue, red, purple, pink, orange and yellow, all bold shades striking under the bright sun. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe it¡¯s the same place,¡± he said. ¡°I love it.¡± He opened a portal to his soul realm and people started pouring out, likewise looking around like tourists. They had been doing much the same thing inside Jason¡¯s astral kingdom, in the tree city of Arbour. ¡°This is pretty sweet,¡± Koa said. ¡°It¡¯s like being on a magical cruise ship and seeing all the fun destinations.¡± Farrah directed Jason to a dock where he could set up his cloud palace to accommodate the earthlings. The island was only set up to house the people who worked there, despite having the feel of a tourist town. He hoped that they could get the bridge established before the people of Earth caused any trouble. *** Jason had a meeting with Farrah and Travis, who owned the island, along with Danielle, Zara and Clive. They held it in a conference room with large open windows and robust privacy enchantments. ¡°We excavated the hidden magical infrastructure the Builder placed here,¡± Travis explained. ¡°Then we had the whole complex sealed off.¡± ¡°As it stands,¡± Clive said, ¡°Using that infrastructure to calibrate the dimensional bridge should take a few weeks. I¡¯ve studied enough messenger astral magic to understand what we need to do, and the only missing component is you, Jason.¡± ¡°Why does it require Jason?¡± Zara asked. ¡°Because of the anchor on the Earth side,¡± Jason told her. ¡°The World-Phoenix relic I used to create it required me to be involved. Even though I kind of ate the relic and we¡¯re doing it the hard way now, that requirement is still in place.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t foresee any insurmountable problems,¡± Clive said. ¡°Just a lot of painstaking work to align this end of the bridge with the one in the other universe. Getting all the details right. This can¡¯t be one of those rush jobs I always seem to get stuck with when we¡¯re out on adventures. We have to take it slow and do it right.¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t it more exciting when there¡¯s a ticking clock?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Clive said with flat disapproval. ¡°It is.¡± Jason chuckled, then turned to Zara. ¡°We need to address the political aspect,¡± he said. ¡°This island is isolated, and private land, but it still falls within the boundaries of the Storm Kingdom. Creating a bridge to another universe is no small thing.¡± ¡°Even if it won¡¯t be useable without some hefty magic for around a decade,¡± Clive added. ¡°It will take that long to stabilise, mostly because of Earth¡¯s shaky dimensional membrane. Given that this will be permanent, ten years isn¡¯t a large timeframe. It¡¯s only two thirds of a Jason-going-off-to-fight-gods-or-whatever. That¡¯s a new measurement of time I¡¯ve started using, by the way.¡± ¡°Did your wife come up with it?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Let¡¯s not get distracted,¡± Danielle cut in. ¡°We were talking about the political aspect of establishing the bridge inside the Storm Kingdom¡¯s borders.¡± ¡°We got approval from the Storm King years ago,¡± Travis said. ¡°Back when we bought the island. The isolation was a large part of that.¡± ¡°As was some quiet nudging from Soramir Rimaros,¡± Farrah added. ¡°But the Storm King was concerned with more than just danger. This brings potential opportunities, as well.¡± ¡°We shouldn¡¯t just rely on a decade-old permission from a former Storm King,¡± Danielle said. ¡°We could, but bringing this to the sitting monarch is a demonstration of respect. Getting his approval will smooth things out for us.¡± ¡°And if he says no?¡± Clive asked. ¡°We can pack up and do this somewhere else, but we¡¯ll need to build and calibrate new infrastructure. Weeks turns into months. Maybe years.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s what has to happen, we do it,¡± Jason said. ¡°I know that I¡¯m famous for pushing up against authorities, but there¡¯s no urgent fight to be fought. We can afford the time, and doing it outside of any national boundaries has advantages as well.¡± ¡°The question is,¡± Danielle said as she looked at Zara, ¡°how likely is the Storm King to say no?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zara said. ¡°It¡¯s considered bad form to overturn decisions by previous Storm Kings, but it still happens. Circumstances change. And my cousin may want to make a show of not bowing to outside concerns.¡± ¡°After I withdrew the System,¡± Jason said. ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°it¡¯s not like I was unaware that there would be consequences. I even knew what they would be, more or less. I went into it eyes wide open.¡± ¡°We could threaten to move the Sky Link Company out of the Storm Kingdom as well,¡± Travis said. ¡°Not just the headquarters but the entire service.¡± ¡°No,¡± Jason said. ¡°It¡¯s one thing to threaten a family, but pulling out of the Storm Kingdom entirely would harm the company too much. It¡¯s the main trade hub for two continents. None of us want your employees hurting for my sake.¡± ¡°It would also backfire,¡± Danielle said. ¡°Jason has already pushed the Storm King, along with every other monarch on the planet. Pushing him again won¡¯t work.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Zara said. ¡°Even if he wanted to back down, he couldn¡¯t afford to, politically. He¡¯d have to push back, even if it was bad for everyone involved.¡± ¡°Except the Magic Society,¡± Clive said. ¡°You can bet they¡¯d be tooting their horns about the ¡®proven long-term stability of the water link system.¡¯ The sky link hurt one of their major income streams.¡± ¡°There¡¯s also the fact that this is his nation to rule,¡± Jason pointed out. ¡°Everyone here knows my feelings about inherited class systems, but I don¡¯t want us to throw our weight around, just because we can. Yes, there is probably some combination of political pressure and political finesse that gets us what we want. I¡¯d rather focus on what we can offer the Storm Kingdom, not what we can force it into accepting.¡± ¡°I appreciate that,¡± Zara said. They were seated next to one another, and she brushed her hand over his lightly as she spoke. ¡°That is the wise approach,¡± Danielle said. ¡°We should discuss what specific benefits we can present.¡± *** When everyone filed out after the meeting, Farrah fell in step with Jason as he left the building. She gave him a pointed sideways look as they strolled down the wide street, past the colourful buildings. ¡°What?¡± he asked. She tapped her brooch, and a privacy screen snapped into place. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°What was what?¡± Jason asked with unconvincing innocence. ¡°Are you going to make me drag it out of you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°Really? Do you actually think people haven¡¯t noticed the sudden awkwardness between you two? We all have supernatural senses and the power to read emotions. You might keep a lid on your aura, Jason, but we can also see your face.¡± ¡°Okay, not nothing. But it¡¯s not something, either.¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± ¡°And somehow, I still heard it. Dangling off the end of your sentence like a man hanging from a cliff, fully aware that his immediate future will be very bad or very complicated.¡± ¡°Okay, maybe there was¡­ look, no one is rushing into anything, here. She has ambitions, and all I have to offer in that regard are complications. Any relationship she has is going to matter, and I have a lot of baggage. Not just because of my political position now, but because of our past. After that whole debacle over a made-up relationship back then, a real relationship now would undercut any credibility she¡¯s built up. Fifteen years of work as an adventurer, down the drain. She knows it, I know it. Neither of us are going to charge into something foolish and self-destructive. We¡¯ve both learned our lessons in that regard.¡± ¡°Well, that all sounds disappointingly mature. Here was me wanting to make fun of you for sneaking around like a teenager.¡± ¡°Oh, the urge is there, believe me. I¡¯m gold rank; I¡¯m meant to have too much self-control to be this horny.¡± She laughed. ¡°What are you going to do, then?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± They stopped at a caf¨¦ where they bought iced tea in takeaway cups of magic glass that would evaporate when empty. ¡°You¡¯re about to be on Earth,¡± Farrah said as they resumed their walk. ¡°She¡¯s not a princess there.¡± ¡°The thought has occurred to me. Yes, we could explore it, but what happens when we come back? It needs to end or become more serious than we¡¯ll probably be ready for.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Soramir would be happy to help you out.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t remind me. But what about you? Didn¡¯t you have a guy around here somewhere?¡± ¡°You mean Trench? Yeah, he¡¯s sweet. And earnest. He was always sensitive about the power disparity and the age difference, so we always kept things casual. Now that I¡¯m gold rank, he¡¯s been hinting that he wants something more serious.¡± ¡°And what about you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I mean, he¡¯s nice. Stable. Mum loves him. You know I built a house on your old spot in Arnote.¡± ¡°Yeah. You sound hesitant.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not him. I like stable. I want to be the unhinged one, you know? I just don¡¯t know if I want that with anyone right now.¡± ¡°You know, I¡¯m not the only one who could afford to try something out on Earth.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, that¡¯s a great idea. Drag some guy off to another universe, only to have it not work out and we¡¯ll be stuck together until we come back in who knows how long.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a fair point. Look, I don¡¯t know the situation with you and Trenchant, and I know that when people live as long as we do, keeping things casual can be the way to go. But, just from what you¡¯re saying, it doesn¡¯t sound like he wants to keep things casual.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t. Not forever.¡± She sighed. ¡°I told you that I like stable,¡± she continued, ¡°but maybe it¡¯s the idea of it, more than the reality. It scares me, if I¡¯m being honest. I¡¯m not like you, looking to make that emotional connection. I¡¯ve always kept a safe distance.¡± ¡°You have to make yourself vulnerable if you want to build trust.¡± ¡°So I¡¯m told. But letting yourself be vulnerable makes you, well, vulnerable. You know that. You¡¯ve been hurt that way.¡± ¡°And I keep doing it anyway. What does that tell you?¡± ¡°That you¡¯re a fool.¡± He laughed again. ¡°Oh, yes. That¡¯s a big part of it. Maybe it¡¯s time for you to be a fool for once. You need to consider what¡¯s stopping you. Is it that it¡¯s not what you want? That this isn¡¯t the guy? Or that you¡¯re just scared? Because if it¡¯s the last one, Farrah, then you need to harden up. You fought your way out of a torture complex and came back from the dead. I¡¯m not going to let you run away from a boy because maybe he likes you too much.¡± ¡°Coming from a guy who can¡¯t stop making eyes with the pretty girl with the blue hair.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, maybe we both have a little courage to work up.¡± *** The Storm Kingdom diplomat inclined his head. ¡°Princess. It is, of course, a delight to have you back. Unfortunately, your cousin was called away and won¡¯t be attending. Affairs of state; I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± Zara stepped up to the man, drawing raised eyebrows as she moved into his personal space. ¡°Lord Alberto, if my cousin wants to slight me, that is his prerogative as the Storm King. You, however, are not. You will address me as your highness, and you will bow in my presence, rather than nod as if you were passing your greengrocer in the street. You are a man who has practiced statecraft for longer than I have been alive. Because of this, any failure of etiquette on your part can only be construed as disrespect, delivered with deliberation and intent. Should I be again treated as an adventurer instead of a princess of the realm, I will hold you personally responsible, and respond in a manner customary to adventurers. To wit, I will drag you out on the street and peel you like a piece of fruit, is that understood?¡± Alberto gulped, then bowed. ¡°My apologies, your highness.¡± Zara swept past the man, Jason and Danielle Geller in tow. The air shimmered around them as Jason used his aura as a privacy screen. ¡°Are we sure than going that aggressive, that early is the right move?¡± he asked. ¡°It is,¡± Danielle said. ¡°Addressing the princess in such a way was calculated to position her as Zara Nareen, noble lady, not Zara Rimaros, princess of the royal house. If she had accepted the slight without comment, she would be tacitly accepting their assertion. By not just asserting her position but bringing the king¡¯s name into it, she puts Lord Alberto in the position of accepting responsibility, or acknowledging that the king put him up to it.¡± ¡°I still have a long way to go in these diplomacy lessons, don¡¯t I?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Are you sure you want me playing good cop here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s your magic bridge,¡± Zara said. ¡°It is best for any deal struck to be unambiguously struck with you. Just try to avoid promising anything too drastic.¡± *** ¡°His majesty feels,¡± Alberto said, ¡°that the threat of unknown danger outweighs the promise of unspecified opportunity.¡± ¡°An understandable position,¡± Danielle said. ¡°The acceptance of our request by the previous Storm King showed the assuredness of a man who has long held the throne and fully embodied his role as supreme power within the kingdom. His heir is barely a decade into his tenure and we are sympathetic to his hesitancy.¡± Alberto glowered. ¡°Your attitude in this matter is noted, Lady Geller, but you will find that prudence is the wisdom that his majesty brings to this table.¡± ¡°By proxy,¡± Zara pointed out. ¡°Given that he was too busy to actually attend this table.¡± ¡°I do respect the king¡¯s position on this,¡± Jason said. ¡°And I would very much like to alleviate the unknowns with which we have presented him, while also expanding the opportunities on offer. As such, I would like to offer the Storm Kingdom something that has been requested by a number of organisations and always refused: a position in our expedition to the other universe.¡± Alberto leaned back in his chair. ¡°Under what conditions would you make such an offer?¡± ¡°What conditions would you like, Lord Alberto?¡± ¡°You say a position in the expedition. Do you mean a representative, or a delegation?¡± ¡°I think a diplomatic delegation to engage with the polities of Earth would be entirely appropriate. After all, what will be a difficult bridge to cross in the immediacy will become an open passage in years to come. I think that those who will control each terminus of that passage should have the time to set terms of what manner of border it will be. Let us say, forty people, including security staff.¡± ¡°And what restrictions will you put on who those forty are?¡± ¡°No diamond rankers. The World-Phoenix isn¡¯t letting any diamond-rankers into Earth until I have reached diamond rank myself. Also, until the magic levels rise further, the magic there could only sustain them in certain areas.¡± ¡°What else?¡± ¡°Nothing else. If you want to make a deal with the Magic Society and ship some of their people in, that¡¯s on you. I would look down on such behaviour, but I will tolerate it. They will be your people to choose, Lord Alberto. And yours to be responsible for.¡± ¡°And what do you mean by responsible for, Mr Asano?¡± ¡°I mean that if I have to kill any of them, Lord Alberto, you will have to answer for that.¡± ¡°Please remember,¡± Danielle said, ¡°that any accommodations we make are gestures, made out of respect. The Storm Kingdom has nothing we need.¡± ¡°If the Storm King chooses to revoke the permission granted by his uncle, my father,¡± Zara added, ¡°then all it will cost Mr Asano is time. Time that he can very much afford.¡± ¡°There are advantages to operating outside of any nation,¡± Jason said. ¡°And I have no doubt that many countries would leap at the chance to grab the opportunities you seem so reticent to accept. In fact¡­¡± He got to his feet. ¡°¡­I think we¡¯ve reached the end of what can be productively achieved here. I have a feeling that the Storm King¡¯s deliberation on this matter will leave us time to explore our alternatives.¡± *** The negotiations were mostly occupied not by whether to approve the bridge, but in how many concessions the Storm Kingdom could get out of Jason. That turned out to be not many, as he had already promised to carry whoever the Storm Kingdom chose to send, so long as it wasn¡¯t a Builder cultist or someone. Any deals they made with the powers of Earth would be for them to negotiate and enforce. Jason did agree to have them taught several Earth languages. To Jason¡¯s surprise, he enjoyed digging into the nitty gritty of calibrating a dimensional portal. It was good to get back into the astral magic theory he had studied under Dawn during his time on Earth. His instinctual grasp of dimensional forces also helped guide them, but even that paled in comparison to Clive¡¯s mastery of the theory. Once again, he was staggered by the sheer intellectual power of his friend. Jason socialised with some of his old friends from Rimaros. Autumn Leal was an adventurer who he met while working contracts, before his fame had risen. She made an old in-joke about Jason avoiding princesses, only to then meet Zara. Princess Liara visited the island for a barbecue, along with her husband, Baseph, and her family. Their daughter, Zareen, had gotten herself assigned to the Rimaros diplomatic delegation to Earth. Work on the bridge was paused for a few days so that Sophie¡¯s mother could finally, after many delays, go through the treatment to remove the materials actively brainwashing her. The results were a success, but considerably taxing and Melody lapsed into unconsciousness soon after. Like Jason once had after overtaxing himself, she needed time to heal that no magic could accelerate. More friends arrived to join the earth expedition, along with others Jason had invited. Valdis and Rick Geller both arrived with their teams. Vice Chancellor of the Magic Research Association, Lorelei Grantham, arrived with a cadre of magic researchers. Travis and Farrah were bringing along a host of employees, to better learn magitech on Earth. Jory arrived with a team of alchemists and things definitely weren¡¯t extremely awkward with Belinda. The most uncomfortable inclusion was Gabrielle, priestess of Knowledge and Travis Noble¡¯s now-wife. As Humphrey¡¯s ex and someone who had long and publicly disapproved of essentially everything about Jason, she was not the most popular figure on the ship. Time, however, had seemed to soften her rough edges. No one cared about old teenage romance, and Gabrielle had come to accept that if Knowledge could favour Jason so much, she could at least tolerate him. She didn¡¯t get a lot of invitations to board game night, though. The activation of the bridge did not come with any fanfare, or great explosion of aura. Those sensitive to dimensional power would notice, if close to the island, but most had no idea that anything had changed. For now, the bridge was only open to those with the power and knowledge to cross the scathing unreality of the deep astral. Jason would use his cloud ship as a ferry, with the proto-bridge as a guide wire. Deep underground, a massive chamber held a series of standing stones, set out in a giant ritual diagram. Jason¡¯s cloud ship floated over them, a ramp leading up to an opening in the hull. He boarded, alongside his companions, the Rimaros delegation and the outworlder refugees, finally set to go home. In a swirl of rainbow light, the air ship vanished, finally setting out for Earth. Announcement A quick and unfortunate announcement: due to my mother''s declining health, I will be flying across the country to see her and make arrangements for additional care once she''s out. This has a few ramifications for the story: Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Chapter 939: Someone Got Sucked Off Sitting in the captain¡¯s chair on the bridge of his dimension ship, Jota Withers let out a sigh. This was not the trajectory his life had been meant to take. The universe-city of Interstice was, for most practical purposes, the centre of the cosmos. Only diamond rankers were allowed entry without invitation, with gold-rankers like Jota only allowed in as menial workers. Even so, to be a resident of Interstice was to stand at the pinnacle of the cosmic order. Jota had never made it. The population of Interstice came from two places. One was the wider cosmos, where people ranked up in various universes before entering the cosmic community. Diamond rankers only occasionally emerged from such realms, like someone from a small town making it big in the city. At the other end of the prominence spectrum were the polities that spanned multiple dimensions, like the Radiant Sovereignty and the Constel Empire. The diamond-rankers from such realms at least knew what they were getting into. Standing above them all was the universe-city, Interstice, and the peripheral universes attached to it. Those connected realities largely existed to produce the future elites of Interstice society, dedicated to raising people to gold and ultimately diamond rank. Those who graduated the feeder programs had unparallelled knowledge, training and resources. Few sapient species were born as gold or diamond rankers. Not even dragons, phoenixes or garuda could boast as much. In the peripheral universes of Interstice, the people born there had every advantage to help them grow strong. Staggeringly rich in ambient magic, their civilisations were advanced in knowledge of both science and the arcane. Those born into such conditions had unparallelled opportunities, with an inside line to Interstice that even citizens of the cosmic empires envied. Jota, like everyone born in such realms, had been part of a feeder program that would ultimately lead to reaching Interstice at gold rank. To be a servant in heaven was still to stand above everyone outside it, promising a place amongst the cosmic elite on reaching diamond. The harsh reality, however, was that the success rate for such programs was infinitesimally small, most never making it to a gold-rank posting on Interstice. There was nothing stopping them from heading there on reaching diamond, but only as a normal person, not a specially groomed member of the chosen few. Just in his solar system, let alone his entire universe, Jota had been one of trillions to fall short. Most moved on with their lives, still enjoying the massive head start their upbringing gave them. Some, however, were unable or unwilling to accept their failure. Like many before him, Jota had taken his talents and abilities to the wider cosmos. Even a failure from the Interstice lesser universes was a prestigious figure on the cosmic stage, or so Jota had believed. The reality he discovered was that the cosmos was unkind to gold-rankers. They were not built for the challenges of roaming the deep astral, operating out of high-magic universes and artificial pocket realities. It was a place for diamond rankers, astral entities and even transcendents, and a gold ranker needed to find a patron amongst them. A patron made it possible for a gold ranker to establish themselves, acquiring the resources to operate successfully. Most important was having a backer, someone to ward off those who would see them as prey. A patron was a shelter for a gold ranker to huddle beneath until they achieved diamond rank for themselves. Until then, they were little better than servants. It was not lost on Jota that this was a reflection of Interstice itself, but without the prestige that came with it. Jota¡¯s arrogance over his background had cost him opportunities and taught him harsh lessons. By the time he learned to humble himself, his choice of patrons had become lean. He ended up in the service of a self-styled cosmic admiral who, in reality, was a pirate lord preying upon isolated worlds in astral backwaters. Decades after Jota had left his home universe, diamond rank seemed a distant dream. His failures had impacted his path to self-realisation, stunting his advancement through gold rank. He had long ago come to terms with the fact that he would need to lay low, be diligent and slowly find his place in the cosmos. Only with that stability could he go back to the exploration of self required to advance as an essence user. That wasn¡¯t easy in the employ of ¡®Admiral¡¯ Aractus Jakaar. There were rules about entering universes and the worlds within, especially those with native life. Some of those rules could be nudged and others pushed, and this was the bread and butter of the Jakaar fleet. They were careful, however, on what they did and who they crossed. For all his grandiosity, Admiral Jakaar was careful to avoid the Cult of the World Phoenix. The dreaded first sister might have retired to become a hierophant and transcend, but that did not mitigate their influence. While her successor settled into her duties, the other sisters had been aggressive in the execution of their duties. As his dimension ship traversed the astral, Jota wondered what the admiral had in store for him. His vessel was a rarity, being only gold rank, but that was a necessity for certain jobs. The lower the rank, the less strenuous the rules around entering universes. Jota and his gold-rank crew could go places and do things the admiral and his main forces could not. Not wary of letting his emotions show while he was alone on the bridge, Jota sighed again. His thoughts dwelled on the next isolated backwater he would inevitably be sent off to, the latest in a long series. He told himself that he had come to terms with his shattered expectations, but the lies rang more hollow with each passing year. If he had truly reached acceptance, his progress through gold-rank wouldn¡¯t have stalled out. *** Jason carefully placed the little plastic roof on the head of his meeple like a hat, then retuned it to the hex. ¡°I¡¯m building a dwelling, obviously. I¡¯m going to use coins in place of¡­¡± He trailed off, tilting his head as if listening for a distant noise. ¡°Sophie,¡± he said. ¡°Your mother is waking up.¡± *** As his dimensional vessel neared the dimensional boundary, Jota reflected on his unexpected life as a cosmic pirate. He fancifully compared it to the age of sail experienced by many primitive worlds, with universes as islands in the ocean of the deep astral. From his cultural studies, he knew that many worlds romanticised frontier eras, legendizing often elevating brief and brutal periods to become cultural touchstones. The stories masked the harsh and grim realities behind them. Jota¡¯s time sailing the astral had borne this out. His arrive, like a colonial force, never served to make things better for the locals. Because of his low rank, it was always to some low-to-mid magic world where gold rankers were like god-kings. He needed only a thin pretence to satisfy the intrusion rules, then he would take the planet for all it was worth. Strip mining; people trafficking; essence seizure. It had bothered him, in the beginning, but not enough to not do it. And never that much, if he was entirely honest with himself. He was from a place so far above these little worlds that the natives might as well be animals.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Jota signalled his bridge crew to assemble for the transition into the universe where the main Jakaar fleet was holed up. He hoped the location was sufficiently advanced this time; he was sick of backward worlds where the use of magic had stalled out the growth of technology. The ones with all tech and no magic were just as bad, their advancement choked in the bottlenecks of physical laws that magic could neatly sidestep. They shifted into physical reality, arriving in space at the outskirts of a solar system with no inhabitable planets. The vessel¡¯s sensors picked up extensive mining operations and a large space station orbiting a moon. Jota checked the detailed sensor logs and smiled. It wasn¡¯t everything he could hope for, but still a proper magitech station. For this far off from major traffic lanes, it was better than he expected. He confirmed that the fleet was docked there and directed the helmsman to rendezvous. *** ¡°I¡¯m sorry that your first experience outside of my spirit realm is inside what amounts to a smaller version of my realm,¡± Jason told Melody. ¡°The timing was unfortunate.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Melody said, sitting up in her cloud bed. ¡°I¡¯ve been living in your soul realm all these years, and I¡¯ve watched it go from an unstable pocket universe to housing a planet as solid and real as the one I was born on. I didn¡¯t feel cooped up, and now I get a whole new world to explore¡­¡± She squeezed the hand of Sophie, sitting beside the bed. ¡°¡­with my daughter. I couldn¡¯t ask for more than that.¡± After her reunion with Sophie and checkup by Carlos, Arabelle and Neil, Jason had been let in to speak with her. Alongside Sophie, he had explained their current situation, travelling between worlds. After their conversation, Jason left mother and daughter alone, finding the three members of Healer¡¯s clergy outside her room. Carlos was a soul healing specialist, Arabelle a mental healing specialist and Neil a traditional body specialist. After her ordeal, Melody was in need of all three. ¡°How is she?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Better than we had any right to hope,¡± Carlos said happily. ¡°She¡¯s suffered extreme and prolonged physical and spiritual trauma, but all signs point to a slow but full recovery.¡± ¡°Her desire to explore your world with her daughter is good,¡± Arabelle said. ¡°Once she discovered her daughter was alive, Melody¡¯s desire to reunite even overrode the brainwashing she¡¯d gone through. She¡¯s showing healthy signs of dealing with that, with little of the obsession that drove her to push back the influence upon her. She needs ongoing care, but I¡¯m optimistic, given the positive signs I¡¯m seeing. Early days, though. You know yourself, Jason, that mental recovery is neither a smooth nor short process.¡± ¡°So long as she¡¯s protected,¡± Carlos said, ¡°I see no problem with having her roam around a low-danger world. No self-defence, though. Not using her powers, anyway. I have a strict plan for the resumption of using her abilities, to avoid any long-term spiritual damage.¡± ¡°Her body is going to take time,¡± Neil added. ¡°Like when you overdid it with that portal in Rimaros, the spiritual strain has rendered normal magical healing ineffective. I¡¯d like to discuss bringing in Jory and his alchemists, since we have them with us. A more medicine-based approach might get us better results than trying to pump her full of healing magic.¡± Jason left them to discuss treatment, wondering if he could get someone to take Sophie¡¯s place when he resumed the board game. *** Aractus Jakaar was an unusual man in that his body carried a lot of fat as a quirk of his power set. He was also taller than most, making him a very large figure. He had a scraggly beard but a thick, bushy moustache. His long, greasy hair was mostly stuffed into a pointed hat that he claimed pirates had historically worn on his homeworld. The result was a comical appearance that Jota knew was a very bad idea to mock. He¡¯d seen it happen and the depravities Aractus had carried out in retribution. ¡°This is an interesting one,¡± the self-proclaimed pirate admiral said. He was sitting behind a desk in his captain¡¯s cabin, in a chair that struggled to contain him. He tossed a file onto the desk for Jota to pick up and peruse. ¡°It was sealed to anyone over silver rank?¡± Jota read. ¡°Yeah. Which means it was effectively sealed to everyone, because what silver-ranker is roaming through the astral? The World-Phoenix just opened it up to gold-rankers, though.¡± ¡°If the World-Phoenix is paying attention to this place, shouldn¡¯t we avoid it? I don¡¯t want the attention of its cult to fall on us any more than you do, and that¡¯s at the best of times. If it made a point of opening the place up, what does it know that we don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Normally, I would agree, but almost no one has a full and ready team of gold-rankers that can go after this. The new boundary is a hard line, so no diamond-rank support.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t fill me with confidence, Aractus.¡± ¡°There is also the reason it was closed off in the first place. Keep reading.¡± Jota did as instructed. ¡°Reality cores?¡± ¡°Yeah. The locals have lost access to them, but with the right magic, we can start digging them out again.¡± ¡°Again, I have reservations. If nothing else, wouldn¡¯t farming them destabilise a planet the World-Phoenix has put significant effort into stabilising?¡± ¡°Yes, but if we get in first and farm them up quick, we can move onto plundering other resources before it goes too far. Leave the next guy to face the wrath of the phoenix¡¯s cult.¡± ¡°That still sounds risky, especially reading this background information. This universe is connected to another one. One with fewer restrictions, but even so. And the pair of them was the reason the original Builder got replaced? Which is why the reality cores are even accessible.¡± He dropped the file back on the table. ¡°The more I read, Aractus, the less I like it.¡± ¡°There¡¯s risk,¡± the admiral acknowledged. ¡°But the rewards are worth it. Reality cores, Jota. Under normal circumstances, they¡¯re impossible to extract. Just the attempt would have the Builder cult swooping in to stop you. But this world is different, and it¡¯s been cracked like an egg. Best of all, the Builder has already been burned interfering with it. So long as we don¡¯t push our luck, we can do this. Even if we can only get a few of the cores, it¡¯s worth it.¡± ¡°You mean, pushing my luck.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot, Jota. You think the great astral beings will leave me be if you take things too far? Look, yes, I don¡¯t like that we will get attention from both the Builder and the World-Phoenix for this. But the advantage of using only gold-rankers is that they won¡¯t be too harsh. If we go too far, they¡¯ll start with a rap on the knuckles for me and I¡¯ll take you off the reality cores. Move you on more traditional exploitation while everyone else either watches with envy or draws the ire of the cults away from us.¡± Jota¡¯s sigh was unhappy but resigned. ¡°What¡¯s our pretence?¡± he asked. ¡°With this much attention, we¡¯ll need to follow the rules on this one. Nudging our way around the letter of the law is trouble we can¡¯t afford, here.¡± ¡°Ah, now, this is the beautiful part. Keep reading.¡± Jota picked the file back up and skimmed forward while Aractus continued to explain. ¡°The locals have an issue. Of these two worlds, someone got sucked off the more restricted one and sent to the other.¡± ¡°An outworlder.¡± ¡°Yeah. That was a couple of years ago, and now he¡¯s apparently heading back.¡± ¡°With more power than the people of the restricted world are ready for,¡± Jota realised. ¡°Exactly. There¡¯s only so much my scouts have been able to observe of this world through the restrictions, but the locals are desperate for a solution. I¡¯ve offered my help, and the native powers have accepted. You can stroll right in, free and clear of the rules, courtesy of an invitation from the locals. An invitation those following behind you won¡¯t have.¡± ¡°That does make for an appealing opportunity,¡± Jota conceded. ¡°We just have to deal with this outworlder?¡± ¡°Yes. He¡¯ll have some people from the other world, but it¡¯s still just an isolated backwater, and the restriction on diamond rankers still holds. I¡¯ll expand your team to make sure and you can wipe out the lot of them. Once that¡¯s done, you¡¯ve met the conditions set by the natives and you can start changing the deal on them. Once you¡¯re in, you¡¯re in.¡± ¡°How many of these gold-rankers will we be dealing with?¡± ¡°Our information is one team, so five, maybe seven at the outside. But remember these will be backwater bumpkins, not proper warriors.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate those who trained in the cosmic wilds, Aractus. I¡¯ve learned the hard way that training in the best conditions can make you soft.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll boost your numbers to make sure. You¡¯ll have twenty-five or so; enough to solidly overrun them. The last thing we want is a fair fight. I don¡¯t intend to lose anyone over this.¡± ¡°Thank you, Aractus.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve told you before, Jota: call me admiral.¡± ¡°Sorry, Admiral.¡± ¡°Thank you. There¡¯s a reason I¡¯m wearing this hat.¡± Chapter 940: A City With No Dawn ¡°Do you realise what you¡¯ve done?¡± Rick asked Jason as they walked along a hallway in the cloud ship. ¡°The collection of people on this boat is ridiculous. The number of gold rankers alone is mind boggling. If we¡¯d had this group when we went down that god-forsaken tunnel, we¡¯d have wiped that undead army off the face of creation.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think the gods actually forsook the tunnel,¡± Jason pointed out. ¡°That was actually kind of the problem.¡± ¡°It was, wasn¡¯t it. But to continue my point, beyond the number of gold rankers, look at who they are. Prestigious teams from across multiple generations of adventurers. The Archchancellor and Vice Chancellor of the Magic Research Association. One of the rising stars of the alchemy world.¡± ¡°You mean Jory?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you realise the reputation he built up while you were off inventing your system.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call that an accurate description of what happened.¡± ¡°The world¡¯s most notorious treasure hunter. Roland Remore¡¯s son.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware of who is on my boat, Rick.¡± ¡°Aunt Danielle.¡± ¡°Again, I know who¡ª¡± ¡°How many members of royalty, Jason?¡± ¡°Only a couple of big ones. Most of that Rimaros contingent are peripheral family members at best.¡± ¡°My point, Jason, is that you need to look at things the way the wider world sees them. You¡¯re going off with a multi-national force of top-tier adventurers, magical researchers, royal family members and even clergy. You just incidentally built one of the most powerful factions on the planet, and people want to know what you¡¯re going to do with it when you bring us all back. Found a country? Take a more forceful approach in trying to eliminate indentured servitude?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to go home. Hang out. Kill some vampires. When I get back, I¡¯d love to do some quiet adventuring. Take out some messengers.¡± ¡°Jason, even you aren¡¯t oblivious enough to not know what people are thinking. Not with your history. Look at what happened the last time you came back from Earth. The Builder invasion. The Battle of Yaresh. The brightheart expedition. You were a major player in all of them. You might not have been famous with the public at large, outside Rimaros and Yaresh, but the people in power? They were watching you closely. Then you vanish and reappear fifteen years later, having changed the very way essence users operate. And it¡¯s not long before you¡¯re doing ridiculous things all over again.¡± ¡°They weren¡¯t that ridiculous.¡± ¡°You evacuated the entire population of a city with your aura, turned into a bird and single-handedly wiped out a messenger army. And that was after coming back from the dead. Again. Which barely warrants a mention because it¡¯s kind of your gods-bedamned thing.¡± ¡°We all have rough days, Rick.¡± ¡°Rough days?¡± Rick exclaimed. Jason laughed and put a companionable hand on Rick¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve had worse. Did I ever tell you about my time on Earth? I got back at bronze rank, and was almost immediately kidnapped by a silver ranker. Again. This one was crappy, though, so I was able to put up a¡­¡± Rick rolled his eyes as Jason trailed off, his attention caught by Zara walking the other way. ¡°Princess,¡± he greeted, doing a terrible job of suppressing a grin. ¡°Captain,¡± she greeted back as they passed one another. ¡°Captain?¡± Rick asked. ¡°It is my boat,¡± Jason pointed out. Rick shook his head. ¡°You know, I didn¡¯t even want to come on this trip.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t? Who wouldn¡¯t want to be a part of this?¡± ¡°Me, Jason. I wouldn¡¯t. Fifteen years of very happily fighting monsters, like a regular adventurer. Now I¡¯m in a magic boat full of people who bring trouble down on anyone standing in their general vicinity. But my wife wanted to see another world, so here we are.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll do my best to keep things calm and normal for you.¡± ¡°Is that going to work?¡± Jason patted him on the shoulder again. ¡°Not even a little bit.¡± *** The cloud ship boasted a variety of amenities, from hanging gardens to a full blown mirage chamber. The most popular spots were the observation decks, featuring a relaxed bar, intimate lounge areas and a ballroom-sized dining hall. Each featured transparent hull sections, offering expansive views of the astral as the vessel passed through it. Other rooms frequently occupied were the lecture halls and classrooms. The people from Earth taught the languages of their home planet, along with basic cultural studies and introductory etiquette. Jason had been banned from this by Farrah for both his inherent lack of etiquette and for relating every social situation to an episode of The A-Team. The deep astral wasn¡¯t visible in the normal sense. Instead, strange interactions of its raw magic with the bubble keeping the ship safe manifested around them. Sometimes that meant arcadian landscapes, with the cloud vessel feeling like a train in the countryside. Other times, it felt like moving through the void of space as bizarre objects and entities drifted past. With so many powerful adventurers on board, and no adventuring to be had, many had chosen to focus on training. The passengers quickly learned to avoid Prince Valdis, who found himself in a heaven of strong people to challenge. With little else to do, however, many took him up or challenged each other. The vessel had both the space and facilities to accommodate them. Jason was having dinner with Travis Noble and his wife, Gabrielle. Gabrielle was quiet, still getting used to the absence of her goddess. Travis was fascinated with the strange things passing by the window. ¡°Is that some kind of merman?¡± he asked. ¡°He¡¯s got webbed hands and feet.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Patrick Duffy,¡± Jason said. ¡°The season one host of Bingo America?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ maybe?¡± They continued their meal, Travis and Jason chatting about their journey. ¡°Honestly,¡± Travis said, ¡°I was reluctant to come along. I don¡¯t know that there is anything left for me back on Earth. I come from an old-school Network family, and they cut off almost any contact after I joined the Asano Clan.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°I get that,¡± Jason said. ¡°I felt the same way for a long time, but don¡¯t underestimate your family connections. I have people waiting for me, despite how I left things. They basically thought I was a mass-murdering psychopath, and I¡¯m not sure they were far off the mark. It won¡¯t be easy, going back, but I¡¯m doing it. When was family ever easy?¡± ¡°I remember when you left,¡± Travis said. ¡°Things were tense between your sister and your niece for a long time. Emi got it into her head that you weren¡¯t going to come back. She blamed her mother, and also herself. For not understanding why you became the way you were. I don¡¯t know how it is now, given that I was pulled through to Palli not that long after you left.¡± ¡°I have the advantage of calling in. I¡¯ve tried to keep things quiet with my avatars over there, not make myself known too much. I have spent time with family, though. It¡¯s awkward, but getting better. Time gives raw wounds a chance to heal. Speaking of which, I think I owe you an apology, Gabrielle.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± she said, looking up from her pasta. ¡°You and I fell out twenty years ago. We were young. We made the mistakes that young people make. Passion; a little too much confidence. A certainty in our rightness that age was yet to temper. The sin of disrespect is one I have indulged in many times. Your goddess has helped me time and again, yet I failed to show her the respect she deserved. Not in her own right, and not before those who hold her in such esteem. I apologise for disrespecting something so central to not just your life but also to your identity.¡± Gabrielle stared at Jason, as if searching his expression for amusement or insincerity. He found that a little hurtful, mostly because he was pretty sure he deserved it. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said finally. ¡°Faith can make you strong, but also inflexible. I was particularly guilty of that. Honestly, I was a little jealous. Some man comes swanning in, bad-mouthing gods and loudly proclaiming that our society was corrupt and broken. Yet my goddess kept showering you with attention and I didn¡¯t understand why.¡± ¡°I suspect she was indulging me, the way you do a rude child who doesn¡¯t know any better.¡± ¡°I let my rigidity and my envy poison relationships that were important to me, not just Humphrey. I spent a lot of time saying unkind things about you to any who would listen. I am sorry for that.¡± ¡°I think we can both pass that off as the poor decisions of youth. You were still a teenager, so that excuses you more than me. Still, we did get along at first, and it would be nice if we could get back to that. Do you remember the time we danced?¡± She let out a soft laugh. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Travis asked. ¡°It was back in Greenstone,¡± Jason explained. ¡°Sorry, this is really a story about your wife¡¯s ex, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Oh, not at all,¡± Travis said. ¡°I have no problem standing in comparison to a guy who is basically Superman but with ethnically ambiguous sensuality and an adorable magic puppy.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Sensuality?¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Travis said as Gabrielle nodded her enthusiastic agreement. ¡°He¡¯s all upright, but passionate. He has a whole ¡®I¡¯ll do the right thing on the battlefield and in the bedroom¡¯ situation going on. Once we get back to Earth, he¡¯s going to get internet creeped on hard. Hard. But what was this about a dance?¡± ¡°Um, okay,¡± Jason said. ¡°So, we were at some kind of social event. A ball, something like that. Gabrielle, here, was what? Sixteen? I think Humphrey was seventeen. He¡¯d been taught how to smite monsters with a big old sword, but he didn¡¯t have the same natural talent for his mother¡¯s social lessons. Now, I could see him mooning over your lovely now-wife, so I decided to stir him into action. I bribed the band to spice things up and introduced Pallimustus to the tango.¡± ¡°You bribed the band?¡± Gabrielle asked. ¡°I had to have something I could work with. Those Greenstone dances had no verve.¡± ¡°You taught my wife the tango?¡± ¡°I thought I did, but thinking back, she picked it up a little too well. Did your goddess pluck the tango out of my head and teach it to you in real time?¡± ¡°Basically, yes,¡± Gabrielle admitted. ¡°Which still counts as you teaching me.¡± ¡°No one ever taught me the tango!¡± Travis complained. ¡°Well, that¡¯s easily solvable,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯ll teach you.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t my wife teach me?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like that, Travis.¡± ¡°It really feels like it should,¡± he said, turning to his wife with an imploring look. She looked back down at her pasta and continued eating. *** On Earth, Jason¡¯s Slovakian spirit domain held an astral space. Like the one in France, it contained a city surrounded by wilderness that spanned out to the edge of the space where reality broke down. Unlike the French city, this space had no sun. Lit only by moonlight, regardless of the hour, it held Earth¡¯s remaining population of sane vampires. The looming architecture was influenced by Prague, Istanbul and, more than anything else, Batman movies. Jason¡¯s avatar stood on the rooftop of a gothic tower. Rain pattered against his heavy coat and wide-brimmed hat, making the steep tiles slippery enough that he was holding himself in place with his aura. Moonlight pushed through the murk and reflected off the tiles, rendered slick by the water. A hatch flipped up, from which an umbrella was shoved out and quickly opened. Craig Vermillion extracted himself while awkwardly holding the umbrella, then picked his way across the slippery roof. He stood beside Jason and followed his gaze, trying to find what he was staring at. Not seeing it, he instead turned to Jason. ¡°Can¡¯t you deflect the rain with your aura?¡± Craig asked, watching the droplets bounce off Jason¡¯s hat and coat. ¡°Yep,¡± Jason said in a gravelly drawl. ¡°Wait, are you just posing dramatically as you overlook the vampire city you made?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what vampire cities are for?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t have to put gargoyles everywhere. It¡¯s kind of a stereotype.¡± ¡°This is my domain, Craig. I know exactly how many people in it are wearing long black coats right now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Craig conceded. ¡°Your aura is settling down more every time I see you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been working on it. Rufus has been helping me with essence user meditation techniques; he¡¯s an excellent teacher. Apparently, his family runs a school in the other world.¡± ¡°I might have heard that somewhere, yeah.¡± One of the earliest vampires to actively fight their own risen lords, Craig had accelerated to gold rank after feeding on several of them. Hard to kill permanently without blood magic, another vampire devouring them was a way to keep the resilient gold-rankers down. That made allied vampires an asset to those fighting the ancient lords, even at a time when any vampire was hard to trust. Craig had lacked the power to defeat a vampire lord himself. Even with his new rank, he would be hard pressed to vanquish the ancient lords. It had been essence users and other human forces doing the actual subduing, leaving him to drain their life force and put them down for good. The effects of feeding on such potent blood included a rapid increase in his baseline strength, along with picking up additional bloodline powers. The downsides were fierce aggression, feral tendencies, and a drift towards amoral ruthlessness. Voluntarily locking himself away for years, Craig had finally come back to himself around the time Jason¡¯s avatars started showing up. ¡°I¡¯m a little surprised you picked here to do this,¡± Craig said. ¡°Trying to intimidate the Americans with all the scary vampires?¡± ¡°No. I want this quiet, until I know why Boris is bringing them here. There¡¯s a reason I keep all the secret stuff in this city.¡± ¡°Vampires respect secrets?¡± ¡°No, although that was a pleasant surprise. If there¡¯s a bunch of secret things happening, no one questions one more car with tinted windows moving through the sputtering light of the gas lamps, shining off rain-slicked cobbles.¡± ¡°Do you need me to go get you a femme fatale? This is a vampire city; we¡¯ve got them coming out of our ears.¡± ¡°I¡¯m enjoying this a little too much, aren¡¯t I?¡± ¡°I say roll with it,¡± Craig told him. ¡°You build this place for melodrama, right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason said happily, then his expression turned grim. ¡°Well, that was the fun reason. You know we have to talk about what happens with the vampires when I arrive.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re going to kill all the ones still out in the world.¡± ¡°Are there any worth saving?¡± ¡°Ten years ago, I might have said yes. They¡¯re too far gone, Jason, and have been for a long time. Maybe there are a few who could come back. Who wouldn¡¯t kill themselves over what they¡¯ve done once they regained a conscience. But finding and helping them simply isn¡¯t a practical position. Europe is post-apocalyptic at this stage. It pains me to say it, but you have to kill them all.¡± Jason nodded, resigned. ¡°What about the sane ones, here in the city?¡± Craig asked. ¡°This place has been a haven, but will we ever get to go back out into the world? There¡¯s too much magic out there now, and humanity isn¡¯t going to accept us. Not after what the others have done. Are we stuck, living forever in a city with no dawn?¡± ¡°There is a world for you. Just not this one.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to send us into space?¡± ¡°Yes, but not this space. I have a solar system. Like this city, and the one in France, but obviously bigger. There¡¯s a moon whose orbit is synchronised so that the planet is always blocking the sun. A permanent state of eclipse.¡± ¡°People like it when you swap out the permanent moon for an eclipse here in the city. It makes for a fun event. And you say there¡¯s a whole planet like that?¡± ¡°A moon, not a planet. Smaller than Earth, so the eclipse can always be in place. I had to tweak some thinks to get the gravity right. Tides are a bit funny. Are vampires into yachting?¡± ¡°Not traditionally.¡± ¡°Also, I made the magic-infused sunlight turning vampires insane not a thing in my universe, so you can go out in the sun there if you want. I don¡¯t have that kind of control in my Earth domains, yet, sorry. Not outside of the astral spaces.¡± ¡°Jason, these things you talk about like they¡¯re nothing. Making planets. Your own universe. If I hadn¡¯t seen things like this city, I¡¯d think you were a madman. I still might.¡± ¡°Mate, you haven¡¯t seen the half of it.¡± Jason turned his gaze down to the street. A town car that looked like it was from the sixties made its slow way along the narrow thoroughfare. The windows and the paint were both black. ¡°Boris and the Americans?¡± Craig asked. Jason nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s see what they want.¡± Chapter 941: A Clark Kent Problem Darius and Michael were nervous. They were political officials, their silver-rank coming from cores. Their limited combat training consisted of a basic course and annual two-week refreshers. It was far from enough to make them confident about entering vampire territory or, even worse, Asano territory. They began their day by portalling across the planet. Their two gold-rank bodyguards, the only reason they agreed to any of this, secured the other side first. These were some of the old guard who had also ranked up through cores, but were rich on both training and experience. The scant handful who had hit gold without cores were strategic assets, too valuable for bodyguard duty. On the other side of the portal was the city of Nitra. The vampires hadn¡¯t done too much damage, the population having evacuated before the blood suckers had the courage to approach Asano territory. The vampires had come through when the Asano Clan went into hiding, but no populace meant no massacre. The damage to the city came from more than a decade of abandonment and the occasional wandering monster. They arrived in the carpark of a shopping centre. Someone had taken the abandoned cars and piled them up on one end leaving clear space. What was left of a sign reading ¡®Atrium Optiva¡¯ dangled from the wall. Waiting for them were three people, currently getting the eyeball from their gold-rank guards. One of the three looked nervous at the attention. Darius and Michael could sense his silver-rank aura, although his showed no signs of the monster core use responsible for their own ranks. The last two were unfazed by the attention, a large Pacific Islander and a Japanese man. The political officials recognised the other two Asano Clan gold rankers. Shiro Asano was the former Patriarch of the Japanese Network¡¯s Asano Clan, and had his hand casually resting on the hilt of his sheathed blade. Taika Williams was postulated to be one of the strongest people on the planet, alongside Rufus Remore. He was eating a popsicle. With their arrival, the three clan members moved to greet them and make introductions. The silver-ranker was Wesley Asano, a clan member with a vehicle essence who would serve as their driver. He conjured up a limousine with black paint and black windows, that could have been plucked from a gangster movie set in the sixties. They were driven through the city, seeing that at least the streets they were driving through had been cleared. This was obviously where the clan usually had visitors arrive, as no one was portalling into the clan territory directly. Leaving the city, what looked like a freshly built road led into the countryside. There was no mistaking the Asano Clan city as they approached it, situated in what had once been pastoral land. The city was strange, showing no signs of the cloud-like substance it was supposedly built from. The buildings were a mix of aggressive concrete, shining glass and plant life both abundant and heavily integrated. Seated across from them, Taika Williams looked like a sardine in a can, even in the large car. Seeing them peer out the window, he offered an explanation unprompted. ¡°Ken oversaw all this. Jason¡¯s Dad. After Jason ate all the vampires and rebuilt the city, he let his old man and some architects in the clan redesign the whole place. It¡¯s a mix of eco-brutalism and solar punk, or so I¡¯m told. I don¡¯t know what either of those things are, but being able to fake concrete instead of using the real stuff is better for the environment, apparently. Not sure that matters in the middle of a vampire apocalypse, or why you¡¯d want to fake concrete, but Ken seemed happy.¡± Michael and Darius glanced at each other at the phrase ¡®ate all the vampires,¡¯ but didn¡¯t comment. They reached the centre of the city, stopping outside it¡¯s tallest building. From the outside, it looked like a massive stack of staggered balcony gardens, with no safety rails. The interior continued the heavy plant theme, with open spaces and high ceilings. Natural light filled the space too well to be actually natural, but the effect was pleasant. The two political staffers were used to cubicles, offices and bureaucratic hallways. They were led upstairs on an elevator that was just an open-sided platform, not even enclosed by glass. It took them to a large circular chamber ringed by shadowy portal arches. One arch stood out from the others by the colours, being of milky white stone instead of obsidian black. It was also filled with gold, silver and blue instead of roiling darkness. Their instincts recoiled against going through unknown portals, but they followed Taika through, nonetheless. On the other side they found themselves in another building, very different from the one they had just left. It looked like an old hotel, decorated in such monotone shades of grey and black it was like stepping into a black and white movie. If not for the bright teal of Michael¡¯s tie, Darious would have suspected sudden-onset colour blindness. ¡°I told you that tie was too much,¡± Darius muttered as they were led to the birdcage elevator that continued the archaic styling. Waiting for them in the lobby was a man they both recognised. They had worked with Boris Ketland for years, believing him to be a counterpart of similar rank to themselves, but in the Cabal. It was only later they discovered he was both a global leader and one of the angel-like messengers. Even now, he rarely appeared outside of human proportions, or showed off his wings. ¡°Mike. Darius. I¡¯d ask if you were nervous, but I can feel your auras. Don¡¯t worry; the vampires here are all very gentle. By vampire standards.¡± The gold-rank bodyguards had grown increasingly stoic over the course of the journey, and now could pass as statues, their eyes were locked on Boris. He led their little entourage outside where Wesley conjured his car again, along with a second one. The bodyguards protested Boris¡¯ instruction to join Taika and Shiro in the other car while he went with Michal and Darius. ¡°I hate to break it to you,¡± Boris told them, ¡°but you¡¯re ornamental here at best. You are under the protection of myself and Jason Asano, which means the only things able to harm you are myself and Jason. And if that¡¯s what we want, there¡¯s nothing you can do about, so get in the second car before I put you in there.¡± The bodyguards bristled, but obeyed are a short discussion under their breath. Michael and Darius then joined Boris in the first car, which drove them through the noir graphic novel that passed for a city. There was a sense of unreality to the place, exacerbated by knowing they really were in a magical pocket realm. The silver light of the moon hid more than it illuminated, creating dark corners and shadow-filled alleys. Traffic was light, the cars having the same out-of-time feel as their own vehicle. Few people were out in the heavy rain, those that were making indistinct shapes under the diffuse gaslight on the streetlamps. ¡°Feels like being in a Dashiell Hammett novel right?¡± Boris asked, watching them peer out the windows. ¡°You can make a gritty monologue, if you feel the need.¡± ¡°Why are we doing this here again?¡± Darius asked. ¡°This place is spooky and full of vampires. I know this is a clandestine meeting, but this seems like we may be taking it too far.¡± ¡°This is where Jason conducts his more hidden business,¡± Boris explained. ¡°Your people wanted the in-person meeting, and this is where he wants it.¡± ¡°He really is here, then?¡± Michael asked. ¡°Technically, he¡¯s in a liminal space between universes that doesn¡¯t exist in any way that¡¯s comprehensible to entities that exist within physical reality. But yes, he¡¯s here. His avatars have been explained to you, right?¡± The men nodded. ¡°It still seems strange,¡± Michael said. ¡°But what doesn¡¯t, here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good attitude to hold,¡± Boris told him. The car pulled over and they got out. The rain didn¡¯t reach them, twisting in the air to fall on the ground around them. ¡°What¡¯s going on there?¡± Michael asked. ¡°I¡¯m pushing the rain away with my aura,¡± Boris said. ¡°I¡¯m not getting water on this suit.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t move physical things with your aura,¡± Michael said. ¡°No,¡± Boris corrected. ¡°You can''t move physical things with your aura.¡± The second car pulled up to let out Taika, Shiro and the bodyguards. After the guards confirmed the status of their charges, they all went inside. It was the kind of building where people got murdered in old movies. It looked to have been some kind of clothing factory, machines and tables painted in years of grime. Taika, Shiro and Wesley stayed behind as the rest took another old-style elevator, Boris operating it with a lever instead of buttons. It took them up to another floor, wholly unlike the factory floor they had just left. This level contained a speakeasy style bar, all dark leather and dim lighting. They could see people at tables and booths, none of whom glanced over at their entrance.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. There was a coatroom where an attendant was taking coats and hats. They spotted Asano, handing over his, drenched in rain. He waited for them to do the same before shaking their hands in turn, without so much as a glance at the bodyguards. ¡°Gentlemen,¡± he greeted them. ¡°Jason Asano.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Darius Shepherd, United States Department of Supernatural Affairs. This is Michael Glasser, State Department.