ã€ŠFighting for the Lord of Earthã€‹


 Chapter 1 - Alien Visitation

    It would really suck if earth was attacked by aliens, but it would be even worse if the whole planet was conquered.

    Ships from outer space were spotted entering the Sol system from deep-space telescopes, but were mis-identified as a cluster of meteors.

    After a few weeks they couldn¡¯t be seen as Jupiter moved in front of them. When Jupiter finally moved out of the way the deep-space telescopes took a picture. These meteors were clearly artificial and each one looked identical.

    As they finally entered within the orbit of sol¡¯s planets, world leaders were panicking. When they passed Saturn¡¯s belt, civilians started to spot the ships and the media blackout could no longer be contained.

    Earth Celebrated. Life outside of Earth was confirmed.

    Earth Panicked. That life was coming to Earth with a fleet with unknown intentions. Would they just be travelers or would they be violent?

    Turns out it was the later.

    Their ships parked in orbit around the planet and one vessel was allowed to land.

    Governments around the world argued over where it should land. Most of the governments wanted the ship to land in their own territory, but more than a few wanted the ship to land as far away from population centers as possible.

    In order to stop the incessant arguing which wasted time and forced the ship to wait, it was finally agreed upon that the ship would land in Africa. Both due to the significance as the cradle of life, but also as a deterrent to show that there were few resources an invading species would want.

    The world watched with bated breath as the behemoth of a ship touched down on Earth.

    Physicists around the world were watching the ridiculousness of the ship as it seemed to ignore all rules of reality. Despite its size it moved nimbly. Despite its size it moved silently. Despite its size it was impossible to see any external engines.

    Mouths of Military men around the world watered at the technology on board that ship. Instantly there were people thinking of killing everyone on board, stealing the ship and boarding the others in space to take them.

    After all, they couldn¡¯t see any external weapons. However, everyone stayed there hand since they couldn¡¯t see any engines either yet it still moved. What if they had weapons but just couldn¡¯t see it.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    World leaders traveled at great speed to get to the meeting in Africa. Somehow the various news organizations got there first. Even a lowly American web blogger managed to beat the president of the US there.

    What kind of alien race would they see? What kind of survival gear would they have on? What did they want?

    Millions of questions were being asked in the minds of billions of people. For a single afternoon the earth froze. Eyes on televisions and computer screens. Factories and machines going silent.

    The ship was of a beautiful design. Its hull appeared to be made from a single piece of solid metal.

    A few minutes after the ship landed the sword-like front split into multiple sections, opening into a large area with thousands of people in dangerous looking armor. Of all the aliens that the world leaders could see, only 3 of them didn¡¯t have weapons.

    These 3 walked down the ramp off the ship.

    The figure on the far left was wearing a deep blue robe that made you think of a clean lake. Translucent, light blue glowing fish floated through the air around his hips and waist. He gave off a mystical impression.

    On the far right, stood a figure shrouded in what looked like a strange type of leather. The face and even the figure was hidden so it was difficult to tell if the person was male or female, but the person was skinny. A strange bit of curled wood hung from a latch on his/her waist.

    The last person walked with confidence.

    His armor was a combination of dark red, gold, white and black. Thick metal seamlessly covered his body and like the ship it looked like one solid piece of metal until it opened up.

    His hair was long and flowed down from underneath an open faced helmet. A smirk of a smile was plastered all over his face. A wide thick sword hung at his waist, even angled its tip nearly scrapped the ground as he walked.

    All of them looked human.

    World leaders, news reporters and security personnel alike sweated underneath the pressure of meeting an alien race as well as the heat of an African summer. The 3 standing in front of them appeared calm and composed as if the heat wasn¡¯t there.

    ¡°Greetings-¡° The United States president attempted to start welcome the visitors but the warrior like leader raised his hand to stop him.

    ¡°gavrecktlattor¡± he spoke in some unknown language to the man with the floating fish. He answered back similarly before the two of them exchanged the look of what to do.

    The world leaders all came to the realization that no one here would be able to communicate amongst each other. The US president was a little red in the face from embarrassment, not having previously thought of that possibility.

    The alien leader spoke more with the robed figure before turning around with the third person and returning to their ship.

    ¡°Wait! Where are you going?¡± One of the many world leaders called out to the retreating figure.

    ¡°Doooo!¡± their attention was brought back to the man with the floating fish, who stood right in front of them, when he made a comical face while holding up his hand in greeting.

    ¡°Do!¡± he repeated.

    The US President still wanted to be the first to make contact so he held out his hand. ¡°Do!¡± he mimicked stupidly. Camera shutters rapidly firing could be heard from behind, the news journalists making sure to capture that moment for all of history.

    The President¡¯s red face.

 Chapter 2 - World Heart

    The robed figure turned out to be incredibly smart. He was given several language books including an English dictionary, references, guides and an ¡®English for Idiots¡¯ book which luckily an intern journalist had thought to bring. Within a couple hours he was able to talk sufficiently enough for an opening dialogue.

    A few of the world leader aides were conversing with him about many things. Turns out him and the space ships were from a kingdom a few months of travel time away. The kingdom as it turned out spanned numerous universes and hundreds of planets. After some point in time, the kingdom used magic to expand its domain into space; they called it the Black Sky.

    Magic.

    The aides were split in thinking that there was actually magic and that this guy just didn¡¯t know how his own ships operated or that there was a translation problem. After all, magic or miracles are just the terms used when someone cannot comprehend the science behind it.

    It seemed that his robe was imbued with magic and the floating fish were something akin to water spirits. He was incredibly happy when he found references to mages and smiled while introducing himself. ¡°Leete, Mage.¡± He pronounced his name slowly and broken up as if speaking to a child. ¡°Lee-et.¡±

    Either way, after a little more time in deep conversation the other 2 came back down from the ship.

    The warrior spoke with Leete first, asking him questions in their own language while Leete smiled and replied. It was difficult to tell if the warrior was happy or not.

    Finally the warrior turned to the US president and spoke directly to him. Leete did his best to translate.

    ¡°Prince StoneTooth, greets, world king. Gratefulness, meeting above, world heart.¡±

    Cameras flashed spectacularly, drawing the prince¡¯s eyes. Leete quickly spoke to the prince, probably telling him that the cameras were not a weapon but a device for copying the image in front of it. Leete pulled out a picture printed out for him earlier.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    The first time Leete saw the flash of the cameras he too had been alarmed. With a frightened flick of his wrist he had somehow caused cameras to explode. Even after he saw the picture of himself he had still been extremely worried and burned it. Only after dozens of pictures of other people and creatures and things did he come to realize it wasn¡¯t a threat.

    The US president tried to correct him. ¡°I¡¯m not the leader of our world, only a part of it.¡±

    That upset both Leete and Prince StoneTooth. ¡°Where King?¡±

    ¡°There are no kings. Earth is divided up into many different governments with different leaders.¡±

    That clearly didn¡¯t sit well with them. You could see the Prince¡¯s jaw visibly tighten.

    Quickly Leete carried on. ¡°Still, gratefulness, meeting above, world heart.¡± He still had the Idiots guide to English opened in his hand, but he was getting better in his speech, only occasionally conferring with the president¡¯s aide for pronunciation advice.

    The reporters behind the world leaders were chatting noisily about the world heart bit Leete mentioned.

    ¡°What is this world heart?¡±

    Leete was stunned momentarily with his jaw hanging open. He hastily flipped through some pages of the book trying to find the words he needed. ¡°World Heart. Leaders, hand, on world. Source, of, power!¡±

    The world leaders each listened to ear pieces for translations, but then caution and worry became evident across their faces. Some even showed anger towards the US president and the others that encouraged this location for the meeting.

    Leete conferred quietly with his prince, almost arguing with him.

    Prince StoneTooth drew his sword.

    Quickly secret service from multiple nations drew their guns and tried to protect their charges.

    The Prince however took no note of the guns, maybe as it was a piece of technology he had never seen before. He walked with confidence a little closer, causing one of the secret service to call out in warning.

    But he simply cut his hand on the sword, wiping his blood along the blade before holding it perpendicular to the ground and letting go.

    The sword defied all logic as it remained in place. Its tip floating a foot above the ground.

    Camera shutters clicked rapidly and reporters spoke hastily into microphones as a yellow energy wave came out of the ground, wrapping gently around the sword and then into Prince StoneTooth.

    He took a deep breath when the energy first touched him, but then sighed as it sank into him. Everyone watching waited with bated breath.

    After only a few moments the energy flow stopped and the Prince took hold of his sword again. The air about him different with his weapon in hand.

    He spoke to Leete again with determination.

    ¡°Prince StoneTooth, says, you leave, world heart, alone. He, uh¡­, he¡­¡± At a loss for words he consulted the books and called a few people that he talked with earlier to help.

    One of them, a young African translator spoke to the assembled world leaders in English, ¡°I think, he¡¯s trying to say, that the Prince has taken control of the planet. Or married it.¡±

 Chapter 3 - Spinning Faster

    ¡°What do you mean by taken control of the planet?¡±

    The young translator quickly tried asking Leete once more for clarification, but unfortunately their limited time teaching him how to speak English wasn¡¯t enough for this kind of in-depth conversation and their understanding of his language was very limited in turn. Nervously he shrugged his shoulders in uncertainty. Not getting anything from him the world leaders looked to Leete for more information.

    ¡°Prince StoneTooth, take uh¡­ possession! Of, world heart. His world now.¡± Of course that made the world leaders even more confused now. None of them believing in magic, they couldn¡¯t begin to believe that he had done what Leete said. After all, each member here had never surrendered to anyone, least of all the alien Prince that had just arrived.

    ¡°This world is not yours and we will not surrender it to you or to anyone.¡± The US President put up a strong opposition, but him standing there in a suit, sweating under the hot sun and desert climate didn¡¯t really give him an imposing figure. Never the less, the other world leaders all nodded their heads after translators spoke through their ear pieces.

    Unable to find a way to translate what he was trying to said he started talking with the prince. They conversed back and forth, the prince yelling at him for a little while Leete lowered his head in apology. Eventually it seemed like they came to a decision.

    Lifting his sword high above his head, the Prince emitted some kind of pulse that instantly passed through everyone there. The secret service didn¡¯t like that once again, but the US President shook off his protective detail, yelling at them to back off.

    No one knew what to expect as the prince stood there frozen, holding his sword up.

    After a minute people nervously started to laugh as if the whole thing had been a joke. Magic couldn¡¯t exist in this world. And that pulse that came from the prince had to have been some kind of staged trick.

    But as the world leaders were laughing it off, a journalist on the edge of the crowd noticed something behind him. Turning around he looked up, gasped, and then immediately started taking pictures before setting his camera to record video.

    By that time others had looked at what he was seeing and were also taking pictures.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    The world was spinning.

    Naturally the world was already spinning. That¡¯s how night and day happens. Without the Earth spinning its theorized that the electromagnetic sphere and then the ozone layer around the earth would collapse, but what if the Earth was spinning faster than it normally does?

    Would the clouds start moving at a faster pace? Maybe, but they were now.

    Would the wind become stronger? Maybe, but it was.

    Would the animals start to panic? Flying high into the sky before immediately turning around in circles, or trying to swim out of water or immediately creating a stampede? Maybe.

    Would a bright day in the African Sahara desert turn into night within minutes? Most definitely.

    Would the night be completely covered in an aurora? I have no clue, but the night sky was lit up with pretty colors that waved at everyone below. Awesome.

    Then, just as fast as night had come, the sun was climbing up and settled back high in the sky.

    After only minutes, Prince StoneTooth lowered his sword. He spoke once more to Leete before looking at the world leaders in front of him.

    ¡°Prince StoneTooth, asks, you understand?¡±

    Shock, awe, and fear could be seen in various degrees on everyone¡¯s face, but above all else anger was clearly evident upon the faces of leaders whose countries were known for their military might.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure we understand. You have just declared war upon the United States of America.¡±

    ¡°§¡ §ä§Ñ§Ü§Ø§Ö §Ù§Ö§Þ§Ý§Ú P§å§ã§ã§Ü§à§Ô§à §ß§Ñ§â§à§Õ§Ñ.¡± (As well as upon the lands of the Russian People)

    ¡°Also upon the people of the Congo¡±

    ¡°France.¡±

    ¡°Japan.¡±

    ¡°Republic of Korea.¡±

    ¡°The United Territories of the Cradle.¡± And so on and so forth leaders came out declaring that war would happen. That the people of this world would fight to remain free of this Alien Kingdom.

    The Secret Service pointed their weapons straight at the three while a few spoke into their microphones and listened to their ear pieces.

    In the distance you could hear the faint sound of heavy vehicles moving on their position while somewhere else pilots were jumping into fueled jets, preparing for takeoff and ballistic missiles were preparing for launch into space. The full armed force of the world was coming down upon these invaders.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry things escalated this way Prince StoneTooth. Unfortunately this situation is caused by your own actions. Guards, arrest these men.¡± The orders of a US President weren¡¯t argued over by the sovereign leader of this country. At this point the best thing was to arrest the only people ever to be considered criminals around the entire world.

    Leete dropped his friendly attitude. Blue glowing light encased his hand as he raised it up in a claw like fashion. Every man with a gun suddenly found themselves floating in the air.

    The figure shrouded in leather, forgotten during this entire time grasped the coiled bit of wood from the waist. Giving it a quick, sharp shake it unfurled into what was obviously a bow. The two ends seemed to spit at each other, creating a pure white bow string.

    Quickly, the leather clad figure made a grasping gesture at the bows handle and suddenly thin arrows were held between fingers as the string was pulled back. Letting go over 50 arrows hit the secret service members, killing them instantly.

    Sighing, the Prince seemed to lament at the waste of life.

 Chapter 4 - Magic Trumps Technology

    Silence

    ¡°Fire the nukes.¡±

    ¡°Sir?¡±

    ¡°I said, fire the nukes.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Mr. President.¡± The suitcase was brought around. Passcodes were inputted. Keys were turned. And finally a call was made.

    Somewhere in the US or within its sovereign waters, missiles were being launched and flying high in the sky. Racing to get to their targets in space.

    Twenty of the most destructive weapons ever created by humans on Earth would actually be implemented for its defense against alien lifeforms. Who would have thought?

    Meanwhile, tanks, trucks and other vehicles were quickly getting closer to the meeting location after having been secretly brought into Africa. In the air drones and fighter jets would take a little longer since they were being launched from bases further away. And the US¡¯s armada were quickly getting to full speed in order to avoid any retaliation from the alien ships.

    Leete broke the silent angry stares, speaking to Prince StoneTooth. When the Prince nodded Leete looked into the open bay doors of their ship, raised his hand and made a strange hooked gesture with his arm high in the air. If they looked real close the world leaders would have seen one of their many soldier raise his arm high in the air before repeating the gesture and running off somewhere on the ship.

    In space, the alien ships received word from the flagship on the planet''s surface to only take defensive measures by deploying their manashields. The nuclear missiles detonated uponthe shield but no visible damage wasseen after the explosion and bright light faded away. Only the bubble of their shields could be seen before fading back into space after bleeding off the excess energy.

    On the ground, the alien ship seemed to gather light at the front of the ship before a beam of light was fired off into the distance at an approaching dust cloud with the sound of heavy vehicles. Smaller, similar beams of light were fired into the air presumably at the planes, jets and drones.

    Explosions could be heard even from this distance. The US President didn¡¯t speak. His hands in tight fists.

    His secretary delivered the bad news.

    ¡°Fire all of them.¡±

    More missiles left. This time from not just missile silos but also from submarines and prototype space capable jets. Over 4,000 nuclear missiles were launched at the alien ships.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Prince StoneTooth raised his sword again, sending out another pulse from his body.

    All around the United States missiles started to fall back down to the planet. Their rockets no longer firing, circuitry disrupted by the planet¡¯s very own electromagnetic sphere.

    Almost like he was trying to calm a frightened little dog, Leete walked closer to the world leaders with his hands in a lowering gesture. ¡°No idea-uh¡­ bad, bad idea. If Prince StoneTooth die, World Heart die with him. If World Heart die, world die.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± More than a few of the world leaders were shocked to hear that.

    ¡°Prince die, World die.¡± Leete couldn¡¯t make it any simpler than that. ¡°We greater than you. Weapons stone, magic greater.¡±

    A reporter in the back was use to talking to other people with a broken understanding of languages. He spoke into his microphone to his viewers, but at the same time he was loud enough to be heard by everyone there.

    ¡°I think what the Mage Leete is trying to say is that our weapons are considered weak and primitive in the face of magic. That no matter what weapons we employ we would never be able to defeat them and arrest or confine Prince StoneTooth. And unless I¡¯m wrong, any attempt to harm the prince will result in damages to the planet. Earlier the Prince showed the ability to speed up the rotation of the Earth, it¡¯s possible that he shares a link with the planet and what affects one will affect the other. This is very bad¡­ uh, sorry.¡±

    When he noticed the stares of everyone around him he lost strength in his voice and shut up.

    ¡°We will never surrender.¡±

    Leete pretty much gave up looking through the books to find what he needed to say. Tossing the English for Idiots book into the air he exclaimed ¡°No fight. Prince StoneTooth has World. Listen, die. No other.¡±

    ***

    The reporters on the scene were constantly live streaming everything that had happened.

    Business around the world was frozen. Factories and machines were left idle as everyone watched their televisions and monitors or listened to radios and podcasts.

    Everyone became afraid when the world spun faster and day turned into night and then back into day or vice versa. People were especially terrified when they heard the president of the United States order the launch of nuclear missiles.

    Some of the world lost the ability to find out what happened as the detonation of nukes release an electromagnetic pulse and wipes out electronics for nearly 1/5<sup>th</sup> of the world. In those areas they didn¡¯t know how effective the missile salvo had been, but after they see the trails of more missiles followed by that strange pulse shockwave and then the missiles falling to the ground, panic struck the people.

    Riots, looting and murder became rampant in the major cities. People fearing the missiles would detonate in their own backyard or the retaliation of the aliens believed their lives to be over. So they fell upon their baser instincts.

    In the areas where people could still watch and listen to the live news, they were frozen. Unable to tear their complete apt attention from it. Unable to process what was happening.

    The strongest military weapons were useless. Thousands of them had been launched but they had no effect. The second largest military might in the world had its vehicles wiped out before they could bring weapons to bear and its president stood there, impotent.

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

 Chapter 5 - No Business

    Kohn Lowson was just one guy among millions of Americans. And like some people, he went to the gym before going into work. It was a habit of his that he had spent months trying to build in order to stay fit enough for his extracurricular activities/hobbies.

    Initially it had caused some problems with his boss when he showed up worn out, but she eventually stopped verbally berating him. Now she just pushed her anger into nibbling on her pen whenever she saw him come in from the gym, before he went to the lounge to change into his work clothes.

    He had just started his own particular workout regimen when the TVs went to a special bulletin screen and the radio system at the gym went silent. Then the emergency broadcast started.

    He was fairly shocked to find out that aliens existed, but he didn¡¯t let that stop him from his workout. He only had a few hours before he had to go to work.

    The TVs showed coverage of the alien spaceships entering a geocentric orbit around Earth and one of them landing somewhere in Africa.

    They looked fairly plain if he was being perfectly honest. TV shows and sci-fi pictures had long since developed a large variety of possible alien ships, but these looked more like a series of cut gems or rocks rather than anything eye catching or special. All of the hulls were smooth with no attachments; no guns or antennae to be seen anywhere.

    Kohn was just starting a series of isometric exercises, with a weighted vest on, when the aliens that looked pretty much like humans learned enough to start talking with the gathered assembly at the landing zone.

    ¡°Of course they would need time to learn how to speak to each other. They are aliens!¡± Kohn couldn¡¯t help to say that out loud, but luckily no one was close enough to hear him.

    Their language sounded like a mix of Romanian and French, but their appearance was more like a knight, a hunter and a fantasy scholar. ¡°Weirdos.¡± he muttered under his breath.

    He paused mid push-up when he felt the pulse move through his body. Maybe it was because he had his hands on the ground, but he swore he could actually feel the earth as it spun faster and watched as the sun raced across the horizon.

    When the command to launch the nukes was given he honestly thought it was stupid. Fixed positions on Earth trying to use unguided or non-seeking missiles to hit moving targets in space. Not only that but it takes approximately 8 and a half minutes for the fastest rocket in a stand still position to go from ocean level to space.

    That¡¯s more than enough time to avoid the missiles or shoot them out of the sky.

    The televisions didn¡¯t show what happened to those ships after the bright mini-suns appeared in the sky, but considering how the assembly in Africa were suddenly reporting over 4000 simultaneous nuclear missiles were now being lunched, the ships were probably fine.

    That pulse went through Kohn again, but this time he thought he tasted anger. Is that possible?

    The other people at the gym, who should have been working out, but were all huddled around the TVs, suddenly were all having a fit. Cell phones were in hands and they were yelling to the people they were trying to talk to.

    ¡°Should we maybe run?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean the nukes are falling back down?¡±

    ¡°No, stay there! I¡¯m coming to get you! You hear me? I¡¯m coming for you!¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Yeah, hello? Yeah I¡¯m not paying my mortgage bill. End of the world and all¡­¡±

    ¡°Since we¡¯re all probably going to die I just want to let you know that I hate you and I slept with your sister! HA! What do you think about that? What? When could you have possibly slept with my dad?¡±

    ¡°Yea-huh. Toilet paper and bananas? 2% milk is fine?¡±

    Others were running to their cars outside before speeding down the road while one guy actually just started to loot the place.

    Kohn watched with rapt interest at everyone¡¯s reaction while finishing up his reps. He took a shower before leaving, feeling a little creeped out at the silence in such a large gym.

    Wondering if work will still operate normally today he tried calling his boss. ¡°You¡¯ve reached the office of-HEY! STOP THROWING THINGS! Um, sorry Darcy speaking how can I help you?¡± Darcy was his boss¡¯s secretary who worshipped the ground his boss walked on¡­ and sometimes slept on.

    His boss, Karina, was a 28 year old woman who¡¯d already been through 2 divorces, had a kid out of high school and yet somehow managed to attend college, work part time and create her own business. In that last few years that has boomed and become so profitable that she could have retired by now if she wanted to.

    Anyone would admire the woman and most of her employees would lie to congress in a heartbeat for the abnormally huge salaries and great benefits package.

    ¡°It¡¯s Kohn. I tried to call Karina directly, why didn¡¯t she pick up?¡±

    ¡°Because! Karina completely drank a bottle of tequila when the aliens showed up on the news and is now trying to take off all her clothes while screaming at them.¡±

    Sounds of a struggle could be heard on the other side of the phone as Darcy tried to convince her to put her shirt back on.

    A quick scream from Darcy was followed up by the sound of a heavy thump. Then Karina must have picked up the phone and thought Kohn was an alien.

    ¡°HUH!? What? You big *HICK* handsome aliens come to take my daughter, eh? We just started to make money! Don¡¯t destroy my business, you! Come back *HICK* in a few years after I¡¯ve *HICK* had a chance to take a vacation! I¡¯ll strangle you with my shirt! WAAA!¡±

    Another thump and the phone was quiet.

    ¡°Guess I don¡¯t have to go into work today. As a matter of fact I probably shouldn¡¯t. Last time she got drunk she made me get drunk. There were so many golf balls to clean up after the bakery incident.¡± Just remembering it sent shivers down his spine.

    To this day he never found out how Karina had managed to get her hands on over 17,000 golf balls. He certainly wished he had never found those pictures that explained what they did with them that night.

    ¡°Breaking News. We go live now to the White House where the President of the United States makes a public address.¡±

    ¡°My fellow Americans. Today we¡¯ve received proof that life exists outside of our universe. We have been visited by extraterrestrial beings.¡±

    ¡®Well duh. Thanks Captain Obvious.¡¯ Probably no less than a million people had that thought.

    ¡°Through some method that we don¡¯t know, these visitors have taken control of the very planet itself. In response, the US launched its nuclear missiles at the alien spaceships. Some managed to hit their targets while others were knocked out mid-flight and are now scattered around the planet.¡± Yeah, most of America saw the massive smoke trails from the rockets. What else?

    ¡°I regret to announce that our strongest weapons had no impact upon their ships.¡±

    He looked off camera at someone else for a brief moment before continuing. ¡°Our planet. Planet Earth, has been taken over.¡±

    ¡®Well shit.¡¯

    ¡°They do not want our lands. They do not want our water. Nor do they want our precious metals and minerals. What they want are the only other thing that exists on this planet that we previously thought never existed anywhere else in the galaxy. They want us.¡±

    ¡°We will peacefully become a member of their intergalactic kingdom.¡± The President looked like he¡¯d rather bite his tongue off than utter these words. ¡°We will be the vassals under Prince StoneTooth, son of the Great King StoneTooth.¡±

    ¡°We are not alone in this decision. Every country in the world has agreed to become vassals to the Prince. I am sorry.¡± Clearly he went off script, but Kohn was certain this wasn¡¯t the end. Whenever someone is taken over there are always new orders. New restrictions. New laws.

    ¡°As proof of our loyalty to Prince StoneTooth, approximately 160,000 American citizens will go with the Prince back to the Kingdom to be trained in their ways of combat. To be trained as either a warrior, a rogue, or a mage.¡±

    !!WHAT!! They¡¯ll be teaching us magic? Kohn was eager to hear more about what these people will be doing in the intergalactic kingdom.

    ¡°I am asking of the American people for a few brave souls to volunteer for this¡­ honor. However, we have only been given 2 rotations of the Earth or approximately 48 hours to gather an immediate 6,000 or we will be considered a rebellious country and¡­ be erased. As such, a mandatory draft enforced by every law enforcement official and military member will be implemented immediately at this time¡­¡±

 Chapter 6 - One Stupid Soul

    The president continued his speech for a little longer, but Kohn was no longer paying attention. He was staring intently at the text scrolling at the bottom of the screen, which read ¡°VOLUNTEERS CALL THIS NUMBER¡±, while his hand robotically dialed it on his cell phone.

    The voice of what he surmised to be a cute girl answered on the first ring. ¡°Hello, you¡¯ve reached the volunteer hotline-¡°

    ¡°I wish to volunteer.¡± He interrupted before she droned on with her little prepared speech.

    ¡°Wh-what!? Volunteer as in volunteer?¡± Probably a little too excited.

    ¡°Is there any other volunteer word that you know?¡±

    ¡°Yes-I mean, no. Volunteer is the only word. Umm, sorry, most people that call the hotline simply call to complain or prank us.¡± She sounded kind of desperate to get someone who wasn¡¯t immediately yelling at her.

    ¡°The speech only happened a minute ago, how could there be that many people calling?¡±

    An almost audible pause came from the other line at his comment. ¡°The President¡¯s speech was almost twenty minutes ago. It¡¯s going to continuously play until the end of the 48 hour period.¡± She said incredulously.

    ¡°Oh.¡± What had he been doing? ¡°That must have been when I jumped in the shower. I was just finishing up in the gym so I was sweaty.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so what happens now?¡±

    She took down his relevant information before asking thousands of questions. Things like ¡°what do you do for a living?¡± and ¡°any hobbies?¡± and a series of questions that Kohn swore was from a psych evaluation.

    The Police arrived at one point and he was taken to an airport to wait for a plane.

    Every time Kohn thought she was done she¡¯d find something else to ask him, or someone would hand her more questions and they¡¯d be back at it again.

    At one point, after the military plane took off he¡¯d had enough and said ¡°Look, I¡¯ve had just about enough of this. If there are any more questions you can follow me into space.¡± To which he didn¡¯t even hear a goodbye or a thank you for volunteering before she hung up.

    After that Kohn made a phone call to let his boss know that he was going off into space for an unspecified amount of time. He told her it was okay to give his position away to someone else if she needed to, but she was yelling at him not to go and that she wanted to ¡®do him¡¯ so much that he wasn¡¯t sure she heard. So he sent her and her assistant Darcy an email and text message just to be sure.

    Finally he called his dad and the two had a short, terse conversation.

    ¡°I¡¯m going into space.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°On the Prince¡¯s ship?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re want to learn magic?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°What about your stuff?¡±

    ¡°Sell it.¡±

    ¡°What about your mom?¡±

    ¡°Tell her I love her.¡±

    ¡°What about your sisters?¡±

    ¡°Tell them to not touch my stuff.¡±

    They went on like that for a good eight minutes, and with the fast pace of their questions and answers, that was a heck of a long time.

    Once he was done with the phone he lent it to the guy sitting next to him who dialed one number and then bawled his eyes out while whimpering into it for the next hour of flight.

    Since he wasn¡¯t going to get anything out of him he turned to the person next to him. That guy¡¯s gut was probably a good two feet past his own knees and the suspenders that were meant to keep up his pants looked more like a weak play at bondage. For some reason he smelled of stew.

    ¡°How come you¡¯re not on the phone?¡±

    ¡°I said my goodbyes when the police arrived at my door and both my parents died years ago. At this point there¡¯s no one to call other than my neighbor or my boss and one of them still hasn¡¯t returned a DVD I lent him while the other cheats at cards.¡±

    A woman sitting on the other side of the plane jumped into the conversation saying she had just uploaded pictures of her cheating boyfriend.

    ¡°You took pictures of him cheating on you?¡±

    ¡°What? No! I caught him cheating on me just as FBI agents arrived to pick me up. I posted pictures of him with my strap-on up his ass!¡± Jeers and cheers filled the plane, her story taking everyone¡¯s mind off what was happening to them. A few of the other girls were using their phones to look up those pictures.

    It only took a few seconds before a series of ¡°Ewwws¡± could be heard from their section.

    A few more stories came out after that, but even though most of them were sure it was just people jumping on the bandwagon no one called anybody out on it.

    Pretty quickly though people ran out of stories and the conversation came back to the plane they were on. ¡°Why do you think they didn¡¯t just send the military? Is anyone here from the military?¡±

    Heads denying it could be seen all around.

    Someone pointed at Kohn. ¡°You¡¯re pretty fit. You¡¯re not from the military?¡±

    ¡°No. Ever since I dropped out of high school I¡¯ve regularly gone to the gym.¡± He was always amazed at how well his personal education outclassed his schools.

    ¡°Okay, not military then. What about CIA or some spook agency?¡±

    His neighbor gave him a love tap to the chest with the back of his hand. ¡°You¡¯d need to be smart enough to become a spook. They probably wouldn¡¯t even notice a high school drop out.¡±

    Maybe in a strange sense of comradery a smaller guy spoke up. ¡°My brother was telling me that the military would be exempt from the draft. He¡¯s in the marines.¡±

    People started asking ¡®what¡¯ and ¡®why¡¯ but there were too many to actually hear the rest of their questions. ¡°He said, it was rumored that they would need all the trained soldiers they could get soon.¡±

    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re going to fight back?¡±

    ¡°If that was the case why even bother with the draft? Or sending us out into space?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! Maybe they¡¯re waiting for some of the ships to leave?¡±

    ¡°What? And we¡¯re just the sacrifices?¡± To which people started yelling at each other.

    It didn¡¯t really matter to Kohn about the military avoiding the draft or what Earth would do after him and the others left. The way Kohn figured it, either he would never return to see his family again or he¡¯d come back with his own ship. And of course magic.

    Kohn had his own plans.

    All the arguments and conversations ended when light flooded the cargo bay as the doors opened up into Africa. Just in the distance they could see the ship that would take them away from their home planet.

    ¡°All electronics and non-personal items are to be left here with me. Just put them in this bag.¡± A government agent in non-descript clothing met them as they left the plane, a sack in one hand and a clip board in the other. ¡°It will be useless once you leave Earth and will more than likely be destroyed by the Prince¡¯s forces so please don¡¯t fight me on this. Pictures are allowed to be taken with you.¡±

    Then he started to call out names and social security numbers before making a notation on his clip board when someone answered.

    ¡°Lowson. Kohn. 222-##-####.¡± The agent looked up, Kohn stood right in front of him. ¡°The World Leaders would like to speak with you before you leave.¡±

 Chapter 7 - Sworn Promise

    ¡°They¡¯re still here?¡± Didn¡¯t they have important national matters to take care of? If half the rumors he heard on the plane ride over were true the leaders were making some very large and risky plans.

    ¡°Not at all. All of them left shortly before they addressed their own nations. Most of them are on a conference call in that building over there.¡± The agent pointed out a very shabby shack that looked more like a series of boards leaning against each other than a completed structure.

    The agent then seemed to forget all about him, going back to collecting non-personal items and calling out names. Off in the distance he could see another plane starting it¡¯s decent. Bringing in another load of draftees presumably.

    While everyone else was crowding around the agent and being watched by what appeared to be armed African forces, Kohn made his way unhindered to what was so generously being called a building. The single guard at the door nodded to him before holding the door open for him.

    Inside were a series of monitors that were hooked up to a relatively weak looking laptop on a desk with a camera on a tripod behind it. The whole setup seemed like some scene out of a crazy spy movie.

    On each screen he could see someone important looking, presumably the world leaders. Most of them were distracted, talking to someone off screen or looking at files labeled in red.

    ¡°Just wait.¡±

    ¡°WHOA!¡± Initially Kohn had thought the building was empty. The guy that was suddenly standing next to him took him completely by surprise. He¡¯d have to check his pants later.

    ¡°Sorry about that. Occupational habit. Raj.¡±

    ¡°Kohn.¡± We shook hands.

    Raj looked like a tourist you¡¯d find at some shopping mall or amusement park. A beige shirt, kakis, flip flops, slightly unshaven and he was even going bald. If he had a pair of sunglasses and a camera it would have been a perfect picture of a lost tourist.

    ¡°So you¡¯re the volunteer.¡±

    ¡°The?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡± Raj clicked his tongue as if he couldn¡¯t believe there had been any. ¡°The only one. Everyone else out there is part of the draft.¡± He waved his hands to gesture out the door.

    ¡°At least from the US.¡± He hurriedly added. ¡°Apparently the British had a few dozen. And supposedly the Russians, Chinese and Koreans had nothing but volunteers. Though no one is too certain how true that is.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand. I thought it was just the US that had to send people to the aliens?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Well, because we fired the nukes. The US put up the most resistance.¡±

    Understanding crossed Raj¡¯s face. Blowing a raspberry he filled Kohn in a little. ¡°The Prince is demanding more of the US than the rest of the world, but never-the-less he is taking people from every continent. Even from Antarctica though I¡¯m told that he¡¯s only taking two researchers from there. Something about there being a small population, though rumor is that he¡¯s demanding they increase the population as quickly as possible. If that¡¯s true then I¡¯m sure there¡¯ll be a few happy people down there-¡°The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Kohn was getting a little embarrassed thinking about what it would be like to be forced to reproduce so he interrupted Raj. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but why am I here?¡±

    ¡°Oh, the world leaders are speaking to every volunteer. Well, except the Russians, the Chinese and Korean volunteers. I guess they don¡¯t think they¡¯re actual volunteers.¡±

    ¡°So this is just like a thank you speech?¡±

    ¡°Well you¡¯ll find out soon. Heads up.¡±

    It seemed like the world leaders had all been made aware that he was waiting for them. They momentarily finished up their business and were looking at him through the recording devices.

    ¡°Mr. Lowson.¡± The man from the monitor labeled Congo spoke up.

    ¡°Yes sir?¡± Kohn asked nervously, unsure about what they wanted.

    ¡°We thank you for your service to your country and to your world.¡± For the first time Kohn saw that there wasn¡¯t a monitor labeled US. ¡°And wished to send you off with our blessings.¡±

    ¡°Thank you sir. Sirs! And ladies!¡± He was took focused on the Congo leader, but thankfully Raj jolted him to look at the other monitors and to see the other leaders staring back at him.

    They all chuckled at him. Probably they had expected him to be nervous.

    ¡°That¡¯s quite alright.¡± They all wiped the grins from their faces. The Congo leader, probably chosen before to give the speech continued in a stern, but dependable voice. ¡°We¡¯ve asked to speak to you as the representatives of not only Earth, but as representatives for the men. Women. And children. Of all those related to you and the others that will be going into space. We wish to ask you for a favor.¡±

    ¡°Sir? A favor? You do know that I¡¯m leaving Earth right?¡±

    More chuckles and grins, a few giving out ho-ho¡¯s at his cheekiness. ¡°Yes,¡± Well at least he was smiling now ¡°we are aware. The favor that we wished to ask of you.¡±

    The Congo leader¡¯s thoughts brought him back down to his seriousness again. ¡°The majority of people out there with you are not volunteers. They have been drafted or conscripted in order to meet the forty-eight hour deadline. They are not of the same mental strength as one such as yourself.¡±

    ¡°Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses sir.¡±

    ¡°So they do. But, we wish for you and the other volunteers to look out for them. All of them.¡± His eyes were emphasizing that he expected Kohn to help anyone who fell behind.

    ¡°Sir?¡± Kohn wasn¡¯t sure exactly why he needed to do that. ¡°Why would anyone need looking out for? What will we be doing, exactly?¡±

    ¡°You will be trained. Militarily trained.¡± Sinking comprehension filled Kohn¡¯s stomach. ¡°You are going to war.¡±

    ¡°With who?¡±

    ¡°The Prince and the Kingdom are facing a force that seeks to destroy life.¡± A few of the world leader¡¯s couldn¡¯t control their facial expressions at this point. Fear and grim determination was filled on their faces. ¡°You and others will be fighting a war in the defense of Earth, and other planets, before that enemy reaches us.¡±

    ¡°So the rumors about the military being exempted from the draft were true? But you¡¯re not planning to use them to take back Earth, you¡¯re going to use them for defense for when this enemy shows up?¡±

    If he was surprised he didn¡¯t show it. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Kohn¡¯s brain couldn¡¯t sit still with this info. Hundreds of ideas came and went in seconds. ¡°Might I suggest a huge push to space travel and an emergency ARK plan? Followed up with some sort of early warning deep space telemetry system?¡±

    The man in the monitor labeled Japan gave a sturdy HO to that. ¡°You are brighter than the others.¡± He remarked at Kohn.

    ¡°Such ideas are already being implemented. The Earth is drastically shifting, changing, with a purpose. Try not to worry about us. Focus on your own training and come back to us when you can.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Kohn held his right fist cupped with his left hand. ¡°I promise all of you. I will help as many as I can. If luck is on our side, we¡¯ll all come home one day. Until then, I¡¯ll leave knowing the Earth is in your hands.¡±

    Each of them on the screens saluted him, backs firm and proud of their fellow human.

    ***

    After Kohn had left the viewing area, Raj spoke to them. ¡°He is a very brave individual.¡±

    The British prime minister couldn¡¯t agree more. The Japanese prime minister took it a step further. ¡°I would have preferred he not have volunteered. Men like him will be needed in the coming years.¡±

    ¡°Just men? There were a few women that volunteered as well.¡±

    ¡°I would like,¡± before an argument could break out Raj interjected ¡°to propose that when it is built, our first fleet spaceship be named Mr. Lowson. All in favor?¡±

 Chapter 8 - Please Teach Me

    The meeting with the world leaders was a new experience, but he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind.

    Outside the viewing building Kohn accurately guessed that a few more planes had landed since he arrived. The area was filled with a couple hundred people, most of them were standing idle, but here and there he could see some huddled on the ground. They were probably still in shock over being picked by the draft.

    Kohn wanted to move back within the group, but for the second time that day someone managed to sneak up to him.

    ¡°Dooo!¡± The blue robed mage somehow managed to get closer to him in a flat area with no cover. Kohn only realized that Leete was standing nearby when he embarrassingly yelled out a word in his own language. ¡°Hello, as you say.¡±

    ¡°Hello.¡±

    ¡°You are the free man from foolish lands?¡± Leete¡¯s English was remarkably better than during the live stream that the world had watched.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Kohn felt he should help translate a little more. ¡°I¡¯m the volunteer from the United States of America.¡±

    Leete walked around him, analyzing Kohn¡¯s appearance.

    ¡°Why speak with leaders?¡±

    So he was suspicious that Kohn was a spy. Looked like he was going to have some tough times moving around freely for a while. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem so long as he was taught magic.

    ¡°They wanted to tell the volunteers about the war that we¡¯d be fighting in and ask that we help the others as much as possible.¡±

    Leete jerked in surprise. ¡°Your world¡¯s leaders spoke to you about the enemy?¡±

    Kohn¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Wasn¡¯t your English supposed to be much worse?¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± When Kohn honestly told him that the world leaders had shared a state secret, Leete had been taken by surprise and subconsciously spoke in perfect English. ¡°Ah, yes. Well, I am a mage after all.¡±

    ¡°So why the charade? Why pretend that you couldn¡¯t speak any of our languages when you first arrived?¡±

    ¡°When meeting the native species of new planets, it generally helps to break down the tensions by working together to learn each other¡¯s language. Also, it takes a little while for the spell to take full effect so I really didn¡¯t know how to speak to your leaders.¡± He held his arms in a ¡®what can you do¡¯ gesture, but Kohn felt like there was something incomplete in that statement.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°And it allows you to find out more about the other party when they think they¡¯re free to talk in front of someone who can¡¯t understand what they¡¯re saying.¡± Leete had a bead of sweat run down his face. ¡°But why didn¡¯t you try to explain about the world heart situation? Or explain about the Prince taking over?¡±

    Leete sighed in regret as they moved a bit further away from the rest of the gathered personnel. ¡°I tried to dissuade Prince StoneTooth from forcibly taking control of your planet¡¯s world heart, but the Prince has been under a lot of pressure recently. And I also agreed with him that your planet was leaderless.¡±

    Kohn stopped Leete with an arm. ¡°You know that¡¯s not true. Each country is ruled by a leader.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but the entire world is not bound together with a common mind. A common purpose! You don¡¯t expand, you maintain. You don¡¯t grow with your neighbors, you destroy each other and wound yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re not exactly the best species.¡±

    Leete jumped on that train of thought. ¡°That¡¯s why, I think, the Prince decided to take responsibility for your planet. To either be that guiding hand, or in the worst situation, to be the final swing of the sword that prevents you from destroying everything around you.¡±

    Kohn couldn¡¯t let that go. ¡°I said we¡¯re not the best species, but that doesn¡¯t mean that what we¡¯ve been doing is wrong or that we can¡¯t overcome adversity or become better than we are.¡± He remembered all the bad people he met in the past and how many of those had changed their lives for the better. When at the precipice, most people would make the right choice.

