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 Chapter 1 - Awaken

    Ugh, my heads killing me, like a million threaded needles weaving through my skull. Where am I? Oh its home. Ah that''s right, what dad told me last night.

    "Drew, whenever you eventually wake up, I will be gone."

    So he''s really dead then? He had said ''gone'' but I didn''t think it would be that simple. He would often say the least necessary at times like this. But I wonder why it had to turn out like this. He didn''t explain anything to me, but the tribe didn''t say much so I guess this was something that was to be expected.

    Leaning up from the bed and glancing around the partially cluttered room I detected a faint smell of strange smoke, but it''s quickly replaced by the scent of my mother''s breakfast buns, one of the Inn''s specialties.

    While bracing my sore head I walked past a few empty rooms and down the steps into the wide dining area. I was greeted by the familiar sight of a few dozen men and women in ratty bandit clothing. This was my father''s Bandit tribe, well I call them bandits but they are more like mercenaries who rarely find work.

    Despite the fact that my father wasn''t a typical bandit leader, the men still followed him. Glancing across their faces, I sensed great sorrow in them. A few of them gave me solemn nods, I quietly returned them.

    My mother, noticing my arrival placed a warm plate, with a round roll, in front of me. She avoided my eye-line as she passed it to me, likely to prevent me from seeing the puffiness under her eyes.

    She coughed lightly after I take a few bites of the warm bread, it was a slightly bizarre food, a light and soft breading with a thick honey inside, add a little frosting and it''d be close to a cinnamon roll, sans cinnamon. Really a delightful breakfast.

    Noticing her clearing her throat, I turn to face her after wiping my face of any leftover honey and swigging down the glass of goat''s milk.

    "Drew are yo¡­ are you feeling alright?"

    She asks after I placed the glass back on the table.

    Pondering it for a moment, she''s likely talking about dad. I guess it''s something that hasn''t entirely sunk in yet, it felt like he told me those words many days ago in passing, that it was nothing important but it clearly was.

    "Well my head hurts honestly, I guess I probably didn''t get a great night sleep or something due to¡­ err, everything." I answered, rubbing my temple. "Honestly I''d kill for a Tylenol or something." I added jokingly.

    "A what?" A bandit sitting at a table beside me asks. Ah that''s right this was dad''s right hand, Degin.

    "Ah, you know like a uh¡­" Finally thinking about the question, and the the words I said a moment ago, the pain in my head increases a bit. Rubbing my head again I mutter a quiet. "Never mind it''s nothing important."

    The man seems to accept my words and returns to the pile of meat in front of him. Glancing out the window I notice the sun high in the sky, it is indeed around lunch time. Seemingly reading my thoughts my mother interjects.

    "Well, it''s good that you''re finally awake, though sleeping for two full days is a tad bit extravagant, I suppose this time it can be forgiven."

    Two days? What in the hell happened? I guess this explained why my memories are hazy. But still I didn''t think my dad¡¯s passing would have that much of an effect on me. Its bizarre but my mother seemed to see no problem with it so I brushed it off. I noticed a few glances from the tribe seated around the Inn. They were likely equally as concerned about my behavior as I was. With my father gone I was in line to run the tribe, but they likely didn''t see me as someone who could lead. Thinking about it honestly in these past two days I''m sure Degin had assumed the role as leader.

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    "Two days huh?" I replied after biting into the second roll my mother had warmed up for me. "No wonder." I said grimacing at my own scent, "Well I guess i''ll hit the bathroom to wash up." I said after wolfing the rest of the meal down.

    "Uhm, If you mean a bath, I can draw one for you in the yard."

    "Ah, uh yeah right, I don''t know where my mind is right now." I say rubbing my still pulsing head. This time I notice more glances from the group eating lunch I suppose I''m making a real fool outta myself.

    I''m not even sure what I''m talking about to be honest, they both seemed like natural things to say, but here they were taken like I was speaking a foreign language. Trying to cover for my stupidity I reply with what would be another stupid sentence. "But don''t worry about it, I can do it."

    "Oh? Have you learned water magic" My mother replies with a coy grin.

    I assume she knows I haven''t learned water magic in the past two days, she steps towards me and places her palm on my forehead.

    "You don''t seem to have a fever. I guess it can be attributed to that after all." She places a plate piled with meat in front of me before saying "Eat plenty to regain your energy I''ll get a bath warmed."

    Submitting to the greasy pile in front of me I quickly dig in, two days worth of food was no small amount, sooner I get started the better, a few of the tribesmen around me seemingly stare dagger at my pile of meat, my mom rarely created a plate such as this one, meat was an extreme rarity, typically we only ate it in stews, but I guess my mom had decided to splurge as a way to celebrate my dad¡¯s life. He was a major meat eater so it''s something he would have enjoyed. The men were struck on the head by Degin and told that they had already had theirs. Yeah he seems to hold the leadership status now.

    It was nice that everyone was still around, I think half of me had assumed my father was the glue keeping the tribe together. but seeing that the camp was still set up around the Inn was oddly relaxing. After thinking a moment the reason was obvious, now these people around me are my very last connection to my dad.

    My mother returned not long after that realization and ushered me off to the backyard, she was seemingly leading me there as if I had never been there before, though I found it strange I was thankful because in all honesty, I wasn''t sure where to go. I''m not sure how I could possibly forget where the door to my own backyard was in two days time but apparently I can.

    Maybe I hit my head. I''ll have to check my head for bumps in a mirror. Ah there I go again. Why would my family be able to afford a mirror? I''ll be lucky if I can find some silver shiny enough to check for bumps.

    I enjoyed the warmth of the bath but I reflexively reached for the soap before realizing my mistake and returning my hand to the warmth of the leaky wooden bath.

    After, I exited the bath feeling utterly unclean I happily accepted my mother''s offer for a magic drying session. Though many of my memories seemed hazy the feeling of my mother magically assembling all the remain water in my hair was something I could never forget.

    It was an overwhelming sensation, the tiny drops of water felt to have a mind of their own, assembling in a line extending to my mothers finger.

    After sufficiently collecting the water she shook her finger and the water leapt into the basin I bathed in moments ago.

    Magic was truly impressive, but was a sore subject for me, I had never been able to achieve even the slightest magic aura, the simplest form of magic, the magic used by toddlers when learning their specialization.

    Without learning my own specialization how could I possibly train?

    I had once tried to practice some of the water magic that my mother used for cooking and bathing but I never had any luck.

    Recently I have all but given up on using magic, instead I train with the sword daily with my father. Or, I guess, I used to.

    As the thought was still strong in my mind I resolved myself to take a few practice swings.

    However as I looked towards the training area in the center of camp my resolve quickly dissolved when I saw the image of two battalion of knights leading and following an carriage heading up the road from Havas.

    I strapped my cloth shirt and drew my pants up with great gusto.

    It seemed far too heavily armed to just be heading to the small village at the end of this road. As they neared the bridge a fear rose in my chest, were they here for us? But we had never caused any trouble with Count.

    So why would his personal carriage be heading this direction?

    Seemingly noticing my stare a few of the nearby bandits gather and look at the approaching carriage. It was something of a piece of art, the outside all seemed to be plated in either silver or a bright eggshell white paint.

    When it caught the reflection of the river as it passed over the bridge it was slightly breathtaking. But as I was staring at the carriage crossing the run down, but trusty, bridge the group around me were seemingly staring at another breathtaking view.

    Following behind the carriage was a knight, well many knights in fact. But the one who caught everyone''s attention was the only one not sporting a helmet, instead flowed beautiful long brown locks of twirling hair.

    "Its Claire!" A man shouts waving his arm excitedly at the brunette sitting on the horse, donned in a bright plate and leather armor.

    Right I recognized her after a moment, She was indeed Claire. That girl had lived with us for around 4 years until she was of age to join the army. It was fun times, during that time we grew up as siblings, it was a major shock when she told me she would be leaving but it was her choice.

    And, though I hated her for it at that time, I realized my selfishness, yet I¡¯d still not apologized for the terrible things I¡¯d said.

    It was a deep regret of mine.

    She waved back to the crowd, a soft smile grew on her face, I suppose it''s due to seeing all her various fill-in parents. A few of the tribesmen and women seemed to wipe away tears from seeing her, in all her knight gear.

    I understood the sentiment, even with her determination and skill, the fact that she had actually became a full blown knight was slightly incredible.

    As the carriage grew ever closer the lump in my throat once again rose as the carriage began to slow down in front of our dilapidated Inn.

    They really were here for us then.

 Chapter 2 - Fight?

    Fight.

    My heart kept telling me to ''fight'' but my brain thought better of it. As it stood with the 40 bandits at the camp we could probably have a powerful surge attack. Maybe even take out one battalion in the confusion, but looking at the families peering at me I couldn''t possibly choose to fight. And at her current level I could barely even raise a hand against Claire if she wanted me subdued. No at all cost during this time of mourning I needed this confrontation to stay peaceful. In fact I didn''t even know that this was a confrontation right now, this feeling of complete uncertainty, and fear. I doubt this was something my father felt when surrounded by his men. I feel relieved I''m not the official leader.

    I had those thoughts, and then realized that all eyes had left Claire, and the now halted carriage, and were instead resting on me.

    ''What was I going to do.'' was what the looks conveyed.

    This was a scene I''d seen before but with my father as the gaze point.

    It felt strange. I hadn''t even noticed that the crowd had been made around me. Even Degin stood beside me glancing at his side arm and then to me. I nod ''no'' slightly and he passed a slight grin, I suppose I maybe I have passed some kind of test?

    I had seen the Count before. It was during a parade celebrating the birth of his son Julius. I was young at the time but Count Augustine was not someone you could easily forget. He was a heavy man to put it lightly. Morbidly Obese to put it in American Medical terms.

    Despite his somewhat horrid appearance he seemed to have a genuine smile over the birth of his child. I remember he clutched at the child tightly and beamed a large smile. His wife beside him who was also fairly pudgy grinned smugly beside him during the parade.

    But the man who gracefully stepped from the the carriage was not the Count, nor was it likely the son.

    I assume so for two main reasons. One, surely that boy is overweight by now. Two, surely this man is 15 years my elder, if not more.

    My father was likely forty however this man looked younger, so if I had to guess, mid or early thirties.

    He held himself strongly. He was likely a soldier at a point in time. The sword at his hip didn''t seem ornamental. The handle of it was a simple wood and the blade was carried in a leather pouch instead of a proper scabbard. The handle also seemed strangely long for what looked like a short sword.

    The man walks directly towards me. His hand didn''t reach towards the long handled blade, so I continued to leave my guard down. Not that I figure I could do a thing against this person. He glances towards the Inn, and I can only assume towards my mother and nodded with a solemn line on his face. He then continued towards me before finally opening his mouth.

    "Good afternoon, or perhaps just ''greetings'' is more fit for this occasion." He says nodding to me and then Degin, he was strangely aware of our command structure, despite the fact that I had only become aware of it seconds ago. "I have heard of the passing of the Hawk, I give my deepest condolences on behalf of the Count, his family, and myself."

    "That''s something of a surprise, I wasn''t aware the Count knew of our existence." I reflexively say at the stiff and yet entirely unexpected show of good faith.

    "Ah the Count, well, he isn''t actually aware of your fathers passing but he was aware of your group. A good leader is always wary of the threats around him." The man explained with a slight grin during the later words.

    "Hmm so you came here not on the Counts request, but on your own accord. And it''s as you say exactly. Yet you still came. Does that mean you are not a good leader, or something else?"

    Claire, who''s group had finally arrived and dismounted. On hearing my words seemed to get slightly flustered. I suppose that means this man leads these battalions often. Its good that she is in a such a high post

    The man grins at me and clears his throat, stopping the few soldier who had become indignant at my words Claire including. "Its exactly as you say young hawk. A good leader is always wary of threats, but they are also kind to allies. As you all have never shown sign of being a threat why proactively think of you as one?"

    I smiled at the man and extended my hand to shake.

    He looked at me strangely for a second and then extend his own grasping mine tightly and shaking it as we exchanged a grin.

    This man reminded me of my father. Say what is needed. Make white lies when needed. Never say your whole meaning. I''m sure if he and my father met they would have been quick friends.

    The man, who I learn was the main counsel for the Count, was named Joseph. He was a soldier first and foremost as I had assumed. He has shown great leading and fighting ability. Going so far as to duel some of the High King''s generals. Naturally he quickly rose in rank and soon was counseling the Count.

    He was actually leading this group past us into Godrick the outskirt village, so my fear was really for naught. But something still didn''t sit straight with me.

    "Why assemble such a large group of elites to go to Godrick? There is relative safety on the route is there not? And the town itself is small, is such an extreme show of might really necessary for whatever you are doing? And why send someone such as yourself?"

    At the word ''elite'' Claire perked up and her face turned slightly cherry colored. I wasn''t exaggerating though, her blade skills were that of an elite. Even during the training my father had done with the two of us. He had said as much quiet often, it had made me slightly disheartened but it forced me to train harder. Even after she left a few years ago, I still kept up the training. I suppose these past three days are the only times I haven''t broken a sweat with my wood blade.

    "You are again perceptive. Well I can''t go into all the details right now but there have been recent attacks on Godrick and the other up-river villages. With the attacks becoming more frequent the limited taxes that we were collecting from the towns have dried up entirely. Now they are even saying they will be unable to afford the cost of maintaining the bridge and road that they had typically maintained." He explains pointing towards the bridge a few hundred feet from the camp.

    "With all, that the Count demanded that I send an army down to deal with the threat. But as it stands if we move troops to deal with bandits then our borders will be open to the empire to the west. Though their unlikely to attack, it''s not something we should risk. So I said I would go to discuss with the village. As well as showing an appropriate show of strength to any bandits scouting the town. He had originally assumed it was you all who were attacking, but I assured him that was not likely the case."

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    "Mhm I thank you for that, and I assure you, you are correct. We have a strict pact." I explain glancing at the tribes-people around me and taking a mental tally. Yeah, everyone is here. Its surely not us. The nods I get from people as I glance past them seems to confirm my thoughts.

    It wasn''t any of us, but it was the first I was hearing of other bandits in the area. I have to ask the others if they know about this after he leaves.

    As if reading my mind Joseph glances at the sun overhead and back at the carriage.

    "Well we have business with the village master in Godrick. If you would like to chat more about these issues later we will be passing by sometime tomorrow afternoon. We can stop in and get some of the famous sweet rolls." He then glances between me and Claire "I''m sure you two have much to talk about too."

    He says the final words with a sly grin before turning to return to his carriage.

    I wonder, how he is aware of my relation with Claire?

    Perhaps she had mentioned it to him, it would explain why he knows so much about our tribe.

    But the bewildered look on her face seemed to conflict with that theory. Well we both seemed to shrug it off as we both turn to face our targets and left without so much as a greeting. I wanted to say something but she was on duty and as Joseph had said we would have an opportunity tomorrow.

    Thinking over one of the things he had said that had particularly grabbed my attention. I stop my movements right as I hear the carriage begin to depart. Without thinking I turn back and sprint towards it.

    The guards move faster than I expect. I still got to within 3 feet of the door before beginning to speak, with several drawn blades pointed at me. Joseph quickly raised his hand to stop both the carriage and the men, and Claire, from killing me.

    "Don''t bother negotiating the bridge and road maintenance."

    Joseph''s once confused expression turns to one of understanding and then a bright smile.

    "Done. I knew you could be an ally. I suppose it makes sense, the bridge belongs more to you all than to any of our two towns. Good, then we will discuss it more tomorrow. I will bring the proposal to Godrick''s village master."

    "Don''t you need to discuss it with the Count as well"

    "No, he will be happy as long as he doesn''t need to spend the money."

    "I see, then safe travels, we will discuss it more tomorrow."

    "Ah actually there was one other thing I wanted you to be aware of before I leave." He says before whispering a few words towards me. I had heard the name he said before, but mostly in legends.

    Surely what he said couldn''t be the case. If it were these attacks would be much worse. ''Just rumor'' as he had said.

    But still.

    With that, the two battalions reform after giving me some strange glances. They then depart without further ado.