¡± Asano led them through the bar to a secluded booth at the back and slid around the table, making room for Boris and the two officials. There was no room for their guards, who would not have sat anyway, looming over the table. ¡°Your boys can go take a seat at the bar,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re fine,¡± one of the guards grunted. ¡°And you¡¯ll stay that way unless you think I was asking,¡± Asano said, looking at them for the first time. Darius and Michael saw their gold-rank guards flinch, seeing the signs of aura suppression despite not sensing a thing. The guards sent them an inquisitive glance, departing at a slight nod from Michael. Asano¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t leave them until they sat at the bar and refused drinks from the bartender. He then turned to the two officials with a friendly smile. Michael and Darius were unsure what to make of Asano. Rumours placed him somewhere between dangerous lunatic and capricious god. There was certainly a presence to him, as if everything around him was slightly out of focus while he was crystal clear. ¡°What brought you two gentlemen all this way?¡± he asked them. ¡°Boris seemed confident that it was worth meeting you.¡± ¡°We need to discuss a potential threat,¡± Darius said. ¡°One that affects all of us.¡± ¡°All of us being¡­?¡± ¡°The whole planet.¡± Asano sighed, leaning back with a weary expression. ¡°I¡¯ve done my world-saving,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s past time the rest of you started picking up the slack.¡± ¡°We intended to take this to your clan,¡± Darius said. ¡°We approached Mr Ketland as a go-between, and he insisted we bring it to you personally.¡± Asano turned to Boris. ¡°And why is that?¡± he asked. ¡°Because this isn¡¯t a Clark Kent problem,¡± Boris said. ¡°This is a Superman problem. You can¡¯t pretend like you¡¯re like everyone else on this one. The clan isn¡¯t up for this kind of fight. No one on Earth is.¡± ¡°What fight?¡± Jason asked. ¡°As I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware,¡± Michael said, ¡°there is a lot of concern about you and your clan. Your impending return has led to some activity that has us concerned.¡± ¡°Activity by me?¡± ¡°No,¡± Darius said. ¡°It¡¯s in reaction to you.¡± ¡°For context,¡± Michael explained, ¡°there is something of a secret council amongst Earth¡¯s most powerful players. Somewhere between a secret society and the United Nations, with various countries and other state-level actors being represented. The mission statement of the group is to navigate challenges that affect us all.¡± ¡°You and your family come up a lot,¡± Darius added. ¡°But that¡¯s not what we¡¯re here about,¡± Michael said. ¡°Not directly. The group, as I mentioned, is concerned about your return. About what you will do, and how the world will collectively respond.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been giving the same thing my consideration as well,¡± Asano said. ¡°The secret council have gone beyond consideration,¡± Darius said. ¡°One of their unstated objectives is to make sure the people in power stay that way, through the upheavals that magic has brought. They see you as potentially the greatest threat to that objective. You operate on a different paradigm to traditional forms of global power. That was fine when you were a silver-ranker, albeit a strong one with impressive reserves of resources and knowledge. But your clan has been laying the groundwork for you to be seen as far more than that, now. They portray you less a gold ranker and more like some god-king about to descend upon the Earth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Boris said. ¡°To my people, he essentially is a god-king. Even the ones who see him as an enemy.¡± ¡°Be that as it may,¡± Darius said, ¡°the reality doesn¡¯t actually matter right now. The perception of it is what¡¯s causing the problem at hand. The secret council has decided that if you can¡¯t be controlled and you can¡¯t be contained, you have to be removed.¡± ¡°I was expecting some reaction along those lines,¡± Jason said. ¡°You¡¯re talking about more than just a few assassination attempts, though, aren¡¯t you?¡± Darius nodded. ¡°A means has been found to contact other people like you. Powerful people who exist beyond our world.¡± ¡°They¡¯ve struck a deal,¡± Michael said, picking up the narrative. ¡°To bring these outsiders into our dimension to take you off the board. And in return, certain concessions have been made.¡± ¡°What concessions?¡± Asano asked. ¡°We¡¯re not sure,¡± Darius said. ¡°The United States representatives were completely against this approach and were cut out, early in the proceedings. We still have people reporting from inside the group, but we and others in opposition to the plan have been removed from its planning.¡± ¡°You were against it?¡± ¡°The view of the United States Government,¡± Michael said, ¡°is that welcoming an unknown alien force onto our world is akin to giving invaders a beachhead. We might see you as a threat to our interests, Mr Asano, but we respect your right to be a huge pain in our nation¡¯s collective ass. Bringing in outsiders is selling the cow to get lessons on how to milk it.¡± ¡°You realise that I¡¯m bringing in my own force of outsiders.¡± ¡°But are they coming to serve your interests, or theirs?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more of a tourist situation, really. Most will follow my lead, but I am bringing a diplomatic contingent. They want to begin establishing relations for when our worlds are in closer contact.¡± Darius and Michael shared a look. ¡°We will definitely need to discuss that with our people,¡± Michael said. ¡°What you¡¯re describing, though, sounds like open foreign relations.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say that¡¯s accurate,¡± Asano told them. ¡°What we¡¯re talking about,¡± Darius said, ¡°Is inviting Darth Vader into Cloud City and hoping he doesn¡¯t change the deal on us.¡± Michael turned to look at him. ¡°Really, Darius?¡± ¡°Oh, because your farming metaphors were such classic diplomatic language.¡± Asano chuckled, drawing their attention. ¡°Whoever picked you two did their research,¡± he said. ¡°They clearly understood that I would respond better to you than someone more caught up in formality.¡± The pair looked at each other. They had wondered between themselves why they had been chosen. ¡°The United States wasn¡¯t tempted to use this chance to get me out of the way?¡± Asano asked them. ¡°Mr Asano,¡± Michael said. ¡°The United States, like every nation, is not without flaws. Our power and prominence mean that those flaws can, from time to time, create outsized problems. I think, perhaps, you can sympathise with this.¡± ¡°I can,¡± Jason acknowledged. ¡°For all our issues, our nation¡¯s flaws does not include a lack of independent spirit. We didn¡¯t let King George tell us what to do. We didn¡¯t let the Network tell us what to do. If you decide you¡¯re going to come back and start conquering things, we won¡¯t let you tell us what to do. We aren¡¯t going to stand by while people throw open the gate to the wolves, just because they¡¯re afraid one of the sheep is too big.¡± ¡°I take it that you have some kind of proposal.¡± ¡°A unified front. A show of force that will convince these outsiders to back off. Or to fight them, if they don¡¯t. There are some obstacles to navigate, starting with the Australian government. Our understanding is that you will arrive at the standing stones in South Australia, the ones you built to leave this dimension.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Jason said. ¡°The Australian government is one of the driving forces for this plan to bring in alien assets to combat you. They¡¯re afraid you¡¯re going to come back and take over the whole country, or at least cause problems after their treatment of your family. They are normally very accommodating to US operations, but they do not want us involved in this. But this deal with the outsiders is an extreme secret. Only a handful of representatives in each participating group are even aware of it. The Australians can¡¯t just come out and say they don¡¯t want their allies on site because they¡¯ve organised a secret alien ambush. Lacking knowledge of that, their own diplomats will push to include us.¡± ¡°What about other groups? Who will be against you in this, and how far are they willing to take their opposition? Will they fight you? And me?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know how far they would go. Military conflict between nations on Australian soil is something we hope everyone will want to avoid. Our best assessment is that they won¡¯t take the side of the outsiders if it comes to violence. They¡¯ll stand by and see what happens, but there is always the chance for things to go wrong. It wouldn¡¯t be the first war started by the bad decision of an idiot. As for who will be on the other side, Australia, China, Indonesia and the United Kingdom are the key players.¡± ¡°Russia and most of Africa are Cabal territory,¡± Boris said. ¡°We won¡¯t intercede. Much of Asia is torn between the old Network factions and the Cabal, so they¡¯re up in the air.¡± ¡°These conflicts go all the way back to the Makassar disaster,¡± Michael said. ¡°Indonesia is especially fractured, with whole regions warring for independence. Asia as a whole has no unity in their magic factions, with Cabal and Network groups still vying for control.¡± ¡°My guess would be no involvement from Asia at large, except Indonesia,¡± Boris said. ¡°Your clan made some discreet but not-unnoticed interventions, supplying essences and training to independence groups there. The Indonesian government hates your guts.¡± ¡°The rest of Asia are unlikely to intervene, though,¡± Darius said. ¡°Agreed,¡± Boris said with a nod. ¡°Europe, meaning the vampires, is an open question. The other groups won¡¯t want to side with them, but they may come out anyway. The vampires are terrified of you after the way you reclaimed your clan territories. They could be a wild card.¡± ¡°That leaves the Network factions,¡± Darius said. ¡°Our Network in the USA is now reconciled with the government, so they¡¯re on your side. China will be against you. Same for the¡­ what are they calling themselves now? The True Network?¡± ¡°They just rebranded again,¡± Michael said. ¡°They¡¯re back to just being ¡®the Network.¡¯ For what? The fourth time?¡± Boris groaned. ¡°Anyway,¡± he said, ¡°they hate you. Basically, everyone in the Network who had a problem with you from your last trip to Earth is in that group. The GDC will be on our side in this. Which will probably mean staying out of it, but not actively helping.¡± Jason expression remained blank as they went over the various factions and how they would react to his return and potential interception by cosmic forces. ¡°I need to think, and consult my people. Thank you, gentlemen, for coming all this way. And for showing trust enough to place yourselves within one of my seats of power.¡± Taking the clear dismissal, Michael and Darius said their goodbyes and collected their guards on the way to the elevator. *** Jason and Boris watched the elevator descend from their booth, taking away the Americans. ¡°Well,¡± Jason said. ¡°This complicates things.¡± ¡°It does.¡± ¡°We need to talk, Boris.¡± ¡°We do.¡± ¡°Do you know how much communication these people are having with the Jakaar pirates?¡± Boris turned his head to give Jason a flat look. ¡°Jason, what did you do?¡± Chapter 942: God-King ¡°Jason,¡± Boris said. ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°You know we¡¯ve been discussing how to demonstrate the power I¡¯ll be bringing to bear, to deter the powers of Earth from doing something ill-advised.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say that clearly didn¡¯t work, given the impending arrival of cosmic pirates, but how and why do you already know who they are?¡± ¡°It started when a member of the Cult of the World-Phoenix paid me a visit. Now that the link between Earth and Pallimustus is repaired, Earth¡¯s dimensional membrane is going to stabilise over time. The World-Phoenix sent me a courtesy message that she was easing restrictions on high-rankers accessing Earth, beginning with gold-rankers. The usual rules on invading domains remained in place, of course.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Danielle Geller had an idea. The World-Phoenix owed me a favour, you see.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°I stopped the Cosmic Throne from trying to turn her from her current form back into the Boundary. You know about the World-Phoenix¡¯s original incarnation?¡± ¡°It was before even my time, but I have heard about it. You keep calling the World-Phoenix ¡®her.¡¯ It doesn¡¯t have an actual gender.¡± ¡°She did when we were hanging out, so it¡¯s a habit. Plus, using ¡®it¡¯ instead of ¡®they¡¯ as the gender-neutral pronoun seems weird to me. It feels like treating them as if they weren¡¯t people.¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t. Not in the strictest sense. In their true state, a great astral being doesn¡¯t have a mind or identity as we understand it. They¡¯re too alien. It¡¯s why they have their prime vessels.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s entirely true. Plus, I¡¯m pretty sure most of them were getting into the whole mortal body thing, when they were in my soul.¡± ¡°Well, if they aren¡¯t going to rebuke you for it, neither will I. You say the Cosmic Throne was trying to turn the World-Phoenix back into the Boundary?¡± ¡°It was a constant struggle, apparently. It was the reason she agreed to the sundering in the first place, and fought the restoration. But the restored throne apparently took her current state as the new baseline. No more issues. I didn¡¯t do it that way on purpose, but she still saw it as a debt. Maybe she felt bad about killing me tens of thousands of times for what ultimately proved to be no reason.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Jason. I think that¡¯s an opportunity many people would relish.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a little hurtful. Anyway, that visit gave Danielle Geller an idea. We¡¯d already been talking about how to manage a show of force on Earth, but there were several problems. If we picked a fight with any of the Earth powers, it would undercut the entire diplomatic approach I¡¯m after. And even if I did, there¡¯s no force on Earth that could put up enough of a fight that we could properly demonstrate our power.¡± ¡°I¡¯m starting to see,¡± Boris said. ¡°You need an external antagonist. Someone you can stand with the Earth against. You asked the Cult of the World-Phoenix to arrange one.¡± ¡°That was just courtesy on their part. The real favour was having the World-Phoenix open this universe up to gold-rankers, but keeping the ban on diamond rankers in place until I reach diamond rank myself. The ban wouldn¡¯t be released immediately anyway, but I don¡¯t want other diamond-rankers showing up before I¡¯m ready to deter them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s actually a good idea.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to sound quite so surprised.¡± ¡°Jason, I¡¯ve been on Earth all this time. I saw how you did things here on your last visit, and terrible ideas were kind of your thing.¡± Jason¡¯s expression turned hard. ¡°I had no idea what I was doing. I was forced into bad choice after bad choice, and I didn¡¯t see you out there helping, Mr ¡®I was here the whole time.¡¯ Where were you, and your army of high-ranking messengers, Boris?¡± ¡°Doing more to help you than you will ever realise. Some of us simply manage it without making a grandiose spectacle of ourselves. Did you ever notice how none of the threats you ran into were quite more than you could handle? Almost as if someone was quietly eliminating any threats that would kill you instead of pushing you to grow stronger.¡± ¡°Some of those threats did kill me. Because I took on things no one else could. It¡¯s not like there was an army of angels who could have dealt with it.¡± ¡°We have to maintain a low profile, Jason. If the Orthodox messengers find us here, that¡¯s all the pretext they need to invade this world. And, against our best interests, we were preparing to reveal ourselves and intervene when humans kept harvesting reality cores. Fortunately, the transformation zones stopped forming. Thank you for that, by the way.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Jason said angrily, and the pair sat in sullen silence. After a while Boris spoke up. ¡°When is Anna getting here?¡± ¡°She¡¯s on the road now.¡± *** Sitting in the back of a car driven by one of Jason¡¯s blank, shadowy avatars, Anna sighed as she reflected on what her life had become. On one hand, there was no question that she was at a crux point for the future of the world. The chaos of the last couple of decades had calmed, the changes approaching a culmination point. Decisions made in the next few years would shape the next age, both for the planet and for humankind. On the other hand, it felt like the man with his hand on the fulcrum of the world was incapable of taking it seriously. Looking out the window, the city was a mix of vampire movie, Raymond Chandler novel and the wet dream of a teenager with way too much eye makeup. There was an unreality to it, like passing through the pages of a black and white graphic novel. The type where the protagonist was always a grizzled man who died in some masculine sacrifice at the end, like a modern-day Spartan. The car stopped and the avatar opened her door, holding an umbrella to shield her from the rain. She avoided looking into the single, giant eye it had in lieu of a face. It led her through the building and to the elevator, both of which reinforced the artificial, period-movie feel of the city. The elevator opened onto an old prohibition-style bar where she had to look around through the enclosed booths and dim lighting to find Jason and Boris Ketland. Neither was talking, which was odd for both, and there was palpable tension. ¡°Did I walk in on something?¡± she asked.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Just a difference of perspective,¡± Jason said. ¡°Take a seat.¡± Anna looked at the booth, and around at the bar. The patrons were indistinct in the dim lighting, and her silver-rank hearing picked up nothing but muffled murmurs. She suspected specialised privacy magic, tweaked to maintain the atmosphere. Sliding into the booth, she settled her gaze on Jason. ¡°There¡¯s something we need to discuss before we get to whatever you brought me here for,¡± she said. ¡°A larger concern that impacts our broader goals.¡± Jason didn¡¯t reply, but gave a jerk of the head indicating she should continue. ¡°This city is indicative of something that is only going to cause us problems,¡± she said. ¡°Problems, Jason, that stem entirely from you.¡± She waited for anger, or denial. Instead, he leaned back with a neutral expression. ¡°Please elucidate,¡± he said. ¡°You like to be distinctive, Jason. Irreverent. To pull people into your own pace, and take them out of their own comfort zones. To act strangely, and make people put up with it, which they do because you have the power to make them. And the more powerful you grow, the more elaborate you get, like this comic book city.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve found that the people of Earth are already more than eager to exploit me, Anna. If I stop doing things my way and start toeing whatever lines they want me to, that only tells them that I¡¯m within their ability to influence.¡± ¡°You¡¯re wrong, Jason. When you don¡¯t take things seriously, you¡¯re telling people that you aren¡¯t to be taken seriously. That you¡¯re unwilling to compromise, to meet people halfway. Combined with your power, that makes you come off as a toddler with a rocket launcher. You told me that you want to approach things properly. It¡¯s an assurance that, without which, I would not be a part of this.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t be. I can have you back in New York City this time tomorrow.¡± ¡°Jason¡ª¡± ¡°I am fully aware that I need to wear a suit to meetings and not talk about Knight Rider, Anna. I will act with respect and comport myself with appropriate reserve. Does that meet with your exacting standards?¡± Jason¡¯s curtness was uncharacteristic to Anna¡¯s recent encounters with him. She didn¡¯t know if it was his growing proximity to Earth or whatever conflict he¡¯d just had with Boris, but knew when to pick her fights. ¡°Let¡¯s move on to what brought you to ask me here. I¡¯m assuming it was our visitors from the Unites States.¡± ¡°This world has been opened up to the wider cosmos,¡± Boris explained. ¡°There are rules around intruding on worlds that have not declared themselves open to the cosmic community, that I will be happy to explain in detail later. What is important for now is that a powerful force will be coming here to deal with Jason, at the behest of certain members of various global powers.¡± ¡°How powerful are they?¡± ¡°Enough that, using the access they¡¯ve been offered, they can plunder this world with impunity,¡± Boris explained. ¡°Which is very much their intention. The US officials came here to warn us, and offer an alliance in dealing with them.¡± ¡°Can we deal with them? Even with the USA helping?¡± Jason and Boris shared a look. ¡°Anna,¡± Boris said. ¡°You still don¡¯t understand what we¡¯ve been telling you about the power scale we¡¯re dealing with. Against the people that are coming, every essence user on Earth could form an alliance and they would still all be slaughtered. The only two forces capable of confronting them are my messengers, and the group Jason is bringing with him.¡± ¡°Are you sure? Aren¡¯t these people prepared to deal with Jason specifically?¡± ¡°I was concerned,¡± Boris said. ¡°Until I discovered that Jason was the one who arranged all of this.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°Because it meets a need we¡¯ve already discussed several times, without finding a solution,¡± Jason said. ¡°You mean the demonstration of power?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So, to be clear, you¡¯re saying that you¡¯ve masterminded what amounts to an alien invasion so you can beat them to show off how strong you are?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t consider consulting me on any of this?¡± ¡°I did not. You would have taken a significant amount of time to talk around to this idea, if you could be convinced at all. Our window to initiate this was small. We worked through a group that is famously difficult to contact.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not wrong,¡± Boris added. ¡°The Cult of the World-Phoenix finds you, not the other way around. Not unless you can get into Interstice.¡± ¡°Interstice?¡± Anna asked. ¡°We¡¯re not going into that right now,¡± Jason said. ¡°It¡¯s too much. Boris will explain, after we¡¯re done. Which is better, since he¡¯s actually been there.¡± ¡°I will,¡± Boris said. ¡°But I also would have liked to weigh in on your decision in this, Jason. Cosmic attention on this world is dangerous to my people. You can fight one dimension ship full of pirates, but not a full-blown messenger invasion. Even if they are restricted to gold rank.¡± ¡°Invasion?¡± Anna asked. ¡°Again, for a later explanation,¡± Jason said. ¡°Look, Anna, the decision has been made. Now we deal with it.¡± ¡°There¡¯s not much point in being your political consultant if you aren¡¯t going to consult with me, Jason.¡± ¡°I know,¡± he conceded. ¡°But sometimes that¡¯s just how it¡¯s going to work.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just how it¡¯s going to work? You arbitrarily staging an alien invasion? That isn¡¯t something you can just decide for the Earth, Jason.¡± ¡°Yes, Anna, it is. Your job is to keep people from starting a war over it. This plan wouldn¡¯t have worked if the people of Earth weren¡¯t willing to sell out their own planet for a chance to get rid of me. We both remember what happened last time I was here. How many times did you apologise for the Network coming after me? For any of this to work, the world has to accept that I can¡¯t be controlled and I can¡¯t be eliminated. You were the one who said I needed a common enemy to fight, like the Americans unifying against the vampires.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean stage an alien invasion!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. I engineered a situation where the people of Earth and a manageable enemy happened to find each other. It could easily have happened without my intervention at all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Boris said. ¡°The Jakaar fleet is always on the lookout for weak and exploitable worlds, and this is within their realm of operation.¡± Anna shook her head. ¡°I need time to process this. Space pirates? What the hell kind of¡ª¡± She cut herself off and let out a long sigh. ¡°You can¡¯t just play with the world like this,¡± she told him. ¡°Are you so powerful that you can do whatever you want, without consequences?¡± Jason glanced at Boris, then back to Anna. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he told her. ¡°I¡¯m letting old memories colour my behaviour, when I told myself I wouldn¡¯t. Boris, can you please go over everything in detail? Answer her questions about the pirates, and the cosmic community. You know it better than I do anyway. Anna, we¡¯ll talk again when you have more information, some time to process it all, and I¡¯m less on edge.¡± Before anyone else could speak, Jason¡¯s avatar vanished and Anna let out another sigh. ¡°If he¡¯s going to be like this,¡± she said, ¡°none of this is going to work. I thought he was working on improving his diplomacy. If he¡¯s going to do things like this, without consulting the people he gathered specifically to consult, it doesn¡¯t matter how polite he is in meetings.¡± ¡°In fairness, he did consult with his people,¡± Boris said. ¡°Just not the ones here. But yes, this was not Jason at his best. I have to take at least partial blame for that. He and I have never really discussed the fact that I was here during his last visit. That I remained hidden while he felt outmatched, betrayed and alone. Helpless to watch people die around him.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what he went through. It¡¯s not about what¡¯s fair. When things go wrong, and he starts alienating nations and the magical factions, he doesn¡¯t get a do-over because he has a sad backstory.¡± ¡°No. And he knows that. He¡¯s frustrated because he could conquer the world in a long weekend and start running it how he sees fit. He knows how bad an idea that is, but it¡¯s a tempting one, believe me. When you have power beyond a certain level, it feels strange that there are any problems you can¡¯t just crush. This planet has been my home longer than any human being. I see the injustices, and I get the urge to unleash my people, take over and put things right. But that¡¯s not how it works. As much as it feels like you can go in and make things better, you can¡¯t impose positive change from the outside, using your own principles. Everything you do will turn into poison, usually sooner than later.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying he¡¯s that powerful? Waltz in and conquer the world powerful? He keeps saying it, but it¡¯s hard to take him seriously when he talks as if he were some kind of god-king.¡± ¡°Then you should take him seriously, because he is one. It¡¯s complicated, because it always is with him, but to my people, it¡¯s simple. We have what we call astral kings, but god-kings is essentially what they are. That¡¯s one of things Jason has become, and my people acknowledge that, even when most of them are his enemies. They respect him. They fear him and my people don¡¯t fear a lot. When they see him, they try to kill him in a frenzy, run for hills, or kneel down in worship.¡± He slid out of the booth and looked over at the bartender. ¡°I know Jason has told you a lot,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll try to explain what he hasn¡¯t, and give a different perspective on what he has. That¡¯s going to take a long time, so I¡¯m going to order some food. And some drinks. Would you like a drink?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m going to need one.¡± Chapter 943: Jason鈥檚 Arrival Inevitably Caused a Massive Problem They were in the office of Jason¡¯s captain¡¯s suite on the cloud ship. In deference to his intentions to handle his time of Earth responsibly, it was more like an expensive hotel suite than a maniacal villain¡¯s lair. Jason was explaining his unproductive meeting with Anna and Boris. ¡°The problem, Jason,¡± Danielle said, ¡°is you. You¡¯ve always said that you prefer friends to allies.¡± ¡°I have, and I stand by that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s nice, and if we were still at the point of hosting barbecues in the park back in Greenstone, that would be fine. But we¡¯re a little past that, Jason. You¡¯re mixing friends and allies on this trip, and the stakes are too high to leave things as disorganised as they are. Before we reach Earth, we need to develop an organisational structure. Authority, responsibilities. Who gets what information. From what you¡¯re describing, a large part of the problem was a disconnect between you and Mrs Tilden over your respective roles.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking about a chain of command.¡± ¡°In part. I¡¯m also talking about defining relationships with those who don¡¯t fall under your influence, like Boris Ket Lundi. If everyone knows what is expected of them, and how they are meant to meet those expectations, you can avoid problems like these before they arise.¡± He groaned and ran his hands over his face. ¡°Treating friends like allies is exactly what I want to avoid.¡± ¡°Jason, whether in friendship or an alliance, it works better when everyone knows where they stand. Clear communication.¡± He thought that over for a moment, then nodded his acknowledgement of the point. ¡°That does sound reasonable. A perspective I can get my head around, in any case. Okay, we need to put together an org chart. How do I go about doing that?¡± ¡°We start by categorising everyone. Who is part of the formal structure you¡¯re putting together? Myself, Mrs Tilden, the structure of your clan. That¡¯s the easy part. Who are allies, like Boris? What can you expect from them, and what do they expect from you? Then there¡¯s all the people coming with us. You might be treating them as tourists, but you¡¯ve put yourself in charge of an adventurer expedition to another world. One of the most powerful expeditions ever staged, I¡¯ll add. Multiple teams, a royal diplomatic delegation. What level of authority do you have over them? What do you expect from each other?¡± Jason let out another groan. ¡°I¡¯m about to have an incredibly tedious day, aren¡¯t I?¡± *** Lenora Coleman has been working at the dimensional artefact site for almost her entire adult life. Recruited right out of university, her excitement had been well and truly killed off by two years in a monitoring station. Back then, the site was little more than some pre-fab buildings in the ruins of a town whose name she¡¯d never learned. Things were different now, both for the site and for Lenora. Her formal title was now Director of Operations for Dimensional Artefact Site One. She wasn¡¯t aware of any Dimensional Artefact Site Two, but she hadn¡¯t gotten to pick the name. That had been the original person to hold her position, and current Australian Prime Minister, Gordon Truffett. Lenora and her predecessors had overseen a massive transformation of the site. Following the arrival of an angelic host and one guy from New Zealand, the entire area had been remade into one of the most secure sites on planet Earth. A coalition of nations had spent the last fifteen years preparing it as a defensive point should anyone or anything hostile try and use the site as an invasion point. The coalition was ostensibly led by Australia, as it was their territory, with Lenora as their representative. The reality was more complicated. Australia was largely dependent on the Network for their magical assets, or whatever the Network was calling themselves in any given year. They had named themselves the True Network, the Grand Network, the Original Network and just the Network, cycling through those and a few others on a roughly annual schedule. The joke was that the Network was secretly led by a shape-shifter who couldn¡¯t tolerate maintaining a stable identity. Aside from reliance on the Network, the other major factions demanded access to the site. The Australian government had granted access in various ways, depending on the influence and compensation involved. The United States and China both had consulate-level privileges for their areas around the site. There was no longer any sign of the town that had once stood in the area. A small city now occupied the space, centred on the site itself. A ring of monitoring and research stations surrounded the half-kilometre of open ground between them and the outermost standing stones of the artefact itself. That open space was unadorned concrete. With concentric rings of metal panels. Each panel was a weapon bunker containing retractable weapons, magically enhanced howitzers and rocket batteries. The most potent mix of magic and technology the Earth could produce, they would emerge to attack any invader. In addition to the weapon operators, a multinational force of essence users and other supernaturals was maintained on site. This included a rotating roster of gold rankers who were the reason Lenora did not have the command her title suggested. Most of the world¡¯s gold rankers belonged to the United States and China, including almost all of the ones who had reached that rank without using cores. As a bureaucrat and not a fighter, Lenora was a core user herself and had never been clear on why that mattered. She was assured that it did when it came to combat ability. Oddly enough, there was one Australian gold ranker, and one who had never used cores, at that. When the Australian government had turned against what became the GDN during the Network schism, he had quietly vanished. No one really knew or cared until he resurfaced a decade later as a self-made gold ranker. With no affiliation, he was heavily courted by every major power on the planet. He resoundingly rejected overtures from his home nation, along with every other group. ¡°Your head looks heavy,¡± Barry told her. ¡°A burden shared is a burden halved.¡± Her deputy, Barry, was what amounted to mayor of the artefact city. She wrangled the magical representatives and he kept the city that served their needs humming along. Her one-time supervisor, they shared her obnoxiously large office. The first director had done his best to create a throne room for himself, which subsequent directors had stripped down to a more sensible, if indulgently oversized space. The one thing she did like about the room was one wall being a massive window, looking out at the ring of standing stones. She often stood and stared at it when she was gaming out a problem in her head.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± she told him. ¡°I was thinking about Nigel Thornton. Whatever happened to him?¡± ¡°He was close with Annabeth Tilden, back in the day. Rumour has it that he¡¯s joined her at the Asano clan. Or she joined him.¡± ¡°Asano,¡± she grumbled. They had been preparing for Jason Asano¡¯s impending return to Earth for weeks. Her tasks involved blanket denials to the press and regular video conferences with Tilden, the Asano¡¯s clan¡¯s unofficial new ambassador to the world. Most of her job, however, had been trying to prevent anyone onsite from doing something incredibly stupid. That had not worked out. The Chinese adamantly denied that the man who tried to blow up the standing stones was one of theirs. The bomb had been powerful enough to scorch magically reinforced concrete, shaking the walls of the research buildings half a kilometre away. If not for their also being reinforced, the blast would have taken out some windows at the very least. The standing stones had been utterly unharmed, although the bomber was thinly smeared across several of them. ¡°Do we have a revised estimate on Asano¡¯s arrival date?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°Nope,¡± Barry said. He got up and walked to the minifridge to grab a can of soft drink. ¡°Nora, you want one?¡± he offered, waving the can in her direction. ¡°Do we have anything other than TaB?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll take one. I¡¯ve got to stop letting you stock the fridge.¡± They crashed on the couch together, both running on a week of too-little sleep. They cracked open their cans, each took a sip and slumped back. ¡°Did you know that Terry in the media office is Anna Tilden¡¯s brother?¡± Barry asked. ¡°Yeah, although I didn¡¯t know he was still in the media office. I thought they fired him after that thing with the K-pop band and the animated gloves.¡± ¡°No, they just made him do a bunch of seminars.¡± ¡°How did he get away with that?¡± ¡°Old Network family. They were some of the first white essence users in Australia, apparently. Nice for some. Actually, now that I think about it, what happened to all the black essence users? Someone was dealing with proto-spaces before the British turned up and decided they owned everything, right?¡± ¡°The Network founder set up an indigenous Network organisation, but it wasn¡¯t anything like the modern branches. As far as I know, most of them joined the Cabal.¡± ¡°The Cabal has had essence users this whole time?¡± ¡°Not anymore. The incoming British Network people attacked them on sight, so the indigenous people left the proto spaces to them. Without the resources to make new essence users, those in the Cabal eventually died of old age. The same story played out everywhere the Europeans decided the locals needed the light of civilisation.¡± ¡°Civilisation meaning disease, exploitation, pillage and slavery.¡± ¡°Yep. But that was where the Cabal got most of their information on essence users. The messengers secretly amongst them probably told them things as well, but my understanding is that they were avoiding being too all-knowing.¡± ¡°So that people didn¡¯t figure out they were aliens for another dimension, and not angels? Aren¡¯t angels meant to be all-knowing?¡± ¡°No one outside the Cabal can really be sure how it worked. Even now, they¡¯re a house full of secrets. Most of what we know is interpolation and guesswork.¡± ¡°Where did you learn all this stuff, Nora?¡± ¡°It¡¯s my job to deal with an eclectic mix of magical and political forces from across the globe. How did you get this far without learning all this stuff?¡± ¡°I mostly stood next to you and took care of the easy bits, so you¡¯d do all the hard ones.¡± She snorted a laugh and tapped her can to his. ¡°Here¡¯s to the easy bits,¡± she toasted. *** Jason¡¯s legs dangled off the edge of the ship, swinging absently as he munched on a sandwich. ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that your legs will be torn off and reduced to non-existence?¡± Zara asked. She sat cross-legged next to him. ¡°I¡¯m not sticking any limbs out there.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Jason told her. ¡°Technically, this is the same magic Boris and his messengers used to go to Earth. My specific nature shields me.¡± He slapped the deck with his hand. ¡°The container I¡¯ve put you all in is just a nicer version of the one Rufus and Taika travelled in.¡± ¡°A lot nicer,¡± she agreed. ¡°I don¡¯t think theirs had a bar.¡± He put his sandwich down on the plate sitting next to him. ¡°You were trained to be a princess from birth, right?¡± ¡°I was.¡± ¡°In the expectation that you would become Hurricane Princess, then Storm Queen.¡± ¡°That was the idea. Not that it worked out that way.¡± ¡°A lifetime of training, and you still managed to monumentally blow the whole shebang, making things worse for everyone around you.¡± ¡°I remember, yes, but thank you for reminding me of the worst sequence of mistakes I¡¯ve even made in my life.¡± A grin flashed briefly on his face before it became sombre again. ¡°My political training consists of whatever Danielle can cram into my thick skull. How am I meant to get this right when you can have all the training in the world and get it wrong? I¡¯m at a point where very few consequences can harm me directly. They¡¯ll all fall on the people around me, whether that¡¯s my companions or just innocent people in general. Was it wrong to set up this fight on Earth?¡± She leaned her shoulder into his. ¡°There is no right, Jason. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve learned from all my mistakes. There¡¯s no right and there¡¯s no wrong, not from a practical perspective. There¡¯s only what happened, and what happens next. It¡¯s the only thing you can change, so that¡¯s where you put your energy.¡± ¡°You do the best you can with what you have?¡± ¡°Exactly. Sometimes your best isn¡¯t good enough. But, good or bad, all you can do is keep going. Try to make your best a little better each time.¡± He sat with that for a long while. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said finally. ¡°I thought you wouldn¡¯t be any help, because of what a huge political disaster you are, but there was a nugget of wisdom in there.¡± She turned to give him a dagger-sharp glare as he did a poor job of masking a grin. ¡°My advice isn¡¯t free,¡± she told him. ¡°Give me the rest of your sandwich.¡± ¡°There are plenty more up in the lounge.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not up in the lounge. Hand it over, Asano.¡± He mock-grumbled as he reached for the plate. *** After their break, Lenora and Barry returned to work. Lenora fired off emails in a futile attempt to head off diplomatic bushfires. Barry was going through contingencies for the artefact city¡¯s populace, for when Jason¡¯s arrival inevitably caused a massive problem. Responses ranged from public warnings to lockdowns to a citywide evacuation. ¡°Why did they never name the town?¡± he wondered aloud. ¡°Everyone just calls it the artefact city.¡± ¡°Technically speaking, it¡¯s Dimensional Artefact Site One.¡± ¡°Who named it something that boring?¡± ¡°Who do you think?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Barry groaned. ¡°Our illustrious Prime Minister. I have this vague recollection of someone trying to get it changed. Am I misremembering?¡± ¡°No, but none of the interested parties could ever agree on a more ordinary name. The Chinese wanted it to be meaningful and the Americans didn¡¯t want it to sound foreign. Neither wanted the other to get what they wanted, and Australian names were roundly rejected. I was actually in a meeting where someone told the Americans that Woolloomooloo was a town name and they went completely spare. The French tried to sneak a name in while everyone else was fighting, but that didn¡¯t work. In the end, it got left the way it is.¡± ¡°Dimensional Artefact Site One.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°One.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°So, site two is some secret spot out in the desert?¡± ¡°Barry, we¡¯re out in the desert.¡± ¡°Yeah, but we¡¯re not secret. We have a media relations department.¡± ¡°So do they. Their media department just has machine guns.¡± ¡°There¡¯s really a secret base out there?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have clearance for me to tell you that.¡± There was a knock at the door. ¡°Director?¡± the voice came of their shared assistant came through the door. ¡°Come in, Cassie.¡± Cassie was new, competent but still frazzled as she adjusted to the current schedule. Her curly hair had clearly been rebundled atop her head following a couch nap. ¡°Mrs Tilden, Mr Remore and Mr Williams are looking to have a meeting, Director.¡± ¡°They want to set up a conference call?¡± ¡°No, Director. They¡¯re downstairs.¡± Chapter 944: It Sets a Tone ¡°Travelling like this is strange,¡± Anna said. ¡°I¡¯m used to strange, with anything related to Jason, but this is up there.¡± Their vehicle looked like a flying saucer, flat and round, with smooth lines and a sleek white exterior that tapered at the edges. What propelled it through the air, however, was not alien science, magic or magitech. On the top were a pair of recessed handles being gripped by Taika, currently in the form of a giant golden eagle. He shot smoothly through the air like a rocket, the vehicle gripped in his talons. The custom vehicle was designed to improve the mana efficiency of Taika¡¯s bird form and create adaptive planes of force that improved aerodynamic performance. As a result, what should have been a burden didn¡¯t impede his ability to fly, even enhancing it under some circumstances. The interior was something between a hotel suite and a private plane, with one half of the saucer being a semicircular lounge area. The other half was divided between stowage, sleeping cabins and a bathroom. The passengers were Anna, Rufus and Gary Sharpton, a young leonid. ¡°Is this not how people travel out in the regular world?¡± Gary asked. ¡°In a UFO being carried by a giant bird?¡± Anna asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I thought that would have been obvious, given that you designed this thing. I know you¡¯ve spent most of your life in an astral space, but you¡¯ve studied aircraft design, have you not?¡± ¡°Surely people don¡¯t still use aeroplanes, right?¡± Gary asked. ¡°Just adding some magic to them is way less efficient than a ground-up redesign that incorporates magitech from the outset.¡± ¡°You realise that we¡¯re flying in what amounts to an over-elaborate bucket,¡± Rufus pointed out. ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s just me cheaping-out on propulsion,¡± Gary said. ¡°The original design was a dirigible, but replacing it with a giant bird is the obvious choice. If you have one available.¡± ¡°Yes, completely obvious,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Are you sure you should be tweaking the design after what happened with the first prototype?¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be fine,¡± Gary said. ¡°This prototype is much more reliable than that one.¡± ¡°Given that the bottom fell off that one mid-flight,¡± Rufus said, ¡°I would certainly hope so.¡± ¡°Hey, that was a valuable result,¡± Gary said. ¡°Because of that, we figured out the material degradation issue with the mana conduits.¡± ¡°By having the bottom fall off,¡± Rufus said. ¡°It¡¯s not like there was anyone in there. That¡¯s why we test prototypes: to isolate and correct errors. It¡¯s going to be fine. There¡¯s zero chance of anything going wrong.¡± ¡°Then why did you insist on being brought along in case something goes wrong?¡± ¡°Because you wouldn¡¯t have let me go, otherwise. Also, I lied about the zero percent thing. But it¡¯s going to be fine, trust me.¡± ¡°After you just admitted to lying and deception?¡± Anna asked. ¡°Exactly. I admitted to it. I¡¯m an inherently honest person. It¡¯s like when my mum told Rufus I could come on this trip. That was definitely her and not an illusion created by my friend Brian.¡± Anna threw a wide-eyed look at Rufus, who gestured for calm. ¡°He¡¯s messing with you, Anna. It was his real mother.¡± Gary flashed a toothy grin, showing off a mouthful of lion teeth. On the side table next to her chair, Anna¡¯s phone beeped a notification and she checked it. ¡°We¡¯re in Australian airspace,¡± she told them, then sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not entirely convinced that just turning up is the best approach.¡± ¡°It was your idea,¡± Rufus said. ¡°You said that we need to contain the information as best we can. Deal with the onsite director personally.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s all true,¡± Anna said. ¡°From what I know about Lenora Coleman, she¡¯ll play this objectively. Do what¡¯s best for the situation, not any particular country or group. If we go through the process of entering the country legally and getting permission to visit the site, we¡¯ll be dragged into a swamp of interest groups and political games before we get anywhere near the director.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s the issue?¡± ¡°This approach doesn¡¯t come naturally to me. I was brought in to ameliorate Jason¡¯s bolder instincts, and this¡­¡± ¡°Is exactly how Jason would do it,¡± Rufus finished. ¡°I heard that Yumi argued against this approach.¡± ¡°She did. But Jason hired me to work for him, not the clan. He was very specific about that. While my role is to present approaches he wouldn¡¯t normally consider, he will ultimately do things his way. We had a less-than-ideal meeting, after which we sat down again and clarified a lot of things. What he wants from me, and what I can expect from him. Taking this approach, just showing up at the artefact site with no warning, is to demonstrate that we can. When he gets here, Jason intends to walk a line on which he accommodates the authorities of Earth without being subject to them. What we¡¯re doing here ¡ª the way we¡¯re doing it ¡ª sets a tone.¡± ¡°How do you anticipate the various powers of Earth responding to that?¡± Rufus asked. ¡°Not well. The whole approach is predicated on Jason having the power to tell them to go jump, regardless of what they try. If he can¡¯t make the world accept that he¡¯s untouchable, it¡¯s all going to go wrong. And they won¡¯t accept it, not completely. Part of my role is to make it go the least degree of wrong we can manage.¡± ¡°Mr Asano is definitely going to convince them,¡± Gary said. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to meet him. I bet he¡¯s crazy awesome, and I mean crazy. Mrs Tilden, have you heard all the stories about him?¡± ¡°One or two,¡± Anna said. ¡°Nigel¡¯s story about him killing a city full of vampires with blood rain?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And Rufus¡¯ story about him killing two cultists with feminism? Rufus had a sword fight in that one where he had a trowel instead of a sword.¡± ¡°That, I haven¡¯t heard,¡± Anna said. ¡°A trowel?¡± ¡°It was an evil trowel!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve heard that one,¡± Rufus told her. ¡°Gary frames it quite differently in the retelling. But yes, it was an evil trowel.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°And the time you did an air drop raid from flying ships on the secret base of an evil religious order. They stole a submarine in that one!¡± The enthusiastic teenager happily continued, not noticing the look shared between the two adults. *** ¡°Mrs Tilden, Mr Remore and Mr Williams are looking to have a meeting, Director,¡± said Cassie, Lenora and Barry¡¯s assistant. ¡°They want to set up a conference call?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°No, Director,¡± Cassie said. ¡°They¡¯re downstairs.¡± ¡°Downstairs? They¡¯re in the building?¡± ¡°Outside, with security,¡± Cassie said. ¡°They just kind of turned up. In a flying saucer being carried by a bird.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°Is this some kind of prank?¡± ¡°Uh, no, ma¡¯am. The flying saucer is still out there. The bird turned out to be Taika Williams, who turned back into a person.¡± ¡°He does have the power to turn into a giant bird,¡± Barry said. ¡°No one was exactly sure what to do with them,¡± Cassie said. ¡°Or how they got this close without tripping any of our alert magic or other security systems. Security Commander Higgins scrambled his team and sent word to notify you while he locked everything down.¡± Lenora pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes in frustration. She drew a sharp breath and let it out slowly, then schooled her expression and opened her eyes. ¡°Just the three of them?¡± she asked. ¡°There¡¯s one other man, as-yet to be identified. He¡¯s not human.¡± ¡°One of the transformed,¡± Barry said. ¡°Almost all of them went to the Asano clan as refugees, so it¡¯s not odd to see one with them.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a lion man,¡± Cassie said, her expression growing slightly embarrassed. ¡°He¡¯s super adorable.¡± Her expression went back to blank professionalism at a glare from Lenora. Barry, standing behind Lenora, gave Cassie an encouraging nod and rolled his eyes in Lenora¡¯s direction. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Lenora said, heading for the door. ¡°Barry, you said Terrance Tilden is still in the Media Relations office?¡± ¡°He is.¡± ¡°Call him. He may be useful when in dealing with his sister.¡± As she led the way to the elevator, Barry pulled out his phone. ¡°Deputy Director Sinise,¡± Terry answered cheerfully. ¡°To what do I owe the pleasure? Is this related to the kerfuffle happening outside? Security won¡¯t let anyone near it.¡± ¡°Your sister is here.¡± ¡°Annie? That¡¯s quite the saucy development. She didn¡¯t come alone, I take it.¡± ¡°Taika Williams, Rufus Remore and one unknown.¡± Barry heard Terry all but leaping from his chair. ¡°Rufus Remore is here?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°In person?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is he wearing a shirt?¡± ¡°Terrance¡­¡± ¡°Could we get security to confiscate it? As a precaution.¡± ¡°Have you even finished your sexual harassment seminars from the last thing?¡± ¡°I got back from the last one on Thursday. I can¡¯t believe they made me fly to Adelaide for the damn things.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re still employed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my mother, you know. She does not like scandals to involve the family. Covers up everything she can get away with. She was livid when Anna scooted off to join the Asano Clan. I was the one who got to tell her, which was a delight. She actually threw a shoe at me.¡± ¡°Just meet us downstairs,¡± Barry said, and glanced at Lenora while they waited for the elevator. ¡°And do behave yourself, Terry. The director just learned that you weren¡¯t fired the last time, so if you don¡¯t, she¡¯s going to do something to you more permanent than your mother can fix.¡± ¡°Okay, thanks for the warning, Baz. Best behaviour.¡± ¡°Mate, you¡¯d better, or Nora¡¯s going to rip us both a new¡­¡± Barry saw Lenora¡¯s expression as she listened to the call. ¡°Just don¡¯t, Terry. None of your nonsense today.¡± *** Leaving the lobby elevator, they found a small crowd of workers held back from the main entrance by a security cordon. The security team, their magically enhanced tactical gear including full helmets, formed a stern and faceless line. Several people noticed the arrival of the director and deputy director and immediately approached. Barry stepped forward and tried to warn them off, with little effect. ¡°Anyone who doesn¡¯t go back to their workstation right now,¡± Lenore declared, ¡°will no longer have one by end of day.¡± The assemblage quickly took to the stairs and elevators, except for Terry. ¡°They¡¯re still not letting me get past,¡± he said. ¡°Nor should they,¡± Lenora told him. ¡°If and when you are needed, you¡¯ll be let through.¡± He opened his mouth to protest, looked at her face and wisely closed it again. Lenore watched him for signs of rebellion for a moment, then nodded. ¡°Cassie, stay here with Tilden and report everything he does or attempts to do.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Lenora led Barry forward, the guards parting to let them through. ¡°Commander Higgins is waiting for you, ma¡¯am,¡± one of them told her. ¡°Thank you, Morgan,¡± she said as they passed through the cordon. ¡°How can you tell them apart in those outfits?¡± Barry whispered. ¡°Shush,¡± she whispered back. They crossed the lobby and exited through the main doors. Security personnel, guns held but not raised, stood in a line watching four people. In front of the line were the on-roster gold rankers, a British man from the Network and one from the Chinese government. They were both warily standing off with Williams and Remore, who were much more casual. Remore was relaxed, with his hands in his pockets. Williams was eating a slice of cake and had an icing moustache. They stood between the other members of their group and the gold-rank security members. Behind them was the flying saucer they had arrived in. Outside of the ring, Higgins was in his normal security uniform, not tactical gear. ¡°Honestly, ma¡¯am,¡± he said without preamble, ¡°I didn¡¯t know what to do. They just showed up. The city is restricted, but nothing that would stop Remore or Williams. I mean, even this is theatre. Our gold-rankers couldn¡¯t handle either of them, let alone both.¡± ¡°You had best take care with your mouth, Higgins, lest I close it for you,¡± the English gold ranker said. ¡°Everyone stand down,¡± Lenora said. ¡°Out of the way.¡± She strode through the group to stand in front of their unexpected visitors. ¡°Is this really what you thought was the best approach?¡± she asked. ¡°Circumventing our security protocols to come here directly?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my bad,¡± Taika mumbled from around a mouthful of cake. ¡°I sensed some magic, but I didn¡¯t realise it was meant to be security. The standards are a little different in the clan. We have that continent-spanning vampiric empire to deal with and you have what? Journalists? People selling scammy water filters?¡± Annabeth Tilden stepped past him with a sigh. ¡°We do apologise, Director,¡± she said. ¡°We genuinely had no idea of the security arrangements here.¡± ¡°You could have reached out in advance,¡± Lenora pointed out. ¡°That might have been a bad idea, in light of what we¡¯ve come to share. Preferably inside, away from¡­¡± She glanced at the gold-rank security members. ¡°¡­public spaces.¡± ¡°Director,¡± the Englishman said, ¡°we must be included in any¡ª¡± ¡°¡®Must¡¯ is a strong word, Lord Willoughby,¡± Lenora cut him off. ¡°Your role here is security. My role is to determine in what context security needs to be employed. Since I deem these individuals a non-threat, and you couldn¡¯t do anything about it if they were, I will thank you to stand down. Along with the rest of our security forces, Commander Higgins. Maintain a low alert, do a full security sweep and compile a report on potential approaches to preventing this situation from repeating itself. Is that understood?¡± ¡°With respect, ma¡¯am,¡± Higgins said, ¡°protocol says they can¡¯t be declared a non-threat until we¡¯ve done at least basic checks. Make sure they aren¡¯t shape-shifters. Inspect their vehicle. Determine the identity of all members of the group. Human and otherwise.¡± ¡°You mean Gary?¡± Taika asked. ¡°He¡¯s cool, bro. Also, he won¡¯t have any legal identity outside of the clan. And I can tell you now that I am a shape-shifter. I can turn into a humongous eagle, which is sweet, plus I¡¯ve got this whole birdman situation going on. In an awesome battle-form way, not a jump-off-a-pier kind of way.¡± ¡°Taika, please stop helping,¡± Anna said. ¡°I¡¯m going to waive the security screening,¡± Lenora said. ¡°That is within my authority as director.¡± ¡°That¡¯s up to you, ma¡¯am,¡± Higgins said, his tone telling her exactly what he thought of that idea. ¡°If you do so, however, I am required to notify all member groups of the situation. Preventing me from doing so is not within your authority.¡± ¡°Given that your security force is supplied by the member groups,¡± Lenora said, ¡°trying to keep a lid on this would be pointless, so you might as well go ahead. But first, stand down your people.¡± There was some more back and forth, but before long, Lenora and Barry were leading Taika, Rufus, Anna and Gary inside the building. Higgins let the group past the cordon, now only holding back Terry and Cassie. ¡°Annie!¡± Terry called out, but his eyes were locked on Rufus. Lenora raised an arm to point right at him. ¡°Not another word,¡± she warned. ¡°Deputy director, take Mr Tilden and sit on him until such time as we need him.¡± ¡°Of course, Director,¡± Barry said. ¡°Come along, Terry. We¡¯ll take the other elevator.¡± ¡°G¡¯day Terry,¡± Taika said with a wave. ¡°Long time.¡± ¡°Cassie,¡± Lenora said to her assistant. ¡°Get ready to triage the mass of calls and meeting requests that will already have started to pour in.¡± ¡°Yes, Director.¡± Lenora turned to look at the four interlopers. ¡°We¡¯d best continue this in my office.¡± Chapter 945: We Already Know Who You Are ¡°What you¡¯re telling me,¡± Lenora said, ¡°is that my little city is going to turn into a gold-rank battle zone.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Anna told her. ¡°Jason will try and take it out into the desert, but there is a good chance these invaders will confront him here.¡± ¡°They need to challenge him at the first opportunity,¡± Rufus explained. ¡°To justify their presence here. They may be here already, but the condition for their being allowed on Earth is to remove Jason. If they don¡¯t do so swiftly, they¡¯ll be in violation of the Rules of Intrusion.¡± ¡°And if that happens?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°The space police come and arrest them?¡± ¡°The Rules of Intrusion,¡± Rufus explained, ¡°have always been in place. On my world they mostly apply to holy wars, where one faith invades the domain of another. But, as it turns out, they also govern dimensional invasion. There has been flexibility in the rules, going back to before the birth of our worlds, but that has changed. Recently. Cosmic law is much more rigid now.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The rules of the cosmos are enforced by something called the Cosmic Throne. It was damaged long ago, but the throne has been restored and the rules are more dangerous to bend, let alone break. I don¡¯t know the consequences of breaking those rules, but entities beyond any of our understandings are wary of violating them. You can be certain that these pirates will be.¡± ¡°That was a really long way of saying you don¡¯t know,¡± Gary said. Lenora happened to agree but said nothing as Rufus and Anna gave the young leonid a glare. ¡°Mr Remore,¡± Lenora said. ¡°While I appreciate the context, my job is more concerned with the practicalities. Somewhere in there you said these people might already be here. We¡¯ve seen no activity through the standing stones.¡± ¡°The magic circle here only serves as an anchor for the link between worlds,¡± Rufus told her. ¡°It is both unnecessary and useless to the invaders who will have their own means of traversing the astral. Their dimensional magic will be more advanced than any that either of our worlds has access to. The only group on Earth that would have the ability to detect them would be Boris Ketland and his people, and they aren¡¯t tracking magic globally.¡± ¡°That they¡¯ve told us about,¡± Anna amended. Rufus nodded his acknowledgement. ¡°If they are here, then,¡± Lenora said, ¡°we have no way of tracking them down.¡± ¡°Correct,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Which is good, because we lack the power to confront them. Jason will be here in roughly three days, discounting any time anomalies in the astral. We should hope that, if the invaders are here, they remain wherever it is they are hiding.¡± *** Jota Withers rather liked his current accommodation. The magic and technology were both incredibly primitive, not even integrated with one another, but there was something calming about the simplicity of it. It was the design he appreciated: a house dug into a rocky bluff, overlooking the ocean. Part of the house was atop the bluff to remain accessible, but most of it jutted from the cliff face itself, with glass walls to make the most of it. He sat in a comfortable armchair, reading from a tablet provided by his hosts. He had spent his time on Earth learning what he could about his enemy. He had certainly found it odd that he was being hosted by a group called the Asano Clan, in a place called Asano Village, while he waited to kill a man named Jason Asano. That anomaly was resolved when his sponsors on Earth started providing him with the information he requested. It turned out that there were three clans who used the name Asano on Earth. One was a historical clan of cultural significance, in the time before Earth¡¯s magic was in the open. Another was an offshoot of that clan within one of Earth¡¯s then-secret magic societies. This was the group currently hosting Jota and his crew. The third group had been founded by Jason Asano himself. Asano Noriko was matriarch of the Asano clan hosting Jota and his crew. She had been making daily visits to check on his needs, along with the servants she had provided full time. As Jota had questions the provided information didn¡¯t answer, he invited her to converse on one of her visits. She took a seat opposite him, with a table holding a tea set between them. ¡°What may I help you with, Captain Withers?¡± ¡°I have questions regarding the various iterations of the Asano clan on this planet.¡± Her expression showed nothing but a woman happy to accommodate, but he could feel the swallowed bitterness in her aura. He suspected that, to her mind, there was only one true Asano clan. He didn¡¯t particularly care, his only interest being an understanding of his target. ¡°My understanding,¡± he continued, ¡°is that your clan originates in the nation of Japan, while Jason Asano¡¯s originates here, in Australia. They were the ones who built this village, yet now your clan is here, and they are on the other side of the planet. In territory overrun with vampires, no less. How did that come about?