    ¡°You¡¯re not a bad species,¡± Leete amended ¡°just wild. Unguided.¡±

    They wouldn¡¯t ever necessarily agree. Both men realized this instinctively so they just stared off into the distance silently. The sun started to fall naturally on the horizon as the last plane landed and unloaded the last people.

    Kohn just recalled something that picked at his curiosity. ¡°Aren¡¯t we the same species?¡±

    No matter how he looked at Leete he seemed Human. There was nothing that he could see that actually looked different from anyone else he had met.

    ¡°We are similar it is true.¡± He was probably examining Kohn just as he had examined Leete. ¡°However, we are separated by a large distance on different planets. We might seem similar, but in the kingdom we consider the living entities from one planet as a unique species.¡±

    Kohn figured that maybe there was a problem with the magic Leete had used. Something about the usage of the term ¡®species¡¯ was off. ¡°Here we consider living things to be of the same species if there are similar individuals that are capable of interbreeding.¡±

    ¡°Our two people have not yet had that chance.¡±

    ¡°True, but there are too many similarities between us that I don¡¯t think there would be a problem.¡±

    ¡°Well. We have abilities and powers you do not. That could be enough of a difference.¡±

    Alarmed, Kohn hurriedly questioned him about that. ¡°But you¡¯re going to teach us magic right?¡±

    Chuckling Leete assuaged Kohn. ¡°Never fear. We will teach you all that we can, but it is up to the individual on what he or she is capable of.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to teach me?¡±

    ¡°Me personally? Most likely it wouldn¡¯t be me.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re strong in magic right? Why else would the Prince have you at his side?¡±

    The shameless flattering seemed to pass unnoticed by the mage who was flabbergasted at the simple complement. ¡°We-well I suppose I¡¯m the strongest mage with the Prince, in some aspects.¡± He finished in a mutter under his breath.

    Kohn looked him straight in the eyes. ¡°Then please. Please teach me magic.¡±

 Chapter 9 - Departure

    Kohn bugged Leete for a while longer. The latter refused to say anything to Kohn after he had asked him to teach him magic.

    Later onthe sun had fully set and the cold desert night had every Earthling shaking in a huddled mass.

    The African soldiers were used to the rapid changes in temperature. They had brought out a series of metal cans and lit fires for them to warm up their hands and to make sure frost didn¡¯t form on their guns, causing the internal metal parts to stick. They needed the guns to work in case they had to enforce the draft and conscriptions of the world¡¯s governments.

    A few times people suffering from the cold would try to get closer to the fires, but they had been ordered to stay where they were and their guards would push them back at gunpoint.

    Kohn was doing some calisthenics to stay warm. He recommended it to the people around him but other than the volunteers and a few others, most of them were too tired, cold and hungry to exercise. Some were just too disheartened by the draft to summon the effort.

    Eventually a few soldiers from the ship came running out. They effortlessly endured the cold while handing out little hard-leather wristbands. Other than a series of blackened etchings, nothing special stood out about them.

    Kohn put it on simply so that he didn¡¯t have to hold onto it.

    After everyone had been given a wristband, the soldiers roared at them all and gestured to get on the ship. Slowly the throng of people shuffled, shivering and tired, onto the alien craft.

    The big bay doors that acted as a ramp, and as a wind breaker, closed behind them. Kohn guessed that it once again became the solid pointed front end of the ship that he had seen on the TV.

    After a few heart beats passed the closed entrance behind them made a ¡®biring¡¯ noise. The metallic surface became transparent, but instead of the baked dirt that they had previously been sitting on they could see the Sol solar system. It looked like you could reach out and touch the images that were just beyond some glass.

    The planets looked motionless, but the sun was very much an active thing. The glare had been removed and the liquid fire like streams and tendrils could be seen all over its surface. If it wasn¡¯t on fire it would have reminded Kohn of a mass of undulating worms during a rainy day.

    All around the rest of space images started to pop up before disappearing nearly as fast as they appeared. He caught a glimpse of a satellite in one of the images with a series of symbols next to it before it disappeared.

    Above them, on a raised dais roughly 80 feet up, the Prince appeared with Leete and the unknown archer. A loud tone drowned out all whispered conversations before a few robed individuals in front of them released some kind of energy that filled the bay.

    ¡°I am Prince StoneTooth.¡±

    As clear as day they could all understand him. However, it wasn¡¯t as if he was speaking all of their languages, it was if they gained the ability to understand HIM.

    ¡°You have been given a brace imbued with a spell that allows you to understand and speak in any language that has been added to the spell.¡± Mixed feelings crossed the gathered people at the mention of spells and magic. ¡°This has been done to speed up your integration into the Kingdom and to hasten the start of your training. Otherwise such expensive items would never have been just given to you.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Kohn looked down at the hard leather wristband that the Prince had called a ¡®brace¡¯. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like simple hardened leather. Maybe the magic spells made it expensive?

    ¡°Earth has become a vassal planet of the kingdom. Currently it is held by me. All of you assembled before me have been gathered as the first of your world to join the Kingdom in our fight against the Jzanna. In return, the Kingdom will protect your planet and introduce it to the rest of the Kingdom.¡±

    The Prince stared at them in a moment of silence to allow them to think about what he had just said. They would be trained to fight an enemy. One that not only threatened their space faring kingdom, but also might one day arrive at Earth, just like the Prince and his ships did.

    Not everyone was thrilled that they would have to fight, but more than enough of them remembered loved ones left behind. Backs stiffened with a purpose and the weight of their responsibility.

    ¡°One day, many months from now, you will have been trained and fully become a member of the Kingdom. I only pray that you are able to help in our efforts,¡± Prince StoneTooth glared menacingly at some of those who were crying and afraid ¡°and not become a hindrance or an aide to the Jzanna.¡±

    For Kohn it didn¡¯t matter if he had to fight. He couldn¡¯t see himself dying, maybe he was just slightly arrogant? For him, he only cared about what interested him and as of this moment it was magic. He couldn¡¯t help but shift from foot to foot, the excitement building in him.

    ¡°Before then, look behind you and bid your home planet goodbye. You will not return for a long time unless the Jzanna break through.¡±

    The image of the Sol solar system behind them disappeared, the walls becoming completely transparent.

    Outside the African soldiers had moved back by several hundred feet, their barrels knocked over and a few of them rolling away leaving trails of fire. Strong winds picked up dust and sand, whipping at them from the direction of the ship.

    Unbeknownst to them the Prince had gestured to someone they couldn¡¯t see and the ship began to lift off from the ground, soaring into the sky and out into space. Within less than a minute the ship left the Earth¡¯s atmosphere and rejoined with the rest of her sister ships.

    Half of the Prince¡¯s ships would remain behind to guard Earth, but also to begin sharing technology with them and acquire levies and contributions for the Kingdom.

    The entire time Kohn watched with rapt interest. He had never been into space, but it was just as beautiful as the poems and movies made it out to be. The Earth really looked like a jewel as it shrunk into the distance.

    ***

    As the Earthlings stared outside the hull screen, Leete quietly spoke with Prince StoneTooth.

    ¡°Your Highness, was it necessary to give them all the Brace of Words?¡± Normally a loyal servant of the Prince¡¯s would never have questioned an order, but Leete had first started off as his teacher and had long since gotten in the habit of questioning the Prince when they were alone.

    ¡°There was no other choice.¡±

    ¡°Your Highness?¡±

    ¡°This little adventure of ours was only to get us out of the way. Finding their planet was nothing other than the grace of a Mana Drop.¡± The Prince gazed upon his new subjects with a small amount of worry and hope. ¡°If they cannot show a certain level of skill they will be rejected by the Kingdom and be forced to fend for themselves. Without Dark Vessels they would be forced to fight the Jzanna on their planet and that would lead to their annihilation.¡±

    ¡°The Brace of Words requires a large amount of mana to recharge and activate. It will slow our return and tire out the members of The Winged Order.¡±

    ¡°Then cut our speed in half. It will also give the Earthlings more time to train and become worthy Champions.¡± The Prince grunted from a stray hopeful thought. ¡°If even one of them joins The Winged Order it will have been worth it.¡±

    ¡°But your Highness! You are risking much to protect these Earthlings. You even absorbed their planets World Heart!¡±

    He made it look like a simple thing, but the Prince was still considerably weak from the ritual.

    Prince StoneTooth let his full gaze capture Leete¡¯s eyes. ¡°I do not want to see another planet fall to the Jzanna.¡± His determination and strong will made Leete gulp.

    Turning around the Prince headed for his resting chambers. ¡°Train them well High Order Mage Leete. Train them well, but train them fast.¡±

 Chapter 10 - Training Torture

    Massive ships traveled through space. Beautiful, solid hulls glowing as they basked in the outer corona sphere of a nearby sun. Their strong and unyielding forms belying the exhaustion of the crew held within or the desperation in soaking up as much energy as they could.

    Days ago, when they first departed from Earth, Kohn and the others had been strapped to beds and injected with the magic essence or mana. It had been the single most painful thing he had ever experienced and every time it was done he had been forced to endure that feeling for a full twenty-four hours.

    ¡®Prior to this the most painful that I¡¯ve ever felt had to be that time that I broke my neck when I landed on my head after missing that jump¡­¡¯

    A mage had explained it as a test. ¡°To begin training you in the ways of magic and the Winged Order, first you must be able to control mana. We are sharing our mana with you for you to learn control. This process would normally be much easier but since you have not learned yet how to share mana we have to force it into your body which is causing discomfort.¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t mana be all around us? Why do you need to share it with us? Why can¡¯t we just absorb it?¡±

    ¡°Mana cannot be found naturally in the Deep Dark. Mana is only generated by living entities of a sufficient size.¡±

    Each day, after a mage would recharge their bracelet, they would be strapped to a bed and a mage would lay their hand across someone¡¯s chest before it would glow with power and they¡¯d feel the pain.

    Their veins would swell all over their bodies in a disgusting display. Sweat would instantly soak their clothes so they wore only their underwear and a bed sheet. Faces would contort in agony and nearly everyone grunted in pain. Arms and legs would pull at restraints as their back arched in an attempt to escape the bed they had come to associate with pain. Those who were able to endure without a sound were generally found unconscious.

    Kohn felt the boiling fire racing through his veins and he tried his hardest to follow the teachings of the mages. To picture the feeling of power and circulate it throughout your body, but Kohn wasn¡¯t really good at that. Usually he ended the day like everyone else. Exhausted, sweaty and relieved that it was over.

    Some of those from Earth had begun quiet whispers amongst themselves.

    ¡°They¡¯re torturing us.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not trying to teach us magic, they¡¯re trying to kill us.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much more of this I can take.¡±

    ¡°One of these days I¡¯m going to die on that bed.¡±

    ¡°We should kill them, before they kill us.¡±

    Naturally there would be dissidents. Dragged from home, sent into space to fight an unknown, never before seen enemy and all they do is spend an entire day tied down and tortured.

    Kohn tried his best to encourage them that what they were doing would protect Earth and their families, but for the most part no one tried to do anything bad because they were simply too exhausted. After a full twenty-four hours of pain they would normally sleep heavily for at least 12-16 hours.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    One day Kohn forced himself to stay awake and talked with a couple mages. He knew that his own progress was too slow and in the session before he had accidently ripped off one of his fingernails.

    ¡°What is it like to control mana?¡±

    ¡°It is like the sensation of cool water running through your body.¡±

    ¡°Why is it that I feel boiling fire?¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯t properly controlling the mana and it is running wild within your body.¡±

    ¡°How can I control mana?¡±

    ¡°As we tell you all every day, mana control is the ability to concentrate and move mana as if it was a part of your body. To make the energy your own. Think of mana like your own blood and then think about how it needs to be circulated everywhere.¡±

    ¡°So if I could control my own blood I can control mana?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°How can I control my own blood?¡±

    To which they would always answer his question with another question.

    ¡°How do you move your own body?¡±

    After starring at them as they left him to think about it Kohn collapsed onto the bed without an answer. He moved his body by just moving his body. The concept behind how the human body functions was something that Kohn had learned in school, but when he thought about how his body actually moved he couldn¡¯t come up with an answer.

    ¡®My body moves because I want it to move in a certain way. It¡¯s not necessarily because I thought that my body should, would or could move that way but just that I wanted it to move that way. I wanted my body to move. Want. Need. Wish. Will? Could that be the answer?¡¯

    ***

    Leete once more watched the Earthlings down below in the Bay.

    Before they had been brought on the ships it was determined that there weren¡¯t enough quarters for all of the Humans that the Prince had demanded of their governments. So they were forced to recycle components on the ships to create make-shift beds and other necessary supplies.

    It would have been easier if they had allowed the Humans to bring their own necessities but that idea was quickly eliminated due to the inherent control risks.

    Down below him they were sitting at make-shift tables and chairs, piles of food were vanishing off strips of hull plating that the humans had deemed to call ¡®plates¡¯. Every day he was amazed at the sheer amount of food that they consumed. They reminded Leete of the Nanrogno, a race that could eat six grown men worth of food in a single sitting and still ask for more.

    However, unlike the large size of the Nanrogno and their ferocity on the battlefield, these Humans seemed to have zero talent. None of them had been able to grasp the ability to manipulate mana and pretty soon Leete would be forced to send them to either the Order of the Falling Fist or the Order of the Whispers for training. They simply couldn¡¯t afford to keep using their Mana reserves this much especially if the fleet had to enter combat.

    He had spoken with the fleet High Mages and found that they all shared a different opinion from him. While Leete hoped they would be able to find at least a few prospecting mages, the High Mages all thought this was a giant waste.

    Even with the energy they absorbed from the suns they passed by, the vessels were beginning to hit the critical level for reserves. Once the ships were empty the mages would be unable to refill their mana and the fleet would be left to drift along through the Deep Dark.

    With dwindling hope Leete noticed someone acting differently that day. The male that discovered Leete could actually speak perfect English, was sitting at the same spot he had sat at every day but instead of eating his food like everyone else he was starring without seeing those in front of him.

    One of the Commanders of the Winged Order noticed Leete¡¯s gaze. ¡°It seems like another Earthling has broken.¡±

    ¡°I do not think such is the case. He does not freeze in place or is not catatonic as they say.¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t eat. A strong sign that he will be like the others that have started to appear.¡±

    Reports from several ships mention Humans that no longer function as an Upper Being. Some retreat within their own minds and have become useless which only added to the belief of the other High Mages that these Humans are a waste of time.

    ¡°I do not believe he is such as them. I have spoken to him and he shows a strong desire for magic. He is one of those that I keep in my own thoughts.¡±

    The other mage went silent, not daring to say anything further. Gaining the attention of a High Mage difficult for anyone. A High Mage keeping anyone in their thoughts was the equivalent to them calling that person their equal.

 Chapter 11 - The Break Through

    For the 15<sup>th</sup> day in a row the mage Kaete lamented at his luck. He was one of the few mages chosen to share their mana, which was so precious out here in the Deep Dark, with the Earthlings.

    All for the chance that one of them might turn into a mage.

    For days he had exhausted himself injecting mana into them and for days they had shown utterly zero progress. Some of them even seemed to like the discomfort.

    One had grabbed hold of his arm just before and said ¡°I can¡¯t stand the pain anymore.¡± Kaete wanted to tell him that this wasn¡¯t pain, this was just discomfort, but orders forbade him from revealing anything else.

    There was one Human that the High Mage Leete had in his thoughts, but Kaete thought that maybe the High Mage had finally gone crazy. The Human was large sure, but that meant nothing when it came to magic.

    There was no way these Earthlings would be able to use magic. They were an inferior species, suited more for the Order of the Falling Fist rather than the Winged Order.

    ***

    Kohn sat on the bed once more, but this time he asked them to leave off the restraints. The soldiers looked at each other before moving on to the next person.

    A few of his fellow humans from Earth asked him if he was crazy. The pain would be so great that more than a few would have clawed at themselves if their arms were free.

    A weird guy in a robe came up to Kohn with a heavy scowl on his face. He had seen that face enough to know that this guy didn¡¯t like the people from Earth, but he placed his hand on Kohn¡¯s chest, left arm crossing over from his left side so that his hand rested on Kohn¡¯s right shoulder.

    Then there was the pain.

    The burning sensation was back, but Kohn had a plan this time.

    Within his own mind he imagined his own body. Every piece of skin, every muscle fiber, every vein and every bone. He imagined it overlaid with a blue energy and he willed the image, his body, to focus that energy to move through his body to rest within his stomach.

    Before when Kohn had asked the mages how they felt when controlling magic in their bodies they had told him something about being able to control their own blood. For someone from Earth this idea was absurd, but Kohn had once willed himself to stay warm during a mountain climbing trip. He had lost his gear and he had nothing to warm himself up with so he kept walking.

    At one point he thought he was done and would soon freeze to death, but then he had imagined a warm bowl of soup in his hands with a warm fire in front of him and heaters blowing on him from behind. And surprisingly he was able to keep walking, the cold not as cold as before. Then he was jogging and after a while he managed to run into the cabin at the base of the mountain. His entire body was blue, but he survived.

    This time Kohn was trying to do the same thing. He gave an image to mana that had been infused into his entire body and with an image in his head he tried to circulate it into his core as he sat on his bed.

    The pain disappeared pretty soon and he began to channel the mana in and out of his body, almost playing with it. Kohn was so happy that his image idea had worked that he experimented with it to see what he could do with the mana.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    He pushed it to his feet, but it started to make his itch feet.

    He pushed it to his fingertips imagining it as a light source but when he opened his eyes there was nothing there and some of the mana had disappeared. He was left feeling a little emptier.

    When he imagined pushing air molecules together a spark appeared! He wanted to do that again but a soldier came up from behind him and decked his head knocking Kohn out cold.

    ***

    High Order Mage Leete wanted to oversee the Earthlings but unfortunately he was a very busy man. He was examining reports of the fleet¡¯s expenditure and reviewing planned schedules when Prince StoneTooth called for him.

    While sighing he left the unread reports on his Command Lectern and went to go see his Highness.

    The Princes room looked very sparse and simple when you first looked at it. Little more than a few steps of walk space and then a high-backed chair on top of a raised pedestal. However, in front of that chair which the Prince sat upon was a series of displays that could show the Prince whatever was stored within the Fleet archives.

    Leete had watched the Prince grow up from a little toddler, so despite the air of intimidation that the Prince always seemed to exude, Leete wasn¡¯t nervous.

    ¡°Your Highness.¡±

    ¡°High Order Mage Leete,¡± To use his rank was the Princes way of telling Leete this would be an official visit ¡°what is the status of the new recruits?¡±

    A pinging sound echoed in his ears. To Leete it sounded like someone had rung a bell from his right and within his head at the same time. Someone was using a communication spell to contact him from across the ship.

    ¡°One moment your Highness.¡± Leete turned to the side before controlling his mana to receive the spell. The wispy image of a man wearing a robe with one shoulder pad armor appeared in front of Leete.

    He saluted. ¡°High Mage! You wanted to be informed about the progress of the Earthlings if anything changed.¡±

    ¡°What has happened?¡±

    ¡°High Mage, one of them was just now able to control the mana shared with him!¡±

    Excitement filled both Leete and the Prince. This meant that the Earthlings could learn magic and would be valuable forces for them.

    ¡°That is good-¡°

    ¡°Pardon High Mage.¡±

    ¡°Carry on.¡±

    ¡°Yes High Mage. After being able to control the shared mana within his body he was immediately able to manipulate it to his extremities.¡±

    ¡°Oh! That is a lot of progress.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but after that he began to summon fire and one of the guards took it upon himself to render the man asleep.¡± The mage tried hard not to fidget but he had spent a few moments trying to come up with a better way to report this situation and had so far been unable to.

    ¡°If he was suddenly creating fire then he must not know the dangers of using such a spell while in a Dark Vessel. A spell was used to make him sleep?¡±

    ¡°Uh, no High Mage. One of the guards simply hit him over the head.¡±

    Leete and the Prince took a moment to register that in their minds before they broke out into laughter. For the Prince it had been the first thing to break his mood in a while and he was so happy that tears actually fell down his face.

    The mage in the image immediately became relieved that his superiors were laughing and not immediately calling for the guard to be punished.

    Barely able to cull his laughter, Leete asked him which Human it was.

    ¡°The Earthling¡­ Kohn, lesser-son¡±

    ¡°Lowson. It doesn¡¯t mean the same thing to us.¡±

    The mage stuttered a little when Leete corrected him on Earth names. ¡°Uh, y-yes of course High Mage.¡±

    ¡°They have two names unlike us. The forename is like ours but their second names are their family name is used just as a last name.¡± Thinking about something he told the Prince of his conversation with Kohn back on his home planet. ¡°When I spoke with him he told me the origin of his family name.¡±

    ¡°Oh? His family name has history? It must have been tied to something important.¡±

    ¡°Not at all!¡± Leete was already breaking into a smile. ¡°His ancestor once had so many children that when it came to naming his son¡¯s he refused to give them a name until they grew older and proved their worth. When the day finally passed where he would name Lowson¡¯s ancestor, the son was taller than his father and so the father asked his son to crouch down. When the son came closer the father said ¡®lower son¡¯ but his followers heard ¡®Lowson¡¯!¡±

    Leete grinned once more at the joke and the Prince chuckled at the story, but when they saw the mage in the spell desperately holding in his laughter they couldn¡¯t hold it in. Their laughter echoed in the small room and when the mage couldn¡¯t hold it in any more. When snot and tears started running down the man¡¯s face the Prince laughed so hard that he rolled out of his chair.

 Chapter 12 - History of a Kingdom

    Over the next couple of days Kohn spoke with the other people from Earth. He explained how he had come up with a way to imagine the shared mana in his body and then imagined or willed the image to change as he wanted.

    He wasn¡¯t perfect at it yet, but everyone around him made ooh sounds.

    After that, every day dozens of people became able to control the mana shared with them. Now they were being given proper lessons.

    Each day they would take the shared mana and follow along with the Mages, replicating everything they did.

    Mostly they practiced how to feel the mana in others and how to manipulate the mana that was around them.

    Some spells were taught, but so far the Earth Humans couldn¡¯t grasp too many of them. Things to do with Air and Fire were quickly picked up but they were not allowed to practice them on the ship.

    After they ran out of mana, the lessons would shift to what was essentially a series of dos and don¡¯ts for magic while on any ship. For Kohn, he went a little pale when he was told that using magic to create fire on a Dark Vessel would trigger the automatic fire suppression magic. Basically a series of barriers would block off an area around the fire and then the atmosphere would be sucked out of the barriers, instantly creating an uninhabitable cold void of space in moments.

    When the Mages hit some timer in their own head, the magic lessons would be over and they would teach them about the history of the Kingdom.

    ***

    Created by the High King, the kingdom came out of a time of war amongst the people on his home planet Celic, which translated roughly to mean fantasy in English. This war was filled with brutal tactics and one day a Stone spell hit the home of who would become High King.

    The Stone spell was simply a petrification.

    As the future High King watched his family turn to stone he alone was able to resist the spell, but it turned the skin on his throat, his lips and teeth to stone. His visage gruesome, and his hate unstoppable, he raised an army and obliterated all other factions on the planet Celic, quickly becoming King of the world.

    The King brought order to the entire planet and forced the sharing of all advancements to every person in the world. It didn¡¯t matter what you did, if there was something you created you had to appear before the Council of Existence and share it. While it was unpopular at first, the entire planet began to prosper.

    The Council, at the demand of the King, gave all necessary resources to anyone who tried to create their own advancements. Anyone who tried to take advantage of the system without providing anything that benefited others would be harshly punished as a warning.

    After the formation of the Council, the King implanted a new system where everyone worked towards a common goal.

    From then on the Kingdom worked to enter the Deep Dark and cross over to their sister planet Horic that sat high in their sky every day and night.

    Researchers made dozens of spells that helped farmers to grow and recycle old matter for compost. From this the first ideas of recycling appeared on Celic and almost accidentally led researchers towards ideas that made it possible to travel to other planets.

    Sealed containers and air treatment.

    After a few years the first primitive spaceships or vessels were launched and they were able to set foot on another planet. The world travels were happy that the wood and stone structure imbued with magic was able to make the journey, but it proved to be a consumable design as it fell apart after setting down.

    But the people on Horic were very friendly and met with Celics King. After talking about the future of the two worlds they agreed to join Celics King and work together.

    From then on the two planets became the first in the Kingdom. However, Celics King became too busy and he was forced to put another King into power in order to focus on systems, goals and the advancement of both Celic and Horic.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    When a king was named for each planet, the previous King became the High King and he took the name StoneTooth. He took the name as a testament to his strength, but also as a reminder to never forget the situation that caused him to lose his family. On the day of his coronation in the Deep Dark he swore to never allow a situation where the Kingdom would be torn apart by such a devastating war again.

    After some more time, the Kingdom of planets developed more advanced vessels and other planets in the same solar system joined the Kingdom.

    Eventually they developed the current Dark Vessels that were designed for long journeys through the Deep Dark. This allowed them to travel to other solar systems and interact with other planets. Not every planet they came across wanted to join the Kingdom, but as long as they abided by the laws they would enter into trade agreements that benefited both parties.

    Sometimes they came across planets that were not friendly and the Kingdom was tested with its first war.

    In response the High King created the Three Armies, made up by the Winged Order, the Order of the Falling Fist and the Order of Whispers. Though they didn¡¯t want to kill and die, people believed in the Kingdom and wanted to protect it. The ranks of the Three Armies swelled.

    The Kingdom¡¯s forces fought off all attackers and went on to conquer any aggressor, forcibly bringing making them a part of the Kingdom. At such times the High King himself would go to these planets and overhaul every system that existed, quickly bringing stability to these planets while also advancing the standard of living. Rebellions disappeared or were quashed before they even began by their own people.

    One such conquered planet, far away from the Kingdom proper, was showing promising signs of becoming a full participating member planet of the Kingdom, but for some reason had suddenly gone silent.

    An investigation force was sent, but was never heard from again.

    So the Kingdom sent in their full fleet and they came into direct contact with the Jzanna. A race of beings that were so constantly hungry that their ships were even designed to eat entire planets. Living matter would be eaten while the inorganic matter was turned into other ships to move their growing numbers from planet to planet, spreading like a wave of destruction.

    Realizing the danger, High King StoneTooth ordered the search of every planet and shared with any sentient beings the information about the Jzanna. Nearly every planet that they came across was suffering from their own circumstances, but realizing the benefits and safety of the Kingdom they willingly joined.

    With more resources, the Kingdom was able to slow the advancing Jzanna, but without more planets joining the Kingdom wouldn¡¯t have the resources or numbers to destroy this terrible species.

    ***

    There was too little information about either the Kingdom or the Jzanna for Kohn to fully appreciate his current situation, but he was curious about one thing that was in the history lesson.

    ¡°You mentioned the orders of the Three Armies, but what makes them different?¡±

    ¡°The Order of the Falling Fist are the warriors that fight directly with the enemy. They are trained in the usage of a number of weapons, fighting tactics and most importantly of all they are trained in rapidly confronting the enemy.¡±

    Fairly easy to understand. They are frontline fighters of the Three Armies. Trained in formations in order to efficiently overpower any enemy and trained to use any weapon that they may need depending on the situation. ¡°What does it mean to ¡®rapidly confront the enemy¡¯?¡±

    ¡°The Falling Fist was given the part ¡®falling¡¯ because they are trained in jumping from vessels to attack the enemy. Either to get in between of an advancing army and allies, or to break off the retreat of the enemy forces or to simply land in the midst of enemy forces to create as much chaos and damage as possible.¡±

    The teacher was describing quick response units and shock troops.

    ¡°Okay, what about the Winged Order?¡±

    ¡°The Winged Order is simply the forces trained to control their mana enough to operate the Dark Vessels or control other mobile weapons either in the Dark Deep or in the barrier of the planet.¡±

    ¡°On Earth we could call them pilots or drivers depending on the vehicle. And when you say the barrier of the planet do you mean the atmosphere? The invisible force that separates space or the Deep Dark and everything on the planet?¡±

    ¡°If the translation spell is working properly then yes. The Winged Order are pilots that fly the Dark Vessels and the barrier of the planet is the atmosphere.¡±

    People from the Kingdom didn¡¯t seem to create words specifically for something. They seemed to prefer just to use descriptive words.

    ¡°I cannot tell you about what makes the Order of Whispers different from the other two orders because all members of the Whispers are sworn to silence amongst any non-Whispers. However, I can tell you that just from what I¡¯ve seen they are trained in the ways of silence. You¡¯ll never know if one is walking next to you unless you actually see them. Their weapons are also mysterious and very dangerous.¡±

    The live streams of the day the nukes were launched confirmed that they were dangerous. That one person killed so many men instantly with a bow that had hung wrapped on his hip.

    All of the people from Earth were getting excited that the orders were just like the stories of advanced warriors, mages and rogues. But the teacher¡¯s next sentence froze the blood in their veins.

    ¡°The training you receive now will determine which of these Orders you will belong to and how you will fight the coming forces of the Jzanna.¡±

 Chapter 13 - Short Lived Celebration

    Since it was too dangerous to practice most spells, the Earthlings started to be partially trained by the other orders as well.

    The training with members of the Falling Fist focuses on weapons, formations and martial arts. And ever since they started being trained to fight up close with the enemy the Earthlings kept noticing large bruises appearing day after day.

    Especially Kohn, who began to worry that the lumps on the back of his head would be permanent since he was on the receiving end of them so often. When he mentioned this to an instructor he started to get black eyes instead.

    After nearly slicing off his own foot with an axe in the most ridiculous fashion, Kohn was forced to wear heavy duty manacles whenever they had a lesson with bladed weapons. He thought they took the joke too far when they added a pair of even thicker manacles to his legs, but since no one knew how he managed to throw a spear with his feet they weren¡¯t going to take any chances.

    But they were surprised to find out that every order had members that could use magic. Even in the Falling Fist they apparently have members that focus on casting spells upon weapons and armor in order to gain status ailment affects. What they thought was the order for mages turned out to just be for mages that had the aptitude and magic capacity to fly their spaceships, heavy weaponry and other vehicles.

    The Order of Whispers only had one member on their Dark Vessel, but he tried to teach them a little too. However, probably because their methods were a closely held secret, his training focused mainly on free movement which closely resembled Earth¡¯s Parkour, but with magic.

    For Kohn, anything to do with magic was fascinating so he paid close attention to every lesson. Especially when they saw the Whisper run straight at a wall and then straight up it before clinging to the ceiling like Spider Man.

    When he tried to replicate it after his first time seeing it Kohn was laughed at by everyone around him. To Kohn it was nothing, but landing on the back of his head with the rest of his body crashing down on top of him would have been dangerous for anyone else.

    After lessons Kohn and the other volunteers tended to walk around to everyone to see if anyone had troubles that they could help with. Thanks to that, they gained a good reputation and people started to share more ideas and pitch in to help out. And after just a couple of weeks into their journey every human that shared the Dark Vessel with the Prince could control mana and use magic.

    To celebrate, they were permitted to have a feast.

    Even a few casks of some kind of alcoholic beverage were cracked and shared. Though after finding out that it was some kind of blend of a honey-like substance and blood there weren¡¯t too many asking for a second cup.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Kohn would have asked for a second cup, but due to the high alcohol content and his inability to handle any amount he was already drunk. And we¡¯re not talking your normal kind of drunk.

    Standing on top of the rows of tables, Kohn was happily revealing his manhood after mysteriously losing his pants. A few of the women were cheering him on as he danced like a buffoon before tackling the man hold the cask of booze.

    Between trying to keep the alcohol away from Kohn and failing to prevent him from hugging him the man went red from embarrassment when some women oohed at the kind of relationship he had with Kohn.

    ¡°What? Am I not pretty enough for you?¡± He cried out, generating a series of cackles from the women.

    Drunk Kohn ran over to them for moral support. ¡°She didn¡¯t like me,¡± the male guard became infuriated for being mistaken as a woman ¡°why wouldn¡¯t she like me? Do I not have a great ass?¡± Kohn asked the laughing women before turning his rear towards them and slapping it hard.

    Somehow the situation devolved into women slapping his ass before he whispered horny sweet nothings into their ears. After a few weeks with little physical stimulation a few of the women wanted to take him up on his offers but unfortunately it wasn¡¯t allowed.

    Eventually the hour became late and the party started dying down. Some people went to sleep where ever they fell and some managed to drag themselves back to their own beds but for Kohn and the gender mistaken guard they fell asleep in a pile of women that Kohn had been laughing with for hours.

    The guard was named Ker, and unlike the women and Kohn, he did not want to sleep in the pile of flesh because it was inappropriate and embarrassing. Unfortunately for him, Kohn was very strong and in his sleeping state kept a firm and unrelenting grasp on his new ¡®friend¡¯.

    ***

    Leete had thought to record the celebration in order to send it to the other ships as encouragement for the trainees. Unfortunately, after the alcohol came out the Earthlings became too rambunctious and the recording would instead serve as entertainment Similar to the Earthlings¡¯ comedy shows that he had seen while on Earth.

    When the Prince woke up the next day Leete fully intended to watch the recording again with him as he knew it would be just the thing to lighten his mood.

    ¡®Ever since we picked up these Earthlings the Prince has been smiling more frequently. I hope they stay this happy and free for as long as possible.¡¯

    Just when he was about to go get some sleep himself, a proximity warning tone sounded.

    ¡°Cast long range sensor spells.¡±

    ¡°Yes High Mage.¡±

    In the center of the command area there was a large black obsidian ball. Through magic it became transparent and showed the fleet¡¯s position in space. A pulse of light left all the ships and slowly went out into space. At nearly the outer edge of their spells range the pulse of light hit an object and illuminated it on the transparent obsidian ball.

    The object was highlighted by a member of the command before it was enhanced and the image expanded for all of them to see.

    Floating in front of them, the image of white billowing smoke covered all but the top portion of a ship as it traveled through space at a leisure speed.

    ¡°Command all ships in the fleet to come to a full stop. Prepare all Phantasms for launch and prepare all long range offensive spells. Issue commands to the armories to dispense weapons allowed for use on Dark Vessels. Set fleet to full alert.¡± The command staff were rushing to comply with all of his orders, but they were trained and knew what to do. ¡°I will awaken Prince StoneTooth and let him know that the Jzanna have been spotted in our path.¡±

 Chapter 14 - Enemy Spaceships Approach, Get Your Weapons

    Sirens blared in every room of the ship waking the members who were sleeping off the previous day¡¯s party.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Ker struggled to escape Kohn¡¯s grasp. When the passed out man simply tightened his grip Ker punched, elbowed, kicked and bite to get free.

    ¡°What time is it?¡±

    ¡°Just five more minutes.¡±

    Their teachers and instructors came running in, yelling at them to wake up. Most of the Earthlings started to realize something serious was happening and started putting clothes on. However one such person seemed oblivious to everyone else. And he had someone swearing in his arms.

    ¡°Kohn, want to learn some magic?¡±

    ¡°YES!¡± From a lying down position he rose up to standing upright, like a vampire in old movies. ¡°Huh? What¡¯s going on? Why are you in my arms? What happened to the girl I cuddled up to last night?¡±

    Ker, red in the face, didn¡¯t even dignify that with a response. He adjusted his clothes, combed his hair back with his fingers and joined his superiors.

    ¡°Earthlings! Listen closely!¡± One of the mages yelled across the bay to get their attention. ¡°At long range a massive Jzanna World Eater has been spotted crossing directly in our path. If it notices us, it will attack.¡±

    They had been taught very little about the actual Jzanna other than in their history lessons about how the Kingdom first came into contact with them, but they had heard the instructors and guards talk. A World Eater was a Jzanna ship that was so large that it could actually harvest planets.

    ¡°If it notices us, it will attack. This fleet does not have the forces necessary to outrun or fight against it. The fleet has stopped all movements. Usually the World Eater won¡¯t be able to detect us this far out and hopefully it passes by without trouble.¡±

    Relief flashed across the Earthlings faces, but the soldiers and mages didn¡¯t share that sentiment.

    ¡°Other than the World Eater, the biggest threat lies in the Jzanna ships that fly around it. Normally their numbers are uncountable and while some of them hide in the World Eaters Breath, a significant amount will still trail behind or around it. Some of their ships are small enough that they¡¯ll avoid our long range sensor spells and can be nearly upon us before we¡¯ll even know. If that happens, stick to your training, follow your instructors and work together to survive. See the Armorer for Dark Vessel weapons and do NOT use any kind of fire magic. Defend the Kingdom.¡±

    All the instructors and guards raised their hands into the air. ¡°Defend the Kingdom!¡± They chanted together before splitting up to do their assigned duties.

    Groups of the Earthlings were following their various instructors through the ships halls. While waiting for their turn to go through Kohn¡¯s group saw others who were growing pale when they held their weapons and realized the gravity of the situation.

    ¡°I can¡¯t do this!¡± Someone always panics and this time it was Raymond who panicked again. Since the first time he saw him, Kohn knew that that guy would need a pep talk every once in a while. ¡°Fighting monsters and on an alien ship? I¡¯m a nurse!¡±

    ¡°Raymond! Focus on me.¡±

    Kohn held Raymond¡¯s head so that his eyes couldn¡¯t look at anything other than Kohn¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Do you want to die?¡± He asked in a firm voice.

    ¡°What? No.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to die?¡± Kohn asked louder.

    ¡°No.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°I said, do you want to die?¡± Kohn yelled.

    ¡°NO!¡±

    ¡°Then run away.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    Everyone around them were absolutely stunned. Unlike other pep talks that Kohn gave people in order to get them to work, this one was the opposite.

    ¡°What did you think I¡¯d say? You¡¯ve only been working out for a couple of weeks and you¡¯ve only had the basics of combat drilled into you for an even shorter period of time. You fighting would more than likely mess someone else up and get the both of you killed. So? Run away and hope for the best.¡±

    ¡°But they gave me a weapon?¡±

    Raymond lifted up a short staff with two axe heads attached perpendicularly to the ends. They had been given a brief lesson on how to use it, but Kohn just thought of it as a wide spear-head and scythe combo that was terrifying to look at but ultimately it probably wouldn¡¯t do too much damage.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t run, shove it in somethings eye! That¡¯ll at least slow a wild animal.¡±

    That didn¡¯t seem to appeal to Raymond¡¯s Hippocratic Oath.

    ¡°But I took an oath to do no harm!¡±

    Fine. How to describe the action of hurting something trying to kill you in such a way that an idiot would agree with it?

    ¡°Don¡¯t think of it as trying to hurt a living being. Think of it as teaching something not to harm you. Does that work?¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    Either he¡¯s not an idiot and realized that Kohn was trying to patronize him or he was an even bigger idiot and he couldn¡¯t comprehend the idea.

    ¡°Then just keep running and if something catches you¡­ shit yourself. Nothing will want to eat you if you soil yourself.¡±

    Feeling like he gave it his ¡®best¡¯ effort, Kohn clapped Raymond on the back before moving down the hallway to get his own weapon, leaving a slightly less terrified and more irritated Raymond behind. Others were just staring at Kohn in bewilderment.

    The armory was a very large room, but it was behind an impassable wall. Though the wall clearly had a place where you could pass through, the wall was called impassable because of the gruff looking Armorer who sat in it.

    The Armorer waited as about 50 people shuffled into a type of foyer in front of his counter before calling them forward one by one.

    The Armorer was getting on in his years, the white beard a dead giveaway, but the thick muscles on his arms gave you the impression that it wouldn¡¯t be wise to irritate him. And the near permanent scowl on his face also subtly said that he wasn¡¯t there to become your friend.

    One by one the Earthlings went up to the Armorer where he looked at them with keen eyes before pushing some paper parchments around. ¡°Sword 1! Spear 1! Spear 1! Bow 1, Arrows 1!¡± He would yell out to assistants behind him who snapped to work in a heartbeat whenever he called out a particular weapon.

    At first it was assumed that he was calling the number one out so that the assistants knew how many of each weapon to get and hand out, but when he called ¡®Arrow 1¡± and the assistant gave out a quiver with a lot of arrows in it they became confused.

    ¡°Hey instructor? Why is he calling out 1 with each weapon? Is that like a nervous tick or something?¡±

    The instructor wanted to tell him to stay in line, but he knew Kohn by now. Kohn wouldn¡¯t settle down until his curiosity was satisfied. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have a bug?¡± The psychological repetition of actions must not have translated. ¡°He¡¯s calling out weapon type and rank. All of you are considered trainee¡¯s so he¡¯s appraising your abilities and giving you the lowest rank weapons we have.¡±

    It depressed a number of Earthlings when they overheard that they were being handed low ranked weapons that were more than likely inferior mass produced goods.

    ¡°Oh! So there is a ranking system for weapons? Maybe I¡¯ll get a higher ranked weapon then?¡±

    ¡°Pfff!¡± His instructor was remembering all the times that Kohn had nearly injured himself with his own weapon and couldn¡¯t help but laugh. But he put on an assuring smile, nodded, and firmly pushed Kohn back in line.

    ¡°TALL ONE!¡± That must have been Kohn who stood a couple of inches over the next person there.

    When Kohn stepped up the Armorer looked him up and down, from top to bottom. ¡°Arms 50!¡±

    ¡°YES! I knew I would get a higher ranked weapon!¡± Kohn was celebrating his innate talent and genius ability when an assistant dropped a pair of arm braces on the counter. ¡°What is that?¡±

    The armorer grinned evilly like he had some kind of vendetta against Kohn and he was finally getting his revenge.

    ¡°Arms. Rank, Zero. Weight, 50 pounds.¡±

    ¡°What? I¡¯m not using that!¡±

    When he refused the Armorer whistled at the assistants before gesturing at Kohn with his head. Six of them came out from the back. Four held Kohn in place and his arms out while the other two attached the unnecessarily complicated arm braces on Kohn. He struggled of course, but each of the assistants were incredible strong and it was four against one in terms of power.

    When they were done they went back behind the counter.