    Walking back towards the Inn I didn''t even notice the over-the-shoulder glances I was getting from Claire as she disappeared into the wooded path.

    When I reached the Inn I realized it looked strangely like one of my fathers emergency meetings that he occasionally held. The only thing missing was the final link of the circular seating arrangement. Taking my seat between my mother and Degin I glanced around at the anxious group.

    "So, bandits in the mountain bay? Does anyone know anything about it?"

    The mountain bay was the name for the area in which Godrick was the forefront, It was named such due to the a bay formed by mountains, inside there was a dense forest. Often it was claimed that mysterious things happened in the bay but it was just seen as myth and folklore.

    There were five villages along the river in the mountain bay. Though only one of them had a road leading to it. The rest were just places you could happen upon while lost.

    "There shouldn''t be any large groups of bandits" Degin explains turning to me after getting a few nods from some of the lower ranked leaders who were knowledgeable on the area. "We don''t often venture into the bay but when we first arrived we cleared it of any and all dangerous aspects, though that was quite a long time ago."

    "Regarding the other thing though, I believe it impacts us greatly as well, I apologize for speaking about it to Joseph before asking all of you. Do you have any issue with us shouldering the cost of maintenance on the road and bridge?"

    "You lead us Hawk." A tribesmen says glancing around and getting nods from those around him.

    "Its as he says" Degin responds nodding "I too was troubled when I heard about the bridges maintenance, that is our lifeline to much of the food and other resources we need, its not something we can risk going into disrepair. You made the right choice, don''t doubt yourself Hawk."

    It was somewhat tear jerking to be called Hawk by these people, they had often said it to my dad so I assumed it was a nickname.

    But I see now.

    It''s now my title too.

    I feel slightly embarrassed to know so little about my own tribes history. I had heard we have a vast history, leading all the back into the era of the 48 tribes.

    "Ah by the way," My mother asks with her trademark kind smile "Where did you learn ''that''"

    "Learn what?" I ask, cocking an eyebrow.

    "She means this." Degin says roughly grasping my hand awkwardly. I understand what he is referring to instantly. The hand shake from earlier. "That type of introduction is something only used in high nobility. Even I have only heard of it. To see it performed so smoothly was something of a marvel."

    "Because I can shake hands?" I asked utterly confused.

    Where had I learned it. It was something I''ve done a million times I''m sure of it, Constantly during job interviews and meetings. Wait, when have I interviewed for a job, but surely I have. I worked at a pharmacy for 6 months, and before that I popped popcorn at a movie theater. I''ve worked at a lumber yard too, and an investment bank.

    ''What is an investment bank though?''

    The pain returned, This time with more force then before, throbbing my vision went white I felt the sensation of falling for a moment, I''m sure of it.

 Chapter 3 - Flight

    Ah, I really hope it won''t be two days again this time.

    I knew the ceremony would take a lot out of him but this is seemingly more painful than Charles had said.

    For his memory to be impacted so much, I swore when he first looked at me he had no idea who I was, it''s a painful feeling for a mother. Though I suppose it''s to be expected, he has undertaken a great shock.

    ''It''s hard enough doing this without you, but why does it have to be so hard on ''him'' too?''

    I wanted to ask Charles these things, but it was impossible now. And unlike those before, I wouldn''t be able to see his remnants in Drew.

    This one was entirely fresh.

    ''A clean mind from the void, devoid of the violence and terror in my own.''

    Charles had said he wanted it to be this way. Since the ceremony couldn''t be done without the death of the old hawk, there was no choice.

    But I still wanted there to be a choice. why must you all shoulder so much? Wasn''t doing it once enough? All these decades, you can rest you know.

    but I suppose that''s my mother talking.

    <hr>

    ''Ah, I really hope it hasn''t been two days again.''

    Those were my thoughts when I woke up.

    Dreaming seems to clear up my understanding some. My theory was probably true. I had someone else''s mind in mine. There was no other way to describe it.

    It really should have been clear immediately. My thought process has been completely different. Even just sniffing myself and seeing it as a problem was something I wouldn''t have done a few days ago.

    I think just last month I had bathed for the first time in over a year.

    No wonder my mother was confused by my behavior.

    This is strange. It''s not just someone else''s mind, the technology in the world of these memories is far superior to that of this world.

    While we fought with swords and bows, they waged war with bombs capable of leveling entire Districts. It was both marvelous and terrifying at the same time.

    This person though, the man whose memories I have is someone fairly interesting.

    He studied what interested him and would take jobs in the industries he found fun. Once he got bored of them he would move on to the next.

    Thinking about it the amount of technologies I could bring to this world via this man''s head was enormous.

    I must keep it from others though.

    I don''t understand this at all.

    Maybe it''s related to magic somehow?

    I have often tried, but never succeeded in finding my specialization.

    Not finding a magic specialization was seen as bizarre by most, though thinking about it my mother and father never seemed too concerned.

    Mostly my dad just told me to practice swordsmanship.

    It''s possible my mother know''s something. But asking about that right now might be a bit insensitive.

    Ah, well, I suppose I''ve been keeping my eyes closed for far too long now. I''d better get up I guess. hope I didn''t miss Joseph on his way back from Godrick.

    Bracing my head for pain I open my eyes and lean up from my bed. I realize I''m not alone.

    Claire was sitting in a chair in the open space that had been cleared days prior.

    "Oh, good you''re awake. I was worried we would have to leave with you''re still asleep." Claire says in her normal tone, I suppose all is normal between us, perhaps she had forgiven my words. "But I suppose you told me to ''never speak to you again.''" She says reading me.

    "Ah¡­ yes, that was¡­ I''m sorry. I said a lot of things in the past that I regretted even as I said them. I don''t think I meant a word of it. But the fact that the words came out at all was the problem. I''m sorry for expressing my selfishness and anger towards you. It was wrong, and I deeply regret it."

    "Ah Whatever, it''s the past. You always were a baby, so I just took it as another temper tantrum."

    "Temper tantrum? So that''s how you see me?" I said standing up without a wink of pain in my head.

    "Pretty much." She says smiling and brushing her hair behind her ear. "By the way I heard you collapsed, what happened?"

    "Ah nothing really, no big deal, probably just didn''t have enough blood sugar."This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    "Blood sugar?" She asks as we step out the door towards the dining hall where Degin had been entertaining Joseph with war stories. Though with the current peacetime it mostly involved wolves. I had heard many of the stories before.

    " ¡­so I take the fang right outta the wolves mouth, and I kill all three bears with it!" Degin explains proudly pointing to the Fang hanging on his neck. I think the story started with just the wolf.

    I wonder how many bears will be in it by the time his grandchildren tell the tale. Noticing me Degin tucks the fang into his shirt likely knowing what I was thinking. he sheepishly grinned and nodded to the chair opposite him. "Good to see you''re feeling better."

    "Yeah I guess I just needed some sleep." I say laughing

    "Rest always helps." Joseph says not understand the circumstances of my three day sleep binge.

    "Of course." I say nodding. "So how did everything go in Godrick?"

    "Well, as to be expected they were thrilled hearing you all would be maintaining the road. I assumed it was just because it would be out of their hands. Instead half their population still wanted to maintain the road themselves they didn''t trust the Count would do it properly. However once that faction heard it would be your group that would handle it, they quickly agreed. I wondered if it was fear, but it was actually trust. I suppose it makes sense, every villager who''s left for Havas have met you all on the road."

    I expected it would go that way, Godrick was my neighbor, and Dad said to treat neighbors well. That''s what we had always done. Even more so than Havas since Godrick was an extremely poor and small village.

    "As for the bandits," Joseph continued. "They weren''t able to provide any sort of location or even numbers, but we did receive the basic story. It is as I told you yesterday, the group claims to be the ''Blood Hook Tribe'' but the attacks don''t fit the¡­ "

    "Wait you said the Blo¡­ " Degin interrupts, a hint of either fear or anger in his voice. It was difficult to judge. He stops himself as Joseph nods to his question. "That''s, impossible. Those villages would be destroyed instantly if the Blood Hook tribe wanted it. And anyways they haven''t been seen in 50 years. No, there can be no way."

    "That''s what I had thought too. However it is still a problem even if it''s just someone claiming to be them. Whether true or not, the fear brewed by their name is something that will spread like wildfire even without a spark."

    "That''s true." Degin says biting his lip. "But we still need to be careful even if it is a fake, we do not know their numbers or individual strength. If they claim to be ''Blood Hook'' then it wouldn''t be rare for there to be battle mages."

    "Mm that''s true, even as fakes they would have some if they wanted to be realistic."

    Seeing Joseph and Degin banter like this reminds me of when Degin and my father would talk. This man really was similar to my father.

    I glance back and forth at them as they continue to talk. They compared strategies for drawing them out and attacking blind spots. Forcing ambushes and something called a triple ambush. Which despite their explaining I could not grasp.

    They assured me it wasn''t a situation I wanted to be in.

    They went on for quiet awhile, the name ''blood hook'' riled Degin up quite a bit.

    I understood why. When Joseph had told me yesterday, it had been a big surprise. But it seemed even more so for Degin. I wonder if maybe our tribe had some sort of history with them.

    Some kind of bad blood that brought about the anger he showed when he heard the name.

    "So the obvious course of action." Degin concludes as I space out, barely catching the remainder of the conversation.

    "Yeah, we should definitely send Claire and the Young Hawk Drew to handle the investigation of this frivolous business. While you and I share a drink at the ''Noble''s Pub'' in the castle district!"

    "I could not have said it better myself." Degin replies with a huge grin patting Joseph on the shoulder firmly.

    ""Wait what?"" Both Claire and I ask simultaneously.

    Well that either means, that this wasn''t mentioned at all in the conversation. Or Claire just wasn''t paying attention either. Both were likely cases. She was somewhat of an airhead sometimes.

    It''s probable Degin and Joseph had settled this long before I woke up and just put on this play for the two of us.

    But it was still strange. Wasn''t I the ''Hawk''? Was Degin allowed to tell me what to do?

    Not that I saw any real issue with my elder telling me to do something. But chain of command wise, wasn''t this insubordination kinda?

    "Being ''Degin'' doesn''t mean I always follow you Hawk. Trust me when I say this will be good for you. All young Hawks must take flight. It''s tradition, and a perfect chance." Degin says glancing at Claire. That''s right Degin isn''t his name is it, I feel embarrassed again culturally. Degin means Two in the ancient language that our tribe spoke before the advent of the common language.

    "I understand, I''m glad that you are not simply a ''Yes-man''." I reply giving him a nod.

    "Yes-man?" Joseph asks, and then as if brushing it off turns to Claire. "What do you say will you accept your task?"

    "Yes sir, Of course." She states placing her hand to her heart. It was a salute like gesture here. I had to admit this knowledge of the other world expands my knowledge here heaps and bounds.

    "Yeah it sounds like fun. I haven''t been to Godrick since we were twelve huh?" I say turning to Claire. She remembers the time I''m talking about and quickly turns red nodding in acknowledgment. The nod wasn''t necessary the red face was answer enough, though I guess I shouldn''t tell her that.

    "Good" Degin says before sniffing the air expectantly, I too noticed, a few minutes prior. The wait has been killing me.

    I glance towards the kitchen and walking out is my mother, with what was likely the last of the meat. I''m sad I missed out, but meat won''t be an issue if things can go how I want.

    Setting the plates down in front of all of us my mother heads back to the kitchen. Despite her being my mother and my father''s wife she always remained the role of innkeeper. She said it was part of her pride. We rarely even got guest''s, but she still maintained each room just in case. She was really something.

    Despite all that I somewhat wish I would have had more family dinners. It wasn''t something that was common in this world I guess, or maybe it was just my dysfunctional family.

    Stuffing our faces no one seated at the table said a word, only opening their mouths to stuff more food in. Or gasp for breath between bites.

    Oh, I should mention. The only dignified person at this table was Claire.

    Even with my American sense of cleanliness I still stuffed my mouth letting juices run down my cheeks without regard.

    Thinking about it. I should probably check out my mother''s kitchen to be sure she is handling everything up to code. It would be bad if anyone accidentally caught a parasite due to this world''s sense of cleanliness.

    Though I thought that. When I later checked the kitchen I learned my mother washes every surface with water magic. She also has some understanding of raw meat carrying parasites. She really was an amazing person, I totally understood my dad falling for her, it was hard not to.

    As we all ate, I began wondering. Why has Joseph chosen to send just me and Claire to ''investigate''?

    What did he mean by investigate?

    Were we only to learn about their motives or were we to hunt them down?

    There was a big distinction.

    As it stood I wasn''t sure just the two of us could handle even a small bandit gang. My father had taught me swordsmanship but I''m sure not on the same level as someone who uses a sword daily for protecting themselves. Likely if I faced any real danger I would be quickly cut down by a real swordsman. And if they indeed have Battle mages, well then I honestly have no scope of how powerful they could be.

    And no matter how you look at it Claire was a girl, and this would be a dangerous mission. Ah I wonder if this is Earth sensibilities or this worlds?

    Speaking of, it''s somewhat strange that I don''t know the name of the planet I currently live on. That''s a rare opportunity isn''t it? Does that mean I get to name it? Well probably not.

    "Are you worried?" Claire asked noticing I had stopped eating and was just blankly gazing at her.

    "Ah, yeah. I''m scared you could get hurt. Especially if as they say they have a battle mage." I explain honestly voicing my thoughts. Well the former ones. The latter will likely be something I accidentally spill while drinking.

    "Nothing to worry about, I''m a battle mage, as well as a swordsman. So I can protect myself, and maybe even you if I have the time." She says sticking her tongue out at me.

    She really is just as cheeky as she was when she lived here, has she learned nothing becoming a knight.

    What happened to chivalry?

    Or maybe that was only on earth.

    "Some knight."

    "What''s that?"

    "Nothing."

    "Right."

    As it had already gotten late. And Joseph and Degin begun drinking together. We all decided they would stay in the Inn''s rooms instead of heading the 2 mile journey back to the Count''s castle in Havas.

    It was alright since Joseph had already sent word back about the results of the trip, and the fact that the bandits would be dealt with. I wonder, how he already known I would agree? I guess manly spirit. Or maybe I''m over assuming myself.

    Also I say the men ''agreed to stay'', but it was mostly due to my mother''s workings.

    It was her who had first brought out the wine.

    Thinking about it, I can likely make alcohol the likes of which these people have never even imagined.

    Memories of three months running a moonshine still won''t go to waste, nameless person whose memories I have.

    On an unrelated note I say ''nameless'' because as I am able to understand the memories content. I don''t exactly understand the English language. Sound in the memories so far is just gibberish to me, I''ve heard words repeated before but I can''t fully grasp them yet.

 Chapter 4 - Drink and Prepare

    The night passed without much trouble.

    Degin and Joseph exchange war stories most of the night. I was particularly surprised when Joseph mentioned battling a ''demon lord'' after the third cask of wine was taken out. I wanted to hear more of the battle with that I assumed to be something that only existed in myth. However as his words had become slurred I realize the story was probably more fiction than fact.

    Nonetheless the story was interesting. In it he had nearly been killed by the beast before being rescued by a hero. And with the hero''s help, the two killed the demon and split the earnings.

    As Joseph and Degin clamor about their tales of victory and near defeat. I turn to Claire seated to my left. We both had only had a single glass of wine. I thought it strange for the two of us teenagers to be drinking but I supposed that to be earth-me''s thinking.

    Right, it had become ''earth-me'' and me.

    I was aware this person wasn''t actually me. A fact I easily confirmed when I saw a mirror in one of my(his) memories. But that was just it. They were my memories.

    Other than memories what really makes up a person?

    Because I posses all these memories it''s impossible for me to see this person as anyone but another me. A version of me who had lived another life with another face.

    "What about ''shou(you)," I say nibbling my tongue during the final word. "You''re not worried."

    "Hmm, nah. Not really." She explains flopping her arms and chest onto the table practically knocking over our two emptied cups. "I''ve been in a few battles, and like I said ''battle mage''. I can protect myself if I really have to. Anyways my blade skills have only gotten better. I bet you''re dad could barely even stand against me at this point¡­ Ah, I''m sorry, that was¡­" She murmurs realizing she''s brought up a fresh wound.