¡± ¡°There was a lot of chaos in the first few years after magic came into the open on Earth,¡± Noriko explained. ¡°During that time, Jason Asano created spiritual domains in Europe.¡± ¡°Spiritual domains?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know the specifics. Places of power that belong to him that have higher levels of magic than most of Earth. Most of his family and their various hangers-on relocated there, before the vampires took over. Also at that time, the major magic secret society went through a schism as magic went public. The government here sided with one of the factions, and that was not the one that had Jason Asano¡¯s supporters.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°But it was the one your clan belonged to?¡± ¡°It was. You are an astute man, Captain Withers.¡± Jota didn¡¯t respond to the praise, instead gesturing for her to continue. ¡°In order to consolidate their relationship with the new faction,¡± Noriko explained, ¡°the government seized ownership of this land from the remnants of the upstart clan, and gave it to the true Asano Clan. The dregs of the false clan fled to join the others.¡± ¡°And this happened only after Jason Asano had departed this world, I take it.¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have mattered. He was powerful, for a silver-ranker, but that is as far as it goes. He can¡¯t fight an entire nation, even if he is gold rank now. Alien allies or no.¡± Jota raised his eyebrows and Noriko paled. ¡°I apologise, Captain Withers. I meant no disrespect.¡± ¡°What of these spiritual domains? They are not the normal power of a silver-ranker.¡± ¡°Exploitation of unique magical conditions, using knowledge from the other world.¡± Jota strongly suspected that her obvious grudge was leading her to dismiss the threat Jason Asano posed. He did not fully dismiss her position, however. It was possible that the people looking to eliminate the man had been oversold on his power. One particular point in the information he was given strongly supported the idea that they were overestimating Asano. ¡°What do you know of the purported link between Jason Asano and the advent of the System?¡± ¡°That it¡¯s utter nonsense,¡± Noriko said. ¡°I am inclined to agree. The System is a shift in the cosmic order. There is even talk of a new great astral being. What impact one gold ranker from a place like this could have entirely eludes me.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Noriko agreed, nodding her head sagely. ¡°He is a man with a big mouth, low cunning and more than his share of luck. An opportunist.¡± Having gotten everything productive he could from Noriko, he dismissed her. After she left, Jota¡¯s first officer, Natala, paid him a visit. ¡°Jota, Kreegle is rabblerousing again,¡± she warned. ¡°When is he not?¡± ¡°The Rules of Intrusion mean we are cut off from the outside until we fulfil the conditions of the deal by removing Asano. This is a chance for Kreegle to make a move.¡± ¡°I can handle Kreegle.¡± ¡°He¡¯s riling up the crew.¡± ¡°He¡¯s bitter because he wanted the captaincy that went to me.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not the only one who resents you. Many think that you believe yourself too good for the rest of us.¡± ¡°And what do you think, Nat?¡± ¡°Honestly, I think you do believe you¡¯re too good for the rest of us. At least a little. But Jakaar put you in charge for a reason. Where you came from, the training you¡¯ve had. You are just better than us. Some look at you and want to catch up. Most would rather just drag you down. If the normal crew complement turned against you, odds are that you could handle them, as long as one or two stayed loyal. But this extended crew gives Kreegle an opportunity. Sitting around for days on end, like this. You¡¯ve been holed up in here, what? Reading?¡± ¡°Studying our opponent. Preparing to face him.¡± ¡°And while you¡¯ve been doing that, Kreegle has been preparing to face you. Cutting deals and making promises.¡± Jota waved Natala into the chair Noriko had vacated as he contemplated what she¡¯d told him. ¡°He¡¯ll have to make his move during the confrontation,¡± he mused. ¡°While a few of the crew might be fully on his side, most will balk if he moves too early. Either at the prospect of open mutiny or of facing me undistracted. His best case would be making it look like I was floundering against Asano, and he stepped in to save the day. It¡¯s not plausible, but it doesn¡¯t have to be if I¡¯m dead. So long as I am, and he¡¯s in charge by the time it¡¯s over, he can spin any tale he cares to.¡± ¡°What will you do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. The more I learn about this man, Asano, the more certain I become that he¡¯s not what we¡¯ve been told.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Things that don¡¯t add up. My information is coming from the people of this world, so I¡¯m having to infer through the gaps in their knowledge. They¡¯re so frantic to exploit the changes that have come to their world that they seem terminally incurious as to the underlying causes. Petty concerns over petty power. I suspect Asano to be an agent of the World-Phoenix, sent to stabilise this world.¡± ¡°How certain are you?¡± ¡°The information given to me is less than well-curated. But Asano was known for having two companions from other worlds here. The one they know the most about is a person from the connected world. The other they know less about. Asano was isolating from the local powers by the time they moved together more frequently. Her reported power levels are inconsistent, but would fit someone using different levels of avatar. And it¡¯s almost certainly coincidence, but her name was Dawn.¡± ¡°As in, the former First Sister?¡± ¡°Yes. This would have been around the time she stepped back and Helsveth took on the role.¡± ¡°That¡­¡± Natala shook her head. ¡°¡­that would change things. It can¡¯t be that big. Can it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s a big cosmos. How many trillions were named after the First Sister?¡± ¡°Probably a larger number than I know the name for.¡± ¡°If Asano does have that level of connection, though, it would suggest a wider design to our presence here. Someone using the Jakaar Fleet ¡ª and us in particular ¡ª to make a carefully measured point.¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± ¡°We be flexible. These are just conjectures, and wild ones at that. If everything is as it seems, then we play it out as intended.¡± ¡°And if Kreegle makes his move?¡± ¡°Then we may have to make an ally of the man we came here to kill. In which case, we should hope that my conjectures are not so wild.¡± *** Sitting alone in the dining hall of his cloud ship, Jason looked over at Jory, sitting with a group of his alchemists. They were chatting with Clive, Lorelei and some of their Magic Research Association members. In the time he¡¯d been away, Jory had gone from small-town alchemist to a leader at the forefront of his field. Clive had gone from a disaffected member of the Magic Society to a formidable rival. Travis and Farrah had invented global telecommunications. His friends had remembered him, in his absence, but their lives still moved on. So much had happened in his absence, and that was among the long lived of Pallimustus. On Earth, the changes had been massive, but his concerns were for a very small slice of it. The family he left behind. Isolated by vampires and the ambitions of the powerful. His niece had grown from a girl to a young woman, and he had missed it. He hadn¡¯t been there to spoil her, or to give sketchy advice that her mother wouldn¡¯t approve of. He was beyond death, now, but he was not beyond time. In a few days, he would be in the most dangerous battle he¡¯d ever faced, at least in a mortal body. He couldn¡¯t die, but if his avatar was destroyed, the price would again be time. Again, his friends and family would remember, but again, they would go on with their lives. Farrah slid into the seat next to him at his otherwise empty table. ¡°Why the sad boy face? Worried about this fight?¡± ¡°No. Just thinking about what losing would cost me. Reminding myself why I have to win. And I will. We will. I¡¯ve been preparing for this fight for twenty years. No turning into a metaphor to fight the remnants of a god¡¯s power. No super-powerful bird form, or spiritual war across my soul. Just me and my friends, fighting like adventurers. The people of Earth can¡¯t understand what I am. They don¡¯t have the frame of reference. With this fight, they¡¯re going to see who I am.¡± ¡°Battle isn¡¯t who you are, Jason.¡± ¡°Yes, Farrah, it is. It¡¯s not all I am, but right now, it¡¯s the part they need to see.¡± ¡°I get that. But it not being all you are matters. Maybe you should let them see some of that too.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve got that covered.¡± ¡°Jason, what did you do?¡± ¡°Why do people keep asking me that?¡± ¡°Because we¡¯re not from Earth, Jason. We already know who you are.¡± Chapter 946: Good Luck in Your Battle Magic masked Jota¡¯s dimension ship from any means the people of Earth had of detecting it. It was quite obviously there, however, as his crew were drawn up by the gravity channel and vanishing in the air. He stood outside the Asano Village grounds with his second in command, watching his people ascend. ¡°We could just make a move first,¡± Natala suggested. ¡°Kill Kreegle, quick and clean.¡± ¡°He¡¯s gold rank. I may be stronger than him, but there¡¯s no ¡®quick and clean¡¯ option. If I start a fight, I face the same problem he does: the rest of the crew¡¯s reactions. How many do you think would take sides?¡± ¡°Not many. Most would wait to back the winner. Of the ones that did step in, more would likely take his side, especially if you were the aggressor.¡± ¡°There you are, then.¡± She nodded. ¡°It still feels wrong to just let the serpent slither up behind us.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t concern yourself with the snake at our backs, Nat. Save your worry for the dragon in front of us.¡± ¡°You¡¯re convinced Asano is more dangerous than we were told?¡± ¡°Call it instinct. Or precaution. When I was training, we were taught the ways the cosmic powers move. We know the World-Phoenix has been maintaining this world¡¯s integrity. It prefers to operate through lesser agents, and what I¡¯ve gleaned of Asano¡¯s actions fit the pattern. If I¡¯m wrong, we leave Asano alone. Kreegle needs him gone if he wants to return to Jakaar triumphant. That will be our time to push the fight.¡± ¡°And if Asano is a person of consequence?¡± ¡°Then we side with him.¡± ¡°And what of Jakaar?¡± ¡°He¡¯ll thank us for not antagonising the World-Phoenix. There¡¯s a chance the phoenix cult manipulated us to be here in the first place.¡± ¡°Why would they do that? We¡¯re no threat to them.¡± ¡°It will not have been for them.¡± ¡°For Asano?¡± ¡°His world has just opened to the cosmic community. I suspect that we¡¯ve been set up to become his first impression.¡± *** The artefact city, in outback Australia, was waiting. Really a small town, most of the nine-thousand or so workers who lived there had been evacuated. These were shop attendants, janitors, gardeners and others who served to keep the city operating. They were carefully vetted and paid more than their jobs would earn them in a less secure location. Being removed in preparation for the coming altercation amounted to paid holidays as they were shipped off to Adelaide. Evacuated alongside them were the personnel from the governments and factions who believed the city existed for their benefit. A handful of key staff remained, ensconced in bunkers beneath the city. There were also those influential enough to avoid being sent away, likewise bunkered down. Only the security force remained above ground, alongside Rufus and Taika. Anna and Gary were in the same bunker as Lenora, Barry and their key staff members. The bunker had a series of rooms along a connecting corridor, not unlike a hotel. It also had a shared lounge and cafeteria area. The walls were stark, plain metal and the floor concrete. Large monitors on the walls were linked to the external cameras fixed on the standing stones, also displaying the now-active defence system. Magically enhanced howitzers and rocket pods had risen from their own secure bunkers and were now pointed at the air over the circle. The last section of the bunker, outside of service areas, was the command-and-control room. The most restricted zone within the bunker, from which Lenora and her staff directed operations. Anna and Gary were not allowed access, and instead took a meal in a lounge area booth. In front of them were surprisingly palatable meals, given the functional nature of the bunker¡¯s cafeteria. Barry approached with Anna¡¯s brother in tow, leaving Terry behind before heading for the command room. Terry joined the pair in the booth where Anna introduced them. ¡°How did a young man like you wrangle an invitation to all this?¡± Terry asked Gary. ¡°He¡¯s our technical expert for this trip,¡± Anna said. ¡°He has a knack for practical solutions when it comes to magitech. Along with making sure our vehicle operates correctly, he¡¯s here to spot any dirty little tricks people might play on us.¡± ¡°The number of listening devices my custom privacy tools have shut down is crazy,¡± Gary said. ¡°Microdevices, robot insects, vibrational analysis. Is there anyone in this town who isn¡¯t a spy?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s you,¡± Terry pointed out. ¡°Uh¡­ yep,¡± Gary agreed unconvincingly. ¡°I haven¡¯t placed any surveillance devices.¡± Anna gave him a flat look. ¡°What?¡± Gary asked. ¡°With everyone else doing it, I thought it would be impolite not to. Don¡¯t worry; I made sure security would find enough to think they probably got them all.¡± Terry let out a laugh. ¡°I like this one, Annie. Speaking of surveillance, though, there¡¯s an awful lot of press attention on this. They aren¡¯t letting people onsite, but there¡¯s a veritable swarm of media drones up there. The usual outlets, plus they had me curate some appropriate influencers to be included.¡± His expression turned uncharacteristically sober. ¡°I hope this doesn¡¯t go badly for you, Anna. Mother reached out a couple of months ago, to try and have me convince you to distance yourself from the Asano Clan.¡± ¡°Unsurprising,¡± Anna said. ¡°I note you didn¡¯t do that, though.¡± ¡°I figured it was more of her manipulating, scheming crap, so I didn¡¯t let her drag you into it.¡± ¡°Thanks, Terry.¡± He let out a slow, frustrated breath. ¡°What happened to her, Annie? It wasn¡¯t like this before magic came out in the open. Now she¡¯s obsessed with becoming some kind of global powerbroker.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Anna said. She put her hand over his on the table and gave it a squeeze. ¡°I think there¡¯s something specific,¡± Terry said. ¡°She contacted me again, a couple of weeks ago. She seems very convinced that things aren¡¯t going to go well for the Asanos when Jason gets here.¡± Anna leaned back, her expression looking like she¡¯d bit into a lemon. ¡°She¡¯s in on it, then,¡± she said. ¡°That could end up being a mess, depending on how far they push it.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°In on what?¡± Terry asked. ¡°Is it to do with why they¡¯re treating Asano¡¯s return like a military invasion? No one has told me a damn thing, and I¡¯m meant to be in charge of the media response!¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s to do with that,¡± Anna said. ¡°The locals have brought in some ringers from outside our universe,¡± Gary told him. ¡°There¡¯s going to be a big old fight.¡± *** The multinational security force was arrayed around the site, some half a kilometre back, behind the heavy weapons. Rufus and Taika were free to roam, not being under the command of the security force. Commander Higgins was not happy about it, but there was little he could do. There were a dozen gold rankers who had been called in for Asano¡¯s arrival, and not one of them was willing to cross Jason¡¯s two friends. Analysis based on their witnessed anti-vampire operations suggested they were the most powerful individuals on the planet, by a goodly margin. Taika and Rufus meandered around, behind the security squads. Taika looked over at the emplaced weaponry, all pointed at the sky over the stone circle. ¡°I don¡¯t think much of these defences,¡± Taika said. ¡°Where are the spinny guns with a bunch of barrels? Where are the rail cannons? These look like someone burgled some weaponry off a boat and scribbled some magic runes on the side.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty much what happened,¡± said someone from a nearby squad, his accent marking him as American. ¡°I have a cousin in acquisitions who told me¡ª¡± ¡°Mouth closed, eyes forward, Jenkins.¡± ¡°Keith,¡± Jenkins said, ¡°you know we¡¯re not in the military, right?¡± ¡°I said mouth closed, Jenkins. That¡¯s an order.¡± ¡°Paramilitary at best,¡± Jenkins continued. ¡°Technically, we¡¯re private security contractors. Which makes you my supervisor, Keith, not my commanding officer. Also, you¡¯ve got a real ¡®war criminal¡¯ vibe going on. They didn¡¯t put you in charge of any prisoners, did they?¡± ¡°You want to get kicked out, Jenkins?¡± ¡°Yes, please. I signed up to fill out my awakening stone collection, and they totally did me over on the contract. Cheaped out on the stones, too. Elastic awakening stone? What¡¯s going on there?¡± The squad leader started marching over to Jenkins when the air was filled with a tingling sensation and a sharp smell of ozone. ¡°It¡¯s like being near a power line in the rain,¡± Taika observed. He had barely finished speaking when the standing stones lit up with gold, silver and blue light. Streaks of it rose into the air like colourful, inverted rain. It collected in a sphere that rapidly grew, the rising light growing thicker with each passing moment. *** In the command room of one of the various bunkers, Lenora watched the light show with everyone else. Most of her staff were at various consoles. She observed as the growing sphere finally stopped expanding. It floated in the air, colours swirling, then started to shrink and dim. ¡°Do we have an estimate on the size it reached?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°Around four-hundred and fifty metres, Ma¡¯am. Also, the Network is reporting a large dimensional energy event is showing up on the grid.¡± ¡°Very useful,¡± Lenora murmured as her eyes remained glue to the monitors. ¡°Whatever would we do without them?¡± *** As the supernatural light dimmed and shrank, the observers were able to make out a shape within, slowly becoming clearer. It was a vessel, somewhere between dirigible, ocean liner and alien spaceship. Dark red panels were affixed on white cloud substance, from which wisps were teased off and sent drifting away on the wind. A set of spheres orbited the ship, like a ring around a finger. The orbs were dark, seeming to absorb the sunlight. Inside the orbs were orange and blue nebulas that looked like eyes. As the last of the gold, silver and blue light dimmed, words written along the side of the vessel in gold became visible. Taika burst out laughing as he read them. Rufus let out a sigh. ¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°I have no idea what that means. Which at least means we know it¡¯s Jason and not the people here to kill him. How can an ice cube be¡ª¡± *** ¡°What does that mean?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°It¡¯s from a song,¡± Barry told her. ¡°Early nineties, if I remember rightly. By Vice-President Jackson, back when he was a musician.¡± ¡°I thought he was an actor. Like Reagan.¡± ¡°He was a musician first. Do you think Asano is making a political statement?¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s going to give me a headache. Any sign of this group who are meant to be here to kill him?¡± As if to answer her question, the sky above the city shimmered like heat haze, and suddenly a second vessel was in the sky. This one looked overtly like a spaceship, blocky and militaristic, but also with a clear magic aspect. The lines of the ship glowed and hummed with magic that essence users could sense even from the ground, powerful and intimidating. It was, however, much smaller than Asano¡¯s vessel, some eighty metres long versus more than three hundred. The whole city had tensed up, poised for whatever was about to happen. Two figures emerged from the second ship to appear, riding on simple round disks. They flew towards Asano¡¯s vessel, as one person emerged to meet them. *** Jota watched the person he imagined to be Asano float through the air towards him. The man was using his aura to fly, like a messenger. He was a known outworlder, so it could be some unique ability, or there could be a connection to the messengers. They were invading the linked world and, if Asano had thrown in with them, it would explain having the astral magic to world hop. Asano¡¯s aura offered no further clues, being otherwise impenetrable to Jota¡¯s senses. That was a surprising level of aura mastery for someone from such a backwards world. Jota had discovered the auras on Earth to be execrable in their level of training. The clothes Asano was wearing were interesting. He had no battle garb, and no magic items of note, beyond a pair of what were probably amulets on a necklace under his shirt. Otherwise, Jota sensed only basic clothing enchantments, although the man¡¯s underpants had oddly potent resilience magic. In design, he had a shirt with a colourful floral print, tan short pants, sandals and a straw hat. There were a souple of small scars on his face, and another mostly hidden by his shirt. Such things were usually affectations in essence users, but Jota suspected that these were not. For someone who understood what a genuine scar indicated, it put a very different spin on the seemingly casual man. ¡°G¡¯day,¡± Jason greeted Jota and Natala as they drew close. ¡°I suppose we should have a chat.¡± Jota couldn¡¯t place the language. He was clearly using a translation power, but unlike any he¡¯d encountered. It was like the words slipped into his head to impart their meaning, which was unnerving. He also sensed something about the words that was hidden. ¡°That¡¯s not your true way of speaking,¡± Jota said. ¡°No,¡± Jason acknowledged. ¡°Things tend to go better when I do it this way.¡± ¡°Deception is not the best way to start a relationship, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°I suspect this relationship will go poorly regardless, but your point is a fair one.¡± Asano¡¯s next words, though simple, resonated like thunder in Jota¡¯s ears. ¡°So be it. I am Jason Asano, as you have surmised. Would you care to introduce yourselves?¡± Jota¡¯s eyes widened a little. There were various names for the manner of speaking that Asano had used. On the world where Jota had been born, it was called the divine voice. ¡°My name is Jota Withers. This is my friend and second-in-command, Natala Spiro. I had been wondering if all this was a setup, and now, I find myself convinced.¡± ¡°Convinced enough to turn around and go home?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yes, actually. Unfortunately, things are not that simple.¡± ¡°They never are.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid that if I try to turn around, one of my crew will take the chance to launch a long-planned mutiny. Kill us both, take my ship and report back to my admiral.¡± ¡°And Jakaar will accept that?¡± Jota gave Natala a side glance as she stirred, but she remained silent. ¡°Admiral Jakaar likes results and dislikes trouble,¡± Jota said. ¡°As long as he gets the results he wants, he won¡¯t begrudge an obvious lie. A living captain is more valuable than a dead one. Of course, the admiral is not getting what he wants here, is he?¡± ¡°He is not,¡± Jason said. Jota nodded. ¡°He doesn¡¯t want entanglements with the Cult of the World-Phoenix. Or the messengers. Which of them are your backers? Or is it both?¡± ¡°Neither. I¡¯ve been ally and enemy to the messengers and the World-Phoenix at various points.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not an agent of the World-Phoenix?¡± ¡°You could say I have been, from a certain point of view. The World-Phoenix owed me a favour, which is why she set you up like this.¡± ¡°My crew has twenty-seven gold-rankers. Can you match that?¡± ¡°Numerically, yes. How good are your people?¡± ¡°In terms of skill? Capable enough, but probably not the match of those who came up fighting monsters in a rural backwater. I suspect our equipment is better than what your people are armed with, however. By quite a margin.¡± ¡°How many will stand aside?¡± ¡°Three or four might join the fight on our side. Some others might stay out of it, but I can¡¯t be sure.¡± ¡°You will not fight with us,¡± Jason said. ¡°If you want to stand aside, then do so, but we will not offer you our backs.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± ¡°And, just so you know, your ship is forfeit.¡± Natala stirred again and Jota gestured her to stillness. ¡°We came to your world in search of plunder,¡± he said. ¡°I understand that there is a price to that, and we will be in little position to negotiate once most of my crew is dead. But all you offer now is an incentive to work with my crew to kill you and finish my differences with them after.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a negotiation,¡± Jason said. ¡°This is me deciding if anyone gets to live after. If you ever get to leave this world, Mr Withers, it will not be for some time. That is the price of coming here.¡± Jota turned to look at his ship. ¡°I would ask for some time to discuss this with my companion,¡± he said, ¡°but it appears that my chief mutineer has run out of patience. Good luck in your battle, Mr Asano.¡± Chapter 947: Second Chance to Make a First Impression Floating in the air alongside Natala and Jason, Jota watched Kreegle and most of the crew stream out of the dimension ship. Some used the ship¡¯s personal flight disks, but many showed off an eclectic mix of personalised devices or used their own powers. The one uniform thing about them was being armed to the teeth, although even in that, there was a lot of variance. The array of potent weapons, armour and magical tools stood in stark contrast to Jason in his floral shirt and straw hat. ¡°Mr Asano,¡± Jota said, his eyes locked on the avaricious grin of the approaching Kreegle. ¡°As you don¡¯t appear kitted out for battle, you may want to¡­¡± He noticed a dark cloud in the spot Jason had just been floating. It dissipated swiftly, revealing a figure in robes the colour of dried blood. There was a sword at his hip, echoing his power as only a soul-bound weapon could. Enshrouding him was a cloak and hood that looked like he¡¯d somehow ripped the energy from a portal to drape around himself. From within the hood a pair of nebulous eyes glowed, casting just enough light to make out the sharp point of a chin. ¡°¡­make preparations.¡± ¡°As you will soon see, Mr Withers, I have prepared quite thoroughly.¡± Jota watched as the pirates slowed down, becoming more cautious in their approach. They were gathered, not in any tactical array. Jota knew that Kreegle understood the advantage of numbers, but not how to use them. The man was pure thug, not a tactician, as reflected in his poorly plotted mutiny. But tactics or not, there were twenty three of them, approaching through the air. Jota glanced back at Jason. He looked more the villain than the pirates come to kill him. His alien eyes stared at Kreegle and the mutinous crew like a spider watching a fly. Asano let his aura spread like a web, giving Jota his first real look at it. It confirmed that the scars on Asano¡¯s face weren¡¯t affectations, but marks of suffering and struggle. Of challenges faced and overcome. Jota was very familiar with pirates whose life was spent preying on the weak. Asano had the aura of a man who preyed on the strong. With just a glance at Asano¡¯s aura, Jota knew he¡¯d made the right choice. If Asano¡¯s companions were anything like the man himself, the only question was how many pirates would still be alive an hour from now. This was only reinforced when he noticed the most startling thing about Asano¡¯s aura: for all its power, it wasn¡¯t, strictly speaking, the real thing. Rather than a direct projection of the soul, Asano¡¯s aura was filtered from some other place. The body floating in front of him was an avatar. ¡°You¡¯re not even really here, are you?¡± Jota asked. ¡°No.¡± ¡°So, our mission really was impossible from the start.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t use the word impossible. The impossible isn¡¯t as out of reach as most believe.¡± ¡°Then what word would you use?¡± ¡°Doomed.¡± ¡°They might be less doomed if your friends don¡¯t come out soon.¡± ¡°There are many eyes on us, Mr Withers, and I have an oh-so-rare second chance to make a first impression. Before my friends join us, I have a point to make to the people who invited you here.¡± Jota looked back and forth between the horde of gold rankers that were his now-former crew, and Jason Asano, facing them all alone. He used his disk to back calmly but swiftly away. *** Lenora¡¯s bunker was silent as a tomb as she and her staff watched the events unfold. A wall of screens showed footage from the many surveillance drones and emplaced cameras, even tapping into the media drones as well. She had no idea how many people were watching the same thing, in other bunkers and across the planet via streamed feeds. While the audio pickups got nothing but fuzz, the footage was crystal clear, aside from some blurring of the mouths. Lenora glanced at her lip-reading expert, who shrugged helplessly. Asano looked almost unchanged from the archival pictures Lenora had been going over for the last few days. If anything, he looked slightly younger, his features refined by another rank up. Even his lost-tourist manner of dress remained intact. He spoke peacefully with the two invaders, who were human at least in appearance. Their clothes were shades of grey and off white, loose but practical. The muted colours were punctuated by armoured panels etched with intricate sigils. They didn¡¯t fit with the Earth conception of pirates, but Lenora would have been surprised if they had. That surprise came when the rest of the pirates came streaming from their ship, looking every part the gang of space thugs. They were an odd mix of fantastical and technological, from glowing daggers tucked into belts to backpacks sprouting robot wings. Unlike the pair who had approached Asano diplomatically, these new pirates were plainly intent on violence. Even so, they had slowed their approach, not charging in headlong. Asano had changed his own attire for the imminent fight, although none of the promised companions emerged from his vessel. He was now garbed as the cloak-wearing death dealer he was known as, although there were differences from the footage she¡¯d seen. His cloak had always been made of supernatural darkness, rather than any physical material, but this was on another level. It looked like he¡¯d ripped a hole in the universe and draped it about himself. It was pulled together at the front, making him look like a living portal. The first two pirates had clearly come around to Asano¡¯s side, backing off before the fight began. Asano¡¯s eyes turned from the pirates to look around at the sky. Wherever his gaze fell, the sky turned dark until the city had gone from day to a strange magical night. There were no stars, but lingering echoes of sunlight left the city in an unnatural gloom. Lenora liked to maintain a stern professionalism in front of the staff, but even she had her limits. ¡°Did he just BLOT OUT THE GOD DAMN SUN?¡± ¡°Uh, it looks that way, boss,¡± Barry said, equally wide-eyed. ¡°How?¡± ¡°By looking at it, from what I could see.¡± The pirates on the monitor were unfazed, compared to their observers. With Asano now alone, they moved to the attack. The lead pirate conjured a harpoon the size of an electricity pole and hurled it at Asano, who gave no reaction. The pole shot through the cloak that wrapped his entire body, revealing it as the portal it appeared to be. The monitoring algorithm even pulled up a shot from one of the drones, showing the spear flying through whatever void lay beyond. This took the pirate aback for only a moment, but it was a moment Asano used. Shadowy figures poured from the void cloak, all but invisible in the gloom. The algorithm estimated two hundred or more, data points appearing on one of the monitors, but Lenora couldn¡¯t make out much of what was happening. The pirates didn¡¯t share her confusion, immediately unleashing attacks at the shadows.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The observation suite in the command centre had an array of useful tools to monitor the fight. Composite shots from multiple cameras, event tracking and a variety of replay functions were managed by a mix of human operators and sophisticated algorithms. They picked out critical moments from the gloom and violence playing out at gold-rank speeds. The computer started attempting to map out the dark battle, using wire frame overlays and colour blocking to try and clarify what was happening. Asano had vanished in the chaos, but one of the staff wound back the footage. They watched a replay of his cloak turning dark, allowing him to disappear into the gloom. Lenora had trouble tracking the fight, even slowed down, curated and enhanced. It was a storm of dancing shadows, weapons blazing with light and spells flashing with power. The pirates attempted to cut down the shadows to hunt their elusive quarry, but the shadows kept reforming. They did not take attacks one-sidedly, either, sprouting strange arms that left them looking like squat, sinister trees. At the end of each arm was a gleaming black and red dagger. The video footage caught glimpses of Asano in the melee, the algorithms slowing and highlighting any time he appeared. Like the shadows he was hiding amongst, he had sprouted the twisted shadow arms that were attacking the pirates. His key identifier was the sword wielded by one of his shadow arms, his real ones hidden beneath the cloak still fully wrapped around him. The daggers held by the shadows were black with ruby-like embellishments. The ornate weapons looked better suited for ritualistic sacrifice than frenetic combat, and the results of their attacks bore that out. While the pirates were slashed, time and again, the cuts were shallow and superficial. Even Jason¡¯s sword accomplished little in terms of wounding his enemies. It shared a colour scheme with the daggers, with a black blade etched with glowing red sigils, but the design was simple and practical. That practicality did not translate to deeper wounds, however, as it flicked around wildly but never bit deep into flesh. Lenora was aware of how Jason fought, so she knew that each of those seemingly minor wounds left blight and poison in their wake. It was not helping him in the moment, however, when the pirates at least seemed unaffected. ¡°Is he going to fight them all alone?¡± one of Lenora¡¯s staff wondered aloud. Lenora considered the point well made. Impressive as it was that he hadn¡¯t been dogpiled immediately, the fight was far from one-sided. The gold-rank enemies were clearly not at Asano¡¯s level, but they left any of Earth¡¯s gold-rankers in the dust. The gloom was clearly not affecting them as badly as it was the observers of the fight, and they were clearly adapting, finding and striking at Asano with more frequency. The algorithm picked up each hit on Asano, putting it into a playlist screening on one of the side monitors. None of the hits were serious, but the pressure on Asano was mounting. *** Jason had spent years in his soul fighting hordes of nameless great astral beings, and that experience paid off as he took the fight to the pirates. Using his aura to treat the air like solid ground, he danced through them, one shadow amongst many. His blade was a light touch, delivering the afflictions that would ultimately grant him victory. There were a couple of healers in the group, but Jason¡¯s afflictions not only absorbed the healing but inflicted more damage as they were removed. To push through his afflictions, the pirate healers would have to make things worse before they could make them better. The individual skill of Jason¡¯s enemies was better than he had expected, but he could see how a life of piracy had shaped them. Used to soft targets and punching down, they were not maximising their advantages. Their chief advantage was numerical, but these were selfish and untrusting mutineers. Always watching their fellows for a dagger in the back, the lack of group tactics allowed Jason to use their numbers against them. He came and went, sowing discord and confusion, one more fleeting shadow amongst many. He suspected that if Jota had still been in charge, the fight would have been much harder, forcing Jason to call on his friends for a rescue. While they failed to pin Jason down, not everything was going his way. The pirates did have skills and were learning faster than he¡¯d like, cataloguing his tricks and adapting to them. More and more, they would anticipate an attack, or spot the subtle differences between him and the Shades, allowing them to counterattack. More than anything, it was their dizzying array of magical devices that caught him out. On the simpler side was armour that reacted to any attack, usually with a force blast or gout of flame. More complex devices included nanowire nets or small constructs that protected the blind spots of their owners. Jason¡¯s Amulet of the Dark Guardian was working overtime as more attacks landed. For every affliction his powers delivered, the amulet added to a shield that weakened attacks against him. As the shield energy was consumed, it was converted, in turn, to health regeneration. It wasn¡¯t enough to keep Jason functional alone, but was just one of several effects that allowed Jason to heal most wounds in moments. The Leech Bite special attack delivered a new affliction at gold rank, Thief of Life. Although it did not stack like many of his powers, it drained a small amount of life from each affected enemy, feeding it to Jason. Like all his health regeneration, it was further enhanced by the blood robes Colin conjured for him. The bloodthirsty familiar was making his own efforts, Jason using Colin in his original swarm state. He left clutches of the toothy leeches on each enemy he clashed with, delivering yet more afflictions and life drain. This left distracted pirates trying to remove them, with varying levels of success. Scraping and plucking accomplished little as the clutches self-replicated using the very life force they were draining. A few pirates did manage to escape the leeches, often by blasting themselves with self-destructive area attacks. The last familiar, Gordon, remained inside Jason for two reasons. One was that his distinctive orbs would draw too much attention. The other was that, when not manifested, he enhanced Jason¡¯s aura strength. Jason aura was strong already, but at silver it had been an utterly overwhelming force, relative to his rank. The same was not true at gold, as the avatar was linked to Jason¡¯s soul but did not contain it. Even so, Jason was single-handedly negating the biggest advantage the pirates should have had: more than twenty aura powers, variously enhancing them and diminishing him. He was suppressing every single one of them, however, through a combination of native strength, the boost from Gordon and Jason¡¯s own aura power. As the name suggested, Hegemony was an aura power based around dominance. Within Jason¡¯s hegemonic power, he made the rules. That manifested in various ways across the ranks, most notably in how any attack on him or his allies became a sin. At gold rank, he gained the power to determine whose aura powers were allowed to flourish and whose were crushed beneath his boot. He was still required to suppress auras using his well-honed strength and mastery, but he could now affect every other aura with his full power simultaneously, instead of needing to split it. As a result not a single pirate was bringing their aura power to bear. The battle continued, Jason dosing the pirates with his affliction suite, while they pushed him closer and closer to the edge. They were catching him out faster and hitting him harder, drawing closer to a definitive hit. If they could ring his bell hard enough, they could dogpile and finish him with their numbers. Slowly but surely, the tide was turning against Jason. The pirates were showing signs of their afflictions, but he was getting no kills off the gold rankers. Without weaker minions to kill and drain for buffs, he was not growing in strength, one of the weakness of his combat style. He took a pummelling after he was caught by a harpoon that affected him with the Inescapable condition, shutting down his shadow jumping so long as the harpoon remained embedded in his body. The pirates would not give him the chance to yank it out, pouncing on him as they smelled blood in the water. As Jason sent out a chat message, the pirate leader yanked on the chain affixed to the end of the harpoon. Face was split in a savage grin of triumph as he yanked on the chain with strength akin to Humphrey or Taika, pulling Jason towards him. With Jason¡¯s face shrouded in darkness, the pirate failed to see Jason grinning back. What he did spot was a crystal rod that grew out of his own chest armour. He looked down in confusion at the offending item. Tethers of force shot out, connecting to each member of the pirate crew. In that moment of confusion, Jason tore the harpoon out of his body, the brutal tines pulling blood, bone and flesh with it. With a gaping hole in his torso, Jason vanished, leaving only a floating, empty cloak. Chapter 948: The Right Move Killing a gold ranker was hard. Killing a couple of dozen was extremely hard. The standard solution to killing things that excelled at not being killed was afflictions, placing Jason at the centre of his team¡¯s plan to handle the pirates. As the entire purpose of the fight was to demonstrate Jason¡¯s power to the world, that worked out nicely. The first stage was for Jason to fight the pirates alone. This was the part of the plan that took the longest to talk Humphrey into, and several contingencies were in place should it go poorly. There had been a lengthy discussion of what ¡®going poorly¡¯ entailed, with Jason arguing that getting decapitated ¡®wouldn¡¯t be all that bad.¡¯ Stage two of the plan had two trigger conditions. The first was Jason spreading enough afflictions to the pirates that they would be significantly impacted by the time the rest of the team appeared. The other was Jason biting off more than he could chew and getting the snot kicked out of him. At that point, Team Biscuit, plus guest member Farrah, would go on the offensive. Sophie¡¯s Eternal Moment power allowed her to massively accelerate her own timestream. At gold rank, she could extend the power to the whole team, although it had the same exhausting effect on their stamina and mana as it did her. The result was the team approaching the pirates at teleport-like speed, without the brief but critical moment of dimensional disorientation that came from an actual teleport. They were long past throwing up like first time portal travellers, but in a gold-rank battle, every moment crucial. On Jason¡¯s signal, the team arrived, seemingly out of nowhere, and were immediately acting. Jason, having ripped a hole in his torso removing a harpoon, vanished. At the same time, Belinda¡¯s Force Tether power yanked the entire pirate crew into a comical ball of squirming limbs. Belinda¡¯s power set didn¡¯t spew deluges of lava or blinding streams of magical light. Her gold-rank upgrades didn¡¯t create sandstorms and tsunamis like Sophie¡¯s Wind Wave, or bring her back from the dead like Humphrey¡¯s Immortality. Force Tether¡¯s modest gold-rank upgrade was to increase the pulling force when the power was first activated. The extra strength didn¡¯t last long but was powerful enough to squish even a cohort of gold-rankers into a tightly pressed cluster of surprised and angry yells. Powerful attacks like Clive¡¯s Wrath of the Magister or Farrah¡¯s Lava Cannon inflicted massive amounts of damage, but while their streams of energy were large and powerful, gold rankers were fast and their fights spread out. It was hard to inflict sustained damage from such abilities on one enemy, let alone multiple. A big floating ball of pirates, however, made the perfect target. The strength of the tether was already fading, leaving only a short window in which the pirates were left ripe for area attacks. The team was already acting, Farrah inundating the pirates in a deluge of lava. Belinda used her own Mirror Magic to replicate the spell, revelling in the chance to unleash such flashy magic for herself, even if it wasn¡¯t really her ability. It was more than just a chance to throw fancy spells around, however. At gold rank, Mirror Magic allowed both herself and Farrah to use Lava Cannon a second time, ignoring the usual cooldown. Other members of the team were piling on damage as well, such as Clive atop giant-sized Onslow. Standing on a platform pre-cast with a combat ritual, his Wrath of the Magister spell was just as powerful as the lava streams, if not more so. Sophie¡¯s Wind Blade power didn¡¯t share that strength, but the chaining effect worked like a blender with the pirates so clustered up. The team had taken full advantage of their moment of surprise, unleashing their attacks the instant they arrived. Jason had taken that moment to appear inside Onslow¡¯s shell, stepping out of a shadow to be attended by Neil. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Neil asked him. ¡°Never better,¡± Jason said. ¡°You don¡¯t need me to heal the hole in your torso that¡¯s the size of your head, then?¡± ¡°Well, maybe not never better.¡± Neil gave his head an exasperated shake, already pushing Jason onto a ritual circle pre-drawn on the floor. Neils¡¯ most potent healing spell, Grand Renewal, required ritual magic to work, like some of Clive¡¯s powers. At gold rank, and with a magic circle already in place, it closed the gaping wound in an instant. Jason didn¡¯t waste time, reconjuring his cloak as he floated out of the shell¡¯s open sides, arms spread wide. *** Lenora watched as the pirates endured a barrage that she was certain would have annihilated any defensive emplacement on Earth, magically enhanced or not. There was a massive array of magical sensors pointed at the standing stones and the surrounding area, all monitored by her staff. ¡°What sort of readings are we getting off of this?¡± she asked. ¡°Ma¡¯am, the magic up there is hitting the maximum on every scale we have. What¡¯s going on up there could dig out NORAD, which has a mountain of magical protections. And is inside an actual mountain.¡± ¡°Are we in danger?¡± Barry asked. ¡°Yes, sir. We can probably endure the odd glancing blow, but if they turn that kind of power on us directly, we¡¯re cooked.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Asano?¡± Barry asked. ¡°One of the cameras spotted him vanishing right before the pirates got blindsided.¡± ¡°He¡¯s probably inside the giant flying tortoise,¡± Lenora said. ¡°That¡¯s what I figured. I just wanted you to say something that makes you sound like a character in a children¡¯s book.¡± He responded to her flat glare with a grin. ¡°Oh, there he is,¡± Barry said, pointing at the main monitor. Lenora turned her attention back to the wall on monitors as Jason was floating out of the tortoise, arms held out to his sides. ¡°Does he think he¡¯s Jesus?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°Maybe,¡± Barry said. ¡°The giant hole in his chest seems to have miraculously healed.¡± The pirates had pulled themselves apart by that stage but remained in close formation, still hindered by the tethers. They looked the worse for wear, their flesh marred by afflictions and scored from attack magic. There was a moment of calm as the two groups faced off, the focus on Jason at the front of his team. The audio pickups stopped producing the hiss of interference and Jason¡¯s voice came through. It didn¡¯t sound like a digital reproduction, or as if it was being transmitted at all. The words rang like the pronouncement of a god, not heard with the ears but felt with the soul.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Feed me your sins. A red glow shone from within the pirates, their life force made manifest, stained with sickly shades of yellow, purple and black. The tainted colours oozed from the light, like pus from an infected wound, moving through the air towards Jason. Left in their wake were sparks of blue, silver and gold, popping like fireworks. The red light flinched from the sparks, diminishing even as it was reabsorbed into the pirates¡¯ bodies. The taint flowed through the air to Jason and was absorbed into his body. With the audio no longer blocked, Lenora and her staff heard the roars of fury from the pirates, who launched themselves at Jason, ending the lull in combat. From behind Jason, a man with rainbow scale armour, dragon wings and a massive sword launched past him, as if shot from a cannon. When his sword impacted the lead pirate, the explosion of pure force was like a bomb going off, the thunderous sound of it shaking the sky. The entire cohort of pirates were shot away like pellets from a scattergun. Even the incidental force of the blast sent drones tumbling and knocked several fixed cameras out of alignment. The man stood in the air, held aloft by his slowly beating wings. His team had had their hair and clothes whipped savagely but seemed otherwise unaffected. ¡°That¡¯s some sword,¡± Barry said as Lenora shot out orders. Half the camera feeds were knocked out or misaligned and she was directing her people to repair what they could from the control room. ¡°Probably best not to send anyone out to fix them,¡± Barry mused. *** Jason let out a low whistle, unheard as the sound of the blast was still fading. The pirates were scattered across the sky, over the town and beyond. By the time quiet returned, so had Humphrey to his team. ¡°What¡¯s that special attack called again?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Boom Town?¡± ¡°Unstoppable Force,¡± Humphrey told him. ¡°As you well know.¡± ¡°It did look unstoppable. Especially with Neil giving it a boost.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go trying to give my powers weird names. The team letting you name tactics is bad enough.¡± ¡°I thought the ¡®Suck and Cut¡¯ tactic worked pretty well.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t even make sense.¡± He turned from Jason to survey the sky into which he¡¯d knocked all the pirates. He then addressed the team through the team¡¯s voice chat channel, to include Rufus and Taika below. ¡°The transcendent damage Jason left them with won¡¯t finish off gold-rankers, but it¡¯s going to knock them about. Sophie, Rufus, Taika. Did you pick out the healers while they were fighting Jason. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Sure did, bro.¡± ¡°Snatch them up. Don¡¯t give them a chance to counteract Jason¡¯s afflictions. Jason, Farrah and I will move individually to hit them while they¡¯re scattered. Lindy, Neil and Clive, move as a group using Onslow. Stash, support them.¡± A puppy leapt out of the tortoise shell and turned into a rainbow-scaled dragon. The team members shot off, including Rufus and Taika below. Taika transformed into a golden eagle and Rufus moved through the air like an ice skater, silver light gleaming under his feet. ¡°Can we change it up?¡± Jason asked, already heading for one of the pirates. ¡°Bring them to me and I¡¯ll turn their afflictions into suppressive force. Keep them alive.¡± ¡°I thought the plan was to kill them,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°To make a show of it for the people of this world.¡± ¡°That was the plan,¡± Jason said. ¡°But the idea behind it was to show the people of Earth that I¡¯m not the person I was when I left. I definitely would have killed them then. We did need a show, but we skittled them pretty hard, for everyone to see. I think it¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t get an argument from me,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°It¡¯s the right move,¡± Farrah said. ¡°For you, Jason. I don¡¯t care if they die.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t risk yourself just to keep them alive,¡± Humphrey directed. ¡°Play it safe and put them down if you have to.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see about softening them up some more,¡± Jason said. ¡°Mine is the judgement, and the judgement is death.¡± In the sky, silver clouds appeared out of nowhere, gold and blue light flashing within them. Heavy rain fell, not water but droplets of transcendent light. The gold-rank variant of Jason¡¯s execute power, Verdict, did nothing to Jason and his team, or the security forces below. To the scattered pirates, every glowing drop annihilated flesh, sending rainbow smoke burning off their bodies. Already having transcendent damage hollowing them out from the inside, the pirate crew was a spent force, making a break for the ship still in the air. *** In the main chamber of Lenora¡¯s bunker, Anna watched the monitors. Many of the feeds had been knocked out, although most had been subsequently restored. She watched the annihilating rain, recalling Nigel¡¯s story of the vampire annihilation in Asano Clan territory. His trembling voice as he described an apocalyptic vision of blood and sparkling rain. Of power that belonged not to a man but the wrath of an angry god. She hoped that would not be repeated here, or her job was going to get harder. A display of power was one thing, but when people started using religious metaphors, things were getting out of hand. She wondered about the Americans, who had been waiting to intervene. *** Jason touched his sword to the pirate collapsed on the floor of Onslow¡¯s shell.
The woman slumped even more as her powers were suppressed. Jason looked down at his sword, both the first and last gift he had gotten from Gary, and smiled. Jason¡¯s powers had no mercy in them on their own, but through the legacy of his friend, they always would. ¡°Thank you, brother,¡± he whispered. ¡°Some of the pirates are making it to their vessel,¡± Humphrey said through voice chat. ¡°There¡¯s too many to wrap up ourselves. We should call out more people from our ship.¡± ¡°It will work better politically if we use the locals,¡± Jason said. ¡°I know they won¡¯t be reliable, but they can at least keep an eye on the ones we haven¡¯t rounded up yet.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Humphrey agreed. ¡°That will free us up to move on the dimension ship.¡± ¡°Rufus, signal the yanks,¡± Jason said. ¡°Tell them to be careful, just watch and not fight.¡± ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll listen?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Rufus, Taika,¡± Humphrey directed. ¡°Stay back and wrangle these locals. Keep them alive. Everyone else, move on the ship.¡± *** Jota and Natala had withdrawn from the space over the standing stones before combat had begun. Hiding amongst the evacuated buildings of the city, their gold-rank perceptions were enough to track the events of the battle, despite the distance. As Jason and his team moved towards the ship, they felt a wave of magic pulse from it. ¡°They¡¯re running,¡± Natala said. ¡°They¡¯re going to dimension shift.¡± They watched Jason slow down as the rest of his team kept moving. Floating in the air, he lifted an arm towards the dimension ship and made a grasping gesture with his hand. The prow of Jason¡¯s own ship opened like a crocodile¡¯s maw, revealing a giant blue and orange eye inside. Then a single word rang out, not spoken but created. No. Jota had encountered the messenger trick of speaking through aura manipulation, usually employed to impress the ignorant masses of undeveloped worlds. That word, pushed from the ship¡¯s giant eye, was similar, but something more. There was a power to it, a force of command that belonged not to messengers, or even their astral kings, but to gods. His eyes locked onto Jason¡¯s vessel, even as a wave of power swept out from it and over the pirate vessel. The gathering dimensional energy in the pirate ship diminished to nothing. Jota didn¡¯t spare it a glance. ¡°Asano¡¯s ship,¡± he said, his voice breathless with shock. ¡°It¡¯s a temple.¡± ¡°To what god?¡± Natala asked. ¡°The only aura I felt come from it was Asano¡¯s.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± *** One of Lenora¡¯s camera drone operators managed to pilot one of their drones aboard the pirate ship, but the camera feed shut off almost immediately. They did get an audio feed, but it was only scraps of sound interspersed with the hiss of white noise. Everyone in the command room listened attentively anyway. Sometimes it would be the person who appeared to be leading Asano¡¯s group barking directions. Other times it would be the wordless sound of combat, or a cut of screams of fear and panic. One time they heard piteous begging for mercy. Finally, the feed came back fully, with even a static filled image appearing on the monitor. Someone was holding the drone, staring into the camera so closely they could see right up the man¡¯s nostril. ¡°Neil,¡± Jason¡¯s voice came through. ¡°Put that thing down.¡± Chapter 949: A Lot of Things to Do Jason and his team hunted the pirates through the dimension ship, with few putting up much of a fight. Their prey was scattered, on the run and ravaged by afflictions. The near-indestructible gold-rankers weren¡¯t dying, but they were closer than they¡¯d ever been. Used to being on the other end of one-sided fights, they knew what it was to be the predator. Being the prey left them panicked and fearful, many surrendering the moment one of the team caught up with them. While there were still a few pirates to round up, the fight was already won. That left Jason more fascinated with the dimension ship than hunting down stragglers. It had the feel of a proper spaceship, all metal walls and heavy bulkheads. The magitech touches kept it from seeming like a submarine, with glowing magic conduits and holographic communicators. Jason didn¡¯t know how to work them, but some of the pirates were using them to try and coordinate with their fellows. They were collecting the pirates in the mess hall. Each time he returned with a prisoner, Jason would change the afflictions eating them from the inside out into ones that suppressed their powers instead. ¡°I found a dead one in some kind of healing bay,¡± Humphrey said, coming back with another prisoner of his own. ¡°It¡¯s called an infirmary on a spaceship,¡± Jason told him. ¡°It¡¯s a dimension ship, not a spaceship.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take this away from me,¡± Jason said, then his expression turned sober. ¡°Dead in an infirmary, you say? Probably tried to purge what I¡¯d done to him and the Weight of Sin affliction killed him. That¡¯s the one that inflicts damage when my afflictions are cleansed.¡± ¡°Weight of Sin,¡± Humphrey echoed. ¡°Sometimes I forget how¡­ evocative your powers can be.¡± ¡°You can say melodramatic,¡± Jason told him. ¡°I¡¯ve had a lot of therapy; I know who I am.¡± He looked at the prisoners, some on their knees and others curled up on the floor. Their bodies were ravaged by Jason¡¯s power, plus the burns, blasts and pummelling they¡¯d taken from the rest of the team. Their clothes were ragged but largely intact. ¡°I should start sourcing my clothes out in the cosmos,¡± Jason mused. ¡°Then maybe I¡¯d get blasted naked less often.¡± ¡°Does it happen that much?¡± Farrah asked, dragging in another prisoner. ¡°More than I¡¯d like. Should we get Neil in to heal them? With their powers suppressed, they¡¯ll take a while to heal, even with gold-rank vitality. It doesn¡¯t feel right to just leave them with their flesh half rotted off.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who did that to them,¡± Farrah pointed out. ¡°That was a fight. They¡¯re prisoners, now, which means we should treat them humanely. Even if they¡¯re a bunch of pirates, we¡¯re not.¡± ¡°Jason¡¯s right,¡± Humphrey said, ¡°but I don¡¯t want them in fighting shape until we decide what to do with them. Imprison them on the cloud ship?¡± ¡°No, let¡¯s put them on my prison planet with the messenger armies that surrendered to me.¡± *** Lenora and her staff continued to listen in, through the drone Jason and his team had left, discarded in a corner of the dimensional ship¡¯s mess hall. The camera was pointing at a wall and only infrequently got a signal out, but the audio remained mostly functional. ¡°Did he just say he has a prison planet?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°He also said armies,¡± Barry added. ¡°Armies, plural. Of those angel things that were secretly running the Cabal. They don¡¯t have anyone below silver rank. They¡¯re born that way.¡± ¡°Technically, they¡¯re budded, not born,¡± Jason¡¯s voice came through the audio pickup. ¡°They¡¯re actually plants, which is kind of crazy.¡± ¡°Who are you talking to?¡± Humphrey¡¯s voice came through. ¡°Some guy named Barry. He¡¯s in one of the bunkers under the town out there. They¡¯ve gone all quiet and nervous down there now, though. I don¡¯t think they realised I was listening, and they don¡¯t seem happy about it, now that they have. Which, frankly, is a double standard when they¡¯re still tapped into that drone in the corner.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the oversized recording crystal thing?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± *** Jason¡¯s team left the dimension ship and chased down the remaining pirates. Rufus and Taika had already grabbed some of them, before they could kill any of the overenthusiastic American gold rankers. All the pirates were gathered up and sent through the portal to Jason¡¯s soul realm. They couldn¡¯t be forced through, but the alternatives, should they refuse, proved sufficient incentive to comply. Following this, more of Jason¡¯s companions left the cloud ship and moved to the ground together. The security force was unsure how to react, surrounding them but keeping their weapons, mostly guns but also swords, spears and even whips, in overtly non-threatening postures. One of them stepped forward, wearing tactical gear woven with magic. Jason could sense that their armour was less resilient than even the clothes worn by the pirates. ¡°Mr Asano. My name is Security Commander Higgins.¡± ¡°I¡¯m feeling a little crowded, Commander.¡± ¡°In fairness, Mr Asano, you did come to our town.¡± ¡°Your town.¡± ¡°I am, in this case, acting as representative of the Australian government.¡± ¡°And what interest does the Australian government have in this remote little spot.¡± ¡°The standing stones, obviously. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re trying to get me to admit, Mr Asano, but I¡¯m a simple man. My job is to keep this facility, and the people in it, safe. I suggest you save the politics for Director Coleman.¡± ¡°Then why am I talking to you, Commander?¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s rectify that, Mr Asano. Please follow me.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ll skip the walk, Commander. Shade?¡± The familiar emerged from Jason¡¯s shadow. Jason stepped into his dark form and vanished, leaving the commander scowling at Shade and the rest of Jason¡¯s team. ¡°Who made these weapon systems?¡± a voice complained in an American accent. Higgins looked over to see Travis, Clive and Belinda peering at a howitzer with a sigil engraved on the side. ¡°This is terrible,¡± Travis continued. ¡°This is barely more than a big gun with an enchantment to overcome inherent rank resistances. Has this planet not done any weapons research in the last seventeen years?¡± ¡°Sir,¡± Higgins called out to him. ¡°Please refrain from poking the howitzer.¡± *** The security personnel in the command room raised their firearms as a dark shape rose from Lenora¡¯s shadow. ¡°My apology for the intrusion, Director Coleman,¡± Shade said. ¡°My name is Shade and I am afraid that my employer is, from time to time, an unfortunate mix of melodramatic and impatient. Before he arrives, which will be very shortly, I have two recommendations to offer you. The first is to make sure that your security force does not do anything precipitous. Of the people in this room that course of action would endanger, Mr Asano and myself would not be amongst them. Second, I would advise allowing Mrs Annabeth Tilden entry to this room. You may find that she ameliorates some of Mr Asano¡¯s more instinctive impulses.¡± The room was very still as everyone in it waited for Lenora¡¯s reaction. ¡°I am aware of who you are,¡± she said, keeping her voice measured. ¡°I have been briefed. And I will take your advice. Sub-Commander Keene, please remove your security team, find Mrs Tilden and bring her here.