    Kohn was trying to find a way to take them off, but he couldn¡¯t see when they were being put on so he had no clue how to start. ¡°Take these things off! I¡¯m not fighting with these things on!¡±

    But Kohn was grabbed by the instructor and forcibly dragged out of the room while he shouted obscenities at the Armorer. ¡°Come on Kohn. You¡¯ve got your weapons so now it¡¯s time to get into your position.¡±

    ¡°He gave me a rank zero arm guard! That¡¯s not a weapon! You didn¡¯t appraise me right you stupid bastard! I¡¯ll beat the shit out of you and take the highest ranked weapon you got! You hear me? I¡¯m coming for you, you stupid idiot!

    The Armorer waved goodbye at the struggling Kohn with that evil little smile of his.

 Chapter 15 - Jzanna in the Dark Vessel

    Everyone waited with bated breath for the alarm that would signify the enemy World Eater was changing direction.

    The Earthlings waited in various locations around the ship, but a significant number of them were below the command deck or flight deck. The Kingdom¡¯s soldiers were in various degrees of sleep, relaxing as much as possible in order to protect their nerves.

    Leete prayed upon mana in all its splendor to get the World Eater to keep on its current path. He watched the readouts and displays, learning all that he could from such little details, its White Breath nullifying their sensors impeccable ability to scan the enemy. However, based upon the information that they were getting, it was the biggest World Eater that Leete had ever seen.

    Information was being broadcasted through the ship as they received it.

    Just underneath the command deck Kohn had torn apart a shirt and was wrapping his fist with it as tightly as he could. His heavy Arms slowed him down, but it wasn¡¯t something that would stop him from doing what he wanted.

    ¡°Instructor?¡±

    One of the Kingdom¡¯s Winged Order Mages was in a meditative sleep which was rudely being interrupted by Kohn and his annoying questions. Unfortunately for him, it wasn¡¯t going to end if he tried to ignore it.

    ¡°What is it Kohn?¡±

    ¡°What is the White Breath?¡±

    ¡°The Jzanna do not have Dark Vessels. Their bodies have somehow adapted to the void of the Deep Dark well enough to travel through it, but not for extended periods of time. So the World Eaters release their breath which is filled with warmth, air and moisture. This White Breath allows the smaller Jzanna to swim through the Deep Dark with the World Eaters to the next planet. They protect it, and it gives them passage.¡±

    Kohn watched the front hull screen which was displaying what the ships long range sensors were able to see. To him the World Eater looked like an elongated turtle shell coming out of the top of a dense pea-soup like fog. It didn¡¯t look dangerous, but he really couldn¡¯t tell.

    ¡°How big is it?¡±

    His instructor cast a quick spell. ¡°High Mage. Apologies for the intrusion but I think it would be beneficial if you compared the World Eater¡¯s size with the Kingdom¡¯s Dark Vessel. Yes. Thank You.¡±

    Kohn watched as the hull screen turned to give a side image of the World Eater. And down at the bottom of the image there appeared a little blip.

    His instructor pointed at it and said to Kohn. ¡°That is a Dark Vessel.¡±

    The Dark Vessel that he was sitting on, the one that took up a significant portion of the Sahara desert in Africa back on Earth. It looked to be at least 1/600<sup>th</sup> the size of the World Eater that was in front of them.

    ***

    High Mage Leete waited, staring at the screen while simultaneously remembering his daughter singing a child¡¯s lullaby for a performance in front of his family. It calmed him down significantly and even brought a smile to his face.

    ¡°Smiling at a time like this is disturbing the other commanders.¡±

    Prince StoneTooth came to the Command deck unannounced, taking Leete completely by surprise. But when he looked around the room, Leete could see what the Prince meant.

    ¡°He¡¯s smiling at the Jzanna.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t think he¡¯ll attack first right?¡±

    ¡°Of course he won¡¯t. That would be suicidal.¡±

    ¡°But he was insane for a while right?¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    The commanders were chatting amongst themselves, but with a small spell he was able to hear what they were saying about him.

    ¡°I hear what you mean, your highness.¡±

    ¡°It looks like the World Eater won¡¯t be turning around to chase us. We¡¯re already in its blind spot.¡±

    The Jzanna were massive creatures and very dangerous, but they suffered from a fatal flaw and that was their absurd angle that they were unable to sense. As long as you weren¡¯t standing nearly in front of them they wouldn¡¯t be able to tell that you were there.

    ¡°Yes, your highness. Now we just have to worry about stragglers. Anyone that was too slow to keep up with it.¡±

    ¡°Normally they would have attacked by now if-¡°

    BUMP-BUMP!

    The hull was hit twice, making a loud echo run through the ship.

    Leete stepped up to command the Prince¡¯s Dark Vessel.

    ¡°Full short-ranged sensor spells! Prepare to cast shields! Ready the Shock! Find out where it hit us and how big it is!¡±

    ¡°Yes Mage!¡± Came from all around him.

    Before the first could even finish his spell more impacts buffeted the ship.

    ¡°High mage! Other Vessels in the fleet are saying they are also receiving impacts, no damages yet.¡±

    ¡°Very well Telepathy, continue.¡±

    Back on Earth the job would be called Communications or communications officer, but aboard the Kingdom¡¯s Dark Vessel they use a spell similar to Telepathy to communicate in the Deep Dark. So naturally, rather than find a new word to call that individual, they simply use the name of the spell to call him or her.

    ¡°High Mage! Impacts are non-living objects.¡±

    ¡°Impact was forward most part of the vessel.¡±

    ¡°Most likely the objects hitting us-¡°

    ¡°No damages High Mage.¡±

    ¡°-are dead Jzanna.¡±

    The commanders were talking over each other, but Leete heard them all.

    ¡°Hold shields and shock ready for now in case a living Jzanna appears. Your Highness, permission to stand down the fleet, collect a dead Jzanna and continue forward?¡±

    The enemy World Eater was still within range of their long-range sensor spells, but because they were in its blind spot Leete deemed it safe enough to continue.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a chance that living Jzanna could still show up?¡±

    ¡°As your highness said, if there were any living Jzanna in the area they would have attacked by now.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Proceed at your discretion.¡±

    Leete made a quick bow. ¡°Thank you your Highness. Commanders! Find me a small enough dead Jzanna to bring aboard.¡±

    ***

    Kohn was doing pushups.

    They had been waiting for at least a couple of hours and most of the people from Earth had their nerves fried after they heard the impacts on the ship¡¯s hull. They knew something had hit the ship, but after half an hour they could hear Leete announce no enemy contact.

    Then they were told to prepare for Jzanna retrieval.

    Oh that didn¡¯t calm their nerves down, at all. But a few hours went by and nothing had happened. Other than Kohn just about reaching the end of his patience.

    He had tried manipulating the residual mana left over in his body, but it wasn¡¯t much and he quickly exhausted it. He tried asking questions of his instructors again, but they either smacked him or threatened to tie him up and sit on him.

    After a while, something finally happened.

    The front of the ship that led into the large bay opened up.

    Everyone from Earth ran out into the hallways or got a death grip on something firmly attached to the ship. The people from the Kingdom laughed at them.

    ¡°What are you all doing?¡±

    ¡°Holding on for dear life!¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t we get sucked out into space?¡±

    But their instructors just pointed at the opened bay doors at the shimmering light that was located where the bay wall use to be. ¡°There¡¯s a shield for this.¡±

    Some stood back up, brushing themselves off and getting back into a presentable state. Others couldn¡¯t release the death-like grip they had on something.

    Ker was cursing his luck when Kohn had grabbed hold of a safety bar and him at the same time. Kohn¡¯s grip threatened to crush his arm and he was already getting that tingling sensation in his fingers from lack of blood circulation. After hearing that he wouldn¡¯t be sucked out into the Deep Dark Kohn exchanged the bar in his hand for Ker¡¯s other arm with an equal death grip.

    Kohn shuffled slowly towards the barrier, while holding Ker up like a shield for some reason.

    ¡°Let me go you fool!¡±

    Kohn¡¯s instincts were telling him to get away from the glowing shield, but his curiosity again managed to outweigh his survival instincts.

    Slowly he got closer and closer to the shield. Ker was still yelling at him, but all of his Kohn¡¯s attention was on the shield in front of him.

    Just when he got within range that he could almost touch it a grotesque form appeared from the shield.

    The terrible vestige right in his face combined with it moving closer to him and the hundreds of humans screaming behind him made Kohn jump in his skin.

    Without thinking about it he held Ker in front of him, the beast¡¯s mouth grabbing up the little man as it continued into the bay at full speed. It knocked Kohn down to the deck before sliding its large, scaly and bubble skin across his body.

    It slammed head first into the wall before going completely still. The bay doors closed solid once more.

    Kohn stood up, fists in front of him like he could actually box with a horror of a monster that big.

    Realizing that it wasn¡¯t moving, he noticed what he instinctively was trying to do and cursed himself for being an idiot.

    In the meantime, Ker managed to extract himself from the dead Jzanna mouth. Covered in its spit and with a dark, wet shadow running down his leg he glared at Kohn.

    Their eyes met, hatred passing into understanding, apologizing, pleading eyes.

    Ker pointed his spear at Kohn¡­

 Chapter 16 - Celebrity

    The Earthlings that had run into the halls and other rooms on the Dark Vessel had slowly started to come back out when they heard silence after the monster arrived. They were wary when they saw Kohn running towards them.

    ¡°MOOOOOVVVVVEEEE!¡± He yelled at the people blocking his only escape. ¡°Out of the way!¡±

    At first they were scared that he had the monster chasing after him, but they only saw Ker. He was yelling curses at Kohn while waving a spear. For some reason he was covered in a strange liquid which was coated in a layer of grains and a few articles of clothing sticking to his hair and back.

    When people started to ask what Kohn had done to Ker this time he yelled back, ¡°He¡¯s after my lucky charms!¡± in an Irish accent.

    They couldn¡¯t help it. When they heard him they started to laugh to the point of tears. Their laughter only spurred Ker further.

    ***

    Prince StoneTooth was watching the displays with Leete.

    By luck Leete wanted to save a recording of all interaction with the Jzanna corpse they were bringing aboard so they had seen the interactions between Kohn and Ker.

    They were chuckling at the chase around the bay as Kohn scrambled to climb crates, knocking over some containers which were filled with grains directly onto Ker. The slime like saliva of the Jzanna caught a thick layer of them which made Ker¡¯s appearance very silly.

    Kohn kept trying to calm Ker down, but maybe due to his own personality he didn¡¯t understand why Ker was upset with him from the beginning and the more he spoke the worse he made it.

    At one point Kohn was cornered, but he managed to escape when he picked up a pile of clothes and threw it at Ker¡¯s head, briefly entangling him. He could have escaped then, but Kohn didn¡¯t seem to want to leave it be.

    While Ker was taking pulling the clothes out of the sticky goo that covered him, Kohn snuck up behind him. With a quick pull Ker¡¯s trousers were around his ankles, his hairless ass in full view.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    SMACK!

    A big red hand print suddenly appeared for no reason at all, but Kohn took off anyway while Ker¡¯s fleet lifted a clear foot off the floor.

    Howling in rage and humiliation he ripped the clothes apart, pulled up his trousers and once more chased after Kohn.

    When Kohn had yelled out ¡®he¡¯s after my lucky charms¡¯ the Prince turned to Leete and asked him what were ¡®lucky charms¡¯.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know your Highness, but it seems to be something that all of the Earthlings know about.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it appears that it is hilarious to them.¡±

    They watched the Earthlings fall over crying, barely able to take in a breath. Just earlier they had been so scared that they had run at the sight of a corpse. And before that he had noticed that none of them were able to relax in the face of potential battle.

    On the display Ker was fighting other guards as they tried to hold him down. Kohn had managed to climb some storage shelves and was asking Ker what was wrong with him.

    ¡°YOUUUUUU!¡± He yelled before throwing his spear.

    Leete and the Prince were worried about losing the hilarious Earthling, but luckily he managed to dodge the thrown spear. Just barely. It stuck to the crate behind him, right between his legs.

    Just when the two watching the display started to give out sighs of relief their bodies tried to laugh causing them to choke and cough.

    Kohn had turned around, pulled down his pants to reveal his own butt cheeks and was taunting Ker.

    ¡°Leete. You mentioned something about programs on Earth that everyone was able to view.¡±

    ¡°Yes your Highness. They called them Television programs or broadcasts.¡±

    ¡°Gather up all the recordings of Kohn you¡¯ve made so far.¡±

    ¡°What for your Highness?¡±

    ¡°Send them to the other ships in the fleet and have the High Mages show those recordings at an assembly. Maybe that will relieve the tension of the Earthlings and the fleet.¡± The Prince was still smiling broadly at the earth human. ¡°If he can make me laugh this much then I can imagine the effect it will have on others.¡±

    Leete agreed wholeheartedly. It had been since the Prince¡¯s childhood that he had laughed and smiled so often. ¡°Maybe we should do what they do on Earth and interview him.¡±

    ¡°Interview?¡±

    ¡°Have someone ask him questions while another records his words and actions. Then recombine the recordings in such a way that it adds to the message of the television program.¡±

    ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll leave it up to you. Maybe if he continues like he this we can make it a regular assembly.¡±

    Leete spoke up, very cheerfully remembering something. ¡°I believe they call it episodes on Earth. Every week they¡¯d make a certain length recording, only saving the best before releasing for everyone to watch.¡±

    ¡°Episodes?¡± Prince StoneTooth tested the words in his mouth. ¡°Yes, do that.¡±

    Unbeknownst to Kohn and Ker, their actions had been accepted by the most important person in the fleet. Even worse, what they¡¯re doing would be shared to every person in the fleet who would describe it to everyone when they returned home.

    ***

    In the bay, the Jzanna corpse was kicked by Raymond.

    ¡°See?¡± He spoke to himself. ¡°Nothing to be afraid of.¡±

 Chapter 17 - Space Monster

    ¡°Jzanna life sign detected!¡± A commander screamed out on the command deck.

    The commander startled Leete and the Prince out of their discussion about Kohn¡¯s episodes.

    ¡°Where!?¡± He replied in a commanding question. ¡°WHERE!?¡± He yelled at the commander when he didn¡¯t get an immediate reply.

    ¡°Inside the vessel High Mage!¡±

    ¡°Inside¡­? The bay!¡± He rushed to the edge of the command deck, looking down at the humans that were just starting to come back in mass.

    ¡°EVACUATE THE BAY!¡± Leete yelled down at them, but it was too late.

    ***

    The Jzanna beast was over 40 feet in length from head to tail. If you knew about how the Jzanna¡¯s body changed with age you would be able to tell that this was a young one as it didn¡¯t have any arms. Instead it had 3 sets of wing-fins, the nearest to its head being the largest and the others became progressively smaller the closer they were to the tail. Little claws were found at the end of each rib in the wings.

    Its skin looked like it was covered in varying sizes of purple-red pustules and between some of the larger ones little scales could be seen.

    Its head had a very long cap-like skull bone from the top of its lips to what could only be assumed was the base of its neck. Lips were just about the only skin on its mouth as several layers of teeth were clearly visible. When it was in space its jaw had closed shut, but in the warmth of the Dark Vessel it had loosened enough to see a long tongue with some kind of octopus sucker on the end.

    There were no eyes found anywhere on the creature. Instead what looked like 2 pits were found in its shoulders and if you looked inside you would see dozens of smaller pits.

    It truly was an alien space monster. And Raymond just kicked it.

    ¡°EVACUATE THE BAY!¡± was yelled down from the command deck.

    Before Raymond could even react the monster¡¯s head moved at lightning speed, turning in on itself at an impossible angle, its teeth opening and closing around him.

    ***

    Kohn was slapping his ass at Ker who had thrown a spear at him just moments ago. For some reason he found it to be incredibly fun to taunt the lithe man. Before Kohn did something even more daring, a tone filled the room signaling a vessel wide announcement.

    ¡°All available combatants to the bay! All available combatants to the bay! Dead Jzanna has reanimated in the bay!¡±

    Kohn was stunned for a moment, before his brain went into overdrive as the adrenaline kicked in. For everyone else time was moving at normal speed but for him the next few seconds seemed to take forever.

    Jumping backwards off the shelf he simultaneously pulled up his pants while flipping over backwards while twisting his body in mid-air to land at the perfect angle to soften the landing. Then as normal time resumed he was running out of the room and down the corridor that he had just been chased down.

    Time didn¡¯t actually slow down, it just felt like it.

    When he got to the bay Kohn was stopped by a shield. It wasn¡¯t like the shield that led out into space which acted like a mirror because space was so much darker than the shield. This shield which blocked Kohn could be seen through.

    There was carnage everywhere.

    Arms and legs could be seen all over the bay. Most of the bay was painted red with blood sprays.

    The ¡®corpse¡¯ was moving fast. Its wing-fin like limps were beating at the ground to push it forward while its snake like tail allowed it to stand up vertically and make sudden turn adjustments. Its appearance, size and speed in the confined space made it terrifying to fight.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    Members of the Falling Fist were trying to push it back while the Winged Order were casting spells to keep it low to the ground. Neither was having an easy time of it as the Jzanna creature was insane with hunger, quickly snapping at everything around it. Every once in a while it would launch its tongue out at pieces of a body, like a frog to a bug, before quickly gulping it down.

    At the foot of one of the make-shift beds Kohn stared at the head of Raymond. Eyes wide in terror. Mouth frozen mid scream.

    The Jzanna¡¯s tongue whipped Raymond¡¯s head into its mouth in a split second.

    White hot rage filled his body.

    With the heavy Arms that the Armorer had given to him, Kohn beat against the shield with every ounce of strength he had. It only flickered before returning to its original state.

    ¡®It¡¯s a mana shield. It¡¯s made of mana. So just absorb the mana into me like the shared mana from the mages!¡¯

    Kohn placed both of his hands, palms flat against the shield. He closed his eyes to concentrate and tried to block out the sounds of combat that was just out of reach.

    He tried to remember what it felt like to have the mana injected into his body. The image of his body appeared in his mind and then the image of the shield appeared too, but it was just as mana. Slowly he changed the images so that the blue mana was disappearing into his body until a man sized hole opened in the shield.

    Two steps forward he let the image in his mind go and the shield snapped back into place. Mana was diverted from other parts of the ship to recreate the full shield.

    Once inside Kohn broke into a full sprint straight at the monster. Borrowing the shoulder of one of the soldiers, Kohn leaped high into the air just as the Jzanna spun to snap at the axe men trying to get close to it.

    Its skin was soft and squishy, making it incredibly easy for Kohn¡¯s expert hands to find purchase.

    When it felt something grabbing hold of it the Jzanna¡¯s head whipped around, folding its spine at an incredible angle to attack the offender. Before it could bite him though, the mages noticing what he was trying to do and started casting concussion spells at its head. Trying to disorient it for as long as possible.

    With those few extra seconds Kohn clung to its snake like body with his legs, bringing his arms together high in the air above his head.

    WHAM!

    Heavy metal braces hit on the smallest wing-fin joint, shattering its bone with a sickening sound.

    The Jzanna let out a shriek just a slight pitch higher than its normal roars. Instead of attacking Kohn again, it threw itself around the bay, knocking over a few mages and soldiers in the process.

    Trying to stay on, Kohn grabbed the broken wing-fin for support while his legs tightened even more around its body.

    It shrieked again and again as it tried to throw off the human that clung to its broken limb. When that didn¡¯t work it flipped upside down and tried to scrape him off on the ground.

    That came so close to almost working that it sent a shiver down Kohn¡¯s spine. But luckily due to the awkward position he was in, his arm was braced against the ground reinforcing his fist allowing it to penetrate a Jzanna pustule.

    More shrieks came from the monster, while a vile and repulsive smell came from the purple-red slime that now coated his arm and leaked out of the hole he made.

    Immediately the creature flipped off its back, allowing Kohn to breathe.

    Getting his bearings, he tried to grasp whatever he could with both his hands. The one inside the Jzanna touched a soft bone so he decided to try pulling on it.

    Another bone breaking snap and the Jzanna¡¯s tail collapsed. It gave off a pitiful shriek of pain, but it continued to bite at everything. An unlucky solider that let his guard down had his arm ripped clean off before he was smacked fifty feet away from it.

    Kohn pulled out his arm. Raising both arms above his head, he brought the metal bracers down on the other non-broken, smallest wing-fin. It cracked just as easily as the other.

    With 2 of its limbs broken and its tail end dragging behind it the Jzanna was noticeably slower. But he didn¡¯t relent.

    Partially crawling, partially shuffling, Kohn made his way up the massive body until he reached the next set of limbs. He broke those too, but they took a few extra hits.

    Now the Jzanna was drastically slower and the soldiers were able to freely stab and slice the thing apart. When its head came off a small cheer erupted from everyone, but the damn thing was still chewing.

    ¡°One more time.¡± Kohn was really tired at this point. Running around, manipulating mana, jumping into a life or death situation and being crushed will tire anyone out. Add on the 50 pound metal Arms attached to him and there¡¯s no reason why you wouldn¡¯t be tired.

    Letting the anger take hold of him, he used it to lift his arms up repeatedly before slamming them down on the Jzanna¡¯s skull.

    Slowly cracks formed. After a little while longer pieces started to chip off of it until finally a big piece clattered to the floor.

    Inside was presumably the things brain, but it didn¡¯t look anything like a humans. Weird soft balloon like balls were being suspended in more of its slime/blood by muscle fibers that connected to two opposing sides of its skull. There were 6 of these things, each about the size of a grapefruit.

    When Kohn ripped them out of its head, with the muscle fibers still attached, its mouth finally went still.

    There were no cheers. There were too many injured, maimed and dead.

    Silence echoed through the bloodied bay.

 Chapter 18 - Best Friends

    Mourning the dead and cleaning the Bay took several days. Kohn barely registered that the Prince gave a great speech about the eighty-seven sacrifices and about how they bravely fought against such a terrible enemy. He just wasn¡¯t in the mood.

    Every single death hurt Kohn in his heart.

    These were the people he had laughed and trained with for weeks now. Growing closer as they helped each other out. Learned about on another.

    And that thing had killed over eighty people.

    He knew it could have been worse. If the bay was full the death toll could have easily reached several hundred. Logically he understood it, but that didn¡¯t make the eighty-seven who died weigh any less. A crushing pain filled his chest whenever he thought about them.

    Walking through the ship on sheer instinct Kohn found himself in front of Prince StoneTooth. And just like that he knew what would help settle his wounded heart.

    ¡°Let me kill more of them.¡±

    Interrupting the Prince¡¯s resting period was never a wise decision. Even less so if it was for something as petty as revenge, but over the course of their journey he had been watching Kohn and grew fond of him.

    ¡°No.¡±

    Swearing at him in his mind, Kohn verbally spoke something a little more tactful.

    ¡°I need to kill them!¡± Whoa, probably not as tactful or as calm as he thought that was.

    ¡°We are in a war against the Jzanna and have been for some time now. You will eventually face them again at some point, but for now you are to return and continue your training.¡±

    ¡°But I need to face them now! I need to make them pay!¡±

    Grabbing Kohn¡¯s head suddenly, he pulled him close to speak in his ear.

    ¡°I understand that you feel the loss of your friends but do not think that I will risk the lives of everyone aboard this vessel just so you can attempt to kill a few of them!¡± It was unthinkable that someone in the Kingdom¡¯s forces would ever back talk to him and for the life of him he couldn¡¯t understand why he didn¡¯t order his guards to take the man to prison. ¡°Go back to your training while I¡¯m still in a forgiving mood!¡± He finished before pushing Kohn out of his quarters.

    Outside Kohn just stared at the closed doors. The Prince¡¯s guards were trying their best to not look at him, but they moved closer to each other so that Kohn would have to push them out of the way to go back inside.

    ¡°I¡¯d run if I were you.¡±

    Wondering what he meant Kohn looked down the hallway to see a fuming Armorer sprinting towards him.

    ¡°FOUND YOOOUUUUUU!¡± The Armorer yelled at him before his head sank deep into Kohn¡¯s stomach. Immediately everything went black.

    ***

    Wondering if this event was going to change the funny Earthling, Prince StoneTooth waited in his chambers.

    Kohn had been so determined to fight the Jzanna immediately that the Prince was willing to bet ten thousand coins that he¡¯d try to storm back in.

    It was a good thing that there was no one around him to take that bet because less than a minute after he threw Kohn out he heard his Armorer yelling in the hall. It was followed up by a resounding thump and then the sound of a body bouncing down the hallway.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Opening the door, he was just in time to see the heavy built Armorer dragging an unconscious Kohn down the hallway. Muttering the entire time.

    ¡°Take my equipment¡­ don¡¯t even give thanks¡­ helped you kill a Jzanna¡­ didn¡¯t return it¡­ didn¡¯t clean it¡­ didn¡¯t clean it.¡± Walking away should have made it harder to hear him, but the Prince watched in rapt fascination as the Armorer became louder with each comment.

    Then he stared in shock when the Armorer roared, ¡°YOU DIDN¡¯T CLEAN IT!¡± before lifting the unconscious body, with the heavy Arms, high in the air one handed before slamming it face first into the floor.

    Time froze.

    The jaws of the Prince and his two guards had all fallen open at the murder they were just witnessed to.

    Known for his fury, the Armorer was always quick to attack anyone that mistreated his armor and weapons, but he had never beaten an unconscious person before. For a moment it seemed like even he was worried that he had just killed Kohn.

    Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!

    The unmistakable sound of a fart escaped from the ¡®corpse¡¯.

    Shaking uncontrollably, the Armorer had the look of an insane man as a vein in his head burst. ¡°YOU¡­!¡±

    ***

    ¡°ughn¡­ ow-ow-ow!¡±

    Returning to the land of the living, Kohn immediately felt pain all over his body. It was the worse on his left ankle and head though.

    When he tried to cradle his head in his hands he found himself bound to a very uncomfortable table.

    The material that it was made from was hard to pinpoint. Admittedly he wasn¡¯t very knowledgeable about materials, but he figured it to be some kind of hardened gel-like plastic. It couldn¡¯t be wood because to his knowledge there wasn¡¯t any wood on the ship and it couldn¡¯t be metal otherwise the daggers, spears and axes wouldn¡¯t be stuck into it like they were.

    Sweat dripped down the side of his face when he realized that the table was vertical and a certain someone was using him for target practice. That same someone who was currently hefting a very menacing looking battle axe roughly 30 feet in front of him.

    ¡°Well?!¡± The Armorer roared at him.

    Knowing that he was in a very dangerous position didn¡¯t stop him from opening his big mouth. ¡°I¡¯m just so glad that you have such bad aim, or else I would have died in my sleep!¡±

    WHOOSH-WHOOOSH-WHOOOOSH-THUNK!

    The battle axe buried itself horizontally above of his head. It was so close that the hair on top of his head had been cut short.

    Fuming to the point of steam coming out of his ears, the Armorer was blindly reaching for another weapon.

    ¡°HA!¡± Kohn laughed out at him. ¡°That makes-uh¡­ one, two, three¡­¡± he counted the weapons imbedded in the not-plastic table around him while the Armorer¡¯s assistants desperately tried to restrain him when he grabbed a morning star type weapon. ¡°¡­eleven, yeah eleven misses! I wasn¡¯t even conscious for most of them too!¡±

    Slowly the assistants pushed their master into an adjacent room.

    Leete spoke from an open doorway.

    ¡°Well, you sure know how to anger him.¡±

    Kohn gave him the best salute he could considering how he was tied up. ¡°He just has to practice more.¡±

    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡± Came from the other room before a klaxon went off and a solid metal door with a full shield fell into place.

    ¡°So, what can I do for you High Mage? What brings you all the way down¡­ here?¡­ to see me?¡±

    He really didn¡¯t know where he was, but best not to let that show.

    Surprised that Kohn had taken control of the conversation Leete coughed to give himself a moment to think. ¡°I just wanted to make sure that you were alright.¡±

    Shaking the restraints Kohn shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve been in worse places. Just wish I knew why my entire body hurts.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡±

    Leete pulled a display over before waving his hand over it. A video of Kohn and the Armorer just outside of the Prince¡¯s chambers started playing. When it got to the part where the Armorer was testing out his new baseball bat Kohn finally had a reaction.

    ¡°Son of a¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait for it.¡±

    Somehow there was the perfect close up picture of Kohn¡¯s unconscious face. Almost as if the Armorer knew there was a recording spell and threw him at it when he got tired.

    ¡°Can you let me down?¡±

    Waving his hands, Leete magically undid the restraints.

    On his own two feet again since who knows how long, he was a little unstable at first but quickly started walking it off.

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    He went back to the table that was holding him. One by one he pulled the weapons out of it before piling them in front of the shielded door that he had seen the Armorer get dragged through earlier.

    ¡°Anything else?¡±

    ¡°The Prince asked me to check up on you. He seemed worried that you would do something¡­ dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Nope. He¡¯s right. The Kingdom has been fighting the Jzanna for decades now so chances are that I¡¯ll fight one again at some point.¡±

    Unsure of what he was doing, Leete¡¯s gaze followed him back and forth from the table to the door. ¡°But I hope that you¡¯ll continue your training?¡±

    ¡°Oh! Of course I will!¡± He promised. It was never his intentions to stop any of the training. All of the instructors were teaching him such fun stuff!

    ¡°Good! Then take care, I have to return to my post.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you too. I¡¯ll go back and get some food in a little bit.¡± He was undoing his pants as Leete cautiously backed away from him, out of the room. ¡°I¡¯ve just got to finish up here.¡±

    Leete quickly ran out of the room when he saw Kohn squat over the pile of weapons.

 Chapter 19 - Master and Teachers

    Running for hours Kohn played a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with his new best friend, the Armorer. He managed to lose him when he ran through the women¡¯s bathing room, but his friend was caught since he wasn¡¯t fast enough to dodge their angry hands.

    Standing in the bay with the other humans, he was half paying attention and half watching out for the Armorer¡¯s appearance.

    ¡°Today you¡¯re all going to be trained in how to react to multiple forms of combat, including surprise attacks.¡±

    Everyone murmured at the obvious reference to the ¡®dead¡¯ Jzanna.

    ¡°Yes, yes. It came as a surprise to us as well. Apparently they aren¡¯t dead, but are drifting through the Deep Dark in a near-death state. But that shouldn¡¯t concern you now! Get into ranks!¡±

    Under the instructors commands the Earthlings lined up properly in their pre-assigned groups.

    Kohn found himself in a circle with two other men and three women. All of them couldn¡¯t help snickering when they looked at his face and remembered the recordings of him being a fool.

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    The woman directly opposite of him had noticed something behind Kohn.

    ¡°What is- WAAA!¡±

    He started to look behind him to see what had caught her attention but suddenly felt a vice grip on his ankles before he was flipped upside down.

    ¡°GOT. YA!¡±

    ¡°YOU! Don¡¯t bother me during training!¡±

    The Armorer lifted Kohn up so that he could lean his face in close to each other. His eyes still retained that look of madness in them.

    ¡°You messed with my weapons. You escaped punishment. AND you made the women angry with me.¡±

    ¡°That last one isn¡¯t even my fault! You chased after ME remember?¡±

    When the group Instructor appeared out of nowhere when he heard the commotion from their side of the bay.

    ¡°Who¡¯s interrupting my training?¡± Then he saw the man holding up Kohn. He quickly changed his tone of voice to one with more respect and fear. ¡°ARMORER!? Why are you here sir?¡±

    The madman spoke without even looking at him. ¡°I¡¯m taking this one for private tutelage.¡±

    GULP!

    His training was legendary and not something that anyone wanted. Most of his assistants suffered mentally and to this day they freeze up whenever their training is mentioned. The ones the Armorer took a special interest in would even get violent whenever they remembered it.

    ¡°What kind of training could a desk clerk like you possibly give me? Huh? The Instructors here are trained to fight monsters, you just watch over their gear!¡±

    All of the instructors were thinking ¡®Oh if you only knew. You should show a little more respect!¡¯

    The Armorer let him shout out a few more insults and obscenities before he took one hand off a leg and used it to hold Kohn¡¯s mouth shut.

    ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll remove your balls before we begin the lessons? Yeah. I think that would make you more complacent.¡±

    Kohn felt real fear staring into the Armorer¡¯s eyes. The eyes of a mad man can be pretty convincing.

    He began to scream and shout as he was dragged violently out of the bay. Kohn was able to grab hold of something every once in a while but the Armorer only shook him violently from side to side, bashing him loose.

    When they could no longer be seen someone dared to ask the question.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°Is he going to be okay?¡±

    ¡°Ye-eah. He¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°That looked like he was going to be tortured.¡±

    ¡°No! No. The Armorer¡¯s training is hard though. Not many receive it and those that do call it the Training of the Deep.¡±

    The training so far had been difficult, but it was also considerably lax. When people started to compare the Armorer¡¯s build to the other soldiers and mages they understood that the Training of the Deep was just physically intensive.

    That¡¯s all. Right?

    ***

    THUMP!

    ¡°AGAIN!¡±

    ¡°I AM NOT A FIST! I AM NOT A WING! I AM NOT A WHISPER!¡±

    Kohn was standing on top of two grates which were pushed away from each other by about 4 feet. He was bent at the waist looking straight down at a series of magic formations on the ground while he lifted two sacks hanging with rope.

    Sweat didn¡¯t drip off of him, it flowed like a river.

    The Armorer was sitting in a backless chair in front of him, a bottle in one hand and a flame in the other. Every once in a while he¡¯d take a swig from the bottle before raising the flame to his face. Then he¡¯d spit, the liquor lighting in the fire, streaking across the magic formations before they changed into different ones.

    Every time he changed the formations it was Kohn¡¯s responsibility to analyze the patterns and figure out what they did. If he figured them out he would be told to repeat the chant. If he guessed wrong, weights were added to the sacks.

    ¡°Forward Thrust!¡±

    ¡°MORE!¡±

    He guessed wrong.

    Two assistants rushed to the sacks, each adding a metal bar to them. With quick fingers they undid the straps before adding the weight and closing it back up. A few more inches were added to the empty space between crates.

    ¡°GRRRRRR!¡±

    ¡°DON¡¯T YOU DARE DROP THOSE!¡± The Armorer yelled at him.

    THUMP!

    He smacked the armrest with a heavy fist, the metal groaning at the impact.

    ¡°AGAIN!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been at this for hours!¡± Kohn was nearing the end of his ropes. ¡°I don¡¯t even understand the magic formations! At least tell me what they are?¡±

    ¡°Every formation starts with four points!¡± This was the same lesson the Armorer had yelled at him when he failed the previous lesson and was thrown up on these boxes. ¡°The beginning. The identifier. The Choice. And the Action. Once you understand those you¡¯ll understand all of the formations.¡±

    ¡°And how am I supposed to tell which those are?¡±

    ¡°AGAIN!¡±

    The formation changed below him, but he half expected the dripping to sweat to wipe them clean.

    ¡®Some kind of curved arrow. Uh, a circle. Where¡¯s the choice?¡¯

    The Armorer was tapping the bottle against his leg. A clear sign that he was running out of patience yet again.

    ¡®THERE! A mirror looking six. And the action is open away from the arrow so that means it is being launched-no! Emitted!¡¯

    ¡°Forward Shields!¡± He cried out desperately.

    ¡°Forward shields?¡± The Armorer called back. Questioning him.

    He had never questioned him before. But then again he had only failed before. Maybe this time he had guessed correctly?

    ¡°Forward Shields.¡± He responded a little more confidentially.

    Nervously waiting for the Armorer to yell out for more weights he froze. Half hoping, half dreading.

    ¡°Release.¡± Why did he sound disappointed?

    With an audible gasp of relief Kohn dropped the heavy sacks, letting them crash to the ground. He dropped in between them, letting his muscles take their first second to relax in a very long time.

    ¡°Get up.¡±

    His whole body screamed at him, but Kohn was so exhausted that he obeyed the order nearly on instinct. Something his father had developed long ago.

    CLINK-CLINK.

    The nameless assistants that Kohn had started to give numbers to had attached metal cuffs to both his wrists.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°Your teachers.¡±

    ¡°I thought you were my teacher?¡±

    Chuckles from the Armorer sounded like coughs coming from the bottom of a mine shaft. Eerie.

    ¡°I am your master, not your teacher.¡±

    ¡°Is this a translation thing? How are those words not the same?¡±

    Genuine pity filled the man¡¯s eyes as he looked beyond Kohn. Almost as if he was feeling the pain of teachers everywhere on Earth.

    ¡°These objects are to teach you how to control your strength and your mana. A master is someone who commands you and who you obey. I will not teach you. You will obey, me!¡±

    The angry face was back, but at least he wasn¡¯t inches from the mad eyes again. Kohn worried that he¡¯d actually lose his balls.

    ¡°So how are my ¡®teachers¡¯ going to teach me?¡± If he wasn¡¯t so exhausted he would have used quotation fingers. Little did he know that the Armorer would have broken his fingers if he tried to do anything even remotely disrespectful

    Maybe because he was happy with how exhausted Kohn was, or maybe it was because he didn¡¯t hear backtalk, the Armorer diligently explained.

    ¡°These are called Teachers. Every one of you Earthlings is getting one today. When you wear them a magic formation will appear every 30 minutes. You have 5 minutes to determine what kind of formation it is and tell the Teacher the correct answer. For every correct answer it will reset the device.¡±

    ¡°And for a wrong answer?¡±

    There were those insane eyes and that vicious smile again. The Armorer had to be a sadist.

    ¡°The Teachers will increase in weight. And if the weight increases to the point where you can¡¯t move, I¡¯ll attach a Teacher to your balls.¡±

    ¡®EHHHHH!¡¯

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be paying attention?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    He pointed down at Kohn¡¯s wrists. On both of them a blue magic formation had appeared.

    ¡®No big deal. I did this one before.¡¯

    ¡°Imbue.¡± He spoke directly at his right Teacher and the magic formation on it disappeared. ¡°No problem.¡±

    He was feeling confident since he solved it so easily, but when he looked up he saw the Armorer¡¯s sadistic face again. Worried Kohn noticed a subtle increase in the weight on his left arm.

    When he looked at the Teacher he noticed a red screen. On the left Teacher.

    ¡°Did I forget to mention it? You have to solve the formations on both Teachers in five minutes. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!¡±

 Chapter 20 - Treasonous Circle

    Kohn grumbled as another set of complicated, blue magic formations appeared on both his Teachers while he was trying to eat. ¡°Full Stop. Internal communications.¡± One disappeared while another flashed red and the weight increased again.

    He had gotten the wrong answer on his right Teacher nearly 13 times in a row now and it got to the point where it took too much effort to lift a spoon with it. While it was awkward he switched hands to give his muscles a rest.

    Looking around the table he saw others poking at their teachers and every once in a while he could see a red flash. It looked like everyone was having an easier time with their Teachers than him.

    ¡°Hey Kohn!¡±

    A young girl who looked barely out of her teens had watched him get dragged out earlier.

    ¡°What¡¯s up Sasha?¡±

    ¡°What happened? Last time we saw you, you got dragged out of here by the Armorer.¡±

    She was that type of natural worrying mother figure that cared for everyone.

    ¡°Apparently, because we¡¯re such great friends, he thought he should be the one to teach me.¡±

    ¡°Well, what did he teach you?¡± She asked, completely missing his sarcasm.

    ¡°Well first he taught me how to put those Arms on and then take them off. Turns out they¡¯re really complicated pieces of equipment and not just heavy. Then he had me spar with his assistants and I lost to every one of them. So he told me that I was a terrible fighter and taught me the basics of magic formations before giving me a test. Which I failed and had to suffer punishment.¡±

    He didn¡¯t want to worry her any more than she already was so he tried to down play how bad it really was.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound too bad though. Right?¡±

    Maybe he down played it too far?

    ¡°Ye-yeah. After that he put the Teachers on me.¡± Everyone at the table had one on their left wrist. ¡°Speaking of, why don¡¯t you all have two Teachers?¡±

    Sasha tilted her head in that cute, confused puppy dog way.

    ¡°Well, you only need one right?¡±

    ¡°I guess.¡± Kohn wasn¡¯t entirely convinced that only one was needed, especially with the added weight effect but it wasn¡¯t important enough to spend his precious energy on it. Eating with his off-hand and trying to remember all the magic symbols he had seen was difficult enough while he was exhausted.

    ***

    Several weeks went by as the ships got closer and closer to the Kingdom¡¯s space. Every day was torture for Kohn as the Armorer brought out new ways to ¡®train¡¯ him.

    Hanging him upside on the ceiling as he was pushed back and forth while trying to read the magic formations on the floor.

    Being blindfolded while surrounded by assistants. They would all make a noise and he¡¯d have to punch the one that made a step towards him.

    Lot of different weight lifting setups including having the heavy armorer sit on him while he sang some kind of childhood song about a legendary armorer.

    He was even surprised to find a treadmill type device.

    It didn¡¯t matter how many miles he could run or how much weight he lifted. The Armorer would always increase the duration of the workout and replace weights with heavier ones. So every time, when Kohn thought he was running the same distance or lifting the same weight he had already long surpassed the previous ¡®high score¡¯.

    A few days after he got the Teachers he awoke to find another pair on his legs, but he didn¡¯t have to read his legs since they just doubled the rate of appearance on his wrist Teachers. When he complained the Armorer just taunted him. ¡°What? Can¡¯t you do it?¡± Which naturally irked Kohn into putting up with four Teachers.

    Every day he worked out in a new method while figuring out magic formations. The muscles on his body were easily seen now a days. On Earth he spent a few hours every day at the gym to stay fit but now he started to look like the old pictures of Greek Gods. And in his dreams he started to see images of magic formations and they started to become second nature to him. Now he only took a few seconds to answer the Teachers correctly.

    The only thing that he didn¡¯t understand was why he had to repeat the same cadence every day. ¡°I AM NOT A FIST! I AM NOT A WING! I AM NOT A WHISPER!¡±

    Finally he had to ask why he was supposed to call out the same cadence every time.

    ¡°Why do I have to repeat those lines? What is the point of them?¡±

    The Armorer looked as if this was the thing he had been waiting forever for. He had Kohn and his assistants follow him deeper into the storage area before gathering around him and sit in chairs.