    "No worries. You meant no wrong. On the flip side you used the only metric you assumed I could understand to describe your skill, so it was necessary. But I''m impressed, you will have to teach me some during our journey."

    "Right, of course¡­ Man, Drew, you really are different now."

    "Oh, am I really?" I ask honestly. I suppose my earlier answer was probably different than how it would have been a week prior. My earth self was somewhat of a non-confrontational person. Defusing situations was his priority in most cases.

    I suppose that part naturally came out in me.

    I will have to be careful to maintain my former personality to an extent as to not draw too much attention.

    Thinking about it, Claire has mentioned before that she was a battle mage. I couldn''t remember what her magic specialization was though. But I suppose telling her that would make me seem like a bad friend, I''ll keep quiet for now.

    "Yeah normally you''d be bragging that you''re still stronger than me. Despite the obvious truth." She says removing her forehead from the table and grinning at me coyly. I bet she thought she was pretty funny, but the imprint of the wood-grain from the table printed on her forehead took a lot of the umph out of the insult.

    I Suppress a drunk giggle, and turn my attention back to the two now passed out men slumped at the table beside us. Me and Claire exchange glances and then drag our lousy superior and right-hand-man off to the rooms my mother had readied.

    I had no grasp of the time. It had gotten dark a few hours ago. But as I was unsure of the exact season it could be 9 o''clock or even midnight. This world had no clocks.

    Best case scenario you hear the bells at the church or have a sundial of your own. But they weren''t helpful at night. Giving up the thoughts I bid Claire goodnight and turn towards my room.

    I didn''t notice the longing gaze from the flush cheeked Claire as I returned to my room.

    Pity.

    <hr>

    It was likely early into the night when I went to bed last night, the sun had just begun to rise when I opened my eyes the following day.

    I suppose my body has finally returned to normal. I attempt to recall some of the memories as a test and they came without any major pain.

    They still felt foreign in my head, but it was no longer a shock to my system.

    With the memories came an understanding of Earth. I made mental note of the technologies that could be easily recreated in this world. These could form useful in the future.

    Bracing myself for the unlikely pain I stood up and brush the sleep off my face walking towards the familiar scent of breakfast buns.

    I had to find cinnamon in this world. Teach my mother the method of turning her buns into frosted rolls. She likely won''t find issue with it. The honey breakfast bun idea was actually something she had made with help from a traveling baker.

    She wasn''t someone unwilling to accept advice.

    That was one fear I held, for farming reforms the most. Farmers are proud people who pass down methods for generations. If I try to force them to adopt a four field crop-rotation system I''m not positive it will be easily accepted.

    As it stands, I don''t even know if clovers will add beneficial nitrogen the same way they do on Earth.

    Many issues resounded in my now quite heavy head.

    But they quickly vanished with a single bite from the bread. The warm roll was something that seemed to create a craving for milk.

    We hadn''t always cared for the goats, but once my mother started baking the buns the demand for goat''s milk went up incredibly. We had no choice but to get four of them. Originally my mother cared for them but the tribe had taken up the job and seemed to care for them as if they were their own kids.

    After a few buns time, Claire finally joined the table. Followed shortly after by Degin and then Joseph around ten minutes later. Before they arrived me and Claire mostly made small talk. She bragged about how easy Knight''s training had been for her, it wasn''t much of a surprise.

    The training seemed to consist of drills for all sorts of situations, including medical emergencies and disaster relief. There was limited training for war but as the world had been at somewhat peace these last 100 years, war was no longer one of the main training regimes.

    Joseph noticing our conversation interjected with some strong praise for Claire''s training.

    She had been particularly adept at the war training. A somewhat useless skill now, but a still impressive level of skill nonetheless.

    Hearing all this I felt somewhat downtrodden.

    I should have run away and joined Claire for the Knight''s training. If I had done that what might I be doing now? And with the knowledge I now posses, I could likely rise in ranks at the same rate as Joseph, if not even faster.

    Shrugging off the traitorous thinking. I listen to the conversations between the three that had been happening while my mind was elsewhere. It was important.

    Why was I always not paying attention when important talks were being had?

    "So the general plan is, you all the head into Godrick, learn what you can. If there is nothing more to learn then it will be up to you from there." Joseph said turning his attention to me who had just begun to pay it. "Any questions?"

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    "Uhm, well why us two?" I asked assuming Claire shared my curiosity.

    "So, no questions. Good." Joseph says nodding heavily. "Well then we will be returning to Havas posthaste." He says grabbing another bun from the plate and feasting on it greedily before washing it down with a refreshed gasp.

    Claire will change from her Knight armor into something a little less conspicuous. They will also borrow a second horse from the Count. He suggested I collect anything I need quickly. Preparations on their side would take only til noon.

    Glancing at the sun outside, it had only just risen.

    I suppose I have some time.

    Maybe today would be a chance for me to practice with my blade a bit. It''s likely a skill I''ll need in top shape if I¡¯m to exchange practice blows with Claire on the journey.

    After the two gobbled down the last of the buns they headed off on the road towards Havas. Joseph on his large gray beast and Claire on her Proud white maned steed.

    I hadn''t caught the name of the horse, but I assume it was something I''ll learn on our trip.

    Seeing the two horses walk across the wood plank bridge that now ours I had an odd sense of pride.

    But that pride quickly vanished as I saw the wood on the bridge bow and creak from each step of the heavy animals. If this much was happening from two horses weight. Then what would happen to a large caravan carrying food or raw resources to Godrick? The caravans weren''t common but they did happen, and seeing the bridges state was very alarming. Bridge maintenance must happen before I leave for my ''first flight''.

    Luckily nothing dangerous happened as the two of them passed the bridge and disappeared into the distance towards Havas.

    I talked to Degin about it he told me I would likely have time to go to Havas myself and talk to the craftsmen guild. They are the ones who had maintained it up till now. Thinking about it I do remember seeing workmen some mornings in the past. It was likely them replacing the rickety planks every couple years.

    After hearing its location I headed towards Havas on one of the horses that the tribe used from time to time. I again wasn''t sure it''s name, but it didn''t seem to mind when I called it Horsey. So that will have to do for now, although it feels a tad childish.

    Crossing the bridge myself I didn''t notice the bowing of the planks, I guess being on the bouncing horse things like this weren''t as obvious. That almost made it feel more dangerous. I glance at the river thirty feet below, it was rushing heavily. It was a good amount of water, likely around twenty feet wide and rushing at a heavy pace. The river was overall fairly shallow, but I would still surely die if I fell.

    I doubt it was something people boated down. Mainly due to the presences of white rapids that covered around forty percent of the surface.

    This was a perfect candidate for a canal now that I think about it, the main road follows this river. And most of the towns in both, the ''bay of mountains'' and the Counts territory are seated on this source of fresh water. Not to mention access to ocean ports would be hugely beneficial.

    It was likely something they''d never thought of. But as I glance at the farmlands that were being tilled by earth spec''d mages I realize how simple it really could be done.

    The mages in the field were doing something I had seen a number of times before but it had never struck me with such impact.

    They were, without touching the dirt, digging narrow trenches around one foot wide by two or three feet long. Then they, with a rotation of their wrist, flip the dirt over and drop it into the trench.

    Put simply these mages acted as a plows for the field. Behind them were water mages dropping small water balls with a seed in their center.

    The farming in this world had always been done entirely with magic. Some even thought it required it. It seems like a waste of energy, but since ''earth'' and ''water'' were the two most common magical spec''s they could achieve it with sheer numbers.

    While it seemed easy. It was surely not efficient, each row of crops required two people. One spec''d with earth and one water, a field sowed by forty would take an entire day.

    If what the earth mages were doing in the fields could be done safely in the river bed then digging a canal would honestly be a cake walk.

    Oh! Thinking about it I could likely get vast quantities of gold from the river bed too. Well I wasn''t positive this planet had formed in the same way Earth had. But it was still highly likely that there is flake gold in rivers same as there was on earth. I would have to investigate this.

    As I neared closer and closer to Havas northern gate I grew giddy at the conversation I might have with the craftsmen guild.

    When I got to the gate I stabled my horse and took a few of the copper coins Degin had given me and handed them to the stable manager. He nodded and lead the horse off to an open stall. I must have paid too much as he showed me a fine bag of oats before pouring them into a bin for Horsey.

    I nod my thanks and pat Horsey as he ate the oats happily. Here Godrick is starving to death and unable to even pay grain as taxes but in Havas even the horses ate well.

    It felt somewhat sad to see Horsey eat what could likely have fed a family in Godrick for a week.

    Walking into the town I was awestruck again. I have been here numerous times but this time was different of course. My other mind was in a city like this for the first time. I''m sure he was amazed and disturbed simultaneously. I know I was. My first sight was of a maid tossing a chamber pots contents out onto the street.

    I hold in my breakfast and walk quickly. watching my steps with great care.

    It was no wonder so many of the beggars looked incredibly sick. This was another thing I would have to fix. Though I suppose this is better than running it into the river and polluting the city downstreams water source. But not much better. Perhaps I can introduce the craftsmen guild to the concept of a septic system. It''s fairly simple after all.

    The smells of meat coming from nearby was quite enticing. But upon seeing the steaming meat seated beside fly crusted raw meat, I decided against it.

    I have no small amount of work I suppose.

    After asking a few respectful looking people where the guild was I found the hammer and nail sign I was looking for. I entered to the refreshing smell of sawdust. It reminded me of my other self''s time working at the lumber mill, and the furniture refinisher before that.

    Reminiscing about someone else''s memories seems a tad bit rude. But I can''t exactly ask permission. I''ll assume I have it for now.

    Noticing me gazing around the shop a woman who looked to be around my mother''s age stepped towards me.

    She gazed at my outfit strangely for a moment. This was the first time I realize I was still wearing the bandit garb I typically had on.

    No wonder the gatekeeper was so kind.

    My ''shirt'' was more of a piece of cloth strapped to my chest.

    I was also slightly embarrassed by the fact that I was wearing what on earth, would be considered a skirt. But I shrug it off after a moment. The craftswoman seems to shrug off my appearance as well and greets me kindly.

 Chapter 5 - Passage

    It took longer than I expect for her to understand the situation with the bridge.

    Godrick would normally send a messenger with request to repair the bridge. It wasn''t actually something they were ''contracted'' with. Instead it was something they were requested to do in exchange for either resources or gold depending on how the village was doing at that point in time.

    Despite the fact that it wasn''t a contracted job the people at the guild became worried when they hadn''t received word to make the repairs. It was something that should have been done over a year ago now, no wonder it looked to be in such bad shape.

    They had even gone so far as to prepare the materials in case the worst happened and the bridge went out. They had been willing to take the loss and make the repairs for free. I wasn''t aware but most of the silver ore the guild refines is from a small mine outside Godrick.

    She seems extremely happy by the fact that I had brought gold to pay for the work. She quickly tossed two of the coins to a man who was forming wood planks in the corner. Likely his payment for making the boards in advanced.

    I noticed the technology they had for milling wood was not great. It was mostly done with axes and hand tools. It seemed like hard work. I was somewhat surprised no magic was used for this, but I guess that''s what makes it a craftsman guild.

    Or so I thought. But a moment later I learned the woman who I''ve been talking to, Susan, was actually an earth spec''d mage similar to the farmers I had seen earlier. Her power was much stronger though. She mainly used it for working metal, apparently earth magic can operate similarly to a hammer.

    Her blades are said to be the best in the city, or so she said. She can also make them at a rate no other ordinary blacksmith can match. She was basically a power-hammer. I had used the device dozens of times in my other life. It was probably something I could build here easily.

    I''ve seen the ones they used in the 1800''s and they were fairly simple. Though I doubt this worlds technology level is anywhere near earth-1800''s. However, with the help of magic who knows how quickly they could evolve technologically.

    There was also something called a ''trip hammer'' that they used in china as far back as 1000 BC. When I asked about it Susan claimed no such technology existed here.

    She seems incredibly intrigued by the concept of a hammer that can strike repeatedly in a single place though. No matter how I looked at it this world''s technology level was all over the place. They could make intricate metal works with earth mages. They had limitless clean water from water mages. But this lead to technology in those fields becoming entirely stagnant.

    Even the concept of an aqueduct, something used by humans more than 4000 years ago (on earth), was an entirely new and interesting concept to Susan.

    After she spoke with several craftsmen about our bridge repair, they began grabbing pre cut planks that had been collecting dust in the corner of a store room.

    I had thought she was bluffing but they really had prepared all of the materials ahead of time. What a good group.

    Yeah, I think I''ve decided.

    I was worried they would be a group of greedy craftsmen, stuck in their ways when I first walked in. But that feeling had passed. Even the man drenched in sweat in the corner forming planks eagerly listens to me as I explain the concept of a handsaw to him.

    I will leave it at that for now, the concept of a circular saw would probably explode his mind.

    They will be the ones I slowly spread new technologies through. They seem to be a capable bunch. There was fourteen of them in all. Several had earth spec''s, several had water, and a few even possessed the rare fire specialization. They would also contract farmers for other various work that needed to be done, be it earth or water. Depending on scenario.

    I was curious. What can water spec''s do to help craftsmen? I learn it was the ability to make ice. The craftsmen guild was contracted with several groups to make regular deliveries of ice. Mostly to nobles, as well as restaurants or inns like my mothers.

    Thinking about it we''d always had ice, so I guess this was something my mother handled.

    I learned more about magic.

    This was probably all information I had heard before. But I seemingly pay more attention this time around. It seems that with Susan''s aptitude with earth, not only could she strike metal. Typical earth mage farmers wouldn''t even be able to dent the glowing iron. But she could also carve stones as simply as the farmers had moved the dirt.

    When she demonstrates by taking a large scoop out of a nearby chunk of marble my jaw dropped. This was incredibly useful. But why was her aptitude higher? If all the farmers possessed this ability too. I assume not only would the farm work become quicker, but they could also work in mines or for instance on my upcoming canal project.

    Though I hadn''t mentioned the final aspect to Susan yet.

    She explains that the reason farmers couldn''t wasn''t really for any exact reason. Other than ''what they know was enough'', forty people operating a field a day was typical.

    And with the various peasant and farming families. There was never a lack of workers. They trained to reach a level where they could take a medium sized scoop and turn it adequately.

    As long as they could do this they got a share of food to feed their families. But it was seen as enough. If they could survive it was better than most.

    Peace means nothing if the people are starving, do the people in charge realize this?

    I had to change this world. Susan explains, that if a child is unable to learn earth or water magic adequately within their first fifteen years, they would have no place in their families homes.

    So someone like me, a late bloomer. Would probably be cast out at ten. I must thank my mother for not doing that.

    The scenario for magic aptitude for water was similar to earth.

    Just generating a fist sized ball of water and being able to force it into the soil was seen as fairly difficult. However, the water mages working at the guild were generating lakes worth before they learned to make ice.

    The main issue seemed to be training. While some of the craftsmen were older, most were only a few years my elder. Likely in their early or late twenties.

    When I asked the various mages they, all received training from either their parents, or one of the illustrious mage schools.

    So, public schooling should be added to my mental list. If the next generation all have the abilities these people in the guild have then my industrial revolution should be pretty easy.

    But, it won''t happen quickly.

    As the craftsmen workers were all headed to the bridge anyways Susan and I tagged along.

    Horsey seemed happy with my return, or well¡­

    I guess he just wore his typical horse expression, but I hoped he was happy with my return. Thinking about it now I didn''t want to part with this horse. He was a little older, but going on a journey with another horse right after I have named this one¡­ Well, it seems tantamount to cheating.

    I''ll talk to Degin about it.

    I group back up with the slow moving ox drawn flat bed carriage carrying the various planks of wood and pins for repairing the bridge. Again I felt a sense of pride. I was slightly surprised when Degin gave me the small bag of gold coins. But when I learned that I could use it as a deposit on repairing the bridge on a yearly basis I was happy that I had brought extra.