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am¡ª¡± ¡°You are not here to debate my orders, Sub-Commander. Do I have to repeat them?¡± ¡°No, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Ooh, strict nanny,¡± Jason said as he emerged from Shade¡¯s body as if walking through a door. ¡°G¡¯day Lenora. Can I call you Lenora? Jason, lovely to meet you.¡± He held out his hand for her to shake, ignoring the security forces who had snapped their guns back up. He was back in the absurd tourist outfit he¡¯d worn when first emerging from his ship, with no sign of the blood and gore that had painted him during the battle. ¡°Sub-Commander, you have your orders,¡± Lenora said, not shifting her gaze from Asano¡¯s as she shook his hand. In contrast to images and reports she¡¯d seen, his eyes were dark brown and seemingly normal. There was amusement in them, but she didn¡¯t trust that any more than his absurd clothes or casual demeanour. She was holding a monster by the hand.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. His aura not only gave away nothing but was utterly imperceptible to her. With the other gold rankers she had met, she could at least register their presence, but to her supernatural senses, she was shaking hands with empty air. The disconnect between that and her mundane senses was unnerving and, she was quite certain, no accident. The double doors leading into the chamber slid open and Annabeth Tilden marched in as if she owned the place. ¡°Jason,¡± Anna demanded as she strode down the central aisle, past rows of workstations. ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°Oh, come on,¡± he complained. ¡°I just got here. I haven¡¯t done anything.¡± Anna arrived in front of Jason and Lenora. After giving Jason a suspicious look up and down, she turned to Lenora and gave her a slight nod. ¡°Director Coleman.¡± ¡°Mrs Tilden.¡± ¡°We need to get you a title, Anna,¡± Jason said. ¡°An important-sounding one. Chief Something-Something of Earth Operations.¡± ¡°Jason¡­¡± He chuckled. ¡°Sorry, Anna. Look, I¡¯m going to go, I just need to know where we drop off all the refugees.¡± ¡°Are you talking about the people who vanished here, seventeen years ago?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°Yep. Didn¡¯t bring all of them, but most. Some chose to stay, and others died. Some couldn¡¯t be found, or didn¡¯t want to be. Anna should have told you about this already.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve discussed it,¡± Lenora confirmed. ¡°However, you can¡¯t just drop them off like they¡¯re bus passengers. It¡¯s not as simple as that.¡± Jason flashed her a smile. ¡°Lenora. Director Coleman. Anna, here, has made the grave error of agreeing to be the person who explains my whims in a manner that prevents me from coming off like a power mad loon who does whatever he wants because no one can stop him. She¡¯s going to have some rough days, now that I¡¯m back, especially these first ones.¡± He gave Anna and apologetic smile and let out a sigh. His expression showed a deep weariness, just for a moment, that Lenora¡¯s intuition told her had nothing to do with the battle he¡¯d just come from. ¡°I¡¯m quite certain that a lot of very powerful people have a lot of questions they¡¯re very convinced are important,¡± he told her. ¡°And I will talk to them. Some of them. In time, as I see fit. Frankly, I don¡¯t think many of the things that matter to them are the same ones that matter to me. I didn¡¯t come to this planet to create some political storm. I¡¯m just coming home and catching up with family. Bringing some friends to show them around my hometown. But I recognise that showing up with all this power is going to scare people, however innocent my intentions. Which is good, because if their intentions are anything like what I experienced last time, they should be scared.¡± ¡°Is that a threat, Mr Asano?¡± Lenora asked. ¡°You can call me Jason. And no, it¡¯s not. You don¡¯t a threaten a mosquito that lands on your arm, Lenora. You swat it if it bothers you.¡± There was a heaviness in the room. Lenora couldn¡¯t sense any aura from Jason but was convinced he was somehow using it to make his presence seem large and imposing, despite his comical appearance. No one in the room spoke into the silence as he paused briefly before continuing. ¡°I¡¯ve been away for longer than I intended, and I have things to do. Things that are important to me. I did leave a mess outside that requires cleaning up. There are some pirates who wisely decided to throw themselves on my mercy rather than fight. I need to have a conversation with them about who on Earth invited them here to kill me. Also, how I can fly off with that dimension ship of theirs.¡± ¡°I can tell you now,¡± Lenora said, ¡°the governments and organisations operating out of this facility will wa¡ª¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what they want.¡± Now she did feel his aura, slamming down on the room like a physical weight. When Jason spoke, his words started soft but grew heavy with restrained anger. ¡°I built the anchor for my dimensional bridge on land that I owned. This town was abandoned after the monster surge, with no intention for anyone to rebuild it. The government was happy to sell me the land, since no one wanted it. But then I was gone, and they wanted what I¡¯d left behind, so they used eminent domain to seize it in my absence. And not only did they do the same to my uncle¡¯s property, but they handed it over to my enemies.¡± Jason¡¯s aura had grown more violent as the anger seeped into his voice. She could hear the roar of blood rushing through her ears as his words bypassed them to thunder against her soul. She, and everyone else in the room but Anna, were either half crouched or slumped in their chairs, as if literally weighed down by Jason¡¯s presence. Shaken as she was, she was thankful for the restraint of his rage. She could feel it in his aura, like water behind a dam, and knew that if the damn broke, it would drown them all. Jason moved next to Lenora, who suddenly realised she was crouching. He crouched down in front of her and spoke again, his words soft and quiet. ¡°The rules of this world,¡± he said, ¡°apparently, mean that if you have the power, you can take what you like. When people ask you about what happened here today, tell them that I finally figured that out. That anyone looking to take what is mine would do well to consider the full ramifications of that decision.¡± Suddenly, the oppressive force was gone. Everything seemed strangely silent, as if a background noise she hadn¡¯t even noticed had suddenly stopped. Jason stood and offered his hand to help her to her feet. She looked around and saw that her staff were likewise recovering. ¡°I apologise,¡± Jason said. His voice was back to normal and he almost seemed like a different person. ¡°I¡¯m trying to be more diplomatic, but it doesn¡¯t come naturally to me. Anna, please sort out with Lenora where I can deposit our refugees. You have until I am done with the turncoat pirate captain, or I¡¯ll dump them in the desert.¡± He moved to step back through his shadow familiar, then stopped and turned back to Anna. ¡°Gary is here, isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°In the main room of the bunker.¡± Jason strode off towards the door, the security team gathered outside moving out of his way like pins before a bowling ball. The people in the main bunker hadn¡¯t been privy to what took place in the command room, but they had seen the security team¡¯s reaction, and they recognised Jason from the footage of the battle. No one spoke and no one moved. Jason walked up to a leonid sitting in a booth, who stood nervously at his approach. The young lion man towered over Jason, who was not especially tall for a human. Even so, the anxiousness of the young man and the supreme confidence of Jason made the leonid seem the smaller. ¡°Gary Sharpton,¡± Jason said, and held out his hand. Gary looked at it for a long, awkward moment before nervously reaching out to shake it. ¡°You were named for a good friend of mine,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve heard that a few times.¡± ¡°Yes, Patriarch.¡± ¡°No, none of that. Call me Jason. And you can let go of my hand, now.¡± He let Jason¡¯s hand go with a yelp. ¡°Sorry, Patriarch. Sir. Jason.¡± Jason chuckled and gave him a friendly pat on an enormous bicep. ¡°Gary, how would you feel about following me around for a bit while I do some chores?¡± ¡°Chores?¡± ¡°Interrogate a pirate captain, learn to fly a spaceship, that kind of thing. I hear you know your way around magitech.¡± ¡°I get by.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ll have to. I¡¯m going to be relying on you to figure out how the spaceship works.¡± ¡°What?¡± A black archway rose from the floor and was filled with swirling darkness. ¡°Come on, bloke,¡± Jason said. ¡°I also need to interrogate you a bit. Make sure Taika hasn¡¯t been teaching you about the wrong Voltron.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a Voltron?¡± *** Jota and Natala had been moved to Jason¡¯s cloud ship and placed in a blank, white room. They had been provided with some cloud furniture; chairs on either side of a low table. ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± Natala said. ¡°Jota, I know this situation is extreme, but you¡¯ve been acting increasingly strange. It¡¯s like you don¡¯t care about the ramifications of losing the ship or what Jakaar will make of this.¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t,¡± Jota said. ¡°I told you, back at Asano Village, that I had a strange feeling about all this. About Asano. After seeing that battle, I¡¯m convinced.¡± ¡°He wasn¡¯t that strong.¡± ¡°No. I couldn¡¯t beat him alone, but if I¡¯d been leading the crew, it would have been a very different battle. But I¡¯m far older than him, and I trained with the best instructors in the cosmos. I could see how he was trained in the way he fights. Solid, but nothing like what I went through. But when it comes to fighting, experience is far more important than training. Where I came from, I got to see people who have been honing their skills in real combat for centuries. Millenia. People who make me, Asano, and anyone else this side of the cosmos look like stumbling buffoons.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°So, we know that Asano was born on this planet, forty-four years ago. That, twenty years ago, he was no fighter at all. But what I saw in in that battle was not two decades of combat experience. He fights like someone who¡¯s been facing life and death battles for longer than Asano¡¯s been alive. What does a person have to go through to fight like that?¡± ¡°Why does it matter?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a data point. This ship is a temple; another data point. Asano is an avatar; one more data point. That portal he sent our former crewmates through? That was an astral gate portal.¡± ¡°A what?¡± ¡°A portal that astral kings use to access their realms. Astral kings, who operate through prime avatars.¡± ¡°So, what are you saying? That this guy from a nothing planet is some kind of astral god-king?¡± ¡°Astral nexus is the term,¡± Jason¡¯s voice said. A gap appeared in the wall and Asano walked through, followed by a human woman with dark hair and dark skin. There was a nervous young leonid who remained out in the hall. Jota and Natala stood up. ¡°Astral nexus?¡± Jota asked. ¡°It¡¯s unusual,¡± Jason said. ¡°Probably not unique because what is, in the vastness of the cosmos? Out of the ordinary, though, I suspect.¡± ¡°A nexus of what?¡± Jota asked. ¡°Astral king and god? Why are you running around with a gold-rank avatar?¡± ¡°Because my mortal power is still gold rank. I imagine you¡¯ve been told at least some of my background by the people who hired you to kill me.¡± ¡°Their information was very obviously lacking.¡± Jota heard the promise of blood in Asano¡¯s chuckle. ¡°I imagine so,¡± Asano said. ¡°But you¡¯re here to answer questions, not ask them. At least for now. But I have other concerns, so I¡¯ll introduce you to my friend Arabelle. She¡¯s going to interview you.¡± ¡°You mean interrogate us,¡± Natala said. ¡°No,¡± Arabelle said. ¡°I¡¯m not going to push because we don¡¯t need anything from you. It might speed things up a bit, especially when it comes to piloting your dimension ship, but we¡¯ll get by regardless. At some point, we must decide what to do with the two of you. This is your chance to influence that decision.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be forthcoming,¡± Jota said. ¡°I can spot opportunity when it steals my ship.¡± Jason laughed again. ¡°Alright then,¡± he said, and held out his hand. Jota shook it and a system window appeared.
Jota stared at the screen, his hand frozen as it still held on to Jason¡¯s. ¡°System administrator?¡± he asked breathlessly. ¡°As in¡­ the System?¡± Jason let out a sigh. ¡°Why won¡¯t anyone let go of my hand today?¡± *** On the cloud ship¡¯s bridge, the entire front wall was transparent, at least from the inside. Jason stood looking out, with Danielle Geller beside him. Gary had been sent off with Clive, Travis and Belinda to explore the dimension ship. The leonid¡¯s aura was his own, the soul of his previous incarnation almost impossible to pick out. The only person who would recognise it was Farrah, who Jason had avoided. Rufus was having a talk with her at that very moment. Jason could feel the turmoil in their auras as they chatted in the ship¡¯s lounge. ¡°There are a lot of things to do here, Jason,¡± Danielle said. ¡°Decisions to be made.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jason agreed, looking out the window. ¡°Then you shouldn¡¯t be leaving.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be back. Soon. But I have to do this first, and I know you understand.¡± ¡°I do,¡± she said, her eyes watching Humphrey flying towards the pirate vessel. ¡°Just hurry back.¡± *** The first magic Emi had ever seen was a black archway, rising from the ground and filling with shadowy power. She was walking out of a bakery when she saw it again, in the middle of the street in front of her. She dropped her sandwich, only to have it stop just above the ground as someone stepped out of the portal. ¡°Niece, you should be more careful with ¡ª oof!¡± She rammed into him with speed and strength that would have sent a car flying, wrapping her arms around him. He reached up and tousled her hair. ¡°Hey, Moppet.¡± BOOK 12 END Chapter 950: A Person the Other Used to Know Jason hugged his sister. They were alone on the rooftop garden of her family home. ¡°This is good,¡± she said. ¡°Hugging those avatars of yours is like hugging cold rubber.¡± ¡°Technically, this is an avatar as well. The difference is¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up, little brother. Save your magic nonsense for later.¡± ¡°I only just got here, and you¡¯re already so mean,¡± he teased. She let him go and placed a hand on each of his shoulders, staring him in the eye. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for how we left things,¡± she said. ¡°I know it was amiable, but there was a distance. A distance that shouldn¡¯t be there with family.¡± ¡°I understand, Eri. I was damaged. You were right to see me as dangerous. It ran deeper than any of us realised. After I left, it took me a long time to come to terms with just how close I was to¡­¡± He turned away from her. ¡°Jason, we didn¡¯t grasp what you were facing. The changes that magic was bringing were just beginning for us. For the whole planet, really. You were deeper in than we were, and we didn¡¯t understand what that meant. Not until Europe fell around us, drenched in death and blood. That was your life before it was ours, and what it was doing to you scared us.¡± ¡°It should have.¡± ¡°We should have been there for you. Instead. we pushed you away.¡± ¡°And you were right to do so. You had a family to protect.¡± ¡°You¡¯re our family.¡± ¡°Eri, I came close to going places you don¡¯t come back from. Not all the way, and I don¡¯t think I did, really. My friends had to stop me from doing things I wouldn¡¯t want you to see. To be around. Your instincts were good, big sister. I didn¡¯t know how far gone I was, but you know me. You saw it. I wasn¡¯t someone that I would want anywhere near Emi.¡± He turned back to look at her again, giving her a smile. ¡°I¡¯m in a much better place, now. And I didn¡¯t mean to be away so long, but I have responsibilities. To be the person I want to be, I can¡¯t turn away from them, even if it costs me. And you. But I¡¯m back, now. The important thing is that family is the place you can come home to, even when you¡¯ve made mistakes.¡± ¡°You know, we could have talked about this through your weird avatars.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not the same. For you, the bodies I make don¡¯t feel real. For me, the emotions don¡¯t. The avatars are great for channelling power or discussing plans, but there¡¯s a remove. A distance. It¡¯s like remembering something you felt a long time ago. That¡¯s why I only showed up when I needed to. Why I held back on the sappy reunions. I want the sap all over me, not the rubber guy you¡¯re making time with.¡± ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t take long. I¡¯m regretting you coming back already.¡± Jason laughed and collected his sister into another hug. ¡°They¡¯re almost here,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯re about to come inside.¡± He let his sister go and looked over the edge of the roof. ¡°Or not,¡± he amended. Four people floated up over the edge of the roof, each surrounded in a complex array of glowing lines and sigils. They were Emi, along with Jason¡¯s widowed sister-in-law, Amy, and her daughters, Hana and Jace. Nine cube devices floated around Emi, producing the magic that held them aloft. The devices were akin to Rubik¡¯s cubes, but with glowing runes instead of blank colour on the panels. They twisted and shifted, shooting off points of light that adjusted the spherical magic diagrams. Amy stood slightly ahead of her daughters, Jason noting the protectiveness in her body language. He knew that she didn¡¯t view Jason as a physical threat to her children but an emotional one, and he agreed with the sentiment. Jason hadn¡¯t seen Kaito and Amy¡¯s daughters since they were small children. Jace was nineteen, now, and Hana twenty-three. The age Jason had been when he was pulled into Pallimustus. The uncertainty in their expressions barely touched the complexity of what Jason sensed in their emotions. Confusion, resentment, hope, regret. Jason understood completely as he experienced a similar mix of feelings. For Jason and Amy, the fraught and complex history between them hung in the air like London fog. That history became a strange legacy for her girls to grow up with. A dead father. A mysterious uncle, absent but much spoken of, somewhere between a cult leader, a patron deity and the Wizard of Oz. For a long time, they all stood, staring at one another. Jason noted that Hana was silver-rank, with an aura foundation that was stable beneath its current turmoil. Jace was bronze-rank, although near the peak. They both showed the results of having been trained by Rufus. ¡°You look like my father.¡± Jace said, finally breaching the silence. ¡°From pictures, and videos. He died before I can really remember anything.¡± Jason nodded. The days of him begrudging the increased resemblance to his brother with each rank up had died with Kaito. ¡°Except for the chin,¡± Hana said. ¡°Yours is big. Like, measurable increase in your grooming products cost big. Did you grown the beard to mask the size, or were you spending too much on razors?¡± ¡°Ranking up has made it smaller,¡± Amy told her girls. ¡°You should have seen him at your age. You could use it as a bottle opener.¡± Jason raised his eyebrows in her direction. ¡°Really?¡± he asked. ¡°Don¡¯t bother denying it, Jason. I still have photographs.¡± Being jibed by Amy felt both odd and intensely familiar. She had been his best friend, going back to his oldest memories. The relationship had turned to poison, but that time was long gone. It was half a lifetime ago, and neither was person they had been. Now, they were each a person the other used to know, but hadn¡¯t in a long time. All they shared were old memories and two girls, raised with no father and an absent uncle. Jason turned his gaze from their mother to the young women. ¡°I doubt you remember me,¡± he said. ¡°I know you¡¯ve heard stories. Hard to avoid them, growing up in a place built from my power. I imagine you have a lot of questions. About your dad, and other things. Let¡¯s sit down and get your aunt to cook us something. You can ask me all the questions you like.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have to get back to Australia?¡± Erika asked. ¡°You have things left to do there, right?¡± ¡°Not more important than this.¡± *** Solomon Dreyfus was Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet, within the Australian government. He didn¡¯t like the job which, more often than not, amounted to image management for a man who, described generously would be¡­Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Solomon let out a sigh, finding no way to finish the thought. If he had to be generous, it was best not to describe Prime Minister Truffett at all. If all you knew about the man was that he came to power through fearmongering over magical gender transitions during rank-up, it was all you really needed to know. Solomon knew a lot more, which only made it worse. This latest debacle had left him wanting to quit, an urge that came somewhere between weekly and monthly. Once again, he resisted that urge, knowing that whoever replaced him would be worse. He could ameliorate the worst inclinations of his boss and, once in a blue moon, even do some good. Someone else in his job could easily pander to the Prime Minister, with little care for the damage they dealt. He¡¯d only gotten the job because Truffett needed the publicity, after several of Solomon¡¯s predecessors had been scapegoated in sequence. Solomon¡¯s chairmanship of the Foundation for Ethics in Public Policy was a balm for Truffett¡¯s scandal-marked image, while Solomon had hoped to accomplish some actual good. Clashes with the Prime Minister had been frequent. Always behind closed doors, but it was an open secret that he and his boss were at each other¡¯s throats. Solomon was difficult to get rid of, however, as firing his very public ethical hire was not something the embattled Prime Minister could afford. He also had trouble going around Solomon, as Truffett was an expert in backroom deals and cutting favours, not actual governing. Solomon¡¯s secretary notified him it was time for his next meeting and he made his way to the conference room. Josh Hillier, from the Ministry of Defence, and Sue Sheehan, from the Ministry of Supernatural Affairs, were already waiting. Solomon didn¡¯t bother with small talk as he slid into a chair. ¡°Sol, did you just have lunch?¡± Josh asked. ¡°A while ago. Why?¡± ¡°Do you smell butter?¡± Josh asked. ¡°I could swear I smell butter.¡± ¡°Focus, Josh. What do we have?¡± he asked. Josh and Sue shared a glance. ¡°You should have the summary of our analysis in your inbox by the time we¡¯re done here,¡± Josh said. ¡°But, in short, a guy from New South Wales and his friends may now be the most powerful military force on the planet.¡± ¡°That¡¯s preliminary, obviously,¡± Sue added. ¡°We¡¯ve only seen a limited sample of what Asano and his allies are capable of. It could be that they worked very hard to make a show of power and are hiding critical weaknesses. Our assessment, however, is just the opposite. That he¡¯s holding power in reserve. We¡¯ve been in contact with our international counterparts, and that seems to be the consensus.¡± ¡°What about the people who Asano and his people fought?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°Any indication of who they are or where they¡¯re from? I¡¯ve heard the recording and read the transcript of Asano in the command room at the artefact city site. What of the implications that they were brought in from somewhere to kill him?¡± Josh and Sue shared another glance before turning back to Solomon. ¡°We do have answers there,¡± Josh said. ¡°Much of it seems to be sourced from Asano himself, though. If it is true, things could get very messy.¡± ¡°Things are already messy. You¡¯re saying they could be worse?¡± ¡°Sol,¡± Sue said. ¡°We have to ask: did you know?¡± ¡°Know what?¡± Solomon felt a headache coming on as his advisors started talking about interdimensional aliens and the Prime Minister being part of some Illuminati-style secret collective. ¡°It does make a twisted kind of sense,¡± he was forced to admit afterwards. ¡°In a world where alternate reality pirates are an actual thing, anyway. People with power fear someone taking it away, or someone else having more. You say the Prime Minister is in on this?¡± ¡°He¡¯s on the list.¡± ¡°And where does this list come from?¡± ¡°Lenora Coleman got it from Anna Tilden,¡± Sue told him. ¡°She got it from the Americans, and claims Asano¡¯s turncoat magic pirate captain cross-confirmed at least some of the names. Names that include my minister, and some of your senior staffers, Sol.¡± Solomon nodded. ¡°The Prime Minister has a history with Asano. Back when he was minister of your department, Sue, he was the one who suggested seizing Asano Village and giving it over to the Network. It was no secret that his motivation was largely driven by his hatred of Jason Asano.¡± ¡°That makes dealing with Asano complicated,¡± Josh said. ¡°There¡¯s no way he leaves Asano Village alone, right?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think so,¡± Solomon said. ¡°The question is, does he approach it politically, or just come in and do what he likes?¡± ¡°Meaning what?¡± Josh asked. ¡°Burning to the ground?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t say I didn¡¯t consider it,¡± Jason said. Solomon, Sue and Josh turned to look at the other end of the conference table where Jason Asano was sitting, tucking into a plate of food. ¡°Sorry,¡± he apologised. ¡°My sister made these fantastic Hasselback potatoes, and I couldn¡¯t not bring them. You guys want to get in on this? I have more.¡± ¡°No, thank you,¡± Solomon said. ¡°I knew I smelled butter,¡± Josh said. ¡°Have you been here all along?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Jason said, then put a forkful of potato in his mouth before letting out a little moan of pleasure. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good.¡± Josh eyed the plate hungrily. ¡°I did skip lunch,¡± he said. ¡°Maybe I could¡ª¡± ¡°Josh,¡± Solomon cut him off. ¡°Asano, have you been sitting here, invisible, the whole time? ¡°It¡¯s not invisibility,¡± Jason said, slightly mumbling through his food. ¡°It¡¯s a perception trick that uses aura manipulation to create a dissonance between mundane and supernatural perception. Your senses do recognise my presence. You see me sitting at the table, and smell the rosemary and butter sauce. But because of what I¡¯m doing with my aura, your supernatural senses instinctively tell the part of your mind that processes perception to ignore me. It even works on regular people. Most don¡¯t realise normal rankers can perceive auras, but they can. They¡¯re just very bad at it. Vampires are great at using their auras on normal people. I learned this trick from a vampire, in fact, although I¡¯ve developed it a lot since then.¡± ¡°Mr Asano, what are you doing here?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°Well, you¡¯re right about me and Other Gordon.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Sue asked. ¡°The Prime Minister,¡± Solomon said. ¡°That¡¯s him,¡± Jason said. ¡°We don¡¯t get along. I was, if I¡¯m being honest, rather childish in my attitude when he and I first met. If you combine that with his personality, stupidity and more or less everything he¡¯s ever done, then it¡¯s clear that he and I won¡¯t ever get along. That being said, I would like to have a productive relationship with the Australian government. Word is that you, Mr Solomon Dreyfus, are a smart, capable and, against all odds, decent man. My hope is that you and I can figure out a few things.¡± ¡°And what things are those?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯d like to start by apologising for my little rant in Lenora¡¯s bunker. I still had a few grievances to blow off steam about, and she didn¡¯t deserve me monologuing like a supervillain. I¡¯ve apologised to Lenora in person, of course; it would be weird to have you pass the apology on. I¡¯m hoping that we can move past most of that.¡± ¡°Most?¡± Sue asked. ¡°What is it that you don¡¯t want to move past?¡± ¡°I voiced some grievances. I can live with your government reclaiming the standing stones. It¡¯s a giant, mysterious magic thing in the middle of nowhere. It seems only fair for there to be an interest in it. And I am willing to put aside my personal animosity for Truffett, in the name of relations with another head of state.¡± ¡°Are you formally asking Australia to recognise your territory in Europe as a sovereign state?¡± ¡°What? Oh, no. You¡¯ll have to sort that out with my grandmother. I¡¯m a king, now.¡± ¡°In the other world?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a little more complex than that. I¡¯ll show you, if you like, but I want to discuss Asano Village first. I¡¯m willing to put aside old grievances, but that one isn¡¯t old. My family built Asano Village. Our money, our toil, and your government handed it over to¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°We know what you did, so there¡¯s little point rehashing it. But those people are still there, right now. It¡¯s a slap in the face. My first instinct was to go over there and kill everyone I find, but I¡¯m trying to be better than that. My next instinct was to turn on all the old mana accumulators that aren¡¯t necessary now that the magic level has risen. Take off the safeties and let them run; overload the magical infrastructure until things started exploding. Burn it all down, as Mr Hillier suggested. The people there would sense it in time to evacuate, even with their mediocre magical senses. No casualties, which is why I¡¯m still quite partial to that idea.¡± He plucked a drink out of the air and sipped at it before setting it down on the table. ¡°My local political advisor suggested a different approach¡± he continued. ¡°Have you met Anna Tilden, Mr Dreyfus?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve had dealings, during her time with the United Nations,¡± Solomon said. ¡°She suggested that I look at Asano Village as a chance for the Australian government to show some goodwill.¡± ¡°You want it back?¡± ¡°It¡¯s tainted ground, Mr Dreyfus. Too-long inhabited by unwelcome interlopers. The infrastructure we built was designed to fend off monster waves at a time where the magic levels were different. We¡¯d have to rebuild from scratch, and there are better places for that. What I¡¯m looking for is a gesture. An apology for taking my uncle¡¯s land, and an open acknowledgement of why it happened.¡± ¡°It happened because you¡¯re rude and Truffett doesn¡¯t like it when people imply he¡¯s not important. Even if the Prime Minister was willing to acknowledge that, which he won¡¯t be, do you genuinely believe it would help anything?¡± Jason shook his head sadly. ¡°I do not. Your point is well made, Mr Dreyfus.¡± He took his plate and beverage and shoved them into the air, where they vanished. He then got to his feet. ¡°Let¡¯s just say an apology, then. Public. I¡¯m not fool enough to insist it be sincere, but none of this ¡®I¡¯m sorry you feel offended¡¯ crap. And I¡¯m not going to push you for any promises today, Mr Dreyfus. I recognise political decisions take time and deliberation. The good decisions, at least.¡± At a gesture from Asano, a white archway rose from the floor. It was filled with gold, silver and blue energy. ¡°So, who wants to see my kingdom?¡± Bonus Material: Book 12 Appendices, Jasons Abilities APPENDIX I: Jason Asano Character Sheet Jason Asano Attributes Inherent Gifts Essences (4/4) Dark [Speed] (5/5) Blood [Power] (5/5) Sin [Recovery] (5/5) Doom [Spirit] (5/5) APPENDIX II: Astral Nexus Inherent Gifts [Prime Avatar]: A prime avatar is a physical and spiritual gestalt that serves as a mortal anchor for transcendent power. It does not have a soul of its own, serving as a vessel through which your soul can be expressed, fully embodying your consciousness and mortal power. The power of your avatar is limited to your mortal power and serves as a means to grow that power. As the anchor for your transcendent power, the prime vessel is required to exert certain aspects of that power upon physical reality. [Numen]: Your transcendent power has aspects of divinity that are imbued into the avatar that is the mortal embodiment of your will and power. Your avatar can express that power in ways that reflect your hegemonic and defiant nature. Traits and abilities your avatar inherits include: establishing spiritual domains; Akashic Speech; stripping and transforming remnant magic from magic entities you have killed or destroyed; being immune to rank suppression as well as detection, tracking and assessment magic; negating aura-related abilities by fully suppressing the aura of the ability¡¯s user. [System Administrator]: Gain access to all aspects of the system, along with additional interface features such as maps, voice and image chat, party and raid group functionality, and the ability to assess creatures and objects. You can grant these additional features to others in a party or raid group. You can access the system interface of others if you have their permission or have suppressed their aura. [Relics of the King]: Access the astral throne, astral gate and soul forge to limited degrees. Reinforce the stability of dimensional spaces through your presence and transgress sealed or unstable dimensional apertures. Exceed the normal limitations of portal abilities at the cost of additional mana, potentially suffering backlash for extreme expenditure. Use your aura to suppress spiritual manipulation and suppress or enhance soul attacks. [Sacred Phoenix]: Soul-based abilities learned prior to astral nexus transfiguration have been refined for use by your prime avatar. Afflictions can also add [Ghost Fire]. On suffering damage that would be lethal, transform into a ghost fire phoenix. After ghost phoenix transformation is triggered, it cannot be used again for one year. That time is reduced by absorbing life force, and further reduced by life force containing fundamental reality material. [Palanquin]: Your dark essence familiar can transform its bodies into one or more forms of transportation. These forms can offer luxury and utility but are relatively fragile for their rank. Your blood familiar can reinforce any single form, enhancing its durability, allowing it to repair itself rapidly and heal anyone inside with moderate efficacy. Your doom familiar can add offensive and defensive capabilities to any single form. APPENDIX III: Jason¡¯s Essence Abilities. The following is a list of Jason¡¯s essence abilities as of gold rank. The list is written for brevity (believe it or not) rather than accuracy or comprehensiveness. Dark Essence Midnight Eyes (special ability, perception) Hand of the Reaper (conjuration) [Creeping Death] (affliction, disease): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Rigor Mortis] (affliction, unholy): Penalty to [Speed] and [Recovery]. Stacking. Adding to the stack inflicts necrotic damage. [Weakness of the Flesh] (affliction, magic): Negates immunities to disease and necrotic damage. Cannot be cleansed while the target suffers any disease. Cloak of Night (conjuration) Path of Shadows (special ability) Shadow of the Hegemon (familiar, summon, ritual) Blood Essence Blood Harvest (spell) [Blood Frenzy] (boon, unholy): Bonus to Speed and Recovery base attributes. Stacking up to a maximum threshold. [Blood of the Immortal] (boon, unholy, healing): On suffering damage, an instance is consumed to grant a brief but powerful ongoing healing effect. [Strength of My Enemies] (boon, unholy): Bonus to Power and Spirit base attributes. Stacking up to a maximum threshold. [Endless Power] (boon, unholy, healing): On reaching low thresholds of stamina or mana, an instance is consumed to grant a brief but powerful recovery effect. Leech Bite (special attack, melee) [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding): Ongoing bleed damage and absorbs healing. Cannot be cleansed but is removed after absorbing enough healing. [Leech Toxin] (affliction, poison stacking): Reapplies [Bleeding] when negated. [Tainted Meridians] (affliction, poison): Stamina and mana cost of magical abilities is increased. Bleed effects cause mana loss along with blood loss. Drain attacks are more effective against target. [Thief of Life] (affliction, curse, drain): Ongoing health drain effect.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Haemorrhage (spell) [Sacrificial Victim] (affliction, unholy): Suffer greater effects from drain attacks and blood afflictions. [Necrotoxin] (affliction, poison): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Blood From a Stone] (affliction, magic): Negates immunity to blood and poison effects. Cannot be cleansed while the target suffers any blood or poison affliction. [Exsanguination] (affliction, wounding): [Bleeding] can stack. Feast of Blood (spell) [Blood Glutton] (boon, unholy, stacking): Your drain effects are more powerful. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. Sanguine Horror (familiar, summon, ritual) Sin Essence Punish (special attack, melee) [Sin] (affliction, curse): Necrotic damage taken is increased. Stacking. [Price of Absolution] (affliction, holy): Suffer transcendent damage for each [Sin] removed. [Wages of Sin] (affliction, unholy): Deals ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Penance] (affliction, holy): Ongoing transcendent damage. Stacking. Stacks drop off over time. [Thief of Spirit] (affliction, curse, drain): Ongoing mana drain effect. Castigate (spell) [Mark of Sin] (affliction, holy): Turns target¡¯s aura into an easily tracked beacon. Cannot be cleansed while the target has [Sin] or [Legacy of Sin]. At gold rank, imparts resistance to cleanse effects. [Weight of Sin] (affliction, holy): Suffer transcendent damage when subjected to a holy boon, recovery or cleanse effect. [Marshal of Judgement] (boon, tracking, holy): Track anyone with [Mark of Sin]. [Mortality] (affliction, holy): Negates immunity to curses and reduces resistance to magic afflictions. Cannot be cleansed while any curse is in effect. Feast of Absolution (spell) [Legacy of Sin] (affliction, holy): Execute abilities have a greater effect on the target. Stacking. Sin Eater (special ability) [Resistant] (boon, holy): Resistances are increased. Stacking. [Integrity] (boon): Ongoing life force and mana recovery. Stacking. Hegemony (aura) Doom Essence Inexorable Doom (spell) [Inescapable] (affliction, magic): Blocks teleportation. [Persecution] (affliction): Target gains resistance to cleansing, and positive or ongoing healing boons. Doom Blade (conjuration) [Vulnerable] (affliction, unholy): Resistances are reduced. Stacking. [Ruination of the Spirit] (affliction, curse): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Ruination of the Blood] (affliction, poison): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Ruination of the Flesh] (affliction, disease): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Price in Blood] (affliction, holy): Deal additional damage to others with this affliction. Punition (spell) [Penitence] (affliction, holy): Targets inflicted with [Penance] when afflictions are cleansed from them. Verdict (spell, execute) [Sanction] (affliction, holy): Healing on target is reduced. Cannot be cleansed while suffering [Penance]. Avatar of Doom (familiar, summon, ritual, {execute}, {holy}) [Harbinger of Doom] (affliction, unholy): Target conjures butterflies that spread all afflictions on the target to other enemies. APPENDIX IV: Boons & Afflictions List The following is an alphabetised list of all boons and afflictions produced by Jason¡¯s essence abilities. This includes indirectly, such as through conjured items or familiars. [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding): Ongoing bleed damage and absorbs healing. Cannot be cleansed but is removed after absorbing enough healing. [Blood Frenzy] (boon, unholy): Bonus to Speed and Recovery base attributes. Stacking up to a maximum threshold. [Blood From a Stone] (affliction, magic): Negates immunity to blood and poison effects. Cannot be cleansed while the target suffers any blood or poison affliction. [Blood Glutton] (boon, unholy, stacking): Drain effects are more powerful. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. [Blood of the Immortal] (boon, unholy, healing): On suffering damage, an instance is consumed to grant a brief, powerful ongoing healing effect. Stacking but does not grow stronger with more stacks. [Creeping Death] (affliction, disease): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Strength of My Enemies] (boon, unholy): Bonus to Power and Spirit base attributes. Stacking up to a maximum threshold. [Endless Power] (boon, unholy, healing): On reaching low thresholds of stamina or mana, an instance is consumed to grant a brief but powerful recovery effect. Exsanguination] (affliction, wounding): [Bleeding] can stack. [Harbinger of Doom] (affliction, unholy): Target conjures butterflies that spread all afflictions on the target to other enemies. [Inescapable] (affliction, magic): Blocks teleportation. [Integrity] (boon): Ongoing life force and mana recovery. Stacking. [Leech Toxin] (affliction, poison stacking): When [Bleeding] is negated, reapplies [Bleeding]. Stacking. [Legacy of Sin] (affliction, holy): Execute abilities have a greater effect on the target. Stacking. [Mark of Sin] (affliction, holy): Turns target¡¯s aura into an easily tracked beacon. Cannot be cleansed while the target has [Sin] or [Legacy of Sin]. At gold rank, imparts resistance to cleanse effects. [Marshal of Judgement] (boon, tracking, holy): Track anyone with [Mark of Sin]. [Mortality] (affliction, holy): Negates immunity to curses and reduces resistance to magic afflictions. Cannot be cleansed while any curse is in effect. [Necrotoxin] (affliction, poison): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Penance] (affliction, holy): Ongoing transcendent damage. Stacking. Stacks drop off over time. [Penitence] (affliction, holy): Targets inflicted with [Penance] when afflictions are cleansed from them. [Persecution] (affliction): Target gains resistance to cleansing, and positive or ongoing healing boons. [Price in Blood] (affliction, holy): Deal additional damage to those with [Price in Blood]. [Price of Absolution] (affliction, holy): Suffer transcendent damage for each [Sin] removed. [Resistant] (boon, holy): Resistances are increased. Stacking. [Rigor Mortis] (affliction, unholy): Penalty to [Speed] and [Recovery]. Stacking. Adding to the stack inflicts necrotic damage. [Ruination of the Blood] (affliction, poison): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Ruination of the Spirit] (affliction, curse): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Ruination of the Flesh] (affliction, disease): Ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Sacrificial Victim] (affliction, unholy): Suffer greater effects from drain attacks and blood afflictions. [Sanction] (affliction, holy): Healing on target is reduced. Cannot be cleansed while suffering [Penance]. [Sin] (affliction, curse): Necrotic damage taken is increased. Stacking. [Strength of My Enemies] (boon, unholy): Bonus to Power and Spirit base attributes. Stacking up to a maximum threshold. [Tainted Meridians] (affliction, poison): Cost of abilities is increased. Bleeding adds mana loss to blood loss. Drain attacks are more effective against target. [Thief of Life] (affliction, curse, drain): Ongoing health drain effect. [Thief of Spirit] (affliction, curse, drain): Ongoing mana drain effect. [Wages of Sin] (affliction, unholy): Deals ongoing necrotic damage. Stacking. [Weight of Sin] (affliction, holy): Suffer transcendent damage when subjected to a holy boon, recovery or cleanse effect. [Vulnerable] (affliction, unholy): Resistances are reduced. Stacking. [Weakness of the Flesh] (affliction, magic): Negates immunities to disease and necrotic damage. Cannot be cleansed while the target suffers any disease. Chapter 951: Messy but Delicious Jason placed a comforting hand on Nik¡¯s shoulder as they walked down a corridor in the cloud ship. ¡°I won¡¯t say don¡¯t be nervous, because of course you are,¡± Jason told him. ¡°What I will say is that they¡¯re going to love you.¡± ¡°You think?¡± ¡°Nik, everyone loves you. Even Neil adores you, and you know how cranky he can get. The whole Adventure Society loves you. That might just be because of your power set, but it counts.¡± ¡°You think that maybe I could find a team here on Earth? Maybe I should have joined one of the Geller teams back in Greenstone. I just wanted to see the world a bit, you know?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°And I wanted to¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I wanted to talk to you about it. But year after year, you didn¡¯t come back.¡± Jason grimaced, feeling the shame. He¡¯d had his reasons for leaving, but he always did. It didn¡¯t stop him from leaving his team behind, time and again. And now he¡¯d done the same to Nik, who had needed him more than anyone. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t there for you. I can give you all the excuses in the world, but it doesn¡¯t change that. I could promise to do better, but what you need isn¡¯t words. I hope that you¡¯ll give me the chance to do better. To give me the time that I didn¡¯t give to you.¡± ¡°You once told me that you don¡¯t get along with your mother.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Would you give her the time? If she asked for it?¡± Jason stopped walking, Nik pulling up as well. Jason stood, frowning for a long time. ¡°That¡¯s a good question,¡± he said finally. ¡°A hard question. And, if I¡¯m being honest, I don¡¯t know. She¡¯s still here, on Earth. Maybe I should see if she¡¯s ready for what I¡¯m asking you for. Everyone¡¯s circumstances are different. I don¡¯t know, Nik. I don¡¯t know.¡± He pushed a smile onto his face and kept walking. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t think you need a team,¡± he told Nik. ¡°Your powers just work better in large groups, which is why the Adventure Society keeps setting you up with expeditions. What you need is a guild who can take full advantage of your abilities. We¡¯re looking at setting one up when we get back to Palli. I¡¯m not going to let someone else take care of you. It¡¯s you and me, from here on out.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah. We¡¯ve been discussing it ever since I had guild issues in Vitesse. Team Biscuit is getting big, and we have some people floating in and out, like me, Rufus and Taika. Probably Zara, too, now she¡¯s back to princessing. It makes sense to have a guild that¡¯s small and works like an extended team. Swapping people in and out, based on availability and need.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have any silver rankers, though. Doing contracts with a bunch of gold-rankers will get me killed.¡± ¡°Our guild recruitment would be focused on the lower ranks. Training people up to our standards and helping them rank up. It¡¯s a lot easier than trying to pull in people already gold rank, who have their own ways of doing things anyway. We¡¯d set up pools of people for each rank, base them out of zones with appropriate magic levels. Greenstone for iron rankers and initial training, but we¡¯re looking at setting up headquarters around the world. Clive and that poor woman Lorelei have been working to reverse engineer the Builder cult portal network for almost twenty years now. Our guild houses would be a test bed, before rolling it out commercially.¡± ¡°That would cause a bigger stir than the Sky Link network Farrah and Travis built. And that was huge. An actual portal network will throw whole countries and industries into disarray.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be a big deal, yeah, but within reason. It¡¯s not like it¡¯ll be free portal travel, but it¡¯ll be cheaper and more accessible than the current system of finding a portal specialist and paying them a bunch of money.¡± Jason stopped them in front of a door to one of the ship lounges. ¡°You ready, bud?¡± ¡°No,¡± Nik said, rolling his shoulders as if limbering up for a fight. ¡°But let¡¯s do it anyway.¡± Jason chuckled and the mist door vanished. There was a squeal, and Nik was hit by a torpedo. *** New Water was the city Jason created in his astral kingdom for the survivors of Boko. Many had chosen to leave and find new homes on Pallimustus, especially those who didn¡¯t like the civic policies Jason enacted, such as the abolition of both indentured servitude and aristocratic title. Further social development was the purview of the Dominion church. The clergy in Jason¡¯s astral kingdom had chosen to remain for his journey to Earth. The initial contingent had been from the churches of Hearth, Refuge and Dominion, but as the work expanded, others had joined when Jason took on more people in Rimaros. Members of various priesthoods joined to help establish the new city, mostly due to the logistics required for a population in the tens of thousands. Although the gods of Pallimustus had no sway in his realm, and could not enact their power through their clergy, it mattered little. The gods had made sure that their followers were experts in their areas of influence, magic or not. The contingent of experts had their own magic, but it was their knowledge that proved more valuable. Most of the gods represented were minor, concerned with the day to day lives of ordinary people. There was little need for the clergy of major deities like Ocean, Storm or War. The priests Jason took on were mostly those of professional gods useful to a new city, such as Farmer, Mason, and Grocer. Others were deities often overlooked but critical to a city, such as Hygiene. The results of their expertise was on full display as the city of New Water went from a refugee haven to a home and a society. Farmer¡¯s priests helped establish agriculture in the fertile lands around the city, removing the need for Jason to conjure up large amounts of food. A mix of clergy worked with Jason to refine the city¡¯s design, including Mason, Architect and Gardener. Their expertise in construction and city planning guided Jason in adjusting his hastily erected metropolis. By necessity, Jason was getting better at hastily knocking up magic cities. Details mattered, however, and professional help turned New Water into a more practical and pleasant place to live and work. The population did just that, establishing farms and businesses. Trade was the major god, alongside Dominion and Knowledge, who did have a role to play. His clergy were critical in helping establish the city¡¯s nascent economy.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Knowledge¡¯s clergy set up schools, along with training programs for the kind of work available in this new city. Many people could rely on previous expertise to find work or open businesses, but others needed alternative skills to find a place in the new society. Where Boko was heavily reliant on exporting the natural resources of the desert, New Water had to find its own equilibrium. The priests of Dominion served as overseers of the whole operation, as their task was the big-picture organisation of the city. Leadership and administrative structures needed to be put in place. The efforts of the other clergy had to be woven into a cohesive whole, to avoid them working at cross-purposes or falling into pointless redundancy. Language skills were a critical part of the education programs in New Water, in the adult training halls as well as the schools. Essence users excelled at picking up new languages, especially as they ranked up, so the training hall classes were highly effective. In the schools, where children were yet to obtain essences, a solid foundation of language training would help them to become polyglots when they were older. The training included multiple language options from both Earth and Pallimustus, as Jason anticipated the populace interacting with both. Jason was glad that Danielle had the foresight to include the higher-ranking priests amongst the first to train in Earth languages. This allowed them to converse with his three guests from the Australian government as they toured the city. Jason had left them with his most loquacious non-prime avatar as a guide, known as the Concierge. Many of his other avatars were rather automaton-like, their energies focused on performing specific tasks. The Concierge was designed to be Jason¡¯s representative when he wasn¡¯t controlling an avatar to do so himself. While he could concentrate on multiple places at once, Jason sometimes wanted to put his undivided attention elsewhere. In this case, it was on his prime avatar, spending time with his family. There was also the advantage that the Concierge was a dialled-down version of Jason, more adept at the diplomacy that Anna and Danielle wanted from him. Danielle had even suggested bringing the Concierge out to represent Jason in other discussions. The trio of government officials spent hours touring the city, asking the clergy about how it had come to be and Jason¡¯s involvement. They also had the chance to speak with some of the higher-rank residents who had reached fluency in English during the trip from Pallimustus. The stories that they heard painted Jason as something between a messiah and outright god. Destroying their old home because someone assassinated him, unleashing his apocalyptic levels of restrained power. Saving almost the entire population by evacuating them with his power, then single-handedly killing an army of angels. Bringing them to a new universe, calling up a massive oasis from the desert, complete with a new city at its heart. It was a city of magical wonders, from floating platforms that moved between buildings, to public fountains where the water literally danced in the air, performing like a street artist. People flew overhead on flying carpets, personal flight clouds or exotic creatures. There were also larger vehicles, from car-sized right up to buses. These were revealed to be public transport when the Concierge used them to move the group from one neighbourhood to the next. On reaching each location, they walked around, to better take in the city. Even hours into their trip, Josh was gawping like a country boy on his first visit to the big city. His personal obsession was the flying cloud devices. ¡°Sol, everyone here is Monkey Magic!¡± ¡°What¡¯s Monkey Magic?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°How can you not know what Monkey Magic is?¡± Josh asked. ¡°That¡¯s un-Australian.¡± ¡°Josh,¡± Sue said, ¡°it¡¯s a kids¡¯ TV show from sixty years ago, made in Japan and translated by the British. How is not knowing about it in 2038 un-Australian?¡± ¡°You say that, but you do know what it is,¡± Josh countered. ¡°Only because my husband made me sit through a retrospective documentary from a box set they released a couple of months ago. The sixtieth anniversary edition, Josh.¡± ¡°Wait, he got one of the physical editions? Damn, I got waitlisted.¡± ¡°Also, the show was called Monkey, not Monkey Magic. People just think it was because of the theme song.¡± ¡°How good was the theme song?¡± Josh enthused. ¡°Maybe your husband and I should hang out.¡± ¡°Can we please move on?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°How can you be so calm?¡± Josh asked him. ¡°We¡¯re on an alien planet, Sol. In a whole other universe, with wizards. Is that a gelato shop? I want alien wizard gelato.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not technically gelato,¡± the Concierge informed him. ¡°It is based on a recipe from your world, but made with local ingredients.¡± ¡°Sol isn¡¯t calm,¡± Sue informed Josh. ¡°The only reason he seems so calm is he¡¯s trying to avoid losing it completely. And I want alien wizard gelato too.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know what the food here will do to us,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Sol, Josh and I are bronze rank, and you¡¯re silver. I don¡¯t think anything they¡¯re selling in a take-home cup is going to hurt us.¡± *** Jason smothered a laugh as Emi whirled a startled Nik around in circles, clasped in a hug. ¡°OHMYGODYOU¡¯RESOMUCHCUTERTHANITHOUGHTYOU¡¯DBE!¡± The cloud ship was still in Australia, but Jason had brought his family to meet its most unusual member. When portalling between spirit domains, at least within the same universe, Jason could ignore most of the usual restrictions on capacity and cooldown. Erika and her husband Ian were attempting to peel Nik from Emi¡¯s grip. Jason¡¯s dad and his Uncle Hiro came to stand next to him, Ken slinging a possessive arm over his son¡¯s shoulder. Jason got the distinct impression it was to stop him from running off again. Amy and her daughters were present, caught between nervousness and wonder. Jason¡¯s grandmothers were with them, sticking close to their great granddaughters. The two matriarchs were starkly different, in almost every regard. Jason¡¯s paternal grandmother, Yumi, was rail thin and looked around forty. Matriarch of the clan, her stern practicality demanded as much from others as she did from herself. Courtesy of her blood, flesh and bone essences, she could alter her appearance at will. In addition to affecting her apparent age, it would allow her to live longer than others of her rank, making it an extremely popular combination. Jason¡¯s other grandmother did have a name, but she was as insistent on being called Nana as Yumi was averse to it. Nana had been through a lengthy process of recovering from Alzheimer¡¯s, with a lot of magical assistance, but had been fully recovered for years now. She was in the lower reaches of bronze rank, the magic making her look hale and healthy in a way Jason remembered from his youth. Even so, she still had a pillowy physique unusual in an essence user. He wondered absently if she also knew Neil¡¯s aunt. Where Yumi was cold and hard, Nana was warm and soft. Yumi ran the clan, but the recovered Nana was matriarch of the family. Jason was saddened that her familiar warmth had been absent during his last visit to Earth. Emi¡¯s parents managed to pry her off Nik without resorting to a crowbar, at which point Hana and Jace could no longer resist the lure of his adorability. Nana and Yumi followed, even the stoic clan matriarch softening in the face of Nik¡¯s cuteness. Nana got the privilege of second hug, wrapping the diminutive rabbit man up like a blanket. Erika caught Jason¡¯s eye and nodded towards the ship lounge¡¯s outdoor deck area. Jason nodded and followed her out, his father sticking by his side. The rest of the family had gone in to see Nik, who watched Jason leave like he was seeing the last lifeboat sail off. On the deck were Rufus, Taika and Gary, manning the grill and setting up a long picnic table. Jason wasn¡¯t going to introduce his team until after Nik. ¡°Are you sure I should be here?¡± Gary asked. ¡°This seems like a family thing.¡± ¡°Our being here lets them have their family time,¡± Rufus said. ¡°Plus, I made a cake, bro. Just a normal one, though. I¡¯m working on magic ones, but about one in five explode on me. It¡¯s messy but delicious.¡± Jason moved over to the railing and leaned on it, using his aura as a privacy screen around himself, his father and his sister. ¡°You¡¯re still doing that, then,¡± Erika said. ¡°Doing what?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Finding the nearest balcony, leaning on the rail and staring off into the distance like you¡¯ve got super-important things to contemplate dramatically.¡± ¡°I do have a lot of things to contemplate. Dramatically. It¡¯s dramatic stuff. Fighting evil. Building magic cities. Deciding if I can still call it carbonara when Pallimustus doesn¡¯t have guanciale.¡± ¡°You could maybe get away with pancetta.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t have pork, Eri. There¡¯s a lizard that tastes like pork, so I was wondering if¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± Erika said firmly. Then she turned her back to the railing and leaned next to him, here eyes on the gathering inside. ¡°You made him,¡± she said. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Like that first bit of the bible.¡± ¡°I did make a universe. Smaller than the bible one. More manageable.¡± ¡°And you made a person.¡± ¡°Yeah. And then I turned deadbeat dad for fifteen years. I had to, fate of the cosmos and all, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that I made him and abandoned him. We¡¯re still finding our way. I hope you both can help me with that.¡± ¡°Try and stop us,¡± Ken set, putting a reassuring hand on Jason¡¯s shoulder. Chapter 952: All Your Well-Learned Politesse The new and extremely popular new member of the Asano family was looking rather shell-shocked. Jason extracted Nik from the clutches of Hana and Jace, taking him to a quiet corner of the balcony. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s a lot.¡± ¡°I know. You shouldn¡¯t expect to just wander in and have some inherent connection to everyone. Get to know them. Let them get to know you, once they¡¯re past the cuteness that makes everyone want to hug you and put you in a series of adorable costumes.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°Dad¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Jason asked with unconvincing innocence. ¡°Have you come into possession of a series of novelty hats?¡± ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. It¡¯s about time I brought the team in to introduce them to everyone. That should take the pressure off you a little.¡± ¡°You may wish to hold off on that, Mr Asano,¡± Shade said from Jason¡¯s shadow. ¡°The Australians have finally noticed their missing officials.¡± *** ¡°This is so good,¡± Josh mumbled around a spoonful of gelato. He was standing outside the gelato shop with Sue, Solomon and the Concierge. ¡°It is quite palatable,¡± Solomon was forced to concede. ¡°It just occurred to me,¡± Sue said, ¡°that we didn¡¯t tell anyone where we went. Asano just kind of swept in and it all got strange from there. You don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to cause any problems, do you? *** In the offices of the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet was a conference room. The three government officials meant to be in that room were not, the open portal at one end of the room the obvious reason for their absence. If the trio had been having a more normal day, the kind that didn¡¯t involve visiting an alien world in an alternate reality with a wizard, they might have done things differently. Told someone where they were going, for example, or running for the hills. Some days, however, are just so out of the norm that you end up going with the flow, only to later wonder what you were thinking. The security force currently crammed into the conference room were already wondering what the trio had been thinking. A full squad of silver-rankers had been deployed, all equipped with magically enhanced tactical armour and firearms. They waited on a gold-ranker to portal in from the artefact city and lead them through. What they found on the other side was a warehouse-scale space, with floor, ceiling and three of the walls made of unadorned metal panels. The last wall was a single, humungous pane of glass, looking out onto a planet. ¡°Are we in orbit?¡± asked Garnett, the squad¡¯s silver-rank leader. ¡°Not just orbit,¡± said Lu, a gold ranker liaising from the Chinese government. ¡°That isn¡¯t Earth.¡± Garnett looked again and saw that Lu was right. The planet did look like their big blue marble, but the continents were wrong. ¡°Where the hell are we?¡± he asked. ¡°Some kind of space station? A spaceship? We have gravity. Is it from rotation, magic or some kind of alien science?¡± ¡°Figuring that out is why we¡¯re here,¡± Lu said. ¡°Where we are, and what Asano did to our people.¡± He turned from the window to give the room a more thorough examination. The panels making up the walls were large, each several metres across. There were doors in each of the non-window walls, including one set that were warehouse-sized, large enough to let massive freight pass through. ¡°Some kind of warehouse?¡± he postulated. ¡°A loading bay?¡± ¡°Maybe a security room?¡± Garnett suggested. ¡°There could be recessed weapons behind some of these panels.¡± ¡°I was tempted,¡± Jason said, and the squad wheeled to level their guns at him. He was standing in the middle of the room, dressed like a tourist with his hands in his pockets. He looked at the guns with a sigh. ¡°Really?