    ¡°What does it mean to be a member of one of the Orders?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, they never got that far before you grabbed me.¡± Kohn replied honestly.

    ¡°I did what?¡± His voice rose in anger.

    ¡°Before you took me under your precious tutelage.¡± Kohn quickly corrected himself. He half payed attention to the Armorer as another formation appeared on the Teachers.

    ¡°Humph!¡± Oh he was going to pay for that later. ¡°To be a member of an Order means that you limit yourself to a standard. It means that no matter what, you won¡¯t be as powerful as the group.¡±

    ¡°You mean that in the Order they don¡¯t train you to be stronger, but to work as a team to accomplish a single goal?¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Precisely.¡± He grunted back, pleased with this Earthling.

    ¡°To be a member of the Order means that if you continue to advance in power and capability you damage the cohesion of the group and create weakness in its ability to function. With the Order of the Fist they are meant to physically interrupt the movements of the enemy. The Winged Order is meant to bring in as much damage over an area as they can. And the Order of Whispers is meant to attack from behind where the enemy least expects it and gather critical information. When the Orders function as one they become the Three Armies, an unstoppable force that has never seen defeat.¡±

    ¡®Whoa. That sounds like the perfect plan. But if they¡¯ve never seen defeat then why did the Prince come to Earth?¡¯

    The Armorer grinned when he saw the question appear in Kohn¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re on the right track. If this combination of three forces is so unstoppable then why has the Kingdom been gathering planets to their cause and why did I train you differently than everyone else from your home planet?¡±

    Well, he hadn¡¯t actually thought about that last part until he mentioned it.

    ¡°But you trained me the same as your assistants right?¡±

    The figures around them all shuttered and nodded in response.

    ¡°Forget about them!¡± They all looked depressed when the Armorer said that so harshly. ¡°I-I mean, for the moment focus on you. Why did I train you differently from the Three Armies?¡±

    Remembering the Jzanna and how it was able to kill so many he only had one response. ¡°Because the Three Armies cannot handle the enemy.¡±

    ¡°Precisely. Or, it is more correct to say that the Three Armies cannot be brought against the enemy at the same time and in the manner that would allow them to operate as they were trained to do.¡±

    Jzanna fly through space and their World Eaters cannot be fought by people on a planet that is being consumed.

    ¡°Only the Winged Order can fight in space.¡±

    ¡°Yes. The Jzanna are often only fought in the Deep Dark where Dark Vessels, not men are needed to fight. In the Dark Deep the Falling Fist only work to repel boarders, but often the boarders do too much damage and are difficult to kill. And how can the Whispers attack the enemy from behind with all their skills when they cannot leave the Vessels? Or when the Vessels provide more information than they could?¡±

    ¡°So you want to create a new order? One that would replace the others?¡±

    ¡°BAAAA!¡± The Armorer kicked his chair. It flew behind him, crashing into a crate and destroying both. ¡°You don¡¯t get it! The Three Armies have been the strongest force that has defeated every army. That is until now! Rather than replace a tool that works ninety-nine times out of a hundred isn¡¯t it better to adjust the tool so that it works one hundred times out of a hundred?¡±

    Kohn thought of himself as a smart guy, but the old Armorer was tip-toeing around the subject as if he was afraid to say what he wanted to out loud.

    ¡°You want to modify the Orders?¡± When he got a nod in response he continued thinking out loud. ¡°You can¡¯t modify the people because they¡¯re trained in the ways of the order. And you can¡¯t modify the training of the order because it works for everything else other than the Jzanna.¡±

    The assistants were all nodding repeatedly to everything that he had said so far. The Armorer¡¯s eyes held less insanity and more hope in them.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re the Armorer it¡¯s your responsibility to maintain their weapons and equipment.¡±

    ¡°And create the weapons and equipment!¡± The Armorer interjected excitedly for a moment.

    ¡°You create the weapons? So you want to create new weapons?¡±

    ¡°YESSSSSSSSSS!¡±

    Surprised at such a simple answer Kohn unconsciously spoke. ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°Every weapon, every Vessel, every member of the Three Armies are trained and designed to fight the enemy as if they were in front of you or below you. But the Jzanna are huge, long and fast! You won¡¯t be able to outmaneuver them so they can get behind you or above you. We need to adapt the equipment to be able to fight in all directions, not just what is in front.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s why you had me upside down, looking up and blindfolded! You were trying to get me use to fighting in situations in which I might be attacked by a Jzanna?¡±

    ¡°Precisely!¡±

    ¡°But why not train everyone that way?¡±

    ¡°Because I am not a member of the Kings Council. To change anything of the order without a member¡¯s approval is treasonous.¡±

    ¡°So why can you train me differently?¡±

    ¡°Because new methods require development and practice.¡± Kohn just gave him a deadpan stare. ¡°And! Because the Prince owes me and gave me some room to develop something new.¡±

    It sort of made sense, but it was like walking on a very fine line. If this new method didn¡¯t work out then the Armorer and the Prince would be in trouble for doing something without approval from the Kings Council.

    ¡°So I get why you trained me, to react differently and get use to fighting a monster that would constantly put me in a bad situation. But that can¡¯t be why you chose to train me. What else do you need from me?¡±

    The Armorer didn¡¯t look the least bit upset that he had been seen through.

    ¡°When our ships were in your planet¡¯s atmosphere we saw weapons that the Kingdom had never thought of before. Your projectiles followed our Vessels from the planet out into the Deep Dark. Your people had numerous smaller vessels for specialized purposes. And you had smaller tools to launch projectiles at close range.¡±

    ¡°You mean nukes, helicopters and guns?¡±

    ¡°Yes those! You have knowledge of how these work?¡± The Armorer was like a kid learning that the man in front of him was a professional candy maker. He wanted to learn all his secrets.

    ¡°Not intimate knowledge, but I pretty much understand the theory behind them.¡±

    ¡°Good! Then you will help us come up with equipment and weapons that would allow the Three Armies to be used in space as they are on the surface of a planet.¡±

    The Armorer¡¯s excitement infected Kohn. Both of them were starting to bounce a little.

    ¡®I can create my own weapons! This might even get me my very own ship faster and end the war with the Jzanna. Just what would be the easiest thing to work on first?¡±

    ¡°Hey #4, what do you think we should work on first?¡±

    The Assistant that Kohn had named number four in his head looked at him confused. Instead of answering, number four just looked at the Armorer.

    ¡°#4? You¡¯re funny boy.¡± He answered as if that look had held a deep conversation. ¡°He thinks that we should focus on some kind of weapon that could be used in close range. In an area of about fifty feet.¡±

    ¡°So a gun? Hmmm. A magical gun?¡±

    Kohn started to think of a few ideas when his brain finally processed what had just happened.

    ¡°Wait, why did you answer? Why didn¡¯t #4 answer?¡±

    ¡°Well, unlike you and the Earthlings, you haven¡¯t been raised in the Kingdom. They understand my beliefs and goals, but it conflicts with their loyalties to the Kingdom, to the King, and to their Households. So they choose to not speak for fear of getting their master and themselves into trouble.¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯re alone.¡±

    ¡°After so long it has become a habit for them.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you answer as if you could understand his silence?¡±

    The Armorer snorted. ¡°I didn¡¯t. His opinion is irrelevant. I¡¯m the one that wants this ¡®gun¡¯¡±.

    ¡°His opinion is irrelevant? Then what about mine?¡±

    ¡°Well you¡¯re different.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re all different. That¡¯s one thing you would have learned if you had grown up on Earth. Ideas can be thought up by anyone but are perfected by bouncing them between multiple people.¡± They didn¡¯t understand what he was trying to say so he just the Armorer¡¯s face out of the way.

    ¡°Any of you. What do you think we should work on first?¡±

    They all looked at each other. ¡®This won¡¯t go well.¡¯ It was an almost audible thought that they all had.

    At first it seemed like none of them would speak up, but then #1 raised his hand.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Kohn pointed at him ¡°#1?¡±

    Number One felt a little proud that he was in first place for the number names. ¡°Already have weapons,¡± he clearly wasn¡¯t use to speaking ¡°we need way for the Falling Fist Order to get to the Jzanna that are in the air.¡±

    Everyone in the room was shocked. Not because Number One had an absolutely genius thought, but because of how deep and sultry his voice was.

    ¡®Damn he has a sexy voice. He could be the ugliest man alive and women would follow him into bed if the lights were out.¡¯

    Number Two, thinking that he¡¯d have a similar voice after all this time decided to speak up as well. ¡°What about surviving in the Deep Dark?¡±

    ¡°BWAHAHAHAHAHA!¡± Everyone started laughing. The pretty boy of the bunch, Number Two¡¯s face went bright red when he realized he sounded like a chipmunk.

 Chapter 21 - Development Cycle

    The other four assistants all decided to speak up as well, but none were as hilarious as Number Two and Number One was a threat to every single man out there.

    ¡°Alright. So we have the first two major projects of this little group-¡°

    ¡°Three!¡±

    ¡°-uh, fine. Three Projects.¡± The Armorer wanted to work on the gun idea. He acted like a spoiled brat who was suddenly denied a toy so Kohn thought it would be easier to just work on it then trying to get him to focus on something else first. ¡°We have the project to get closer to the Jzanna, surviving in space and¡­ yes, the gun.¡±

    ¡°YES!¡± Well, at least it was easy to appease him with a simple project.

    Since Kohn had the knowledge of Earth and thought differently than the rest of them. the first thing he did was to describe what he already saw on Earth.

    He wanted to work on the more important projects first but it was clear with how deep the Armorer was invading his personal space that he wouldn¡¯t tolerate any further delays.

    ¡°The smallest gun, a pistol generally falls into two categories that look a little something like this¡­¡±

    So Kohn made a drawing of a revolver and another of a magazine fed pistol and labeled all their components. Before he could even say ¡®done¡¯ the Armorer had ripped the sheets out from under his pen and retreated to a corner; his gaze roving every inch of the drawings like a pervert.

    Shivering in disgust Kohn drowned himself in more sketches and notes, trying to forget the image of the big man huddling and drooling in the corner.

    The Spacesuit, a simple yet complicated garment, was designed specifically to allow humans to survive in the cold recesses of space. Of course the Earth version wasn¡¯t anywhere near capable for combat with the Jzanna so he gave Numbers Two, Three and Six the job of designing something that would be. Handing them some paper with everything that he could remember, he gave them a few ideas that he had thought of.

    ¡°Since the suit is only able to retain heat and air it won¡¯t be useful to fight in. But if you can come up with a way to use magic to retain both in a smaller, more maneuverable suit we can add armor plates to protect anyone fighting.¡±

    ¡°If we¡¯re going to use magic to make a smaller suit, we could also use magic to create shields. Why don¡¯t we just use magic?¡±

    ¡°Well, how much magic would that take?¡±

    ¡°Hmmm.¡± The assistants nodded their heads at each other in some kind of telepathic, non-telepathic conversation.

    ¡°And how much magic could a suit of armor have total?¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± They nodded again, but other than that they didn¡¯t answer him.

    ¡°And how much time could they fight in space if they are constantly using magic to survive and fight?¡±

    ¡°Hmm.¡± He understood that it was a habit of theirs to not speak and they probably developed some kind of method to understand each other, but it was really irritating not being a part of the conversation.

    ¡°Just take these and go away.¡± He handed the drawings and notes to them before sending them back to their work stations.

    Seeing new ideas and drawings the other assistants grew excited and couldn¡¯t wait for what he¡¯d give them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to give you about your idea #1.¡±

    They froze in shock, their excited faces went slack.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°Nothing?¡±

    Was Number One starting to cry? Shit.

    Seeing Number One, a grown muscular man crying made Kohn feel sad. He scoured his brain trying to think of something that they could work on.

    ¡°Ladders, stilts, hang gliders, smaller space ships, uh¡­ jet packs?¡± Number One looked confused at the terminology that only existed on Earth.

    ¡°Yeah. Jetpacks. Something like an attachment on your back that concentrates energy and pushes it out behind you to make you fly.¡±

    Kohn drew some designs to the best of his knowledge, but since he knew very little about the actual process behind jet packs he could only create concept arts.

    Once the assistants and their boss were given the basics they started working on each project as best they could. However, due to their linear thought process they would often return to Kohn for more information or help on what how something was actually supposed to achieve its purpose.

    ¡°No no no! You can¡¯t have exposed skin. If the suit has any kind of hole in it the air will escape into space and the person inside will be killed¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter if it doesn¡¯t look good it¡¯s meant to be functional¡­ What? This is just a box with straps and some tubes in it¡­ RUUUUUUNNNNNN!¡±

    Occasionally the Armorer would try to test fire his version of a ¡®gun¡¯ but after the first attempt in which he clicked it and said ¡°uh oh¡± they no longer trusted him.

    Of course Kohn didn¡¯t help them all the time. He mostly just came in at the beginning and told them where they did something wrong or gave suggestions on the designs so that magic formations could be placed more easily.

    For the most part he would go back to training.

    Exercising while studying large numbers of magic formations. After all the practice he was thankful that he was getting more and more familiar with them. It was getting to the point that they were becoming as easy to remember as breathing.

    To reward him the Armorer gave him more time to work on the gun project, but after the deadpan stares he switched tactics.

    ¡°Congratulations. You officially have graduated to level 1 Arms.¡±

    Yep, he was finally given a weapon that wasn¡¯t level 0. Even if it was just the heavy metal wrist bands he was still happy. Tears were coming out.

    After the assistants helped put them on him though he couldn¡¯t wipe away the tears. He could barely even lift his arms.

    ¡°What gives? These things are so heavy I can¡¯t even move!¡±

    ¡°Activate the formations idiot!¡±

    He had already noticed the formations on the solid metal Arms but they were ones that he hadn¡¯t seen before. ¡°What do they do?¡±

    ¡°What do they do? HAHAHAHA!¡± The Armorer laughed at him for not being able to read the formations.

    ¡°You¡¯ve never shown me a formation with five points before?¡±

    ¡°HAHAHAHA-ugh!¡± He choked on his laughter. ¡°Oh that¡¯s right isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Turns out that the formations made things lighter as long as magic was pumped into them. So his level 1 Arms were simply larger, heavier and they had a magic formation on them that would make them weigh less.

    He also learned the differences behind weapon levels.

    A weapon is considered level 0 no matter what it¡¯s made out of as long as it doesn¡¯t have any magic formation on it. Meaning that it¡¯s simply a brute force weapon with a ¡®hit it till it dies¡¯ kind of usage.

    A level 1 weapon actually has a magic formation on it, but only support magic. Such as the weight change or a small shield. Typically it¡¯s an enhancement designed to increase the durability and sharpness of the weapon. In a few cases it¡¯ll return the weapon to the user if it¡¯s been thrown.

    Level 2 weapons are considered to be a non-training weapon. Meaning that its magic is designed to do something else that will severely hurt the opponent.

    When Kohn asked for more information on level 2 weapons and beyond he ducked as the Armorer threw a large plier type tool at him.

    ¡°Can I add more magic formations to my Arms?¡±

    ¡°No, there isn¡¯t enough space.¡±

    ¡°What if we put a thin metal plate on top?¡±

    ¡°Then it would cover the other formations and they couldn¡¯t be used.¡±

    Remembering all the times the Armorer changed magic formations he had an idea. ¡°What if you put the plate on it and had the formations over the plate and the Arms, but when the plate moves it changes the formation?¡±

    Jaws dropped all around as they thought about it.

    ¡°That¡­¡±

    ¡°Make things easier, right?¡±

    ¡°How could we have never thought about it before?¡±

    ¡°We change formations all the time, but we never thought about using it for equipment.¡±

    Kohn was lost, but he figured it was a good idea by how much they were all talking about it.

    ¡°What formations would you want on it?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± he always dreamed about this ever since he was a kid and played his very first game ¡°could you put a formation on it to generate a Mana Ball?¡±

    ¡°Easily.¡±

    Kohn was so happy. The Mana Ball spell was exactly as its name sounds. You concentrate mana into a ball before shooting it at an enemy.

    ¡°So we¡¯ll call the metal plate a slide. If you move the slide forward over the hand the Mana Ball formation will appear. Putting mana into it will generate the blast and you can then fire it at the enemy.¡±

    ¡°If we do it that way the armor will be heavy and difficult to move.¡±

    ¡°Not if you add another part to the Arms that sits at the bicep. Have that be the light weight spell.¡±

    ¡°Then the Arms can have a second third magic formation on it.¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but this way we have the first major ideas behind the Space Suit and the Magic Gun!¡±

    The Armorer became upset. ¡°It¡¯s not a gun! It¡¯s still just a magic imbued Arms.¡±

    ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll call it the Buster Arms!¡±

 Chapter 22 - Jack-in Rockman, Power Up!

    Chapter 22

    Jack-in Rockman, Power Up!

    With Kohn¡¯s idea of imbuing the armor with changing magic formations, all three projects were accidentally combined into one.

    The Space Suit became enhanced armor that would add enhancements when in an area with atmosphere, and when it was in space or submerged in water it would turn into a spacesuit. Sealing off any exposed areas with shields.

    In order to have the multi-functioning suit they needed to make it layered with thin sheets of metal. While not as effective the layering was still strong enough without any magic in it that the suit could still stop a careless attack. On the plus side though it decreased the overall weight of the armor so the weight magic was reversed to increase the weight of the suit. Not only that, but they could customize the suit to look really cool.

    Kohn was giddy with how it turned out.

    The chest, forearms, feet and head were the thickest part with what appeared to be solid armor. Inside was the layering with multiple changing magic formations.

    The upper arms, legs, hips and neck were all covered in a thinner metal mesh-like armor that allowed freer movements for combat. Some extra armor was added to the quads and shoulders which took away from the nostalgic appearance that he was going for but everyone convinced him that it was necessary.

    He did manage to get them to keep the face plate open though. At first they wanted to create a real solid helmet, but immediately found a fatal flaw when Numbers Four and Six strapped the prototypes to their heads.

    ¡°Can¡¯t see!¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t. BREATHE!¡±

    So the solid round helmet was changed to a more human shaped version with an open face. When needed a magic shield would cover the face and allow the user to breathe.

    A steady supply of air and heat had actually been the most challenging part of the whole ordeal. Turns out that except for an underwater spell that collected molecules of oxygen from the water, magic had never developed something useful for space.

    Then again they didn¡¯t really know what happened to life once out there. Either they died or they didn¡¯t seemed to be the main consensus.

    A short but graphical explanation later¡­

    The assistants all looked a little sick. The Armorer was trying to look strong and powerful but he kept his arms crossed, almost as if he was constantly hugging himself.

    Maybe he shouldn¡¯t have gone into such detail?

    But they managed to solve the problem by using magic to compress air into tanks. Then, using a process similar to water purifiers on Earth, they created carbon strips that collected the C from C0 and C02 to get a little more oxygen out of the tanks.

    ¡°How much air is in these slim packs?¡±

    ¡°We figured that someone could spend a week in the suits if they don¡¯t get too excited.¡±

    ¡°What about if they have to go into combat?¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ¡°Maybe 3 days. We can¡¯t be more certain than that since each person is different.¡±

    ¡°How did you test it? I thought we couldn¡¯t go out into space?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t go out into space- damn it! Now you¡¯ve got me saying it. The Deep Dark.¡± After talking so much with Kohn the Armorer and his assistants were starting to use the same names as him, much to their chagrin. ¡°Dark Vessels were designed to be solid and not allow anything in or out until it lands on a planet. We dropped an idiot into a water tank for a couple hours and then measured how much air had been used.¡±

    When he had nonchalantly said ¡®idiot¡¯ his head had unconsciously pointed his chin at number four.

    ¡°How was the suit?¡± He asked him.

    ¡°I could breathe. It was warm and there were no problems with the changing magic formations.¡±

    ¡°Good. So there were no problems? Was it comfortable?¡±

    ¡°We designed it for you so it was a little bigger and smaller in some areas but other than that it was comfortable.¡±

    Manly pride filled Kohn up when he heard that his suit was a little bigger, but his ego quickly deflated.

    ¡°The butt in particular was bigger and felt like something was caressing me in the water. The head and feet were also for your body so they were too big for me. The arms, legs, chest, back and crotch were all tight on the other hand.¡±

    ¡°I-is that so¡­?¡±

    Luckily before his ego could fall into depression the other group popped in with their prototypes. The boots and Buster Arms in their hands were pristine and cleaned, unlike the sweaty, grime covered and slightly burnt men that held them.

    ¡°We finished them!¡±

    ¡°Help me put them on.¡±

    ¡°The boots have two primary magic formations now. In Space they are your version of jet packs, with little bursts of magical fire to push you.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll test that out later when we figure out how to leave the ship.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but the other magic formation is similar, but more of an enhancement magic.¡±

    ¡°Why not just have the jet pack formation?¡±

    ¡°Because they don¡¯t have a lot of effect. The distance from the jet pack boots is similar to the distance of just jumping.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s disappointing.¡±

    ¡°True¡­ but we went off another idea you had. You wanted to imbue enhancement magic onto your fist so that you could punch harder right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but we left it as just the weight increase since we couldn¡¯t put thick gloves on the suit since they would block the Buster Arms and make it harder to use weapons.¡±

    ¡°Right, but we can put enhancement formations on the boots to make you kick harder!¡±

    ¡°!¡±

    Kohn immediately tested it out. Jumping 10 feet straight up.

    ¡°Nice!¡±

    ¡°Its fun, but the spell is more effect when you try to do a quick sprint forward.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Kohn activated the spell as he tried to sprint forward. ¡°WHOA!¡± It launched up towards the wall 20 feet away. Unprepared he smacked face first.

    ¡°Oww.¡±

    ¡°Sorry. I did say it had more effect that way though.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Yeah you did.¡± He couldn¡¯t even be angry since it really was his own fault. That and because it was just like from the game. The dash-skip ability!

    Afraid that he was upset with them, the assistants hoped that he¡¯d forget about it if they talked about his Buster Arms.

    ¡°The Buster Arms work just like you wanted though!¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Just activate the formation and the longer you keep the formation active the greater the power. To fire you simply stop giving it mana.¡±

    They setup a target since they knew he¡¯d want to test it just like them. He was worried though when they put up shields behind the target and a couple of assistants went behind him to push against his back.

    ¡°Okay¡­ activating?¡±

    The magic formation was setup to take a minimum amount of energy but could also change to accept a user input level.

    His first shot was a small Mana Ball roughly three inches in diameter. It only took a second for it to be ready to shoot. When he held the spell for longer the Mana Ball grew tremendously in size.

    Five inches in diameter. Ten inches. Twenty inches. Forty. Fifty.

    The thing was so big that Kohn was actually getting worried and the assistants panicked and told him to fire.

    BZZZZ-ZUUU!

    The kick back knocked all of them back several feet. They watched the Mana Ball in a daze as it gave off a weird cackling sound it flew and hit the target, instantly obliterating it.

    ¡®Oh shit!¡¯

    But the Mana Ball didn¡¯t stop at the target.

    Some of the energy had been bled off from the spell when it hit the target but there was still a lot of mana in the shot when it impacted on the shield behind the target.

    The Mana Ball seemed to stretch and flatten against the shield, sending pulses rippling along the shield for a short time before the shield collapsed. Everyone in the room hoped that would be the end of it but it then hit the wall and burned through the inches of metal¡­ rock¡­ whatever the ship was made out of.

    Klaxons and alarms were going off as the assistants and Kohn just laid in a pile.

    He managed to say one word in awe.

    ¡°Perfect.¡±

 Chapter 23 - Approval

    ¡°It was just a harmless little test. No big deal.¡±

    ¡°No big deal? You put a hole in my ship and damaged its magical arrays! Not to mention you¡¯ve drained an abnormal amount of mana over the last couple of weeks.¡±

    ¡°We had to test out the new prototype. We needed to know how powerful it was.¡±

    ¡°I DON¡¯T CARE!¡±

    The Armorer, his assistants and Kohn were currently in the middle of getting yelled at.

    Leete had been furious to find out that their little test had caused some serious damage to his ship. Not just the hole in the wall, but apparently when the Buster Arm was fired by Kohn it had actually overpowered and destroyed the magic formation for internal shields.

    ¡°The simple fact of the matter is that you built a dangerous weapon and endangered the entire ship! What you fools were even thinking is beyond me.¡± He was fuming. ¡°If it was up to me you¡¯d be in prison!¡±

    ¡°Leete.¡±

    Before Leete¡¯s mind could even register that the Prince had spoken to him he angrily opened his mouth.

    ¡°WHAT?¡±

    Everyone was surprised that the normally respectful Leete had yelled at his liege. Leete understood that he could get in serious trouble. He knelt immediately.

    ¡°My humblest apologies Prince StoneTooth.¡±

    Prince StoneTooth played with Leete a little by leaving a few moments of awkward silence to fill the air. Making Leete sweat heavily and thinking that this was the incident that would ruin him.

    ¡°I can see that you are under duress due to the situation and damage to your ship by one of our own. So for your sake I will leave this incident forgotten.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, your Highness.¡±

    ¡°For these eight though.¡± Kohn and his group tensed when the Prince turned to them. ¡°You¡¯ve used a considerable amount of our mana reserves without permission. You¡¯ve damaged the Kingdom¡¯s property. And worse yet you designed equipment of such magnitude without permission of a member of the King¡¯s Council!¡±

    Their backs tensed and their heads lowered further with every listing of their crimes.

    ¡°There is only one verdict that I can pass.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Here it came. The Prince would have the Armorer and his assistants stripped of their ranks. Then all of them would be imprisoned for the rest of their lives. Or maybe they¡¯d be forced to do back braking work until their bodies fell apart. He even had sufficient power and excuse to have them all executed.

    ¡°Approved.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Nine voices rang out at the same time. The look on Leete¡¯s face was comical, but considering how he was just as confused as Kohn, they probably shared a similar expression.

    The Prince just laughed at them.

    ¡°What did you expect me to say? No? Don¡¯t design weapons that powerful? Stop trying to create new equipment that would be helpful in our fight against the Jzanna? A fight that threatens every lifeforms very existence?¡±

    When he put it like that it was stupid to accept punishment.

    ¡°Still, you did damage the ship¡­¡±

    Spoke too soon.

    ¡°¡­ so you¡¯ll have to fix the damages.¡± He turned to walk away before remembering something. ¡°Oh! And I expect Leete and I to see every single test on new equipment from here on out. If you test something without us present I¡¯ll let Leete do whatever he wants to you.¡±

    Having realized that he¡¯d gotten the Prince¡¯s promise to enact any kind of punishment upon the criminals that damaged his ship his facial expressions went from shock to sadistic joy at the thought of what he¡¯d do to them.

    ¡°Y-yes, your Highness.¡± Kohn and the Armorer replied. The assistants still pretended to be emotionally scarred and mute from the Armorer¡¯s training so they just nodded firmly.

    ¡°What all are you working on? Anything as dangerous as this¡­ ¡®Buster Arm¡¯ that made a hole in the ship?¡±

    ¡°NO! No, no your Highness.¡± Kohn rushed to assuage the Prince, but then realized that they really didn¡¯t have another project after the suit. ¡°Actually. Other than the suit, the weapon and boots we really haven¡¯t thought of anything else to work on as of yet.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Not to say that we won¡¯t work on something else, just that we haven¡¯t thought of any ideas of what to work on next.¡±

    The Prince pondered for a moment. ¡°Then might I suggest something?¡±

    ¡°Please! Any time your Highness.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t rush me Earthling!¡±

    ¡°Uh, no your Highness. When I say ¡®any time¡¯ I mean that you should feel free to express any idea to me whenever you have one.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± *cough, cough* He started to pace while in deep thought.

    ¡°Then might I suggest looking at the enemy that we have to face. There are many smaller Jzanna that are a threat, but they¡¯re not the real threat. They¡¯re difficult to face, but they¡¯re not too serious of a threat.¡±

    When he stopped pacing to see if they understood what he was getting at the Prince was disappointed to see confused faces looking back at him. Maybe he was being too subtle?

    ¡°The true threat isn¡¯t the large, unending, destructive forces of the Jzanna.¡± That seemed like a pretty serious threat already though. ¡°It¡¯s the World Eaters!¡±

    ¡°OH!¡± It was so obvious they felt stupid for not coming up with the answer on their own.

    ¡°The World Eaters are what allow the Jzanna to transport a significant portion of their forces across the galaxy. And when they latch on to a planet they don¡¯t leave until everything has been consumed. You¡¯ve made a powerful weapon to help us fight the smaller ones. Now develop something to destroy the big Jzanna.¡±

    ¡°Yes your Highness!¡±

    Maybe it was because of their excited faces and the Armorer¡¯s insane eyes, but the Prince had to clarify one more point. ¡°Just don¡¯t test it on this ship!¡±

    ¡°Ah, right.¡±

    ¡°Darn.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®darn¡¯?! You were going to test it inside the ship weren¡¯t you?¡±

    The Armorer became a little bashful.

    ¡°No I wasn¡¯t.¡±

    Kohn and the assistants looked at each other and they could tell that they all had the same thought.

    ¡°He so totally was.¡±

 Chapter 24 - A Table for Crafting

    After the Prince let them leave after having received enough assurances that they wouldn¡¯t test anything without his and Leete¡¯s oversight. It left them feeling a little depressed though they couldn¡¯t understand why seeing how they could still develop prototypes.

    ¡°So how do we fix the ship?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fairly simple. We just patch a hole and rewrite a few magic formations.¡±

    ¡°Oh. Then I guess it won¡¯t take too long.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ the hole is a simple job but the Array will be difficult.¡±

    ¡°Difficult how? You change magic formations all the time.¡±

    ¡°FOOL! There is a difference between drawing formations with visible mana or chalk and actually creating functioning magic formations.¡±

    ¡°There is?¡±

    Uh oh. That throbbing vein on the Armorer¡¯s forehead was starting to come back again.

    ¡°Which irresponsible fool taught you?! Whoever it was should be whipped and beaten with flame enhancements.¡±

    The assistants were quickly putting space between them and Armorer who was once again invading Kohn¡¯s personal space.

    Before he could stop it a little voice escaped his lips. ¡°¡­but you were the one who taught me¡­¡±

    ¡°WHAT!?¡± The Armorer roared.

    ¡°So the hole is simple right?¡±

    ¡°Idiot! Don¡¯t try to change the subject, boy!¡±

    ¡°So what, we get like some paper, tape it up, and write something like ¡®under construction, sorry for the mess¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I ought to kill you.¡±

    Kohn was grabbed by the back of the neck like an angry drunk would to a beer bottle. His whole body went stiff as a board.

    Carried into the back area of the armory Kohn saw the assistants picking up long handled hammers from the corner of the room.

    Hanging up on the walls were numerous tools, 9 of each. At the base of the walls there were thick, heavy ingots everywhere. Some looked like iron, some looked like cobalt, but there were plenty that he couldn¡¯t tell what type of material they were. There was even a stack of what looked like glowing Jade.

    The Armorer picked up two ingots of what could have been iron or steel, tossing them at Kohn.

    Kohn worked out a lot on Earth and ever since he came onto the ship he worked out even harder so he thought he was pretty strong. But when he tried to catch the ingots he comically sailed backwards while coughing up a lung.

    *cough* Air was slowly brought back into his lungs with a rasping, hoarse sound.

    ¡°What the hell is this stuff?¡±

    ¡°Ah? It¡¯s Creaton. You don¡¯t have it on your planet?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it, what¡¯s it made out of?¡±

    ¡°Ah? It¡¯s not made of anything. That¡¯s a bar of pure Creaton. It¡¯s stronger than most metals found on my planet, once magic is cycled through it of course.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Must be some kind carbon type metal reinforced with magic. It looked dark grey but if you tilted it you could see a bright shine that belied its true color.

    ¡°So how do we fix the hole with this? We could stack them and fill the hole that way. If we had some concrete or other filler it wouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    SMACK!

    ¡°FOOL!¡±

    Picking himself back off the floor, Kohn firmly rubbed his face to get it back into the proper shape.

    ¡°That would be too expensive! Creaton is incredibly strong but found only in small amounts at a time. The largest nugget of Creaton ever found was only a little bigger than the size of my fist!¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re sitting on a pile of gold then?¡±

    ¡°Gold? That worthless material is nothing more than a shiny rock! It can¡¯t even begin to compare with Creaton!¡±

    The Armorer really took offensive to Kohn¡¯s casual remark. It made sense if he thought about it though. The only reason gold was considered valuable back on Earth was because it looked pretty and could be used for computer circuits these days.

    ¡°How about I just shut up and watch?¡±

    SMACK!

    It was amazing how often Kohn was picking himself off the floors these days. He had to stop tripping over his own feet, but he still couldn¡¯t explain why the front and back of his head hurt if his face broke his fall.

    ¡°How about you just pick up a hammer? AND shut it!¡±

    Grabbing the hammer held out by an assistant Kohn joined the group around a weird elegant looking table. It was round, but in the center was a square divided up evenly into nine sections. Each part had several overlapping formations on them while the rest of the table all had formations for the elements pointed towards the center.

    Fire, water, earth, wind¡­ they were all designed to influence the inner set of formations.

    ¡°Follow what my assistants do.¡±

    They took one of the ingots from him, putting it in the center section. Then each of them held their hammers above their heads so with the long length of the handle the head was hanging down behind them.

    Imitating them made Kohn feel like a fool posing for a photo op.

    Feeling them infuse mana into the hammers, Kohn followed along. Using the precious amount of mana he was allocated every day.

    WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

    One at a time each of the assistants swung their hammer with the full weight of their body, hitting the ingot.

    WHAM-WHAM!

    Then the Armorer, with a hammer in each hand followed suit after them.

    Wonk.

    It sounded different when Kohn hit it, but when the head touched the extremely flattened ingot he noticed that all the mana was drained from the hammer directly into the metal.

    ¡°Too much mana.¡± Came a quiet, small hint from his left while radiating heat came from his right. Refilling the hammer with a quarter of the amount of mana he used before he hefted the hammer up again.

    They continued taking turns hitting the ingot and when it came time for his turn to hit it again he heard that satisfying sound.

    WHAM!

    A few more rounds around the table and then ingot was flattened into a nice square plate. The others didn¡¯t hit anywhere but the center of where the ingot was and so Kohn did the same, but for some reason the plate was evenly flat and smooth. Must be some trick of magic, but the only thing Kohn saw was them hitting the metal and some patterns on the edge of the table lighting up on each strike.

    Quickly they repeated the process for the other ingot before grabbing both plates and going to the hole in the other room.

    ¡°How are we going to keep it on the wall? Is there like some magical glue or something?¡±

    The Armorer spoke disappointedly out of the side of his mouth, ¡°Every time you open your mouth you say stupider and stupider things¡­¡±

    Kohn was the one getting upset now. ¡°Shove your useless comments where the- Humph-fu-muph!¡± Luckily one of the assistants clasped his hand firmly over Kohn¡¯s mouth otherwise he¡¯d probably start another fight that would end with Kohn being healed and the Armorer getting yelled at again for nearly killing him.

    ¡°Creaton is strong, but a thin spike can still penetrate a thin sheet of it.¡± He watched as Number Four pulled some bits of metal out of his pocket. They were roughly one inch wide, six inches long and a quarter of an inch thick. Bent twice it looked like a staple.

    With a couple quick hits the plates were held in place.

    ¡°It¡¯s quick and fairly effective but doesn¡¯t look as good. Unfortunately we don¡¯t have the necessary setup to replace the wall entirely.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never worked with metal before to create something, but don¡¯t we normally need a furnace or something?¡±

    ¡°Fire? On a ship?!¡± They were all incredulous looking. ¡°Do you want to kill us all?¡±

    ¡°What? Oh yeah, those safety precautions.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, those. It¡¯s impossible to differentiate uncontrolled fires from useful ones so we set up the formations on the table to do nearly the same thing. Every time you hit the ingot the mana in the hammer is transferred into it and depending upon the position and amount of mana a specific pattern is used to give the desired effect. That allows us to make things in space without killing ourselves.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s some kind of table that can craft things?¡±

 Chapter 25 - Out of Materials

    The patchwork on the wall was ugly, but suitable.

    ¡°So that was fairly easy. How do we fix the Dark Vessel¡¯s Array now?¡±

    ¡°First we have to see the damages.¡±

    The ship¡¯s Array was a series of magical formations kept in the center of the ship. It held all the magical formations that were used to operate the ship and monitor its status.

    Kohn was thinking it would be some kind of magical motherboard, but was surprised, worried and pissed when he came face-to-face with a gigantic rubix cube suspended by scary looking, pulsating chains.

    ¡°What. The. Hell. Is that?¡±

    ¡°This is the Magic Array that the Winged Order use to manipulate the ship. Each chain is made with a metal with high magic conductivity that allows nearly zero loss of mana. Mana commands travel through these chains to the specific magic formation to activate the spells.¡±

    ¡°All the chains interconnect. How do the ¡®mana commands¡¯ reach a specific formation?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ don¡¯t know. Memorization?¡±

    ¡°Memorization?¡±

    ¡°Maybe they cheat, I don¡¯t know! Do I look like I¡¯m in the Winged Order?¡±

    The Armorer ignored the people that were already in the room, all of whom looked at their group with disapproving stares. He walked up to a pair of chains and gave them a quick tug. The Boxes connected to those chains followed along, cycling past.

    ¡°What the fuck? It really is a giant rubix cube.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a rubix cube?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a stupid puzzle from Earth. You shift the surface to match up the colors so each side of the cube has the same colors.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Well the Magic Array isn¡¯t just the surface.¡±

    He grabbed the pair of chains on top of the box and pulled towards himself. Other cubes with formations on them cycled with the row below. Unlike Earth rubix cubes this one had an internal depth. Oh that would be a bitch to solve.

    Eventually a completely burnt cube appeared.

    ¡°It¡¯s not damaged, it¡¯s just destroyed.¡±

    ¡°Well let¡¯s just draw the formations on it and it¡¯ll be good as new!¡±

    ¡°Draw it on?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you know. Like how we did with training. Drawing formations just requires the precise knowledge to make it. Right?¡±

    The assistants all shook their heads at his question. The Armorer face palmed so hard a clap echoed through the large room.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°No?¡±

    ¡°Magic formations can be easily drawn, but just drawing a magic formation without the proper materials would only make them a one-time use. If we just ¡®drew¡¯ them we¡¯d have to redraw the formations every time we needed that particular formation.¡±

    ¡°So, what are the proper materials?¡±

    ¡°Well first we¡¯d need to replace the Formation Bank, the cube. Without a new one the magic formation wouldn¡¯t seal properly and fall off at some point. Then we¡¯ll need a powdered catalyst and ethereal liquid to draw the formation.¡±

    ¡°So what¡¯s the problem? Let¡¯s just do that.¡±

    ¡°The powdered catalyst and ethereal liquid we have, but our production of prototypes has used up too much material. We don¡¯t have enough to create another Formation Bank.¡±

    ***

    ¡°You¡¯ve used up the material needed to replace the Formation Bank. And now you want the fleet to find a suitable planet to land and mine more?¡±

    The Armorer was bashful when he replied. ¡°Yes.¡±

    High Mage Leete noticed that he was recently unable to maintain his normal calm and calculating behavior around the Dark Vessel¡¯s Armorer and the Earthling Kohn. And these situations were happening increasingly more frequent.

    Before he could yell at the fool for wasting materials that were only used in trace amounts, the Earthling spoke up.

    ¡°Why do we need to go to a planet?¡±

    With all the calm rage of a parent teaching a child who annoyingly couldn¡¯t understand something so simple Leete taught him.

    ¡°Planets are the only place that has air.¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°Air is needed to survive.¡±

    ¡°Well yeah, but we¡¯re not looking for air. We¡¯re looking for materials.¡±

    Three veins throbbed incessantly on Leete¡¯s forehead. Rubbing them did nothing to dull the sensations. Leete always had high hopes from Kohn ever since their conversation on his home planet, but if he didn¡¯t understand the basics of life it would have been a fools dream.

    ¡°In order to mine the materials we need air to survive. How can you not understand this?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not stupid.¡± He looked a little insulted at the insinuation. ¡°Don¡¯t you have some kind of smaller ship that can mine or just bring an asteroid into the Bay. We¡¯ll chop something off and then throw out the rest.¡±

    ¡°The only other vessels we have are designed for combat and only for short range defense. And we CAN¡¯T bring a rock on board without killing everyone because you broke the internal shields Formation Bank! Without shields everyone will be sucked out and die or the air would get sucked out and everyone would suffocate!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Kohn backed away with both hands raised in surrender.

    Leete tried to calm down a little, especially in front of the Prince it wouldn¡¯t help him to get angry. The last time he yelled at the Prince he really could have lost his position. Or life.

    Kohn thought of something in the awkward silence.

    ¡°How do you launch the smaller vessels?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°How do they leave the ship? I don¡¯t remember seeing any ports or attached ships to launch.¡±

    ¡°There is a bay for the small vessels. The entrance Bay is isolated from the rest of the ship with metal doors so that we don¡¯t lose air when the Phantasms are launched.¡±

    Kohn turned away from Leete.

    ¡°Armorer.¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Can you create a tool or something for a single person to mine and retrieve materials?¡±

    ¡°Of course. Easily!¡±

    ¡°Please do. Now, what is the closest location where we might find the materials we need?¡±

    Leete gestured to a nearby commander. ¡°The nearest known planet with the necessary material is weeks of travel time away.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too far away. Not only can we not repair the Formation Bank but we also can¡¯t keep making prototypes.¡± It irritated Leete to hear him only complaining about being unable to make new toys. ¡°Outside of a planet, where else could we find the material?¡±

    ¡°Spells sensors indicate that there is sufficient material in the nearby asteroid road.¡±

    The ¡®asteroid road¡¯ is pretty much an asteroid belt, but instead of circling a planet it just shoots off into space. The best researchers assume that a road is created when a planet is destroyed in such a way that it shoots off away from its original position. The further it goes the more of the planet breaks apart and falls behind.

    ¡°Then this is the perfect time to test out the space capabilities of our prototype armor suit.¡±

 Chapter 26 - Space Walk

    ¡°You¡¯re trying to commit suicide?¡±

    ¡°What? No! I¡¯m going to live!¡±

    ¡°But nothing survives in the Deep Dark.¡±

    ¡°Well, the Jzanna can.¡±

    ¡°Eh-nothing other than a species that grows to eat whole planets can live in the Deep Dark.¡± Leete corrected.