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    I''m sure I had been sold on some sly salesmanship on Susan''s part, but instead of being insulted. I was actually impressed. That she possesses a strong business sense as well as strong abilities as a craftswoman and mage. She will become a useful tool.

    After warning the driver to leave the ox cart on the Havas side of the bridge the driver nodded in agreement and parked the cart. They then began unloading with the men who had walked along beside the cart.

    Looking at the sky it still wasn''t even noon.

    Even for the Earth-me it would be rare to get so much done before lunchtime.

    I was actually somewhat reluctant to leave.

    There was so much I could still get done.

    I lead Susan in the direction of the Inn. I wanted to discuss various things with her. She seemed eager for the same thing and lead her horse to follow my own. Again crossing the bridge, I went first.

    I told Susan to view the bowing as I walked across. Her eyes widened and she reluctantly lead her own horse across carefully afterwards.

    When we reached the camps stables I untacked Horsey and let Susan stable her horse in a nearby makeshift stall. Leaving the stable area and waving to a few of the families who were milling about in the center of ''camp'', Susan finally spoke.

    "I will be honest, I''m surprised by how kind you people are."

    What do you mean ''you people''?

    "Ah well we may be bandits, but we don''t mean any harm to anyone. We have a pact not to hurt citizens. The guys sometimes even get paid to protect caravans heading into the bay." I say with a coy smile.

    "Right, I had heard that, I''m sorry if that sounded rude." She says biting her lip a bit, I guess it is slightly scary in the center of a bandit camp. Though I saw it as normal I guess the spike fence and painted tents are a little intimidating.

    "Well it will be more comfortable to talk inside." I say leading the woman through the door of the Inn.

    Degin was already seated.

    I introduce him to Susan and he praises me for the rapid work of getting the bridge repairs started. When I glance at the window I notice the men have already removed one plank and were gingerly replacing it with a rough hewn one from the man I had spoken to earlier.

    Susan and Degin began talking about the deal we had made. I assume Susan likely thinks ''this man is in charge'' but I''ll leave it like that for now.

    This gives me a chance to draw.

    My mom looked somewhat confused when I asked for paper. I must have used the wrong word. It''s something I had realized. Sometimes I use words from earth without even realizing.

    Tylenol, Bathroom, Paper, etc.

    These were all foreign words in this world. What somewhat confuses me is the fact that a lot of stuff still held the same names though. Swords are still called swords, which isn''t an easy name to come up with. Common language seems to share root words with English as well.

    After using a few other words to describe what I was asking for she finally gave me a pile of thin slabs of wood.

    She typically used these when placing orders. Thinking about it this was in fact the only writing material I could think of. The only paper was that which the church or schools used for books, but it was typically made from stretched animal skins. Earth-me called it parchment but it wasn''t common.

    The slab was slightly whitish, but it was by no means a proper writing surface. I settled with it for now and began etching it with a thin charcoal pencil.

    It was actually easier to draw what I wanted than I expected. First I drAw the basic mechanism needed for a Trip hammer. It was extremely basic. Typically run by a waterwheel. But here, theoretically, it could be run by a low level water specialized mage.

    Just another handy feature in this world. I''m not sure how long it will take this world to develop a steam engine to run a real power-hammer. But I still drew the mechanism for it on the back side of the slate of wood anyways. No harm piquing her interest.

    After that, I draw a few other items.

    A plow and seeder. Things completely necessary for my farming reforms.

    I also draw something that although unsure I assume would be necessary.

    If you follow the river up stream about a mile there is a waterfall about five feet in total height.

    I know because my father often trained me there. Thinking about the waterfall training I had seen in so many movies in my memories it felt nostalgic on two fronts.

    Right, so the other thing I draw is the basic operation of a canal lock. I was planning on explaining the concept of a canal to Susan once she was done chatting with Degin but that time didn''t seem to be soon approaching. So I continue my drawings.

    I think it probably only took maybe a half hour to fill the five slabs with illustrations. I had completely focused on my drawing. Even going so far as to write short explanations of how certain objects moved, or how they were attached.

    I didn''t notice that the conversation between Degin and Susan had waned, and attention was now focused directly on me. All the slates I had once neatly stacked in front of me were instead spread like a deck of cards. Being inspected by the both of them closely.

    "This is¡­ " She begins pointing to the explanation for how a steam engine''s piston is attached with a rod so it can maintain free movement.

    I began to think of an excuse for how I had come up with such a thing but she interrupted my thoughts with something that hadn''t even dawned on me. "The language of the builders."

    Right I had written all that in English hadn''t I? Wait did she say ''builders''?

    And anyways do I even know how to read and write anyways?

    My mother, seemingly confirming my question grins while asking. "Oh, have you learned to read and write suddenly?"

    That way of asking was extremely bizarre but I will ignore it for now with the more important question. Language of the ''builders''? What does that mean? So I decided to just roll the dice and asked. "What is the language of the builders?"

    Susan frowns for a moment. Seemingly pondering something other than my question. She gave up on her own questions and began answering mine instead.

    "This language was used by the craftsmen guild, long, long ago. It''s barely even taught anymore. It''s said to be able to describe mechanical and technological things much better than Common. I''m only able to recognize a few of the words but there is no doubt this is it."

    I see, it''s similar to how Latin is used for naming of animals and the metric system is used for all sciences.

    Here English was used for most construction methods and machinery designs. But why?

    The only logical explanation would be that there was others like me before. At least one but possibly many since English was spread so readily to even be recognized today. One thing was for sure, they had likely been the cause for the advancement from the forty eight tribes era into the civilized period we now live in.

    I surely can''t let down my elder.

    I must do my utmost to advanced society as well.

    Susan believes me when I had explain that I learned it while reading. For some reason even Degin backed up the fact that I was often reading. Which was somewhat strange seeing as in this world I had probably never even held a book much less read one.

    It was just as my mother had said earlier, I can''t read in this world. Yet now I''ve inadvertently revealed that i can read and write in a nearly dead secret language.

 Chapter 6 - Blade

    This boy.

    Who in the world is he?

    When he first entered the guild I was sure someone would lose their head.

    The guild had been strictly told not to get near the bandit camp when repairing the bridge. Not that they particularly wanted to, with that dark aura emanating from that place.

    But it seems the Count, who had warned them such, may have had some wrong information. Not only are these people extremely kind, even going so far as to give some delicious sweet buns for me and the workmen at the site.

    But they also possessed someone with immense intelligence. To be able to learn the builders language just from books, it''s unheard of. It''s rare enough to even find a book written in the language. He must have quite a collection to have such a large vocabulary.

    I barely recognized half the words written on that slab. Surely I will have to consult the Guild Master about translating this. I will send a letter to the guild office in the Kingdom''s Capital at once.

    Wait, no.

    I can''t.

    I can''t risk losing out on all his inventions just so the guild-master can decipher texts written by the boy I''m standing beside.

    If it comes down to it I will ask him to translate them, he seems a kind enough person.

    Every slab I held was more thrilling than the last. This was surely the ''power-hammer'' he had talked about. It was indeed simple.

    And this must be the ''saw'' he was explaining to Tucker.

    This is incredible, even the materials these items are made from would be impossible with current technology. I still understood their significance though.

    Who would I be as an inventor if I just gave up on a project simply because the materials needed to construct it didn''t exist.

    As I asked about some of the various mechanisms the boy smoothly describes how they function.

    It was as if he had seen this things in operation before. He mentioned issues we would face if attempting to build one way or another.

    How had he thought out these designs to such an extent? And yet he was only now illustrating them for the first time.

    This kind of understanding of the mechanisms would take countless years of trial and error.

    Who is this kid?

    <hr>

    Susan left to watch over the bridge maintenance once she was satisfied with all of her questions. She was hesitant to take the planks I had quickly sketched out but I told her where I was headed I didn''t need them.

    She seemed satisfied with my answer and gratefully accepted them.

    She was concerned about making sheet metal but once I showed her the designs for the rollers she quickly grasped the concepts even going so far as to Carve a miniature roller from a stone she found outside the Inn.

    Her abilities really were incredible.

    She took the long stone and effortlessly peeled away everything but a round rolling pin shape. She then extended a single finger and pushed out a rod from the center to fit an axle.

    Due to my pressuring she left the miniature rolling pin with my mother. It would come in handy once I find cinnamon.

    Apparently counter to my thinking carving something small like that was harder than making one full size (10''x3'') cylindrical roller. Once she explain that it was due to intricate angles she had used to carve the mini-roller I understood.

    I was worried how we would find such a large stones but she demonstrated a technique which seemed to weld stones together into a perfect form.

    This was truly magic.

    Finally I had seen something that even with all technology on Earth was completely impossible. Well I suppose I haven''t comprehended all of the memories yet. There could be something.

    In fact most of the technologies I had shown Susan were things I had seen on history channel documentaries. ''Simple technologies that changed the world.'' or something like that.

    Well it went better than expected. She grasped the technologies I presented her.

    With this I would likely be able to begin the real work once all this with the ''Blood Hook'' gang is done. Who knows exactly how long I will be gone though. I was sure to include some things that I knew were not possible to finish before I returned. One in particular was the canal.

    When I explained my reasoning for the canal to her she agreed that having a river port would be hugely influential for Havas. She claimed it was something that was considered impossible. The concept of a canal wasn''t new here.

    The reason it was seen as impossible though was due to the three other waterfalls that were between Havas and the ocean.

    Showing her the lock design her face grew into a huge smile.

    I was slightly worried she would praise me as a god if she got to far ahead of herself so I urged her to calm down.

    In the end I learn that between Godrick and the ocean there is at least 20 feet of waterfalls. that''s honestly easy as pie. The lock at the panama canal could lift a ship 90 feet. This canal would be nowhere near as wide as that one though.

    Claire and Joseph arrive earlier than I expected, I had just gotten out of the bath. Mother seemed to be experimenting with the rolling pin so I had no choice but to shake like a dog until my shaggy hair was dry.

    "Down boy." Claire said after I shook my head for a third time being extra careful to shake the little bit stuck in my ear out.

    This was something my mother was particularly adept at.

    What a hassle.

    "You don''t know water magic do you?" I say sticking my pinky finger into my ear and vigorously wiggling it after I strap my shirt on.

    "Hmph no I don''t," she says blankly, her once smile evaporating.

    I suppose forgetting her specialization really did anger her, I do seem to remember it was one of the various rare ones. Though if I remember right it was something completely useless.

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    But seeing as she claimed to be a battle mage she must have increased her ability with whatever it is.

    "Ah I see too bad," I say rubbing my damp hair and walking with Claire towards the camp area.

    I notice the guild''s workmen have all but finished. They only had two more boards to install.

    The juxtaposed white pine boards smashed between the rusty metal support structure looked marvelous, I''ve got myself a fine bridge if I do say so myself.

    While thinking of the various improvement I could make on the bridge the appearance of a smiling Degin and Joseph cut off my happy thoughts. They were obviously colluding on something together again.

    "You move quick Hawk" Joseph says nudging me with his elbow while staring at Susan and the workers dropping the second to last plank into place.

    "Safety first." I reply simply before adding "I was worried enough just watching you two pass over it. Any real weight across it could''ve been disastrous. I mean just look at this board."

    I pick up the rotting wood slab which breaks like a twig from a single kick.

    "Well you could''ve mentioned that before I trucked my carriage across it day before yesterday."

    "Ah it was not something I noticed until this morning anyways. Anyways you survived so no harm, no foul. eh?" I say nudging the man back.

    Though I was joking Claire was alarmed by the broken board. The bridge was that dangerous and she had crossed it without even realized.

    This trip would surely be dangerous if we made too many silly mistakes like that.

    After making sure Claire had all the equipment she would need Joseph excuses himself.

    He claimed he had some business to attend to with the Count, I assume in reality he was going drinking with Degin but it seems I was mistaken because instead Degin pulls me to the side separately.

    In a more serious tone than I had heard him speak in before he said. "Hawk, know that despite our lack of clear honesty regarding certain matters we truly believe that you will lead us in the right direction. Trust in your gut. And if you need protection use this."

    He reaches behind his back and pulls out a long, dark, machete-looking blade.

    It''s handle could easily fit two hands, so machete wasn''t exactly the right term. The blade was beautiful. It was pure black in color, but as the light caught it a few other colors seemed to peak at the surface.

    Reaching out and taking the blade into my hands Degin spoke once again.

    "This is a blade you''re father won in combat. He carried it with him whenever he went to battle from that day onwards. I hope you can use it as well. Protect the blade''s great legacy."

    Gripping the familiar handle I take a few quick practice swings with the blade.

    Its light.

    More than light, it feels like an extension of my hand. With a single flick of my pinky finger the blade spins on my palm and flips over in my grip. I strike as if uppercut punching. Again it feels perfect. It''s weighted equally, no doubt this was made by an expert.

    Even I, with my knowledge from another world have never seen a blade like this before.

    The hamon line was one thing, but as I held it a red ripple of energy appeared to flash amongst the dark metal. It may have just been a trick of the light but I wondered if this might be some sort of magical blade?

    I had never heard of such a thing but it wasn''t impossible I suppose.

    I wonder if it would be better fit for an actual battle mage though. As I ponder this I shoot a glance at Claire who was brushing her white horse patiently.

    I gave up the thought and turn back to Degin who was watching me practice with a look of acknowledgment. I suppose I''m not as rusty as I thought?

    "Good, with that you can protect her if you must." He says, likely noticing my earlier glance.

    Though that wasn''t the reason for it I still nod at his statement. It was a nice sentiment, but she was probably more likely to be the one protecting me. It really should be her who gets this sword, or maybe sword is too strong of a word for this twelve inch blade.

    Completely abandoning the line of thought I wrap the edge of the blade in a chunk of leather and place it on my belt.

    It was a makeshift, scabbard but it would have to do.

    At that moment I remember the oversized handle I had seen at Joseph''s hip. I hadn''t seen the blade but the handle looked identical to this one. Perhaps the story about the blade''s legacy was all made up?

    Oh, no. Perhaps not. They may just have had a similar grip.

    I doubt Degin would lie about something like this. His tone made it sound like the handing off of this sword was something my father had entrusted him with.

    No it would be best to keep the negative thoughts to a minimum.

    I trust Degin. Speaking of trust, I nonchalantly ask if I could use Horsey instead of the horse the Count had lent but he said ''no'' firmly.

    Am I really the leader?

    I''m beginning to think that''s just something they are all telling me to make me feel better.

    Well, the horse the Count lent was a fairly majestic looking beast. It wore thick patches of fur on its legs that looked like 80''s leg warmers.

    We assemble the baggage and load the horses. I say farewell to my mother as well as the rest of the tribe who had seemingly assembled in no time.

    There wasn''t a single person missing as I glanced around, even new mothers came carrying their children. They would occasionally point at me and then whisper something into the ear of the child.

    It felt like a political rally.

    Should I be kissing these babies?

    I assumed not and turn my horse towards Claire''s and after getting a nod from her we both began trudging down the path, we pass a small decaying sign that reads ''Godrick''.

    Our Flight had begun. As our backs disappeared into the distance a single villager murmured

    "The son of the Hawk and daughter of the Witch. It''s truly the beginning of a new era once more."

 Chapter 7 - Struck

    Arriving at Godrick near sunset we were somewhat sickened by the state of the road.

    It was in greater disrepair than I expected. Large ruts from carriage wheels had become pits. It was dangerous for the horses, a single step into one of the deep grooves could easily break a leg.

    I was slightly glad I hadn''t brought Horsey.

    Ah, no. That line of thought was rude to ''Penelope''.

    This was the name I''ve given temporarily to 80''s fashion sense horse. I think it fits, Claire agreed as well.

    She had apparently not named her horse, I saw that as a major issue, But maybe I''m the only one.

    I''m beginning to think animals were not often named in this world. Claire looked at me strangely when I told her I had named this horse that I had ridden for less than an hour. She didn''t seem to question the logic for very long though.

    From the look of pondering on her face I wondered if perhaps she was thinking of a name for her''s as well. Well, all I can do is wait patiently. I''m sure she will tell me if she comes up with one. Or she will let it slip by accident.