¡± he asked. ¡°Have you guys not seen a movie? When one guy is standing casually while a bunch of SWAT-looking guys point guns at him, those guns definitely aren¡¯t going to work. Look, let¡¯s just skip ahead. You blokes shoot me and we¡¯ll see how it goes.¡± ¡°Hold your fire,¡± Garnett ordered his squad. He glanced at Lu, the only one of them without tactical gear or a gun. He was wearing plain black fatigues that looked simple but had more powerful magic flowing through them than the tactical gear. ¡°Asano, where are we?¡± Garnett asked. ¡°On a space station in my personal universe.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Your personal universe?¡± ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t have time to go into the details, but it¡¯s very small, by universe standards. Just the one solar system. That¡¯s the main planet out there, smack bang in the goldilocks zone. Some of the others are habitable, if a little more exotic. I had to do some odd things to make that work, depending on their distance from the sun.¡± ¡°You say that we¡¯re on a space station, in some private universe,¡± Garnett said. ¡°Even with magic, it seems a lot more likely that it¡¯s all a ruse. The air and gravity feel like we¡¯re in a room on Earth, not in orbit around it. For all I know, that window is just a high-definition screen and that portal brought us to a warehouse in the middle of Geelong.¡± Jason blinked surprise, then erupted into laughter. ¡°Oh, I totally wish I¡¯d done that, now. I like you, Mr Garnett, so I¡¯m not going to be to harsh on you and your lads.¡± ¡°We¡¯re well versed in your methodology, Mr Asano,¡± Lu said. ¡°You like to use absurdity to confuse and distract. That will not work here.¡± The grin that crossed Jason¡¯s face would have put the Chesire Cat to shame. ¡°Funny you should say that. In your world, you¡¯d probably be right. But this is my world, Mr Lu, and you have no concept of how absurd it can get. Gentlemen, I told you to shoot me.¡± Every finger resting on a trigger squeezed, sending a single bullet shooting out of each gun. The bullets stopped in the air, then each one floated into front of the person that fired it, hovering in front of their head. The bullets grew cartoon faces and started yelling. ¡°Were you even listening, idiot? Do you realise how expensive we are, and you¡¯re just flinging us at some guy who turned us into cartoon characters! We¡¯re going back in our guns now, and nobody better fire any more of us until you¡¯re back where you belong.¡± The bullets then returned to the barrels, some of them growing arms to flip off their shooters on the way. For a long moment, everyone was frozen. Then one of the security personnel threw their gun away as if it had tried to bite him. That triggered reactions from the others, staring at their guns or likewise tossing them to the ground. One actually looked down the barrel of his loaded firearm, getting him yelled at by Garnett. Only the unarmed Lu was unflinching, his expression calm and his eyes locked on Jason. ¡°Your universe,¡± Lu said. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°You¡¯re powerful, here. Controlling our perception of reality.¡± ¡°I could, yeah, but it¡¯s easier to just change reality. The only things not mine to command in this place are your souls. As for your bodies, I could turn them into pots of water and cook lobsters in you.¡± ¡°You claim to be a god?¡± Jason¡¯s chuckle sounded every bit like light-hearted amusement, yet every other person in the room felt a chill run down their spine. The security team, still looking shell-shocked, snapped their attention onto Jason. ¡°I¡¯m nothing so limited as a god, Mr Lu, but you can consider me such, if it helps. I understand the challenge of coming to grips with power on a scale beyond anything you considered possible. I once perceived the entirety of the cosmos. It was for an infinitesimally small time, beyond the ability to measure, yet even with the power I have in this place, just the revelation of it almost destroyed me.¡± He smiled at Lu. ¡°Even now, you doubt me,¡± Jason continued. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s all an illusion. Maybe we really are in a warehouse in Geelong. Mr Lu, in your world, I¡¯m just a gold ranker, not unlike yourself. A powerful one, with powerful friends. But in this place, everything answers to me. Even physics.¡± ¡°So you say.¡± ¡°What do you want to see, Mr Lu? To feel? To be? What will it take to convince you? You want me to turn off the sun? I¡¯ll have to warn the people on the planet, so they don¡¯t start a religion or something, but I can do that.¡± ¡°Why do you even want to convince me? What do you get out of it? If you have this kind of power, what can I possibly offer you?¡± ¡°If I convince you, you¡¯ll convince at least some of the leaders of Earth. Some won¡¯t listen, of course, but you¡¯re a man of influence. Of power.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a laughable assertion in this place.¡± ¡°But you won¡¯t be in this place. Hopefully helping world leaders understand what I have here. Because, if they do, they¡¯ll understand why I have no ambitions on displacing them.¡± He gestured at the window. ¡°What would be the point of seeking power on Earth when I have this?¡± ¡°To some people,¡± Lu said, ¡°it doesn¡¯t matter what they have, or how much of it. They always want the next thing, If only because someone else has it already.¡± Jason sighed and nodded his acknowledgement. ¡°I can¡¯t argue with that, Mr Lu.¡± Lu turned to look at the planet through the window. ¡°Is this where it leads?¡± he asked. ¡°This path of magic? Is there no limit?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. The cosmos is vast beyond what any mortal mind can encapsulate, believe me. Most immortal minds as well. I¡¯m not sure if a true limit to someone¡¯s potential exists, but we each have our own roadblocks. For you, the monster cores you used to get to gold rank make you unlikely to go further. But nothing is impossible.¡± The stoic Lu¡¯s shoulders slumped. ¡°It¡¯s easy to feel large, when you have power,¡± he said. ¡°The truth is, I¡¯m so very small, aren¡¯t I?¡± ¡°We all are,¡± Jason said. ¡°I have my own universe and I¡¯ve sat on the throne of creation, yet I¡¯m nothing but a speck. But that¡¯s part of why it¡¯s all so amazing. No matter how far you go, there¡¯s always a new horizon. I don¡¯t know if the people of Earth realise this, Mr Lu, but I¡¯m immortal. Properly immortal. If you kill this gold-rank body, I¡¯ll just make another, right here. I¡¯m going to live forever, but I¡¯ll never run out of hills to climb. Don¡¯t think of yourself as small, Mr Lu. Think about the cosmos as a place of infinite potential.¡± ¡°Perhaps for the younger generation. Those that did not use monster cores to raise themselves.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a tough one, I¡¯ll grant you. But as I said, nothing is impossible. Right now, there¡¯s a war going on in the other world. It¡¯s over a relic that I¡¯m told can, amongst many other things, purge the residual monster cores from people. Give them a fresh chance to advance. I¡¯m not saying that you or I will ever get our hands on this relic, but my experience is that¡¯s nothing is truly impossible. Just very, very infeasible.¡± Lu walked over to the giant window, past the security squad who were watching their discussion with uncertainty. The gold ranker looked out at the planet below. ¡°You¡¯re not lying, are you?¡± he asked softly. ¡°About this place. The power you hold here.¡± Jason walked over to stand beside him. ¡°No,¡± he said softly. ¡°Even if the cosmos is vast, we must seem so small to you.¡± ¡°Every seed is small, Mr Lu. That doesn¡¯t mean it can¡¯t become a mighty tree. I wasn¡¯t going to talk about this yet, but one of my intentions in returning to Earth is to help it on the path forward. To prepare it for when other worlds come calling. I won¡¯t lie, Mr Lu; the old guard, like you, have probably gone as far as you ever will. But some of those you will guide and teach will roam stars beyond stars. See wonders that even I have yet to encounter. You¡¯re not the future, I¡¯m sorry to say, but you are going to help build it.¡± Lu looked from the planet to Jason and back to the planet. ¡°Can I go there? See it for myself?¡± ¡°Oh, absolutely. Your people are getting some gelato right now, we should get in on that.¡± ¡°Did you just say gelato?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not technically gelato.¡± Chapter 953: Perfect Humanoid Specimens The Australian security team returned through the portal to report on what they had found. Jason sent Lu Yan through a separate portal, to join with the government officials eating frozen desserts. Lu would join their tour, led by the Concierge, allowing Jason to get back to family. In theory. He stepped out of a Shade body onto his cloud ship, but Shade spoke up before Jason had the chance to move. ¡°Mr Asano.¡± ¡°Please tell me there isn¡¯t something I have to go do. I¡¯m trying to introduce all my friends to my family.¡± ¡°Mrs Tilden requires your input. She has what she believes are adequate terms for delivering the dimensional refugees back to Earth. She said it would be best if you could appear in person to ratify the agreement.¡± ¡°Why did it have to be today?¡± he grumbled. ¡°How much leeway do I have in terms of time?¡± ¡°Knowing that you are occupied, Mrs Tilden set up a meeting for this afternoon in Canberra, with a number of ambassadors and officials representing the nations and factions whose people were displaced. It is scheduled for one hour and forty-seven minutes from now.¡± Jason let out a frustrated groan. ¡°Okay, that is worth showing up for. If I want people to take me seriously.¡± ¡°On that note, Mr Asano, Mrs Tilden suggested you not arrive in short pants. She went as far as to express a hope that you might see your way into donning an actual suit. Might I suggest one of the new outfits from Mr Bertinelli, in the Vitesse style. Something reflecting the formality of Earth business fashion while clearly drawing a distinction. I would, I believe, send the message you are going for.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°As always, Shade, your taste is impeccable.¡± ¡°Then might I convince you to reread The Remains of the Day, which encapsulates attitudes of¡ª¡± ¡°You realise that¡¯s a sad book about a guy who gave up love out of dedication to a Nazi sympathiser.¡± ¡°It is a work containing many fine lessons on the nature of service, Mr Asano. And I would hope that you are discerning in your sympathies.¡± ¡°Me too. Look, we¡¯ll watch the film version tonight, with Emi and her parents, alright? Assuming things stop coming up.¡± ¡°That would be very fine, Mr Asano. Even if I do not approve of Sir Anthony¡¯s choice of essences. Potent, Fertile, Vast and Edifice. Wholly undignified.¡± *** The meeting proved mercifully uneventful. There were some questions from the Australian Foreign Minister about the portal still in the Canberra office, but he fobbed the man off onto Anna. Most of the attendees seemed nervous about Jason, although curiosity and ambition warred with fear in their auras. As Jason wanted to stall out his time in Australia, despite his claims, he allowed himself to be talked into waiting for a location to be set up on the coast. The refugees would be released there to their respective nations and organisations. As most of the refugees belonged to both magical factions and nations, there was some contention over would be collecting them. While some nations had merged with various factions, or at least had very close relations, others did not. Some factions, like the Engineers of Ascension and various iterations of the Network, no longer existed at all. Jason noticed that none of the people suggested asking the refugees themselves, but he happily stayed out of those negotiations. There were a few attempts to bring him into the discussion, but he stayed out of it. Unless and until some of the refugees requested some kind of asylum from whoever arrived to pick them up, he had no horse in that race. He was grateful for Anna¡¯s assistance in avoiding entanglements diplomatically. He left the ambassadors to their deliberations, returning to his ship once the logistical details that concerned him were finalised. Anna came with him, likewise happy to escape the affair. She had been there far longer than him and had exhausted what productive moves she could make. ¡°You did well, Jason,¡± she said after they appeared in a room on the ship set aside for teleport arrivals. ¡°And an excellent choice on the suit.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Shade?¡± ¡°He did help pick it out,¡± Jason conceded. ¡°My family is having a barbecue on the deck eight terrace lounge, if you want something to eat.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to intrude.¡± ¡°Rufus, Taika and Gary are there. And I¡¯m finally going to bring my friends from the other world to meet everyone. I know you¡¯ve been waiting to connect with Danielle Geller.¡± ¡°Then I shall refresh myself and make my way down.¡± *** ¡°Wait, were we meant to dress up?¡± Neil asked. ¡°You said the dress code was casual.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Jason assured him. ¡°I just had a meeting with the Earthlings.¡± ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t call them that,¡± Danielle said. ¡°I totally did. Even told them to take me to their leader.¡± She rolled her eyes as Jason flashed an impish grin. Jason¡¯s friends were gathering in the hall outside their suites. His team, minus Zara. Farrah and Danielle. Emir and Constance, Arabelle and Gabriel. Valdis and his wife Sigrid. Belinda had Estella with her, trying not to be awkward around Jory. Travis was nervously clasping the hand of his wife Gabrielle. ¡°Travis, you were one of the first outsiders to sign on with the Asano Clan. You could have been down there the whole time.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s been so long, you know?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry,¡± Jason assured him. ¡°You¡¯re amongst friends. Family. And I know we¡¯ve had our differences, Gabrielle, but you¡¯re family too, now.¡± He looked around. ¡°No Zara?¡± ¡°She¡¯s still with the Rimaros diplomatic contingent,¡± Danielle said. ¡°I told her this was happening,¡± Sophie said. ¡°She¡¯ll join us or she won¡¯t.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯ll call in on them,¡± Jason said. ¡°But not until after. I¡¯ve been waiting too long to put this off anymore.¡± *** The Storm kingdom royal family was sprawling, making up almost a quarter of the kingdom¡¯s nobility. Even the least prominent of noble houses had at least a few royals tucked away in the family tree, all carefully tracked to keep families from becoming too close. Royals on the level of Zara were rare, with most of the princes and princesses being far less influential than upper-tier nobility. Zareen Rimaros was technically a princess, but far enough down the hierarchy that she was formally referred to as ¡®lady¡¯ rather than ¡®princess¡¯ or ¡®your highness.¡¯ The same was true for many of the diplomatic team sent to engage with the authorities of Earth. According with her status, she had served as something like a lady in waiting for princess Zara, and they had become close during the journey. It helped that Zareen also had a history with Jason, although Zareen¡¯s was far less complicated. It was mostly a social connection, through her mother, Liara. Liara was likewise a lesser royal, but her personal power and position in the Adventure Society made her a political force nonetheless. Zareen sat on Zara¡¯s bed, watching the other princess pace back and forth. ¡°You should just go,¡± she told Zara. ¡°This is only a big deal in your head.¡± ¡°What if I¡¯m being presumptuous?¡± ¡°Presumptuous? We¡¯ve all been watching the pair of you eye-humping every time you¡¯re in a room together.¡± Zara stopped to give her a scathing look. Zareen responded by putting her wrist to her forehead and falling back, as if taken feint. ¡°Oh Captain, I am but a wayward princess, cast adrift on a dimensional sea. Take me in your manly arms and¡ª¡± She was cut off by a thrown pillow, laughing as it bounced away. *** While Jason was corralling his friends, the group at the gathering was growing as well. More clan members were appearing through a shadow portal, including Jason¡¯s oldest uncle, Shiro Asano. He arrived with the former members of the Network¡¯s Asano Clan, exiled to the Australian Clan for siding with Jason during his last trip to Earth. The head of that group was the Japanese Asano Clan¡¯s former patriarch, also named Shiro Asano. The Two Shiros, as they had become known, had struck up a friendship during the course of Jason¡¯s long absence. With them were former members of the Tiwari Clan. Like the Japanese Asanos, they had been exiled from their family for siding with Jason. Jason¡¯s previous time on earth had been filled with betrayal and deceit, so he greatly appreciated those who had demonstrated integrity, even when it cost them dearly. Leading his friends, Jason paused outside the door to the lounge, as nervous as Nik had been earlier. Humphrey placed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, Jason.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Belinda said. ¡°I mean, will they hate Neil? Probably, yes.¡± ¡°Hey¡­¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Jason said. ¡°That calmed me down. But yeah, they¡¯re probably all going to hate Neil.¡± ¡°Gods dammit.¡± ¡°No gods here, mate,¡± Jason told him. ¡°There¡¯s just me.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Neil said. ¡°That may be the most arrogant thing you¡¯ve ever said, and that¡¯s a crowded field.¡± ¡°It was pretty bad,¡± Humphrey agreed. ¡°Sorry. I was doing a thing, earlier, and I thought I might have to turn off the sun for a bit. To prove a point, you know? It put me in a certain head space.¡± ¡°Just open the damn door,¡± Sophie said. ¡°I want something to eat.¡± The door dissolved away. ¡°Farrah!¡± Emi yelled and bolted over. *** ¡°You¡¯re all so good looking,¡± Erika said. ¡°I mean, I know what magic does to people¡¯s appearances, but even by those standards, it¡¯s really something. It¡¯s like you all just waltzed in from a modelling agency.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really flattering, Eri,¡± Jason said. ¡°And Jason would be your manager. Which would explain the one guy who isn¡¯t gorgeous like the rest of you.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Jason whined. ¡°I like her,¡± Belinda said in flawless English and stepped forward to shake Erika¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m Belinda, and this is Estella.¡± ¡°I actually recognise you,¡± Erika said. ¡°Jason made recordings during his first trip to your world.¡± ¡°I remember those,¡± Belinda said. ¡°They were really annoying.¡± Jason watched happily as his two families met for the first time. For two groups from literally different worlds, they meshed better than he ever could have hoped. Much of the start was him making introductions. Most of the adults present were essence users, so remembering names was easy. He watched the healers, Neil, Jory, Arabelle and Sigrid, discuss different approaches to magical healing with Jason¡¯s brother-in-law and another doctor, Chloe Baudrillard. Emi, Clive and Gary were messily disassembling one of Emi¡¯s cube constructs on a table where people were meant to be eating. Valdis was enthusiastically discussing Earth sword techniques with non-uncle Shiro and his daughter, Akari. Anna and Danielle finally met, Jason resisting the urge to push his senses through their privacy screen as they shared exasperated expressions while gesturing in his direction. Emir was holding court with some of the younger generation, many children having arrived with the extra clan members. He was loudly recounting a boisterous tale of treasure hunting and adventure. Jason¡¯s father was talking with Emir¡¯s wife and Arabelle¡¯s husband. Farrah was catching up with Rufus after fifteen years of separation from her oldest friend. Nik, Belinda and Estella were raiding the buffet table as if they needed to store food away for the winter. Belinda was interrogating an uncertain-looking Itsuki Tiwari over what was the best food to swipe. Humphrey and Sophie were circulating, the absolute centre of attention. ¡°It¡¯s almost obnoxious,¡± Erika said. ¡°They¡¯re just perfect humanoid specimens. I am not comfortable with the look Nana is giving Humphrey.¡± ¡°I know, right?¡± Jason agreed. They were watching the room from a quiet booth against the wall, a cornucopia of food laid out before them. ¡°You know they¡¯re all going to be famous, right?¡± Erika asked. ¡°Did you prepare them at all for a horde of thirsty people on the internet?¡± ¡°Is ¡®thirsty¡¯ a term people are still using? I¡¯d have thought they would have moved on from that by now.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve been living in a magic hole for years, cut off from popular culture.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a magic hole.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a hole in the universe you go through to get in, Jason. It¡¯s a magic hole.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an aperture, not a hole.¡± ¡°You know we have internet here? Unlike in the magic hole. You do realise what I¡¯ll find if I look up synonyms of aperture on my phone, right?¡± ¡°Shut up and eat your burger.¡± She contemplated poking him some more, but it was a good burger, so she picked it up and took a bite. Jason let out a contented sigh and leaned into his sister¡¯s shoulder. ¡°This is exactly what I wanted, Eri. Everything I¡¯ve wanted, for so long. I know there¡¯s going to be a bunch of crap to deal with, but right in this moment, everything is perfect.¡± ¡°I heard someone mention there was another member of your team?¡± ¡°Zara. She¡¯s a princess of the kingdom on the other end of the magic bridge. They have a diplomatic team here to establish relations on Earth. She¡¯s with them.¡± ¡°A princess, you say.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°A beautiful princess?¡± ¡°Look at these people, Eri. They¡¯re all beautiful.¡± ¡°Uh huh.¡± Jason sat up straight and looked at his sister. ¡°Eri, who have you been talking to?¡± ¡°Farrah.¡± Jason let out a weary sigh. ¡°I want to meet her, Jason.¡± ¡°Nothing has happened between me and Zara.¡± ¡°I want to meet her.¡± Jason looked around the room at people having a good time. ¡°Later,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s history, with Zara and me, and things are delicate right now. Neither of us know exactly where things stand, or where they¡¯re going. And there are complications. Political ramifications. She¡¯s a princess, Eri, and not of the wave-at-people-during-a-hospital-opening variety.¡± ¡°So, she¡¯s not allowed to hook up with a commoner?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not the issue. It¡¯s complicated and political, and about more than just her position. I¡¯ve fallen into an unusual position in Pallimustus global politics. Danielle, come here please.¡± Danielle was on the other side of a loud room, and inside a privacy screen. Even so, she looked over at Jason¡¯s softly spoken request. She made her way over and Jason tapped the button on the table that activated the privacy magic on the booth. Jason and Erika stood as Danielle approached. ¡°I don¡¯t think you two have formally met. Erika, this is Danielle, Humphrey¡¯s mother. Danielle, this is my sister. I need my sister to understand why she can¡¯t interfere with my relationship with Zara. For my own good, of course, in that big sister way. I thought that you would be better to explain Pallimustus politics, my position in it and how that relates to the princess. Both because your explanation will be better, and she won¡¯t doubt half of it on principle the way she would with me.¡± ¡°It is good to meet you,¡± Danielle said. ¡°And Jason was right to bring me in on this. I¡¯ll leave the complex personal history for him to explain later, and focus on the politics. How much has Jason told you about what he¡¯s been up to on my world?¡± ¡°Not much.¡± ¡°Then I will start at the beginning. Shall we sit?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± Jason said, standing up. ¡°I might sneak out and see if I can¡¯t talk Zara into joining us.¡± ¡°Jason,¡± Danielle said. ¡°I won¡¯t tell you what to do, or not to do. What I will ask is that any choices you make, you do not make lightly.¡± ¡°I know,¡± he said. She nodded, and he left. The two women claimed seats in the booth. ¡°Perhaps,¡± Danielle said, ¡°I should start from the very beginning. I was spending some time at my family¡¯s original estate when I was visited by Rufus Remore. He had an unusual story, centred around a strange man he had met¡­¡± Chapter 954: Misgivings Members of the Cabal had been hiding themselves for longer than humans ¡ª at least the ones from Earth ¡ª had been recording history. Some were reclusive, their glamours not holding up to close scrutiny. Others were capable shape-shifters, blending unnoticed into human society. Messengers were among the most capable in this regard. They could hide their wings, reduce their size and even diminish their natural beauty and compelling presence. Other inhuman traits, such as hair colour, could likewise be disguised. In this way, the messengers had hidden themselves for millennia. Even many amongst the Cabal had considered the angelic founders of their collective a myth. Fifteen years past the revelation of their existence, many were more relaxed about masking their nature. The wider cabal was often doing much the same, from diminutive fairies to looming ogres. There were many advantages to the human form, however, even within Cabal facilities. When you were nine feet tall, with three-foot antlers, taking human form was just easier when you were in line for the handmade naan bread station at the cafeteria. Boris Ket Lundi, or Boris Ketland, as he went by on Earth, had long been comfortable with human proportions. Those proportions had changed considerably over the years, his first visit to Earth predating the existence of humans on Earth by a considerable margin. He had once spent several millennia disguised as a celestine research assistant, studying the effect of magic on convergent evolution across universes. It had been a useful cover in scouting potential sites for hidden Unorthodoxy colonies. Earth had been a bold choice for such a colony, being central to the scandal that saw the original Builder sanctioned. The gamble had paid off, however, as the Council of Kings saw no value in poking at the great astral beings and avoided the seemingly worthless world. It had been tricky to set up infrastructure to sustain gold and silver rankers on the low-magic world, but that was put in place before the rise of the early hominids. There was no way to allow diamond rankers to live there, but they were few in number anyway, and could take care of themselves. Unlike the Council of Kings, Jason Asano was not afraid of jabbing transcendent beings and their interests. His ability to keep doing so without being spread across the concrete like an unfortunate jam spillage surprised even Boris, whose life experience spanned billions of years. He had marvelled at Jason, who had no concept of how often the hand of vengeance had been stayed by wildly unlikely circumstances or a bizarre confluence of transcendent agendas. Even now, plans born long before Jason Asano were moving, unnoticed and unseen. Like the water of an underground river, few realising what was happening, right beneath their feet. The schemes set into motion by Jason¡¯s outworlder predecessor, the Network founder, continued to play out. Boris had worked with the founder¡¯s own familiar to betray him to early magic societies that would eventually become the Network. That act had not stopped the clock the founder had set in motion, but it did allow them to accelerate the magical knowledge of Earth¡¯s fledgeling essence users. Not enough, but the deficit of magic on Earth was always going to be the limiting factor. The rising magic of the last century or so, had led to the Network becoming fully established. Noreth had always been an unstable element, and his increasingly extreme and isolationist approach to advancing Earth¡¯s magic had been disastrous, in the end. His Engineers of Ascension had attempted to push magic forward through less conventional paths, but Boris had refused to participate. Noreth and his organisation¡¯s research was dangerous enough, without access to the knowledge of the cosmos. In the end, Noreth had failed to realise that Asano was an ally and not an enemy agent until too late. His drastic move of disabling the grid had created the transformation zone crisis, almost destroyed the planet and spiked the magic level of the Earth. Boris had come to the brink of revealing his messengers to resolve the crisis, but Asano had managed it alone. Even so, the increased magic level and reduced stability of the Earth had accelerated the enemy timeline. The worst part was that Boris could do nothing, forced to let Jason play into enemy hands. The only alternative was to let the Earth be destroyed. Ultimately, Jason¡¯s efforts had allowed the messengers to remain hidden. The more Boris was forced to expose the presence of his people, the more likely they would be discovered by those out in the cosmos. Once revealed, the messengers would need to leave or bring the wrath of the Orthodox messengers down upon the Earth. If Boris and his people had to leave, they would not be around for the war to come. That was an eventuality that he now accepted was more likely than not, after Noreth¡¯s actions. The dimensional bridge had needed to be put in place decades before previously necessary. The likelihood of the messengers being forced to leave and not be present for the war had pushed Boris to revisit an old decision. He had helped the Asano clan take up one of Noreth¡¯s projects, something he would never have done if Noreth was still alive. He trusted the clan, under Jason and his grandmother, to act more responsibly than the rune spider would have. He doubted it would be enough, but it would give the Earth a chance, at least. If he and his messengers were not present to fight, they would desperately need it.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Asano¡¯s detour with the Cosmic Throne had given them a precious fifteen extra years to prepare, but even that was pushing it. Much longer and signs of dimensional breakdown would have started to show. Now, the bridge was set in place. The Earth would heal over time, but was opened to a new threat. Within a decade at most, the bridge would become a true dimensional passage, no longer requiring sophisticated astral magic to cross. Boris found himself forced to admire the plan. The World-Phoenix, Jason, Boris himself and many others played a part, each elegantly place to do their part. Some, like Jason, were oblivious to their role, while Boris had no choice but to go along, despite knowing the outcome. The World-Phoenix could not be forced, manipulated or deceived. It simply didn¡¯t care what happened, so long as the Earth¡¯s dimensional stability was ultimately restored. The enemy used that disinterest, relying on the World-Phoenix doing what it would have done anyway. Dawn had been a surprise to Boris. He had not expected the World-Phoenix¡¯s agent to form such a connection with Jason, although that seemed to be the man¡¯s true talent. He made friends or enemies, and little in between, everyone either loving or hating him. Even Boris quite liked the man. He had an inkling that the enemy had been equally surprised by Dawn¡¯s behaviour, and took hope in that. He didn¡¯t know exactly what she had done for Jason, but was certain she¡¯d taken actions beyond the mandate of her great astral being. It could be the thing that saved them all. Boris contemplated all of this from the Cabal main headquarters, in what was once the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Cabal¡¯s influence in Africa was greater than that of the other magical factions, but the former DRC was one of the few regions where it had outright seized power. The Cabal preferred to operate in a supporting role with existing governments, but several areas had proven too unstable after the rise of magic. He sat in a room that looked like a security office, with an array of monitors on one wall. Running on loops was all the footage of Asano¡¯s return publicly available, and quite a few that weren¡¯t. Boris sat at a desk where a computer held every document and report they could get on Asano and what the powers of Earth had done in preparation for his return. The media had only just been cleared to announce that Jason was back. There had been some inevitable leaks, but Jason Asano was a name of the past. His name alone caused a stir, but no great waves. He was a name from the earliest days of magic, and the world had moved on. The interest in him was rising now, ramping up as footage of his dramatic arrival was released. Carefully curated, of course. The public interest still wasn¡¯t at the level that Boris knew would inevitably come. They didn¡¯t understand the scale or context of what was happening, but that would change over time. The next fight would not be one of powers and violence but image and messaging. Whether to mobilise the world, or maintain the status quo, the key was controlling the narrative. He was frustrated at his inability to put his hand on that scale. He had already revealed himself more than was wise, especially with cosmic eyes now pointed at Earth. Boris sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. He wondered yet again if it was the right move to let things play out, keeping Asano in the dark. And he came to the same conclusion as always, as much as he disliked it. Jason¡¯s penchant for extreme-risk solutions would undoubtedly rear its head if he found out what was coming. The only real tool Asano would have to fight the outcome was his connection to the dimensional bridge, and Boris was not the only one who wouldn¡¯t allow it to be endangered. If something happened to it now, it would almost certainly undo the Earth, and possibly Pallimustus as well. Boris looked up at the image of Jason fighting the cosmic invaders, knowing that Earth had to be ready for worse. They had to make the most of the next decade, and Jason had to be the catalyst. His unique position, hovering between protector and threat, was the exact motivation that the Earth needed. He stood, just as the door opened. Tera Jun Casta entered, her eyes finding Asano¡¯s image on the monitors. There was a lot of baggage there that needed to be carefully unpacked, now that Asano was back. ¡°Are you going to Australia?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes. Do you want to join me?¡± She looked back at the screens. ¡°Yes. No.¡± She bowed her head and mumbled at the floor. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He reached up to give her a comforting pat on the shoulder. She was one of the few messengers who kept her wings and much of her size, even indoors. Her towering height of almost seven feet made life awkward, but little more than humans of similar stature. Her looming form was incongruous with her cute, rounded facial features and brassy-haired pixie cut. ¡°Maybe wait,¡± Boris suggested in a soft voice. ¡°Things are hectic right now. Give them time to settle.¡± She nodded. Boris patted her on the shoulder again and left her in the office, watching the recordings of Jason. *** Colours swirled over the navigation table on the bridge of Admiral Jakaar¡¯s flagship. Dimensional maps were abstract, shifting things, as traversing astral geography was wholly unlike navigating physical reality. Time and space became arguably and variably the same thing, wholly at odds with each other, or non-existent entirely. One of the less discussed aspects of being a diamond-ranker was how approaching the peak of mortal power granted glimpses of what lay beyond. Jakaar could feel the flow of the cosmos, like a voice slightly too distant to make out clearly. When he nudged up against the higher rules of the cosmos, that voice became clearer, although he didn¡¯t always like what it said. In this case, he could feel the rules of intrusion. They were telling him that the fragile backwater universe containing Earth was still unavailable to him, even through gold-rank catspaws. Enough time had passed that his people should have either finished the job or reported their failure. The link between this universe and the other was impossible to miss, to the point of almost blinding his vessel¡¯s sensors to anything else. He had his fleet running patrols in case of ambush. He wouldn¡¯t normally expect as much, out in this backward, cosmic crevice, but the continued silence from his most reliable gold rank agent spiked his instincts. He had the feeling that he was somehow being played, and he didn¡¯t like it. Wishing he¡¯d given more credence to Jota¡¯s misgivings, he slapped a hand on the navigation table in frustration. ¡°Keeley?¡± ¡°Yes, Admiral?¡± ¡°Collect what we have about Earth. Scouting reports, transcripts of every communication when we were cutting the deal, everything. Send it to my stateroom.¡± ¡°Of course, Admiral.¡± Chapter 955: The Unadulterated Jason The diplomatic contingent from the Storm Kingdom had set up their area of Jason¡¯s cloud ship like an embassy. Jason provided the space, tailored it to their requests, and left them to it. Like an actual embassy, any sovereignty the Storm Kingdom representatives held was a polite fiction, agreed upon with the host. As Jason made his way to that area of the ship, he reflected that civilisation itself was really just a series of fictions, collectively agreed to. Many within a society didn¡¯t even realise the degree to which it was, essentially, just made up. How many of the bedrocks on which they built their lives, their very identities, were arbitrary inventions. Lines on maps; the value of a bank note. Who was born to rule, and who to serve. It was disruption that revealed those fictions, breaking the illusion and forcing people to confront the world in which they lived. This was what Earth had been going through since the revelation of magic. Jason had seen the beginning, but the changes had continued in his absence. Nations had fallen or transformed, devoured by their neighbours. Others had risen or expanded. The economy had collapsed, and the very nature of ownership had shifted. The ability to hold a thing was becoming more important than a piece of paper saying who owned it. Spirit coins had become widespread while Jason was away, challenging the dominance of fiat currency. Spirit coin farms had become viable on earth, not just in astral spaces. The Asano clan had been a large factor in this, freely disseminating guides on how to set up such farms. More than anything else they or Jason had done, this earned the ire of nations who still did not hesitate to use those guides. Although he had been studying the changes to Earth through his avatars, there was only so much Jason could learn from the confines of his spirit domains. He needed to get his head around a situation that was still in flux. His arrival had already exacerbated instability, and diplomatic contact with representatives of an alien power would do the same. Jason¡¯s interest was currently on only a single member of the Storm Kingdom delegation. He entered the lobby of their shipboard consulate and walked up to the woman sitting behind the desk. If she had been an earthling, the silver-rank woman would have been powerful and important, even with the monster core residue permeating her aura. In the Storm Kingdom, she was a receptionist. ¡°Lord Asano.¡± ¡°G¡¯day Kara. And again, not a lord.¡± ¡°But you are a king. I can address you as ¡®your majesty,¡¯ if that is your preference.¡± ¡°My preference would be to have you call me Jason.¡± ¡°As you wish, Lord Jason.¡± ¡°How about we stick to the unadulterated Jason.¡± ¡°I have my instructions, Lord Jason. And, if I might ask, when was the last time you could honestly claim to be unadulterated? I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve encountered anyone as politically encumbered as you, Lord Jason, and I work for interdimensional diplomats.¡± Jason held out his hands in surrender as he let out a chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can argue past that,¡± he said. ¡°Is the princess ready?¡± ¡°That technically could include a third of the delegation, Lord Jason. I assume you mean Princess Zara?¡± ¡°Yes, Kara. I am waiting for Zara.¡± ¡°She¡¯s on her way. And, if I might make a suggestion, Lord Jason?¡± ¡°By all means.¡± ¡°Most women don¡¯t find you comparing their names to other women amusing, even if you do.¡± Jason raised his eyebrows, then bowed his head. ¡°Good looking out,¡± he said gratefully. He looked around the room as he waited for the princess to emerge. The white marble streaked with blue was native to the Storm Kingdom. Jason had fed half a quarry¡¯s worth to the cloud flask on his last visit, to better accommodate the Rimaros diplomats. The plants were likewise his, but the decorations otherwise belonged to the delegation. With tapestries, paintings, statuaries and carpets, they had not been shy about making themselves at home. The delegation appeared to include an interior decorator, and the results had Jason nodding his head in approval. Imposing, yet not intimidating, the room showed off the kingdom¡¯s wealth, but with a reserve that avoided ostentation. The decorations told the story of a kingdom with history, power and dignity. The way they were displayed was a message of restraint and maturity. Jason could see the message it presented to any Earth politician who saw it. ¡°Knowing Earth politicians,¡± he muttered to himself, ¡°they may want to have gone less subtle.¡± ¡°What was that, Lord Jason.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind me, Kara.¡± When Zara emerged, her attire was incongruous with the imposing lobby. She wore a light summer dress, sandals and wide-brimmed sunhat. The print of her dress and the flower atop her hat set off the sapphire in her eyes, and in the hair spilling out from under her headwear. Compared to the marble and centuries old decorations that wouldn¡¯t have been out of place in a museum, she presented as every inch the cruise ship passenger. The kind of passenger who would send distracted onlookers tumbling overboard. She wandered over to him, a smile playing on her lips. Jason was glad not to have changed out of the suit he wore to the meeting with Earth¡¯s ambassadors. While his normal attire might match hers better thematically, he suddenly felt the need for as much aesthetic appeal as he could muster. ¡°Princess,¡± he said with a slight bow. ¡°Captain,¡± she replied, not putting too much effort into supressing a grin. ¡°While I am technically captain of this ship, you realise that no one else calls me that, right?¡± ¡°Would you like me to stop?¡± ¡°No,¡± he confessed. The giggle she let out at the awkward expression was like water tinkling in a stream. It triggered lizard-brain instincts he didn¡¯t realise were still there, given his new nature. Her presence sent an electric spark running through his body, reaching through his avatar and into his soul. In New Water, residents looked up as thunder pealed on an empty blue sky. She was looking him up and down more overtly than he was taking in her attire. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see that you have finally discovered that comfort and dignity are not mutually exclusive,¡± she teased.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Are you saying there is an issue with my fashion sense?¡± ¡°I think ¡®sense¡¯ might the wrong word to describe the way you normally dress. I¡¯m sure that Danielle has explained that how you garb yourself is as critical in diplomacy as the armour you wear into battle.¡± He laughed. ¡°Almost word for word.¡± ¡°You do understand that you¡¯re a king, do you not? A strange messenger king, of a people who would murder you if they could, but still royalty.¡± ¡°Does your nation even formally recognise my astral kingdom?¡± ¡°That is an open question, at the moment. One that I suspect will be closed soon enough.¡± ¡°Are you saying I should get a crown?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying that perhaps your current attire should be your model going forward.¡± ¡°And why exactly is that, Princess? Would you describe me as dapper, perhaps? Dashing? Rakishly handsome?¡± ¡°I would describe you, Captain, as lacking in humility.¡± ¡°At least I¡¯m not going to be on a foot website once pictures of me in sandals start circulating.¡± She narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°I do not know what that means,¡± she said, ¡°but I find myself under the distinct impression that you deserve to get slapped. Are you looking to get slapped, Captain?¡± He glanced around in exaggerated conspiratorial fashion, looking over at the receptionist, Kara. He then leaned in to whisper in Zara¡¯s ear. ¡°Out of curiosity, would it be good or bad if I said yes?¡± Her snort of laughter was decidedly unprincess-like, earning raised eyebrows from Kara. Zara pushed her hands against his chest, shoving him back lightly. ¡°You, Captain, have a long way to go in the cultivation of decorum.¡± ¡°If you want me to be more decorous, you need to stop looking so stunning.¡± He dropped the playful lilt for that last comment and she flushed at the sudden compliment amongst the teasing. He took it as a win and held out his arm for her. ¡°Shall we, Princess?¡± She couldn¡¯t force the smile from her attempted glower as she placed a hand in the crook of his elbow. ¡°Lead on, Captain.¡± They strolled down the hall, side by side, and took an elevating platform to one of the promenade decks. Jason had reconfigured the ship from its previous combat orientation, shifting to cruise ship designed for touring with friends and family. It was ideal for looking out at the Australian outback in which the artefact city below them was located. They did just that, walking along the deck at a gentle meander. ¡°I somehow think that this is not the most efficient way to your family gathering,¡± she observed. ¡°I thought we¡¯d take the scenic route.¡± ¡°Why are we still here, floating over this city? It¡¯s starting to feel like you¡¯re stalling. Finding reasons to stay around instead of heading for your clan territory. You even portalled your family here, rather than go to them.¡± ¡°Coming from the woman who was too nervous to come out and fight evil with us.¡± ¡°I was not nervous.¡± ¡°Uh huh.¡± She batted him lightly on the arm. ¡°I am the highest-ranking member of an inter-universe diplomatic delegation. I thought it was best that my first appearance before the people of another world was not killing people with explosive storm magic.¡± ¡°If I had explosive storm magic, that¡¯s how I¡¯d introduce myself to everyone. G¡¯day, I¡¯m Jason¡­ boom. Lovely day for a dog show. Boom. I¡¯d like to apply for a library card. Boom.¡± ¡°Now, you¡¯re stalling me. Are you keeping secrets, Captain?¡± ¡°Always. Do you know how many recording devices are directed at us right now?¡± ¡°I can sense the attentiveness of quite a few auras, yes. But isn¡¯t this ship shrouded in privacy magic? At best they will see us here, our mouths blurred to prevent lip reading.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t blur your feet, though.¡± ¡°Why do you keep talking about feet?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about that.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been thinking about my feet?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve decided that it¡¯s definitely best you don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°About my feet?¡± ¡°About internet search histories.¡± She shook her head in exasperation, sending her sapphire curls dancing around her head. Jason managed to avoid letting out a whimpering noise. ¡°I am stalling,¡± he admitted. ¡°About not moving, not about your feet. Shade only has a couple of hundred bodies, and it¡¯s a big world.¡± ¡°You have him out spying. For the people who called in the pirates?¡± ¡°No, they¡¯ll keep. My concern is with the vampires. I¡¯ve come up against their leader, Elizabeth, in the past. She got the better of me, and I don¡¯t want that to happen again. The vampires have known I was coming back since I massacred many of them to help make my avatar. That made an impression, and Elizabeth has had time to prepare. The vampires got a taste of my power, so I doubt she¡¯ll take a direct approach.¡± ¡°What are you expecting?¡± ¡°Best guess? Holding cities hostage. There are weapons here that can wipe out whole cities. After magic came out into the open, several nations with access to those weapons were annexed or fell into disarray. The vampires were amongst those who snatched up some of the weapons during the chaos. They¡¯ve already used one, and hold more as a deterrent against similar attacks against them. I expect they¡¯ll use the same threat to try and ward us off as well.¡± ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll use one of these weapons again? To punctuate the threat?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my concern, along with the earthling intelligence agencies Anna Tilden put me in contact with to coordinate the search. Shade can move fast and infiltrate any security that this planet can muster, but he needs at least some idea of where to look. He¡¯s already confirmed or disconfirmed hundreds of small groups, mostly blood slaves, rather than vampires proper.¡± ¡°You intend to wait here until you¡¯ve found all of these weapons?¡± ¡°No. There¡¯s no real chance of getting them all, and Elizabeth will realise we¡¯re moving before we get close. I don¡¯t know how connected the vampires are, but this is too global. She¡¯ll realise what we¡¯re up to and find a way to force our hand. The most we can hope for is to eliminate enough of the weapons to reduce Elizabeth¡¯s hand at the negotiating table.¡± ¡°You think she¡¯ll talk rather than fight?¡± ¡°The footage of the team fighting the pirates has leaked by now. Elizabeth will have realised that if our group joins the fray, the stalled war will resume, and the vampires will lose. But they could do a lot of damage in the meantime, be that through nuclear weapons or by culling the blood farms they still hold. Her strongest play is negotiation, and she¡¯s too smart to not realise that.¡± ¡°Will the people of Earth even negotiate? With what the vampires have done? And the fact that they¡¯re vampires.¡± ¡°The humans won¡¯t rest until the vampires are a history lesson. Elizabeth will lean into the deterrent approach. Push for discussion; angle for concessions. For her, maybe some chosen few. The rest of her people she¡¯ll sell out to save herself. I¡¯ve seen her do it before.¡± ¡°Will you let her live? After what the vampires have done under her command?¡± ¡°Probably. I have planets she can¡¯t escape, and better to let her rot there than watch cities burn.¡± ¡°And the rest of her kind? Will they just lay down and die because she cut a deal?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m inclined to offer other leaders the same deal, along with as many vampires as they want to take with them. Any vamps I can get off Earth without violence, I will. I just don¡¯t think it will work that way. Some, yeah, but most will fight to the end, or try and hide themselves away.¡± ¡°If this Elizabeth is gone, what of the weapons? Will those left behind try and use them in her absence?¡± ¡°If they can get them to work. Elizabeth will have to give up locations, and I¡¯m willing to bet she¡¯s got a failsafe. Otherwise, one of the other vampire lords would have used one for themself. Elizabeth knows that if she can¡¯t hand over the weapon stockpile, she has no leverage. As you say, the next vampire in line would take her spot and leave us with the same problem. I think she¡¯ll make a deal to save herself and let the rest burn. She knows she has lost, and that we can¡¯t let the vampires live. My guess is that she¡¯ll angle for passage to Pallimustus.¡± ¡°A gold-rank vampire? She¡¯d be killed on sight.¡± ¡°Part of her demands will be assurances that she¡¯s cut loose safely.¡± ¡°Would you accept that?¡± ¡°Not if I can help it. Her, and any other vampires willing to go, can go to one of my planets. One far away from the sun. It¡¯s not a bad deal.¡± ¡°It¡¯s about leverage, then. How many of the weapons you can take from her, and how effectively she can sell out the other vampires to humanity.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he said grimly. A frown crossed her face as she heard the gravel in his voice. It was a hint of the icy tone he used when fighting enemies. She patted him gently on the arm. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she told him. ¡°This was meant to be a nice stroll, and I¡¯ve made it bleak and political.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he said, turning to her with a soft smile. ¡°I always knew we¡¯d have to wade through the mud to reach clear water.¡± They met each other¡¯s eyes. His amusement was gone, and the spectre of violence faded as vampires fell from his thoughts. He didn¡¯t make a joke, or let his mind darken with bloody purpose. He wanted her to see past the armour. Vulnerability didn¡¯t come easy, but he had gotten used to opening his soul. If he could do it for a battle over a magic throne, he could do it for a woman with a sharp mind, an imp¡¯s smile and eyes like sapphire pools. Neither spoke, as if afraid of breaking the spell. Her hand was pressed against his chest, neither quite certain when it had found its way there. He leaned in but hesitated, his face hovering before hers. He could see nothing but her eyes, clear and direct, with none of the uncertainty he knew filled his. She reached up and placed a gentle hand on the side of his face. She drew him in, closing the final distance, and pressed her lips onto his. Chapter 956: Emergent Situation Jason couldn¡¯t stop grinning. Walking along the promenade deck, his fingers were intertwined with Zara¡¯s as she walked beside him. ¡°We should probably make our way to the gathering,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Well, we are taking the scenic route. There¡¯s a place called Iceland that¡¯s very scenic.¡± She looked out at the Australian desert. ¡°Iceland,¡± she echoed. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to guess that¡¯s some distance away.¡± ¡°Not if you really think about it. Rimaros is a lot further away.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you want to introduce me to your family?¡± ¡°It¡¯s going to be rough.¡± ¡°I can handle it.¡± ¡°Not on you! They¡¯re going to adore you. I meant rough on me!¡± Zara burst into laughter. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what family¡¯s for? Even with all the politics, my closest relatives are still family. We don¡¯t show it to the world, but we¡¯re not that different from anyone else. Even while I was publicly ostracised, I would still make discreet visits. My father complains that it¡¯s not enough, my brothers tease me about grubbing about as an adventurer, as if they weren¡¯t doing the same.¡± ¡°I have a hard time imagine a family like yours being normal, even behind closed doors.¡± ¡°Is your family like any other, when you¡¯re all together?¡± ¡°More or less.¡± ¡°And are you about to take a princess from another universe to meet them on your flying cloud ship?¡± ¡°Okay, I see your point.¡± *** The Asano Clan friends and family gathering was in full swing by the time Jason and Zara arrived. Clive had taken Jason¡¯s portal to the clan territory, from where he used his own portal to bring yet more people in. More of the ship¡¯s passengers had joined the festivities, such as Carlos Quilido. He was discussing soul therapy with Gladys Erstweller, who had treated the Alzheimer¡¯s of Jason¡¯s Nanna. Amy¡¯s daughters were chatting animatedly with Rick¡¯s wife Hannah and her twin, Jason¡¯s nieces gushing over the elven twins. A few people noted the quiet entrance of Jason and Zara. Farrah¡¯s eyes moved to Jason¡¯s hand still holding that of the princess. Farrah smirked and went back to her conversation with Rufus. Emi spotted Jason and her eyes went wide as saucers. She rushed over, frantically grabbing her mother on the way. Jason took a long, bracing breath as they shuffle-ran across the lounge, Zara glancing his way with a chuckle. His sister and niece arrived in front of them, Emi practically bouncing up and down. ¡°This is your princess, Jason?¡± Erika asked. ¡°She¡¯s a princess,¡± he said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so bold as to call her mine. Zara, this is my sister, Erika Asano, and my niece, Emi Evans-Asano. Family, may I present Her Royal Highness, Zara Rimaros of the Storm Kingdom. She probably has about eight middle names, but I couldn¡¯t be bothered learning any of¡ª¡± He yelped at a sharp poke in the ribs from Zara. She otherwise ignored him, flashing a bright smile at Erika and Emi. ¡°It¡¯s so lovely to meet you both. I do hope you¡¯ll allow me to forgo formality and just be Zara today.¡± ¡°Of course. You¡¯re coming with us while Jason is going to go off and play with his little friends.¡± ¡°I am?¡± ¡°You are,¡± Erika said firmly. She plucked Zara¡¯s hand from Jason¡¯s and led her away. Emi leaned close to her uncle. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to be great for you, Uncle Jason,¡± she whispered. ¡°I see your young man isn¡¯t here.¡± ¡°He¡¯s scared of you. He knows you¡¯ve been waiting to talk to him in person.¡± ¡°Right now might be a good time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare. We¡¯re going to have fun with your stupidly gorgeous princess while you let it happen and do nothing. Understand?¡± He let out a weary sigh. ¡°Understood.¡± *** After leaving Zara to the tender mercies of Emi and Erika for an hour, Jason checked to see if she was in need of rescuing. Joined them in the conversation were his father and brother-in-law. ¡°How we first met?¡± Jason said, in response to a question from Ken. ¡°That was twenty years ago. She was a fancy princess from a foreign land, and I was but a humble adventurer.¡± ¡°A humble adventurer?¡± Zara asked. ¡°Yep. I distinctly remember your attendants trying to run off the grotty commoner.¡± ¡°I distinctly remember them failing. What exactly were you on the way to do that day?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t recall.¡± ¡°Yes, you do.¡± ¡°I was on my way to meet some folks.¡± ¡°Oh, some folks. Just regular folks?¡± ¡°More or less.¡± Zara raised her eyebrows, skewering him with her look of accusation. Jason looked around the group, making a downplaying gesture to the table. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a big deal,¡± he explained. ¡°I¡¯d come across some people and helped them out of a jam, that¡¯s all. Their bosses just wanted to thank me.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°By which he means that he liberated a small army of priests who had been trapped in limbo for centuries and a collection of gods wanted to express their public gratitude.¡± ¡°She makes it sound like a bigger deal than it was.¡± ¡°They formed a cult!¡± Zara exclaimed. ¡°People did that here, too,¡± Erika grumbled. ¡°I dread to think about what¡¯s going to happen now he¡¯s back.¡± ¡°I remember that thing with the gods,¡± Emi said, jostling Jason¡¯s arm. ¡°You talked about it in your recordings.¡± ¡°Recordings?¡± Zara asked. Emi explained the recordings Jason had made of his initial visit to Pallimustus. ¡°Oh, I would love to see those,¡± Zara said. ¡°Anyway, our ¡®humble adventurer¡¯ had just beaten out some of the most promising young adventurers in the world ¡ª myself included ¡ª in a contest run by Emir over there. In the course of which, he¡¯d rescued some priests from centuries of imprisonment. Their gods wanted to thank him in person.¡± ¡°On the way,¡± Jason picked up the story, ¡°I was harassed by some prick who didn¡¯t like that I¡¯d won. Because I actually was a humble adventurer, regardless of what any Hurricane Princesses in the area might have to say¡­¡± Jason and Zara continued to tell stories of the other world, editorialising each other as they went. Eventually, Zara went off to chat with the team, having been sequestered away with the Storm Kingdom delegation for days. That left Jason with his family, to deliver their verdict. ¡°Ohmygod she¡¯s amazing,¡± Emi said. ¡°And so gorgeous! I know what magic does to people¡¯s looks, but she¡¯s something else.¡± ¡°She seems lovely,¡± Erika said, ¡°and somehow taken with you. She could do a lot better.¡± ¡°Eri, be nice,¡± Ken scolded. ¡°Jason¡¯s never brought a girl home before.¡± They all glanced in the direction of Amy, who was talking with some people from the clan. ¡°Fair point,¡± Erika said. ¡°But really, Jason, she¡¯s great. And she¡¯s really a princess?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. Of one of the most powerful nations in the world. Stunning place, all flying ships and magic hurricanes. They have giant windmills that absorb the storms and use them to power these islands that float in the sky.¡± ¡°That sounds amazing,¡± Emi said. ¡°I¡¯d love to show it to you,¡± Jason said. ¡°It¡¯s not like it was before, and neither am I. I spent a lot of time there, recovering from my last visit to Earth. I had this house on a cliff, overlooking a lagoon. That was my cloud house. Farrah built a permanent home for her parents on the land after I left. It¡¯s an amazing spot.¡± Shade emerged from Jason¡¯s shadow. ¡°Mr Asano, loathe as I am to interrupt your family time, there is an emergent situation in need of your attention.¡± *** Operations Officer Natalya Winscott of the CIA rubbed her temples, which did nothing to alleviate her stress headache. She was in the Melbourne operations centre for the multi-national task force hunting for vampire-held weapons of mass destruction, standing still as the people around her bustled about. The exception was the ASIS officer standing in front of her, Michael Aram. ¡°I thought,¡± Natalya said, ¡°that the Australian security services understood that no move was to be made. This was meant to be coordinated, across agencies and across the planet.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t us. It appears that the Prime Minister has secured private contractors, through some kind of back channel.¡± ¡°Mercenaries? Are you serious?¡± ¡°We¡¯re just learning about this ourselves. He clearly wants to bypass his own security services and this task force, although we don¡¯t know why.¡± ¡°I believe that I have an explanation,¡± Shade said. The people in the room stirred as a patch of shadows turned into a person made of darkness. Distracted only for a moment, they went back to their tasks. ¡°What do you have, Shade?¡± Natalya asked. ¡°I¡¯ve just sent one of my bodies to observe the Prime Minister. From what I¡¯ve gathered, he is worried about his public image with the arrival of Mr Asano, given their history. He wants to use the capture of a weapon of mass destruction on Australian soil to seize control of the media narrative.¡± ¡°Is he an idiot?¡± Natalya asked. ¡°It¡¯s not so much an issue of stupidity as inclination,¡± Michael said. ¡°I¡¯ve been dealing with Truffett since before Jason Asano had ever heard of magic. He¡¯s spent decades working sneaky backroom deals, using end results to justify the means before anyone knows what¡¯s going on. Given that it got him the Prime Ministership, it makes sense that he¡¯d keep trying the same pattern.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t some political game, Aram. We¡¯re talking about a nuclear weapon in a city of five million.¡± ¡°I am aware of the stakes, Officer Winscott,¡± Michael said coldly. Natalya let out an exasperated breath. ¡°I know. I¡¯m sorry, Mike. I just have a hard time when someone is this aggressively stupid. You realise he can¡¯t stay Prime Minister after this, right?¡± ¡°Natalya, we¡¯re not letting the US remove another Prime Minister.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a conspiracy theory, Aram. We never did that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking about doing it right now!¡± ¡°He¡¯s circumventing his allies and his own security service to threaten a major metropolis with nuclear annihilation!¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± Shade interjected, ¡°we can put that question aside until the current one has been fully addressed.¡± Natalya cleared her throat and smoothed her suit with her hands. ¡°Quite right,¡± she said. ¡°We need to deal with the situation in front of us. What do you have, Aram?¡± Michael scowled, ¡°From the information we have, these mercenaries are a former Network strike force out of Russia. A lot of them went mercenary after the Cabal became the dominant force in that part of the world. They should be able to handle the vampires, at least. Assuming the vamps don¡¯t have any surprises.