    ¡°Well not anymore!¡± Kohn was a little worried, but his excitement coupled with all the water sealed tests pushed that into a deep corner in his mind. ¡°With this new suit you¡¯re now going to be able to send people out to fight the Jzanna, repair ships, or do whatever!¡±

    ¡°This little prototype of yours will fail horribly and you¡¯ll die.¡±

    It was a little hard to tell whether Leete was concerned or preparing to say ¡®I told you so¡¯ when he died.

    ¡°Nah.¡±

    ¡°Even if this does work, how do you plan to get to the asteroids to get the material we need?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve designed short burst magic into the feet that will allow me to control the direction that I go in.¡± He didn¡¯t add in the part that he added on in his head.

    ¡®I hope anyway.¡¯

    It was untested technology. Spells. Tech-ells? Spology? Kohn would later think of a good name for the hybrid combination of magic and science.

    ¡°What about air? And heat? You¡¯ll die without those.¡±

    ¡°The suit seals itself tightly and regulates heat and air. As long as it has mana and the tank on the back isn¡¯t empty you¡¯ll live.¡±

    ¡°Well then how will mine the rocks?¡±

    Geez. Leete was so negative about this whole expedition. True the fleet had to practically stop, but it¡¯s not like there was anything chasing them. And the Prince didn¡¯t seem to mind that the trip would take a couple hours longer.

    ¡°For that I hired the best person with the most experience to design the ultimate tool. Armorer?¡±

    He had asked the Armorer to create the best tool that the Kingdom had ever produced. Something that would look just as cool as the suit that he¡¯d use in space. Something that would allow him to level mountains or make the smallest of cuts in a rock. An awesome tool with both power and precision.

    Kohn was just as excited to see what the Armorer had made as he was to go out into space. Would it be some king of mining laser? Or maybe a series of spells that sucked the metals out of the ground? Ooh! What about some kind of sonar or sound blasting setup that pulverizes the asteroid so he could just grab and pick up what he needed to get?

    What was he going to give him?

    He felt a heavy weight fall into his hand.

    ¡®It feels like a handle for something.¡¯

    Turning to see what he held, Kohn was shocked.

    The Armorer had dropped a single sided pickaxe into his hands.

    A blank expression on his face, Kohn asked in a very calm tone. ¡°What the hell is this?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the mining tool you wanted.¡±

    ¡°This¡­ it¡¯s just a pickaxe.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a good pickaxe.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    ¡°I asked you for something that would look just as cool as the suit¡­¡±

    ¡°The pickaxe is made from the same material as the suit. Same materials, same ¡®coolness¡¯ right?¡±

    ¡°¡­What about the part where it could level mountains?¡±

    ¡°Given enough time and the power of the suit I¡¯m sure you could mine something as small as a mountain in no time. Say half a year?¡±

    Kohn was at a loss for words. He wanted to yell back that that wasn¡¯t what he had in mind at all, but what the Armorer had said completely fit the list of his demands for the tool.

    Wordlessly and with slumped shoulders he walked into the Phantasm bay.

    The small fighter looking ships were firmly locked in place along the wall. Normally they¡¯d be on a tube type track where they would be launched into space, but due to the setup all the tracks fired at the same time. For Kohn who only planned on using just his suit to mine, the other ships would be useless and would waste the mana required to power them. So rather than reconfiguring the tracks to only fire one, they just removed the other ships.

    The pickaxe could apparently be held down against his back using the same spell they had imbued to hold weapons. So his hands were free to wedge himself into the Phantasm track launcher.

    A few of the other people from Earth were watching. More than a few had been just as excited as him to see the Rockman variation suit. They chatted quietly amongst each other off near the entrance.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Kohn seem a little depressed?¡±

    ¡°Why would he be depressed? He¡¯s going to be launched into space while wearing a magical robot suit!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s only going out into space to mine a couple asteroids.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really dangerous, especially since he admitted they never tested the suit in space before.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but why does he have an ordinary pickaxe? Couldn¡¯t he have got some kind of magic bomb spell or mining laser? It¡¯s just so mundane.¡±

    Kohn cried inside the sealed suit. He could hear every word they were saying thanks to the sensory spells and he agreed completely. It just wasn¡¯t a fantasy type tool!

    ¡°Good luck out there.¡±

    The doors sealed shut and the lights in the room dimmed to a deep blue before the g-forces pelted him in the Phantasm brace.

    EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

    The brace hit the edge of the track and disappeared from underneath him as he flew out the open port. His flesh and bones were still feeling the g-forces so he tilted his legs and fired off a few bursts of the thrusters in order to flip his body around. Then he fired the thrusters for a full 3 seconds and came down to a manageable slow drift.

    It worked! He was still alive!

    Now that the g-forces were no longer trying to crush him he was able to actually take a breath and take note of things. Heat felt normal, air was¡­ well air. And the thrusters worked like a charm. So far everything was working like it was supposed to!

    [Hey Earth boy! Can you hear me out there?]

    Hearing the Armorer¡¯s voice in his head quickly soured his mood.

    ¡°Yeah I can hear you.¡±

    The spell allowed each person to speak normally. It was just really weird to hear them coming from inside your skull.

    [Good! The ships sensors are saying that you¡¯ve slowed yourself down. You don¡¯t know how good it is to hear that the boots worked!]

    ¡°What? What are you talking about?¡±

    [Honestly I didn¡¯t know how to tell you this, but¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure it was going to work like you wanted!]

    ¡°Then why did you launch me out of the ship like that?¡±

    [Hmm. Now that I think about it we probably could have just let you walk to the end of the tracks and just opened the outer doors for you.]

    Kohn faced palmed himself. It was a habit that he had picked up recently ever since he got to know the Armorer, but in the suit there was a bit more power behind it causing him to spin uncontrollably for a little bit.

    [Boy! You alright?]

    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m fine.¡±

    [Why were you suddenly spinning? Did the boots fire off randomly again? That happened a lot in testing.]

    ¡®When I get back inside I am so going to hurt you.¡¯

    [Boy¡­ your thoughts appear as text on the ship.]

    ¡°I¡¯m heading towards the asteroids.¡±

    A small highlighted rock appeared on his suits shield screen. They had scanned the asteroid road earlier and found that this one was the likeliest candidate to have what they needed. Small was of course a relative term as it was about twice as big as the Dark Vessels.

    And this ¡®small¡¯ rock in particular was quite deep in the asteroid road so he had to fly for a while. They couldn¡¯t risk putting the ships too close otherwise there might be unnecessary damages.

    Mining proved to be a pretty simple and boring job even in space. The only real difference was that everything that you broke off didn¡¯t need to be cleared away as everything just floated off into space. That and he felt very little exertion since the suit did most of the heavy lifting.

    [Nearly filled the sack yet boy?]

    That was also depressing. The best way to collect all the rocks he mined was simply by putting them into a sack of cloth that they got from the ship.

    ¡®Why couldn¡¯t they create a more magical, fantasy way of mining?!¡¯

    Oddly Kohn liked to turn back to the ship when he spoke to them. Maybe he could feel the sensors on his skin or maybe he could just imagine people watching a display of him. Either way he just found it rude to talk with his back turned towards them.

    ¡°Yeah yeah, it¡¯s nearly full! Let me just get a few more chunks and I¡¯ll head on back¡­¡± Kohn trailed off as a larger piece of rock with a deep crevice spun around.

    An oddly familiar long snake-like tail and 3 wing-fins with claws were sticking out of the crevice.

    ¡°Oh, shit.¡±

 Chapter 27 - Jzanna in the Road

    [What is it boy? What do you see?]

    Kohn didn¡¯t reply. He just stared at the crevice, ready to fly away at a moment¡¯s notice.

    ¡°It¡¯s a Jzanna.¡±

    He didn¡¯t need to whisper back since physics had determined that sound couldn¡¯t possibly travel in space, but it just felt right to him. As if every precaution was necessary to survive.

    [Are you being attacked?!]

    ¡°No. It¡¯s in a crevice in an asteroid.¡±

    [It¡¯s probably sleeping then. Or it¡¯s like that other one we brought on board. What did you call it? Hibernating?]

    It sounded like a feasible option since it truly wasn¡¯t moving, but something seemed a little off. He could see the tail and one set of its wing-fins, but there was some kind of black-grey film on it. The film stretched over the body parts that he could see almost as if there had been some kind of slime it had tried to escape from.

    [This is a good situation then!]

    ¡°How is this a good situation?!¡± Kohn angrily whispered to Leete back on the ship. ¡°I am staring right at a Jzanna!¡±

    [Weren¡¯t you the one who was promising great results from your new prototype? Something about a Buster Arm weapon that damaged my ship from the inside?]

    Cringing slightly in his suit, Kohn had hoped to make Leete forget about the reason that caused the fleet to stop here at the asteroid road but instead had only made the mage recall the event.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s a good time to test it out then¡­¡±

    Readying the weapon Kohn couldn¡¯t help but feel like he was missing something. Trying to shake off the feeling he charged the Buster arm. A thick pipe-like bracelet slid forward over his right hand as he used his left to hold the arm steady and aimed straight into the crevice. Just as the Mana Ball started to form Kohn pushed the bracelet part back onto his arm, shutting off the formation and harmlessly dispersing the used mana into space.

    Movement had caught his eye. Further up the crevice.

    ¡°Oh shit.¡±

    [Again with that?]

    [Boy, what happened? Did your weapon not work?] The Armorer had stressed the part about it being Kohn¡¯s weapon in a poorly disguised attempt to shift the blame of a faulty weapon to him.

    ¡°I cancelled the shot.¡±

    [¡­Why?]

    The movement that had caught his eye didn¡¯t come from the place where he had seen the Jzanna. Instead he had seen a tail come out of a black-grey rock further up the same asteroid.

    ¡°There¡¯s more than one Jzanna out here.¡±

    ***

    Back on the Dark Vessel Leete was standing at the command center with the vessel¡¯s Armorer right next to him. Both were staring at a magical display that showed a magnified few of Kohn in his prototype suit.

    ¡°What did he say?¡± Leete inquired of the heavily muscled man next to him.

    Since a little while ago the Earthling had been speaking in whispers, forcing everyone to strain their ears in order to hear him.

    ¡°There¡¯s more than one of those things out there!¡±

    It was possible that there were a couple out there in the road since it stretched through space for a great distance. And of course the Jzanna seemed perceptive enough to pick up spells over great distances, no matter the type used.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°Drop all scans of the rocks! Send a burst transmission to all ships in the fleet that there are an unknown number of Jzanna in the road and they are to limit all external spells. Immediately!¡±

    The commanders around him snapped to complete his orders. They were good mages, trained personally by him.

    ¡°Get enhanced views of the road all around the Earthling! Mark any Jzanna you can see and get me a count of how many we¡¯re dealing with!¡±

    A group response of ¡°YES HIGH MAGE!¡± echoed all around him. Quickly he felt the vessel¡¯s external spells disappear as more displays floated around the room.

    ¡°Sector One. No sign of Jzanna presence.¡±

    ¡°Sector Three. No sign of Jzanna presence.¡±

    ¡°Sector Four. No sign of Jzanna presence.¡±

    ¡°Sector Two. No sign of Jzanna presence...¡±

    From all around the room dozens of commanders called out the sectors they were viewing and denied Kohn¡¯s claims that there were Jzanna in the road.

    It might have confused the Earthlings how they could call out sectors of space, but when the Kingdom had first created their fleet of Dark Vessels they needed a way of looking and identifying where the individual commanders were looking. So they simply created an imaginary line straight out from the ship towards the region of space that needed to be analyzed and broke it into a 180 degree region which were then broken down into a predetermined pattern to name sectors of space. It didn¡¯t matter what area you wanted to view it would always be broken into the exact same way with the exact same labeled sectors of space.

    Confused Leete and the Armorer glanced at each other before he turned back to the screen of Kohn on the rock.

    ¡°Kohn, the ship cannot see any Jzanna near you.¡±

    [Well maybe your sensors are wrong cause I¡¯m looking right at a whole bunch of them!]

    ¡°We¡¯re can¡¯t use sensors. The Jzanna would be able to immediately detect spells that directly touched them and if they¡¯re actually sleeping or hibernating they¡¯d wake up immediately.¡±

    [Then how can you tell me there aren¡¯t Jzanna out here if you aren¡¯t looking for them?]

    He was right to sound aggravated and if Leete was in his place he¡¯d probably sound more frightened at that moment. ¡°We¡¯re using our eyes to look for them.¡±

    [¡­] Silence came back through the spell link. Leete could imagine one of Kohn¡¯s hilarious slaps to his own face that he called a ¡®face palm¡¯.

    [Armorer, you there?]

    ¡°I¡¯m here boy.¡±

    [Alright. Both of you, just for the moment assume that I¡¯m telling the truth and that I am actually looking at Jzanna that you can¡¯t see. Between the two of you come up with a way that I can show you what I¡¯m looking at.]

    There was a brief moment of stunned silence that they didn¡¯t even think of trying to see what Kohn was looking at. The Armorer snapped out of it first.

    ¡°High Mage! Isn¡¯t there a spell that allows you to see through the eyes of someone else?¡±

    Of course Leete had already remembered it and was using the proper gestures at the High Command pedestal to search for the spell in the formation bank deep in the bowels of the vessel. ¡°You are absolutely right.¡±

    ¡°Then what are you waiting for? Put up what he sees on the display!¡±

    ¡°Kohn!¡±

    [Leete?]

    He was going to have to talk to the Earthling later about showing him the proper amount of respect by using his title, but he could forgive him for now. At least while he¡¯s in a dangerous situation.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to be using a spell on you. It¡¯ll allow us to see what you see through your eyes so you¡¯ll need to look specifically at what you want us to see. But¡­¡±

    [Sounds good. What¡¯s the catch?]

    ¡°It¡¯s an external spell so if there are Jzanna out there they might be able to feel it.¡±

    [So it¡¯ll wake them up?]

    ¡°¡­un, I don¡¯t think so. But there is the possibility.¡±

    [Do it.]

    It was only activated a second before they heard Kohn screaming over the transmission spell.

    ¡°STOP! STOP! SHUT IT OFF!¡±

    Leete hastily cut off the spell.

    [It¡¯s okay. They didn¡¯t wake up.]

    Leete didn¡¯t hear him though.

    [It looks like they felt it but like maybe they felt it in a dream.]

    He couldn¡¯t take his eyes off the display. From next to him he heard the bravest, toughest man he¡¯d ever known take a very audible gulp.

    [Guys? Hello? Anyone there?]

    The spell sent them back a few seconds of what Kohn had seen, and the spell was setup to play it back on a loop.

    All over the asteroid in front of him they could see the dozens of tails coming out of the crevice. But what was even worse was that they saw wing-fins, tails and claws coming out of black slime all over the surface of the rock.

    Asteroid wasn¡¯t entirely made out of rock and metals and that black stuff, which had been dismissed as some kind of rock, was all over the asteroid road.

    Seeing that the black rocks weren¡¯t actually rocks the commanders took another look at their displays of the road again.

    ¡°Jzanna presence detected in sector one!¡±

    ¡°¡­in sector two!¡±

    ¡°¡­in sector three!¡±

    ¡°¡­in sector four¡­¡±

    The whole command center was shocked.

    Now that they knew what to look for the commanders were able to visibly confirm the presence of Jzanna all over the asteroid belt.

    ¡°Is there a confirmed counting?¡± Leete asked, terrified to know the answer.

    The commanders looked at each other, shaking their headings. Leete¡¯s second and third in command both took a guess.

    ¡°Rough estimations¡­ several thousands.¡±

    ¡°Maybe tens of thousands.¡±

    The display was slowly being updated with highlighted dots symbolizing a single Jzanna popping up all over the asteroid road.

    Leete, in an unprecedented speechless moment, felt it fitting to quote one of his favorite Earthlings.

    ¡°Oh shit.¡±

 Chapter 28 - Good Luck

    Kohn didn¡¯t panic when it was decided that he¡¯d be the one to test the suit¡¯s ability to protect a life in space.

    He didn¡¯t panic when he was launched out into space. The g-forces threatening to make him pass out. Though if he was completely honest it was more exciting than terrifying.

    And he didn¡¯t panic when he saw all the Jzanna around him. Which was weird because he did panic at seeing one of them. He guessed that it was because they couldn¡¯t kill him more than once, so multiple Jzanna were simply just overkill.

    But Kohn definitely panicked, a little, when he heard an alien, from an intergalactic space kingdom, use a phrase that was previously only ever heard on Earth.

    [Oh shit.]

    Here he was. In the middle of an asteroid field that was so long, that it was impossible to tell where it began or ended; surrounded by enemies that terrified most living beings, and he panicked. Like a frightened child whose parents were doing a bad job of putting up a brave fa?ade.

    ¡°Oh shit?¡± He repeated like a confused parrot. ¡°What oh shit? What do you mean oh shit?!¡± He became more and more concerned the more he repeated the phrase. ¡°What¡¯s happening? SPEAK TO ME!¡±

    [It¡¯s alright Kohn. Settle down. We¡¯re just thinking about what to do now¡­don¡¯t worry-I mean. There¡¯s obviously plenty enough to worry about, but just don¡¯t get yourself too worked up. Stay calm and everything will be alright.]

    He didn¡¯t know Leete too well since they didn¡¯t have a lot of interactions, but it was obvious to him that the man wasn¡¯t use to critical social situations.

    Waiting patiently with a sack of unrefined metal over his shoulder and a pickaxe in one hand, Kohn barely noticed it, due to all the asteroids blocking his view, but the fleet was slowly moving away from him. On a course directly away from the asteroid road.

    ¡°Uh, where are the ships going?¡±

    [¡­]

    ¡°You¡¯re not leaving me are you?¡±

    [¡­]

    Their silence was just as worrisome as Leete¡¯s speech. When no one answered Kohn¡¯s panic subconsciously pushed him past denial and straight to anger in the five stages of grief.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°I swear if I get out of this alive I¡¯m taking a shit on everything in the armory and I¡¯m going to get the stickiest substance I can and pour it all over your stuff Leete!¡±

    Kohn had accidentally found out one day that Leete was weirdly freaked out by the feeling of something that was sticky. To this day he still couldn¡¯t remember what he had hung from a sock. All he knew was that it dripped green.

    [BOY! IF YOU EVEN TRY-HUMPF BURR BIVVV DURR!]

    It sounded like someone had gagged the Armorer and it wasn¡¯t as effective as it should have been. Obviously Leete was trying to mute the equipment master, since he grunted with the effort of trying to speak and hold down the struggling grown man.

    [Calm down Kohn. OWWW! NO BITING!] Leete called out before the sound of a larger struggle could be heard. He called other subordinates to take over in the subjugation so that he could speak with Kohn again to explain the fleet¡¯s departure. [Get his legs! Don¡¯t put your hand over his mouth! Of course he bit you, he bit me! Use it! Hit him on the head!] A loud thud and things were calm again.

    [Kohn, you know we can¡¯t risk losing the fleet¡­ uh, in the unlikely situation that the Jzanna do wake up, that is. So we want to create some distance between us and them for maneuvering.]

    ¡°Then what¡¯s the plan for me?¡±

    [Right, a plan. Well, I can tell you¡­ that we have one. Alright¡­?] Kohn wondered if Leete knew how unconvincing he sounded just now. [The best option is to just have you launch yourself away from the asteroid belt without using magic.]

    ¡°You want me to weave through space, without killing myself on one of these rocks, while not using any magic?¡±

    [Correct.]

    ¡°Maybe I can get some of this black stuff out here. Its looks pretty sticky¡­¡±

    [¡­Ple-please don¡¯t¡­]

    He knew that it was the best of a bunch of worst plans, but there really wasn¡¯t a whole lot of options.

    If the fleet tried to kill all the Jzanna there was a good chance that the fleet would be over run and best case they¡¯d get away with major casualties. If they tried to use long range spells it would still end up with a big fight and casualties. And if they tried to use the Phantasms they¡¯d end up losing more people and resources.

    ¡°What if I just used the boot jets a little? That way I don¡¯t end up splattered on one of these rocks.¡±

    [When you entered the road it must not have been enough magic in directed at those black spots for them to feel it. But after the eyesight transference spell more of them have limbs sticking out from their hiding places. I¡¯m not sure if they would feel it, but we can¡¯t take that risk. Visually we¡¯re confirming more of those spots all over the asteroid road and some of them are quite large.]

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing no one suggested I try to bring it back when everyone thought it was a rock.¡±

    Leete nervously chuckled as he agreed.

    [Yes, that wouldn¡¯t have ended well.]

    ¡°So that¡¯s the best that you can come up with? Don¡¯t use magic, push myself away and pray that I don¡¯t wake up the Jzanna or get splattered on a rock?¡±

    [¡­yes¡­]

    ¡°When we get through this, you and I are going to have to have a serious talk about your communication skills.¡± Kohn sighed, inwardly trying to summon the courage for this stupid, suicidal maneuver he¡¯s about to do. ¡°Alright. Wish me luck!¡±

    [I wish you luck?]

    ¡°Please don¡¯t say it like that.¡±

    Kohn watched for a moment and jumped with all his might.

 Chapter 29 - Disgusting Black Goo

    Kohn leaped off the asteroid like an idiot.

    Well, that¡¯s the best way to describe it really. He was trying to time it so that he would fly straight through gaps in the asteroid road, but somehow managed to hit the closest rock. Luckily his head broke the impact.

    From the ships viewing it looked like he disappeared behind a man sized rock, but after waiting a few seconds it spun around on its axis and they could see Kohn¡¯s legs pointed out into space. His head wedged into a suddenly visible helmet-sized crater.

    ¡°Oww.¡±

    [That did not look good.]

    He pulled his head out.

    ¡°Nah. I¡¯m sure it looked better than it felt.¡±

    [It¡¯s impossible to clear the road in a single go Kohn. All the different sizes, speed, random impacts and ricochets makes the whole thing unpredictable. Your best option would be to think about a course through the road by jumping from asteroid to asteroid. Make a series of short ranged jumps.]

    ¡°Roger that.¡±

    [No one here is named Roger.]

    ¡°No¡­ it means I understand and will take your advice under advisement.¡±

    [Oh, good]

    Looking at everything around him Kohn looked for the closest rock. One that was in the general direction he wanted to go and that also had as few of the Jzanna black covered pits as possible.

    ¡°There are too many out here.¡± He spoke more to himself than to the ship. It was a bad habit of his to complain during incredibly difficult and tedious tasks.

    [You¡¯re doing just fine Kohn. Just take it slowly one jump at a time.]

    Learning his lesson from before, he adjusted how much power he put into each jump. Trusting momentum with zero resistance in space to carry him towards each targeted area.

    ¡°Ewww.¡±

    After one particular long jump Kohn came exceptionally close to one of the Jzanna black-covered pits. His left boot landed half in it to be precise. The toes of his boot came away with black strings that didn¡¯t come off no matter how much he shook. Even rubbing it against the asteroid didn¡¯t help much.

    It was incredibly gooey. It reminded him about the fake monster goo that he got once as a kid. A little container with bright green sticky goo and a fake soft-rubber eyeball.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    [Did you step in it?]

    ¡°Not by choice!¡± Kohn felt a little defensive from Leete¡¯s tone.

    [It¡¯s not waking up is it?]

    He watched the stuff, but it didn¡¯t even so much as shake.

    ¡°No movement.¡± He chuckled a little bit. Maybe these things were incredibly heavy sleepers.

    [LOOK OUT!]

    ¡°What?!¡±

    He looked up just in time to see a bowling ball sized rock coming straight for his head at an incredible speed.

    ¡°FUCK!¡±

    Kohn jumped backwards more out of instinct than anything else. His body understood that he would be killed if he got hit by that thing before his brain even fully grasped the realization that he spoke.

    ¡°SHIT!¡±

    He jumped out of the path of the high speed rock, straight onto the black goo.

    Rather than pushing him out of it the black goo seemed more eager to swallow him whole.

    [KOHN-]

    The communications cut out as he fell through the goo, landing on something hard yet pliable. It vibrated strongly underneath him. He couldn¡¯t see it in the pitch black, but there wasn¡¯t a single doubt that it was a Jzanna he had woken up.

    ¡°Not good.¡±

    He got his legs underneath him and kicked as hard as he could just as the small pit suddenly had a large snake like thing thrash widely in it. The sticky goo offered very little resistance to his empowered jumped and he broke out of it with a Jzanna mouth snapping at his heels.

    The only thing that saved him was his completely reckless desire to escape.

    [KOHN!]

    ¡°THAT SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!¡±

    [Kohn don¡¯t stop! It¡¯s right on your heels!]

    He didn¡¯t look back. Kohn kept his eyes looking ahead, trying to find a safe rock to land on before jumping away from his previous spot.

    [Go faster! It¡¯s gaining on you!]

    Though he was unable to hear the Jzanna crashing into rocks behind him, the small but quickly appearing clouds of dust and pebbles scared him into overdrive.

    Adrenaline coursed through his body allowing him to make quick decisions and flying through the asteroid road. The silence on the communication spell didn¡¯t calm him one bit.

    ¡°Leete, speak to me!¡± If he turned around he¡¯d be unable to figure out where to go next fast enough, but he needed to know what was happening behind him.

    [It¡¯s still chasing you, but it¡¯s crashing into asteroids and a few others have woken up. They¡¯re also in a tail-end chase.]

    ¡°Well fuck me.¡±

    [Now¡¯s not the time for that!]

    ¡°Whatever! Just keep talking to me. Let me know what¡¯s happening behind me.¡±

    He kept the chase going for several dozen minutes, but it felt like hours. The adrenaline was starting to wear off just as he jumped off the final asteroid into empty space. The fleet was barely visible a long distance away.

    ¡°I am not going to die here!¡±

    Kohn activated the jets on his boots, quickly gaining speed.

    Turning around he brought the Buster Arm up and started charging it.

    ¡°Holy shit.¡±

    There were 7 angry, hungry Jzanna coming at him. Their mouths were open and didn¡¯t close as they got closer to him.

    ¡°Well I¡¯ll at least take one or two with me.¡±

    The test shot on the ship had punched a hole in the wall, but oddly enough there wasn¡¯t a single burn on the next wall. Meaning that no matter how powerful it was, the Mana Ball would only affect one or two targets at most.

    [KOHN! LOOK OUT!]

    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s Leete talk-¡°

    Kohn was interrupted out of his internal thought as a fast moving asteroid the size of a football field entered the side of his vision.

    It hit the hungry, slobbering Jzanna at an incredible speed, missing Kohn by inches. It was so close that he had to pull his arms back as far as he could, making a hilarious ¡®I didn¡¯t do it¡¯, hands up gesture.

    The asteroid cradled the Jzanna for a few seconds before crashing into another asteroid with such force that both disintegrated with a meteor shower-like appearance.

    Thinking that he was saved Kohn was about to relax when he pulled his Buster Arm back down as fast as he could. The charged Mana Ball fired right into the open mouth of a Jzanna.

 Chapter 30 - This will change the war

    Kohn had mixed feelings when he got back onto the ship.

    On one hand he was safely with the fleet again, but on the other hand everyone was laughing at him or getting sick when they looked at him.

    Plus, when he came back onto the ship his armor deactivated the face shielding. The subsequent smell that hit him made him vomit all over himself when he leaned backwards in a vain attempt to avoid the smell.

    But he refused to allow his queasiness or their laughter and looks to ruin his triumphant, dare he say heroic return.

    Covered in vomit and viscera he struck a hero pose for the gathered assembly.

    ¡°Oh my god Kohn.¡±

    ¡°That smell.¡±

    ¡°God you look disgusting.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re glad you¡¯re back and all but take a shower man.¡±

    ¡°Nice job on those monsters Kohn-barrrfff!¡±

    ¡°Jesus! Get away from me!¡±

    ¡°Why the hero pose?¡±

    ¡°Huuk! Why¡¯d you throw up? Now I think I¡¯m going to be sick.¡±

    Obviously there were some mixed messages and feelings with his return, but Kohn strolled through like a conqueror as his flanking friends and comrades applauded. More than a couple were directing him down the hall towards the showers.

    ***

    ¡°Did you want to say something to them your highness?¡±

    Leete and Prince StoneTooth stood behind the gathered Earthlings as they celebrated Kohn¡¯s glorious survival and horrific return.

    Originally the Prince did want to say a few words about the young man¡¯s miraculous return, but seeing how proud he was walking through the halls combined with his disgusting appearance, the Prince thought it better to make an announcement later. After he had been given a chance to clean up. Twice.

    ¡°Your highness! High Mage! Long range sensor spells have found something you¡¯ll want to see.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡± They left the Earthlings to celebrate by themselves and went to the Command Center.

    ¡°Report.¡±

    ¡°Long range sensor spells have found the end of the asteroid road.¡±

    ¡°Really? What incredibly good luck.¡±

    It was well known that asteroid roads were impossibly long and stretched through entire galaxies. As such it had become a symbol of good luck to see either the beginning or end of it.

    They knew this road wasn¡¯t too old since the asteroids were incredibly large, but it was still a surprise to see the end of it.

    ¡°Well, maybe not your highness.¡±

    The commanders fidgeted awkwardly. When he inquired further they just directed him to the displays.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    What they saw shocked them.

    A dead World Eater was falling apart.

    The White Breath was gone, and its body underneath the hard top shell was rapidly falling apart, making it incredibly difficult to discern its original appearance.

    ¡°The road¡­ is a dead World Eater?¡±

    It sort of made since when they thought about it.

    The Jzanna were a race that could live in the void of the Deep Dark and would grow depending on how much they fed. The World Eaters ate so much that they grew to tremendous size and would eat organic and inorganic materials. Naturally their stomachs would be filled with rocks and metals.

    Previously the Kingdom thought the smaller Jzanna only followed the World Eaters because of the White Breath. Their best researchers came up with the idea that the World Eaters were a completely unrelated species and the Jzanna were like parasites. Using the World Eaters as a method of travel and eating relatively small quantities of the World Eaters food. And in return they would prevent the World Eaters from being attacked and killed by hostile lifeforms. But here a dead Jzanna was creating a new asteroid road and they found numerous young Jzanna everywhere.

    It wasn¡¯t just an equally beneficial relationship.

    ¡°Leete. All of those black spots that had Jzanna hiding underneath them. Were they¡­?¡±

    ¡°Eggs, your highness. I would hazard a guess that they were something similar to eggs.¡±

    ¡°So that would make the World Eaters the Jzanna mothers?¡±

    ¡°It would appear so your highness. And when they die and fall apart they release billions upon billions of baby Jzanna.¡± It was odd calling the massive Jzanna babies. The smallest one they had ever seen was about 3 grown men in length.

    This information would change everything.

    Previously the Kingdom fought with the intention of pushing the World Eaters away from planets in order to starve them. Because so far their weapons couldn¡¯t scratch the massive beasts. Then the World Eaters would leave populated planets alone and the Jzanna would starve to death. But if the small ones were simply babies and the World Eaters were the adults then it meant that the war would never end until World Eaters were all killed. Not just killed though, they had to be completely destroyed. Otherwise they¡¯d release an insurmountable cache of eggs.

    ¡°High mage!¡±

    Noticing the serious commanding voice of the Prince, Leete became unsure.

    ¡°Your highness?¡±

    ¡°Set a course for the capital. Fastest speed and all haste.¡±

    ¡°But we were taking our time for several reasons your highness. Do those no longer matter?¡±

    ¡°In the face of this information we can no longer afford to take it easy. We need to get back to the capital and change our war strategy as fast as possible and alert all member planets that the asteroid roads are potentially dangerous areas that should be avoided and monitored at all costs.

    ¡°The Earthling Kohn, with help from the Vessel¡¯s Armorer and his assistants, has made some incredible equipment. The suit would allow individuals to fight the Jzanna and keep them off the ships and the weapons are incredibly powerful.¡±

    The Buster Arm that Kohn had made exploded the Jzanna from the inside-out with the Mana Ball. The viscera¡¯s forward momentum caused his appearance from earlier.

    ¡°We need to get these weapons back to the Kingdom and replicate them as quickly as possible.¡±

    ¡°What about our mana reserves? If we go faster we¡¯ll empty our reserves that much faster.¡±

    ¡°Restrict mana usage in the fleets. Continue to train the humans in knowledge and combat, but only theoretical practice for magic until we get back. Allow Kohn and the Armorer full use within reason. Anything else they can create will be helpful.¡±

    ¡°Yes, your highness.¡±

    ¡°Leete. What about the other Earthlings? Do any of them show promise like the Earthling Kohn?¡±

    ¡°Nothing like Kohn unfortunately, but that could simply be due to the Armorer personally taking an interest in him. There are however a few other candidates that show promise in various fields. Many show promise as future members of the Order of the Falling Fist. Dozens may one day become commanders or even High Mages in the Winged Order.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°However, there are a few that are still resistant to us and the training.¡±

    ¡°No matter. We¡¯ll find other uses for them or punish them until they change. The Earthling Kohn went through quite an ordeal. Let him rest for today. Tomorrow he can finish repairs and then I want him to come up with more ideas to work on. I wonder what else he will make¡­¡±

    Seeing the Prince go quiet in reflective thought, Leete left him alone. He issued orders to his commanders and sent messages to the fleet which immediately leapt up in speed. The dead World Eater and the road were quickly left in their wake.

    Prince StoneTooth stared at two displays. One of the massive corpse drifting through space and the other of the Earthlings celebrating their fellows safe return.

    ¡°We need to get back as quickly as possible. I have a strange feeling about the planet Earth¡­¡±

 Chapter 31 - Return to the Kingdom

    Pushing the Vessels at maximum speed, Prince StoneTooth¡¯s fleet arrived on the outer edges of his Kingdom. They stopped briefly only to refill their reserves of mana and to gather information about what has been happening within the kingdom since the Prince¡¯s departure. They also dropped off information about the events his fleet had witnessed as well as the more than likely accurate speculations that they had made.

    The Earthlings on every vessel were shown images of the planets they passed and the many wonders of society.

    Unlike on Earth, the Kingdom didn¡¯t need to destroy the forests and natural ecosystems in order to increase construction of buildings. Instead, after the many wars on the Kingdom¡¯s first planet, they researched and developed methods of creating floating islands. Their goal was to allow the planets to heal themselves and undo all the damages that the various races had done to them. Though each of these islands came in various sizes, each one was capable of holding vast amounts of heavy loads.

    To the people from Earth, these planets were something they had never expected to see. Vast metropolises floating overhead while herds of large animals ran below them, living their normal life. It was beautiful and serene, yet also a modern fantasy. Like the entire planet was a wilderness preserve and people lived above it.

    There wasn¡¯t even a problem with the sunlight being blocked by the floating islands. Hundreds of small shards of mirror-like crystals covered the bottom of the islands. These crystals took small amounts of mana and as long as they were connected to a light source they would reflect it at 500% power. In order to connect these shards on the bottom of the islands to a light source, large clear crystal pillars went from the surface of the floating islands down to central points underneath where light was then refracted to each of the small shards. It was an expensive project to make, but once it was finished it would never need to be replaced unless something intentionally damaged the system. It had long ago become a requirement in the Kingdom.

    The major benefit to these islands was the natural production of mana which could be harnessed and stored for later use. Planets normally produce a significant quantity of mana, but that amount can be increased by increasing the natural world¡¯s state. In other words, large forests, numerous animals and a large variety of species significantly improved the Kingdom¡¯s daily mana production allowing the stored amounts to increase to a point where their Dark Vessels could go out into deep space for long periods of time.

    While the Earthlings were gawking and applauding the Kingdom¡¯s ingenuity and beauty, Prince StoneTooth was reading the planet¡¯s historical reports to catch up with current events in the Kingdom.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    While he was gone, other short range expeditions had been very successful. The Kingdom had seventeen new member worlds join in the two years that he had been away, while roughly another thirty planets had made a good amicable first contact. There was even one planet that had sent out ships and made first contact with the Kingdom, rather than await for Dark Vessel¡¯s to come to them.

    But it wasn¡¯t all good news.

    Four member planets had been consumed by World Eaters. In an attempt to divert the World Eaters the Kingdom had lost 20% of its entire fleet. Thousands of ships were lost and billions of crew were eaten by the Jzanna.

    Just a couple of days before the Prince¡¯s return, every planet was given a message to relay to the people. The Kingdom would no longer allow the Jzanna to be the sole aggressors. The Kingdom would take the fight to the World Eaters and kill them.

    For Three days the member worlds cheered on their heroes.

    Prince StoneTooth dropped off a package of information at every planet they passed, but he made sure the world leaders swore that they would not yet reveal the information to the public. They were allowed to view it and if he were to fall before he reached the capital then they were given the discretion to share it with others as long as they also were sworn to secrecy.

    During his communications with each of the world leaders he could see them begin skimming the contents of his own reports. Each one paled as they realized the implications of such information. Then dawning horror covered their faces when they remembered the fleet that had just been launched. The fleet that was going to kill World Eaters. The fleet that their own world was cheering and celebrating for.

    As his fleet was leaving the system, moving further into the inner sanctums of the Kingdom, he was receiving word that scouts were being sent to monitor local asteroid roads and new shipments of raw materials were being sent along with him.

    Impressive recordings of Kohn¡¯s suit brought new hope to them, along with the potential of being able to gather resources from off planet. Even other world colonization was being reconsidered after the Earthlings mentioned ideas of terraforming planets. Prince StoneTooth even went so far as to hear the stories and ideas of this process from each of the Earthlings on his ship because he was so intrigued by the prospect.

    By the time that his fleet had reached the Kingdom¡¯s capital it had swollen in size from just under twenty Dark Vessels to over ninety vessels. While none of the ones that had joined were military vessels, they were all of various sizes including one that was nearly twice as large as a standard Dark Vessel. They were loaded down with supplies including raw materials, processed metals and colossal abundance of mana reserves.

    It wasn¡¯t just the Earthlings suit that had impressed the leader of each world though. Recordings of something Kohn had called ¡®mana blueprints¡¯ had been sent to each leader and excited everyone that saw them. More than a few of the Earthlings had apparently understood what he was trying to create and joined in with suggestions and one very fat Earthling was a great source of architectural tips.

    Even Prince StoneTooth was excited to see the first of the prototypes, but right now he was more worried about what his father, the King would say to him.

    [Prince StoneTooth. King StoneTooth demands your presence immediately.]

 Chapter 32 - Nervous Prince

    Prince StoneTooth was summoned to meet with the King of the Kingdom. The man who ended the wars on his planet by ruling with an iron fist and stone teeth. The Prince¡¯s father. King StoneTooth.

    Luckily, or unluckily, Kohn had been chosen as one of the few people from Earth to join the Prince as an escort to answer the summons. Even the ship¡¯s Armorer was coming along, but he seemed more neutral or semi-excited by the whole ordeal. Like for him it would just be revisiting a friend he hadn¡¯t seen in a while.

    Kohn had every reason to be nervous about meeting the unknown ruler, but he thought it was odd that the Prince was even more nervous than him. From the moment he joined him at the bay doors of the ship, he saw the Prince shaking like a little boy that was caught red-handed with his hand in the cookie jar.

    The oddity of it calmed Kohn¡¯s nerves.

    ¡°Why are you so nervous your Highness?¡±

    He must not have known how visible his nervousness was because he jumped when Kohn brought it up.

    ¡°Nervous? What would I have reason to be nervous about?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m wondering. After all, the Kingdom is your home right¡­?¡± Kohn suddenly realized that he didn¡¯t even know the Kingdom¡¯s name. ¡°Actually, what is the name of the Kingdom?¡±

    The Prince¡¯s nervous jittery disappeared from surprise. ¡°What? You don¡¯t know the name of the Kingdom? How many months have you been on the vessel?!¡±

    ¡°Wha!? Everyone just called it THE Kingdom. THE Kingdom, like there could only ever be one or everything else is just a territory or something. Did anyone else find out what the Kingdom was named?¡±

    Kohn asked the three other people from Earth that were joining him on this little trip to see the king. Prince StoneTooth understood that their training was a little lacking when he saw them shake their heads in denial.

    ¡°Don¡¯t ever mention that before the King! In fact, if you don¡¯t know something then don¡¯t say anything. Or better yet, just don¡¯t speak period!¡±

    ¡°Geez, fine. But what is the name of the Kingdom?¡±

    ¡°Etch this into your hearts and minds. The Kingdom that your planet has become a part of, the one that we all serve, is called the Agossomore Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°A-goss-o-more. Sounds like you¡¯re swearing.¡±

    ¡°GAH!¡± The Prince yelled out, upset. ¡°In my language it means final empire or last reign. As in, there will be no others after me.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    He stressed the alternate meanings, but his emphasis was returned with blank stares. ¡°Fools! It is the King¡¯s promise and threat all in one. A promise that he will not allow the Kingdom to fall into the same type of chaos that once nearly destroyed the capital while at the same time a threat that he will destroy all those who oppose his goals!¡±

    ¡°Oh! So what¡¯s going to happen to Earth?¡±

    Prince StoneTooth froze. ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°I mean, is that why you took the World¡¯s Heart? To bring the end to different forms of government? To bring unity to a divided people; order to chaos?¡±

    The Prince was becoming more and more nervous as Kohn reminded him of what he had done on Earth.

    ¡°D-d-don¡¯t men-mention that to my f-f-f-f¡±

    ¡°Father?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Him.¡±

    The Prince went back to looking at the bay doors that were transparent and showing the growing capital as the ship drew closer.