    Incidentally that''s how I had revealed Penelope''s names. Though what choice did I have? I had to convey to Penelope that there was a dangerous rut directly in her path. Luckily she came out unharmed.

    We found a place to stall our horses for the night in Godrick. The town was entirely empty. When I asked the stable master about it he explained that it was common to stay inside just in case of the occasional bandit attack. They had been lessened slightly, there hasn''t been an attack in seven days now. It''s likely due Joseph''s ''show of might''. I''ll say what I want about the man, but he was strategically intelligent, no doubt about that.

    But the village being empty was somewhat of an issue for me. I wanted to get information as soon as possible.

    But I guess that wasn''t in the cards.

    I asked the location of an inn and he told me there was none, my only option would be to ask the village master to stay in a spare room in his mansion.

    He said mansion, but as I looked at the building in the distance it was honestly no bigger than the inn that I lived in. However it was only a single story, so it was than my house. It was also heavily dilapidated.

    The roof looked to be settling improperly, the steady line that should be drawn by the roof was more of an arced bow.

    Housing codes. That''s something I should add to my list. This is the village master after all. If this person dies due to their mansion collapsing, it would be disastrous for the village.

    While I was gazing at the mansion slightly disturbed Claire nudged me from the side. I noticed what she was alerting me of moments after.

    Between us and the mansion was a homely looking man with greasy thinning hair and a dark mole under his eye. In his hands was a small blade. He holds it readied. ''Is this a stick up?'' I wonder to myself suppressing a smile. I know I shouldn''t be joking around. But it''s hard not to.

    In fact I''m more worried about the motives of this man. He seemed a strong man, but the kind of strength not made from swinging a sword or ax for money. If I had to guess this man would likely be a miner. A weak cough from the man confirms my thoughts.

    It also explained the fact that his left arm was slightly weaker than his right which held the knife.

    In the months I worked as a physical therapist it was something I saw a lot in pro football players. Their dominant arms would be significantly bigger.

    And as the mine was likely the only real source of income in this town I''m sure that''s where this, once, well-off man had come from. It was clear that he had not always been forced to rob travelers in the dead of night. His clothes were far too nice. Though now the torn, the silks were clearly bought for style at one time.

    There''s only a single logical explanation.

    The towns mine had dried up.

    It would also explain the town''s current economic state.

    I nodded to myself once as if to confirm my own thoughts. Or I suppose I was confirming earth-me''s thoughts. Well, I should deal with this first.

    I reach my hand for the leather clad blade I had gotten from Degin earlier.

    I was thrilled I could use it so quickly. Obviously I didn''t intend to hurt the man, but even disarming with it will sure to be fun.

    But once my hand was on the handle, Claire quickly interrupted my motion.

    "Oh come on Drew, you already got a chance to do practice swings this morning. I saw." She say indignantly pulling out her blade much quicker than I ever could.

    I suppose that''s the joy of a real sheath.

    Why had I not asked the craftsmen guild to make me one?

    I was worried she wouldn''t have the same thought process as me. So I began to say ''don''t hurt him''. But the fact that she had said ''practice swing'' a moment ago clued me in that she hadn''t intended to hurt the man either.

    With a single strike from the pommel of her silver sword onto the palm of the man''s hand the dagger goes skidding off to the side of the small road. I also think it may have broken in the process. Honestly, how do you make such a cruddy dagger? To break just from falling to the ground?

    The man quickly cowered down, putting his hands to his head.

    "How did you know he''d be a novice with a blade?" I ask honestly curious, she likely didn''t come to the conclusion the same way that I did.

    "A bandit doesn''t rob someone in front of his own house." She says pointing to the window where two children were peering frightfully at their father cowering.

    The man seemingly noticing the direction Claire pointed and began to beg.

    "Ah, I''m terribly sorry for raising a blade to you, please take my life. But spare my family. They have done no wrong. Oh, but without me my family will surely¡­ " the man begins tearing up and his words became more and more incomprehensible.

    "I don''t think we had any intention of doing anything more, did you?" I ask Claire, she nods blankly so I add, "I assume a bruise on your dominant hand it is a big enough punishment for a miner."

    "You''ll spare me?" The man says "I thank you ever so much kind sir," he stutters the words that were likely foreign to his mouth. "But if I may ask, how did you know I was a miner?"

    I likely wouldn''t have made the connection if it hadn''t been for Susan''s schooling on magic. This man was likely and earth spec''d mage.

    Now despite the fact the overall brawn isn''t entirely necessary the way this world mines. The amount of stone grabbed by a single scoop does directly correspond to muscle mass.

    If a farmer level mage wanted to become a miner the most common way was simply by bulking muscle and gaining an advantage with that. It was only rare highly trained people like Susan and the other craftsmen who could manage equal sized scoops without the extra muscles.

    Thinking about it my theory could have very easily been wrong.

    His disproportionate arm muscle strength was likely due to how he had bulked his muscles in the first place. It didn''t actually correspond to his work as a miner.

    Realizing this I found for the first time earth-me''s knowledge had been partially wrong.

    It was kind of alarming, I put more faith than I thought in him. And in this case had I been wrong very likely Claire could have been hurt. I can''t be wrong again. I need to always pay attention, always be aware of the alternate possibilities.

    After lifting the man from the ground I talk with him for a few moments. He and Claire seem particularly surprised when I explained that I would be opening a new mine soon so he should just do his best to hold out until then.

    They both look even more surprised when I toss the man a single coin and continue towards the village master''s ''mansion''.

    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    "Do you really plan to do that?" Claire asks once she catches up with me and properly sheathed her blade.

    "Yeah, shouldn''t be a problem. Silver and other precious metals always leave signs of their presence. We''ll take a peek tomorrow morning. I''m sure I''ll find something." I say nonchalantly as we arrived at the door of the village heads house.

    I wasn''t trying to act big either. I had recently remembered my time working as a surveyor in Africa. Searching for precious metals via geology was in my job description.

    Claire knocked and we were greeted by an older woman and an intense smell of mold.

    Yeah I was now sure.

    Claire began to ask about a room to stay in but I interrupted with a genius idea I had just thought up.

    "We are just humble travelers, we wonder if we might be able to stay in your barn for the night." I say patting myself on the back mentally.

    "Ah that army man days before said the same thing. Well it''s no problem. There''s fresh straw in their. Waters in buckets. G''night." She says with a sleepy wave of her hand.

    Ah smart choice Joseph, though I''m not exactly happy he had come up with the plan before me.

    But really, for an older woman like her to be living in this death trap.

    When will the calamities stop? My heart can only take so much.

    We settle into the stable looking stables and found a clean place to set down our packs. Claire peers at the dangerous looking mansion beside us and sheepishly grins after looking at the structure inside of the barn.

    It was surely the right choice and she seems to agree.

    Honestly the two of us had barely had a moment alone. After we separated with our steeds we were interrupted by the misguided miner. Being alone with her was awkward. I wasn''t sure what to say to her. I hadn''t talked to her at length in more than two years now. We may as well be strangers now.

    "So what will we do?" Claire asks, I suppose it had many different ways to be answered.

    If this was a video game this surely would be a route deciding question.

    Assuming she is referring to the mission at hand, as a Knight would, I answer with my plan. Which basically consisted of Degin¡¯s plan. Ask people, then walk around till we learn something.

    She seems unsatisfied with either my answer or my plan, it was unclear.

    She smirked at me after frowning at me for a few moments. This was a common Claire-like behavior.

    She was likely angry with me so she glared at me, and then thought of something funny on accident so she had to hide her giggle with that smirk. I remember it happening often during blade training with father.

    "Well, what would your answer have been?" I ask curious what the correct answer to the question had been, and also as a subtle way of asking for help developing a proper plan.

    "Well the way I see it there''s two options we hunt them down or we wait for them to attack. Be a bird of prey or a bird of leisure."

    She wasn''t really giving me much option then. I suppose we will go with my plan, Its of course better to be a bird of prey. I will ask various villagers which direction the attacks came from and search for clues from there.

    We will carefully hunt them down.

    "So you remember the time we came here when we were twelve?" She asks breaking what had been a long moment of silence.

    "Yeah what about it?"

    "Ah, no. Just that you remember it." She says, her facing turning noticeably red in the darkness. "I''m glad."

    Honestly I was too, I had a distinct feeling there were memories I was still missing after my long sleep. But as they were hazy I had no way of knowing weather those memories belonged to me or ''The Earthling''.

    "I''m glad we got to go on this mission together." I said voicing my honest thoughts as I collapsed into the pile of straw. It poked at me strangely but it was much more comfortable than sleeping within ''certain death mansion''.

    "Me to." Claire confirms leaning back into her own pile of straw.

    Her''s appeared significantly bigger than mine, I was slightly jealous. But I suppose it''s my fault for choosing piles first.

    <hr>

    Morning came quickly.

    We both must have been exhausted from the journey. After checking on the horses and asking around town we basically heard a consensus that all attacks had come from the north.

    I suppose it made sense, even bandits needed water they would have to be on the river somewhere.

    I also ask a bruised miner where the mine was. He pointed in the direction and I followed the well beaten path towards a small building and cave in the distance.

    This must be the mine. The area around the cave was mostly granite. Slight striations appeared on the surface, so glaciers had indeed been on the surface of the planet at some point.

    This is good news, there is most likely to be gold in the riverbeds. But I''m not worried about gold right now silver is my main priority.

    Or so I say, but upon seeing the most beautiful example of both acid bleaching and quartz pebble structures I couldn''t help but fall to me knees.

    This mine was dug hundreds of feet into the mountain. It even had several feeler tunnels. Yet here, five feet from the mines entrance. I stared at a rock formation that almost surely concealed gold.

    Likely in vast amounts. Acid bleaching only happens to this an extent under presence of the minerals that are found near gold. The Quartz pebble structure was another sure sign.

    I notice last night''s mugger standing a few hundred feet from the two of us eying us cautiously, so I wave him over with a big motion so he was sure to see it.

    He was taken aback but then followed my command and approached, I told him to take out a few scoops. I assume it would take at least 10 feet before we see anything.

    If gold was really this close they would have found it in passing.

    Again I was wrong.

    Two large scoops from the bulging man and I saw the first sign.

    It was small but there was a speck of gold visible on the surface of the second solid scoop of rock. I grabbed a nearby hammer and struck the scoop of stone.

    The half sphere broke into a dozen pieces, on the top of the pile sat a chunk that seemed to glow in the light.

    Good, I''ve struck gold.

    Well that''ll do I guess.

    I pat the man who''s gasping at the discovery. Then after kneeling down to grab a small finder''s fee me and Claire head back into town.

    Perhaps this will help the town a bit.

    I hope first thing they do is repair that ratty mansion. It''s too dangerous, it''s all I can think about now.

    I still hadn''t met the actual village master but his wife, or maybe mother, seemed kind.

    I really didn''t want anything to happen to that woman.

    But really to find a gold deposit so close to an active silver mine. What are the chances?

    Seriously?

    I was sure I would have to hunt for the correct geography to find another silver deposit. I was actually excited about the venture.

    But it was entirely unnecessary, I almost solved this issue too quickly. Maybe I should have done a few laps before pointing it out.

    The miner was a little too awestruck by the fact that this much gold lay right next to his workplace.

    Damn, and I had allotted so much time for this venture too.

    Well, Claire claimed she wanted to eat. But after I glance at the blood soaked chef standing inside the town''s only restaurant I quickly turn that idea down.

    I realize we have packed nearly no food.

    Only the buns we had eaten yesterday on the journey.

    My mother also made rolls using her new rolling pin but they were 8/10 at best. I was saddened by this fact. Just more reason to find cinnamon. Honestly I''d even settle for ''cassia'' at this point.

    Well I guess we must hunt for food!

 Chapter 8 - Blood

    Hunting was unnecessary it seemed.

    It was just as the man on the outskirts of town had said.

    "Drop a line into the lake to the south, You will pull up a fish immediately."

    We had about a couple dozen foot long fish before long. We roasted some of them and placed the rest in a small bin of salt we had brought. It was handy to preserve some of this plentiful food source.

    This must be why the village hasn''t starved entirely. With this vast population of fish the whole town could probably fish the lake without problem. It was bizarre, but I chocked it up to this world.

    Perhaps as well as exporting gold, this town could export fish from the lake. I''m not super knowledgeable on running a fishery but I did run a aquaponics system with a few hundred thousand fish. I''m sure I could teach them a thing or too, and looking at the greenery around the lake this water was clearly suited well for agriculture. Looking at the land nearby thought it wasn''t as suitable as the water. Mostly it was rugged rocky land.

    Surprisingly there were almost no tree surrounding Godrick.

    I did notice an overabundance of stumps however. So my assumption was this town had also once exported lumber. It would explain why the village masters roof was in such disrepair. They have over-forested to such an extent that they can no longer even provide lumber for their own homes.

    Noticing my lack of attention on my cooking Claire swiftly flip the now blackened fish.

    Damn i really need to stop thinking while I''m supposed to be focusing on something.

    I apologize for burning the fish and attempt to choke down the burnt meat.

    It was still edible but the other more properly roasted fish looked much more appealing. Claire finally relents and hands me one of her''s. She take my burnt one and reveals her magic.

    Now I know what your thinking.

    Oh she could heal the burnt flesh, or maybe she could rewind it''s time.

    No.

    I remembered her skill immediately when she opened up the small black tear and dropped the burn fish into the ''trash can''.

    It was basically a two dimensional black rip in space.

    I couldn''t remember what they were called. But it basically acted as a bottomless hole. It has no gravity, only happily accepting whatever was dropped into it. It was somewhat handy, you could open one up a few feet underneath you as an easy way of digging a hole.

    Or for this particular use. As a trash can.

    It was handy though.

    Honestly, I know you''re thinking it''s useless. I mean bears or wolves would smell the burnt fish if we had just left it here so it''s much safer this way. As we used to say in the boy-scout''s.

    Leave no trace.

    Or maybe that was the marines, I often got those two memories mixed up.

    Oh man, not knowing what those black holes are called is really going to bug me.

    I remember it had a cool name. Well, if I''m lucky Claire will brag about it sooner or later.

    <hr>

    Two days and she hasn''t bragged about it. She hasn''t even used it once since that time at the lake.

    Really? Well I suppose knights pride and such.

    We did run into several occasions to use our blades. It was mostly just for cutting through what became a fairly large jungle as we head further up river.

    We left Godrick soon after we got the fish. And these past few days we made good progress towards the second city. Colgate. As I''ve said there''s no real path from town to town.

    After Godrick, according to the townspeople the best way to get to Colgate is by following the river until you see life. ''And once you feel death you''ve gone too far.''

    That last part was a tad bit ominous but I left it alone.

    Travel was slow. We creeped along at a relative snail''s pace. The horses seemed useless at this point, in fact they likely made it harder. The path we were striking in the jungle was forced to be wider due to the animals we lead behind us.

    The temperature had seemingly risen at some point, I associated it with the dense jungle capturing the humidity or maybe creating it. Honestly i was too sweaty to think carefully.

    I just had to keep taking steps and cutting vines and weeds.

    That was my life now.

    It was an unsatisfying life.

    I wondered if Claire couldn''t just cut these with black holes but as she didn''t do it herself I just assumed there was something wrong with that idea.

    Really, if I had known she just hadn''t thought of it either this could have been so much easier.

    But I didn''t know. I just kept my mouth shut so we continued along with blades.

    Nearing nightfall I tied the horses off onto a nearby tree branch and began setting up a proper pile of leaves to sleep on.

    Claire had now completely given up on the tent the knights corp lent her. It was far to difficult to erect. Now instead she gathered a similar pile of leaves beside mine.

    I may be hallucinating but it seems her sleeping location was inching nearer each night.

    We talked about the various things we typically spoke about.

    She, as always, avoids the topic of my dad.

    I suppose she likely feels a loss from his passing as well. He did raise her after her own dad died so I suppose he was something of a father figure to her as well.

    She told various tales of valor from her knights training. As well as the various gossip that was happening behind the scenes during those times. It was good fun, I could listen to her tell stories all night. If only.