¡± *** The Melbourne Bunker Project was a series of shelters designed to house the population in the event of a monster wave hitting the city. After the monster wave crisis passed, the project was defunded, leaving a series of half-completed underground complexes around the city. Most had ended up as drug hotspots or gathering spots for the homeless. Some were more complete than others, able to be secured against intrusion. This normally wasn¡¯t enough to keep people from an abandoned building, but these were bunkers designed to keep out monster hordes. That was enough to keep it clear of heroin addicts and the homeless seeking shelter, but not a Russian magical wetwork team. In the lowest sub-basement, a man named Ilyin looked at a wooden stake, half buried in the floor. Around it was a mess of blood, thick like craft glue, and the clothes of the now dead vampire. ¡°Where did you get that?¡± he asked, still staring at the wood that had gone through the vampire to bite into the solid concrete. It wasn¡¯t a carved piece of wood but a rough shard, scorched as if from a tree struck by lightning. ¡°In a proto space, back in the day,¡± Gusev said. ¡°The gold-rank one near Yekaterinburg. We used enhanced missiles to take out the keystone monster, but there was a tree that was almost undamaged, despite being in the strike zone. This shard was one of the few parts that were blasted off. Against people, a magic gun is better. For vampires, this is good.¡± Gusev reached down and yanked the stake from the floor. It had left a hole in the concrete without losing so much as a splinter. The blood, however, had soaked into the wood and vanished, leaving it clean. Gusev¡¯s hand started to twitch, the gold-rank item too much for his silver-rank to handle. He slipped into back into the magic-suppressing sheath on his waist, requiring a few attempts as his hand had a mini-seizure. After it was put away, he rubbed his forearm with a groan. ¡°Can¡¯t play around with that too long,¡± he said. ¡°Lost use of my arm for two days, once.¡± ¡°I could use it for a while,¡± Orlova suggested and Gusev turned to look at her. ¡°No one uses it but me,¡± he said. ¡°This clears the south wing,¡± Ilyan said, then pressed the radio on his chest. ¡°Team three, south wing clear.¡± ¡°Team two, north wing, in progress,¡± came the response. ¡°Four blood bags down. Heading for the last sub-basement now.¡± They waited for another report that didn¡¯t come. ¡°Team one, this is team three lead. Check in.¡± More silence. ¡°Yegor, check in.¡± Nothing. ¡°Yegor, you better answer me or be dead. Team two, converge on the central hall and we¡¯ll move on the east wing together.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± *** The blood oak, despite the name, was not a tree. It did look at least somewhat like one, with a trunk-like body and long limbs jutting out, seemingly at random. It didn¡¯t have feet, instead ambulating slowly using tentacles at its base that looked like a root system. Its skin was coarse and knobbly, like bark, but a bloody red colour. Three of the creature¡¯s limbs ended inside the bodies of people in tactical gear. Thin tendrils had spread through each body like veins and arteries, keeping them alive but helpless, dangling in the air. The radio worn by them crackled to life. ¡°Team two, south wing clear.¡± An arm lifted, jerky like that of a puppet, to grab the radio. ¡°Team three, north wing, in progress,¡± its body said. ¡°Four blood bags down. Heading for the last sub-basement now.¡± The arm flopped back down. The laughter of the blood oak was deep and inhuman, even more resonant than normal in the concrete chamber. Chapter 957: When the Screaming Began Ilyin, Gusev and Orlova moved through the dark concrete tunnels of the abandoned bunker complex. Designed to shelter tens of thousands for as much as a week, it was a sprawling warren, crawling under the city. The exposed construction site on the surface had long since been built right over, courtesy of some sketchy government approvals. There were large chambers earmarked as dormitories or storage areas. Some did have lighting set into the ceilings, but there was no electricity to power them. The trickier sections were power rooms with half-installed generators and access tunnels for plumbing and electrical infrastructure. The tight spaces, filled with debris and protrusions, were tough to simply navigate, let alone fight in when they ran into vampires. Two of the three mercenaries had lights attached to their tactical helmets and guns. Orlova had a perception power that, like Jason¡¯s, allowed her to see through darkness. Her perception could penetrate any non-magical shadows, along with magical ones created by anything not too much more powerful than her. If any darkness proved impervious to her senses, she knew it was time to run. Their destination was the entrance hall at the centre of the complex. A large space designed to organise and filter people to other parts of the bunker network, its incomplete form was that of a massive concrete box. The only features were the doors leading out and a freight-sized elevator shaft with no elevator. It was an open space where they could see enemies coming and open up with their powers, if it came to a fight. It was also their way in and out of the complex, via the shaft, so the fourth team had been left to hold it. As they moved down a clear tunnel, Ilyin took the time to have the others check in. ¡°Team Four, still holding the access point. Ilyin, you¡¯re starting to spook me here.¡± ¡°Team Two, still on route.¡± Ilyin stopped, turning to look at Gusev and Orlova. Their worried expression mirrored his own. ¡°I¡¯m not hearing things, right?¡± he asked. ¡°No,¡± Orlova said. ¡°Lebedev sounds off, and he¡¯s answering the same way each time. The exact same way each time, like a recording.¡± Gusev nodded his agreement and switched his radio to the Team Four¡¯s private channel. ¡°Team Four. Alekseeva.¡± ¡°Ilyin, now you¡¯re really starting to spook me.¡± ¡°Be aware, Team Two may be compromised. Shape-shifter, voice mimic, I don¡¯t know. No telling what powers these vampires get from their bloodlines.¡± ¡°I¡¯d tell you we¡¯ll stay sharp, but we¡¯re on a knife edge already, Ilyin. We¡¯ll be wary if they turn up.¡± ¡°Report anything through this channel. I¡¯ll still do periodic check-ins so they don¡¯t realise we¡¯re onto them.¡± ¡°Acknowledged.¡± Team Three started moving again, guns up as they examined every side tunnel and dark corner. Orlova signalled to stop, snapping her gun at a corner next to an upcoming door. ¡°Darkness,¡± she said. ¡°Can¡¯t see through it.¡± The others focused their lights on the spot, but the corner remained shrouded in darkness. A pair of disembodied eyes appeared within the shadows, orange and blue, and three guns opened fire. The bullets stopped in the air, as if caught in an invisible gelatine wall. A dark figure stepped out, the strange eyes inside the hood of a cloak darker than the shadows it emerged from. The figure pushed back his hood to reveal a face they all knew from briefing documents. Jason Asano plucked a frozen bullet out of the air and examined it briefly. He dropped it to the ground and then the others fell as well, clattering on the concrete. The three mercenaries looked at him, their gun magazines empty. ¡°Do we try our powers?¡± Gusev asked. ¡°Do you want to try your powers?¡± Ilyin asked. ¡°Against the man who just Matrixed our guns? I don¡¯t even want to reload.¡± ¡°What does ¡®Matrixed¡¯ mean?¡± Orlova asked. ¡°It¡¯s a movie from about forty years ago,¡± Ilyin said. ¡°Who is watching forty-year-old movies?¡± Orlova asked. Jason could taste the fear in their auras and waited as they whistled in the graveyard. Their wide eyes and frozen bodies reminded him of animals staring at headlights. ¡°I take it we¡¯re done fighting?¡± he asked. The mercenaries had all heard people using translation magic before. This wasn¡¯t that. Jason didn¡¯t talk in Russian; they could hear him not speaking Russian. But while their ears told them he wasn¡¯t speaking their language, their minds told them he was. It was uncanny; an unsettling fear beneath the straightforward terror instilled by his aura. ¡°You¡¯re Jason Asano,¡± Ilyin said in English. ¡°Have been for a while, now. Makes it easy to remember.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°Because someone sent you here to make a mess, and it needs cleaning up. I was expecting vampires, but there¡¯s something else down here. It could be a vampire lord with some unusual powers, but I don¡¯t think so. It¡¯s good at masking its presence, but I¡¯ve caught some glimpses of an aura, and it isn¡¯t right for a vampire. It does reek of blood, though. Perhaps a vampire-like monster. I once encountered a spider that could turn people and even other monsters into vampires.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight that,¡± Gusev said. ¡°Nor should you. One thing I am certain of is that it¡¯s gold rank. We need to collect your people and get them out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an objective I can get behind,¡± Ilyin said. ¡°We came in with twelve; four teams of three. We think one team is dead and another compromised somehow. Possibly dead and being mimicked.¡± ¡°I sense nine,¡± Jason said. ¡°The group by the entrance, you and a group I found being fed on by vampires. The last group are likely your compromised people. Maybe dead, but whatever has them may be hiding their presence from me.¡± As if to make his point, Ilyin¡¯s radio crackled to life. ¡°Team Three? This is Four. Jason God Damn Asano dropped in on us, carrying Team One like sacks of potatoes. They¡¯re down but alive, covered in punctures. Looks like a whole swarm of blood bags had their way with them. Asano sucked the vampire curse out of them and then fed them some crazy strong potions. They¡¯re getting some colour back, but they¡¯re still out. I¡¯ve got Volkova healing them as fast as she can spend mana.¡± ¡°Their souls were stressed by the vampiric curse,¡± Jason explained. ¡°Healing magic won¡¯t get them on their feet as quickly as normal.¡± Ilyin touched his radio and responded to Team Four. ¡°Alekseeva, Asano is here, and he says there¡¯s some kind of gold-rank blood monster down here as well. We¡¯re going to rendezvous with you, get out, and leave whatever¡¯s down here to him.¡± ¡°I like that plan. Be fast.¡± A portal arch rose from the floor, black stone filled with darkness that roiled like black fire. ¡°This will be fast,¡± Jason said, and stepped through. The mercenaries shared a look. ¡°Either of you ever used a portal?¡± Orlova asked. ¡°No,¡± Ilyin said. ¡°I saw a few being used, back in the Network days, but never went through one myself. Leadership was very restrictive about portal users.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think that portal leads to a cell or something, right?¡± Gusev asked. ¡°I¡¯ve been hearing chatter, over the last year,¡± Ilyin said. ¡°People talking about him coming back. Things that I thought were crazy, until I felt his aura. Until I heard his voice.¡± ¡°What was that?¡± Orlova asked. ¡°It felt like hearing Moses coming down off the mountain. And how did he stop those bullets with what looked like his mind? That wasn¡¯t in his listed power set. Some protective item from the other world?¡± ¡°If so,¡± Ilyin said, ¡°he could trade it for island if he has a spare. And I don¡¯t think the portal is a trap. We¡¯re not powerful enough that he needs effort to handle us.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get going,¡± Gusev said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be here when something he does need effort to handle turns up.¡± *** Ilyin watched as Asano lifted his people up the empty shaft as if there was an invisible elevator. He sent Team Four up first, to secure the entry point on the surface, and was now lifting Team One, who were shaky but once again conscious. ¡°That¡¯s really your aura doing all that?¡± Orlova asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How does that work? I can levitate myself, but not stably, or quickly.¡± ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡± ¡°Is it something I could learn?¡± ¡°Unlikely. You have to go through changes to make it possible. There¡¯s no standard process for that, as far as I¡¯m aware.¡± ¡°How did you go through them?¡± ¡°A cosmic bird needed me to save the world and come back from the dead less often.¡± ¡°You know how that sounds, right?¡± Gusev asked. ¡°At the risk of sounding immodest, I live an interesting life.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve fought things like what¡¯s in this place before?¡± Orlova asked. ¡°I won¡¯t know until I find it. Or it finds me. But I¡¯ve fought a lot of things.¡± ¡°Did you think about using us as bait?¡± Gusev asked. ¡°Even thugs who work for blood money don¡¯t deserve that. I¡¯ll get your other people out alive, if I can. You should not hold your hopes up, however.¡± ¡°What about the weapon?¡± Ilyin asked. ¡°That¡¯s what you came for, right? You¡¯re spending time with us you could use hunting for it.¡± ¡°I have someone doing that.¡± ¡°And if that someone meets whatever is out there?¡± ¡°Then whatever is out there will discover that the cosmos is a large, and sometimes extremely hungry place.¡± *** ¡°We should just leave it.¡± ¡°If we leave the weapon, Lord Louden will kill us.¡± ¡°Then we don¡¯t go back to Lord Louden.¡± ¡°And do what? This isn¡¯t the old days. The humans know what we are and have the magic to hunt us. We need shelter, and someone to get us out of the country. Unless you, a vampire, want to hide in the middle of a nation famous for being constantly bombarded by the sun.¡± ¡°Maybe we don¡¯t have to go. The blood oak could easily kill them.¡± ¡°It could easily kill us. It¡¯s unstable. Uncontrollable. Now that we¡¯ve set it loose, we need to run from it more than we do from the humans.¡± The two vampires continued loading the nuclear device into a large crate. They looked up as a third vampire hurried into the room. ¡°We need to go,¡± he told the other two. ¡°We know.¡± ¡°No, I mean we really need to go.¡± ¡°Where are the others?¡± ¡°Gone.¡± ¡°Are you telling me that many vampires went down to three humans?¡± ¡°No. We were devouring them when Jason Asano arrived.¡± The other two went still. ¡°He can¡¯t be as bad as they say, can he?¡± ¡°He¡¯s worse. A shadow that feeds on vampires. You think Lord Louden¡¯s aura is domineering? This was like being looked down on by a god. I was the only one to get away, and only because Asano was focused on saving the humans.¡± ¡°You got away?¡± ¡°Yes. Obviously.¡± ¡°And you came back here alone?¡± ¡°Are you dense? Yes, I came back alone. This doesn¡¯t matter, we have to¡ª¡± ¡°It matters. Did you really get away, or were you let go?¡± ¡°Why would I be let go?¡± ¡°So someone could follow you. That¡¯s why you would be let go.¡± The sound of footsteps on concrete came into the hall, slow and regular, like the ticking of a clock. The three vampires looked up as a man walked into the room. He wore robes, rather than normal clothes, the colour of dried blood. His features were sharp, his neat beard not quite masking the protrusion of his large chin. His eyes were blood red orbs, glistening like sunlight reflecting off the surface of a red sea. ¡°Is this Asano?¡± one of the vampires asked. ¡°No. The aura is wrong. And the eyes.¡± ¡°Hello. My name is Colin, and I am going to eat you now.¡± Mist started spilling from an open-ended pipe jutting from the wall near the ceiling. It swiftly coalesced into a person. ¡°Lord Louden!¡± The gold-rank vampire only had eyes for Colin. ¡°This isn¡¯t Asano,¡± he said. ¡°It belongs to him, though. Some kind of servant creature. I don¡¯t think you weaklings can sense it, but this thing is filled with delicious, bloody life force.¡± Louden vanished in a blur and was suddenly behind Colin, leaning in to sink his fangs into Colin¡¯s neck. That side of Colin¡¯s neck, head and shoulders broke apart like a jigsaw puzzle, into a mass of leeches that crawled over Louden¡¯s head, biting right back. That was when the screaming began. Chapter 958: A Lot Harder Than Anticipated Ilyin found his passage up the elevator shaft discomforting, lifted as if by a disembodied hand. It didn¡¯t help that, to grab him, Asano had suppressed Ilyin¡¯s aura first. Reaching the surface, he passed through the hole his team had jackhammered to access the elevator shaft. It was in a warehouse that had been built right over the bunker system. They had cleared some space on first arriving in the warehouse, and more room had been made now. Shelves stacked with construction materials meant little to gold-rank strength, and several gold-rankers were present. Normally that would have set Ilyin on edge, but he had bigger issues to deal with today. If the gold rankers wanted to make Ilyin¡¯s life hard, all they would have to do was push out with their powerful auras. In Ilyin¡¯s experience, gold-rankers liked to throw their weight around, with auras being a favourite way to do that. This group had theirs retracted, leaving just enough to announce their presence. These auras were also smooth in a way he wasn¡¯t used to. Ilyin focused on one gold ranker, kneeling over Team One. ¡°You a healer?¡± he asked the man. ¡°Yeah,¡± the man said. ¡°You their commander?¡± His no-nonsense tone and failure to look up was comforting to Ilyin. He¡¯d met combat medics before, and the sense of familiarity at the attitude was a comfort on a day that had gone to hell eight different ways. ¡°I am,¡± Ilyin said. ¡°Neil Davone,¡± the man introduced himself. ¡°Your people will be alright, but the vampires left them with a lot of the lesser vampirism curse. Jason cleaned it out before it took hold and turned them, but you¡¯re looking at real recovery time here, whatever magic you use.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± *** The concrete storage room lit up as Travis entered, a glow stone floating over his head. His escort, Humphrey, nodded to Jason. Aside from the three men, the only things in the room were a large crate and some ominous stains that glistened in the light. They mostly covered the floor, but also painted sections of the walls and ceiling. Travis gave them a leery glance as he moved to the crate. The wood gave way to his silver-rank strength without resistance as he tore the crate to pieces, casually tossing them aside to look at the contents. ¡°Yeah, this is a nuke,¡± he said. ¡°Some minimal magical enhancement, but inexpertly done, and some time ago at that. Too faded to offer any measurable performance increase at this stage.¡± ¡°Does that matter?¡± Jason asked. ¡°We¡¯re talking about a nuclear weapon.¡± ¡°It matters,¡± Travis said. ¡°Setting off a conventional nuke deep underground, in a magically reinforced bunker, will do massive damage with a nasty radioactive aftermath. But a magically enhanced nuke, going off on the surface? It¡¯s the difference between Melbourne being devastated, and Melbourne being gone.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°Neither is a great option, but I take your point. It¡¯s in our hands now, though, so we won¡¯t let either of those scenarios happen.¡± ¡°Do you want me to destroy it? Or you could feed it to your cloud flask.¡± Travis asked. ¡°Disable it but leave it intact. Anna wants me to hand it over to the Australian government.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t they the ones who sent mercenaries down here in the first place?¡± Humphrey asked. ¡°It¡¯s complicated,¡± Jason said. ¡°Anna thinks that the Prime Minister won¡¯t last after this, and helping the government save face will improve relations with whoever replaces him. So, leave something to hand over, but make sure it isn¡¯t operable, and never will be again.¡± ¡°I can do that,¡± Travis said. ¡°One of my abilities lets me play around with material for creating weapons. I can render the fissile material inert.¡± ¡°Thanks. Humphrey, keep an eye on him while¡­¡± They all turned as Colin entered in his blood clone form, looking like a red-eyed Jason. There were four of him. Below diamond rank, he couldn¡¯t permanently expand his biomass, but he could do so temporarily, if he fed on enough life energy. At gold-rank, that that temporary lasted longer than before, and consuming a vampire lord had loaded his reserves nicely. Jason had sent Colin and his extra bodies on the hunt through the complex. Now they returned, each carrying bodies slumped over their shoulders. Colin lowered them to the ground, setting them out in a line. ¡°There are people here,¡± he said. ¡°A lot of people.¡± Jason, Travis and Humphrey came over observe the corpses. ¡°They look homeless,¡± Jason said. ¡°There are a lot of them down here, you say? I can sense something out there, but it¡¯s unclear. I certainly didn¡¯t pick up on a bunch of homeless people.¡± ¡°They had something inside them,¡± Colin said. ¡°It was controlling them, making them stronger.¡± ¡°Sounds like when the Builder shoved clockwork cores in people,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Make them stronger and turned them into unwilling slaves.¡± ¡°I can feel the thing inside them, if I get close,¡± Colin said. ¡°I can leech it out of them. Devour it. That¡¯s what I did to these people. They died, but not immediately. If we had a healer, maybe they could save them.¡± Jason looked up from the corpses and put a hand on Colin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You really are a good boy.¡± Colin¡¯s bashful smile looked odd when he had Jason¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯ll fetch Neil down here,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°I¡¯ll bring the others from the ship,¡± Jason said. ¡°Just the team is fine if we¡¯re hunting vampires in the dark, but if there¡¯s a bunch of puppeteered victims we can potentially save, we¡¯ll want all hands on deck. Especially the healers.¡± *** The bodies had been moved from the storage chamber with the nuclear weapon to the large central chamber of the complex. Three of the corpses had been placed inside ritual circles and complex patterns of light were now floating over them. The patterns meant nothing to Jason, but there was a group of magical healers peering at them, muttering between themselves. Along with Carlos and Neil were Arabelle Remore, Claire Adeah, from Rick Geller¡¯s team, and Sigrid Volaire, who was both Prince Valdis¡¯ team healer and wife. Their teams were present as well, but not yet moving out. Until they knew if the enemies Colin reported were victims that could potentially be saved, they didn¡¯t want to move into the deeper reaches of the complex. The entrances were being watched by Humphrey¡¯s summons, who looked like human-sized golems made of bone, garbed in ornate blue and gold armour. At gold rank, Humphrey¡¯s Spartoi power could call up a hundred of the dragon tooth warriors. They weren¡¯t up to the task of defeating an elite adventurer of their rank, but were perfect for battling enemy minions or when a large security force was required. Right now, they were securing the room against potential intrusion and patrolling nearby tunnels and chambers. It allowed the adventurers to gather and discuss without needing to watch the entrances, while waiting for the healers to be done. Once they were, Carlos gathered everyone together.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°It would appear that Colin¡¯s postulation is accurate,¡± he explained. ¡°It seems we¡¯re dealing with some kind of monster or other entity that can implant victims with organic material that controls them and floods them with power. Think of it like being affected by a spirit coin for an extended period, giving them a temporary false rank.¡± ¡°As you¡¯d imagine,¡± Neil said, picking up the explanation, ¡°that is very bad for you. The good news is, it looks like these are normal-rank people. As with using spirit coins, the less magic you have of your own, the less severe the conflict between it and the introduced magic. Our best estimate is that there are a few more hours before whatever has happened to these people will kill them outright.¡± ¡°Our recommendation is to split into four groups,¡± Carlos said. ¡°We have four teams here, and Colin has four bodies right now. Having Colin extract whatever this is from the victims will be critical to keeping them alive. Colin, how long can you maintain those extra bodies?¡± ¡°So long as I can feed on more of the things implanted in these people, then indefinitely.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get going,¡± Carlos said. ¡°I¡¯ll set up a triage station here, using the dragon tooth warriors to secure our foothold in the complex.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll send a small contingent of them with each team, as well,¡± Humphrey announced. ¡°If you manage to free and stabilise any victims, the warriors can ferry them back here. Danielle, Farrah; you don¡¯t have teams here, so you hold this area with the warriors in case something they can¡¯t handle slips past us. Whatever we¡¯re up against, it can hide from our senses and let its victims do the same.¡± Danielle looked amused at her son, in expedition leader mode, referring to her by name. She said nothing, happy that he was even capable of issuing her orders. She¡¯d been worried, when he was younger, that timidity would prevent his natural charisma from transferring into the potential she saw for him as a leader. That had continued right up until he stalled out in the attempt to reach gold rank, but he had ultimately found his inner dragon. Jason, Rick Geller and Valdis all had their teams present. On Arabelle¡¯s team was her husband, along with Emir and his wife Constance, who had frequently taken the place of original team member Callum Morse. Constance had trained with Callum on her own path to gold rank, before the full extent of his instability had shown. Now, Cal returned to the team, restoring the full original lineup while keeping Constance as well. Callum was far more stable than when Jason had known him years earlier, during his obsessive searching for Sophie¡¯s mother. The ability to visit her in Jason¡¯s soul realm, plus years of therapy with Arabelle, had spurred his recovery. As he was the best hunter on any of the teams, he would be a useful presence in the group. The four teams moved out, linked by Jason¡¯s interface. His abilities enhanced the System to which they now all had access, not only allowing them to communicate, but also create a shared map of the complex as they explored it. *** ¡°How many homeless people did they bring down here?¡± Jason muttered. Colin¡¯s leeches fell away from the latest group of victims, who dropped like puppets with cut strings as the force controlled them was removed. Jason caught them with his aura before they slumped to the ground, floating them over to where Neil was already drawing out a healing ritual. ¡°It does seem strange that this many people could be brought down here unnoticed,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Homeless people might as well be invisible,¡± Jason said. ¡°We spend so much time deliberately overlooking them that we don¡¯t notice when they go missing.¡± ¡°We try to avoid that in Pallimustus,¡± Zara said. ¡°A large, exploitable population invites vampires, necromancers or something worse to do just that. Your world will need to address this problem as the magic here rises.¡± Rick¡¯s voice came through the group chat. ¡°We just ran into some vampires. They fought like those other homeless people, which makes sense given that Colin said that they were being puppeteered. No skill, just trying to rush us down.¡± The normal people were boosted all the way to silver rank, which was nothing to the gold rankers. The challenge was not in winning the fights but in disabling their opponents so that Colin could excise the power controlling them. Some had to be fended off with enough violence that they didn¡¯t survive, while others were too far gone. The magic boosting their rank had done too much damage already. ¡°Did you manage to take the vampires alive?¡± Neil asked. ¡°Or what passes for alive for vampires?¡± ¡°No,¡± Rick answered. ¡°Claire says the vamps have too much magic. Whatever is being done to these people kills the vampires outright, the moment Colin takes it out of them.¡± ¡°Why are they even controlling vampires?¡± Gabriel wondered. ¡°Did the vampires not put whatever is down here in place?¡± ¡°A question for when we¡¯ve figured out what we¡¯re up against,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°For now, we keep to the task at hand.¡± Neil directed Humphrey¡¯s Spartoi to take the latest batch of victims back to Carlos and his triage centre. At the same time, he sent a voice chat. ¡°Carlos, take a look at the bodies that didn¡¯t make it. Some of them are dying and I¡¯m not sure why. It tends to be the ones with improved physiques, so I¡¯m thinking maybe they¡¯re blood servants. I don¡¯t have time for a more thorough examination.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take a look,¡± Carlos answered back. *** The blood oak had a squirming and moaning body on the end of each limb. It used them as weapons, caustic blood bursting from them in clouds of mist that left gaping wounds. It used them as shields, soaking up attacks from Emir and his team. It even used them as potions, draining the life from them to heal itself. Gabriel¡¯s sword blazed with fire as it slashed at the tree-like creature. The blood oak intercepted with a dangling body, but it exploded, showing the room in chunks of flesh and viscera. The limb holding it was severed, the stump left burning. Another body shrivelled like a juice box being drained by an aggressively thirsty child. The limb grew back, and the flames were quenched as sticky red liquid coated the bark-like skin. The blood oak tossed all the bodies it had left. They exploded into red, caustic mist that forced the adventurers back, if only for moment. The creature seized that moment to escape, sliding into a broken pipe like a snake and disappearing into the wall. Callum dashed forward while conjuring a rat into his hand, then set it loose into the pipe to give chase. ¡°We just had an encounter,¡± Emir reported over the group chat. ¡°It slipped away into a pipe.¡± ¡°We need a way to pin it down,¡± Rick said. ¡°It just keeps throwing victims at us. I don¡¯t want to have to kill them all before we can corner it.¡± ¡°At least it seems to be contained in this complex,¡± Jason said. ¡°I think the bunker system is fully contained. With the elevator shaft guarded, the only other way out is the access point the vampires used. If it¡¯s still running around, that means it either hasn¡¯t found that exit, or couldn¡¯t get past the barrier Clive put on it.¡± ¡°Callum is tracking the creature,¡± Emir said, even as Callum conjured more rats and sent them into the pipe. ¡°Hopefully we can hunt the thing down, whatever it is.¡± ¡°We may have a line on figuring what it is,¡± Rick said. ¡°We¡¯ve found some kind of magical laboratory. We¡¯re checking to see if there¡¯s anything we can use to stop it.¡± ¡°Only take a quick look,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing obvious, get back to the hunt. The what, how and why we can get to later.¡± *** The blood oak was no match for four gold-rank adventuring teams in a fight, but proved devilishly elusive. Unable to escape, it resorted to hit-and-run tactics that led to almost a dozen encounters before it was finally slain. It might have managed to whittle down a few members of the teams if they each hadn¡¯t had a powerful healer on hand. In the end, it was the combination of Callum and Jason that killed it. Callum¡¯s conjured rats mapped out the pipe network and allowed him to start predicting the blood oak¡¯s patterns. He finally had Jason move to anticipate one of its ambushes, allowing him to get enough afflictions on it that it crawled off to die. In the end, Colin in leech swarm mode crawled to where it had died and devoured it, bringing back a small sample. The teams converged in the laboratory that Rick had found. It was a large space and, unlike anywhere else in the complex, fully outfitted. The walls had been sealed and sterilised, with functional lighting and power installed. A contained plumbing system and multiple large generators were set up in an adjacent utility room. The lab itself had multiple rooms, looking halfway between an alchemist lab and a medical research centre. One room had heavily reinforced glass with a heavy security door, now open. The inside contained what looked like old vines, tangled around skeletons stripped down to nothing but stained bones. There were a couple of fresh bodies in the main lab area, looking like every drop of moisture had been drained out of them. ¡°You think the vampires made that thing?¡± Neil asked. ¡°Maybe,¡± Jason said. ¡°Clive, can you and Travis figure out what they were doing here?¡± ¡°We can try,¡± Clive said. ¡°Try hard,¡± Jason said. ¡°That one creature took four gold-rank adventuring teams over an hour to hunt down. If this wasn¡¯t a sealed space, it would have escaped, and easily. We need to know if this was the only one, or if the vampires have more of them. If they do, that will make dealing with them a lot harder than anticipated.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a nasty thought,¡± Neil said. ¡°Imagine a whole nest of these things, hidden under a city. Almost impossible to detect, even harder to trap when you do manage it.¡± ¡°Emir,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Callum is the best tracker here. Have your team sweep the complex for leftover victims, or indications that there was more than one of these things. Rick, go escort Travis to this lab. Jason, this is going to be a huge mess. You should start coordinating with local authorities.¡± ¡°On it,¡± Jason said. ¡°Jason,¡± Travis said through voice chat. ¡°See if you can find someone whose computer skills aren¡¯t twenty years out of date to go through the systems in that lab. At this point, I don¡¯t know if we could boot up a laptop between us. Assuming they still have laptops.¡± ¡°Good thinking,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can rustle up someone trustworthy.¡± Chapter 959: Without Consequences In the vampire laboratory, Clive and Lorelei were cataloguing the overtly magical tools and materials. Travis was doing the same with the technological tools, while also checking in on an IT specialist from the Cabal who was working on the computers. Emi was paying greater attention, watching over his shoulder. She wasn¡¯t a computer specialist, but she had, at least, used one that wasn¡¯t old enough to vote. The rest of Jason¡¯s companions had moved on to other tasks. Some were sweeping the complex for any lingering vampires and victims. They had turned up several, mostly homeless people who had died along with the blood oak. Jason was talking with the others through voice chat as he flew through the skies of Melbourne in a black car. ¡°Bro, it sounds like killing the leader kills all the minions, like in an old monster movie,¡± Taika said. ¡°That would seem to be the case,¡± Danielle replied. ¡°That¡¯s good if we need to kill an army of minions quickly, but not if we want to save them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose any of the victims have regained consciousness?¡± Jason asked. ¡°No,¡± Carlos said. ¡°And don¡¯t expect them to any time soon. They¡¯ll be comatose for days while their souls shake off the trauma. We¡¯ve dosed them with as much healing magic as we can without doing more harm than good. We¡¯re lucky any of them lived at all. What they went through was tantamount to being chain-fed spirit coins. If they¡¯d had any magic of their own, none of them would have survived.¡± ¡°We¡¯re coming up on the complex now,¡± Jason said. ¡°You found your creepy magic experiment specialist?¡± Clive asked. ¡°I did,¡± Jason said. ¡°Try not to be rude when you meet her.¡± ¡°Why would we be rude?¡± Clive asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t that your kind of thing?¡± *** While the mercenaries had jackhammered into an elevator shaft, the actual entrance to the bunker complex was a small security building. The vampires had purchased it through a discreet shell company and mild government corruption. It was more convenient than an empty shaft, and a large operation was now being set up around it. The security building was in the corner of a car park that serviced the nearby warehouses and industrial spaces. There was a security cordon set up in the car park, with a couple of tents and an operations van. Looped around it was a simple rope barrier, the actual deterrent being a large security force. A half dozen squads in black tactical gear were positioned around the cordon. Outside of the line was the press, growing in number as more and more vans arrived. Reporters were trying to get a rise from the security team while cameramen set up tripods and deployed drones into the air. The security force were the first to notice the approach of a flying black sports car, raising their guns. The press were filming moments later, although all their cameras picked up was a static blur. The car approached the ground, but instead of landing, turned into a cloud of roiling darkness. Two people dropped from the cloud to land lightly on the ground, a man and woman. The cloud was drawn down and sucked into the man¡¯s shadow, like dust into a vacuum cleaner. The reporters immediately rushed at the pair, many already having recognised Jason. ¡°I¡¯m not taking questions at this time,¡± Jason said, without slowing down. Some of the reporters moved into his path, at which point he stopped and glared. They quick-fired question his way, then yelped and screamed as they floated into the air. Jason used his aura to pick up the entire media contingent, including their vans, and deposit them on the roof of a nearby warehouse. The camera drones were crushed, as if by invisible hands, and the scrap was dropped on the roof as well. Jason and his companion then walked to the cordon rope, where a security team was waiting to meet them. The security personnel¡¯s anxiety didn¡¯t show through the tactical helmets, but it painted their auras. They were also throwing nervous glances at the stranded reporters. ¡°Mr Asano,¡± the squad leader said as she stepped in front of him. ¡°There are security protocols in place, now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure there are,¡± Jason told her. ¡°I just don¡¯t particularly care.¡± ¡°Sir, we need to vet everyone attempting to enter the facility. I¡¯m well aware that you could break me and my team like a carton of eggs, but we have a job to do. For all I know, you could be a reporter using illusion magic.¡± Jason turned to look at the reporters on the roof, in various states of distress. ¡°I¡¯ll acknowledge it¡¯s unlikely,¡± the squad leader said. Jason let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Why do I keep running into people at checkpoints who fulfil their duties with integrity?¡± he complained. ¡°Where are the cowards I don¡¯t feel bad about browbeating?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not really sure how to answer that, sir.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± he asked. ¡°Squad Leader Jessica Sunderland, sir.¡± ¡°Jason Asano.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware, sir.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really carry ID. Well, I do, but it¡¯s a magic tattoo on my back. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s valid in Australian jurisdictions. What about you, Ms Blaine?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been living in a magic city for the last decade,¡± Jason¡¯s companion said. ¡°I haven¡¯t had any legal identification since I came back from the dead in Arizona. You brought me here through a portal, which I imagine is illegal entry. I don¡¯t have a passport, let alone a visa. I¡¯m not even sure my US citizenship is still valid.¡± ¡°Because you died?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Were you declared dead, legally?¡± ¡°I suppose not. The other cardinals murdered me and I came back to life in a shed.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably fine, then. Just to be clear, when you say cardinals, you¡¯re not talking about Catholics, right?¡± ¡°No, that was what we called the EoA leadership. Cardinals, after the cardinal directions. I was Mrs South.¡± ¡°Right. Like Mr North.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Uh, sir?¡± the squad leader interjected. ¡°Right, sorry Jessica,¡± Jason said. ¡°You know, you can call me Jason.¡± ¡°I¡¯m definitely not going to do that, sir.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Look, we need to go in. You know who I am, and this is Audrey Blaine of Clan Asano, so now you know who she is. I¡¯m going to need you to take my word for it, because we¡¯re going inside.¡± ¡°Sir, if I can convince you to wait a moment, I¡¯ll radio my supervisor and see if I can clear you. That way, you don¡¯t have to beat the crap out of all of us on your way in.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Fair enough,¡± Jason said. ¡°But do try and make it quick, or I¡¯ll put you all up there with the reporters.¡± ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± She took a few steps away and started talking into her radio. Jason waited, looking around absently. ¡°I should probably get a phone,¡± he mused. ¡°Do they still have phones, or is it hologram watches or something now?¡± ¡°I think they still have phones,¡± Audrey said. ¡°Again, I¡¯ve been living in a magic city for a decade. Surrounded by vampires.¡± ¡°Is that weird for you? The vampire thing?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Audrey said as she looked around. ¡°You¡¯re not very big on following rules, are you? Or laws.¡± ¡°I suppose not. Except cosmic laws, I guess. I kind of have to follow those, since I¡¯m the one who¡­ ah, that doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m more of a ¡®do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law¡¯ guy.¡± ¡°You realise that when regular people try that, it doesn¡¯t work out.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t always work out for me, if I¡¯m being honest.¡± *** The bunker network¡¯s single installed elevator was a freight elevator installed as part of the original construction. Jason and Audrey rode it down until it stopped with a shake. When the doors opened, they found most of Jason¡¯s team arrayed in front of it, brandishing weapons. ¡°What did I say about not being rude?¡± he asked them. ¡°That¡¯s an energy vampire,¡± Humphrey said, pointing his sword at Audrey. ¡°Indeed, she is. Audrey Blaine, may I introduce Team Biscuit. Team, this is Audrey. A few decades ago, she ran an extremely sketchy joint project between the extant magical factions of the period. That program was how she ended up in her current state, which she has long-since learned to manage.¡± ¡°What about magic sunlight turning vampires evil?¡± Taika asked. ¡°Energy vampires aren¡¯t subject to the same effects,¡± Clive said through voice chat from the lab. Audrey¡¯s eyebrows rose as Jason looped her into the conversation. The others were notified by text as she joined. ¡°So, this is the system they talk about,¡± she said as Clive continued his explanation. ¡°Magic-infused sunlight doesn¡¯t impact the personalities of energy vampires the way it does the regular vampires,¡± he said. ¡°In fact, vampires and energy vampires aren¡¯t the same kind of creature at all, despite the name.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Carlos said through voice chat. ¡°Energy vampires aren¡¯t self-perpetuating, like regular vampires. They only come into being through unusual circumstances.¡± ¡°Like with Thadwick,¡± Neil said. ¡°Exactly,¡± Carlos said. ¡°It¡¯s why energy vampires are so much rarer. Their connection to actual vampires is thematic at most. The hunger, the need to feed on the living. The underlying magic is very different.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Humphrey asked. ¡°Quite certain,¡± Carlos said. ¡°I¡¯ve vivisected more energy vampires than anyone on Pallimustus, so far as I¡¯m aware.¡± ¡°Uh, Carlos,¡± Jason said. ¡°Just to check in¡­ again. You are still a priest of the Healer, right?¡± ¡°Why do you keep asking me that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s because of what was apparently an extensive vivisection program,¡± Belinda said. Jason glanced at Audrey, who had turned pale. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m bringing Ms Blaine to the lab, Clive. My grandmother pinched her from the Network years ago, and she¡¯s been running clandestine experiments ever since. She has more experience with the biological aspects of magitech than anyone else on the planet, so she has the best chance of figuring out what was going on down here.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it,¡± Clive said. ¡°The most useful thing I¡¯ve figured out is how urgently I need to study the technological aspects of how magic is used here.¡± *** Jason lacked the appropriate expertise to dig into whatever the vampires had been doing, so left it in more capable hands. In the meantime, he caught up with Anna on the cloud ship. ¡°The next step is to back off,¡± she said. ¡°A lot happened today, and we need to see how things fall. The meeting with the ambassadors, the nuke, the vampires. The people you let see into your magic kingdom.¡± ¡°Is Disney going to let us call it that?¡± ¡°You¡¯re happy traumatising a small army of reporters who are already making a massive deal of it, but you¡¯re worried about branding?¡± ¡°I may have fought a god, but I do not want to take on Disney lawyers.¡± Anna shook her head. ¡°Dealing with the press like that¡ª¡± ¡°Anna, I¡¯m not going to let anyone pressure me. Not like last time. I want to do things diplomatically, and I know that playing all-powerful tyrant doesn¡¯t help with that. But I¡¯m still going to, from time to time.¡± She sighed. ¡°I know. Right now, we need to see how things play out. Don¡¯t make any more spectacles until the refugee handoff. This vampire bunker situation compounds what was already deeply complicated.¡± ¡°I agree. I¡¯m more than happy to retreat to clan territory and keep quiet. I can leave the cloud ship here. My concern is what the vampires are up to. The rest is politics, but that¡¯s a threat of a very different nature. If the vampires have more of those blood tree things, it completely reframes how we need to deal with them.¡± ¡°Will you find that out any time soon?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± ¡°Then it doesn¡¯t change the plan. Give the dust time to settle. While we see how things develop on the political front, we need to look at the public image of you and your clan. How the aftermath of today plays out will be a large factor in that, but we can look at general approaches. The key is that if your public image is a positive one, it¡¯s all the harder to pressure you politically.¡± ¡°So, using telekinesis on reporters was a bad idea?¡± ¡°Actually, no. The Engineers of Ascension are long gone, but one thing they did continues to resonate, even now. They branded their people as superheroes, and that has stuck in the public imagination. Most major cities maintain a cadre of magic users to handle supernatural threats. Monsters, obviously, but as magic becomes more common, it¡¯s increasingly being used in criminal activity. Mostly by former magic faction members who fell out of the fold over the last decade or so.¡± ¡°Superheroes? Are we talking full-blown spandex vigilantes? ¡°More like extremely flamboyant SWAT teams with large publicity departments.¡± ¡°Where do I fit in?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the world¡¯s first superhero. These modern superheroes spend most of their time making public appearances and arguing over who is the most like Batman. Their publicity team would kill for a rolling battle against vampiric blood servant bikies. Not to mention that EoA actively worked to turn you into an urban legend, in the last days before magic went public. They were using you to pave the way for their own superheroes.¡± ¡°I remember,¡± he said with a scowl. ¡°They tried to use the Broken Hill disaster for publicity. Sounds like not much has changed.¡± ¡°Well, now we can reap the rewards of all that.¡± ¡°In case my tone was unclear, Anna, I was implying that using these events for publicity is a bad thing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to take advantage of dire events to promote yourself. I¡¯m just explaining how we¡¯re going to frame things, and what kind of events we¡¯re going to target for intervention.¡± ¡°You want me to do superhero things. Are you asking me to fight crime?¡± ¡°No. Just keep doing what you did today. Handle threats that no one else can. Be what no one else can be. Honestly? The thing with the reporters plays into that. We can build an entire Avengers League around you and your team.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not Avengers League, Anna. It¡¯s Avengers or it¡¯s Justice League.¡± ¡°Jason, I am incapable of expressing the depth to which I do not care. The point is that you have a team of colourful, diverse and incredibly attractive people. We can sell the crap out of that, and do some actual good in the process. We¡¯ve already been brainstorming ways that you and your team can help people. Forget fighting monsters; I want to see Wexler walking through cities, curing people with her aura. That¡¯s good publicity and just good.¡± ¡°I like the idea, but I don¡¯t want to have reporters following her around like it¡¯s a publicity stunt. The priority should be helping people, not being seen helping people.¡± ¡°The good thing is, that¡¯s the right approach for image as well. It¡¯s better publicity to just do it and have people find out, which they obviously will. You can¡¯t blanket cities in miracle healing without people investigating what happened.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not opposed to the idea, but we need to prioritise our actions the right way. Places that need what we can offer the most.¡± ¡°I completely agree. I¡¯ll have the team put together a plan.¡± ¡°The team?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Once I joined this little operation, I started putting together what is essentially a think tank. We have the opportunity to make incredible changes. You and your people have the power to change the world. The key is not doing more harm than good, so we¡¯ve been planning out how to do that. Our core approach is to identify potential areas where you could do some good, and then start consulting with locals. Figure out what the people on the ground need and determine if that¡¯s something we can provide.¡± ¡°Instead of deciding what they need and imposing it on them?¡± ¡°Precisely. We¡¯ve been extremely tentative at this stage, while waiting for you to arrive. Now, it¡¯s time to start moving in earnest.¡± ¡°Who is this team, exactly?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been quietly recruiting, with the help of your grandmother. Experts in all manner of fields, many poached from the UN. World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNESCO. People I know to be capable and reliable. That¡¯s the core brains trust. The goal is to build local organisations in any areas of operation. The Cabal tends to hold sway in areas of greatest need, and they¡¯re actually way ahead of us on this. The work they¡¯ve been doing since going public is incredible. I only realised how much once I connected with Boris Ketland.¡± ¡°This all sounds more ambitious than I thought you would go for.¡± ¡°We have a unique opportunity, Jason. You can do whatever you want, essentially without consequence to you. We need to figure out how to use that, without the consequences falling on the people we want to help. Maximising positive change while minimising harm.¡± Jason leaned forward in his chair. ¡°Okay,¡± he said. ¡°It sounds like you¡¯ve been busy while I was crossing universes. Catch me up on everything.¡± Chapter 960: What It Will Do to Itself Under a night sky, Jason and Emi stood on a wooden platform, high in a tree house. They were in the city of Arbour, in what was more a tree mansion than a tree house, spanning across several towering redwoods. Even the living trunks were part of it. Hollows grown naturally into the living wood didn¡¯t weaken the grandiose trees, despite seeming like they would have to. Emi stood next to her uncle, looking up at the moon. ¡°Could you turn it into cheese?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m trying to avoid doing anything too extravagant, though. People live on this world, now. I want them to be confident they live in a real world, not a cartoon.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you offered to stage an eclipse for those government guys?¡± ¡°It was a long day. It¡¯s possible I made some choices in the moment that weren¡¯t the best.¡± ¡°Uncle Jason, I think you just found the title of your autobiography.¡± *** Jason had found himself at loose ends while waiting for events to play out. Most of the clan members had been returned to Europe, but Jason had taken his close family and given them a tour of his astral kingdom. In the meantime, the powers of Earth were still formulating reactions to the latest events. Carlos, Clive, Audrey and some members of her research team from the clan were trying to figure out what the vampires had been up to. Neil and the other healers were caring for the victims, alongside local authorities. The delivery of the Earth people returned from Pallimustus was still days away, Anna monitoring the negotiations of who would claim the individual members. One of the refugees, Li Li Mei, had been released to help with that process, being the voice of the others. After an amount of negotiation, a site had been chosen, not just for the refugee handover but as a neutral site for future formal summits involving the world governments and the magical factions, Clan Asano included. The Australian government had declared Asano Village and the surrounding area a special-interest territory, similar to the standing stones. It would likewise be managed by a multi-national organisation rapidly being assembled, with Lenora Coleman placed in charge. The Network had swiftly excised the existing residents, their own version of the Asano Clan, from the village. They were looking to bury them in the deepest hole they could find and pretend very loudly that they didn¡¯t exist. Li Mei found herself in Asano village, either meeting with the international committee planning the handoff, or with the Chinese delegation. On the second day, the delegation was joined by her gold-rank uncle, Li Chen. He had been assigned a house in the village and she had met him there. Always stern in public, he wrapped her in a warm hug the moment they were behind closed doors. ¡°Little Mei. It is so good to see you home. Later, you can address me as a representative of the Chinese government. For now, I want to hear everything, as an uncle who has missed his niece very much.¡± *** ¡°Uncle, I have not hidden anything from you.¡± Li Chen sighed. ¡°So you say, but your allegiance is to Asano, now. As family, I love you, but as a representative of our nation, I cannot trust you. Not fully. Not when your first loyalty is to another.¡± He and his niece were in a sitting room still decorated in the Japanese style of the previous occupants, with some minimal western furniture. He and his niece sat on a couch at the edge of the open room. ¡°Uncle, I can promise you this: having someone in Asano¡¯s camp with our nation¡¯s interests at heart is only good for China. When you and I met him, twenty years ago, we were looking at him as a potential asset for what I understand is a very different China to that of today. He¡ª¡± ¡°That is part of the problem,¡± Chen said. ¡°You have been away for so very long. The world has changed, China has changed, and you have changed. There are so many uncertainties.¡± ¡°I can promise you that Asano has changed most of all. Have you spoken with Lu Yan?¡± ¡°I have.¡± ¡°And what has he told you?¡± ¡°Things that do not bear consideration without verification.¡± ¡°Then verify them. Go to Asano¡¯s world and see for yourself.¡± ¡°He would allow that?¡± ¡°Asano wants the leaders of this world to understand his perspective of the Earth. He is waiting for events to settle, but he will be announcing an open invitation to every government and magical faction to visit his realm. He will place no restriction on who they send, in numbers or power.¡± ¡°He has no fear or what they might do or learn?¡± ¡°No, Uncle, he does not. His intention is to lift the frogs from the well, and show them the breadth of the sky.¡± ¡°He looks down on us so much?¡± ¡°He would not say so, but how could he not? You have heard my story. The things I have seen him do with my own eyes. He is not the man we met two decades ago.¡± ¡°And this is not the world you and he left behind. The rise of magic¡ª¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Is too slow, Uncle. He intends to accelerate it, for everyone. His intentions are egalitarian, but there will always be winners and losers in great change. Even he cannot prevent that. If I can influence him, even a little, then our country has a better chance of rising with the tide, instead of being submerged.¡± ¡°I want to believe you, Little Mei. But you tell stories that would fit amongst myths and legends, but such stories are impossible metaphors. Transforming into birds and slaying armies. Shaping worlds out of souls.¡± ¡°You have seen him turn into a bird on being killed, Uncle. There are recordings of him doing so at Makassar, and I can assure you that his power has grown. Far more than simple rank suggests. Go to his world and see for yourself.¡± Chen got up from the couch and paced the room. ¡°I do not like what you are telling me, Niece. If you are lying to me, it will break my heart, but I can live with a broken heart. If you and Lu Yan speak the truth, there is now a power in this world that none can go against. A power before which a nation that has lasted thousands of years can do little, perhaps nothing.¡± ¡°Then do not go against him.¡± ¡°And if he goes against us?¡± ¡°He claims that is not what he is here for.¡± ¡°Do you believe him?¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯re not powerful enough to be worth lying to.¡± Chen walked over and dropped next to his niece again. ¡°You are telling me,¡± he said, ¡°that a tyrant has come to this world, and our only hope is to hope he doesn¡¯t disfavour us.¡± Li Mei considered her words for a long moment before answering. ¡°He is aware of the potential to be seen in that way,¡± she said. ¡°He has spoken to me of this. He does not fear what the world will do to him but what it will do to itself, out of fear of him.¡± ¡°You speak of him almost like a god.¡± ¡°He would not like to hear it, but it might be wise to treat him as such. Other gods already do. Yes, his wrath could be terrible, but what he can offer could raise us up.¡± ¡°If we worship him.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t want worship.¡± ¡°But we still would be supplicants.¡± ¡°Perhaps. I don¡¯t have a good answer for you, Uncle. You were right in saying that there is a new power in this world, that no one can defy. All I can counsel is to not put yourself in a position where you need to.¡± *** Boris arrived at the artefact city in a Cabal helicopter giving him a clear view of the cloud ship floating over it as they approached. The pilot was directed by radio to land on the sky vessel itself, instead of the helipad on the ground. The vehicle landed on an open platform where Jason was waiting. Boris disembarked and the helicopter took off again, heading for the Cabal headquarters within the city. Boris strolled towards Jason, waiting by a door leading inside. He used his aura to cut out the noise of the departing helicopter. ¡°You could have asked for a portal,¡± Jason pointed out. ¡°Yeah, but I need people thinking of me like some regular guy who needs a helicopter. Politics, you know?¡± ¡°I do, sadly.¡± Jason led them inside, to a small lounge, and moved behind the bar. ¡°Drink?¡± ¡°Sure. A real drink, though. I know you like yours bright blue, and so sweet it might as well be cordial.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got something here Belinda likes. It¡¯s gold rank and amber. I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s in the vicinity of whiskey or bourbon.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll do.¡± Jason poured a glass and set it on the bar. Boris claimed a stool in front of it as Jason started on his own drink. ¡°Is that a hollowed-out pineapple?¡± Boris asked. ¡°You drink your way, and I¡¯ll drink mine.¡± ¡°Cheers to that,¡± Boris said, saluting with his glass before sipping at it. ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°Pretty good. I wish I¡¯d picked up some gold-rank drinks while I was on Pallimustus, but there were too many eyes on me. Had to play the good little messenger, at least until your transformation zone stunt. I did not see that coming, although I suppose it worked out in the end.¡± ¡°I hear that a lot.¡± Boris chuckled. ¡°I bet you do.¡± Jason poured blue liquid into a shaker, then held up the bottle. ¡°Essentially blue cura?ao,¡± he said. ¡°The name is different, because they call the island Livaros over there, but the drink is almost identical. This one is magicked-up a little. I know that the link between worlds causes these strange echoes, but it¡¯s still odd to me when I run into them.¡± He continued constructing his cocktail. ¡°What brings you by, Boris?¡± ¡°I was already planning for a chat, but after you pulled away Audrey, then half of her team, my curiosity was piqued.¡± ¡°The vampires are up to something nasty.¡± ¡°They¡¯re vampires; it¡¯s what they¡¯re for. What were they doing that required Audrey¡¯s expertise?¡± ¡°Some kind of blood creature. Gold rank. Looks like a tree but isn¡¯t. Puppeteers people. Took four teams an hour and change to hunt it down, and in a contained space, at that.¡± ¡°All those homeless I saw in those medical tents on the news?¡± ¡°Yeah. Normal rankers can live through it, thankfully, but not all of them did.¡± ¡°A one off?¡± ¡°Not from the looks of it. That computer guy your Cabal people lent us founds records talking about getting a sample from somewhere. If there are more of those things¡­¡± Boris sipped at his drink again. ¡°That¡¯s going to complicate putting a final end to the vampires.¡± Jason paused putting his drink together and sighed. ¡°Yeah. I thought it would be so much better, having the kind of power we have. Being immortal. Even just being gold-rank makes my friends almost impossible to kill, but now I¡¯m always worried about everyone else.¡± ¡°Power and responsibility. You don¡¯t need the Spider-Man speech.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°I wish I could lend you my messengers. We¡¯ve hated standing by while the vampires took over. The wider Cabal will help, though. We did not like what happened to our little club when the vampire lords rose. They turned a lot of friends into brutal, remorseless monsters. Thank you for taking so many into your astral space.¡± Jason nodded, He spooned some ice into the metal shaker, put the cap on and started shaking. Neither man tried to talk over the noise. It was only a moment before Jason was pouring the contents into his hollow pineapple half. ¡°How worried are you that the messenger presence on Earth will be discovered, now that the cosmos has come knocking?¡± Jason asked as he poured. ¡°It¡¯s inevitable. When, not if. Our time here is coming to an end, which makes me genuinely sad. It¡¯s been my home for a long time. The only question is how long we have left. It means we can afford to act once, in a big, public way, before we go. A parting gift to the world that has been home to us for all this time. Maybe it will be the vampires we go after, but I¡¯m hoping we can hold out longer than that. A decade would be nice.¡± ¡°For when the bridge between worlds fully opens? I¡¯m hoping to get Earth ready enough that no one tries to colonise it from the other side. Earth doesn¡¯t have the strength to defend itself yet, but I think we can get there.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help. However I can, for as long as I can.¡± ¡°I appreciate that. And you already have. The project is almost ready for trials, right?¡± ¡°It is. If Noreth had been willing to accept my help, maybe his version would have gone better. But he felt isolated. Like he was the one carrying the fate of the world, when it should have been someone else. He became obsessed with control, and increasingly turned to extreme measures.¡± ¡°Sounds familiar.