    ¡°Hey, I just realized something.¡±

    ¡°What now?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°GAH!?¡± He made that same noise again. Like a sigh and explosive release of air all at once. ¡°You don¡¯t even know my name?¡± Looking around, only Kohn dared to meet his eyes. The others just turned their heads and tried to look busy analyzing the outside of the ship. ¡°Just what have you been calling me this entire time?¡±

    ¡°Prince StoneTooth. Isn¡¯t that common courtesy for one in your position?¡±

    ¡°When formality is required that is exactly the proper address for me, but outside of those few times it is more appropriate to address me by my rank and name.¡±

    ¡°Which is¡­?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ Allow me to reintroduce myself.¡± His back became stiff and strong with pride before he spoke out in a deep commanding voice. ¡°I, am Rear-Prince Agossliam, son of King StoneTooth and seventh heir to the Agossomore Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you Rear-Prince Agossliam, song of King StoneTooth and seventh heir to-¡°

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t need to address me with all those titles¡­¡± His glance seemed to say ¡®are you really that stupid?¡¯

    ¡°Oh, then uh¡­ Nice to meet you Prince Agossliam. I am Kohn Lowson, uh, no titles or rank.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I know, but thank you.¡±

    ¡°You have Agoss in your name just like with the Kingdom¡¯s name. Is there any significance to that?¡±

    ¡°My name as a secondary meaning. Something my Father seemed to promise my late mother at one point. It can be taken to mean ¡®last son¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Oh. So you¡¯re the King¡¯s last child?¡±

    ¡°No. Just the last son. No one¡¯s sure how he does it, but ever since I was born and he named me, the King has never produced another son. Every time a daughter is born, the subject¡¯s belief in the King grows even more. It almost has come to the point that if he were to say that he could fly into the Deep Dark without a vessel, the Kingdom¡¯s subjects would believe him.¡±

    ¡°Wow. Sounds almost like he has a cult following.¡± Someone punched him in the back when he said that.

    ¡°Hmm. Must be another one of those words you Earthlings created. What does it mean?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ah, nothing. Never mind. Don¡¯t you feel less nervous now?¡± He quickly tried to change the topic. Saying the King with such power and control had a cult following would probably be a bad idea. If Prince Agossliam knew what it meant he¡¯d probably have called for his execution out of sheer respect for his father.

    ¡°Oh, yes. Thank you for the distraction. I fear the King may punish me upon my return.¡±

    ¡°What? Nah! You¡¯re his son. What father wouldn¡¯t be happy to see the safe return of his¡­ seventh son?¡± It was entirely by reflex and probably a little too forward of him, but Kohn gave the Prince a firm slap on the back sending the slightly smaller man a full step forward.

    ¡°Yes. Thank you for your sentiments Kohn Lowson.¡±

    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not like you broke some kingdom law or anything. Right?¡±

    ¡°Ughnnnnn¡­¡± Prince Agossliam gave out a pitiful groan as his face paled and became covered in sweat.

    ¡°Right?¡±

 Chapter 33 - Summoned to the Capital

    Slack jawed, Kohn watched the golden floating city get closer and closer.

    The Kingdom¡¯s capital didn¡¯t actually refer to a planet, but the largest floating island structure ever created amongst all its member planets. Naturally it was built at the center of the Kingdom¡¯s power, the home planet of its first, and only king.

    As the ship flew closer to the surface of the planet, the capital¡¯s appearance artistically joined to create a slightly irregular, glittering pyramid.

    Hundreds of slim towers stretched vertically into the air. Each one beautifully decorated in the style of war. Arrow loops and murder holes pocketed the sides of the structures while crenellations and large diamonds covered the tower tops. No less than four soldiers could be seen at the top of each tower, most carried bows but at least one wielded a strange staff.

    A landing pad sat at the front of this optical illusion pyramid. It resembled a bailey with a curtain wall from old Earth castles.

    More soldiers stood on the walls, waiting with weapons in hand. Ready to draw arrows or heft weapons at the slightest provocation.

    Kohn couldn¡¯t help feeling naked when the Bay doors turned opaque again before opening to reveal the same scene. He walked slightly behind the Prince, fidgeting within his prototype suit as hundreds of eyes bore holes into him. Wondering who he was and why he walked with the Prince.

    For the fortieth time he checked the suit¡¯s fitting, making sure it wasn¡¯t going to slide off or accidentally fire when it was critical that it didn¡¯t.

    It had actually worried him if it was alright or considered rude to take his weapons. But apparently it was one of the rules the King had demanded of his subordinates since before he ended the wars on the planet.

    ¡®Every person, no matter rank or position, must shoulder the responsibility to defend the King. And every person, no matter devotion or belief, must shoulder the responsibility to kill the King, should the need arise.¡¯

    Their group walked across the courtyard, passing underneath a pair of golden drum towers with a barbican between them. Here the soldiers they passed saluted the Prince. He would raise his hand in a return salute or firmly nod at them.

    Unlike when he was on the ship, Prince Agossliam strode with confidence through the halls. Turning left down winding stairs, before climbing up a different set of stairs and then taking a right down smaller paths. Kohn¡¯s brain spun in his head trying to remember the path they took before they ultimately ended before a pair of very large arching metal doors. If he looked straight up Kohn would have seen a pair of concentric portcullis in the ceiling just in front.

    Two terrifyingly dressed soldiers stood at the door. Each one held a large wall that they called a shield and an equally huge sword at the ready.

    ¡°Rear-Prince Agossliam StoneTooth and escort, answering the immediate summons of King StoneTooth.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Both Soldiers nodded at the same time. Their movements were mirror images of each other as they tilted their sword points to the ground while simultaneously dropping the bottoms of their shields against the stone ground.

    ¡°We see Rear-Prince Agossliam StoneTooth and escort. You may pass.¡±

    The doors groaned loudly as they swung inwards into a great hall.

    It was just as beautiful as the capitals outward appearance. Golden colored stone, high arching ceilings with ornately carved statues, and several columns of transparent stone that just screamed magic. And at the end of the great hall, a colossal heavy throne at the top of a multi-directional golden set of stairs.

    ¡®That looks uncomfortable.¡¯

    Kohn was thanking god that he hadn¡¯t said that out loud, but he couldn¡¯t help but think about what it would feel like to actually sit on it.

    The gargantuan man sitting on didn¡¯t have to think about what it felt like. Bulging muscular arms, thick chest and firm legs revealed that this man wasn¡¯t slacking off in his training after ending the war on his planet and taking control of multiple worlds. Just like the history lesson had described to him, King StoneTooth was so aptly named. His lips, teeth and part of his upper neck were completely petrified stone.

    Kohn quickly bent down with the others when they were roughly 50 paces away from the throne.

    ¡°Rear-Prince Agossliam sees King StoneTooth, only King of Agossomore.¡±

    The man spoke with a calm voice that boomed and echoed around the room.

    ¡°Welcome back to the Kingdom Agossliam. You have been gone for too long.¡±

    ¡°My expedition took longer than expected father.¡±

    ¡°There were no troubles I hope?¡± The King¡¯s face didn¡¯t seem to like showing any emotion other than stern anger. Even when concern could be heard in his voice, his face remained unfriendly.

    ¡°There were many troubles. A full accounting of them has been submitted along,¡± King StoneTooth was looking at his son with a mediocre amount of confusion as he listened ¡°with my report as the Fleet Commander of the expeditionary force.¡±

    ¡°Something is different about you¡­¡±

    ¡°I agree husband.¡± A woman walked over from a side passage. Her gown barely hiding or holding the voluptuous bosom that preceded her into the room.

    While Kohn was more than happy to gawk at her lewd appearance, he was instead more awestruck at the dainty antlers protruding from her head or her four-legged deer like lower-body. Unlike Prince Agossliam and his giant of a father, this woman clearly didn¡¯t look human.

    ¡°You agree that he looks different as well Evemlaine?¡± He turned back to his son. ¡°Explain what happened on your journey.¡±

    ¡°After some time, my fleet happened upon an inhabited planet. We landed and attempted to make a peaceful first contact.¡±

    Kohn quirked an eyebrow at the Prince. From Earth¡¯s perspective that really wasn¡¯t what it looked like.

    ¡°Good. So you told them of the incoming threat and they have sent the ones behind you as emissaries to join the Agossomore Kingdom?¡±

    ¡°N-not exactly, father.¡±

    The King looked between his son and the four Earthlings behind him. When he saw the peculiar look on Kohn¡¯s face he understood that his son hadn¡¯t told him the whole truth.

    ¡°Tell me they are emissaries requesting to join the Kingdom son.¡±

    The prince remained silent, head down. This only antagonized his father.

    ¡°Tell me they are here by their own choice Agossliam!¡±

    Under the intense pressure from his father¡¯s gaze, Agossliam revealed what he didn¡¯t want to. ¡°I took their planet¡¯s World Heart.¡±

    King StoneTooth shot out of the throne. If his normal appearance was called angry, he now looked livid. Murderous even. Words failed him, he let out his rage in a tremendous roar.

    ¡°RRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!¡±

    The deer-woman Evemlaine stumbled backwards in her haste to escape his vicinity. The guards at the base of the columns braced themselves behind their shields. And Kohn, the prince and the others that followed him tumbled backwards from the intense force that hit them.

    ¡°YOU ARE BANISHED!¡±

 Chapter 34 - World Heart

    ¡°GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! YOU ARE BANISHED!¡± King StoneTooth roared at his son, Prince Agossliam.

    ¡°NO!¡± Agossliam yelled back.

    ¡°You dare?!¡±

    Kohn didn¡¯t know what to do or how things had escalated this fast. At first it seemed like they would be having a lovely, if tense, chat with the King who made the Agossomore Kingdom. But now, the King was moving with thunderous, heavy steps towards his son who stood up defiantly against his father. Of course, the King was nearly twice his son¡¯s height, so Kohn had been wondering if they were even of the same species much less of the same genepool.

    ¡°I did only what you did father!¡±

    King StoneTooth stopped in his tracks just a few feet in front of his son Agossliam. Kohn got the impression that the King was ready to strike his own son if he didn¡¯t like what he heard.

    ¡°I saw a planet that was split. Divided. Greed, envy, and lust were in each of their leaders eyes. None of them shared hope or belief that the planet could be whole and many of them were all but ready for open warfare! And none of them knew of the World Heart. The power that a single individual could wield. If I had left it alone¡­ if they had discovered how to take control of it.¡± Prince Agossliam trailed off in, not in horror or dread, but in pity.

    Kohn tried to imagine what humanity would have done if they had known they could connect themselves spiritually to the planet. If they had the power to take the entire planet hostage. That sort of power would only be used for selfish reasons and every person would be forced to obey or else face the possibility of extinction. For the first time he was glad that option was no longer available.

    The Prince continued his pre-planned speech. ¡°So I took the World Heart from them! I removed the temptation and forced them to work together. To follow a single guiding path that would ultimately better the entire planet. I made them members of the Kingdom!¡±

    ¡°YOU FORCED THEM INTO THE KINGDOM!¡± The King roared back in denial. ¡°One of the very first laws that I put in place. ¡®No planet or species shall be forced to join the Kingdom.¡¯ And you, my own flesh and blood, broke that law!¡±

    It was probably a bad decision, but Kohn spoke up. ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°WHAT?!¡± The King roared back, the sudden interruption making him forget his anger and power. When he saw Kohn get pelted to the floor he spoke again in a slightly calmer tone without power. ¡°What is it?¡±

    After dusting himself off and standing up Kohn asked aloud what had been bothering him. ¡°I¡¯m from Earth, the Planet that Prince Agossliam forcibly brought into your Agossomore Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Speak quickly, I am not in a listening, or forgiving, mood.¡±

    ¡°Right, well I was just a little confused. You say that it¡¯s against your laws to force a planet in becoming a member of the Kingdom, but I assume we haven¡¯t officially become a member yet. So why can¡¯t we just decline, or leave?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Normally you would be right Earthling, but this!¡± King StoneTooth gestured angrily at Agossliam. He wasn¡¯t even able to call him son. ¡°When this one took your planet¡¯s World Heart for himself there was no longer the option of not being a member of the Agossomore Kingdom.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    King StoneTooth angrily turned brought his gaze back onto his son. ¡°You haven¡¯t even explained it to the ones that it would affect the most? You fool of a boy!¡±

    ¡°I was raised by you-¡°

    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me.¡± The King interrupted.

    ¡°-so I would have never used such abilities upon them! I am not a warmonger who lusts for more power.¡±

    ¡°It does not matter what you are.¡± King StoneTooth turned his back on his son, walking up to the throne and gazing at it in agony. ¡°Anyone can turn into that which they least want to be. The power is there, so is the temptation. And the longer you try to deny it, the more tempting it would become when you are at your lowest moment. I made that mistake long ago and it cost me my entire family once.¡±

    Kohn was lost as he saw the giant man reminiscing about something he didn¡¯t know much about. He guessed that what the King said made sense to Agossliam because he turned his back on his father and looked at Kohn and the others from Earth.

    ¡°What do you know about the World Heart?¡±

    Sasha, one of the other Earthlings that were part of the Prince¡¯s escort, spoke up. ¡°The World Heart is a spirit or connection that allows you to manipulate the planet right?¡±

    ¡°Not quite. Think of a planet as a Dark Vessel. The World Heart is its Magic Array. Everything that the planet does or can do is determined by the World Heart. It sits at the absolute center of the planet and affects the other layers which in turn affects the surface.¡±

    Kohn thought he was getting it. ¡°So the World Heart is the core of the planet? When you made the planet change its rotation what you were essentially doing is forcing the core in the opposite direction?¡±

    ¡°Precisely.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s the big ball of compressed solid iron. I guess that makes sense.¡±

    ¡°How does that make sense?¡± Sasha had failed science courses in High School so she couldn¡¯t follow.

    ¡°An easier metaphor to understand would be a series of gears ranging from huge to tiny. What he¡¯s doing is affecting the smallest gear which turns the next gear, which turns the next gear, and so on and so forth.¡±

    ¡°Oh okay.¡±

    Kohn wasn¡¯t sure if she really understood, but chose to believe in her being intelligent enough to understand.

    ¡°The big ball of compressed iron? No, that is not the World Heart.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°The World Heart resides within that ball of iron.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s something inside the core?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is the World Heart. By manipulating it with magic it affects the other layers of the planet. The power my father is referring to is the ability to affect everything on the planet. To change not just the rotation of your Earth, but also to alter everything that has a deep connection magical connection to it.¡± When no one spoke up Prince StoneTooth sighed before continuing. ¡°As in you Earthlings?¡±

    That caused Kohn to go stiff. ¡°Alter how? And we only knew about magic once you trained us so how could you affect humans?¡±

    ¡°Being tied to the World Heart allows me to manipulate the magic directly within you. And it doesn¡¯t matter if you are able to touch mana directly or not. By being on a planet for a long period of time, or for a short period while still in your mother, you develop a magical connection with the planet. That magic affects how you grow. And even if you are nearing old age it can be used to stave off death or make your body young again. Why do you think King StoneTooth is so large? It¡¯s because of the connection he has with this planet¡¯s World Heart.¡±

    ¡°So you could use your connection to the World Heart,¡± Kohn gulped just thinking about the implications, ¡°to change humans into an entirely different species?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°One that would obey you no matter what?¡±

    King StoneTooth turned away from the throne. Looking down at his son with sorrow in his eyes. ¡°That is why everyone who can hold a weapon is required to be armed in the presence of the King. In the case that I became tempted to manipulate the very people that I sought to protect, my guards, my wives, my children and even you Earthlings¡­ it would be your duty to take my head.¡±

 Chapter 35 - World Heart pt 2

    The great hall was silent. The King of Agossomore had just shared with the Earthlings the power one has if they possess the World¡¯s Heart. Even Kohn was speechless.

    He had traveled with the Prince for months now and all this time the Prince never told them that he had become the Human¡¯s biggest threat. Kohn felt betrayed, but felt that it was Karma balancing itself. After all, he didn¡¯t join up freely back on Earth out of a sense of duty for his country. However, he might have to adjust his plans if the Prince could directly influence him. And he couldn¡¯t say here on this planet very long either or the King would have the power to change him as well.

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just give it back?¡± Sasha asked innocently.

    Both King and Prince stared at her with blank expressions on their faces. A nervous sweat appeared on Sasha¡¯s forehead before the two turned to each other and broke out in rambunctious laughter.

    ¡°BWAHAHAHAHA! Did you hear what the little one said?¡± King StoneTooth stuttered due to laughing.

    ¡°I did! Hahahahaha!¡±

    ¡°Little one,¡± the King questioned her while wiping tears from the corner of his eyes ¡°just how little do you think of the World Heart?¡±

    ¡°But it controls the planet and he took it! So give it back.¡± She stubbornly pushed which only irritated the King.

    ¡°The World Heart is not a toy that can be passed around! It is a magical bond between the two that can only be broken with death, but that is not an option that any would readily take. If the world is critically wounded or destroyed then I would die and if my magic grows to a certain extent then my death can result in the death of the World Heart. If it is destroyed then the planet and all on it will follow in its wake.¡±

    ¡°Fuuu! Then why did you take it Prince?!¡± She had completely taken control of the conversation.

    Kohn was at a loss of what to do. On one hand she was a cute and small figure that neither the Prince nor the King had yet refuted, so she was getting a more detailed explanation out of them. But on the other hand she was starting to dig at the problems the Prince brought upon himself.

    ¡°I feel the same! You¡¯ve known your whole life what kind of responsibility and danger the World Heart is, and the first expedition out you¡¯ve taken one!¡± Everything he said was being punctuated with anger and both his voice and stature were growing frightening.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°My king,¡± forgotten in the corner when she retreated, the deer-woman Evemlaine spoke out. ¡°From what Prince Agossliam has said, their planet was on the brink of a similar war that lead you to take the World Heart of the very planet beneath your feet. Rather than letting them suffer for countless years, does it not seem like taking the World Heart and forcing them into the Kingdom was an attempt to save them from pain and suffering?¡±

    The King let her carry on, only clenching his fists in frustration. Everyone could tell that she had struck a chord within him.

    ¡°But never-the-less, the law must be upheld.¡±

    ¡°My King, there has never been a law or a punishment for this situation.¡± She shook her head as the two locked eyes. Gently, she caressed his arm, soothing the angry beast. ¡°A World Heart was taken. And your own law declares that the owner and planet must be made a member of the Kingdom. To be monitored and ensure that the oaths are maintained, but otherwise be left to prosper on their own.¡±

    ¡°Huuuuuh. Yes, you are right.¡± King StoneTooth¡¯s anger dissipated. Well, Kohn noted that it at least seemed more like his anger was at a similar level to when they first entered. It might be physically impossible for the King to not be angry!

    ¡°Rear-Prince Agossliam!¡± The Prince¡¯s back went stiff at the formality in his father¡¯s voice. Hastily he knelt before the King. ¡°My son and seventh heir to the Agossomore Kingdom. You have been banished from these lands. Your punishment. Is for stealing the World Heart of a non-member world. During your mission to contact unknown planets and warn their host sentients of the impending threat of the Jzanna hordes!¡±

    Around them the guards banged their shields against their armored chests. Punctuating the King¡¯s words each time he paused. A low, inaudible chant sneaked its way out of their helmets.

    ¡°You are hereby stripped of your title as the Rear-Prince!¡± Boom, the guards thumped their chests.

    ¡°You are hereby stripped of your position as seventh heir!¡± Boom. The guards beat their chests harder.

    ¡°Your name will hereby be stricken from my family¡¯s roster!¡± Boom. It felt like at any moment the guards would rush forth and behead Kohn and the rest. ¡°And you shall no longer be called by the name given to you by birth!¡±

    BOOOM! One final smack with their shields against their chests before the guards fell eerily silent.

    Agossliam was remained with kneeling the entire time with his head flat against his chest. He didn¡¯t look worried or upset. He resolutely took his punishment in silence.

    On his appearance and will alone, Kohn respected him.

    ¡°You will be confined until such time that you are made to swear unto me the oaths of World Heart sharer. Then the name you will take will be reentered as a citizen of the Agossomore Kingdom. Upon such honor you will be given your first orders by your new King. Guards! Take him away!¡±

    King StoneTooth once more turned his back on his son, but this time he sat upon the throne with all the regality of a high king passing judgement upon a lower being.

    The guards at the base of the columns took three steps forward. From where Kohn didn¡¯t know, but more guards took similar places at the base of each column.

    Being signaled, Kohn and the other escorts of the ex-prince¡¯s stood up and were escorted out of the Great Hall. When the doors grinded shut, everyone was surprised when the Prince let out a very loud sigh.

    ¡°Whooo!¡± He glanced at everyone. They could visibly see his relief. ¡°That could have gone so much worse!¡±

 Chapter 36 - Old Man and Little One

    The ex-prince, who also had his name taken away, was not allowed to leave his room. Of course, you couldn¡¯t tell that he was being held prisoner by all of the amenities that were given to him. Piles of food didn¡¯t decorate the large, intricately designed rectangular table¡­ they littered it. His bath was the size of a pool and the towels were so thick that your hand could sink a foot into them before you touched the other side.

    ¡°I would have thought being banished would have gotten you a worse treatment.¡± Kohn was worried when the prince received punishment, but this room was just confusing. ¡°It¡¯s better decorated than an expensive hotel on Earth. There¡¯s even gold in the walls!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been banished, but in a few days I¡¯ll be made a Lord so they don¡¯t want to mistreat me.¡± He opened a door before instantly closing it. ¡°These quarters have my mother¡¯s hand all over it.

    Kohn wasn¡¯t one-hundred percent positive about what the ex-prince had seen through those doors, but judging by the giggling feminine laughter it wouldn¡¯t be much of a guess. The beet-red face of the ex-prince also went a long way towards confirming what everyone was thinking. Kohn thought he heard at least half-a-dozen distinct giggles.

    ¡°So¡­ what now?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re banished, but being treated like a king. If the guards weren¡¯t a clue, all the food, beautiful room, massive bath and the women are meant to entice you to stay put.¡± Kohn gazed into a goblet briefly but he was more interested in the figures along its sides. ¡°Should we break out of here?¡±

    ¡°What?! NO!¡±

    ¡°Sneak out?¡±

    ¡°Do nothing of the sort!¡± The ex-prince was alarmed by what Kohn was saying out loud. ¡°And keep your voice down! If the guards outside suspect you have going against the legitimate orders of the King you¡¯ll be lucky if they just arrest you.¡±

    ¡°Then you want to stay put?¡±

    ¡°Of course! The punishment isn¡¯t the best under the circumstances, but at least I wasn¡¯t killed or imprisoned for the rest of my life. Didn¡¯t you hear what the King said? ¡®¡­given my first orders¡­¡¯ as in, I¡¯ll be allowed to continue to fight the Jzanna and protect the Kingdom!¡±

    Kohn wasn¡¯t entirely sold on his circumstances, or allowing the ex-prince to fight considering what more he just found out about the World Heart but for now he just held his tongue. Sasha on the other hand had sat down at the table and started digging into a mountain of fruit.

    She paused stuffing her mouth when she saw everyone staring at her. ¡°What? I was too nervous to eat before.¡±

    Kohn¡¯s stomach grumbled at the reminder. Everyone just nodded their heads at each other, wordlessly agreeing with her. Everyone there reached for the food.

    ¡°Say¡­¡± Swallowing something that resembled bread baked with cheese, Kohn noticed something. ¡°Where¡¯s the Armorer?¡±

    ***

    A man known as the Prince¡¯s flag ship Armorer walked into the great hall through a side passage shortly after his King declared banishment a fitting punishment for his own son.

    ¡°You always were overly dramatic,¡± he gave a deep bow to the throne ¡°my king.¡±

    ¡°Who is that short, little, old man I see before me?¡± King StoneTooth jested back at him. ¡°Must be a hermit that went insane deep in the mountains. Who else, but a crazy old fool would dare mock someone that could crush his skull with but a thought?¡±

    ¡°Aye, I have gone crazy, but it hasn¡¯t been too long since I last whipped you into a shape that could do that.¡±

    King StoneTooth grumbled at the reminder. ¡°It¡¯s been over two-hundred years old man!¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Has it?¡± The Armorer wracked his brains trying to think. ¡°I suppose it has. My mind must be starting to go.¡±

    ¡°Why it hasn¡¯t left you before now I¡¯ll never know. After all this time that I¡¯ve known you, I still cannot tell if you are getting any older.¡± King StoneTooth¡¯s face showed interest instead of his constant anger. ¡°Won¡¯t you finally tell me this time I ask, just where did you come from?¡±

    Whereas the King has come from the lands beneath his floating city, the Armorer had come from off-world due to a summoning spell.

    The heavily muscular man shook his head at the King¡¯s repeated question. ¡°You always ask and I always give the same answer. A place, much worse than here.¡±

    ¡°It was a mistake to summon you. I can¡¯t ever apologize enough.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault-¡°

    ¡°It is!¡± He denied the shorter man¡¯s claims vehemently. ¡°When things were at their darkest during the Great War, I used the World Heart to connect with another and summoned you!¡±

    He shook with his own ignorance and stupidity. ¡°I¡¯ll never forget how you looked when you first arrived. Covered in blood, exhausted, wounded. Yet you gave me a beating like I never had before and you yelled at me in your language.¡± A tear escaped as he recounted long ago events. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what you were trying to say, but I could see that look on your face. The same one that I had when I watched my wife and child turn to stone before my own eyes. Horror and shock. The kind you get when you failed to protect what really mattered to you.¡±

    ¡°Boy, stop.¡± Even the Armorer was shedding tears now. Their talk was reminding him of that day. ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡± He stuttered at first, but wiped the tears and snot off his face before trying again. ¡°I didn¡¯t come here for that.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± The King coughed and rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands. When his hands rested on the throne again, all traces of tears and emotion were gone. ¡°You came because of my son.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. He knew the old man would follow his son on his expedition and he had to have known that he would be punished because of the World Heart incident.

    ¡°I am glad about what you did for him.¡±

    ¡°Banishment?¡±

    ¡°You know you haven¡¯t really banished him, little one.¡± He scoffed at the tall king.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t called me little one in years.¡±

    ¡°No matter how tall you make yourself, you¡¯ll always be the same little pipsqueak to me.¡± This was starting to get a little too heartwarming for these men. They both coughed to cover up their blushing faces. ¡°You cast him out of your house. Took away his name. Stripped him of his title as Prince. You allowed him to escape this place. Just like your other children.¡±

    King StoneTooth couldn¡¯t disagree with the old man¡¯s words. ¡°It¡¯s cruel to lock them away in a fortress for their entire lives. Besides, should one of the other lords dare to challenge me, they would only be killed along with me. Best if they live their lives how they want to.¡±

    ¡°Am I intruding dear?¡± Evemlaine came back into the great hall during a period of awkward silence. Her delicate hooves made quiet clacking noises that echoed off the columns.

    ¡°Not at all Evemlaine. We were just discussing the children.¡±

    ¡°Oh, how nice.¡± She walked up to the Armorer, tightly grasping his right arm with both of hers. Nestling it between her bosoms. ¡°You know, Beyyele has been asking about you?¡±

    ¡°H-has she now?¡±

    Beyyele was Evemlaine and the King¡¯s daughter. One year when she was young she had declared to him that she would be his wife when she grew up. Ever since he¡¯s desperately avoided her to the best of his abilities, but she always seemed to find him.

    ¡°She would have already been in the Order of Whispers by now if she would just stop talking so much.¡±

    ¡°The Order of Whispers is interested in her?¡±

    ¡°They are. Beyyele has exceptional stealth capabilities ever since she was young. When I asked her why she was so good she¡¯d always say, ¡®it¡¯s a game I play with my future husband.¡¯¡± Evemlaine smiled proudly as she remembered her daughter, but to the old Armorer he only saw the dark shadows around her eyes.

    ¡°Yes! Well-¡± He started to explain that he¡¯d never touch her daughter, but Evemlaine interrupted his thoughts with a terrible idea.

    ¡°OOH! I know! Why don¡¯t you join Beyyele and us for dinner tonight?¡±

    The tough Armorer gasped before breaking out into a sweat. ¡°Beyyele¡¯s, here?¡±

    ¡°Well not right now,¡± Evemlaine corrected herself ¡°but she was supposed to be back yesterday so we¡¯ve been expecting her any time now.¡±

    ¡°Is that so? Well then. I-umm, had-ah, better go and umm, get something prepared, for-uh, her.¡± Evemlaine had started a fierce battle with him as he tried to disengage his arm from between her tight grip. She tried so hard to prevent him from escaping, and even held him in an embarrassing embrace while her husband watched with amusement, but he eventually got loose.

    Evemlaine tried to grab hold of him again, but succeeded in only tripping herself and falling to the ground in an undignified manner. She threw the hair out of her eye to see her daughter¡¯s infatuation fleeing out the great hall¡¯s double doors.

    ¡°NO! Come back.¡± She cried at him. When she noticed her husband laughing at her she burst his happy little bubble. ¡°What do you think Beyyele will do to you when I tell our daughter that her daddy let her ¡®one true love¡¯ escape?¡±

    ¡°Ha, ha-gak!¡± King StoneTooth choked on his laughter. He ordered the servants to look for the Armorer, but other than Evemlaine¡¯s daughter, no one could find that man if he didn¡¯t want to be found.

    ***

    Meanwhile, in the Deep Dark, a Kingdom¡¯s Dark Vessel was approaching the capital. A young woman with four legs had just received a message. ¡°Ooh! A Message from Mommy!¡±

 Chapter 37 - Fury of a Sister

    ¡°Say¡­ where¡¯s the Armorer?¡± Kohn asked.

    Everyone looked around, but the ex-prince told them not to bother. ¡°He¡¯s an old acquaintance of the King. I never did hear the full story about how those two met, but apparently the King owes him a great debt.¡±

    They all recalled their interactions with the man. Belittling them when he passed out weapons. Yelling at them when he took the weapons back. Frightening the women when they saw him in the morning. Dragging Kohn off. Recordings of him repeatedly slamming Kohn into the ground. And the tales Kohn would recount of his horrible training methods.

    ¡°No way he¡¯s someone who knows royalty!¡± They spoke out together.

    ¡°Hmm? Why wouldn¡¯t he be?¡±

    A loud bang had everyone jumping in their seats. The doors were pushed open with such force that they were ripped off their hinges and dug into the walls at the same time. The Armorer, panicking and covered in sweat, stood there with his arms still outstretched.

    ¡°Prince! I need to take your Dark Vessel out into space for a small brief amount of time!¡± He rushed hastily, stuttering over his own tongue three times.

    Kohn had never, ever, seen the Armorer like this. Most of the time it was excitement, anger and¡­ no, that¡¯s about it.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Armorer?¡± Kohn called out to him.

    ¡°Nothing boy, go about your business.¡±

    ¡°Armorer,¡± the ex-prince chided him ¡°I¡¯m sure you know of my punishment. I may no longer be referred to by my previous title or name.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing else to call you-doesn¡¯t matter! I need the Vessel! HURRY!¡±

    ¡°But it is no longer mine. I lost possession of it when I was banished from the Kingdom. Calm down, you should know that.¡± When the Armorer showed no signs of even attempting to calm down the ex-prince decided to ask what the problem was. ¡°Why do you need to use the Dark Vessel?¡±

    ¡°I need to get off world! Just for a little while.¡± He ran to the windows in the suit, eyeing the landing pads and the skies for any sign of another ship. ¡°I need to leave soon before she gets here!¡±

    ¡°She?¡± The ex-prince queried. Noticing slight movement at the now permanently open doors, the color drained from his face. ¡°SISTER BEYYELLE!¡± He gasped loudly.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ¡°YES!¡± The Armorer agreed as his dire situation was finally understood by the ex-prince. ¡°Your sister is arriving soon so I need to be off world as quickly as possible before-¡°

    ¡°Before what my husband?¡±

    ¡°Gak!¡± The words choked him as his head sunk a foot, already feeling the ire upon his back.

    When the Prince had called out his sister, it wasn¡¯t because he had understood the Armorer¡¯s plight. His beautiful younger half-sister Beyyele had been standing in the doorway with a firm disapproving gaze for her older brother. She wore a lovely slip that showed a little less skin than her mother¡¯s outfit, but unlike her mother the ex-prince knew his younger sister carried numerous weapons under her clothes. It always worried him that no matter how strong the wind was his sister¡¯s clothing would never flutter despite its flimsy appearance.

    Walking up behind the Armorer, she tapped his shoulder with her staff, guiding him so that he didn¡¯t block her line of sight with her brother. ¡°I¡¯ll get to you in a minute my love!¡± She told him ever so sweetly, but it only made him cringe.

    ¡°Sister¡­¡± Kohn noticed the ex-prince had sweat on his brow as he tried to sweetly speak with her, but the young deer-woman was having none of that.

    ¡°Brother dearest of mine!¡± She spoke with as much anger as her father did. ¡°You¡¯ve gone and got yourself banished! Stripped out of the family registrar! And for what? For STEALING a World Heart from a planet of Hishjullers-¡°

    Kohn muttered to himself ¡°What¡¯s a Hishjuller?¡± but that only drew her attention down to him.

    ¡°Silence you little Pip! I¡¯m talking with my brother, and dear husband? Just where do you think you¡¯re going?¡±

    Before anyone had noticed it the Armorer had disappeared behind a wall panel, but Beyyele could somehow tell where he was. She thrust her staff into the wall three times before a subdued ¡°nowhere¡± came out from inside the wall.

    ¡°If I have to go searching for you I¡¯ll tie you up and we¡¯ll be celebrating our marriage night within the hour!¡±

    It was kind of funny to Kohn to see this deer-woman angrily stare and yell at a wall. If he didn¡¯t hear the Armorer¡¯s voice come out of said wall just a moment ago he would have thought her crazy. As if there hadn¡¯t been a single interruption she continued her angry rant at the ex-prince. Meanwhile the Armorer quietly crept back into the room seemingly from a random spot in the ceiling.

    ¡°-and you didn¡¯t even fight father about it! I could understand this sort of behavior from our siblings, but from you!? Why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡± By the time she was done her entire face was red and she was fuming.

    The ex-prince was full on sweating now and sinking into his lush chair. He had no words and Kohn thought it was incredibly funny. This man had stood in front of the world leaders of Earth and declared that the planet was his. He didn¡¯t even blink when guards pulled out their guns or his own advisors quickly slaughtered them. But now, this man couldn¡¯t even gather the mental capacity to talk back to his sister.

    ¡°You, Pip!¡± The laughter died in his gut. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±

    ¡°You are!¡± He said out loud before he could stop himself.

    ¡°Me and my big mouth.¡± He managed to think before a slim quarterstaff, heavily decorated with magic formations, filled his vision.

 Chapter 38 - Ouch, that had to hurt

    ¡°Beyyele, I¡¯ve told you many times. Don¡¯t attack people at random!¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t random. He laughed at me!¡±

    ¡°That isn¡¯t a reason to do that!¡±

    ¡°Ughn.¡± Kohn painfully woke up. ¡°What happened?¡±

    Sasha was gently holding him still. ¡°Try not to move. You may have broken your neck.¡±

    ¡°What? How could I have broken my neck?¡± But as reality slowly set in he noticed that Sasha was upside down. ¡°Why are you upside down?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± She giggled back at him. ¡°You are you big silly.¡±

    Despite her attempts at trying to hold him still, John looked around the room. ¡°Indeed.¡± He thought to himself when he saw a table with scraps of food on the ceiling.

    When he had been hit from Beyyele¡¯s staff his unconscious body went spread eagle as he sailed through the air. Luckily, one of his legs had got caught on a chandelier and prevented him from slamming full force into the wall, but the noise he made still worried everyone. It was a seemingly bone-crunching noise that sent shivers down the Earthling¡¯s spines.

    ¡°Sasha?¡±

    ¡°Yeah Kohn?¡± The way she spoke to him made him feel like she was addressing a dying patient.

    ¡°Could you get me down from here? The blood is rushing to my head.¡±

    A groaning noise came from above, just before a piece of the chandelier snapped and deposited him gently into a pile on the ground.

    ¡°Ow¡­¡±

    The ex-prince and his sister were still having a heated argument in the center of the room. When Beyyele saw him on the ground she took that to seem like everything was fine.

    ¡°Look, see? He¡¯s on the ground now. Happy?¡±

    ¡°Not even close!¡± The ex-prince shouted angrily.

    ¡°Then what do you want me to do about it?!¡±

    ¡°Apologize!¡±

    ¡°To him? Why?¡± She was confused by her brother¡¯s incessant demands. Almost like it never crossed her mind that she was wrong for attacking Kohn.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°Because you attacked him for no reason and you could have killed him!¡± He roared back.

    These two were in their own little arguing world together. No one could get a voice in edge wise, and the Earthlings were too afraid to be hit like Kohn so they were quiet. He might have been able to take the hit, but they sure couldn¡¯t. He had a suit of armor while most of them had a more formal set of regular clothes.

    Kohn, cautiously stretched out his body, glad that he didn¡¯t have any broken bones. Though the impact to his brain made the room spin too much for him to be moving around just yet.

    ¡°If I attacked him it was for a good reason. Maybe he¡¯s a criminal?¡±

    ¡°WHAT!?¡± He responded on instinct, his voice going up two pitches. ¡°That doesn¡¯t even¡­ you know what? It doesn¡¯t matter, apologize or make it up to him.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not apologizing.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care! Then just make it up to him?¡±

    ¡°How? I¡¯m not doing anything personal with him! I still haven¡¯t done those things with my husband yet.¡±

    ¡°Not even what I was referring to! Why don¡¯t you take him out for the day?¡±

    ¡°Take him out?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m confined to these rooms, though with the door like that I¡¯ll probably be moved soon. So go in my stead. Guide the Earthlings around the capital. Show them what it means to be a part of the Kingdom and what sort of benefits they can expect to help their planet. Maybe take them to the Park or something?¡± When the ex-prince noticed that his sister wasn¡¯t very enthusiastic about walking around with a bunch of people she didn¡¯t know, he changed gears slightly. ¡°And at the same time, you can have an outing with your¡­ husband.¡± Internally he was apologizing with the Armorer, refusing to meet his eyes which accused him of betrayal.

    When she heard that she could also take the Armorer with her and treat it almost as a private outing she was suddenly thrilled with the idea. Her hooves were silent as she bounced left and right towards the Armorer. He was originally standing behind Kohn, but when he saw her excitedly bouncing ever closer to him he hastily backed up until he hit the wall. The young deer-woman Beyyele batted her eyelashes at him.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that sound like a great idea husband? We can go out together, share a meal, tour the Park, have a private moment under the trees¡­¡± She kept listing a large assortment of activities for them to do in a merrily voice. But her mood soured when her Brother butted in.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to take the Earthlings with you.¡±

    Rolling her eyes she shot a dangerous glare at her brother. ¡°Yes. Yes. We¡¯ll carry the Pip¡¯s with us. Maybe we¡¯ll feed them some seed when we get to the Park.¡±

    Kohn was feeling a little brave. ¡°What am I to you? Some kind of pet?¡±

    She turned her back to Kohn, giving the Armorer a lover¡¯s gaze. But it was an icy gaze with a deathly amount of irritation.

    Just as Kohn was feeling up to it, he started to stand. Only to be launched out of the room when a slender hoof hit him full in the back. He sailed for almost twenty feet before his face smeared across the floor as his legs stayed up in the air. Losing against the friction his face stuck to the floor as the rest of his body bent over his head. With a loud bang his armored body struck the ground.

    Beyyele cheerily hooked her arm around the Armorer¡¯s and gave out an excited ¡°Onward to our first Outing!¡±

    From out in the hallway they could hear Kohn.

    ¡°Why am I getting hurt so much today? It¡¯s supposed to be like a vacation. See the King, enjoy the sites, meet some new people, but I just keep getting hurt!¡±

 Chapter 39 - Tour Guide Beyyele

    Despite her penchant to get violent at the drop of a hat, Beyyele turned out to be a great tour guide. She loved to show all the great spots where you could get designer clothes, visit the cute and cuddly creatures of the Park, view the sites, and also have a romantic dinner with a loved one.

    Well, she would make a great tour guide Kohn had to admit, if she didn¡¯t focus solely on having a romantic moment with the old Armorer. When Kohn or the other men asked a question her neck would snap in their direction and she¡¯d glare at them so hard they stuttered into silence.

    ¡°Why are you even here?¡± She asked them when they didn¡¯t care to see romantic spots. When Kohn and the others asked about the stores Beyyele tried to lose them. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go take a look? I¡¯m sure there¡¯s something you¡¯d like.¡± She¡¯d say each and every time before pulling the Armorer around the corner.

    Luckily Kohn always seemed to be able to spot the pair from a mile away so they¡¯d quickly rejoin them. Oliver, the Earthling on a fast track to becoming a member of the Winged Order, had to ask him what his secret was. Of course, because it was Kohn the answer always disappointed them.

    ¡°What do you mean? Just look for a couple with an exceptionally happy, but violent girl, and a nervous, worried fellow.¡± When he put it that way they all thought it was obvious but none of them besides Kohn was able to understand the trick to it.

    When they pulled up chairs around a table set only for two Beyyele adjusted her plans. She took them all to the Park.

    The Park was not what it was actually called, but since all of the Earthlings have never tried to learn the Kingdom¡¯s language they were dependent upon their Brace of Words¡¯ translations. But it did worry them when they went to one of the capital¡¯s more stout towers and they heard massive screams and roars of animals when they passed through the threshold.

    ¡°EEE! They¡¯re so cute!¡± Beyyele squealed out in delight, prancing in place. The Armorer was shaken so much he became confused so when she asked him questions he automatically answered them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you love that one? Wouldn¡¯t it be great for a wedding present?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s nice.¡±

    ¡°What about that one? It¡¯s so fluffy we could cuddle up on it on our wedding night.¡±

    ¡°Sounds great.¡±

    ¡°Oh, they don¡¯t have the one I wanted to see this time. I¡¯ll have to ask father for one.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯d get you it.¡±

    Kohn and the others were scared stiff by the enormous monsters calmly walking around, not in cages. Some of them were so big that a full three humans could disappear in a single gulp. And they were slightly paralyzed when Beyyele talked about cuddling up on what they could only describe as a furry praying mantis-bat hybrid that clung to the side of the wall. And the Armorer kept being getting his brains rattled so much that he agreed with whatever she said, not even noticing the bit about a wedding!Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Kohn was sure he saw it swallow when they passed by underneath it. Sarah was hiding behind Kohn and Oliver as if she could shove them directly in its mouth to buy her a few seconds to escape.

    ¡°Beyyele!¡± A small flamboyant boy called out to her when he saw her. Swiftly he walked over to hold both of her hands in his.