    "Do you have regrets?" Claire asks as the moon peaked between the dense treeline.

    "Hm, regarding what?" I say unsure what exactly it was that she was inquiring about.

    "You know, just, everything."

    I contemplate the question a little further, sure there were things I regretted of course.

    Things I hadn''t said to my dad.

    Things I hadn''t asked.

    I''m sure everyone has regrets. I think it would probably be more rare to not have any.

    "Sure a few. Like when you left for knight training," I explain once I decide how best to answer.

    I say this not with any ulterior motive. It was the truth. It was something that always gnawed at me.

    "I wanted to run away too, I think part of me still wants that. I regret that."

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    "Which part? That you wanted to run? Or that you didn''t?" Claire asks and then adds after my long silence. "That''s dumb though. You should have just asked me to stay."

    "So you say; but you wouldn''t have stayed."

    The night air again grew still. Claire and I quietly snack on salted fish in the darkness. The chilly night air brought a great sense of sleepiness to our bodies.

    The moon moved across the sky effortlessly.

    I don''t know about Claire but I was sound asleep when the first sound was heard.

    It was followed shortly after by three other short howls.

    Claire rose first.

    She kicks the place where I''d been sleeping.

    When my eyes erupt open the first thing i see was ''Penelope'' and ''Daisy'' running directly in my direction.

    I swiftly rolled out of bed nearly dodging a hoof to the face. The two horses galloped with all their might down the path Claire and I had cut earlier that day.

    It didn''t take long to see what they had run from.

    Standing across from Claire were three large wolves. Their silvery fur reflected the full moon above.

    Claire''s sword was already readied. She seemed more nervous than I had expected her to be. She was a knight, these beasts should have been nothing. But as I looked at them I realized they were much more fierce looking than a typical wolf. What was wrong with these beasts? What had made them so riled?

    Drawing my own sword I step up next to Claire.

    We nod to each other and strike forward towards the two closest wolves.

    Claire''s target jumps out of the way in time but my strike hit firmly. With an instantly quieted whimper one of the three beasts falls to the ground.

    One down, two to go.

    Or so I had thought. But the whimper from the fallen beast had seemingly called back up. Behind us two more wolves appeared. Dark blood dripped from the two''s fangs.

    No, please don''t tell me they already caught up to Penelope and Daisy.

    I focused my ears and indeed could no longer hear the sounds of heavy footsteps.

    Oh, man. For Claire''s newly named horse to die.

    I will have to console her carefully once this is finished.

    While my attention was lost on the two beasts who had joined the fray. The wolf who has taken the place of the dead one swipes with a heavy paw.

    I didn''t even have a chance to react.

    It clears a great distance with a single kick of its hind legs.

    "Ugh!" Claire groans as the heavy claw came down on her leg.

    Without taking a moment I struck forward twice.

    The first kick knocked away the heavy beast.

    The second cut his throat cleanly as he sailed through the air with a spurt of blood.

    I grabbed the blade from the fallen Claire and stood in front of her glancing at the remaining enemies carefully.

    I had no idea how bad Claire was wounded. From the moment I grabbed her blade I saw a fair amount of blood. I have to finish this as soon as possible.

    Two wolves leapt at me simultaneously from behind me and in front.

    The front one was more dangerous so I shifted my dominant arm forward and caught the leaping wolf on my blade.

    A burst of blood enshrouded me drenching my hair and face. I then swung my left arm to intercept the airborne wolf behind me. My aim was a tad off though. My blade only caught the tops of his ear. Its heavy mouth closed firmly around my arm.

    The pain was indeed intense. After a few firm clenches of his jaw he released me and dropped back to the ground. I gave him a swift kick and again glance around.

    Two wolves down. one injured, and one was watching closely circling around me and the collapsed Claire.

    I don''t have time. I need to finish this immediately.

    I let out the strongest battle cry I could manage and then plunged the two swords down towards the wolf I had just given a haircut.

    Blood burst forth again and with that the final circling wolf rang off with a solemn whimper and bolted into the forest. I didn''t have time to hunt down the last enemy, Claire was my priority right now.

    I kneeled down beside her, and again feel regret.

    Claire had learned how to deal with medical emergencies while training to be a Knight. I, on the other hand had no clue what to do.

    Seeing the grimacing Clare I was greatly relieved that she wasn''t dead. I suppose an attack like that wouldn''t likely kill a person though.

    ''Oh, wait. No, get ahold of yourself Drew.''

    I was a nurse for a little over three years, I can handle this small laceration. But I don''t have any tools. First things first I removed my shirt and used it and the straps to tourniquet her gushing leg.

    She whimpered loudly when I applied pressure. But it seemed she was aware this was the right move as she replaced my hands, freeing me to tie the strap tightly around her bare bloodied thigh.

    Soon after finishing the field maintenance Claire turned her attention to my dripping arm. She wiped away some of the blood from my arm and exposed the teeth marks made in my flesh by the massive wolf moment earlier.

    The holes were closing.

    I''m not sure how I can describe the sight other than that simply.

    The gash from the wolf was sealing itself closed rapidly before my eyes. As me and Claire gazed at the final piece of flesh growing back into place we both were somewhat awestruck.

    "Good." She finally said after removing her hand from my arm. Had this been her magic somehow? She had barely touched my arm and now it was not even bleeding.

    No it can''t be due to her magic or she would have used it on herself.

    This is entirely different, most likely it was I who had caused this healing. But how?

    Even in this world there is no such thing as healing magic.

    So how? Whatever it is I hope I can use it on Claire''s still heavily gushing leg.

    <hr>

    "She will be here soon then." A woman wearing a thick overcoat made from plant material said as she deeply inhaled the smoke floating around her face.

    Her eyes clouded over again as she gazed into the inky darkness from her mountain top.

    "I hope he forgives our dishonesty." She said shaking her head slowly as the clouds began to vanish from her eyes. She set a lid on top of the herbs burning in front of her and sat back down by the fire at the center of her small camp.

    Two small sparkles floated around above the fire and she gazed at them until finally relenting and offering the tip of her finger to the two faeries.

    "Spoiled brats."

 Chapter 9 - Trail

    Claire was rapidly losing blood.

    If this kept up she would really be in bad shape. My suggestion was to return to Godrick. but Claire forbade it, instead telling me to carry her up to the mountain west of us. She was extremely adamant about the fact that help would be found there.

    I wasn''t sure of her state of mind at first but we quickly found the river that she had said would lead us to the mountain path. So we continued, this time with almost no baggage, even the horses were gone now.

    Claire was seated on my back. Her weight, added to the feeling of walking all night, was finally getting to me. We sit down on a rock once we arrived at the mountain path.

    It was called a path but it was more of a repeatedly switch-backing animal trail.

    I honestly don''t think I could carry Claire up this enormous mountain. However a single look at the wound on her leg that was still rapidly dripping made me realized I had no choice. Lifting Claire again onto my back we began our way up the trail.

    "Thank you." She says as we rounded the second corner of the steep mountain trail.

    Her thanks weren''t necessary. She was my precious friend. Honestly thinking, I am willing to do just about anything to be sure she survives this.

    I begin wondering if a blood transfusion was possible but as I had no way of easily determining blood type it was too dangerous. I have offered to cauterize the wound but she yelped at the thought and said it wasn''t necessary. All I could do was believe in what she had said and keep walking this endless trail.

    It was unclear how long exactly we''d been walking. The sun had begun to rise at some point. I wonder, what time did that attack occur? It felt like moments after we shut our eyes.

    It didn''t seem like very long ago. At the same time though, we have made it a great distance from Coil river at this point. I can barely even see it in the distance when I glance in the direction after rounding another switchback corner.

    Honestly I''m shaking. Even if she claims help is at the top of this mountain I''m unsure if I could even make it. My body was entirely falling apart.

    The only thing keeping me moving is the sensation of drips of Claire''s blood landing on my leg. No matter what I have to keep moving. Claire has began to grow pale. I had seen this before while working as a nurse.

    She has lost too much blood. Unless on the top of this mountain was the proper equipment for an emergency transfusion I honestly wasn''t sure how she would make it.

    That''s when I notice we are being followed.

    I was sure it was more wolves.

    But i was awestruck when I saw what it was in reality.

    It was a small ball of golden light. Just when I locked my eyes on the tiny dot it darted off and vanished up the mountain.

    Maybe it was a hallucination?

    I''ll just keep walking I guess. The treeline has become less dense so I assume i was nearing the top. The rock structure has changed too. What was once mostly sedimentary rocks was now large chunks of quartz.

    I must be near the top.

    I take a glance over my shoulder at the slumped over Claire.

    She isn''t in good shape. My worry grew and began to surpass my other feelings.

    Her weight was less of an issue after the hours of walking. Perhaps my mind was just focused on other things now.

    As my head sways back and forth with each step I again see the flash of golden light. It was much closer this time. It was heading directly for me. I wanted to take out a sword to fend off the tiny ball of light but if I had Claire would surely fall. She could possibly even tumble down the steep slope. I have no choice but to accept the ball of light head on.

    However instead of attacking it spun around my figure at the last moment as if dancing with me. It then landed gracefully on Claire''s dripping leg. I begin to shake it away but I was interrupted by a woman''s soft voice.

    "Don''t worry it means you no harm." The woman shrouded in a heavy coat says.

    Her outfit made her appear elderly but when I saw her face and heard her soft voice I realized she was likely around the age of my father or a few years younger. She had dirty brown hair that twirled as the wind grasped at it tenderly.

    She was beautiful, but I really didn''t have time to think about that. I was more concerned about the group lights that were collecting on Claire''s bleeding leg.

    Oh.

    Well.

    It''s not bleeding anymore.

    As I gaze closely the glowing apparitions actually had body shapes, they only appeared as balls of light due to the bright golden aura.

    They held their tiny heads down near the heavy gash, with each lap of their tongue the red flesh began to form a light pink scar.

    These creatures were tending her wounds.

    The woman helped Claire off of my back and assisted me in carrying her. She had passed out moments ago it seems. With the woman''s help we carry Claire to the woman''s small mountaintop camp.

    Was this where Claire was leading me?

    How did she know of this place?

    And what are these healing creatures?

    Faeries. That''s what the woman tells me once we settle Claire onto a pile of furs. The bleeding has stopped at this point and now each faerie is lined up lightly kissing the sealed wound.

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    When I ask the woman about it she explains they were offering their own life force to Claire. It seemed to be returning her color. Somehow this act was generating more blood for her.

    It disregarded all I knew about the medical field.

    But I supposed it wasn''t the first time earth-me''s memories have been disproven.

    Claire whimpers slightly from time to time, the woman rubs her hair lightly and seems to look at Claire adoringly. Oh! I see it now. It''s not huge but there''s a distinct resemblance. The hair color is nearly identical, and the nose is similar too.

    This is clearly Claire''s mother.

    She had never mentioned her mother before now that I think back on it.

    I had only heard her father passed away. So why had she lived with us instead of here with her mother? I supposed there must be some reason.

    The woman frowns at me for a few moments. Glancing between me and Claire''s now bright pink wound. She finally smiles grimly for a second and then says. "Sorry."

    Yeah. Claire''s mom.

    She bows her head deeply to me. I was unsure what exactly I was supposed to say? This seems like an apology for more than just the long walk, and the lack of a cold drink.

    No, there was sadness behind this apology.

    "There''s more I need to tell you, and it''s probably best to tell you it while she is still asleep." The woman says putting her hand once again onto Claire''s wet brow.

    "You''re her mother?" I ask, hoping to confirm the fact at least once.

    "Mhm." She says with a proud grin. stroking Claire''s hair gingerly.

    "So what is it that you needed to tell me?" I ask suddenly curious.

    Now that Claire is in the capable hands of the faeries there is quite a bit I''m utterly confused about.

    "Well, it''s regarding you, your father, your people. It regarding your entire life, perhaps even the entire world."

    Oh? My interest is majorly piqued.

    Does she really know what is happening to me?

    Does she know why my father had to die? I couldn''t think of a single question to ask first. It seemed as soon as I thought of one question it lead me to a thousand more. Most important of all, who or what is this other mind inside of me?

    "Well I am sure you have many questions. Many I can answer now. But some will have to wait for the moon." She says blankly looking at the sun overhead. "I''d expected you to get here later tonight, but there is no harm in being early."

    <hr>

    Her words entered my ears but they weren''t easy to hear.

    She told me a familiar story. It was a story of the first leader of the ''Blood Hook Tribe''.

    The very enemy we had left home to hunt.

    In the tale the leader was a strong man, a noble man. Vastly different from the ''Blood Hook Tribe'' I had heard stories of, but as what she was telling me sounded important I listened closely.

    Perhaps this would explain why they had turned to a tribe of warmongers with strength enough to topple empires.

    The leader craved power she explained. But not for reason of dominating people. It was instead so he could use his might to force humanity into the right direction.

    He had apparently assumed the best way for humanity to advance was by having a common enemy. So he began to wage war. Forcing the tribes to consolidate and build walls.

    Forcing them to advance technology at a pace never before seen. Within ten years the forty eight tribes turned into thirteen strong kingdoms. Over time the thirteen consolidated into the current three empires. She claimed all of this was due to the ''Blood Hook Tribes'' efforts.

    She also claimed the key to their success was a ceremony, something called the ''Long Sleep''.

    She honestly didn''t have to say a word to explain it.

    But she did anyways.

    She described it as a way of carrying a mind over from one person to another. It had apparently been done to every leader of the ''Blood Hook Tribe''.

    However the first leaders ceremony was somewhat different. His mind was taken from was another world and not from his predecessor.

    A world with technologies vastly beyond our own.

    The rest of the leaders had in turn received the mind of their father.

    This way that no matter how many generations. That mind, with all that vast knowledge of the other world could be protected.

    All so humanity could continue to advance and make use of the technologies that mind held.

    The ceremony naturally included the death of the former leader.

    Even the ceremony where the mind was first harvested required the sacrifice of the father.

    In fact the death was vitally necessary for the ceremony. The mind was loosened through some sort of burnt plant material that both father and son would inhale. From there a Void specialized mage would open a horizontal Void dead center into the predecessor skull.

    Killing him instantly, but also prompting the remnants of the mind to latch to the nearby successor.

    I understood. But, I could barely accept it. The words while easy to understand angered and confused me. Why hadn''t he told me?

    What intricate plans did you hide from me dad?

 Chapter 10 - Pulse

    The moon rises.

    Sitting around the campfire I glance at the mother and daughter who seem like they were awaiting punishment. I understood why their faces were drawn as such.

    Sitting across from me was the girl who murdered my father, and her mother.

    It was hard to not see it this way. Even if it was my father''s words that prompted Claire to participate in the ceremony the fact that it happened is still hard to ignore.

    So my father wanted to bring back the old days, huh? ''He wanted a fresh canvas'' as Claire''s mother Joye had explained.

    He didn''t want my mind to be tormented by the actions of his predecessors and himself. The countless war and murder, he didn''t want my mind to see it. He wanted me to see a better world.

    We were the very same Blood Hook Tribe after all, the acts of near genocide the stories talked about weren''t false.

    It explained my father''s occasional unpleasant expressions. I can''t imagine the weight of over two hundred years of memories of war. The years of memories I received from nameless earth man were hard enough to handle.

    I''m partially happy he didn''t pass his mind to me, but I was also sad for the loss of the connection.

    It seemed the thing Joye was most curious about was if the ceremony had in fact worked.

    The first ceremony was something that was a vague memory my father had. He had assumed it would work but he wasn''t positive the situation had been fulfilled. It seemed lots of complicated events transpired before the first ceremony so he was careful while raising me to do the same.

    Put simply.

    In the ceremony, a larger horizontal void was opened inside the skull of the predecessor, incense smoke was then introduced into this void-space.

    She had removed the top of my father''s head. The thought of the scene disturbed me deeply.

    It all seemed very mystical and confusing but, Claire explained the process to me easily with traces of tears dripping from her cheek.

    I consoled her as best as I could but I really couldn''t say much.

    Everything was somewhat hard to accept.

    I confirm to Joye that the ceremony had worked. She had assumed as much apparently.