¡± Jason took a little paper umbrella and added it. ¡°Can¡¯t have been easy,¡± he said. ¡°Having the power you have, but staying hidden while humanity made mistake after mistake. Doing nothing. Not that long ago, I¡¯d have thought it was because you wanted to stay hidden from the orthodox messengers. But that¡¯s not it, is it? The power isn¡¯t enough.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. And you¡¯re wrong: we didn¡¯t always do nothing. I¡¯m old, and I¡¯ve learned a lot of lessons, but some mistakes, I can¡¯t seem to stop making.¡± ¡°Any tips?¡± ¡°You can force people to do what you want, but not to be what you want.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Jason held up his elaborate drink and Boris tapped his glass to it. ¡°I hope you do, Jason.¡± Chapter 961: The Scary Demigod Side Asano Village had an auditorium for large meetings. Jason sat quietly at the back, watching a presentation by Clive, Audrey and a pair of biologists from the Cabal and the Network. With them were officers from the CIA and their Australian counterpart, ASIS. They were outlining everything that had been discovered about the blood oaks, from the name to confirmation that there were more of them. The results were a combination of experimental records, recovered communications and working with samples. Along with samples from the lab, they had been working with what Colin had left of the blood oak they had killed. Jason¡¯s instincts were to stick to people he knew and trusted when dealing with the vampires, but he knew that wasn¡¯t practical. He simply didn¡¯t have the bodies for simultaneous strikes, coordinated across the globe. When the main concern had been vampire lords, he would have considered splitting up the visitors from Pallimustus, putting each in charge of a team from the Asano Clan¡¯s impressive roster of silver-rankers. They even had a gold-ranker, although that was staying tightly under wraps for the moment. The addition of the blood oaks changed the equation considerably. Splitting up teams became much more dangerous, and they would need to rely on the people of Earth a lot more. They lacked the power and experience of Pallimustus adventurers, so making sure they understood the threat was critical. To that end, the auditorium was filled with essence users and operation coordinators. They came from every government and magical faction that could field a gold ranker, or at least a contingent of capable silvers. The training programs initiated by Farrah and refined by Rufus had been taken up around the world. The old guard of monster core users were slowly but surely being superseded. The initial plan, to alpha-strike the vampire strongholds and seize as many nuclear devices as possible, was no longer viable. There was no doubt that the vampires would have caught wind of it to some degree, but after the Melbourne event, there was no more surprise to be had. The Australian Prime Minister was nailing that coffin shut as he ran a media blitz talking about terrorist vampires. He was desperately attempting to spin the narrative in the face of domestic political pressure and international condemnation. The new plan was still being talked about as a variant of the old one, still based on coordinated raids across the planet, but with less stealth and more overwhelming force. The reality was, however, that there would be no mass-rush against the vampires while their nuclear arsenal remained an active threat. An ASIS agent, Natalie Park, has been assigned to Jason as liaison from the Australian security services. A silver-ranker, she had been a young girl at the time of Jason¡¯s last visit. Trained up using on Farrah and Rufus¡¯ methods, she was a silver-ranker with no trace of cores in her system. She entered through the rear of the auditorium and crouched behind Jason¡¯s seat. ¡°They¡¯re almost ready for you, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°Thank you, Natalie.¡± Jason got up and left the building for another, nearby. Originally it had been the mayoral residence, combined with some administrative space. It was currently occupied by Lenora Coleman, and served as communication hub for the international forces present. The Americans had installed a magitech conferencing device in, appropriately, the conference room. Jason had been told that it was as secure as remote communication could be, at least for now. Inevitably, the technology would be leaked, copied and cracked, but until then, the largest vulnerability was the human element. Although it was far from his field of expertise, Jason¡¯s mind had been on magitech since planning his return to Earth. There was no way for his home planet to catch up to the magic of Pallimustus. Even disregarding the millennia of magical history, Earth¡¯s average magic levels were a step or two lower, across the board. Those levels had risen, but high-magic zones were fewer and smaller than on the other world. There were even a handful of magical deserts where gold-rankers had trouble visiting without gulping down spirit coins. Jason¡¯s hope was that magitech would level the playing field. Pallimustus was starting to adopt more technological principles, but it was slow going, and mostly the work of Travis Noble. He had used the traits of technology to do something magic didn¡¯t excel at: cheap, long-distance communication. On Earth, technology has many bottlenecks, and a planet full of people now turning to magic to overcome them. Much of the last few decades had been spent using magic to circumvent key chokepoints in technological advancement, such as a lack of efficient superconductors. That research had leapt ahead in the last decade, once the world had gotten used to magic and begun recovering from the monster waves. As a result, technology in multiple fields had rocketed ahead of what Jason had known. Things had advanced so fast that the world was still catching up, socially and politically. The Middle east, always a hotbed, had become more volatile as most of the world abandoned fossil fuels. As Natalie led Jason into the conference room, he looked to the example of magitech it contained. A conical device had been installed on the centre of the table, with control panels at each end. A man was sitting at the head of the table, with a computer tablet plugged into the panel. ¡°They¡¯re calibrating it now, Mr Asano,¡± Natalie told Jason. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re plugged into it,¡± Jason said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t everything be wireless, at this point?¡± ¡°Sure, as long as you trust the wireless network you¡¯re using,¡± the tech said, and pointed at the device in the centre of the table. ¡°No one is going to tap into this thing until someone reverse engineers it. My tablet, though, is more vulnerable. A hard connection is more secure.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be more than a moment, Mr Asano¡± the tech said. ¡°Big fan, by the way. I have a poster from back when you had the silver eyes, not those orange and blue ones you¡¯re rocking now. They¡¯re cool.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± The tech was dressed in the standard IT uniform of jeans and a t-shirt with some pop culture refence Jason didn¡¯t understand.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Damn,¡± Jason muttered. ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll have it set up swiftly, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°Not that,¡± Jason said. ¡°I just realised that there¡¯s fifteen years of popular culture I¡¯m never going to catch up on. And people thought my references were outdated before. Have they rebooted Knight Rider again yet?¡± ¡°You mean that show about the car possessed by the ghost of David Hasselhoff?¡± Natalie asked. ¡°David Hasselhoff died?¡± ¡°Not that I¡¯m aware of.¡± ¡°He hit silver rank a couple of months ago,¡± the technician said. ¡°Then why would they make a show about his ghost possessing a car?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Was it his character from the old series?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± the technician said. ¡°He was playing himself. They supposedly killed him off in the show, and he did the voice for the car. Then they revealed in the third season that he was alive the whole time and the car was a magitech AI synthesising his voice. The show dropped off pretty hard after that. Never got a fourth season.¡± ¡°I should check that out. Do they have a box set of the series?¡± ¡°A box set?¡± the tech asked. ¡°Like one of those Japanese lunches?¡± ¡°Right. They probably don¡¯t do those anymore.¡± ¡°No, there¡¯s bento places all over,¡± the tech said. ¡°It¡¯s a trend right now.¡± ¡°Never mind. Shade, remind me to look up the Knight Rider reboot.¡± ¡°No.¡± Jason burst out laughing as Natalie looked at him askance. ¡°All done,¡± the technician said and pointed at one of the chairs. ¡°That one¡¯s yours, Mr Asano.¡± ¡°Thank you, Nathan.¡± The technician raised his eyebrows. ¡°You know my name?¡± ¡°I¡¯m keeping a close eye on my surroundings, Mr Burnsleigh. Especially these surroundings. Good luck on your date, by the way.¡± ¡°Are you kidding? When I tell him I was talking to you about Knight Rider, he¡¯s going to freak out.¡± Jason flicked something through the air. Nathan caught it and looked at it in his hand. It was a silver coin with Jason¡¯s face on it. ¡°Wow,¡± Nathan said. ¡°That is a huge chin.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Jason complained. Nathan shuffled out the door as two more people arrived. Boris nodded to Jason and took a seat as directed by Natalie. Li Chen, a Chinese gold ranker, stopped in the doorway. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time,¡± Jason said. ¡°Mr Asano¡ª¡± ¡°Since you threw a nuke into an astral space because an interdimensional alien told you it would get rid of me.¡± Chen visibly swallowed. ¡°It¡¯s a funny old world,¡± Jason said. ¡°Shako ¡ª that was his name, if he never told you. Shako¡¯s in this weird prison that¡¯s also a chair. It¡¯s all a bit metaphorical, but I actually sat on that chair, briefly. And now, here we are, talking about nuclear weapons all over again.¡± ¡°Mr Asano¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to let it go, Mr Li. Dwelling on the past gets us nothing, and you waiting for me to kill you in the night is counterproductive.¡± ¡°Mr Asano, Mr Li,¡± Natalie interjected. ¡°You should take your seats. They¡¯re about to begin.¡± The two men moved to their indicated positions and, around thirty seconds later, the device on the table hummed to life. It fell silent after a moment and holographic representations of people started filling the empty seats around the table, one after another. Jason took a slow, calming breath as high-level government officials, directors of intelligence agencies and heads of magical factions appeared. It was a tight circle, formed to address the vampire threat, and it included Jason and his grandmother. Boris was one of several Cabal representatives. Natalie did not stay, ASIS being represented remotely by her head of agency, Director-General Macmillan. The meeting began with the CIA director Barstow summarising the altered situation since the group had decided on the previous plan. ¡°In short, Director-General Macmillan, your Prime Minister has bent us over the table,¡± she said. ¡°It was already too large an operation to expect information containment, but we at least had a shot at taking most of the nuclear devices off the table. Since the Melbourne incident, your head of government has screamed the words ¡®vampire¡¯ and ¡®nuclear bomb¡¯ into every microphone that hove into view. That is not what I would describe as an ideal approach to operational security.¡± ¡°I would point out,¡± Macmillan said, ¡°that if the incident in Melbourne had not taken place, we wouldn¡¯t know about the blood creatures at all.¡± ¡°And that excuses your being blindsided by an extrajudicial operation your Prime Minister staged by working around you and your organisation, to your apparent obliviousness? How exactly did he manage to bypass his own security service, Director General?¡± ¡°If I may,¡± said Chief Collier of the United Kingdom Secret Intelligence Service. ¡°Go ahead, Sir Christopher,¡± Director Barstow told him, to the visible relief of the Australian. ¡°We are all aware of the unfortunate situation with the Australian Prime Minister,¡± Chief Collier said. ¡°We have all also been briefed, I assume, on the steps being taken to remedy the local political turmoil. Given the difficulty in assembling this particular group, perhaps we should undertake the discussion of the next steps, for which we have gathered, rather than rehash recriminations. However well-earned they may be.¡± Jason watched the hologram of Barstow reach for her glasses, only to find them not there. Essence users didn¡¯t need corrective lenses, but those who had worn them for years still found themselves moving to adjust them out of lifelong habit. ¡°You¡¯re right, of course, Sir Christopher,¡± Barstow said. ¡°The question is, what is our next move? We have our people getting ready for heavier strikes, but pulling the trigger on the operation, as it stands, would be a disaster. Nuclear detonations, tree monsters turning people into puppets. My analysts have been gaming out scenarios and everything turns out very ugly.¡± ¡°Our people drew the same conclusions,¡± Barstow said. ¡°Mr Ketland, Mr Asano. I¡¯m hoping that your outside perspectives can offer us options that we fail to see.¡± ¡°Regretfully, no,¡± Jason said. ¡°What we have is essentially the same problem as before, where our best option is negotiation with the vampire lord, Elizabeth. Unfortunately, she now occupies a significantly better position to negotiate from, depending on her ability to negate the blood oaks.¡± ¡°Do we have a sense of how much control she has over them?¡± Li Chen asked. ¡°Not as of yet,¡± Macmillan said. ¡°My people and the CIA have been going over every record of communication we retrieved from the Melbourne location. We know that Elizabeth was in control of the program to create the blood oaks, but not how much control she has over the monsters themselves.¡± ¡°I can tell you that the vampires on site weren¡¯t able to control it,¡± Jason said. ¡°It killed and used them, just like it did the humans down there. If Elizabeth claims she can control these things, she¡¯ll need to prove it.¡± ¡°I would point out,¡± Boris said, ¡°that Director General Macmillan did make a valid point earlier. If not for the Melbourne incident, we would be oblivious to the danger posed by the blood oaks. Having that revealed is bad for the vampires as a whole, but good for Elizabeth¡¯s negotiating position. Is there a possibility that the Prime Minister was prodded, perhaps even facilitated in his actions? I have nothing but conjecture on this, but I believe it warrants consideration and, perhaps, investigation.¡± Talks continued, but no new conclusions were reached. The various organisations resolved to coordinate further information gathering in hope of improving their outlook, but the events in Melbourne had been a disaster. In the end, the hologram device was shut down, leaving Jason, Li Chen and Boris in a room. Chen looked at Jason, saw the expression that was returned and made himself scarce, after politely excusing himself. ¡°You did well,¡± Boris said. ¡°Keep this up and they may actually look at you like a statesman and not the guy who¡¯s at the table because he¡¯s a scary demigod who¡¯ll kill them all if they make him angry.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see, after their reps all get here for the private universe tour.¡± ¡°That might get them back on the scary demigod side,¡± Boris acknowledged. Chapter 962: I Know What You Are The first people from Earth to visit Jason¡¯s astral kingdom had been a trio of government officials and the security team that came looking for them. After their experiences, they had been subject to every test that could be devised, be it magical, technological or both. There were no signs to be found of mental manipulation, pod people, shape-shifted replacements or any other scenarios that could be tested for or imagined. For many, wary of Jason¡¯s magic, this was not enough to confirm he hadn¡¯t done something to them. The main reason doubts persisted was the attitudes of those who had entered Jason¡¯s realm. While the specifics varied, each one held some variation on the same positions. Their explanations of what lay on the other side of Jason¡¯s portal sounded absurd. Whole planets, godlike power. Whatever Jason Asano might want from Earth, he had no need of it. A more formalised expedition into the astral kingdom was arranged. Compared to the previous impromptu visit, this one had representatives from across the globe. Intelligence officers were accompanied by geologists, biologists, anthropologists and anyone else with some potential insight and a security clearance. Jason left the group to the Concierge to guide, as he had the last. While that was going on, Jason was walking with his soul realm¡¯s longest-serving resident, from a time before it even was an astral kingdom. Melody Jain, Sophie¡¯s mother, was in recovery after a surgery to remove the substance that had been influencing her mind for decades. It had robbed her of her autonomy and of her family. The process of removing it had been a savage trauma that only Jason¡¯s control over his realm allowed her to survive. After a lengthy coma, she was back on her feet. She used them now to make her way through the tree city of Arbour, with Jason strolling beside her. Melody, like Sophie, was a beautiful, silver-haired celestine. Although she had physically aged no more than her daughter, there was a weariness to her that spoke to the hard years she had lived. She wore a simple linen shirt and pants and wandered barefoot, unconcerned about the scattered leaves and dirt over the stone streets and pathways. Jason was similarly garbed, the natural colours of his clothing a contrast to his usual garishness. The metropolis was a living forest, but with open thoroughfares, and buildings of wood and stone that blended into the surrounds. In place of underbrush were wide boulevards, dappled with light filtering in through the canopy. Small gusts of wind swept up fallen leaves and carried them away in swirling dervishes, dancing like street performers. Roads and pathways of hewn stone meandered around trees and buildings. Above them, buildings were anchored to gargantuan trees, connected by hanging bridges and stairways that wound around the trunks. There was even a wooden track for a light rail system that snaked through the upper reaches of the trees. Natural scents floated on the breeze; grass, wildflowers and earth. Jason took a deep breath and sighed happily. ¡°I¡¯m very happy with how this turned out,¡± he said. ¡°I understand how you might want to escape after being here so long, though. I¡¯m sorry it worked out that we are on Earth and not Pallimustus, now you¡¯re finally able to leave.¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t complain too much. Not many get to explore an entirely different world. Nothing new to you, I suppose.¡± ¡°It still feels fresh,¡± Jason said. ¡°There¡¯s always a new horizon. Once things have settled, we¡¯ll get you out and about.¡± ¡°Sophie has been so excited about travelling together,¡± Melody said. ¡°It¡¯s almost like I¡¯ve got the little girl back I never got to see her as. Maybe she feels it too. But I¡¯m in no rush. This is a big world too, and it¡¯s been my home longer than anywhere else. It was haunting, at first. This huge, empty place, waiting for people who never came. And it keeps changing. The world, and this city, especially. Growing, like a garden. Only in the last year or so has it really settled down.¡± ¡°People will come,¡± Jason said. ¡°You¡¯ve seen New Water.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you bring those people from Pallimustus to the tree city? You made them a new one instead.¡± ¡°A couple of reasons. One was that I wanted them to be somewhere familiar. I couldn¡¯t recreate their city, but I wanted it to at least feel like what they knew. Another was that this place is earmarked for others.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°With normal astral kings, the ones who were originally messengers, things work the same way for all of them. Those of us who become astral kings through less conventional means find that we each have little quirks we need to figure out.¡± ¡°If you say so. I¡¯m not well-versed on any of this.¡± ¡°Neither am I, to be honest. I find myself in a learn-by-doing situation. For example, normal astral kings create an astral kingdom, much like this one.¡± He gestured at the space around them. ¡°So far, so good, then.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said. ¡°Now, when it comes to populating their astral kingdoms, that¡¯s when the normal processes get a little wobbly. An astral kingdom creates special trees, but they won¡¯t grow beyond saplings. They have to be transplanted, out into broader reality. The birthing worlds, where messengers grow more messengers. Like fruit, to be harvested.¡± ¡°Harvested?¡± ¡°Astral kings create messengers for two reasons. One is to have an army of compliant minions, and the other is to drain them for power.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like that for you?¡± ¡°Not the growing part. I¡¯m not sure about the building power part, but I¡¯m not going to juice people and drink it.¡± ¡°Can you get power without doing that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m unsure how much of the difference between myself and other astral kings is my not being a messenger. I suspect that many of the changes come from this city having its own soul. It began life as a warped version of a birthing tree, after all. It¡¯s already working differently. Extensions of it are growing across the planet. Not saplings, or even full-grown trees, but entire forests.¡± ¡°The city has an avatar form, does it not? Have you asked it about this?¡± ¡°I have. Like me, Arbour is finding their way through what is happening to them, learning as they go.¡± ¡°And you think that these forests will grow new messengers? Here in your soul realm?¡± ¡°It¡¯s happening already. These forests, they¡¯re full of¡­ pods. Sooner or later, messengers are going to start popping out like peas.¡± ¡°Are you ready for that?¡± Jason¡¯s laugh had a tinge of panicked mania. ¡°For an army of ten-foot-tall newborns with silver-rank power and wings? No, I am not ready for that. I¡¯m still stumbling through being a parent to one adult.¡±Stolen novel; please report. ¡°How are things with Nik?¡± ¡°Good. I think. Kind of. He just met his extended family. Magic and circumstance kept us apart for so long, and we¡¯re still feeling our way through. You know what that¡¯s like, so I was hoping you had tips.¡± ¡°Mostly a list of mistakes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± They strolled through the city, discussing what it was to be an unconventional parent in very unusual circumstances. In their wanderings, they encountered many of the tree city¡¯s unusual aspects. Natural and magical forces came together to shape the city, defining the oddities of its geography. Arbour was located in the vast caldera of a volcanic mountain range, in the icy north of the planet. Geothermal heat and ambient magic conditions created a temperate zone, hidden away in the mountains. There were massive underground districts, deeper even than the root systems of the massive trees. These included access to huge magma chambers that were half constructed brick, half natural cavern. Magic set into the stone made the heat bearable and the air breathable. The stone was warm, but not hot under their bare feet. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful, but quite ominous,¡± Melody said as the crossed a stone bridge that spanned over a flowing river of magma. ¡°All this dark stone and fire.¡± The light of the molten stone painted everything red. While Jason enjoyed feeling like a video game dwarf, he led them back towards the surface. He aimed for a place that was his favourite in the city, possibly in the entire astral kingdom. A massive gorge marked the city like a scar. The sheer sides were draped with trees like tapestries, houses of wood and stone poking out through the leaves. The river running through the city erupted over the clifftop, the deluge filling the gorge with mist as it cascaded down and into the cave systems below. The buildings set into the side of the gorge were part treehouse and part volcanic stone, no two quite the same. Some hugged the walls, with tunnels carefully avoiding root systems as they wound through the rock. Others had wooden platforms jutting into the gorge, shrouded in cool, refreshing mist. Hanging bridges spanned the gap in places, connecting buildings on one side to the other. In the depths of the gorge, the falling water filtered into a cave system of interconnected grottos. The grotto water was impossibly clear, courtesy of magical filters, and submerged crystals lit up the caverns with shimmering teals, blue and greens. Catwalks gave easy access to the cave system, where artificial chambers had been carved out to make communal spaces. These areas were subterranean gardens, luminescent plants growing out of the walls. There were playgrounds and picnic tables, and public barbecues set up under well-hidden and carefully placed smoke vents. A fresh breeze blew through the cave system, taking the edge off the warmth of geothermal rock. ¡°This is one of my favourite spots,¡± Jason said, joyfully playing tour guide. They were in a water-filled grotto, on a wooden catwalk set into the wall. He pointed out places where kids ¡ª or childish adults ¡ª could jump into the water, and then get back out to one of the picnic areas. The whole chamber was awash with cerulean light, shining from the water. It gave the whole chamber a sense of being underwater. ¡°There are animals in there as well,¡± he pointed out. ¡°You can swim with fish and turtles.¡± They emerged from the grotto caves at the bottom of the gorge. It would be easy to fly upwards, but they took stairs carved directly into the stone, zigzagging up the walls. It was an indirect and inefficient path, weaving between trees and houses. Sometimes the path took them into tunnels briefly, before returning outside. The sun was high in the sky, its light painting rainbows in the mist from the waterfall. Droplets of spray sparkled like diamonds as they tumbled into the depths of the gorge. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like a wildly practical space,¡± Melody pointed out. ¡°There¡¯s always flying,¡± Jason said. ¡°This is designed as a residential space for high-rankers. There are more efficient thoroughfares carved into the rock, though, behind the houses and past the roots of the trees. Direct tunnels, elevating platforms. There¡¯s a large transit station behind the waterfall. It¡¯s one of several hubs around the city, mostly underground to avoid interfering with the trees. I do have a wooden train that can run above ground in some areas, although that¡¯s also more about the experience than pure practicality. You¡¯ve seen the tracks, I¡¯m sure, but I haven¡¯t fired up the train yet.¡± When Jason had met Melody, she had been sharp, fanatical and brainwashed. He could never have imagined then the motherly smile she gave him now. ¡°Look at you,¡± she said. ¡°It turns out that the all-powerful god of this world is really just a boy playing with toys.¡± He grinned. ¡°I can live with that.¡± They reached one of the larger houses, featuring a large deck, supported by multiple trees. It was close enough to the waterfall to have a refreshing coolness to the air, but not so close to be painted wet by the spray. There were three barbecues, and a pair of picnic tables that could host a large gathering. Hanging from a branch was a porch swing, from which a visibly nervous leonid stood up as they approached. ¡°My next appointment,¡± Jason said. ¡°Would you like me to portal you home?¡± Melody lived in a treehouse, built around one of the tallest redwoods in the city. It was close to where Carlos had been set up with his research centre, and Melody¡¯s fellow brainwashing victims. ¡°I think I¡¯ll walk,¡± she said. ¡°Even after all these years, there¡¯s still so much I¡¯ve never seen.¡± She wandered off and Jason walked over to Gary. The young man wasn¡¯t large by leonid standards, half a head shorter than Taika. Even so, he loomed over Jason, making his timid body language somewhat comical. Jason gestured at the porch swing Gary had just vacated, then sat. After a moment, Gary did the same. Jason didn¡¯t rush to speak, giving Gary time to work up the courage. Instead, he took in the view with a contented sigh. ¡°I¡­¡± Gary attempted before trailing off. ¡°You don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like, sitting here,¡± Gary said. ¡°I am sitting here,¡± Jason pointed out. ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re sitting here with me. I¡¯m sitting here with you.¡± Rather than respond, Jason gave Gary time to gather his thoughts and continue. ¡°I¡¯ve been surrounded by your power my whole life,¡± Gary explained. ¡°The ground I walked on, the sun in the sky. It was always there, underpinning everything, but I never realised it. It was just the way things were. It was only when I left that I realised it, by its absence. Like some fundamental part of the world was missing. We¡¯re in another universe here, but it feels more like home than Australia.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry you haven¡¯t had the chance to expand your horizons.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not¡­ you¡¯re a person.¡± ¡°I like to think so,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯m not explaining this well. Mr Asano, after leaving the clan¡¯s territory, I suddenly find myself very aware of the power that has been around me my entire life. It feels like home. The place I belong. And then there¡¯s you. A person, radiating all of that power. The source of it. I can feel it coming off you like a wellspring.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just an aura.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. I¡¯ve felt auras. Strong, well-trained, gold-rank auras. Being here isn¡¯t like sitting next to Mr Williams, or Mr Remore. It¡¯s like sitting next to God.¡± Jason let out a sigh. ¡°Is that why you asked to see me, Gary? You think I¡¯m God?¡± ¡°No. I know what you are. Emi explained it to me. But that¡¯s what it feels like. And, since this is as close as I¡¯m every likely to get, I was hoping you might be able to answer a question that I¡¯ve had for a long time.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Why am I different?¡± ¡°Everyone¡¯s different, Gary, to one degree or another. You¡¯ll have to be more specific.¡± Gary nodded. ¡°People treat me differently,¡± he said. ¡°Not always, and not everyone, but some people. Mr Remore has always been there, helping me and guiding me. Not many get that kind of attention. At first I thought it was because I was the first natural born leonid, but there are others like me. Kids of the transformed. They didn¡¯t get that much attention. And the way he looks at me sometimes, it¡¯s like he¡¯s seeing someone else.¡± ¡°Not seeing someone else. Just remembering.¡± ¡°The other Gary? The one I was named after?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do I look like him?¡± ¡°No,¡± Jason said, then waved his arm. A scene appeared in front of them, of people gathered on a grassy area, overlooking a tropical lagoon. Gary recognised Jason, Rufus and many others he had met in the last week. His eyes, however, were drawn to a towering leonid in front of a grill. The man was holding a set of tongs, and wore an apron that read ¡®adventuring is more fun when you eat the bad guy.¡¯ It was in one of the Pallimustus languages Rufus taught. The image was silent, but as the man threw back his head in laughter, Gary could almost hear the booming sound of it. He wasn¡¯t sure how long he sat, transfixed, watching the man silently talk and laugh and eat the entire roasted leg of some giant bird-like creature. Gary was startled when the image vanished. Once again, Jason waited until Gary finally broke the silence. ¡°Before I was born, Mr Remore used to tell stories about him. That¡¯s why my parents named me after him. But he doesn¡¯t tell those stories anymore. Not ever, even when I asked. Do you know why?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°I thought that maybe I was imagining things. Maybe it was because I was a leonid that Mr Remore gave me so much attention. Why your family included me in so many things. Gave me so many opportunities. I know the clan wants to be more inclusive. To not make it about just your family. But then I said that I wanted to see you. To talk to you, and three hours later, here I am. There are people who run countries who can¡¯t do that. I¡¯m different, and I don¡¯t know why. Can you tell me?¡± Jason let out a long, slow breath. ¡°Yes, Gary. I can.¡± Chapter 963: Minimum Collateral Damage Jason and Gary sat, side by side, on a porch swing. Mist wetted the trees growing from the sides of the gorge, filling the air with the scent of the leaves. Jason was still, gathering his thoughts, while Gary shifted in anticipation of long-awaited answers. The leonid was not tall for his kind, yet he loomed over Jason. Even so, it was the smaller man¡¯s presence that seemed overwhelming. This was Jason¡¯s world, and on an instinctive level, Gary could feel it. ¡°I must be a strange figure to you,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯m still coming to grips with it myself, to be honest, but my perspective is less important. It¡¯s easy to deal with power when you¡¯re the one that has it.¡± He glanced up at the leonid. ¡°I¡¯ve been watching you your entire life. You didn¡¯t feel it, but I was there. When you were born. When the Karadeniz brothers were chasing you through the park and got caught in that thorn bush you could have sworn wasn¡¯t there when you passed through.¡± Gary blinked, and his eyebrows shot up. ¡°Was that¡­?¡± ¡°Me? Yes, it was. I¡¯ve seen every moment of your life, Gary.¡± ¡°Even when I was taking a dump?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t actually watching that. I was, on some level, aware that it was happening. For everyone in my domains. It takes some getting used to, being what I am.¡± ¡°People talk about you like you¡¯re a god sometimes. Are you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s complicated. The short answer is no. The long answer is¡­ kind of. A bit.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make things clear.¡± Jason laughed. ¡°Something I am unfortunately very aware of. But we¡¯re not here to talk about me, even if I can¡¯t seem to help myself. You want to know what makes you special. Different.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Gary said, his voice half a whisper. ¡°Everyone is special, within their own context. A precious child, a loving friend. The short answer is that you¡¯re not any more special than anyone else. But you¡¯re here for the long answer. For the parts of your particular context that you¡¯ve glimpsed, but never really seen.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay. The first thing you should know is that I¡¯m not, strictly speaking, meant to tell you what I¡¯m about to. But the rules, as they relate to you, have been bent pretty far already. I¡¯ll explain how and why as we go. But first, I want you to understand that you shouldn¡¯t tell anyone else what I¡¯m going to tell you. You¡¯ll want to talk about it later, once you¡¯ve thought things over. You can find me again, or Rufus. A couple of others. You met my friends at the party, and I know that Emi had told you about Farrah. You don¡¯t really know her yet, but she might be someone you want to talk to. Also, your mother¡¯s obstetrician.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get there. Probably best if I go all the way back, and come at this in order. I¡¯ve been told I¡¯m not the best at explaining things, but it begins, as you know doubt suspect, with my friend Gary¡­¡± *** Some of the homes in Asano village were set on a clifftop, digging into the rock to emerge from the cliff face itself, with window walls looking out over the Pacific. Anna sat in a lounge room, in one of two chairs angled between facing the other and looking out to sea. In the other seat was Claire Davney, United States Secretary of State. ¡°Asano wants to explain it all,¡± Anna said. ¡°What he was doing the last time he was here, and why. How that leads into what lies ahead for our planet.¡± ¡°Your concern is that he won¡¯t be believed.¡± ¡°To put it mildly, yes. I¡¯ve heard the full explanation, Claire, and with the full context, it reads like a holy text. If Jason goes before Congress and his first sentence is ¡®I know who created the universe and it¡¯s not who your book says,¡¯ no one is going to hear his second sentence.¡± ¡°Can the problematic parts be excised?¡± ¡°Not if you want the actual truth. The actual reasons. Not if you want to understand what the last twenty years have been about, and what¡¯s coming next. The Network doesn¡¯t know, Claire. Not even yours, in the United States. They¡¯ve been looking at the big picture through a tiny hole, punched in the wall. I¡¯ve heard the full thing, and you need that context.¡± ¡°A private briefing, then?¡± ¡°That gets political very fast. Religion has been more volatile than ever in the face of magic coming out in the open. If we start having secret briefings where the most religious members of political bodies are excluded, I don¡¯t have to tell you what happens then. That¡¯s true in every country, not just yours, but the United States will be an especially loud voice in the reaction.¡± ¡°Then what do you want to do?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯ve been considering for months. Every broad solution leads to pointlessness. If we redact enough information to make it palatable to everyone, there¡¯s not enough left to have value to anyone. If we reveal everything, it creates a political storm that inundates everything. If we try it half and half, we get the worst of both worlds.¡± ¡°Every broad solution.¡± ¡°Secrets are dangerous. When revealed, they can do more damage than if they were put into the open in the first place. But we couldn¡¯t come up with anything better. Magic was governed by secret societies for centuries.¡± ¡°And you want to make a new one?¡± ¡°Yes. Crucial people, all around the world. We start by telling them everything.¡± ¡°And then you tell them what to do next.¡± ¡°No. If Asano wanted to tell the Earth what to do, he¡¯d conquer it. He wants the people of Earth to make their own choices, but informed ones.¡± ¡°You¡¯re claiming he has no agenda of his own?¡± ¡°He has interests. He¡¯s been impressed with the humanitarian programs the Cabal have instigated since the reveal of magic, and wants to support them. For programs instituted by himself and his clan, he sees magical education as the way forward. He believes that magitech is the pathway for Earth to catch up to worlds with more inherent magic than we have. Earth¡¯s knowledge of technology outstrips that of magic, to the point of stunting the development of magitech. He wants to change that.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°And who will receive this enhanced magical education?¡± ¡°That¡¯s up for discussion, but in short: everyone. The details¡­¡± Anna stopped at a knock on the door. ¡°Enter,¡± she said, and one of the Secretary¡¯s aids came in. ¡°Secretary. Mrs Tilden. Director Barstow has asked you both to attend a briefing on an emerging situation.¡± ¡°The CIA wants me to attend?¡± Anna asked as she and Davney got to their feet. ¡°Uh¡­¡± the aid said, her eyes darting back and forth uncomfortably. ¡°The director said that, uh if that slippery little shadow so-and-so is just going to listen in anyway, we might as well have a human being attend. He didn¡¯t actually say so-and-so, but he meant Mr Asano¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°We¡¯re all familiar with Shade, thank you Courtney,¡± the secretary said. ¡°Where is the briefing?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a conference centre, Madam Secretary. It was refurbished from a spa centre, apparently.¡± ¡°Meaning that there isn¡¯t a spa centre anymore?¡± ¡°Not that I¡¯m aware, Madam Secretary.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t lie: that¡¯s disappointing. Shall we, Anna?¡± *** ¡°¡­it normally doesn¡¯t work that way,¡± Jason explained. ¡°Souls usually reappear so far removed from their previous incarnations that they will never encounter someone that knew them.¡± ¡°Reincarnation,¡± Gary repeated for the eighth time. It was after the fifth that Jason had decided to just push on. ¡°In this case, the Reaper decided to go a different way. Bend his own rules, one last time, before the rules were locked in once more. The cosmic throne thing I told you about, but the details of that don¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°Reincarnation.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Gary¡¯s face creased in a confused squint. ¡°You said a gift?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°The grim reaper gives people gifts?¡± ¡°No, the Reaper just¡­ passed it on. The gift was from my friend Gary. And the gift he gave us was you.¡± ¡°How can he give me when he is me?¡± ¡°He isn¡¯t you. And you aren¡¯t him. I know you better than anyone, Gary. Better than you know yourself, and you are not the friend I lost. Rufus isn¡¯t seeing our friend when he looks at you. He¡¯s just remembering. You are your own man. Think of the other Gary as an ancestor. Someone who died before you were born, but has an undeniable impact on who you are. You¡¯re not him. You¡¯re his legacy, but you also have to make your own way. To be your own person. If you want to know more about him, that¡¯s okay. If you never want to hear another thing, and carve a path entirely your own making, that¡¯s great too.¡± ¡°But can I? Am I just some copy of a dead guy?¡± ¡°Not at all. You¡¯re different people. There are similarities. People like you, the way they liked him. You both have a talent for making things, albeit very different things. He was bigger than you. You¡¯re smarter than he was. But those are the little things. You¡¯re young, and none of us know the man you¡¯re going to become. The other Gary isn¡¯t going to determine that. He just gave us, his friends, the honour of seeing it. Helping you along the way, from time to time.¡± Jason stood up and put a hand on Gary¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You have a lot to think about. There¡¯s no rush. I¡¯ll leave you be, for now. If you need anything, just ask. Anything. Lunch. A drink. Nineteen left snow skis. A jet pack.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell my parents?¡± ¡°Rufus is telling your parents right now. We would never put this on you and make you keep it from them.¡± Relief spilled across Gary¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯d like to see them.¡± Jason nodded and a portal opened. Jason went through to where Rufus was with Gary¡¯s parents on the cloud ship. They looked as shaken as their son, and Jason¡¯s sudden arrival didn¡¯t alleviate that. They scrambled to their feet, standing nervous as green fresh soldiers on inspection. Rufus made introductions. ¡°It¡¯s lovely to meet you,¡± Jason said. ¡°I know you¡¯ve just heard a lot of strange things.¡± ¡°Well,¡± Gary¡¯s father said. ¡°This one time, we got turned into lion people. I think we figured about then that life would have some strange turns.¡± Jason laughed and shook his hand. ¡°That¡¯s a good attitude to have,¡± Jason said, ¡°and one I think Gary could use right now. He¡¯s asked to see you, and he¡¯s right through there.¡± Gary¡¯s mother wasted no time, grabbing her husband by the arm on her way to the portal. ¡°How did it go?¡± Rufus asked. ¡°Not sure. A bit shell-shocked. It¡¯ll take some time. And some love. I like his parents.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve known them a long time,¡± Rufus said. ¡°You should go through as well. Just go in the house if they need some space, but be there if they need you. I¡¯m going to go poke my head into a CIA briefing. There¡¯s something going on in Pakistan.¡± *** ¡°¡­gold-rank manifestation has reached the state of being visible to the naked eye.¡± The woman onscreen reported from a Network grid station. ¡°We anticipate full manifestation in forty-two to forty-seven minutes.¡± ¡°And why is it happening in Pakistan an issue?¡± Jason asked, stepping out of a shadow in the corner. The people in the room turned in surprise, except for Anna, who rolled her eyes. Jason held out his hand for Claire Davney to shake. ¡°Madam Secretary.¡± Claire made quick introductions. There were several CIA agents in the room, along with Anna, Natalie Park of ASIS, the secretary herself, and Courtney, her staffer. The woman onscreen was Juliet Crowne, of the US Network. ¡°Sorry to just jump in,¡± Jason said, ¡°but the situation seemed urgent. You¡¯ll have to forgive my ignorance of contemporary geopolitics, but I¡¯ve been away for some time. Why does being in Pakistan make it a larger problem?¡± ¡°Pakistan was always an Islamic state,¡± Anna explained, ¡°but it doubled down heavily in the time you¡¯ve been away. It has embraced magitech, but has outlawed any personal magical abilities as a religious affront. It ousted all magical factions and has grown increasingly isolationist.¡± ¡°How do they deal with high-rank monsters?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Or even mid-ranked ones? If all they have is normal people with magically enhanced rifles, even a bronze-rank monster would give them trouble, right?¡± ¡°The Pakistani government secretly maintains a small number of essence users to deal with high-rank issues,¡± Claire said. ¡°The US helps them maintain the group, in return for certain very quiet concessions. They are not up to the task of handling a gold-rank manifestation, though.¡± She gave Jason a pointed look. ¡°What we could use is someone outside of existing government and magical faction structures, with the ability to deploy rapidly and the strength to handle gold-rank monsters.¡± ¡°With minimum collateral damage,¡± added Juliet, still onscreen. ¡°The manifestation is over the Indus River, close the Sukkur Barrage.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a dam?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Juliet said. ¡°One that regulates the largest irrigation system on the planet. Even ignoring the political ramifications of its destruction, the humanitarian and economic impact would be devastating.¡± ¡°I can step in,¡± Jason said. ¡°Can you smooth my intervention over with the locals?¡± ¡°We have contacts within the Pakistani government,¡± Claire said. ¡°Privately, they¡¯ll be grateful. Publicly, they¡¯ll denounce you. ¡®Uninvited incursion onto sovereign lands,¡¯ that kind of thing.¡± ¡°Behind closed doors, this might help us handle the religious issues we¡¯re looking at,¡± Anna said. ¡°I know that¡¯s not why you¡¯re going to help them, Jason, but if you do good here, it can help us, too.¡± ¡°We should get started,¡± Claire said. ¡°Mr Asano, if you could prepare, that would be appreciated, but wait for my signal. I need to contact the Pakistani Minister for Foreign Affairs first, and this is a time to ask for permission, not forgiveness. If you all could clear the room, please, and Courtney, please reach out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a call with the minister. I suspect he is waiting for us to do so.¡± Jason left, alongside Anna and the others. The main area of Asano village still maintained a holiday feel, if one under occupation with vans and security teams everywhere. ¡°Jason, I know this isn¡¯t the time,¡± Anna said, ¡°but do you remember our conversations about major government officials and the importance of using doors?¡± ¡°I understand, Anna,¡± his voice casual and friendly. ¡°But a conversation we never had was about how I helped build this place with my own hands, for my family. My patience is largely occupied with keeping my desire to kill everyone here and turn this place into a crater out of my demeanour. So, I hear you, but you were extremely right about this not being the time. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to go tell my friends it¡¯s time to fight some evil.¡± ¡°Try and play up the superhero theme,¡± she said. ¡°Colourful, flashy; keep people and the dam safe. You¡¯re the world¡¯s first superhero, and we want people to remember that.¡± ¡°I¡¯d tell you there are more important things to be thinking about,¡± Jason said, ¡°but flashy is kind of my thing.¡± Chapter 964: Expanding His Influence In Zermatt, Switzerland, it was the early hours of the morning. In a chalet of largely glass walls, Marie Finnegan sipped at a mug of hot chocolate. On the coffee table, her phone beeped a notification. She picked it up and saw a text message consisting of only the letter C. She sat down her phone and her drink, then pulled out a second phone and dialled a number not saved in the contacts. Her call was answered, but the person on the other hand said nothing. ¡°Confirmation,¡± Marie said. ¡°You have a go to initiate the grid intervention.¡± She ended the call without waiting for reply, then activated her lighting fist ability, ignoring the heat as the phone caught fire and melted over her hand. Several minutes later, the remains of the phone were in the bin and she¡¯d washed her hands. As she returned from the bathroom, the phone still on the table rang. The caller was listed as the Network Communications office in Zurich. ¡°Finnegan,¡± she said, on answering the call. ¡°Director, there is an incident in Pakistan we need to brief you on.¡± *** The Network had fragmented itself into four, well over a decade ago. The Chinese and US governments had absorbed, or been absorbed by, their respective branches. The Global Defence Network was made up of many lower-ranking Network operatives, along with remnants of the Engineers of Ascension and members of the Cabal who schismed off during the rise of the vampire lords. The last faction was the largest, born from the leadership of branches everywhere but the US and China, and possessing most of the Network¡¯s old assets. This was the group that operated with the approval of the Australian government, managing the local sections of the grid and intercepting monsters. A large contingent from Asano Village was airlifted to the Network¡¯s Sydney office. This included Anna, Claire Davney and members of various intelligence agencies. They were all shuffled into an amphitheatre-style briefing room with a large projection screen. From there, they watched live footage from Pakistan, with multiple perspectives displayed side by side. ¡°Whose drones are providing this footage?¡± Claire asked. ¡°The Pakistanis?¡± ¡°The Pakistani military have refused to share their feeds, Madam Secretary,¡± said the Network liaison, Bryce. ¡°We¡¯ve tapped other drones deployed to the area, by local civilians and foreign media.¡± ¡°That was fast,¡± Anna observed. ¡°We are not able to disclose any assets we may or may not have in the area,¡± Bryce said. Little was happening on the projections screen so far. It showed the Indus River, with a mass of rainbow light swirling over it, but no other activity. ¡°The current estimate is full manifestation in twelve to seventeen minutes,¡± Bryce announced. ¡°Mrs Tilden, the operation room is requesting an ETA on the arrival of the Asano group.¡± Anna checked the time on her phone. ¡°Any moment now,¡± she said. Around a minute later, a portal opened onscreen. A black stone ring, filled with swirling darkness, appeared in the air. It was aligned horizontally, high over the water, and was large enough for a bus to pass through. What did drop from the portal was a massive tortoise shell. The top and bottom halves were separated, connected only at the corners while the sides were left open. The shell segments on top each had a colourful, glowing rune etched into it. Inside was a veritable crowd of adventurers, who immediately started flying out into the air. Some had wings, others flew on clouds that shrouded their feet. Some flew through no visible means at all, like superheroes. They were a wild and eclectic group, looking variously like wizards, or heroes and monsters of ancient myth. Or even modern myth, with a few that would have passed as Jedi or Sith. One man had armour and wings of rainbow scales, matching those of the rainbow dragon on whose back he stood. Another man was part bird, like an eagle version of a werewolf. ¡°Asano isn¡¯t in command,¡± Claire observed quietly. ¡°That woman on a flying carpet seems to be directing the others.¡± ¡°Jason is not the leader of his adventuring team,¡± Anna said. ¡°The man standing on the dragon is Humphrey Geller. His mother is serving as strategic commander for the larger group.¡± ¡°I was led to believe they would move at Asano¡¯s command.¡± ¡°They will move at Jason¡¯s request. He values earnest friendship over political alliance, which is one of the reasons he has trouble with diplomacy. His friends are fiercely loyal, Madam Secretary. Forged in fire loyal. This group is strong, and united.¡± ¡°And large. This is more people than was revealed on their arrival. All gold rankers?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And they each possess the strength of Asano and his team?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a rough parity there, yes.¡± ¡°Mrs Tilden, statements by you and Rufus Remore regarding the combat potential at Asano¡¯s command have largely been considered hyperbolic. Are we about to see a demonstration that they were not?¡± ¡°I imagine that depends on what comes out of that manifestation, but I doubt it. That many Earth gold rankers would make short work of one manifestation, let alone this group. Barring something very unusual, I don¡¯t see it posing enough of a threat to draw out their full power.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not rule out the unexpected,¡± Claire said. ¡°Have you noticed Bryce nervously touching his earpiece?¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°I have. He doesn¡¯t seem to like what he¡¯s hearing.¡± Claire stood up and took out her phone. ¡°It might be time for a call to my own Network operatives, back home.¡± *** Marie Finnegan had one of the bedrooms in her chalet rearranged for dedicated video conferencing. Four monitors were set up, each displaying a different feed. Two were showing drone footage from Pakistan, one was showing a grid systems analyst in Zurich and the last was showing data taken from the grid. The grid data showed the Sindh Province in Pakistan, with moving lines that ranged from purple to an alarming red. ¡°To be clear,¡± the analyst said, ¡°these are not anomalies detected by the grid, but within the grid itself.¡± ¡°Are you saying that someone is attempting to collapse the grid again? Weren¡¯t failsafes put in place to prevent, or at least detect that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re looking at, Director. We¡¯re uncertain as to what this is, but the Engineers of Ascension attack on the grid was unsophisticated. A blunt force. This is more nuanced, showing a superior understanding of how the grid functions.¡± ¡°And what is it doing?¡± ¡°Our best guess thus far is that it is channelling additional magic into the Pakistan manifestation. We don¡¯t know if the intention is to disable the grid, create a greater manifestation or trigger a transformation zone event, like those in 2020. Or something else entirely. To be honest, Director, we¡¯re working off educated guesses at best.¡± ¡°What do you recommend?¡± ¡°At this point? Hope the people from the other world know what to do. Should we warn them?¡± ¡°No. If they are our best chance, we can¡¯t risk them deciding to pull out. We need them to face it, whatever it is?¡± ¡°And if it blows up and kills them?¡± ¡°Then at least the new problem will have solved the old one.¡± *** Anna followed Courtney out of the briefing room to where Claire was waiting in the hallway. ¡°Can you reach your people in Pakistan?¡± Claire asked without preamble. Anna tapped a brooch on her jacket and the air shimmered around them. ¡°Privacy magic from the other world,¡± she explained. ¡°Shade, are you here?¡± ¡°I am, Mrs Tilden,¡± Shade¡¯s voice came from her shadow. ¡°Then anything you say here will reach Asano,¡± Anna told Claire. ¡°Someone is sabotaging the grid. Feeding magic into the Pakistan manifestation. We don¡¯t know why, how, what they want, or how likely they are to get it. Anything more than that is going to take time we don¡¯t have to figure out.¡± ¡°Thank you, Madam Secretary,¡± Jason¡¯s voice came from Anna¡¯s shadow. ¡°We¡¯ll do our best to keep a lid on things.¡± *** Most of the gold rankers were moving into position around the manifestation, taking formation team by team. Jason¡¯s team were the furthest away, positioned to protect the Sukkar Barrage as Clive, Farrah and Belinda placed it under a protection ritual. Jason floated over to the trio. ¡°Can you spare Farrah?¡± Jason asked. ¡°There may be an issue with the grid, and she¡¯s the closest thing we have to an expert.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t it wait?¡± Farrah asked. ¡°We¡¯re in the middle of something here.¡± ¡°The grid is feeding extra magic into the manifestation,¡± Jason told her. ¡°Oh,¡± Farrah said. ¡°Clive, do you have it from here?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got it,¡± Clive said. ¡°Do you have a dimensional verge spectrum analyser?¡± Farrah asked him. Clive took a device from his storage space that looked like a cluster of crystals connected by straws for a school science project, and tossed it to Farrah. She and Jason then shot towards the main group, Farrah¡¯s fiery wings blazing on her back. They reached Danielle, Jason explaining the situation while Farrah used the device to take readings of the manifestation. ¡°Thoughts?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Depends. If this is intended to detonate like one of Travis¡¯ big bombs, we should leave. A gold-rank explosion on that scale isn¡¯t something all of us could survive.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s what we¡¯re looking at,¡± Farrah said, peering at a mess of light swirling over the device. ¡°Back in the day, when the grid was taken offline, undetected proto-spaces broke down and turned into monster waves. I think we¡¯re looking at that process being artificially forced and accelerated.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that thousands of monsters are going to pour out of this?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Even with this group, we can¡¯t handle thousands of gold-rank monsters,¡± Danielle said. ¡°They would mostly be silver rank,¡± Jason said. ¡°There would still be enough golds to make it a rough day, though. Maybe we¡¯ll get lucky and it¡¯ll spawn a really big essence instead of monsters.¡± ¡°That would be nice,¡± Danielle said, ¡°but I find things like this don¡¯t often go nicely.¡± ¡°Jason,¡± Farrah asked. ¡°Do you still have that instinctive sense for dimensional forces? The one Clive says is cheating?¡± ¡°I do. I don¡¯t know how much I¡¯ll be able to tell you, but I¡¯ll have a rummage.¡± He drifted onto Danielle¡¯s flying carpet, so he didn¡¯t have to concentrate on keeping himself aloft. He tapped his foot on the carpet. ¡°Is this new?¡± ¡°I have a lot of flying devices,¡± Danielle told him. He closed his eyes and projected his senses towards the manifestation. ¡°I¡¯m kind of getting a proto-space feel off of this,¡± he said. ¡°Not exactly, though; I have to squint to see it. There¡¯s a definite sense of energy pouring in, though. I¡¯m not sure this manifestation can hold it together. It feels like it¡¯s being overloaded.¡± ¡°I¡¯m seeing a lot of instability as well,¡± Farrah said. ¡°It might be time to run for the hills.¡± Jason opened his eyes to look at the device Farrah was still using. The light shining over it was roiling like water in a washing machine. ¡°Let my try something,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to limit my influence on the reality around me because it¡¯s kind of rude, but it might be time to go the other way.¡± Jason floated into the air, up and over the manifestation. A portal of white stone, appeared high above his head, filled with gold, silver and blue transcendent light. The portal was flat, like a halo over the manifestation, and wide enough to fit a house through. Jason floated between the portal and the manifestation, arms held out to his sides. The light of the portal grew brighter and brighter, until it was hard to look at. An aura emerged from the portal, swift as a tsunami but heavy as treacle, weighing down on everyone. It was domineering and otherworldly, claiming dominion over everything it touched. It kept pouring out, spreading over the whole region. After a minute it had gone ten kilometres, with no sign of stopping. Everywhere it went, every person of age to accept essences received a message.
System Alert: Unstable Reality