    ¡°Huh? Oh Fermon!¡±

    ¡°Girl, it has been too long. Unn! Look at yourself all grown up, all sexy and pretty! Just where have you been holing yourself up at, girl?¡±

    ¡°I was out of the capital for a little while, touring the Kingdom. Putting down a little bit of the old fiery uprising if you know what I mean.¡±

    ¡°Amazing!¡±

    ¡°Fantastic.¡± She replied and they both had a blushing laugh at their little inside joke. ¡°You didn¡¯t get the one I wanted.¡±

    ¡°Oh girl, don¡¯t you worry about it. I got exactly what you wanted.¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t see it. Is it somewhere else?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll be so amazed when you notice it.¡±

    ¡°What? It¡¯s actually here?¡±

    ¡°Mmm-hmm.¡± He whistled loudly and gigantic, long, limbless furry Ermine looking monster suddenly appeared on the wall above the bat-mantis thing.

    When it felt a presence behind it, the bat-mantis looked up and locked eyes with the massive Ermine. Beyyele gave out a squeal of delight when she saw it. Her hands clasped together over her heart and her eyes shined with lovely tears of joy.

    They both stared at each other before Beyyele¡¯s squeal broke freeze-frame moment. Awoken out of its staring contest, the bat-mantis startled the limbless Ermine with phlegm coughing screech. Comically the furry thing flopped around on the wall before falling on top of the bat-mantis, making them both crash to the ground with a loud bang.

    The noise startled the other monsters around, sending them into a stampede towards the opposite wall. Beyyele, Fermon and the Armorer just stood still as the animals split like a river around them. The other Earthlings noticed and took shelter behind them, but Kohn wasn¡¯t paying attention.

    ¡°AHHHHHHHH!¡± He screamed at the top of his lungs as he dodged the massive feet, sharp teeth and pointed spikes of various animals.

    ¡°Boy! What? Are? You? Doing?¡± The Armorer called out to him as he jumped around like an idiot as he tried to avoid death.

    When Kohn noticed they were all standing still as the animals moved around them he thought it would work with him too. So he stopped dodging and without a shred of evidence calmly walked towards them.

    Kohn didn¡¯t even manage to put a single foot down before a six-legged horned lizard rammed into him at full force. Its two horns went around his waist perfectly and its head scooped him up and it carried him off with the rest of the stampede.

    ¡°SAVE ME!¡± He called out to the party, but as the monsters were making a lot of noise and quickly moving away his cry for help quickly faded.

    The Armorer shook his head in disappointment while the other Earthlings shed a tear for his passing. Fermon calmly asked Beyyele, ¡°Was he a friend of yours?¡±

    ¡°What was?¡±

    ¡°That guy that got dragged off? He was kind of handsome.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anyone get dragged off. I only saw a herd of beasts that ran off.¡±

    The others instantly feared that they too would become ¡®beasts that ran off¡¯ at some point. They had after all, irritated her slightly less than Kohn did.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t know him then maybe I will go and rescue him and make him part of my herd.¡±

    ¡°See if I care. Hop to it then.¡±

    ¡°Yes Princess!¡± Fermon called out merrily before skipping after the stampede. He creepily sang a song about two men and something called a Royal Bend as he left them behind.

    ¡°Kohn just has the most rotten luck¡­¡±

 Chapter 40 - El

    After Fermon managed to rescue Kohn from all of those ¡®nasty and ferocious¡¯ beasts they were taken off to the side of the Park. A little dining area was setup with beautiful glass and crystal plates, cups and pitchers. A whole assortment of little cookie-cakes and triple-curved s¡¯s covered a platter at the center of the round glass table.

    ¡°Come, come. Sit down all of you, I insist.¡±

    Fermon might have been a chirpy little weirdo but he was a great host. Making sure everyone was seated before dishing out little dough squares that he pulled from thin air. The ornate pitcher that looked like half of a close-up picture of a sun was used to pour a light orange drink into each person¡¯s cup. The pitcher was cool to the touch, but as soon as the liquid was poured out of what Kohn assumed was a solar flare, it became hot to the touch.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Sasha squealed at everything. ¡°It¡¯s all so adorable! Kohn, look at these cups. And these little snacks-ooh! You have to try this drink!¡±

    Upon a closer inspection of the cups, Kohn saw that what he thought was a solid crystal cup turned out to be a series of intertwined animals. If even one was missing then the cup couldn¡¯t hold its proper shape and would collapse. At that point you shouldn¡¯t even think about filling it with a drink.

    ¡°This¡­ is very beautiful.¡± He replied, a little taken aback.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Fermon flashed him a flirty smile. ¡°I made them myself.¡±

    Not to be forgotten, Beyyele chimed in. ¡°Not only is Fermon the best tamer in the capital, but he works with an assortment of materials and makes the finest eat-ware in the entire kingdom. What he makes are incredibly desired by every noble and lord, but he refuses to part with them.¡±

    ¡°They are my creations your highness. Whether I give them out to anyone is entirely up to me.¡±

    ¡°I just wish you¡¯d give me one¡­¡±

    ¡°Ever since you first came here with your mother all those years ago, you¡¯ve pestered me for a set.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re so talented when you¡¯re a male. Look at these!¡± She held up her plate which was made from a series of elongated s¡¯s and linked together. It wasn¡¯t quite a bowl since it was fairly flat, but it wasn¡¯t quite a plate saucer since it also curved near the edges.

    ¡°I thank you for the compliment Beyyele, but you should know by now that we change who we are based upon how we feel. And who we love.¡±

    The sideways glance and flirtatious wink sent Kohn¡¯s way made him freeze for a moment with a mini cookie-cake held in front of his open mouth. Seeing Kohn stuck, Fermon helped him out by pushing on his hand. When it passed Kohn¡¯s open lips, he then helped Kohn close his mouth with a single finger on his chin.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Trying to think of what to say, Kohn watched Fermon change before his very eyes.

    Fermon¡¯s small stature suddenly grew. Whereas before he had to stand on the chair, bent over the table, now he was kneeling on the chair with an elbow propping him up to lean over the table. His short boyish hair grew at an alarming pace until it reached the back of his knees, curling the ends into attractive swirls. Fermon¡¯s ears were already pointed, but now they stretched an extra couple of inches. His bent over posture made it easier to see the swelling of his rear-end and the inflation of his chest while his facial features became highly feminine complete with emerald green eyes that transfixed everyone that looked into them.

    Fermon giggled in a female voice as Kohn reflexively swallowed the cookie-cake whole.

    ¡°Wow.¡±

    Sasha said what the Earthlings were all thinking. Well, Kohn and the men were probably thinking that in a different tone.

    ¡°You¡¯re beautiful-¡± Kohn started to say but Beyyele interrupted at the top of her lungs.

    ¡°NO! Why would you change into a woman now? Just when I gave you a compliment about your talented male persona you go and shift into your female one! Why?¡±

    ¡°I just felt like it was the perfect time.¡±

    Beyyele shot Kohn yet another murderous glare. Clearly she blamed him for her friend¡¯s apparent sex change. But before she could do anything to Kohn, the Armorer spoke up.

    ¡°So what name will you go by this time?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you! You¡¯ve known my true name since long ago!¡± She sent him a flirtatious blushing look as well, which instantly transformed Beyyele¡¯s murderous glare to Kohn into a more alarmed and defensive appearance in front of the new womanly Fermon.

    ¡°I know it.¡± Beyyele snapped her neck to him with a hurt expression. Like the Armorer just admitted to cheating on her. ¡°But I can¡¯t necessarily walk around calling you by it now can I?¡±

    ¡°True.¡± She moved to Kohn, getting so close that he bent over the back of the chair to get away. But she only followed him, barely an inch of space between the two as she spoke breathily directly into his mouth as their eyes locked together. ¡°Hmm. Mmm! Call me, El.¡±

    Kohn might have been a very handsome and attractive male back on Earth, but he actually didn¡¯t have much experience interacting with the opposite sex. At least none that were so open with their desires as El was. He was flustered and tried to think of something to say, but he only stuttered adorably.

    ¡°I-I, uh, y-you! Wha-ha, um. Huh?¡±

    Barely managing to break eye contact he looked up into the open mouth of a furry animal draped over the dining area¡¯s fence.

    ¡°WHAT?!¡± He managed to yell out which drew everyone¡¯s attention upward just as the massive Ermine closed its cute mouth over Kohn¡¯s head, pulling him up out of the chair and out of El¡¯s embrace.

    They could see him struggling comically. His arms pushing against the beast¡¯s lips as his legs tried to run away in mid-air.

    The Armorer and the Earthlings stood up, preparing their weapons to fight to rescue Kohn. Beyyele calmly smiled and drank her ¡®tea¡¯ as she enjoyed the view of the annoying Earthling getting eaten by the beast. But everyone¡¯s understanding of the situation were shattered as El stood up to the limbless Ermine, shaking her fist.

    ¡°Give him back! I called dibs first!¡±

    The Ermine¡¯s eyes shrunk at El before it shook its head in firm refusal.

 Chapter 41 -- Stampede

    While Kohn struggled to escape from inside the monsters mouth El was arguing with it outside. Sasha and the other Earthlings didn¡¯t know if they should try and fight the monster to rescue Kohn. The Armorer didn¡¯t sit back down, but he relaxed when he saw El.

    ¡°Give him back! Don¡¯t shake your head at me. Let him go. I ought to skin you, you ungrateful little spit! Wait, where are you going? Come back here!¡±

    When she threatened to skin him the large ermine got scared and ran away.

    The Armorer waved everyone to sit back down as El dashed after it at an incredible speed. Each step of hers left a foot print crater.

    The ermine was scared when it looked back to see her catching up to it. Rotating in midair it slammed into the ground, bounced once more and then launched itself onto the wall. Somehow it caught purchase on something and crawled further up the wall in a zig zag motion. Almost as if it was anticipating the large dirt spikes that suddenly penetrated the thick stone. If it didn¡¯t suddenly change direction all of the spikes would have been buried into its skull rather than the wall.

    El screamed out in frustration. Stomping the ground furiously as she clenched her fists at her sides. She stood on level ground, but the dirt around her was disappearing every time she threw a spike. Pretty soon she was standing on a plateau in the middle a recess.

    ¡°Kukuku.¡±

    The Ermine was laughing at her. All the spikes in the wall made it incredibly easy for it to cling to the wall and its body was winding through several of them.

    Crack

    ¡°Ku-ku?¡±

    As it was laughing a loud crack came from behind it. Cautiously it looked at the wall as Kohn took this moment to start bashing his knees into its nose while pulling its lips straight out.

    The Ermine noticed a crack on the wall. It must have been thinking that that wasn¡¯t there before. When the crack got bigger in quick bursts it followed along. Following the growing crack it made a circle around the Ermine until it came back to itself, disappearing into a hole made by one of El¡¯s dirt spikes.

    ¡°Ku?¡± It cried out when its distraction disappeared.

    CRACK!

    The section of wall riddle with spikes that the alien Ermine was clinging to made a really scary noise as it slide out a couple inches. Realizing the danger it was in, it skedaddled out of harm¡¯s way just in time to see the whole section of the wall fall to the floor below.

    BOOOOOOOM-BANG!

    The other animals were already scared from the previous loud noise and all the commotion between El and the Ermine. But hearing an even louder explosion drove them wild. They started ramming into the walls, fighting with each other and making all kinds of roars and cries. The few that could fly or climb the walls saw the Ermine rush out of the bright hole in the wall and quickly followed suit.

    The others running around on the ground had split into two groups running in opposite directions along the base of the walls. When they met up in the middle they joined together, running straight into the Park¡¯s entrance barrier. The ones in the lead slammed into it and were smushed by the others behind them. Eventually the mass and force behind them stressed the barrier until it broke and the stampede ran out of building.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    The cries of people outside had El, the Armorer, the Earthlings and even Beyyele giving chase to the stampede.

    ¡°What happened? How did they get out?¡± The Armorer yelled at El.

    ¡°I just changed! Do you know how much magic that takes? Without the other staff here I couldn¡¯t reinforce it because I was low on mana.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say anything then?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the wall to break apart! Or them to stampede a second time!¡±

    ¡°Well why did you change then?¡±

    ¡°It seemed like the thing to do at the time.¡±

    They finally managed to catch up to the rear of the stampede as it was making its way down the shopping street.

    People that had been previously walking around the streets had made a sudden rush to get into the stores before they locked their doors. After shutting themselves in a few used magic to create shields but most activated physical barriers. Reinforced stone shot out of the ground, completely covering the front of the store causing the animals to be funneled down the street.

    ¡°Try not to kill them!¡± El shouted to everyone. ¡°If possible just tie them up.¡±

    ¡°With what?¡± The Earthlings shouted back in sync.

    ¡°Then just disable them! Aim for their legs or joints. Or deal a heavy blow to the back of their heads.¡±

    El shot forward, a staff made out of bricks flew into her hands from a nearby store. Bending backwards she snapped the staff down on the head of a fat quadruped. Giving out a pitiful moan it collapsed to the ground unconscious.

    For hours they chased the animals until the capital slanted towards the ground at a steep angle. Desperately their party clung to whatever they could. Except for El who stabbed her brick staff into the ground and stood upon it like martial artists from movies back on Earth. They watched as the animals, conscious and unconscious, slid down the streets and fell to the forests below the capital. The ones that could fly or cling to stuff were the only ones that remained as the capital flattened out its slant.

    ¡°Where is it?¡± El called out. With her hand covering her eyes she searched around before seeing a floating body with no head tiredly smacking at something. ¡°THERE!¡± She yelled.

    Her staff shot out with extreme force, spinning around and around.

    WHOMP!

    Hitting something invisible, the staff made the sound of impacting on flesh. The Ermine became visible again as the staff buried itself deep into its stomach. The impact made the thing vomit Kohn out of its mouth.

    ¡°WAA!¡± Kohn inhaled the fresh air deeply, his face a reddish blue. Covered in saliva he relaxed as the Ermine groaned in pain. ¡°FREEDOM!¡± He tried to yell out, but all the viscous fluids on his face made him sound like he was trying to say ¡°FREE PLUMS!¡±

    Tired and disheveled, El swiftly made her way to him, but she was too slow. Bracing itself through the pain, the Ermine wrapped itself around Kohn. It made a series of clicks, chirps, purrs and growls as if it was speaking.

    The Earthlings were confused, but El spoke back to it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. If you run off again I¡¯m going to seriously kill you!¡±

    ¡°Chu-chu-ku!¡±

    ¡°As long as you understand. Now. Why didn¡¯t you obey me? I¡¯m the one who tamed you!¡±

    It spoke for a while before the two glared at each other. Unable to follow what was going on, Sasha tugged at El¡¯s skin tight clothes.

    ¡°You can understand it? What¡¯s it saying?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s saying that I¡¯m not the one that tamed it. A stupid little monster boy tamed it. I¡¯m just another annoying female. I am the one that tamed you! I just changed my sex!¡±

    It spoke again.

    ¡°Yes I can do that! I was a man, and now I¡¯m a woman, but I¡¯m still the one that tamed you. What? Yes I am! Oh, don¡¯t give me that!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your name girl?¡±

    ¡°Sasha.¡±

    ¡°Alright Sasha, listen closely. I tamed it as a male, but it doesn¡¯t like females and because I changed my sex it says that it doesn¡¯t like me anymore. So it doesn¡¯t want to hang around me. Kohn on the other hand has a pleasant smell that it likes so it wants to keep him as a pet.¡±

    ¡°It wants to make him its pet?¡±

    ¡°Hm? Oh yes. It¡¯s very smart.¡±

    ¡°So what do we do?¡±

    ¡°Whatever. It is. Please. Hurry!¡± Kohn was still held in its grasp and started turning a funny shade of purple and blue.

 Chapter 42 - Everyone Gets Punished

    The damages done by the Park stampede were large but quickly repaired personally by the King. Bright yellow light radiated from the castle, bathing the streets and buildings of the capital. As the light receded everyone could see repairs underway. Almost like a reversal of time, stone and metal that had been torn floated back into place before cracks disappeared as if the massive animals had never escaped to cause chaos and panic. It was awe inspiring.

    Of course, as they were transfixed at the sight they didn¡¯t notice heavily armored knights show up.

    ¡°Sir-er, Ma¡¯am. King StoneTooth summons you to the castle.¡± The knight addressed El before looking at the rest. ¡°As well as any who might have been involved in this incident.¡± The Ermine off to the side, with Kohn resting on its belly, quirked its head in curiosity. ¡°That thing is not allowed inside the castle.¡±

    Feeling caught with their hands in the cookie jar, the Earthlings followed El and the Armorer to the castle. This time though, they could feel the disappointment and dislike off the castle guards. During their walk, they could hear sonic booms from some of the towers. Seeing their curiosity and distress the guard spoke up.

    ¡°That is members of the Falling Fist. They¡¯re using the Fall spell to quickly advance to a monsters position. They¡¯ve been ordered to disable monsters that are still in the capital.¡± He pointed to a tower ahead of them. A soldier with a long spear was standing on the top of a tower. When his eye caught something a little away from the tower he let his body fall with the spear clasped tightly down his side and against his leg. Just when they thought he was committing suicide they saw a distortion before he shot off towards the place he was pointed, leaving a sonic boom in his wake.

    ¡°Wow.¡± Four subdued, in-sync voices unintentionally leaked out.

    They were quickly guided/escorted through the maze of corridors and stairways to the King¡¯s audience hall. It was the great hall from their prior visit and the King did not look happy to have them back so soon. El opened her mouth to speak, but King StoneTooth spoke first.

    ¡°You¡¯ve changed again.¡±

    ¡°Yes I have. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°A marked improvement over your last female form. Why you had a thing for Murgok I¡¯ll never understand.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak ill of a person¡¯s love interest!¡± She chided him.

    ¡°Then how about the failure of your responsibility?¡± His tone zipped her mouth shut. ¡°Explain to me what happened.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir. I transformed and the Park beasts escaped.¡±

    A few awkward seconds passed as the King waited for her to continue, but when she said nothing else he unintentionally gasped out. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°Close enough.¡±

    ¡°What about the hundreds of beasts that rampaged through the capital? What about the damages to the buildings, or the fear and panic of my citizens?¡±

    King StoneTooth was back to his good old usual, angry yelling self. Kohn slowly scooted behind Sasha, trying not to draw the King¡¯s attention. However his movement was his undoing.

    ¡°YOU! Earthling. I remember you from earlier. You were here when I dealt out the punishment.¡±

    ¡°Ah! Aa-yes King StoneTooth.¡±

    ¡°Do you have something to add that would shed some light to the dark unknowns of this situation?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t even know what was going on your Majesty. I was in a monster¡¯s mouth.¡±

    ¡°A monster¡¯s mouth?¡±

    El reached out. It looked like she was holding thin air for a moment before the Ermine¡¯s camouflage disappeared. It looked incredibly frightened as it tried and failed to pull itself out of El¡¯s hands. The King¡¯s guards in the Great hall all turned to it and raised their shields. Resting their swords on top of their shields they pointed them straight at its eyes.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°He was in this one¡¯s mouth my King.¡±

    ¡°A Golden Tail? When did you bring one of these to the capital?¡±

    ¡°Just recently. After changing back into a male it liked me and I brought it along. Otherwise it would have been quite annoying.¡±

    El let it go, but only because it no longer tried to camouflage itself and the King¡¯s guards were wise to its presence now. If it tried to do anything they didn¡¯t like they¡¯d skewer it immediately. She definitely didn¡¯t let go of it because she was still exhausted from the gender transformation and couldn¡¯t hold it any longer.

    The King, realizing he was getting off topic shook himself. ¡°Never mind where you got it from.¡±

    ¡°You only asked when your highness.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Yes. Why was there a best stampede through my capital?¡±

    ¡°My King, should I explain?¡± Sensing that El wasn¡¯t going to explain in any more depth than before, the Armorer decided that he should take over.

    ¡°Were you responsible?¡±

    ¡°Partly yes.¡±

    Sigh. ¡°Then please explain.¡±

    From behind Sasha, not hiding his larger figure at all, Kohn listened intently to all that he had missed while partially swallowed.

    ¡°The Golden Tail caused a small noise earlier which riled up the other beasts in the Park.¡±

    ¡°KU! KU-KU-CHU!¡±

    ¡°SILENCE!¡±

    The Ermine, or Golden Tail, had cried out when the blame started to be placed on it. But the King was having none of it and his fearsome gaze that had knocked back Kohn and the others earlier in the day was directed at it. It hide behind a column, shivering. Several of the King¡¯s guards followed it to the other side. The Armorer continued.

    ¡°With the other beasts riled up we went off to the side under Fermon¡¯s invitation and had some light snacks. At that point Fermon became interested in one of the Earthlings and decided to shift into El. It was then when the Ermine picked the Earthling up in its mouth and El argued with it. It ran away and El gave chase. I thought that she would be able to handle it on her own since she¡¯s always been more powerful in a female form, but I didn¡¯t realize how weak she had become. Apparently it takes a considerable amount of stamina and mana.¡±

    Looking down at her feet she rubbed her toes along the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t like to expose my weaknesses.¡±

    ¡°Then you shouldn¡¯t shift sexes when you have been given such a responsibility!¡± The King Retorted.

    ¡°Che.¡±

    ¡°Maybe due to her irritation at the Golden Tail taking her ¡®muse¡¯ or because of her weakened state, she couldn¡¯t keep it tamed and it went wild. When she tried to kill it, I thought El wouldn¡¯t have needed my help so I let my guard down. Bu it proved more difficult to deal with than expected and a hole ended up being made in the Park¡¯s wall. At that point, the beasts were scared and either flew or stampeded out of the Park. Which at that point, created the situation where you had to intervene.¡±

    ¡°Very well. Since the Earthlings seem to not be the ones at fault, and due to their Lord not yet being a member of the Kingdom, I am willing to ignore their involvement in this event. Old man, you on the other hand bear some responsibility.¡±

    The Armorer bowed his head in self-reflection as the King thought over an appropriate punishment.

    ¡°You will record the historical references of this event within the Agossomore¡¯s archive.¡±

    To Kohn the punishment didn¡¯t seem too severe, but the look on the Armorer¡¯s face was one of horror.

    ¡°El, formerly known as Fermon. Your actions have caused you to fail in your duties and responsibilities as the Administrator of Beasts.¡± The King¡¯s mouth moved for a while, but the Brace of Words simply translated whatever he said as ¡®administrator¡¯. ¡°As such, you will not be allowed to leave the capital until all the beasts have been recaptured in the Park. Any negative impacts upon the world¡¯s ecosystem must also be corrected. In addition, after the beasts have all been caught you must make reparations to each citizen that was negatively affected by your actions.¡±

    El remained cool and calm despite the heavy workload thrown onto her shoulders. ¡°Understood your highness.¡±

    Because she was so undisturbed about it, the King gave her a quizzical look. Noticing that her eyes would occasionally look at the Earthling¡¯s direction he gained a sudden insight.

    ¡°Just so you know, the Earthlings will most likely not remain at the capital. And they will most likely not return for an extended period of time.¡±

    King StoneTooth hit the nail on the head. The look of panic and sadness on El¡¯s face told him that he had finally hit the right amount of punishment.

    Kohn was slightly weirded out when he glanced over at El and saw big puppy dog eyes with tears. Luckily Kohn had turned away when she kissed her fingers before turning them to him. In the Kingdom that was a sign of affection passed between couples who were going to be separated for a while.

    ¡°My daughter, Beyyele.¡± King StoneTooth carried on. ¡°You have been oddly silent throughout all this.¡±

    She didn¡¯t bite at his provocation.

    ¡°I find it odd that you couldn¡¯t stop the stampede before it broke out of the Park. And I also find it odd that there were no traces of your abilities in the capital¡¯s streets.¡±

    Beyyele shrunk into herself a little, holding her left arm with her right.

    ¡°Very well. Since you won¡¯t admit your own failure in this event. Beyyele, you will be confined to your room and furthermore you will not be allowed near the Park for a full month.¡±

    ¡°Father!¡± Beyyele cried upset.

    ¡°Now how to punish the Golden Tail¡­¡±

    ¡°Your Highness, if I may?¡±

    ¡°Speak, El.¡±

    ¡°It seems to want to follow the Earthling.¡±

    Kohn couldn¡¯t see, but he could assume that the other¡¯s faces looked the same as his. Angrily looking at El who was trying to drag them into receiving punishment as well.

    ¡°Very well, then the Earthlings are responsible for the beast as well. They shall serve the kingdom¡¯s citizens for one day.¡±

    The four of them all spoke out in surprise. ¡°Community Service?¡±

 Side Story 1 - A Prince Can Never Rest

    After the ex-prince successfully maneuvered his sister Beyyele into taking care of Kohn and the other Earthlings he thought he could have a moment to rest up. Ever since long before he went on his expedition he had been constantly working. Preparing the ships, stocking up on supplies, hand picking the soldiers to go with him, trying to convince the important people that he needed to go with him and more. There were so many things that he had never expected were required to go on one of these trips.

    ¡°No wonder father never goes anywhere.¡±

    And when he finally set off on the journey there were nothing but troubles from the beginning! One of the Dark Vessels in his fleet had a critical malfunction which caused it to leave the expedition early in order to get major repairs. Unluckily it had been the ship with his second in command and his most loyal vassal. The man had saved the ex-prince¡¯s life on more than one occasion and had proven himself time and time again in the eyes of the royal family.

    Then the first planet had been consumed by World Eaters. Then they had to avoid a region of space due to a Tempest storm, and so on and so forth. Problems kept rising up and the ex-prince was starting to lose faith in their chances of completing their mission. But then they came across a small blue and white planet.

    It was the third closest planet to the sun, but was the only one out of eleven planets that could sustain life. In its atmosphere they saw some kind of equipment, but the ships deemed them to have no weapons so they left them alone. On its surface they found major population centers that could be seen from the Deep Dark and the ship¡¯s scans had revealed the largest concentration of sentient beings that the Kingdom had ever found.

    He had been so happy to find this little planet and set a course for the largest and flattest landing area they could find. It just so happened to be a barren biome of sand that fluctuated in temperature greatly depending on it being day or night.

    At the time the Prince had been so excited. Not just because it was a type of land that he had never seen before, or because he was about to meet an alien species. No, he was excited because he figured that the best landing area had been created specifically over the World Heart Rift in order to welcome off-world beings. He never would have imagined that not only was the biome, which they called a desert, something that was naturally made, but they didn¡¯t even know what the World Heart was.

    An even bigger headache was awaiting him when he found out how divided they were. There wasn¡¯t a single ruler or king, but dozens if not hundreds of leaders. And naturally all these leaders had struggled against each other in order to become superior to their neighbors which had led to war.

    The Prince wasn¡¯t explicitly told about the Earth¡¯s World Wars, but he could see the eyes of all the gathered leaders there that day. Many were eyeing each other with disdain, superiority, even hostility and concern for someone else gaining the upper hand. And they didn¡¯t have the means to leave the system and colonize other worlds. If he left things as they were, the Prince knew that it would only be a matter of time before a war destroyed them all or the very planet beneath their feet.

    So he took their World Heart and even though it left him considerably weakened he decided a show of power was necessary to get them to work together, underneath him. So that he could guide them with a single good will. Naturally that didn¡¯t go well and a number of humans were killed by Leete and the Prince¡¯s best friend Kai¡¯Roond, a member of the Order of Whispers. Leete¡¯s second in command of his Dark Vessel even took it upon himself to fire the ships weapons at other approaching vehicles and weapons.

    Afterwards, the Prince met up with a single figure from Earth. A mysterious man named Raj. Somehow he knew instantly that the Prince could understand what was known as the English language, even though Leete had been absolutely sure that no one had picked up on the Gathering of Words spell he cast during his time with the translators. So the Prince talked with Raj and explained why he had taken the World Heart and what it would mean.

    He explained that it was a serious matter, and one that would probably end in severe punishment when he got back to the Kingdom.

    ¡°So why did you take it?¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Because I see your planet like the history of my own. Right before the precipice of a war that destroyed so much that it was nearly impossible to come back.¡±

    ¡°You wanted to stop Earth from going through a similar fate?¡±

    ¡°In a manner yes, but it wasn¡¯t the only reason. The Kingdom is suffering from a war with a species that consumes everything. The Jzanna.¡±

    ¡°And these Jzanna¡­ they kill everyone? They don¡¯t take prisoners?¡±

    ¡°The Jzanna are not sentient beings. They do not have the concept of war or prisoners. They only know of food.¡±

    ¡°So they would eat us? Wipe out everything on the Earth?¡±

    ¡°No, you misunderstand. The Jzanna would eat as much as they could, but they are like parasites moving through the Deep Dark.¡±

    ¡°Parasites need something larger in order to live.¡±

    ¡°They have that ¡®something¡¯. The Jzanna follow the World Eaters.¡±

    And the Prince went on to explain about the World Eaters. But only recently they found out that the Kingdom¡¯s knowledge was wrong and that the World Eaters were actually carrying what they thought to be the Jzanna. Meaning that the big monstrosities that previously just ate planets, were also the mothers of the Jzanna. And inside these mothers were millions of baby Jzanna that would grow up into World Eaters.

    Raj had been quick in understanding that these weren¡¯t things that Earth could fight alone. He was shown recordings of fights with the Jzanna and he pulled out a device to record it to show to his ¡®superiors¡¯. But the Prince could tell that Raj didn¡¯t have superiors.

    ¡°So you took the Earth¡¯s World Heart to prevent us from destroying ourselves, but also to help you fight the Jzanna and their World Eaters.¡±

    ¡°Yes. In exchange we would provide knowledge and understanding of magic, free trade with the Agossomore Kingdom and the protection of our fleets.¡±

    After that the mysterious man had left under Kai¡¯Roond¡¯s watchful eyes. He didn¡¯t speak, but Agossliam could see that the man held an interest in Raj as a potential pupil for the Order. Not even ten Earth minutes later he had returned with the support of the world leaders and asked that the Kingdom help train some of their people in order to show that the Earth was fully committed to being a member of the Kingdom. Of course Agossliam had been warned that the people of Earth would be told that the ¡®aliens¡¯ would be demanding this of them.

    The Prince had readily agreed since it was what he had hoped to get in the future, but much further down the line. Unfortunately he almost immediately regretted it. The cost of preparing all the Brace of Words had been staggering and gathering mana from Earth was slow. They wouldn¡¯t be able to replace all the mana they used on Earth.

    Then he had to get the other ships to land on the planet and make space for the Earthlings. Then he had to alter the mana consumption budgets, create training regimes, course work for history and basic knowledge and settle issues from the other vessel commanders. Their entire return trip was a massive headache. And it didn¡¯t help that he was still syncing with the Earth while getting further and further away from it.

    When everything had been finished Agossliam thought he¡¯d have a chance to rest during their return trip home. But then they came across a World Eater. They watched it go by unnoticed, so that success emboldened them into bringing what they thought was a Jzanna corpse. They lost a lot of people, but it helped reinforce a lesson for the Earthlings that they had to train under the Kingdom in order to become powerful enough to protect their families.

    And then just as he was planning to sleep again, the Earthling Kohn showed up and he had to talk the fool down. Then a bunch of noise out in the corridor and he found Kohn and his vessel¡¯s armorer in a hilarious situation. But that humor was short lived when the fools punched a hole in the Dark Vessel and also damaged one of the Formation Banks.

    Of course that allowed him to see Kohn¡¯s prototype suit in action and for the first time Agossliam saw someone go out into the Deep Dark and survive. It was a historic moment for the fleet. Which became even more historic when they found the massive number of Jzanna in the asteroid road and even more importantly they found the dead World Eater was actually creating the road with its body.

    While thinking about how to deal with this new information Agossliam rubbed his head in a vain attempt to decrease the ache.

    Now he was back in the capital and the punishment had him confined to his room, but that wasn¡¯t an issue. If anything it was greatly welcomed. And after thinking about it for a little bit, his ¡®punishment¡¯ wasn¡¯t even anything to be worried about.

    Well, he did have to choose a new name for himself since he was stripped of his name, rank and family. But at least for now he could rest in peace without a shred of responsibility to worry about. At least, he was able to rest until the capital tilted and gravity ripped him out from his bed.

    ¡°Guard! Find out what has happened.¡±

    ¡°Sorry my lord, but you cannot give me orders.¡±

    That¡¯s right, he was just a prisoner now.

    ¡°Then please find out what has happened and let me know. A courier or maid would be all that is necessary.¡±

    The guard decided that it wasn¡¯t anything that would cause him problems so he sent out a page boy to find out what was happening. When he returned he carried news that caused the ex-prince to stress out again.

    ¡°The Administrator of Beasts, Princess Beyyele, as well as your lord¡¯s Armorer and Earthlings have been escorted to King StoneTooth for causing an animal stampede that ran through the capital¡¯s streets and damaging property.

    ¡°Ugh.¡± He felt a sharp stabbing pain in his abdomen. ¡°What have they done now?¡±

 Chapter 43 - Druids

    Several hundred feet below the capital, on the planet¡¯s surface, Kohn and the other Earthlings were following Hake. He was a citizen living in the capital and it was his job to tend to the forest planets below by harvesting aging or dying trees and planting new ones. As part of their twenty-four hours of community service they had to assist him with whatever he needed.

    Turned out that he was a slightly bitter old man that resented being given a bunch of ¡®thumb-suckers¡¯. So when he was told that he had to use them no matter what for, he laughed and took them down to the surface to help him with his job. Kohn and the others were a little excited since on Earth they had mostly lived in towns and cities. The quiet wilderness that existed below the Agossomore capital was something that they had never seen before.

    ¡°Keep up you weak thumb-suckers!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been hiking for hours!¡±

    ¡°We need a break!¡±

    ¡°You lazy stone-foots! We¡¯ve only been walking for a short time.¡±

    Though they were exited and more than happy to run around the forest initially, after a little more than an hour they were already to the point of breaking. In the cities everything was on flat level ground, with paved streets and few obstacles. Here in this forest there wasn¡¯t a single spot of dirt big enough for you to put your foot flat on the ground. Roots covered everything, sometimes even climbing over each other. And no matter how much they wanted a straight path, hundreds of trees and thousands of branches forced them to bend, dip, jump, climb, and parkour in order to follow Hake. The decrepit looking old man somehow seemingly completely unexhausted as he waited for them to catch up.

    ¡°What is he made of?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Are these actual alien insults or is it just him? It feels like he¡¯s just making them up.¡±

    ¡°Hey Collins, go tell him to wait up.¡±

    ¡°What makes you think that I could catch up to him Sasha?¡±

    ¡°Trevor?¡±

    ¡°Yeah-huff-Sasha?¡±

    ¡°This might be a long shot, but did you learn any spell that could help us here?¡±

    ¡°I learned pretty much ¨Chuff- the same thing as everyone else. How to control magic, activate items, and spells that would have been useful on the ship. Nothing to really help us in this situation. Sorry.¡±

    ¡°No worries. I was just day dreaming I guess.¡±

    Kohn was working with Collins to pull up the two less physically fit members of their group. Back on Earth Sasha was working as a clothing model for retail store catalogs so she had really only exercised enough to look good or fit into an extra small pair of skinny jeans.

    Trevor, however, had actually spent some serious time exercising, or so he claimed. But when pressed for details he admitted to walking the ¡®long stretch¡¯ between his fridge, his computer, and his bathroom. However, he also conveniently forgot to tell them that he also had a mini-fridge underneath his desk and several drawers that had various snacks and confectionaries. Apparently before police showed up to take him to the alien ship, Trevor made a living by searching for bugs in major company programs and receiving rewards in exchange. The rewards were relatively small, but with enough of them over time they added up to a substantial amount.

    That was probably why he and Collins didn¡¯t get along so well. The pudgy man was the almost complete opposite of the personal physical trainer slash aid. Back on Earth Collins had gotten in the habit of exercising every day at an early age and even when he went out into space he didn¡¯t drop stop. The man looked of a similar body build to Kohn, but whereas Kohn worked out to increase his endurance and had accidentally gotten a fit body, Collins had started working out with a specific body shape. He didn¡¯t work out. Collins sculpted his body.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Still. Even if the two of them were physically fit, this forest was pushing them and the old man shouting at them wasn¡¯t helping.

    After what seemed like the entire day of traversing the terrible terrain, Hake mercifully called a halt.

    ¡°This tree looks good.¡±

    It was a sturdy looking tree, but there wasn¡¯t anything exceptional about it as far as they could tell. They had passed larger trees, dead trees, and even a groves of trees trying to grow out of a singular spot.

    ¡°What? Why this tree?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! It looks like all the others.¡±

    ¡°Why a living tree? Why not a dead one?

    ¡°Who taught you?! Don¡¯t you know anything? Mana is produced by the interactions of every living thing. By itself, a person or a tree can¡¯t produce mana, but put together with other life forms ¨C different lifeforms ¨C the energy bounces off each other and mana is released. Even a dead tree can provide mana from the organisms living inside it if given the proper conditions. And sometimes a dead tree is more important to maintain in a forest than any other living tree.¡±

    ¡°Why would a dead tree be more important than living ones? It can¡¯t grow any more or produce seeds.¡±

    ¡°Because dead trees gather harmful species away from the rest of the forest. Bugs that eat wood, birds that peck into trees or felines that scratch and claw at the bark as they chase the birds. Rather than infesting dozens of other healthy trees, a couple of dead trees placed in key locations can save the entire forest.¡±

    ¡°Interesting.¡±

    ¡°So when I¡¯m down here looking for trees to cut for materials, or for maintaining the optimal state of the forest I¡¯m not looking for random trees.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re looking for ones that aren¡¯t producing a lot of mana?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m comparing the output of mana and selecting one that produces the least mana.¡±

    ¡°Then how do you cut the tree down? You didn¡¯t bring any tools to cut it.¡±

    ¡°Sure I did.¡± Hake hefted a magic imbued device. To Kohn it looked like a Shinto rope that the Japanese tied to trees to symbolize sacred ground or that a tree spirit lived in a tree. The main difference was that this one wasn¡¯t tied like a Shinto rope. Instead a pair of metal diamonds with several magic formations on them held firm to each other like magnets.

    ¡°I attach this device, like so, and when I return to the capital I¡¯ll activate the corresponding device on my end causing the spells here to activate. Then, any plant matter touching the rope will wither away while also healing it which seals the stump and the rest of the tree so that both can continue to grow. At least for a short while afterwards.¡±

    Kohn was following along, but Sasha and Trevor were still catching their breath while Collins looked like his head was overheating from thinking too hard.

    ¡°That way the stump still has a chance to grow and produce mana?¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°And the tree can be cut up at your leisure later on.¡±

    ¡°True, but even more importantly, a living tree can be manipulated. To straighten out or to curve. To toughen the inside or to soften the bark. A dead tree can¡¯t be manipulated in an efficient manner and you¡¯ll spend more mana than necessary.¡±

    Hake was freely talking to Kohn with a look of joy. Kohn figured that one of the reasons why the old man was so bitter was because he had no one to share his job or interests with. But rather than just kiss Hake¡¯s ass or flatter his ego, Kohn was actually very interested in the process behind mana production. After all, Kohn was sure that mana production would be a cornerstone to anything he did in the future.

    ¡°-and the tree will be harvested and brought up to the capital. Then I¡¯ll straighten out the tree before cutting it based on what is needed by other crafters.¡±

    ¡°You cut it up yourself too? Wow! What tools do you use?¡±

    ¡°The same that I¡¯m using now. Magic and my hands.¡±

    ¡°Your hands?¡±

    ¡°Let me show you.¡± Hake walked over to the tree that he had just placed the rope around. A small, newly ground stick was coming out near the base. Hake then raised his hand up in the air. His hand turned pale white-blue and with a karate chop he brought his hand down. The stick fell off.

    Looking closely at the twig, Kohn noticed that it didn¡¯t show any signs of being broken or snapped off. It looked clean cut off.

    ¡°You have to teach me that! That is an awesome ability! That must be your own original spell right? Isn¡¯t that cool Collins? Don¡¯t eat it!¡± Kohn was throwing out massive praise to the old man while Collins had taken to chewing on the cut twig as if tasting it would reveal the secret of how it was cut with a bare hand.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. Other Tenders do the same.¡± Hake was blushing from the massive amounts of sudden praise. It was the first time in his career as a Tender that anyone flattered him so much. ¡°Tenders tend to the forest. We plant the seeds, we grow the saplings, and we modify its appearance and structure. So it¡¯s only natural that we also have the skills to deal with its flesh after it passes.

    ¡°Tenders huh? Your job is similar to the old tales on Earth of Druids. Beings that could summon the spirits of the forest to assist them and in return they protected the forest.¡±

    ¡°Druids¡­? It¡¯s a lovely name.¡±

 Chapter 44 - Tenders Hands

    After securing the Shinto-like ropes around two more trees, Tender Hake and the Earthlings spent an equally long time returning to below the capital before a floating rock elevator carried them up to the city.

    They tried to keep up with him, but after all of Kohn¡¯s flattering praise, Hake jollily sped through the streets at breakneck speeds. Only once he returned to his store did Hake realize that he was alone and was forced to go back for the Earthlings that were looking for him. Eventually the whole group made it to Hake¡¯s store.

    ¡°Come in, come in. Don¡¯t touch anything! And take your shoes off.¡±

    Hake paradoxically invited them in before snapping at four when he saw their curiosity. It might not have been much compared to other places in the capital, but to Hake his store was a thing of beauty.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Not being mind readers, Kohn and the rest didn¡¯t know that Hake¡¯s store was typically made fun of. But nevertheless, their reactions of awe were genuine.

    His store was actually quite large on the outside, but with all the trees, potted plants, and hanging magical equipment the store was quite cramped on the inside. Everywhere they turned the Earthlings could see different colored leaves, thorns that acted like motion detectors, and thick trees that looked to have been awkwardly grown inside the building. They bent at impossible angles or even looped around themselves to look like a giant¡¯s mace.

    The outside of the building was the same brick metal as the rest of the capital, but internally every spot that they could see was wood and dirt. And it smelled like a fresh summer¡¯s breeze.