    She had received word of my recent actions a few night prior via raven.

    Joye truly did have a few witch-like aspects.

    As the sun finally set and we were strictly lit by the crisp full moon, Joye began carrying some various objects and placing them in front of me. There was a large table that reached my chin while standing, on it she placed a small metal plate and then seemingly whispered something into the air.

    Rapidly half of the transfusing faeries dashed off into the forest and then returned with a selection of herbs and barks from various trees.

    This would surely be useful.

    I need this skill so I can find cinnamon faster. Please Joye, teach me this skill.

    I quite his thoughts and refocus on the carefully preparing woman in front of me.

    She took one of the herbs a faerie had brought and began ripping it apart, it looked similar to hops, a plant on earth used to brew beer.

    It also looked similar to another herb but the memories seem much too hazy to remember its name.

    She then took the tree bark and broke it into three pieces grating one with a knife and tossing another into the side of the fire.

    After assembling all the ingredients she places the piles of green and brown powder onto a plate.

    She then retrieves the now glowing chunk of tree bark from the fire and places it on top of the pile of herbs.

    They quickly ignite in green flame but she blows on them softly and it turns to a glowing pile of ash. She motions to Claire who gingerly rises and walks over to us.

    Joye takes out a knife and places it to Claire''s finger tip. She pulls the knife quickly and draws a small drop of blood onto the blade. She tilts the knife over the pile of continuously embering herbs and with a light hiss the blood drops and turns to steam.

    "With virgin''s blood it''s complete. Go ahead and breathe deeply. It''s time to release your magic" The witch says grinning at the blushing Claire.

    "Ah! Wait, release my magic?!" I ask double-taking comically. If I had coffee I''d spit it out.

    "Right I''m the one who locked it. So of course I''ll be the one to unlock it too." She says so like it''s obvious, I suppose from her point of view it is.

    I take a deep breath of the smoke which has now turned to a dull black.

    My vision goes white but there is no sensation of falling.

    Well not for me.

    <hr>

    I open my eyes what felt like a moment later.

    It wasn''t.

    "Ah you are back are you?" Joye sitting at the fire says glancing up at me who was still standing in front of the knew burnt out pile of incense.

    Claire was sleeping soundly on the pile of furs. Had it actually been some time?

    Now looking at it the sun was beginning to rise again from behind. It was actually a marvelous view from this high up, but I don''t have a chance to think about that.

    "Yeah. She couldn''t handle the pulse. To be honest I couldn''t either. Heh, I doubt those filthy faeries will be back anytime soon either."

    Ah, she has just said a lot, I''ll take my pick I guess.

    "Pulse?" I ask starting in chronological order.

    "Well to be honest it''s even slightly overwhelming now. We really need to get you in better control. Come with me." Joye says before struggling to her feet and then gripping at the air like a piece of cloth.

    Then before my eyes she tore a void larger than any I had seen Claire create.

    It wasn''t black either, it seem to shimmer lightly with the sunrise and was perfectly clear. She grabbed a hold of my hand and then quickly stepped through the man sized hole.

    I didn''t pass through to the other side. Well I did but this wasn''t the same place.

    It was a pitch black grove of trees. The camp was nowhere to be seen. Standing there was just a large grass field and Joye and I.

    It was slightly terrifying.

    "Ah please don''t be scared, you would be surprised how much influence your aura has over others. especially now that you have no ability to restrain it. Or even see it."

    I did my best to do as i was told.

    As she says, my magic is released. I have no idea what my magic is, so I need to think logically, and not make any mistakes until I''m able to control it. I will carefully follow her instructions.

    When I glance at Joye for a moment she has the same look of terror as I do.

    I see that''s what she meant by my ''aura influences others''. She isn''t scared, but my aura is forcing her body to be frightened to better fit in with my overwhelming aura.

    She explained that first I would need to learn to see it.

    Now it wasn''t exactly ''seeing'' it but being able to see its effects on the world.

    As I glance around I notice in a uneven sphere around me all the grass had been forced down. And as I walked all the grass in front of me around thirty feet also immediately flattened.

    So that''s the range of my aura.

    I see.

    She had said i needed to learn to reign it in. Form it into a shell around myself. But that wasn''t something I could even comprehend. I couldn''t even see this force and now i was being told to draw it back inside me. How?

    She instructs me to meditate on it.

    When I mention that i was slightly worried about Claire sleeping alone in camp she smirks and tells me that time doesn''t exist here, we would return as if we had just stepped from one side of a door to another. It was a very convenient place. Could Claire learn this one day? I can think of various uses for it.

    The words she said earlier suddenly came back to me.

    "You said ''Filthy faeries'', why did you say that? Didn''t they just save your daughter''s life?"

    "Mhm, it''s a start. But healing a minor wound like that won''t be enough for me to forgive those dreadful brats."

    "Forgive them for?"

    She said nothing for a moment.

    "You''re father killed my husband, did you know that?" She asks suddenly turning to me.

    I was somewhat awestruck, I didn''t know what to say at all.

    I had heard my father and Claire''s were good friends, had that been a lie?

    "But it was the faeries who turned him into the kind of monster that needs to be killed twice." She explains walking over and sitting across from me who was still seated in a meditative position.

    It seemed either she had gotten used to my aura or it was friendly enough not to force her away.

    She coughed lightly as she sat down and began.

    "Faerie kisses, as you saw have great restorative abilities. They can seal the wound from a dismembered arm. Or in cases where the arm isn''t entirely severed they often even regain movement. Truly miraculous magic. But faeries are gluttonous creatures. If they spot a newly killed corpse they have no choice but to gorge. And in certain scenarios the person can regain some semblance of life. But it''s not life. It''s terror, indiscriminate violence. I thank your father for his actions nearly every day. I''m glad I didn''t have to see him like that. I just hope you''re father was able to act before Cal harmed anyone."

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    So he had become one of these monsters then, and my father had killed him.

    I see.

    No wonder it didn''t sound like something my father would do.

    That couldn''t have been easy. I''m not sure I could handle a situation like that.

    The only thing that came to my mind was a demonic Claire running at me with death in her eyes. It sent a shiver down my spine, and then down Joye''s spine in turn. I apologize for my aura and then refocus my thoughts on my meditation.

    I do feel things I hadn''t earlier today. There was the feeling of a swirling mass in my gut. I thought it was the salted fish but if I focus carefully I can tell the sensation also spread through my entire body.

    It just seemed especially focused in my gut.

    This seems important.

    So I begin by focusing on drawing upon the tingling sensation. Press it firmly into the churning in my gut. It all seemed somewhat off the top of my head but it felt correct so I continued finely refining the feeling and concentrating it in turn.

    I may have done this for hours.

    It was entirely impossible to sense time here.

    I just focus on amassing the tingling into my gut. When I take a peek from time to time I notice the grass was now at ease except for an area of around ten feet around me.

    I was making progress.

    Even if its limited.

    Joye seemed impressed with my work and walked around the orb seemingly looking at it.

    I notice she would burn incense from time to time. She says it''s something that would give her the ability to see mana.

    I asked to try it but she said it would cost me too much life force at my age. So it wasn''t worth it.

    She used many terms I didn''t quite understand with ''my mind'' but the other guy seemed to understand it. Though mostly from fiction and movies, but it''s good enough it seems.

    I continue forcing the mana deep into my body.

    With each full body worth of mana I forced into my gut the sphere would decrease by about six inches. It was slow work but steadily i was able to inch it down to five feet and then a single foot around me.

    The witch claims this was good enough but i wasn''t entirely satisfied.

    She says anymore and I might lose control of it but I still feel like tempting fate.

    In my earlier testing it seemed each session drew the aura in half a foot. So I can theoretically afford to do at least one more I think.

    I began with the tips of my fingers.

    I was used to this now. At first I had started with my right and then gone to my left, but the break in concentration messed me up. So I learned how to do all my limbs symmetrically.

    Once my fingers were dry of mana I move to my elbows and then shoulders, I force the mana in my head deep inside as well.

    This area seems to be a larger mass than elsewhere. It took considerably longer than my arms or legs. Once i was done with that I began my legs. That''s when things began feeling strange.

    It began to take more effort. The mass of mana in my gut was no longer churning. Boiling, would be the right term. It was frightening, but I couldn''t release it, I knew that, so I add more pressure.

    I was so close. I just had to finish my legs and then this would be complete.

    Drawing all my remaining strength I clench my body and forced all the mana into my gut.

    With this it was finally done.

    With this I should be shrouded in less than six inches of aura.

    Honestly I should have just stuck with one foot as the witch said. But well I kind of wanted to impress Claire''s mom.

    Oh? I may have made a mistake.

    Suddenly i realize my body couldn''t unclench.

    It was beginning to feel slightly painful, but I should have had a little wiggle room right?

    I was sure it was going six inches each time earlier.

    Oh! I guess if it''s decreasing by volume then the smaller I make it, the more overall it will shrink.

    Damn you math.

    Finally I was able to release, but at that moment i realize another something strange has occurred. In the last few moments, the once churning, turn boiling mass of mana was gone.

    Instead was just a lump of what felt like stone. It was only uncomfortable when I think about it, like a cavity. You lose if you think about it.

    It doesn''t seem to be a problem. It gives off the same feeling the mana had earlier, it just feels to be concentrated to its maximum. Well, that''s convenient now I don''t have to carry around all that bulky mana.

    I open my eyes and Joye looks quite happy.

    "So you''ve crystallized it then?" She asks with a grin.

    "Should I not have?"

    "Nope its tradition for the witch to say stop at the one foot point, and then for the leader to goes one step further. I''m actually relieved by the result. Good work I''m proud of you."

    Oh, so all of this was part of tradition as well? It makes sense. Degin had mentioned as much. Tradition and secrecy were bound to come up on this flight a few times.

    With that it seems this part of the training was complete. I was somewhat curious how we would get out but Joye simply grabs my hand and takes a step, and then we were once again next to the fire in camp.

    Claire is squirming comfortably on the pile of furs and the sun is still rising beautifully.

    It really hadn''t been a moment since I began training.

    This is an extremely useful skill, I will surely ask Claire about this later. I wonder what its limits are? Can it be achieved any time?

    Though as I thought that, Claire began squirming further and then peels open her eyes towards the morning sun.

    She glances at her surrounding, confused by her locations.

    I suppose the last thing she remembers is getting her finger nicked to release my magic, and then being embarrassed by her mother.

    The moment my aura had been released it had knocked both Claire and Joye to the ground forcibly. Joye recovered after a few minutes but Claire had been knocked out for the entire night.

    But to be fair, she was sleep deprived.

    Seemingly realizing the situation she checks her surroundings then carefully reaches a hand down to her groin before frowning slightly in embarrassment.

    Oh.

    I suppose that would happen in this situation.

    I will have to carefully apologize for this later. But that''s a topic I should tread upon very lightly.

    Joye places some bowls of fruits and nuts in front of the two of us who happily accept. We had run out of salted fish so this was something I would gratefully accept.

    I had seen a few of these berries before in the forest but at the time i wasn''t sure if they were edible.

    I had thought about using my earth knowledge of poisonous plants but I gave that up as many berries often look similar to each other. So it would be dangerous.

    For instance, the most poisonous berry on earth, and the most delicious berry on earth, look exactly the same.

    After chomping down on some of the nuts Claire finally spoke casually for what seemed like the first time since we had arrived at the camp. "Do you hate me now?"

    "No, I¡­ I understand. It was my dad who had planned this. You really had no choice but to follow what he said. I think I understand things better. including my dad''s motives. I''m not happy. But i''m also not going to hide. If my father thought this was my destiny, then I won''t let down his hopes. It wasn''t you who killed my dad, it was our traditions and himself who choose the path." I state the things that are rattling in my head then quickly add "And anyways, I can never hate you. You are one of my oldest friends. That''s something I will always cherish."

    Claire again was crying heavily.

    I suppose this guilt has been weighing on her heavily.

    I gave her a deep hug and pat her back attempting to comforting her. It couldn''t have been easy, if dad had asked me to do it I don''t think I would have been able to. But I also know I couldn''t refuse either. He had that way about him.

    I then began to think of the story I was told about our fathers.

    I wonder if she knew?

    She likely did. I doubt my dad would have kept it from her. She seems to have an understanding of the faeries and such so she could have heard of the scenario before.

    Everyone really had kept a lot from me. But I can''t blame them, it''s no wonder Degin was so upset when he had heard someone calling themselves the ''Blood Hook tribe'' was attacking villages in the grove.

    It was a situation so absurd that he couldn''t help but get angry. Who would use our name to attack people in our own backyard. Totally out of line.

    Suddenly my lust for their blood grew strong.

 Chapter 11 - Amatuer(s)

    Ten days have passed since my Aura was freed.

    I''ve gained quite a bit of control of it. The past few days I''ve been training with Claire, no, she didn''t particularly need blade training.

    Her skills definitely surpass my own. As our many duels had made perfectly clear.

    No, this time we were training something a tad more intimate.

    Yeah, we were training to deal with the problem we had actually run into a few times while i was meditating and accessing the mass of mana in my gut.

    She now sat opposite me on a rock submerged by about four inches of water. It was enough so that any accidents would be taken care of by the flow of the river.

    The first three days were fairly unsuccessful but she''d managed to get the hang of it.

    She was now able to hold it in if I warned her, but surprise bursts she couldn''t handle.

    Well, baby steps.

    We''d managed quiet a bit of distance. Claire after leaving her mothers camp said she planned to go back to Havas but I wouldn''t have it. My pride was now on this mission.

    I know the real mission was always to get me to meet with the witch Joye and release my mana, but still Bandits using my name is unacceptable.

    After our river training concluded for the day we both spent an hour training on our own. This had become something of a routine. It had started with me wanting to practice with my aura control. But Claire seemed to get into it too and was alternating training with a sword and her void magic.

    Oh, when I say ''practice'' with her sword, normally that just meant her running over to me and forcing me to duel her. I tried to turn her down once but she was difficult. I now just accept and exchange blows with her until noon, then we continue to head out up river until nightfall.

    I was somewhat amazed how for away Colgate was from Godrick. I understood why there was no road at this point. But it still seemed like something that should be made. How do people even safely carry goods between Godrick and Colgate?

    Was there really no route?

    Ah, really. If I was the count that''s the first thing I''d do to handle the bandit situation. If the villages in trouble had a rapid way garnering forces between villages, they could fight off just about any adversary.

    But I suppose I would never have that level of authority though.

    The Blood Hook Tribes education of the world was something we kept strictly secret.

    If the world knew that every technology they cherished was something their most hated enemies had invented. The world would likely erupt into chaos. The church would surely lose their mind.

    It was semi-ironic the church''s one main teaching was the treachery of our tribe. But they wouldn''t have been able to even build the structure they stood in without our instruction on how to make concrete. They wouldn''t have been able to spread their teachings without our instructions on parchment manufacturing.

    Oh, another interesting topic while on the subject of innovations.

    They actually still use the ancient roman formula for concrete in this world. Its said to be lost to the ages on earth. This ultimately lead me to conclude the first mind they had harvested from Earth was likely from quite a long time ago.

    It''s no wonder they stopped at a certain level of technology. It wasn''t because they were satisfied with the level, this world had simply caught up to that of the minds.

    <hr>

    The next day I began to grow worried. Have we somehow branched onto another river? It wasn''t impossible.

    There were several places where two large rivers would join into the coil. How were you supposed to determine which was the primary river?

    Am I missing something here?

    Has he ever worked as a cartographer?

    Claire was again training to open two voids at the same time. I ask about her reasoning but she just shrugs me off and tells me to go away.

    Rude, but I follow her advice and go to cultivate more mana. I have recently discovered I could continue to do this. The tingling feeling was something I felt everywhere I went.

    According to Joye there is mana in all plants and animals, so its likely I''m drawing mana from there. Its seemingly endless though, what was once a single stone of mana had know turning into a stew of several stones and loads of boiling mana.

    I honestly wasn''t sure the purpose of this but collecting it was addicting so I continue with it.