Danielle and Farrah watched as Jason vanished in a pillar of transcendent light. It descended from the portal like a divine visitation, inundating the manifestation until it was barely visible. ¡°Did Jason mention anything to you about being flashy?¡± Farrah asked. ¡°He did say something,¡± Danielle said. ¡°I prefer things clean and efficient, but he claimed it was Anna Tilden¡¯s idea.¡± ¡°She¡¯s normally quite sensible. Are you sure it wasn¡¯t Jason wanting to show off?¡± ¡°No, but I suppose it doesn¡¯t really matter, at this stage.¡± ¡°No, I suppose not.¡± While Jason¡¯s enhanced aura was a hammering cacophony to supernatural senses, the area was eerily quiet to normal hearing. That changed with a ripping sound that filled the air like thunder. It was an alien, nails-on-chalkboard screech, somewhere between shearing metal and shattering stone. As the excruciating noise continued to ring out, the first monsters emerged from the light. Chapter 965: This Is Kind of How Team Biscuit Operates The massive torrent of transcendent light continued to gush from the giant portal, inundating the rainbow glow of the manifestation. The adventurers surrounding the phenomenon looked on as monsters swarmed out, thick as insects, despite the smallest being the size of a bread van. Most were silver rank, with one in a hundred being gold. Even the smaller, silver-rank monsters were hulking things. Each had a body shaped like a spider but the hairy, muscled flesh of a gorilla. Massive insect wings buzzed in a blur, carrying them ponderously through the air as eight thick, hairy limbs dangling beneath them. The gold-rank monsters stood thirty metres tall. Like warped, oversized messengers, they had three sets of wings, six arms and three faces spaced around a single head. They were naked but sexless, with the smooth features of an androgynous ken doll. ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± Jason said as he rose from Danielle¡¯s shadow as if riding up an elevator. ¡°It would make some confronting news footage if the eight-storey monsters were meat-and-two-veg to the wind.¡± Hundreds of monsters had emerged by that point, with no sign of stopping. Many of the adventurers were already moving into the fray, while others held back at Danielle¡¯s direction. She ignored Jason for the moment as she coordinated the group through a combination of voice chat, text chat, maps and overlays. The System interacted with various abilities, especially Jason¡¯s, and was able to share them across the group. ¡°I¡¯m going to start by probing them for capabilities,¡± she told him. ¡°With this many, we¡¯re not going to contain them here. Rejoin your team guarding the barrage until we know how hard they¡¯re going to press that way. I¡¯ll likely have you moving on outliers later.¡± ¡°Catching the loose ones and dosing them with afflictions so they kick it before reaching anywhere with people?¡± ¡°Precisely. For now, try and build up a butterfly cloud on any who come your team¡¯s way. Along with Rufus¡¯ abilities, it¡¯s probably our best shot at clearing numbers this large. Perhaps Humphrey, depending on how the dice fall.¡± ¡°I¡¯m on it.¡± ¡°Oh, and Jason?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Did you just stop this thing from blasting a hole in the side of the universe?¡± ¡°It would have been a transformation zone, probably. It¡¯ll still be a few years before the astral bridge stabilises the dimensional membrane enough to stop something like this without intervention.¡± ¡°Is that a yes?¡± ¡°More of a dimensional ulcer than a big old hole, but kind of.¡± ¡°Good job.¡± *** Marie Finnegan sensed a presence outside her chalet, moved to the door and opened it. A chill wind blew in over the snow-covered ground. ¡°I thought needing to be invited in was a fiction,¡± she said. ¡°Most things are, when you really look at them,¡± Elizabeth said. ¡°Civilisation; morals; money. Politeness. Yet they all have their place. May I come in?¡± Marie looked her up and down. The vampire wore a long red coat with fluffy white trim. ¡°You look like Mrs Claus.¡± ¡°Nicholas wasn¡¯t that lucky.¡± Marie smirked and gestured an invitation. Elizabeth entered and Marie closed the door behind her. She took Elizabeth¡¯s coat and hung it on a rack. ¡°The cold affects you?¡± Marie asked. ¡°It¡¯s not dangerous, but we consume life force faster. Something we can ill-afford with the Asano Clan aggressively attacking our blood farms. I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ve dealt with that issue?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see. The communications room is up the stairs and to the left.¡± They went upstairs to where four monitors were displaying various feeds from the drones in Pakistan. ¡°The first plan didn¡¯t work, then,¡± Elizabeth said. ¡°We¡¯ve successfully generated multiple transformation zones from silver-rank manifestations. It should have been even more effective with a gold-rank one, but¡ª¡± ¡°Asano did something?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Simon will have to analyse the data, but I¡¯m hiding him and the entire project, even from my own branch. They¡¯re twitchy enough about working with vampires.¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t wondering where the reality cores are coming from?¡± ¡°They don¡¯t know about the reality cores. I don¡¯t trust them not to cave under pressure, and after today, the other factions will know that someone is manipulating the grid. They¡¯re going to throw a wet fit over that. We have to be more careful than ever.¡± ¡°We will need to be bold, soon enough.¡± ¡°I will be putting that off as long as possible, but I suspect you¡¯re right.¡± Marie grabbed a laptop she could use to control the feeds and they both sat in armchairs to watch. ¡°That is a great many monsters,¡± Elizabeth observed. ¡°Is this a monster wave? The kind that took place before I reawakened?¡± ¡°It seems so,¡± Marie said. ¡°This one is accelerated, and more powerful, though. There was only one gold-rank monster breach, back in the day, and even that was nothing like this. How Asano turned the transformation zone into this, I have no idea. That column of light looks like¡ª¡± ¡°The wrath of god.¡± ¡°Yes. I would have preferred more time for testing, but events in Australia forced my hand. Did you prod the Australian Prime Minister into acting?¡± ¡°No, he came by his stupidity honestly. I also would have liked more time, to get the blood oaks more controllable.¡± ¡°Perhaps this will be enough,¡± Marie suggested. ¡°If we can force a loss out of Asano here, and we can demonstrate enough power, the factions might be convinced to ally against him.¡± ¡°Still the optimist, Marie? I gave up on that plan the moment he reached out from another universe to annihilate my collected rivals. His power is not to be doubted. And neither, it seems, is that of his companions.¡± *** Standing on the dam next to a circle of powdered bone, Humphrey rolled three twelve-sided dice into the circle. ¡°I always liked D12s, bro,¡± Taika said as he looked on. ¡°Feels chunkier than a D20, but still kind of round. Big thumbs down on D8s and D10s.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea what he¡¯s talking about?¡± Sophie asked Farrah, who had returned to the team. ¡°It¡¯s a game thing, I think.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Rufus confirmed. ¡°Also, there¡¯s just something iconic about a fist full of D6s.¡± ¡°I hear that, bro.¡± ¡°We should leave,¡± Neil said. ¡°I think there¡¯s something about this planet that does things to people. This whole journey may have been a trap.¡± ¡°Wait until you try jelly beans,¡± Rufus said. ¡°It makes it all worth it. If you get the right jelly beans.¡± Humphrey ignored them, watching his summoner¡¯s dice as they stopped rolling. From one, an illusion of a brown blob rose from the face-up side. ¡°Mud,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°I would have preferred air or water, but it¡¯s not bad for a river environment.¡± Another die projected an image, this one of a frog. ¡°Mud frog,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°I can work with that.¡± The last die, instead of projecting an image, rolled itself again. ¡°Bizarre,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Lucky.¡± ¡°Bizarre?¡± Rufus asked.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°It¡¯ll roll itself twice and take both results,¡± Humphrey explained. The die stopped and an image of a frog appeared, before expanding to be much larger. The illusion lingered as the dice rolled again, this time producing an image of disembodied arms, bound together like a bouquet of flowers. ¡°Giant and extra limbs,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°We might want to step back.¡± He held out his hand and the dice flew into them as he took his own advice and backed off. The others did the same as mud started seeping into the bone circle from the middle, as if bubbling up through a crack in the concrete. It soon filled the circle and expanded beyond it, spreading rapidly. The moment it stopped, something rose up from the mud, pulling itself out as if it were a deep pool, accompanied by a wet sucking noise. It was a toad the size of a small cottage, but made of thick, clayish mud. Parts of a skeleton jutted from body, but rather than frog bones, they looked like those of a comically overweight dragon, curved and bulbous. As they watched, blue and gold armour shimmered into existence around the toad¡¯s body, the armour¡¯s ornate gleam incongruous on the disgusting creature. It opened its mouth impossibly wide to let out a hideous, rumbling belch. As it did, no fewer than nine tongues shout out, each dozens of metres long. They flailed as if caught on the wind of the extended belch before snapping back into the creature¡¯s mouth. ¡°Bro, that¡¯s pretty gross.¡± The toad leapt off the dam and into the river, displacing massive amounts of water. A second toad appeared from the mud and did the same, others following at a much greater pace. ¡°How many of these will there be?¡± Taika asked. ¡°Not sure,¡± Humphrey told him. ¡°The dice affect my summoning, but the more powerful the result, the fewer the summons. Without the dice, I get a hundred dragon bone soldiers. The size of these will soak up some power, but the frogs don¡¯t look to have particularly potent abilities. I¡¯d guess we¡¯ll see somewhere between forty and sixty.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take those odds,¡± Belinda said. ¡°I have a good feeling about those frogs. I¡¯ll bet a box of Pastry Stash biscuits that there¡¯ll be thirty.¡± ¡°Oh, I love that bakery,¡± Clive said. ¡°I have a tray of Jason¡¯s sandwiches in my storage space. I¡¯ll bet them on fifty frogs.¡± ¡°I have sandwiches too,¡± Neil said, ¡°but I¡¯m keeping them. No bet.¡± ¡°This is our first proper battle on this planet,¡± Humphrey said. ¡°Could we please act with decorum, just this once?¡± Wind washed over then as Sophie appeared in a blur of motion. ¡°Forty frogs,¡± she said. ¡°Really?¡± Humphrey complained. ¡°What¡¯s the ante?¡± Belinda asked. ¡°Jam and cream donuts,¡± Sophie replied. ¡°They were meant for us to¡­¡± Humphrey began before stopping himself and letting out a sigh. The admonishing glare he levelled at his team was undercut by the loud slurping as one frog after another pulled itself out of the mud pool. *** The silver-rank flying gorilla spiders were not as ungainly as they appeared, able to move in sudden bursts of speed. If there were anything other than elite gold-rank adventurers to fight, they might well have posed an individual danger. As it was, the true threat they posed was numerical, either in swarming adventurers until they exhausted their mana or escaping to reach population centres. By the time the monster count had reached two thousand, Danielle had split the teams up, reconfiguring the group to make the most effective response. The area specialists were concentrating their attacks around the pillar of light still spewing out monsters as it burned off the magic of the manifestation. The pillar itself was only visible as a glow within the churning storm called up by Zara. The gold-rank force of the storm battered and yanked at the monsters, trying to pull them apart like a confectioner making taffy. Jets of water and blades of wind sliced apart silver-rank flesh like industrial tools. Into the storm, other area attacker were firing off abilities with little care for where they landed. Hannah Adeah shot arrows in blindly, their explosions churning the wind and water of the storm even more. It once again served to remind Rick Geller of the dangers in marrying the most volatile and aggressive member of his team. Above and below the storm, forests of giant staves, the size of architectural columns, had been conjured by Emir. They shot up and down like the hammers inside a piano, slamming into one another and crushing monsters between them. So dense were the gorilla spiders that, even used blindly, the staves rarely missed. The creatures were tough, even for silver-rankers. Their seemingly fragile wings holding up surprisingly well against the storm, although many were still ripped off, sending monsters plunging into the river below. Others flew out of the storm, surviving by their numbers being dense enough that their fellows became shields. Outside of Zara¡¯s cyclone was the second line of battle, where Danielle had stationed most of the other adventurers. Those able to sustain attacks worked on cleaning up the silver-rank monsters who, even counting summons and familiars, still wildly outnumbered the adventurers. Giant mud toads were gathered in the river below, half submerged in water whipped to a frenzy by the artificial storm. They were snatching monsters out of the air with their tongue clusters that were something like nine-tailed whips made of tentacles. They yanked the gorilla-spiders out of the air and swallowed them whole. The monsters were quickly digested, reduced to rainbow smoke that sprayed out of orifices covering the mud toads like warts. The summoner of the toads swept through the air on dragon wings, enacting staggering violence with a huge flaming sword and fiery breath. One attack would carve off half a monster¡¯s legs off and a third of its body. The next would make one explode, releasing a wave of force that hammered the monsters behind it. bodies were shattered and limbs smashed to paste. His fire breath burned away wings, dropping monsters into the waiting mouths of the toad swarms. ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t just stop summoning those toads when it got to forty?¡± Clive asked through voice chat. ¡°Yes, he¡¯s sure,¡± Sophie said. This was Humphrey in his element, the quintessential adventurer. Fighting monsters, protecting people, pretending he had a normal team. His powers gave him more impact than most, and a combination of carefully selected equipment and the support of his team allowed him to keep up the pressure when others would flag. Aura buffs, mana-regenerating items and the occasional swig of very expensive potion meant his onslaught never stopped. Humphrey was far from alone in his endeavour, with no shortage of monsters to go around. Rufus and Gabriel fought together for the first time as equals, two master swordsmen using the well-refined techniques of a family who, as had been occasionally mentioned, ran a school. Both had been trained by arguably the greatest swordsman alive, and both had diverged from those teachings, compromising pure swordsmanship with more magical abilities. Like Jason, both Gabriel and Rufus mixed afflictions onto their attacks. Gabriel wielded fire, while Rufus¡¯ sun and moon afflictions were more exotic. Unlike Jason, they both had plenty of power behind the initial attacks as well. They may not have matched Humphrey¡¯s punch, but they still carved through silver-rank monsters, quickly racking up kill tallies. Gabriel¡¯s attacks left many monsters cripples, and the flames he left behind finished the job. His victims fell from the sky, plucked from the air by toads or splashing into the water. That was not enough to extinguish the fires, which set the water to boiling. ¡°You¡¯re falling behind, son,¡± Gabriel¡¯s voice boomed as he flew past Rufus, trailing fire. Rufus was the textbook Vitesse adventurer, with an eclectic mix of powers. In the hands of a lesser adventurer, he would have been the jack of all trades that Rimaros adventurers like to mock. But with his extensive training and raw talent, Rufus turned his versatile power set into a series of force multipliers. Rufus¡¯ afflictions were less effective than his father¡¯s, at least until he turned the sky dark. The sun was eclipsed, turning day into night, and every affliction Rufus had left behind exploded violently. Almost every active silver-rank monster from the current wave died on the spot, more than two hundred at once. Then, a massive beam of transcendent light shot from the sky. Realm of the Infinite Eclipse was one of the most powerful attacks available to any essence. Despite that, it was extremely rare, not for how hard it was to unlock, but for how hard it was to use. It required tens of enemies for even the most basic version, and hundreds to reach full effectiveness. It also required more time than most battles took to set up. Finally, it required not just a large horde of enemies, but also powerful singular ones to be worth targeting. It was a spell of war, almost unusable at low ranks, making it famously hard to rank up. If not for the Builder Cult war, the grand monster surge and being able to hunt the outer reaches of Jason¡¯s astral spaces, Rufus might well have been languishing at silver-rank, or even bronze. The reward for decades of dedication and training was a power that dwarfed almost anything else an essence user could produce. Even Farrah and her limit breaking powers could not equal the single moment of all-consuming annihilation that Rufus could produce, given the right circumstances and enough time. The eclipse beam of transcendent light walked across the battlefield at Rufus¡¯ direction. It settled on one gold-rank monster, then a second and a third before the power was finally expended. Not a scrap of the monsters remained, and for a strange moment, everything fell still and silent. Zara¡¯s storm had faded, and even the animalistic spider-gorillas stopped, staring in shock. Even amongst the experienced adventurers present, none had seen power on that level from anyone below diamond rank. Many of them cast their minds back to the Builder War, and Dawn wiping out a city with one spell. It wasn¡¯t a match for that event, but that was what it felt like, coming from a gold-ranker. The ambient mana sizzled against supernatural senses, as if Rufus had scorched it with the raw power of his display. Then the moment passed, and conflict resumed. Zara recast her storm and Danielle directed their forces to face the hundreds of monsters still streaming out of Jason¡¯s light column. For the many gold-rank monsters that remained, Danielle followed Rufus¡¯ example. No one else could match that power alone, but the adventurers with the heaviest burst damage could recreate it in the aggregate with focus fire. Some even managed solo kills, with Farrah taking the speed record after Rufus. By overcharging her abilities and dumping her entire mana pool in short order, she could turn two gold-rank monsters into glowing piles of slag before needing to stop and rest. What was left of the monsters fell into the river, letting off ugly brown smoke as they cooled. While letting the stacked group buffs replenish her mana, Farrah didn¡¯t waste her downtime. Resting up in Onslow¡¯s shell, she made use of tools borrowed from Clive to examining the ongoing manifestation. The grid was somehow sustaining the manifestation, allowing it to keep producing monsters. If that wasn¡¯t cut off, the manifestation would keep going until the adventurers were too exhausted to fight or the dimensional membrane ripped, triggering a transformation zone or worse. Most of Team Biscuit were in the main fight now, except for Jason chasing down monsters that slipped the cordon, and Sophie, back at the dam. She and Prince Valdis were tasked with protecting the barrage, using their absurd speed to cover its two kilometre length. For any monster that came that way, Sophie set it up and Valdis cut it down. Danielle had assigned herself to the gold-rank killing group. At silver, her kill-speed had been below average, but ranking up had changed that drastically. She could, if she pushed it, do a passable imitation of Farrah¡¯s approach, including the hefty recovery time. She arrived in Onslow¡¯s shell to rest and take stock of the overall battle. ¡°How is it going?¡± she asked Farrah. ¡°Got anything?¡± ¡°I have,¡± Farrah said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t optimistic about a quick solution¡ª¡± ¡°That¡¯s all anyone ever wants on this team,¡± Clive called out as he blasted beams and bolts from his rod and staff weapons. ¡°Not right now, please Clive,¡± Danielle said. ¡°No one ever says that to Jason,¡± Clive complained. ¡°That¡¯s because he¡¯s not going to listen,¡± Farrah said. ¡°Sure,¡± Clive said, ¡°let¡¯s only be nice to Clive when we need him to practically invent a new branch of magic in the next twenty-seven minutes or an entire civilisation gets wiped out.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think he listens either,¡± Farrah loudly confided to Danielle. ¡°You were saying you had something?¡± Danielle asked pointedly. ¡°Yes, sorry. This is kind of how Team Biscuit operates.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve noticed.¡± ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve been looking at what¡¯s happening to the grid, and I recognise some of the patterns here. I think I know who developed the magic that what we¡¯re seeing here was based on.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Danielle asked. ¡°Me.¡± Chapter 966: A Cultural Experience Onslow¡¯s shell had expanded to the size of a house. It was serving as combination command centre, rest area and triage tent, always hosting one or two healers. As powerful as the adventurers were, no gold-rank monster was to be dismissed, and even silvers were a threat with numbers so high. Jason landed inside Onslow¡¯s shell in a half crash, tumbling on the floor. Arabelle was kneeling next to him a moment later as he rolled onto his back and pushed himself into a sitting position. Dripping sweat, he took heaving breaths. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he panted. ¡°No injuries. None that didn¡¯t heal already. Just exhausted.¡± ¡°How?¡± Arabelle asked. ¡°It¡¯s extremely difficult for gold-rankers to get tired.¡± ¡°And all that breathing won¡¯t help you,¡± Clive pointed out. ¡°You don¡¯t need to breathe.¡± ¡°It might help,¡± Arabelle said. ¡°A recent study suggests that high-rankers imitating biological processes can accelerate the magical replication of those effects. Mind over body, as it were.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Clive said. ¡°That sounds familiar, now that you say it. Did my association do the study?¡± ¡°It did.¡± While they were talking, Onslow, in baby ninja turtle form, waddled over to Jason and held out a lettuce leaf. ¡°Thanks, buddy,¡± Jason said, taking the leaf. He crunched down on it and patted Onslow on the head. The tortoise-boy grinned and tottered back to Clive¡¯s side. ¡°How exactly did you manage to exhaust yourself?¡± Arabelle asked. ¡°Do the gold-rank monsters have some kind of stamina drain power?¡± ¡°No,¡± Jason said, pointing outside as the massive column of light, still pouting out of the giant portal. ¡°I know I make clamping a hole in the universe shut with a giant god beam look easy, but it¡¯s actually quite a strain. If I don¡¯t let it go, my avatar will eventually break down. I don¡¯t know exactly what will happen then.¡± ¡°Probably a transformation zone,¡± Farrah said. ¡°Now that I know what I¡¯m looking for, I¡¯m working on stopping the magic being fed into the manifestation. The grid, while artificial, works on the principals of a natural array. I¡¯m working up a ritual that will look for incongruities in its operation that will let me identify divergences, indicating interference points from traditional ritual magic. That will let us pinpoint the physical locations where the grid is being interfered with and go stop it.¡± ¡°That makes sense,¡± Jason said. ¡°You understood that?¡± Clive asked. ¡°Of course I did,¡± Jason said. ¡°You¡¯re the one who always hammered me about studying magical theory. She said ¡®something something, deflector dish,¡¯ and then we go break some stuff.¡± Clive let out a sobbing breath as he continued firing magic blasts from his rod and staff. Onslow gave him a comforting pat on the thigh. ¡°I¡¯m going to need Nik,¡± Farrah said. ¡°I don¡¯t like bringing him out into this,¡± Jason said. ¡°He¡¯d be the only silver-ranker in the field. ¡°We¡¯ve both faced off against much worse.¡± ¡°And we¡¯ve both died!¡± ¡°You can¡¯t shield him from everything Jason. Not if you want him to grow. And sitting inside Onslow¡¯s shell coordinating things is hardly throwing him into the clutches of a gold-ranker.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Clive said. ¡°If you don¡¯t let him face danger he can see coming, how will he fare against danger you can¡¯t? I¡¯d say you know that¡¯s coming, but it already came. Unless you missed it, Jason, he¡¯s spent more years adventuring than you have. He didn¡¯t deal with the crazy stuff you get us involved in, but he¡¯s going to now, and you know it.¡± ¡°Your absence denied him the only validation he truly cared about,¡± Arabelle added. ¡°If you deny him the chance to prove himself to you, you¡¯re going to further damage a relationship in which you have already left deep wounds.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Jason said. ¡°But can you portal him in please, Clive? I¡¯m kind of wrecked. I¡¯m going to coast the rest of this battle and let my familiars do all the work.¡± *** Marie pointed out one of the feeds on the four monitors in front of her and Elizabeth. On it, the desiccated husk of a gold-rank monster fell from the sky, covered in leeches. The leeches melted and flowed together, taking the form of Jason Asano, but made from glistening red liquid. The blood clone flew into the air, reached another monster and broke down into a leech swarm once more, rapidly coating the monster¡¯s body. ¡°Are you seeing this?¡± Marie asked. ¡°That¡¯s happening in multiple places at once.¡± ¡°I noticed.¡± ¡°This is the guy you picked a fight with?¡± ¡°I never picked that fight. My kind have instincts that are extremely hard to resist. They made him, and humanity at large, an inevitable foe. You are the one who picked a fight. It is far from a secret that he is extremely opposed to the harvesting of reality cores. He cut himself off from the magical factions over it, and spent months preventing the transformation zones from forming. He won¡¯t react well to learning that your secret little group within the Network has secretly been triggering new ones. Which he will discover, following this event.¡± ¡°The attempt wasn¡¯t my choice. I didn¡¯t like the potential exposure, although I didn¡¯t fight the idea as hard as I could have. On paper, it seemed sound. If we take him out, problem solved. If not, we at least show the world that he¡¯s not invincible.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°I see. You didn¡¯t account for him actually being invincible.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not.¡± ¡°For practical purposes, it seems that he is.¡± ¡°I could hardly expect an army of otherworldly gold-rankers, all with power exceeding any of our native ones. Or that he could shut a rupture in the universe with what looks suspiciously like the divine light of heaven.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t Rufus Remore warn the world of this? And Anna Tillman?¡± ¡°No one thought they were telling the truth!¡± ¡°I did. I warned your co-conspirators myself, after what he did to the vampires in France and Slovenia. And now, you have a choice. Cut your losses and try to cover your tracks, or double down.¡± ¡°Double down?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve resisted providing reality cores to enhance my blood oaks.¡± ¡°You think enhancing them will be enough to defeat all of this?¡± Marie asked as she gestured at the monitors.¡± ¡°No. But they will be dangerous enough to get concessions for leaving them in the box.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking about your exit plan. Pinning your hopes on Asano wanting to protect the world from you more than he wants to see you dead.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How does that help me?¡± ¡°It could be our exit plan.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not you, Elizabeth. I can¡¯t so easily cast off everyone I¡¯m tied to.¡± ¡°You think they will stand by you? This entire operation is structured to leave you holding the bag. Everyone involved in the reality core harvesting will hurl you to the wolves. They will put all of it on you. Unless you think I¡¯m wrong. Or, we work on the blood oaks together. Get ourselves passage to the other world and a fresh beginning. Let the vampires and the Network and whoever else deal with Asano and clean up the mess.¡± Marie stood up and opened a liquor cabinet. ¡°Drink?¡± she asked. ¡°Do you have blood?¡± Marie reached down to the bottom door of the cabinet. Inside was a single decanter of red liquid, sitting in the middle of a small ritual circle. She took it out, filled a wine glass with blood and put it back. She poured her own drink, a Japanese whisky, and returned to her seat. She handed over the wine glass and Elizabeth took a sip. Her eyebrows rose in surprise and appreciation. ¡°Marie, if all I wanted was some extra reality cores on the quiet, I have the means to take them from you. I¡¯m not just asking to make our alliance more personal. Or, perhaps I am. I¡¯m asking you to leave this world with me.¡± Marie stared at Elizabeth, searching her expression for a long moment before responding. ¡°You said that vampiric instincts are hard to resist.¡± ¡°Extremely.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the magic in the sunlight, right?¡± ¡°Avoiding the sun slows the process down, but even the most nocturnal will feel it eventually. We grow territorial. Unempathetic. We lose access to most of the emotional spectrum.¡± ¡°I heard that it is not difficult to resist, but impossible.¡± ¡°I find that impossible is a word that sees excessive use. Do I strike you as incapable of anything but rage and fear, Marie?¡± They met eyes. ¡°No, you do not.¡± *** There was an adventurer on Varus¡¯ team with earth-shaping powers, but Farrah hadn¡¯t bother to recruit him. Needing speed over finesse, she used her Lava Cannon power to blast the ground. Like a hose spraying a pool, lava splashed everywhere, but she ignored it as it landed on her. The other adventurer present, Dustin Kettering, extinguished the resulting fires in the dry grass with his ice powers. He was pointing a simple handheld device with blue and red LEDs at the ground. The red light went out and the blue one lit up. ¡°You got it,¡± he said. ¡°Nik, can I get the map please?¡± Farrah asked the drone floating in air, out of lava range. The drone floated down and created a holographic map projection. Nik¡¯s mapping powers were more precise than Jason¡¯s tactical map. Nik¡¯s abilities could also integrate powers and devices to relay their effects remotely. Dustin¡¯s handheld device had been created by Nik, connected to a much larger device still sitting in Onslow¡¯s shell. ¡°Seven more to go,¡± Farrah announced in the group chat. ¡°You should already be seeing fewer monsters produced.¡± ¡°We are,¡± Danielle said, ¡°but there¡¯s no shortage of them out here already. Even gold rankers can¡¯t fight forever. It¡¯s time to wrap this up.¡± *** While Jason¡¯s presence on the battlefield was gone, his influence remained, in the form of his afflictions. Gordon used monsters as butterfly farms, continuing to spread Jason¡¯s array of hideous maledictions. The butterflies carried Jason¡¯s plagues and curses from the exiting monsters to new ones as they emerged, Jason himself no longer necessary. Maintaining the butterflies was critical in handling monsters in such number, but that was far from the limit of Gordon¡¯s contribution. The familiar repositioned himself by snaking through the battlefield as a nebulous cluster of lights. When he resumed his normal form, he used the spheres orbiting him to full effect. They could generate sustained force beams that massacred silver-rank monsters, or turn into shields, deflecting attacks away from exposed adventurers. When monsters clustered, he shot off orbs in pairs that collided into massive explosions. To replenish his orbs, Gordon absorbed the butterflies that were now painting the sky in orange and blue, allowing him to maintain his aggressive pace. He was far from the only familiar making a big impact, however. Stash unquestionably stood out the most, taking shape after shape to attack the gold-rank monsters. Stash moving through forms was more than just playfulness. The gold-rank monsters were more intelligent than the silvers, and could adapt to attack patterns they had already encountered. That was less of an issue to adventurers, whose power versatility was one of their greatest advantages against more one-note monsters. By mixing up the monsters whose form he assumed, Stash became much harder to predict. The opposite to Stash was Shimmer, Belinda¡¯s astral lantern familiar. The strange little creature was a living lantern, usually keeping itself invisible. While it had some surprisingly effective force attacks, its most useful ability was to quietly accelerate the mana recovery of its allies. As of gold-rank, the tiny lantern could output massive bursts of mana replenishment, across an entire battlefield. In the massive and lengthy battle, Shimmer didn¡¯t get the glory, but was critical in clinching the victory. The battle didn¡¯t climax in a massive face off; no final boss monster emerged, unlike the monster waves of years past. The numbers slowly diminished until there were no more to kill, only adventurers in dire need of rest. When the manifestation finally faded, so did the pillar of light coming from Jason¡¯s giant portal. Most of the adventurers then went through it to Jason¡¯s astral kingdom. Danielle kept a handful around to handle the aftermath and further investigate the cause of what had happened. To Jason¡¯s regret, this included him, although he remained inside Onslow¡¯s shell while Danielle briefed the others outside. The spiritual damage to Jason¡¯s avatar would take a day or so to recover from. After designating the adventurers their various tasks, Danielle entered the shell with Clive. ¡°What is this?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s a TV,¡± Taika said, from where he sat on a corner couch with Travis, Jason and Nik. Gordon was floating next to a beanbag chair. ¡°It¡¯s what they have on Earth instead of crystal recording projectors.¡± ¡°I did not put any of this in here,¡± Clive said. ¡°Who said you could bring all this in here?¡± Onslow sat up from where he¡¯d been buried, unseen, in the beanbag. He gave an enthusiastic wave. ¡°Jason, I will not have you corrupting my familiar.¡± ¡°GOOD LUCK WITH THAT,¡± Humphrey¡¯s voice yelled from a distance. ¡°It¡¯s not corruption,¡± Taika said. ¡°We¡¯re going to watch a film from my homeland. It¡¯s a cultural experience.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it called?¡± Clive asked with suspicion. ¡°Tongan Ninja.¡± Chapter 967: What I Present to the World Spiritual damage lingered, beyond the capacity of healing magic to repair. This was something Jason was intimately familiar with, but his latest spiritual injury was mild. Holding shut the rip in the universe had strained his prime avatar, but within a couple of days it had largely recovered. He spent that time in his astral kingdom, in his house by the waterfall. Far from crippled, just not up to another fight, he spent most of the time cooking. He set up an outdoor kitchen on the sprawling deck that jutted into the gorge. A rotating roster of his friends and family came by for sampling purposes, although Nik and Emi¡¯s presence was near-constant. Emi was already an excellent cook, having learned from her mother, just like Jason. They were taking the opportunity to induct Nik into the culinary arts. Now that the magic levels on Earth were rising, magical variants of familiar ingredients had started to appear. He was incorporating them into the farms he had set up around his main planet, although he hadn¡¯t had time to collect a lot of Earth produce. For the moment, most of the farms still grew Pallimustus plants and fungi. Along with fields of vegetables there were mushroom caves, hanging gardens filled with vine fruit and sprawling orchards. He had chosen ideal climates, scattered across the planet and linked by portals. The influence of the living forest Arbour made for idyllic growth. There were still fires to be put out, from the ongoing diplomatic efforts to the fallout from the battles in Melbourne and the Sindh Province. Jason¡¯s recovery offered him some rare downtime, but not all of his friends were as idle. Farrah had been going over what happened with the manipulation of the grid, alongside grid operators from the various Network factions. Jason put those thoughts aside, concentrating on good food and good company. He suspected what she would find, but she was still working on it. He did his best to avoid dwelling in it until she was done. Even so, the old rage churned like magma beneath the earth, building up pressure on the way to an eruption. He knew that wasn¡¯t helpful, healthy or productive, so he did his best to let it go and focus on what was. *** While Jason was recovering, the contingent of diplomats, intelligence officers and faction agents continued their visit to the astral kingdom. Their trip had taken them to the cities of New Water and Arbour. They took aerial tours around the planet and even travelled into space in an unexpectedly spaceworthy dirigible. They saw a planet created and then terraformed in a display of god-like power. They toured the new planet, visiting mountaintops and vast tablelands. They walked around, touched the grass and ate fruit from trees. Then they left and the planet winked out of existence, as if it had never been. *** US Secretary of State, Claire Danvey, watched footage of preliminary debriefs of the US members of the contingent now returned from the astral space. She had a room set up for the purpose in her temporary lodgings in Asano Village. The contingent members would go through weeks, if not months of debriefs, analysis and examinations for potential compromise. Having come to a decision, she had petitioned her government to allow her to visit Asano¡¯s kingdom for herself. A conference call pushed off her debrief footage and she made her case to the president and to CIA Director Barstow. ¡°Madam Secretary,¡± Barstow said. ¡°We have no idea what Asano is capable of in that place. If our people are to be believed, he can make a planet as easily as a sandwich. Either that is true, or he has the power to convince people it is. Either way, it¡¯s a short hop to accepting that he can pluck state secrets out of your head, if you put yourself in his place of power.¡± ¡°I would make two counterpoints,¡± Claire said. ¡°One is that if he wants to know something, I don¡¯t think we can stop him. You¡¯ve seen what just that shadow creature of his can do. Do you know the full capabilities of the people he brought to Earth? I don¡¯t, but I bet they have magic that would run loops around any protection we have.¡± ¡°So, you advocate giving in and surrendering anything he wants?¡± ¡°No. What I suggest is that we avoid approaching him in the ways where he¡¯s more powerful than us. Than anyone. Confronting him with main strength is not just pointless but counterproductive.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not wrong in that regard,¡± Barstow said. ¡°I have a small army of analysts going over the Pakistan footage, but the early assessment is that no native Earth force could have stopped those monsters. Possibly not even if you combined them all together. We¡¯d have to resort to magically enhanced nukes and turn the whole area into a radioactive pit.¡± ¡°What we need,¡± Claire said, ¡°is to approach this from another direction. Director, what is your analysts¡¯ take on Asano diplomatically?¡± ¡°He¡¯s na?ve. Unversed in realpolitik. His adherence to certain principles is undermining the ability of his representatives to¡ª¡± ¡°That is my assessment as well,¡± Claire cut her off. ¡°Jason Asano responds to trust, loyalty and friendship. Speaking with his chief representative, Annabeth Tilden, it is a source of frustration for her. Asano¡¯s approach has served him well in the other world. Politics are simpler there, by all accounts, with personal power and personal loyalty being lynchpins. That approach hurts him here. Earth geopolitics are more sophisticated, with decentralised power. Over there, it¡¯s not about the force you can muster but the force that you are. Individual power over the consensual. That means more idiosyncratic personalities and less answering to disparate interests.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that he¡¯s used to the politics of god kings,¡± Barstow said. ¡°Perhaps not that extreme,¡± Claire said. ¡°Although yes, sometimes, from what I¡¯ve gathered in my time here. A better analogy might by a rogue dictator. Someone we need for a military base, or as an intelligence asset. Or because the lunatic has nukes.¡± ¡°What are you suggesting?¡± the president asked. ¡°We meet him where he is. He might become an ally, but never one who goes an inch beyond what is strictly necessary. In his mind, we¡¯re still the Network. The people who dug up Jack Gerling and sent him to kill Asano¡¯s brother, his lover and his best friend. Whatever his diplomatic intentions, on some level, he sees us as an enemy. If we keep treating him like a potential enemy, he may well become one. If that happens, we lose. He can hide his people where we can never reach, and move through our nation with impunity. With the power at his command, he and his friends could crush the military and civilian infrastructure of the continental United States in a week. If that. Then he¡¯d likely go to work on any essence users they didn¡¯t take out in step one.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bleak picture,¡± the president said. ¡°Barstow?¡± ¡°We¡¯re still doing combat analysis of the Pakistan footage. Preliminary results support the secretary¡¯s assessment.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me that a few dozen people represent an existential threat to the United States?¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Only if we keep treating him like one,¡± Claire said. ¡°We need to stop trying to make an ally, because he¡¯ll never trust us. We need to make him a friend.¡± ¡°And how do you suggest we do that?¡± the president asked. ¡°We trust him first.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not an unreasoned approach,¡± Barstow said. ¡°Our profile on Asano suggests that the only people able to sway him are his friends. If we become one, then we might gain a measure of the influence we have thus far failed to.¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s that easy?¡± the president asked. ¡°No,¡± Claire said. ¡°But I do think it¡¯s that simple.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Barstow said. ¡°Our best information is that Asano responds to straightforward earnestness. We would essentially need to have one person who befriends him, and have them serve as an unofficial ambassador.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t he see that coming if someone makes an approach?¡± the president asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Barstow said. ¡°And even if he¡¯s so oblivious as to not, Anna Tilden isn¡¯t. But our profile suggests that he won¡¯t care, so long as the approach is genuine. Tilden is the problem, but her existing friendship with the secretary would make the secretary the natural choice. But there is both difficulty and danger in this approach. It won¡¯t be easy to make him see us as a friend, and once we do, we¡¯ll have to be one. If Asano feels like we¡¯ve betrayed him, he¡¯ll become that existential threat.¡± ¡°You advocate this approach, then?¡± the president asked Barstow. ¡°We all know that Asano¡¯s arrival will prompt some manner of revolution in magical knowledge. Farrah Hurin and Rufus Remore overturned centuries of essence user training in a few years. Essence users from ten years ago are stronger than those with decades of experience. This time, he¡¯s brought people who can push magic, and eventually magitech, forward by leaps and bounds. We can¡¯t afford to be on the periphery of that movement.¡± ¡°Do you think we would be?¡± ¡°I think that if we use the strategies that have worked for us in the past, Asano will declare war on us. Then win it. Then have a sandwich.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I want to do this myself,¡± Claire said. ¡°I¡¯m also high enough in our government to both be accountable and hold people to account. Anna Tilden becomes an asset, instead of an obstacle. Friends matter to Asano, and I¡¯ve taken early steps in building a cordial relationship. But Director Barstow is right about the dangers. If we do this, we have to be earnest. To be a friend, and not just act like one.¡± On the screen in front of Claire, the president leaned back in his chair. ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± he said. ¡°It feels precarious.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t deny it, Mr President,¡± Claire said. ¡°The path forward is occluded, yet we have to stumble on regardless. I don¡¯t envy your position.¡± The president took on a wry expression. ¡°I would be more inclined to believe that if you hadn¡¯t primaried against me, Claire.¡± Claire snorted a laugh. ¡°Yeah, well, you won, Mike, and I find myself happier about that with each passing day. I¡¯ll be happy to run again in less interesting times.¡± The president tapped his fingers on his desk as he considered Claire¡¯s proposal. ¡°You know that you making friends with Asano isn¡¯t the same as America making friends with him,¡± he said. ¡°Things that matter to Asano¡¯s friends matter to Asano,¡± she said. ¡°That comports with our profile of the man,¡± Barstow said. ¡°He¡¯s demonstrated a willingness to work with groups he would otherwise cut ties with because of personal connections. We estimate that his relationships with individual Network members led him to delay cutting ties with the organisation for as much as a year. It was the intervention of Jack Gerling that finally broke that connection.¡± ¡°What do you advise, Director?¡± the president asked. ¡°Like you, Mr President, I don¡¯t like it. But I don¡¯t see another effective approach to making inroads with Asano, and we want to be on the inside track for whatever he has to offer. We can¡¯t afford to be frozen out of that.¡± ¡°Should we attempt to infiltrate his circle more covertly as he expands it to incorporate more people from Earth?¡± the president asked. ¡°No,¡± Barstow said. ¡°His aura senses were outlandish before. I would be astounded if anyone can get past them with subterfuge. We do have people with aura masking powers, but the cost of them getting caught is too high. As ridiculous as it sounds, the best approach may well be just walking up honestly and trying to make friends, like children on a playground. He¡¯ll know why we¡¯re doing it, but he will most likely give us a chance anyway.¡± ¡°And it won¡¯t be easy,¡± Claire said. ¡°The legacy of Asano¡¯s last visit to Earth left him vigilant against the magical factions, and the old Network branches here in the US were integrated into our government. All three of us come from Network families. The vampire queen may also use Jack Gerling to sour relations further.¡± The president let out a rough sigh. ¡°I think the term ¡®vampire queen¡¯ tells us how far we are beyond normalcy,¡± he said. ¡°Make your approach, Madam Secretary, but step carefully. I won¡¯t allow you to compromise the interests of the nation to make friends to what amounts, in your words, to a rogue dictator.¡± *** In Asano Village, a room had been set aside for a portal to Jason¡¯s astral kingdom. Currently standing in front of it was Shade, barring the path of Anna and Claire. ¡°Shade,¡± Anna said, ¡°it already took quite a lot before they would even allow the Secretary of State to enter Jason¡¯s realm. Getting clearance to have her security detail stay behind was not a simple endeavour.¡± ¡°That is not my concern, Mrs Tilden. If they choose to enter, they accept, like everyone else, that life and death in that place are the province of Mr Asano. If he decides the secretary is safe there, then no force in the cosmos can bring her harm. If he decides otherwise, no force in the cosmos can save her.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s nothing to be worried about,¡± Anna said. ¡°My concern, Mrs Tilden, is Mr Asano¡¯s wellbeing. He is in his home, right now. A place he built as a sanctuary from the responsibilities and decisions he faces out here. It is for friends and family, not for business.¡± Claire took a step forward. ¡°That¡¯s why I am¡ª¡± ¡°I am aware of your motivations, Madam Secretary,¡± Shade cut her off. ¡°I was in the room for your meeting with your president.¡± ¡°You were in the conference room?¡± Claire asked, looking to Anna. ¡°You told us that Asano would not surveil it.¡± ¡°He did not,¡± Shade said. ¡°The room I was in was not in Australia.¡± ¡°What? Are you saying that you¡¯re spying on the US President?¡± ¡°I can neither confirm nor deny any active intelligence operations,¡± Shade said, his normally British accent sounding suspiciously American. The secretary rushed out of the room, her black-suited detail in tow. Anna let out a slow, unhappy groan. ¡°That was not great, Shade. I¡¯d expect this from Jason, but from you?¡± ¡°Mrs Tilden, I do not care about this planet. It is a place of petty value in a desolate corner of the cosmos. The only relevance it holds comes from the powers paying attention to it. That will not change unless Mr Asano chooses to change it. I do not care about your interests, Mrs Tilden, or those of this planet¡¯s other inhabitants. This world, its people and its fate are of no concern to me, beyond that they are of concern to Mr Asano. My preference would be to take those few we care about and leave this place to its own devices. Something that many on Earth would welcome, not least the army of vampires still holding most of Europe. It would also remove most of the issues you are faced with, although I acknowledge it was Mr Asano who brought you into this. Even so, I will not allow those issues to interrupt the time Mr Asano has wisely set aside to maintain his mental equilibrium. An equilibrium I should think that you can see the value in, given his behaviour when he loses it. Something that is an acute threat, given what Miss Farrah has been uncovering during this same time.¡± ¡°You truly don¡¯t care what happens to a planet full of people?¡± Shade form slowly became indistinct, the neat form that left him looking like a shadowy butler breaking apart. In its place was something alien, primal and ancient. An embodiment of what lurked in dark corners; of what children feared under the bed. Anna suddenly felt like a primitive human, huddled by a fire against the encroaching dark. When Shade spoke again, it wasn¡¯t in the crisp, clear tones of a British aristocrat. It was an unearthly sound, the inhuman whisper of something unseen, seeking to lure travellers into the dark. ¡°Do not mistake me for what I present to the world, Mrs Tilden. I am the child of death itself, older than the world that birthed you. I have seen people die without reason or purpose, in numbers so large that your culture hasn¡¯t named them yet. You have met fewer people than I have seen planets fall, and I will see this world dead as well. There will be a day, billions from years from now, when Mr Asano and I visit the charred rock that was once his home. A cinder, drifting around the white star your sun has become. We will be the only living things on it.¡± Anna gulped. ¡°Does Asano know about the meeting Claire had with the president?¡± she asked, forcing her voice to almost normalcy. Shade shifted back to his more familiar appearance. ¡°He will. Once his attention turns back to Earth and its concerns.¡± ¡°Will you at least let me through the portal?¡± ¡°I think not, Mrs Tilden. Not today.¡± Chapter 968: A Brief but Firm Reminder ¡°Are there any kind of warning signs I should be aware of?¡± Anna asked. ¡°Some kind of indication that you or your familiars are about to go off like a powder keg?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Jason said calmly, then sipped at his fruit juice blend. ¡°Some humans, in a display of idiocy so grand I have no metaphor to compare it, are trying to DESTROY THE PLANET THAT THEY ARE STANDING ON!¡± His outburst was mirrored by the land around them as the gorge was rocked by a tremor that shook leaves from the trees. Thunder pealed in the sky as lighting danced through dark clouds. Anna was sent stumbling back as Jason¡¯s aura took on physical force, pushing out of him like a wave. Anna had made multiple visits to Jason¡¯s astral kingdom. She had seen its wonders and witnessed his power, but it was only in that moment that she truly understood. This place had a god, and that god was angry. Suddenly struck with the urge to escape, she found a portal open next to her and hurried through without further consideration. On the other side was the central hub of Asano Village, bustling with diplomatic staffers from across the globe. Portal travel was relatively common amongst them, but they all recognised the portals belonging to Jason. They also knew Anna, and watching her emerge, wide-eyed and trembling, had many stopping to gawp. She stood up straight, tugged a couple of adjustments to her suit and took a deep breath, letting it out long and slow. ¡°That bad, huh?¡± Farrah asked. Anna turned around, finding her leaning casually against an electric buggy. It was one of a fleet of busses and buggies that, along with an underground tram system, connected the disparate locations within Asano Village. Farrah took a swig from a bottle of iced tea, sold from a vending machine beside the buggy depot entrance. ¡°He¡¯s not happy,¡± Anna said. ¡°What exactly did you tell him?¡± ¡°The same thing I¡¯m here to tell you. More or less. We¡¯ll need to meet some people after, so let¡¯s do it on the road.¡± Farrah got behind the wheel of the buggy, basically a juiced-up electric golf cart, and Anna sat beside her. The private roads of the village were well-maintained asphalt, and they took one that soon led them into bushland. The sun was warm and the air filled with the scent of eucalypts. Farrah tapped a button on the console and the fabric top of the buggy folded back. ¡°Lovely day,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s very nice,¡± Anna replied, her tone less enthusiastic than her words. ¡°Shame how the people of this planet decided to take all this away from Jason¡¯s family.¡± Anna¡¯s lips pressed tightly together. ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s angry at the people of your world. Again.¡± ¡°I noticed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not without my own outrage, you know. Do you recall how I spent my first weeks on this planet?¡± ¡°You were held and tortured.¡± ¡°By?¡± ¡°A rogue¡ª¡± ¡°Who?¡± Farrah interrupted, her tone a warning. ¡°Members of the Network,¡± Anna admitted. ¡°And when I escaped, they moved me to an astral space. Not one of the proto-spaces you had back then, but a fully developed one. From which I was in the process of escaping again when Jason found me.¡± ¡°This, while interesting, is not new. I thought you were going to brief me, Ms Hurin.¡± ¡°Oh, Ms Hurin, is it? Are we not friends anymore, Anna?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been gone a long time, Farrah,¡± Anna said, then her expression turned awkward. ¡°Susan did tell me to invite you to dinner.¡± Farrah grinned. ¡°And how is she?¡± ¡°She¡¯s been spearheading a project to retrieve art from abandoned European cities. She¡¯s stockpiled a collection of works she¡¯d be lucky to allowed in the same room as, back in the day. She¡¯s happy, although seeing cities in what amounts to a post-apocalyptic state has unsettled her.¡± ¡°The stakes are high. Something that humanity still has trouble grasping, it turns out. That¡¯s why Jason is angry. I¡¯m angry too, I just don¡¯t have a universe to shake. I have to make do with being pissy at old friends.¡± ¡°Is that what you¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°Anna, do you recall the man who perpetrated my incarceration, here on Earth?¡± ¡°Adrien Barbou.¡± ¡°He was one of yours. A Network man.¡± ¡°He was a traitor, not a true¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Farrah said. ¡°You need to retire the ¡®it wasn¡¯t us, it was a bad apple gone rogue,¡¯ speech, Anna. I won¡¯t tolerate it. And if you try it on Jason, you¡¯ll regret surviving what I do to you. He vented his rage on you, and I¡¯m guessing the sky. A few earthquakes in unoccupied parts of his main planet. Maybe a tsunami or two. Which is healthy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s healthy?¡± ¡°Compared to roaming the Earth, killing anyone who displeases him? Yes. Instead of that, he¡¯s having a therapy session with Arabelle Remore. But I saw it when I told him, Anna. He had the old eyes, from the last time we were here. It was just for a moment, but you don¡¯t want that. Not with the power he has now.¡± ¡°What did you tell him, Farrah? What set him off like this? You keep talking around it. I thought rambling, tangential explanations were how he worked, not you.¡± Farrah snorted a laugh. ¡°Fair enough,¡± she said. ¡°My explanation had gotten as far as Adrien Barbou.¡± ¡°My information was that he died in the Saint-¨¦tienne transformation zone, along with Jack Gerling, Mr North and most of the vampire lords who went with them. Only Jason and the vampire queen emerged, until Gerling return in his current unfortunate state. How does Jason feel about that?¡± ¡°There are a number of topics he intends to raise with Elizabeth. But Jason did bring Barbou out of the transformation zone alive.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Barbou is still alive?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say that, Anna. Mr North asked Jason to make Barbou¡¯s death quick and clean. Jason told him that it was up to me, since I was the one he held and tortured.¡± ¡°And did you?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a lot of different tracking magic out there. Rituals, items, essence abilities. A lot of familiar powers. There¡¯s a whole sub-branch focused on different ways to find corpses, which makes disposing of a body you don¡¯t want found rather laborious. You can use magical countermeasures to hide it, but for every ward, there¡¯s a way circumvent it. Only one thing consistently foils most methods of tracking a body. You have to break the corpse down. Very extreme dismembering can work, like putting it through a woodchipper, although burning it to ash is better.¡± Farrah glanced briefly from the road ahead to give Anna a smile. ¡°Complete liquification is best,¡± Farrah continued. ¡°You need an alchemist who¡¯ll give you the right supplies and keep their mouth shut, though. Any experienced tracker will check the alchemists for anyone buying the right supplies for body disposal. Whichever way you go, though, the trick is to scatter what¡¯s left of the corpse over as wide an area as you can. A fast-moving waterway is good.¡± ¡°Farrah¡ª¡± ¡°A good tip is that they don¡¯t have to be dead when you start rendering them down. It does make it easier, but easy isn¡¯t always the point, is it?¡± ¡°So, ¡®Barbou isn¡¯t alive¡¯ is what you¡¯re saying.¡± ¡°As I recall, it was quite a controversy, discovering the astral space he¡¯d been hiding away for the local Network.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t the¡ª¡± ¡°What did I say about blaming bad apples, Anna? I¡¯m not going to warn you again.¡± Farrah¡¯s light smile as she drove the buggy in the sunshine was incongruous with the sudden, heavy silence. ¡°It was a large controversy, yes,¡± Anna said. ¡°They were hiding things from the larger Network community. Which was still one group back then, although it was already shaky. It had been clear for a while that the days of magic remaining a secret were numbered. Everyone was positioning themselves for what came after. You and Jason dropped into that pond like a bomb, but the ripples of schism were already shaking the waters.¡± ¡°Barbou and his people had been masking grid activity. Hiding the astral space from grid operators elsewhere in the world.¡± ¡°Why the history lesson, Farrah? I was there.¡± ¡°So was I, Anna. In a concrete room, with a shackle around my neck.¡± The buggy followed the road along the top of a ridge by the coast, giving them an impressive view of the Pacific Ocean. Farrah pulled over at a lookout spot with a small gravel parking area. A wooden bench offered a place to sit and look out over the water. ¡°What are we stopping for?¡± Anna asked. Farrah got out of the buggy, walked over to the bench and sat down. Anna let out a sigh and then followed. ¡°I liked living here,¡± Farrah said. ¡°I liked having a part in building it. Jason¡¯s family was very welcoming to me, a stranger from another world. Helping them establish this place felt like putting down roots. How long was Jason gone before the people of this world pulled out those roots?¡± ¡°Farrah¡ª¡± ¡°That¡¯s all we¡¯ve ever seen from this world, Anna. People taking because they could. It happens in my world too, don¡¯t get me wrong, but things are simpler there. When someone takes just because they can, they don¡¯t have a list of justifications. They don¡¯t blame bad apples they knew were in the barrel the whole time. They say ¡®this is mine, because I have the strength to take it.¡¯ It¡¯s not good, but it¡¯s honest. As is the solution. Every time you explain away some shady deed, all you¡¯re saying is that you¡¯re allowed to do things to people, and they aren¡¯t allowed to do things back.¡± ¡°Farrah¡ª¡± ¡°I¡¯m talking, Anna, and you will listen until I¡¯m done.¡± Unlike most essence users of Earth, the elite adventurers of Pallimustus did not leak their auras. There was no inherent intimidation through rank, simply by their presence. That was a testament to their control, but also meant that when needed, they could use their aura a to make a point to those around them. Farrah gave Anna a brief but firm reminder of who and what she was. ¡°Anna, I¡¯m not sure you understand the degree to which Jason is bending over backwards to not do the things he very much wants to do. He¡¯s sensitive to his more dangerous proclivities, and that if he lets this world trigger them, he will act in ways he ultimately comes to regret. That is why we recruited you, Anna. To help him take the complicated option when the simple one would be so much easier. He doesn¡¯t want to break the world in the process of doing what needs to be done.¡± Farrah reached out with her arm and made an upward motion with her fingers. Out to sea, an obsidian spire, the size of a building, rose from the water like an ancient sea monster. Displaced water sent waves crashing into the shore. Anna watched as Farrah casually created a new landmark with a terrifyingly dismissive demonstration of power. ¡°How long do you think it will take the ocean to wear it down?¡± Farrah absently wondered as she stared at her creation. ¡°Ten thousand years? A hundred thousand? I¡¯m not Jason, Anna. Our friends are not Jason. We only care about your world because Jason cares, and if we decide to reshape it, we can and we will. Your job is to guide Jason away from going too far in one direction. Ours is to stop him from going too far in the other. If the people of this world keep acting the same way, we¡¯re going to stop doing our job and things will become a lot simpler. But not nicer.¡± ¡°What are you even talking about? What actions have affronted you to the point of taking me out into the woods and threatening me?¡± ¡°Years ago, Jason and I once told you that the people of Earth need to stop harvesting reality cores from transformation zones. You told us that the Network couldn¡¯t afford to step back from the arms race over them.¡± ¡°That was when you stopped working with the Network altogether. Are you suggesting that someone has found a way to make new zones?¡± ¡°Not suggesting, Anna. When I was destroying the devices placed to modify the grid in Sindh, I didn¡¯t have to destroy them all to shut it down. A few remained for more delicate extraction and later examination. I¡¯ve been using them, along with the readings we took during the event, to reverse engineer what happened. Someone used the grid to feed magic into the active manifestation. It should have created a transformation zone, but Jason did one of his ridiculous Jason things. Grabbed the torn edges of the universe and held them together with not much more than stubbornness and a smug expression.¡± Anna had been briefed on what happened in Pakistan, so she knew that Farrah¡¯s description of Jason¡¯s part in it was colourful but essentially accurate. The information about transformation zones was new to her, and horrifying in its ramifications. Jason broke ties with powers of Earth over reality cores once, and now he had the power to break the Earth entirely. ¡°Do you know who was behind it?¡± she asked. ¡°During the monster wave crisis, I led a group of Network researchers in repairing the sabotaged grid. The magic we found in Pakistan was based on that work. Most troubling was that it had been refined.¡± ¡°Refined?¡± ¡°It showed signs of iteration. Solutions to flaws that would only have been revealed through previous testing. It was not an experiment, but a developed and workable process. Whover did this has done it before, at least several times.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just make transformation zones. Not without anyone noticing. Even if you masked their presence on the grid, which is what I assume you¡¯ve been leading up to, a transformation zone is a glowing dome the size of a small town.¡± ¡°Yes. You would need a large region where no one goes. No one, perhaps, but vampires.¡± ¡°Europe,¡± Anna realised. ¡°If you could mask the presence in the grid, and were able to manipulate the satellite coverage¡­¡± She stood up and paced, her mind gaming out the idea. ¡°The presence in the grid, and the satellites. Both could be accomplished by a relatively small number of people, if they held the right positions in the right organisations. You¡¯d need people on the ground to actually do the thing; you wouldn¡¯t trust it to the vampires. Why would the vamps even¡­¡± She turned to look at Farrah with eyes widened by realisation. ¡°Harvesting reality cores,¡± Anna said. ¡°That¡¯s what would get the vampires onboard. That¡¯s what would make participation worth if for anyone. The stockpiles from the old transformation zones were depleted years ago. Maybe there are a few still stashed around, but they haven¡¯t existed in any practical fashion in almost a decade.¡± She plonked back down on the bench. ¡°That¡¯s why Jason was so angry,¡± she said. ¡°The thing that made him break ties when multiple betrayals didn¡¯t. And now, people are doing it again.¡± ¡°Anna, this is the time for the powers of Earth to stand up. To clean their own house. Because if they don¡¯t, we will. And our approach will be a simple one.¡± ¡°Simple solutions to complex problems always have consequences.¡± ¡°Yes, but we have the power to handle them if we must. Again, Anna, the entire reason Jason pulled you into this is that if we do things our way, it won¡¯t be us paying the price. The last time we were here, we saved the world. Now, it¡¯s your turn to save the world from us.¡± ¡°The Americans attempted to make an overture.¡± ¡°We¡¯re aware, and we¡¯re open to it. I hope that it¡¯s a good start. But make no mistake, Anna; we set the pace, and we set the terms. If the Americans want friendship, they need to earn it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t earn friendship, Farrah.¡± Farrah grinned, stood up, and slapped a hand on Anna¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Now you¡¯re getting it. Come on, we¡¯re off to see some of the people I worked with back in the day. See if we can¡¯t figure out where this conspiracy got its hands on the magic we developed.¡±