    ¡°Hake.¡± Kohn had honestly never seen anything like this. Where the forest below held a sense of wild animalistic nature, Hake¡¯s store felt more like a beautiful paradise or work of art. ¡°This place is beautiful.¡±

    ¡°Really? You¡¯re not just saying that?¡±

    ¡°No. Why would I lie?¡± Kohn spoke in an awed whisper while the others remained mute. At least until Trevor¡¯s hand brushed up against a Venus fly-trap like vine. It sucked up his hand with a big slurping sound, carrying him into the air unnoticed by his comrades and ignored by the Tender.

    ¡°Hey! Help! Let go of me you piece of-isn¡¯t anyone going to help me? Whoa, what¡¯s that? Oh, hell nah! Nnn. Get the fuck off me! Ack. Gross. Is that a tongue? Is the plant trying to eat me or make out with my hand? That¡¯s it. I¡¯ve had enough. Hake this is on you! AIR SHOCKWAVE! Oh. My. God. That is the most disgusting, ugh. Patooie.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°Oh, what¡¯s up Trevor? What are you covered in?¡±

    ¡°Hake said not to touch anything dude.¡±

    ¡°You better replace that plant before you leave thumb-sucker!¡±

    ¡°Eww! What is that smell?¡±

    ¡°Thanks for your help guys. No really, everything¡¯s fine.¡±

    Kohn realized that he had completely ignored Trevor when he was in trouble. Looking at Sasha and Collins he saw that they felt the same amount of guilt as him. It was just that everything in Hake¡¯s shop had been so distracting that they completely didn¡¯t notice Trevor¡¯s vine molester. At least, not until he called out a magic spell name and blew up the plant, covering himself in its incredibly sticky and horrendous smelling juices.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be filing a complaint about your time here,¡± Hake said from the corner of his mouth ¡°but for now let¡¯s carry on.¡±

    With a wave of his hand over a bench near the center of the room, a series of magic formations glowed visibly. The dirt floor just in front of the workbench moved away from a single point, almost like a circular dirt tidal wave. Exposed beneath was a circle with a series of waved lines meeting at the center.

    Hake waved his hand over a different portion of the workbench, causing more magic formations to become visible and the circle to open. Each of the wavy lines split as the metal retreated into the sides while spinning. As it opened a sudden gust of wind came up causing everyone¡¯s hair to flutter wildly into the air. A tube with light at the end stretched down a long way.

    ¡°This is a hole that leads directly to the forest below!¡± Hake had to yell over the roar of wind that was buffeting the room. ¡°This is how we bring the wood up to the capital!¡±

    The light at the bottom of the tube dimmed, but the disappearing light was replaced with the blue glow of magic formations running in double helix patterns all the way down.

    Curious, Kohn leaned over the open hole. He stared at into it, noticing that black shadow at the bottom of the tube was coming up at an alarming rate. When it reached the top, Kohn was struck in the face by a massive force, throwing him into the air back towards the shops entrance.

    Shaking off the pain he looked up and froze. One of the trees with the Shinto rope stood in the middle of the room as if it had been growing out of the tube the entire time.

    Smiling at their shocked appearance, Hake sauntered over to the tree with a prideful waggle of his hips. ¡°Mmm, hmm.¡± He hummed his satisfaction at them. ¡°Now what do you think we do with this?¡±

    Sasha raised her hand as if she was still back in school on Earth. Hake called her out.

    ¡°Yes! Missy thumb-sucker?¡±

    ¡°Cut it up?¡± She slowly asked.

    ¡°You might be right on other days, but today this one is replacing others that I cut up yesterday.¡±

    ¡°So then what are you doing with it?¡± Trevor had just barely managed to clean all the sticky fluids off his face, but unfortunately for him he could still taste it.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to store it over there in that corner.¡± He pointed his thumb behind him. The Corner in question couldn¡¯t have enough room to fit a hedge bush much less this tree.

    Seeing their unbelieving faces he simply turned back to the tree. His hands glowed a faint green this time before he touched the tree trunk.

    Before their very eyes the tree bent like warmed plastic. This way and that way Hake swiveled the tree and before they knew it he had bent the tree into a square shape. Then he calmly whistled while pushing the square tree into the corner.

    ¡°Any questions?¡±

    Kohn leapt up back to his feet. ¡°Yeah! Can you teach me that?¡±

    Hake smirked back at him. ¡°Whatever do you mean? The next one is yours!¡±

 Chapter 45 - Little Old Ladies

    To say that the Earthlings failed horribly would be an incredible understatement. At one point Kohn was got so frustrated that he snapped and started punching the tree. When Tender Hake asked what the fool was doing, forcing himself to talk through the laughter, Kohn replied with his eyes maddeningly wide.

    ¡°THIS WORKS ON EARTH! PUNCH-PUNCH-PUNCH-GET BLOCK!¡±

    Sasha and Trevor both got the reference from Kohn¡¯s insanity, but Hake and Collins had no idea.

    Despite the hilarity of watching Kohn going crazy, Hake eventually called his lesson to a halt and finished up the work of bending trees with his hand. After the trees they had tied the Shinto rope around were all neatly folded up into squares and packaged into a corner, Hake brought out another tree from the opposite side of the room.

    ¡°Now for the other part of my job as a Tender. Cutting these into pieces of specific size and measurement so that they can then be combined with other materials in order to make the powder that is used to create permanent magic formations.¡±

    Hearing Hake talk about magic formations snapped Kohn out of his mad laughter with his arms raised up in the air. ¡°Huh? What¡¯s going on? How¡¯d I get here?¡± But his memory of the last couple of minutes when he went crazy seems to have been wiped clean.

    ¡°Get over here Kohn!¡± Sasha grabbed a hold of his ear firmly with one hand, dragging him over.

    Together they watched Hake turn his hand blue before measuring along the tree and marking certain intervals. Then he cut along the marks with his hand. This time his hand was green as he was dividing the large tree into smaller segments. Then he measured again and repeatedly cut the tree into smaller and smaller portions until he had dozens of pieces in the shape of rectangular ingots.

    Although the roots and leaves were left in a discarded pile, the small pieces of wood ingots looked healthy and alive. Not as healthy looking as the new trees that they had just brought up, but never-the-less they were alive, full of water and heavy.

    ¡°So what do you do with these now?¡±

    ¡°Me? It¡¯s your job now. You have to take and deliver these to my friend Chiel. After that you have to assist her with her job as part of your punishment from King StoneTooth, may he never change.¡±

    The people within the capital seemed to like saying ¡®may he never change¡¯ whenever they talked about the King. It was almost like a chant or prayer. And knowing the kind of power he could wield and very few who¡¯d be able to stop him Kohn didn¡¯t think it was such a bad idea. But for Sasha, Collins, Trevor and Kohn their prayer about King StoneTooth only reminded them of their desire to get as far away as possible from any planet who¡¯s World Heart was held by a person.

    Hake loaded the wood ingots onto four backpack harnesses. The straps that held them in place was a collection of leaves. They had been forcibly grown and intertwined to create a living rope strong enough to carry the load. Each of their packs were loaded up with as much wood as they could carry before my leaf straps were put in place so that nothing could fall out.

    ¡°GUUH!¡± Kohn unintentionally grunted out when the load jerked him backwards. ¡°You sure this isn¡¯t too much?¡± He said through gritted teeth.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    ¡°This is nothing!¡± Hake called out cheerfully. ¡°Besides, you¡¯re not going far. It¡¯s only at the other end of the street.¡±

    The ¡®other end of the street¡¯ turned out to be a long hike away. Being the capital, with a ton of people and loads of business, a single street stretched for miles. By the time they finally made it to an odd looking store with no other buildings in the immediate vicinity they were all drenched in sweat and out of breath. A sign on the front had a picture of a beautiful woman throwing a bottle with orange liquid at a man, an explosion throwing him into the air.

    ¡°Oh this is going to go so well.¡± Kohn tiredly and bitterly thought to himself. Already cursing Hake in his head. ¡°I liked you Hake. But I don¡¯t anymore.¡±

    Kohn briefly knocked on the door before leading the way in. Sasha was too tired to move so Collins had to push her in while simultaneously pulling Trevor who had a sit down.

    ¡°Hello?¡± Kohn said, exhausted.

    ¡°Oh hello! Come in, come in!¡±

    Unlike with Tender Hake, the Earthlings first impression of the little old woman Chiel were quite pleasant. She was pretty small. Hunched over at about four foot, eight inches. She was also pudgy, but just the right amount. She was very warm, open and friendly. She was like the perfect carry-size grandmother to Kohn.

    ¡°Oh dear! That looks heavy. And you¡¯re all sweaty and exhausted. Here, let me get that off you.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine-eh! It¡¯s alright.¡± The little old woman was partially climbing onto Kohn as she tried to take the backpack off of him.

    ¡°Nonsense! Give it here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really heavy though¡­¡± Kohn trailed off as the woman casually lifted the backpack with one arm as her other beat at his dirty clothes.

    ¡°There, isn¡¯t that better? Oh look at you. You¡¯re all filthy and dirty. Not to worry! I have some clean clothes in the back that look just about right for you.¡±

    She then went on to grab everyone¡¯s pack, carrying them all at the same time with one hand while her other grabbed on Kohn¡¯s arm, pulling him along with her as she called out to the others to follow her.

    ¡°Here. Sit. Sit! Have a cookie.¡± She had led him to a chair, but when he thought about how sweaty and dirty he was he didn¡¯t want to sit. With what looked like a gentle tap on his shoulder Kohn was slammed heavily into the thick chair, making it groan in pain beneath him.

    ¡°Oomph!¡±

    The others quickly sat down in other chairs when they saw her handle Kohn that easily. When she lifted a tray in front of them they reached and took something off of it before they even saw what it was. Each one of them held a ¡®cookie¡¯ in their hands.

    When they heard the word, the Earthlings felt surprise. Thinking they¡¯d see an Earth pastry all the way out here on another planet, but when they looked down they realized it must have been a translation thing. The ¡®cookies¡¯ were small squares of green so dark that it looked black if you looked anywhere but the corners. It had the consistency of fruit cake. Sasha in particular hated fruit cake.

    Kohn didn¡¯t think anything of it and threw the whole thing into his mouth. When he tried to chew it his teeth became stuck. Like he had chewed into a big wad of gum or nearly dried glue.

    Seeing Kohn comically try to move his mouth, either to spit it out or keep attempting to eat it, the others quickly looked around the room to find a place to stash it.

    When Chiel returned she brought spares of large shirts for everyone to change into. Sasha stealthily undressed from her damp shirt underneath the spare.

    ¡°Now, what brings you here?¡± Chiel asked them when she sat down. Her feet swinging in the air, unable to touch the floor while she was in the large chair. She sipped a steamy drink out of an opaque glass.

    Kohn wasn¡¯t able to answer so Sasha spoke up while worriedly looking at Kohn who was quickly tiring out. His chewing was getting slow and he was taking in deep, haggard breaths. Oddly enough, Kohn was looking down at his nose in a vain attempt to look at his mouth trying to chew the ¡®cookie¡¯.

    ¡°We were told to deliver the wood to you from Tender Hake-¡±

    A loud crack and tinkling sound drew their eyes away from Kohn towards Chiel. The wonderful and warm little old lady was replaced with a fiery demon from hell. The glass in her hands had shattered into tiny little pieces. Her eyes were turning red. And the hair on her head was standing up as if it was sentient and wanted to strangle someone.

    ¡°TENDER. HAKE!¡± She gritted out in an angry voice.

 Chapter 46 - A Lesson in Powder

    ¡°And then we simply take a piece of the animal or beast in question and reprocess it along with these other materials to create the powder which is later compressed into a type of chalk for easier drawing. As you draw formations the essence of the creatures are left behind in a formation that bounces the mana in a specific way that allows mana to turn into magic. And that is the final process behind magic formation creation!¡±

    Kohn and his fellow Earthlings were nodding enthusiastically at the grandmother¡¯s teachings. They¡¯d nod and encourage her to keep talking. To do anything other than go back to being a demon. The changes to Chiel¡¯s physical appearance alone had been frightening, but when her voice dropped low and took on a more sinister tone everyone got small. Every breath she exhaled became visible as the temperature in the room noticeably dropped. The light coming from the windows dimmed and took on a blue hue.

    The room around them, even the very air itself seemed threatening to their survival.

    In about five seconds Kohn had thought up an escape. It was one of the most detailed plans he had ever created. Escape artists would clap and applaud when they saw it. And yet, it could be summed up in two words. Front window.

    Then, out of nowhere the moment passed. The light came back, the light was bright yellow, and the room warmed up causing Kohn and the others to become drenched in a cold sweat. And Chiel was back to her open, warm, granny self. ¡°Would you like another cookie dear?¡±

    The Earthlings silently promised to each other to not reawaken ¡®the beast¡¯ as they once again hid the mysterious object that she called ¡®cookies¡¯.

    They tried to distract her as much as possible while they in her little shop. Unfortunately they couldn¡¯t just leave since her shop had been designated as part of their community service. Unfortunately when they offered to help her she scoffed at them and kept them in the small cozy living room to talk with her. The only thing any of them could come up with to distract Chiel was to ask her about her job.

    Chiel¡¯s official position in the Kingdom was as the Capital Khemute, literally meaning ¡®one who transmutes¡¯. Though there were of course other Khemutes, it was her duty to make the magic powder used to create permanent magic formations. And she was quite famous in the capital. During his time there, Kohn witnessed no less than a dozen passing pedestrians walk in to say hello to Chiel.

    ¡°Hello Chiel. How are you?¡±

    ¡°Oh I¡¯m fine dearie. Did the last batch of Green Powder do the trick?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Yes, it worked great with the stone, but I think it¡¯ll wear off after a while.¡±

    ¡°Oh dear¡­¡±

    ¡°How are you today Chiel?¡±

    ¡°Oh I¡¯m fine dearie. Did you want some more cookies today?¡±

    ¡°No, not today. I got some cheap glue instea-I mean. I¡¯m still full from second meal.¡±

    So it wasn¡¯t just Kohn and the others that thought it was a repulsive material and should never have ever been called a cookie.

    A few nerdy looking teens came in and Chiel quickly talked with them to figure out what they needed. They were learning how to make magic formations. Unlike the Earthlings though, these little pipsqueaks were more advanced and practicing the actually drawing the formations rather than just memorizing them.

    Eventually she got back to them and gladly taught them about the magic powder.

    ¡°Why do you think we just can¡¯t use regular chalk or ink or some other writing material for making formations? Well we know that mana is generated by living entities interacting with each other. And when they die they cease to produce mana. Researchers aren¡¯t entirely sure why living things can produce mana, but what they do know is that even in death a body can retain and channel mana. Through experiments, long before the Agossomore Kingdom was founded by King StoneTooth, Khemutes were able to create a crude form of magic powder. It was difficult to make and had loads of other problems, but it could be used to draw magic formations which only needed to be supplied with mana to activate.

    ¡°Early on magic formations used to be drawn on paper, but now they¡¯re mostly drawn on metals with high essence absorption rates. Only specific metals can be used, but once again no one is entirely sure why some metals absorb the essence from magic powder better than others. Paper is always a good material with high essence absorption, but paper¡¯s one major flaw is that it can¡¯t handle the amount of mana needed for most of the magic formations. Paper tends to shred itself or even explode into a cloud of plant matter if too much magic is channeled into it.¡±

    It was all fascinating to Kohn and internally he was calmly taking notes the entire time Chiel talked. Externally, Kohn was unable to sit still, bouncing around the edge of his seat and asking every question that came to mind.

    ¡°How much of those components are needed to make a single stick of chalk? How many magic formations can be made with a single piece? Can you make thick paper to handle the magic flow? What about just using wood planks? Is every chalk made with the same kind of powder? Have you tried testing different combinations? What about-¡±

    ¡°Whoa, whoa. Calm down a little.¡± Chiel chuckled at his earnest interest in her work. Though unlike the Tender¡¯s position of he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned-in-front-of-her, the work of a Khemute is highly sought after and not easily given to just anyone. ¡°I can¡¯t just give you all the answers. Though I suppose part of being a professional in the Kingdom means I have a duty of finding worthy people to train in the realm of Khemute.¡±

    Kohn was following along with what she was heading towards. ¡°So how do you tell if someone is worthy?¡±

    Smiling at him Chiel went to a shelf, grabbed a bag of powder out of a pile and tossed it at him. ¡°It¡¯s simple. Just tell me everything you can about that one bag. Now you¡¯ve wasted enough time here.¡± Her demeanor drastically changed back into her demonic form again. ¡°Go back and tell that old fool Hake that I¡¯m coming for him.¡± She said, cackling manically as they ran out of the quaint shop.

 Chapter 47 - Odd Jobs

    After leaving Chiel¡¯s shop, Kohn went back to Tender Hake¡¯s shop to deliver the threat/promise. Sasha, Trevor and Collins followed along since they were unsure of what else to do. But when their group arrived at Hake¡¯s front door, they found it locked in the most suspicious way.

    ¡°Do you think he knew we¡¯d be coming back to deliver a message from Chiel?¡± Trevor quipped as he briefly attempted to pull the foot wide trees that had suddenly grown horizontally in front of Hake¡¯s door. As far as locks went it was a very unique and beautiful method that could never be replicated on Earth.

    ¡°Most definitely. If Hake¡¯s been doing business regularly with Chiel then I¡¯m sure he knows.¡± Kohn replied as he looked for an alternate route into the building, but unfortunately even the ¡®windows¡¯ were blocked with thick bushes.

    Sasha just clicked her tongue at the store.

    ¡°Excuse me. Are you the Earthlings?¡± A good looking young man wearing thick, baggy leather clothes asked.

    ¡°Yes. How can we help you?¡±

    ¡°I have further orders for you.¡±

    Kohn took the small leather booklet from the man. Opening it up he found several loose sheets, most of which were blank. He read the first one, grateful that the Brace of Words was on his arm.

    ¡°What¡¯s it say Kohn?¡±

    ¡°The gist of it is, that it was expected we would be sent by Capital Tender Hake to see Capital Khemute Chiel. Furthermore, it was also expected that Hake would run and hide the moment he sent us.¡±

    ¡°Coward.¡± Came the biting remark.

    ¡°So we need to find other people to help for the rest of the day.¡±

    ¡­

    Essentially Kohn and the others split up. They walked individually up and down the capital¡¯s streets, asking people if they needed any help. When they asked Kohn why he wanted to help, he fibbed. Rather than telling them that it was his punishment set by the King, Kohn told them that he was looking to expand his knowledge of the soul. When they stared back with blank souls he said that it was to understand the production of mana through interactions with people. They still didn¡¯t quite get it, but at least they let him help.

    Kohn carried heavy sacks of grub pellets for one store that specialized in preparing rations for the Dark Vessels. Grub pellets were about 1 millimeter in diameter brown balls. Packed with various and essential nutrients, they were made by blending various foods before being compacted into small balls.

    On the trip from Earth to the Agossomore Kingdom they had mostly eaten food stuffs prepared on Earth. Freeze dried meats and dehydrated foods for the most part tasted the same, but when the supplies got low they were forced to eat the disgusting grub pellets. The taste was fairly plain and devoid of significant flavors, but for Kohn the worst part was the texture. Grub pellets were edible dry, but were usually boiled or steamed to add enough water to them so that they didn¡¯t instantly dry you out. This method of cooking was easiest on the ships, but the texture was similar to tapioca or pudding that had been left out and partially dried. With the skin creating a shell around the sludgy inside that just barely was able to retain its physical form.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    For a metal smith Kohn had to constantly feed magic into a single formation. It was rather advanced, but essentially what it allowed the smith to do was pass ores through a fire that melted the ore and shattered the rocks. The ore would flow off to the side into a mold while the shattered rocks fell into a funnel that deposited them elsewhere. This way they could perfectly get 100% of the metals and discard everything else. Even the impurities were simultaneously burned off.

    Kohn spent to the entire time staring at the formation as he fed it mana. By the time the metal smith became bored with refining Kohn had memorized the advanced formation. As soon as he found a pen and some paper he would write the formation down and keep it close to his heart.

    Other people had simpler odd jobs for him to take care of. Carrying a box of fresh ¡®fruit¡¯ that looked poisonous. Loading up floating carts with cloth to take to a tailor. Delivering take out from a restaurant to a valued customer. Kohn even helped a decrepit old woman from her house to the castle. Initially he just wanted to give her his arm and walk with her, but she insisted on being carried in his arms in the so called Princess Carry method. He obliged her, but instantly regretted it as her idle arms roamed over his pectoral and gluteal muscles.

    ¡°Oh I think I¡¯ll keep you. You¡¯re backside is worth the trouble.¡± She mumbled in his arms as he left arm snaked into his pants, raking her fingers against his posterior.

    Kohn would feel wrong to disrespect the old woman by dropping her to the ground so he just sped up his pace.

    When Kohn arrived at the castle gates he noticed the two standing guards were female and smirking at him. Rolling his eyes he accidentally spotted the guards on the walls and in the towers. They were grinning like idiots and pointing at him. He became suspicious about the joke he wasn¡¯t getting. Wasn¡¯t it normal to help the elderly?

    ¡°WHAT are you smirking at?¡± The old woman shouted out at the guards.

    All of them wiped their faces of the grins and stood at attention. ¡°Nothing Commander Tealis!¡± They shouted out.

    ¡°Commander?¡± Kohn stood still in confusion as the old woman calmly climbed out of his arms.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Pet.¡± She calmly replied, slapping his cheeks playfully. The guards were visibly having a hard time holding back their grins.

    ¡°Co-commander?¡± One guard seemed bold or stupid enough to call out to her. Her smile threatened to break out at any moment. ¡°Did-did you get to try the goods already or did you get distracted with the assets?¡± Her eyes were glistening with tears.

    ¡°You can¡¯t get distracted when handling such, *SLURP* great assets.¡± The old woman was drooling so bad that she had to make a loud swallow to keep speaking. Her hands gestured as if she was holding two big bowling balls or trophies up in the air for everyone to see.

    The two female guards started to blush before breaking out in raucous laughter. ¡°Shut it! Shut it!¡± Commander Tealis called out to them, her face red in embarrassment at being caught in her hobbies again, but that only caused them to laugh harder.

    Guards from above where calling down to her with salacious and suggestive remarks.

    ¡°Commander Tealis! Have you already rated these new ¡®assets¡¯? HAHA!¡±

    ¡°Eight! Eh? Forget I said that! Stop laughing!¡±

    ¡°Have you sampled them? How¡¯s the handling? Easy to grasp? HAHAHA!¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t yet-Shut it!¡±

    ¡°Can you grab it with both hands? It¡¯s not too small is it? HAHAHAHA!¡±

    ¡°Not as small as your assets!¡±

    ¡°Can you have a good time with your new assets?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you a good time!¡±

    Kohn was still confused, unsure of how he should react as what he initially thought was a nearly crippled old woman was energetically shaking her fist at the guards who were dying of laughter.

 Chapter 48 - Testing the Goods

    Under the smiling gaze of every guard, Commander Tealis dragged Kohn into the castle grounds with a red face. Everyone they passed saw the two and instantly spawned grins filled with white teeth. Eventually Tealis brought him through the castle maze to a courtyard where various soldiers were either cleaning and maintaining their equipment or sparring in the open space. Most gave a firm greeting to Tealis, but none of them stopped what they were doing.

    ¡°So,¡± Kohn began ¡°you¡¯re a commander?¡±

    Tealis turned to him, capturing his eyes with her own. ¡°I¡¯m THE Commander.¡± Thinking for a moment, Tealis called out without breaking her gaze. ¡°TEG!¡±

    A heavy set man with long brown hair and a full beard came running out from inside a room before snapping to attention. His gut swaying back and forth. ¡°Aye Commander?¡±

    ¡°Teg. Tell the Earthling Kohn here who I am.¡±

    ¡°Aye Commander!¡± Clipping his heels the stout man spoke not at Kohn but into the air. ¡°Commander Tealis is the only living recipient of the King¡¯s Promise. A medal she received for her loyalty and devotion to King StoneTooth during the Founding War. Commander Tealis also commands the Three Armies and has the highest authority second only to King StoneTooth himself!¡±

    Teg hurriedly continued when he glanced at Tealis and received a glare in return. ¡°Commander Tealis devised the Three Orders herself years ago and laid down the foundation of each order and how they should work with each other in order to inflict the highest amount of damage to the enemy while keeping casualties to a minimum. Thanks to her ingeniousness, the World Eaters and the Jzanna have been diverted from Agossomore member planets nearly twenty times now.¡±

    Kohn was very impressed with the credentials of the old woman who only minutes ago was groping his backside. Tealis herself seemed pleased with Tegs explanation, but unfortunately the fat man took her smile as a sign to continue. However, he had pretty much run out of professional things to say about her and fell to more personal details.

    ¡°Commander Tealis is single and considers herself to be a bachelorette.¡±

    ¡°Wait Teg, that¡¯s too much.¡±

    ¡°She sometimes follows the men into the baths when she thinks she can get away with it.¡±

    ¡°Teg! No!¡±

    ¡°Once she kidnapped a man that caught her fancy. If it wasn¡¯t for her daughter finding Commander Tealis¡¯s hiding spot we probably still wouldn¡¯t have found him.¡±

    ¡°STOP TEG! NO MORE!¡±

    ¡°When we asked him what she did to him he only shivered in horror and spoke the promise she made him swear by-¡± Before Teg could say any more Commander Tealis had superman jumped into his face, both her hands holding his lips shut together.

    Kohn couldn¡¯t see her face, but he imagined her eyes to be wide open with the tiniest of pupils. Red veins crisscrossing like a web of blood as she whispered terrifying threats with her face only an inch away from Tegs.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°That should be enough Commander.¡± A woman spoke out from the room Teg came out from. ¡°Your indiscretions are already public knowledge so you shouldn¡¯t make a big deal out of it if Teg decides to speak about it.¡±

    ¡°Teagan!¡± Tealis cried out like a little girl caught by her mama. ¡°I thought you were going to call me mother?¡±

    Teagan walked out into the courtyard with all the air of a chivalrous knight from back on Earth. Her silver shoulder length hair and golden skirt sashayed with each step she took. The skirt touched the ground, but the front lifted in an upside down V to reveal golden Greeves.

    ¡°Mother? Why should I call you by anything other than your rank Commander? You have not yet shown me that you deserve to be called a mother.¡± She stood tall with her head kept up straight so that she was looking down on Tealis. A golden metal circlet adorned Teagan¡¯s head to keep her hair out of her eyes. Her arms were crossed over a breastplate that did nothing to hide her ample assets. ¡°My childhood is filled with memories of you constantly chasing after men while I took care of my brothers and sisters at home.¡±

    Confused, Kohn leaned over to whisper at Teg while the mother and daughter pair argued amongst each other. ¡°If she¡¯s single, how can Commander Tealis have children?¡±

    ¡°Oh, during the Foundation War she had her womb removed and turned into an Artificial Mother.¡± When he saw that Kohn didn¡¯t understand Teg continued on. ¡°Basically the womb is turned into a magical device that can become impregnated and give birth to children. All of Commander Tealis¡¯s children came from her own Artificial Mother and given the first two letters of her name as their own.¡±

    ¡°Huh? So everyone with a name that starts with TE is her child? Are you her child?¡±

    Teg nodded solemnly at Kohn. ¡°Unfortunately Commander Tealis went through a phase where she couldn¡¯t be bothered to think of a name for all of her children so she just started adding random letters after TE.¡±

    ¡°So, on Earth we have first names for individuals and last names or family names. Would that mean that your first name is G and your family name is Te?¡±

    ¡°By your planet¡¯s standards I suppose that is how you would see it.¡±

    Kohn rested a hand on Teg¡¯s shoulder in sympathy. ¡°I am so sorry for you.¡± Teg nodded in solemn thanks.

    ¡°And Teg!¡± Teg and Kohn snapped back as Tealis and Teagan finally ended their familial spat. ¡°While it may be public record of Commander Tealis¡¯s indiscretions, it is not your responsibility to become a trouble making gossip child. So stow it!¡±

    Teg snapped a crisp salute at the reprimand he received. ¡°Aye Major Teagan!¡±

    The Brace of Words clearly translated her rank as major, but as Kohn watched his lips move he figured that her actual alien ranks was roughly nine syllables long.

    ¡°And you! Earthling! Kohn was it?¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes Major!¡± He stumbled trying to respond after being caught unawares. His own salute wasn¡¯t practiced and was missing the crooked bend of the little finger.

    ¡°Practice that salute Earthling! You haven¡¯t yet joined any of the Orders, but in each one salutes are an everyday occurrence. And in the Kingdom we generally add the person¡¯s name after rank.¡±

    ¡°Yes Major Teagan!¡±

    ¡°Any way. We brought your prototype suit from your room. Equip it.¡±

    ¡°Uh, huh? Why?¡±

    ¡°Because we are going to test the goods you brought to the capital. This suit of yours that can fly around in space.¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯re on a planet. How exactly do you plan on testing it?¡±

    She chuckled and grinned at him. Amused at the obvious answer to his stupid question. ¡°Don¡¯t be daft! I¡¯m going to fight you!¡± With a wave of her hand a bright sparkling light appeared on her body. Instantly her armored, yet attractive attire was replaced with a full set of feminine scale mail armor. Golden and silver scales covered her shoulders, arms, and legs while what appeared to be fangs and claws covered her chest in a V, passing on either side of her neck before disappearing down her back. They met below her waist to cover her crotch.

    Commander Tealis angrily crossed her arms while muttering out of the corner of her mouth. ¡°She accuses me of having no shame when she fights in that thing!¡±

    Kohn had never really been too interested in women¡¯s clothes, but now he found it incredibly difficult to keep himself under control. ¡°Now, when you say fight, you mean with weapons right?¡±

 Chapter 49 - Poor Appearance

    Under the watchful gaze of Major Teagan¡¯s deep purple eyes, Kohn hastily equipped his armor one piece at a time. Unlike the Major, Kohn didn¡¯t have armor that could teleport and auto equip itself and although he suited up in record time Teagan had nothing but negative things to say.

    ¡°I was told that your suit has some fantastic abilities, but if you don¡¯t have the spell to equip it immediately it would be unusable as an immediate response armor.¡±

    Teg calmly sat on a cask to help Kohn get the leggings on. Being at a higher angle than the round man, Kohn noticed that his hairline was showing signs of receding. ¡°I didn¡¯t know such a spell existed.¡± He replied to the Major, deadpan.

    Teagan annoyingly circled Kohn like a buzzard over a carcass. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have any shield formations on it. At best your total defense would be the metal and your skin. Hardly enough to deal with most enemies, much less the Jzanna.¡±

    Kohn slipped his arms into the torso portion of the suit, slowly lifting the heavy backpack with it. ¡°The suit was designed to go out into space. Eh, the Deep Dark. To fight the Jzanna that are trying to get into a Dark Vessel, or to provide emergency repairs or gather survivors.¡±

    ¡°If its primary purpose is to fight in the Deep Dark then why are there so few magic formations devoted to offensive spells?¡±

    Kohn sighed rather forcefully. He tried to explain the basics of space survival to a group of people that had never thought of it before. ¡°The Deep Dark isn¡¯t a place where you or I could live. Yeah? It¡¯s cold, there¡¯s no air and no protection from the sun or from other stuff out there. So most of the surface of the armor is devoted to keeping me alive. Containing heat, regulating oxygen, movement, deflection of the sun¡¯s rays and meteorites. The list of things needed to keep me alive is staggering. I was lucky to be able to fit Mana Ball on it at all, and that was only because of an idea I had.¡±

    Kohn finally managed to put his helmet on and the whole suit of armor locked into place with its mana reserves activating the various spells on it.

    Teagan didn¡¯t seem to want to approve of the suit from a more simple reason. ¡°But why is it black? Armor has to be functional, but it should also be awe inspiring to your troops and fellow soldiers. Look at my own. It raises the moral of my men while also successfully distracting my enemies.¡± A few men that were waiting for their match to start gave a few cheers and whistles that gave a slight pink to her cheeks. ¡°Yours is boring. And it makes you look like a burnt rock.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    Kohn wanted to refute, but seeing how it would only waste time and probably not end in his favor he gave up. His shoulders sagging as his arms drooped with dead weight. ¡°Can we fight now?¡±

    With a twist of her scale armor wrist, Major Teagan summoned a long spear. Its heavy head was flanked by two slim daggers. All three were pointed straight at Kohn.

    ¡°Begin!¡± Shouted Commander Tealis with glee.

    Immediately Kohn started charging up a Mana ball to shoot at Teagan. Seeing him wait for a spell to complete she smirked at him before disappearing. Her maneuver looked to Kohn like her body was yanked from different directions before fading into oblivion.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Kohn let his guard down wondering if she had accidentally killed herself.

    BANG!

    ¡°OUCH!¡± Kohn slid face first into the ground after a massive sledge hammer hit him in the back. Shaking the stars out of his vision he looked up to see the butt end of Teagan¡¯s spear about roughly where his back had been.

    ¡°You need to show me something before I can give you an accurate assessment.¡± She taunted him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you something to assess.¡± Kohn mumbled angrily underneath his breath. He hadn¡¯t stopped charging his Mana Shot and it was growing. It was almost the size of a softball now, but he needed more time.

    Putting both feet underneath him he used the suit¡¯s skip ability to leap towards a wall in one go. From there he kicked off along the wall to skip jump higher and higher.

    On the ground Teagan was following him with her royal purple eyes. Shifting slightly to follow his progress. ¡°What¡¯s the point in running on the walls? Are you pretending to be an insect?¡±

    With her spear in one hand Teagan thrust it towards Kohn. Its red tassels separated as the long length of the spear stretched even further to cover the seemingly impossible distance. Seeing the more dangerous end of her spear coming straight for him caught Kohn completely off guard. Desperately he rotated mid-air before kicking off again in a different direction. The maneuver killed his momentum quite a bit but the pointy end harmlessly buried itself into the wall.

    ¡°Not bad little Earthling!¡± She mocked him. ¡°But how much can you keep that up?¡±

    Unleashing a flurry of strikes she made Kohn repeatedly dodge, drastically killing his momentum and climb. Without the continuous upward travel gravity started to pull him back down to the ground. However, he had wasted enough time.

    Turning towards her, Teagan noticed Kohn¡¯s Mana Ball was huge. ¡°How much mana did you use for that?¡±

    ¡°A lot. Roughly 30% of my total mana.¡± He honestly replied. It was roughly three times the volume of a basketball and had grown to such a size that Kohn couldn¡¯t hide it behind his body any more. If it wasn¡¯t for the two evening white suns brightening up the capital, the light from the Mana Ball would have lit up the courtyard. ¡°Can you deal with it?¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡±

    ¡°Then try not to die.¡±

    Firing the shot, Kohn dropped to the ground hopping that he wouldn¡¯t go down for murder. Teagan took a wide stance with her feet. Her manicured left hand gripped the spear close to the tip while her right clasped near the base. The spear¡¯s long haft bowed under her stance. Kohn could have sworn that her arms weren¡¯t long enough to hold such a long spear, but with it curved like that he didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°HA!¡± Teagan called out, launching the taut spear straight into the massive but basic spell.

 Chapter 50 - Sore Losers

    ¡°Stop pouting you two!¡± Commander Tealis mock ordered the two mopping idiots at opposite ends of the courtyard. Kohn sat while holding his knees to his chest, occasionally sending glances towards the major with his deep green eyes. The Major, while holding the back of her golden skirt tightly to her legs, backed away a step every time she caught him looking at her. Her cheeks burned furiously before they both simultaneously snapped their heads to break the stare.

    The old crone vision of Tealis inched closer to Kohn¡¯s face at light speed. ¡°Say Kohn. Why don¡¯t you just apologize already?¡± She barely had to bend over to look him straight in the eyes. Well, bend over more than she already was.

    ¡°WHAT?¡± Kohn cried out indignantly. ¡°Why should I apologize to her? All I did was take advantage of my opponent¡¯s weakness. It¡¯s not my fault!¡±

    Sighing, Commander Tealis walked over to her daughter playing the role of a hopeless mediator and tired messenger. ¡°Honey, dear?¡± But the Major just looked down at her mother with the eyes of a hawk before letting out a ¡°Humph!¡± and turning away. ¡°Just apologize dear so we can move on. You did start the fighting with a suit of armor and weapon that are more powerful than any individual creator could make.¡±

    ¡°NEVER!¡± Teagan furiously roared at her mother. With all the determination of a righteous prosecutor she pointed at Kohn with an unwavering finger. ¡°No matter what happened he should have acted with more honor and dignity during the duel.¡±

    ¡°You mean a test, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I said!¡± But Teagan¡¯s cheeks flared crimson again when she realized looking at Kohn made her think of the fight, causing her to fumble her words.

    Commander Teagan made a small complaint about her old bones as she constantly scuffled back and forth between the pair she dubbed ¡°Idiots¡±.

    ¡°Kohn, you did behave badly.¡±

    ¡°SHE BROKE MY ARMOR! After that I only did what was necessary to win! What, was I supposed to do? Lose? Then what was the point of testing out my equipment if it was supposed to be deemed a failure from the start?¡±

    ¡°Teagan, he is right. He only was trying to prove his invention¡¯s worth.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter! He touched me inappropriately!¡± Her entire face was shifting from a light pink color to a thin red.

    ¡°Kohn¡­ sigh, my bones can¡¯t keep up with these idiots. Kohn. You did touch a woman who you aren¡¯t married to inappropriately.¡±

    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t want the attention of an interested party then she shouldn¡¯t have worn such revealing clothing. How was I supposed to know that she was completely na?ve about the birds and the bees?¡±

    ¡°Then at the least try to wipe that dirty grin off your face. You looked like a real pervert every time you went for her butt. What are bees? And there are no birds around here.¡± She mumbled the last part to herself. It was impossible for an alien to understand human metaphors about reproduction.

    ¡°Never mind.¡±

    The conversation continued for many more walks back and forth until eventually Commander Tealis¡¯s patience ran thin and she exploded in anger towards the sky. ¡°THAT¡¯S IT! You!¡± She pointed at Kohn. ¡°Your armor broke, fix it or make something new. And act with a little more dignity next time!¡± Teagan broke out in a smug grin as she backed up what her mother said with a ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right!¡± before Tealis turned on the Major as well.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°And you! How old are you? What rank are you? How many people depend on you? How many people do you command?¡± Every question was punctuated with a finger jab into Teagan¡¯s chest until she was bent backwards at a 90 degree angle. Despite the height difference, somehow the mother seemed so much taller than the daughter. Tealis pushed her face against her daughter¡¯s so that the only thing either one of them saw was each other¡¯s eyes. The surprised, but quickly tearing up deep purple eyes analyzed every red vein in the psychotic pale purple gems staring into her very soul. ¡°Act a little more grown up! Just what were you thinking, using that spear? It¡¯s powerful enough to break your own armor! Of course his would break!¡±

    ¡°Etso¡­¡± Teagan let out, thoroughly subdued by her mother.

    A voice spoke up from the courtyard¡¯s entrance. ¡°Excuse me. Commander Tealis?¡±

    Still enraged Tealis yelled ¡°WHAT?¡± in response. Seeing the young male page delicately carrying a stone cylinder in his hands she quickly swallowed her anger and tried again. ¡°Yes, what do you need young man?¡±

    The page walked up to Commander Tealis at her signal. Her reputation was well known and he stiffly walked closer, but made sure to keep at least two arm¡¯s length away from her. ¡°An order from Agossomore¡¯s King StoneTooth for Commander of the Three Armies, Tealis.¡± He said, lifting the stone cylinder up towards her.

    The atmosphere tensed up at the page¡¯s words. All kidding thrown aside, Tealis stood firmly upright as she grabbed the stone. Kohn was surprised when what he thought was a stone tube lightly glowed in her hands. A strong wind surrounded her in a vortex for a few seconds before the stone lost its luminescence and everything went back to normal.

    Kohn was unsure of what had happened, but all of the soldiers that had been practicing or maintaining their equipment were now in a loose circle around her. Waiting.

    Still keeping her firm stance, Commander Tealis spoke in a loud, clear voice. ¡°Teg! Ten! Ter!¡± Kohn briefly pitied the men. Clearly they were part of the group that Tealis couldn¡¯t be bothered to give proper names.

    The stout man went to one knee. Two others came out of the crowd and followed suit. ¡°Yes Commander?¡± They said in unison.

    ¡°Send word to every soldier in the capital. King StoneTooth has issued a Gathering of Lords. Increase all security measures, double the guard and prepare the fleets for honor guard positions to welcome the coming Lords.¡±

    ¡°Yes Commander!¡± Teg saluted her before doing a combination of waddling and running out the courtyard.

    ¡°The rest of you,¡± She paused, looking at everyone else that was rapt with attention ¡°administrative work!¡± Their expectations were destroyed and all of them let out a mixture of ¡°awws¡± at the boring work ahead of them. ¡°After the Gathering of Lords we¡¯re heading to war.¡± That brought a mixture of cheers and stern faces.

    Major Teagan swiftly approached Commander Tealis. ¡°Commander. What has happened?¡±

    With a short nod of the head to acknowledge the question. ¡°Nothing for you to worry about.¡±

    But that didn¡¯t go over well with Teagan. ¡°Every time you¡¯ve said that there was ample things to worry about. Remember my 10<sup>th</sup> birthday? You told me not to worry when I caught you sneaking around in the middle of the night.¡±

    Taken aback, Tealis stumbled with her words. ¡°T-This is n-nothing like that!¡±

    But Teagan pressed further. ¡°You snuck into the King¡¯s room! You pretended to be his fourth wife! You slept with the King!¡±

    ¡°This is different!¡± Tealis was practically pleading with her daughter. ¡°There really is nothing for you to worry about. Besides,¡± She hastily continued before Teagan could interrupt ¡°The King wants to see you and Kohn over there as soon as possible.¡±

    Teagan pointed at the Earthling who had been grabbed in celebration of the approaching war. He was repeatedly being tossed up into the air before being caught by many hands, only to be tossed up high again. At first he fought it, but when he realized they weren¡¯t going to let him go he decided to have fun with it. Now every time the hands disappeared he struck a new pose, much to the humor of those below him.