    After condensing the remaining mana that was boiled into a sharp stone I settle it with the rest deep in my gut. I still wasn''t entirely sure if these were actual objects or just metaphorical descriptors. But I didn''t care much for explanations.

    I just knew I could feel the change each time I added a stone, and the feeling was intoxicating.

    Honestly what can I even do with this power? Other than make Claire pee herself? But really what good is that?

    I suppose it did knock Claire and Joye over when I released it that first time.

    That could be fairly handy on the battle field. Especially if I could focus it towards a single direction, or even towards a single person.

    Oh, yeah. Actually, I''m beginning to see the power of this magic.

    And the name for it Joye had mentioned was honestly pretty bad-ass, ''Chaos'' Specialization. The name doesn''t do much to describe it but I''ll take it.

    Claire was again the first to notice the danger, but I will excuse myself by saying ''I was meditating so my focus was elsewhere.''

    Yeah I''ll go with that.

    Opening my eyes and peering in the direction that Claire had drawn her sword I notice we were vastly out numbered. There was easily a hundred to two hundred people.

    Oh actually they aren''t exactly people. These are Demi-humans aren''t they? According to their garb most of them are villagers. Some carried thick axes or shovels but no real weapons could be seen. I caught Claire''s glance and wave my hand for her to put her sword away.

    She follows my words and circles behind me.

    Finally, a older looking man stepped through the crowd wearing bright robes. He stepped a few feet in front of the crowd. He coughed into his palm to prepare to talk.

    I wonder what this is about? Have we bother these people? We really must have ventured off the river if we had happened upon a Demi-human village.

    Demi-humans are basically humans. They just possess some characteristics of animals. This tribe seemed to consists of mostly rabbit eared people and what appeared to be wolf eared people. I suppose I better hide the wolf fang I had grabbed to show off to Degin.

    As well as ears their facial features seemed to slightly resemble their animal counterpart as well.

    The demi-humans were a fairly peaceful people from what I understand. They mostly just hide due to the fact that the church labeled them as abominations.

    "You with such great demonic aura, has our humble village done something to draw your anger?" The wolf eared man spoke with a regal sounding tone

    Did he say demonic aura though?

    Was my aura really still so frightening? I thought I had peaceful thoughts when I was gathering mana earlier. Perhaps I made a mistake.

    A man, missing his left arm and sporting a terrified expression pipes up from behind. "I''d recognize the aura anywhere, it was that demon that attacked ten years ago. The demon wielding the dual swords!"

    "Mhm, I recognized it too but as you can see its only these two here." The regal sounding village chief says to the man.

    "But that girls aura also." Another man says.

    "Mhm. It resembles the demon''s," The chief relents to the men crowding him and pointing. "But I don''t think we know the whole story."

    "Am I correct in assuming you mean us no harm?" The chief once again says turning his attention back to the two of us.

    "I think that''s correct, Do you mean them any harm?" I Say, turning to Claire to ask.

    "Nope."

    "Yeah figured as much. Yeah. No, we don''t mean you any harm." I assure the wolfman with a nod.

    "Well, that is a relief. Please come." The man beckons, swinging his arm to the two of us and gathering a few hesitant looks before turning back towards his village.

    I honestly hadn''t seen it a moment ago.

    But there it stood around a hundred feet from us. The village was fairly well kept. It was ornately carved. This village seem to have a very skilled craftsmen.

    Every flat surface had been turned into an elaborate face or flowing pattern. It was haunting and beautiful at the same time.

    Reminded me of the monuments I''d seen in a former soviet country.

    We sit around a table in the village chiefs mansion. This was more of what I considered a mansion. The triple level abode was marvelously etched with hundreds of scenes on each wall.

    I saw the one that seemed most important to them. It lay dead center on a main wall. A man with two blades and a demonic look on his face seemingly slaughtering hundreds. It must be hyperbole. Surely it must.

    It was an extremely graphic and vivid wood carving. It made my stomach knot in my chest.

    "So, you are?" The chief says after my attention returned to the table.

    "My name is Drew, this is Claire. I am the Hawk of the true, ''Blood Hook tribe''."

    A few rabbit eared subordinates as well as Claire drop their jaws at what I just said.

    But it was something I had decided. I won''t hide. I won''t hide anything, how can I expect to gain trust without being honest. Of course there will be some things I hide from people but I should always be upfront when asked a question. It was how my father raised me.

    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    "I see, so the attacks were by a fake." The man says rubbing his chin after a moment. "I had assumed as much when I realized you wore the demons blade at your hip. I was sure you were either the Hawk''s son or Joseph''s, and at your age I was sure you must have been Charles''s."

    "You knew my father?"

    "Mhm, I knew both you''re fathers for a short time."

    Oh, I think I''ve figured this one out.

    The demon attack, the twin swords, Joseph.

    It''s all coming together.

    The demon that attacked this village was none other than Claire''s father. And it had been Joseph with the help of my father who''d killed him. The spoils that he split with my father, the hero in his drunken story, were the man''s blades.

    Again this reinforces my thought that Claire should be the one carrying this blade and not me. I bet Joseph held the same thought, but why does he still carry the blade?

    He seems an honorable man.

    I glance at Claire curious if she had understood what the village chief meant.

    The image of her wiping her reddened eyes and chewing on her lip answered my question. I didn''t want Joye to know about this, obviously it was something my father had kept from her so I needed to do the same. I was saddened that Claire had to hear it though.

    Claire was silent for awhile as me and the village chief talk about various things.

    I learn far later than I should have that this was in fact still Coil River and we had actually reached Colgate.

    I had heard the name of the town a few times before but as this was my first time visiting. The fact that it was inhabited almost entirely by demi-humans was a huge surprise.

    They apparently kept to themselves as to not draw the attention of the church. When I ask weather the other villages in the grove were inhabited by demi''s he tells me that they are not. This village was one of a kind at least in the county. He mentions a few in the empire to the west though.

    Claire, once she finally spoke, simply apologized.

    The chief assured her she had no reason to say the words but she seemed to want to anyways, so the chief accepted her words reluctantly.

    Several things bothered me.

    One, How was the chief able to identify the demonic aura?

    Two, How was this village doing so well while its neighbors in Godrick were so poor? (they aren''t poor anymore)

    Three. And this one was most important to me. Why am I smelling cinnamon?

    Please chief tell me you''ve found it, please tell me you''ve found it.

    Is my journey perhaps over? Has my ultimate goal been accomplished!? Well OK. That wasn''t my ''main goal'', but as chief claimed he had no more information about the bandits than we did. This secondary job definitely did jump up in priority.

    When I ask him about it he looks confused and asks if I was referring to the smell of sawdust from the nearby craftsmen shop. He lead me and Claire to the place and sure enough whatever tree they were carving seemed to have bark that smelled exactly like cinnamon. When I asked about it the craftsmen said it wasn''t poisonous it was just not commonly seen as something you eat. Well obviously, it''s bitter if you just eat it. You must grind it after carefully drying it.

    One of the men stuffs a chunk into his mouth when I explain its deliciousness but he then quickly spits it out saying it wasn''t to his taste. Well, duh. I mean people don''t just eat spices raw do they?

    It was surely similar enough to cinnamon though. The smell was slightly off but I was nearly sure it would work. After grabbing a few handfuls and stuffing it into a jar I stuff the prized possession into the backpack that me and Claire take turns carrying.

    With that I begin walking around the town with the chief. I figure it would be a good chance to ask about my other questions. The demonic aura he talked about earlier was apparently due to the blade I carry.

    I wasn''t aware, but it seems some blades can acquire some traces of mana and integrate it with their carrier. This sword seems to have absorbed heavy amounts of ''demonic'' or Corrupt Mana.

    When I ask about ''Corrupt Mana'' he explains that mana came in a spectrum.

    Pure, Chaotic, And Corrupt.

    The world was mostly filled with the neutral, Chaotic, mana. It appears grey and cloudy.

    But it would also manifest in the other forms from time to time. The last large burst of Corrupt mana was apparently when my father fought and killed Cal, Claire''s dad.

    So that would explain where the demonic aura in the blade came from. But it doesn''t explain how he could tell from such a great distance?

    My mana was condensed and barely any of my aura extended outside my body at the time.

    I was extremely careful about it. If I made a single mistake I could easily cause a great geyser to erupt in this village. I don''t want to think of the aftermath.

    Had I let some escape and accidentally startled the village? wasn''t my mind calm?

    Mana-vision, the name wasn''t great but its abilities seemed to be. The village chief claims it was something commonly taught to aspiring mages in Colgate. It was basically achieved by focusing mana into your eyes. It would allow you actually see the mana itself. He claims that the glow of my mana was something that could be seen for miles. He also explans I was something of a beacon when I arrived outside his town, a dark demonic beacon.

    That was a problem. If enemies could see me from a mile away the element of surprise goes out the window, that''s a crucial tool every warrior should carry.

    I plead with the chief to teach me how to see mana, perhaps if I can see it, it will help me mask it too.

    He relents after awhile. He pointed me in the direction of the mage''s school. Claire seems interested in the skill as well, especially since it was something any specialized mage could use. Though it was extremely difficult to learn.

    Controlling mana location is a master level mage skill. It''s what was required for forming and temperture control magic.

    We enter the tower shaped building carefully wiping our feet on the cloth at the door.

    Oh! This was something our Inn needed!

    It seems this town is at the forefront of welcome mat technology.

    I will have to ask them to share their secrets. Or perhaps I will just share some of mine, not to be rude but I believe mine may be a bit better. As I was smirking about welcome mats the professor mage walks in to see the two new recruits he had been told about using ''intent'' magic via the chief.

    It was another thing in this village I had never heard of. Another all spec''d magic skill, it was the magic of transmitting your intent through a burst of mana. The village chief had shown me by telling this mage I would be visiting him.

    I felt the surge of mana the village chief let out as an example. However I didn''t detect any deep meaning to it. That was due to the fact that his ''intent'' had been, [Send the message ''You will have two interesting new students ariving soon.'' to professor mage.]

    Since he had placed these conditions I only received it as a burst of mana while the mage understood it perfectly. I wonder about the range and various other things but I suppose I can experiment later if I''m able to learn it.

    "Hmm one looks about right," The man says, his eyes clouding as he gazed at Claire. "But you¡­ Well, I don''t even know. What could I even teach you?"

    Honestly I''m not sure who he was referring to with either comment. He seems to be switching his gaze between the both of us.

    I explain that we want to learn about ''Mana vision'' and ''Intent''. So he explains the two. Almost exactly as the village chief had earlier. I ask if he had any books but he just says it was something you have to feel,

    "Book''s can''t teach it." he says.

    It was utterly useless, some teacher.

    Or so I thought until he asked about the magic that Claire used, when she showed him a void he grins and opens one of his own.

    "Yeah I know a few tricks for void magic." He says opening six voids and tossing a ball into one of them causing the ball to fall from void to void endlessly. I had no idea they could be used this way. No wonder Claire was training to open multiple voids. I am sorry for calling your skill useless in my mind Claire. Forgive me.

    "Well I''m not as good at it as water but it''s something." He says dropping a tiny ball of ice out of his fingertip with nearly no effort.

    I understood from Susan''s explanations that this, that I just witnessed, was no small feat.

    For two reasons.

    One, He had created ice from nothing, even the craftsmen make water first and then freeze it.

    And two. He had used two specializations. How?

    "How?" Claire gasped at the marble. "Dual Specialization?!" She asks seemingly grasping at straws, from how I understood it this was impossible, at least Susan had said as much.

    "Pah! Specializations," The mage turns to a apprentice in the corner. "Hey Gob just how many decades behind are humans magic?"

    Ah, yeah, it''s true.

    Magic research had stagnated recently. It''s likely due to my father, and grandfather calling for the ''era of peaceful education''. As opposed to the former, ''Era of education by might''.

    Though humanity as a whole was unaware of the call for peace they surely benefited from it. But in that time not only technology, but even magic hasn''t advanced. These people have continued on though, I wonder just how much they could teach the world.

    They will be a strong partner in my reforming of the world. I naturally need a group on the forefront of magical research.

 Chapter 12 - Creatures

    I was able to pick up ''Intent'' fairly easily.

    It seems to mesh well with my previous training. I just wish I could train it in a timeless environment like Joye created when we were at the camp. It has been a number of days since we found Colgate. We were fitting into the town well. Claire was adopted by the children and made to run all over town chasing them. She seemed good with them. She would make a great mother.

    I on the other hand was teaching baking techniques to the neighborhood women. And farming techniques to the men. What would I make a great? I suppose Hawk of the ''Blood Hook Tribe''. That''s good enough for me.

    Between that time we squeezed in lessons with the professor mage.

    Though he claimed he could teach us nothing he actually was teaching us quite a bit. Claire was making her voids larger and conjuring them in instants now. Her growth was impressive.

    I however couldn''t quite grasp mana vision, or any of the other magics he tried to teach me.

    He explained his theory on magic extremely eloquently. To summarize he thinks it''s due to the uneven levels of neutral mana in the world.

    This dramatic shift in neutral mana had somehow forced the overwhelming numbers of earth and water specialized mages. But this still didn''t explain the fact that he had used two impressive separate spec''s as if it was nothing. For that he claimed it was all due to hard work. He claimed with the typical human tests he would have classified as earth spec''d. Honestly just by looking at the man it indeed seemed to be the case.

    On a side note I say that because it was actually a noted fact in this world that more effeminate looking men were more often water specialized. While the more masculine men were commonly earth spec.

    My American sensibilities thought this was somewhat offensive to someone. But I brushed it off as the other mind''s senseless ramblings.

    He says the reason he didn''t end up with earth being his strongest magic, yes he could also do earth magic, was because he trained endlessly.

    Even when a single drop wouldn''t come from his finger, he would concentrate. He says he went for weeks just extending his finger with nothing happening. Just focusing his mana, and concentrating on the thought of water. Then one day it happened. He ''thought it was sweat at first'' he said with a smile remembering the moment proudly. Within a year''s time he had begun to learn water temperature control, the beginning stage to ice formation magic.

    I thought perhaps he was just a genius, or it was a Demi-human trait, but it seemed they had taught some of the humans in Godrick the skill as well.

    If Susan heard the conversation she would flip her lid. I''m sure if she heard it was possible for her to master water magic as well as earth she would quickly take the professor mage as her teacher and devoted years to training.

    But honestly with my plans I can''t afford that to happen, she is my crucial link in the Craftsmen Guild.

    I Began wondering how everyone at the camp was doing. I felt a stronger sense of patriotism for my people now knowing more about my own family''s history.

    Surely all that my ancestors had done wasn''t right. But they did create a world where less starved. Less noncombatants died. It was a gray but semi-fair world that they had shaped, and now it was up to me to iron out the wrinkles.

    <hr>

    Ah, Charles, the raven sent word.

    Our Drew''s power was fully unlocked, though it wasn''t necessary to send word, anyone with any sensitivity to mana could feel it.

    It seems it all really was a success. I knew the mind had likely been linked from his actions but the ''Mana-lock'' she gave him at birth always worried me.

    Maybe I was just jealous of that woman though.

    With this the birth of a new era will begin, your plan twenty two years in the making was really not all for naught.

    But really, you didn''t tell me I would fall in love with you in the time though.

    You had claimed it was all for humanity.

    "Pah, more smooth word Charles."

    I suppose your words never were exactly honest. But it was just another thing I found myself loving about you after a time.

    And of course I would adore my son, though it''s only partial he does have my features. It was no wonder he came out so cute even with your incestuous bloodline.

    Purity is good, but you said it yourself it limited your mental ability. A vital necessity for a Hawk to have.

    ''It has to be you, it can only be you. Your bloodline is that which I have long searched for.'' He had said with glimmering eyes. What a damn flirt.

    And we even have a witch''s daughter that was born with the blood of the ''Lower god'' Cal.

    Honestly though, to marry off you''re childhood destined to some other man. A ''Corrupt god'' nonetheless. I supposed you were a stickler for tradition. You really went all the way for them, huh?

    Humanity had better thank you someday.

    And I hope Drew can forgive you.

    <hr>

    "Ah this is really amazing! It works just as he had said."

    Susan was messing around with a miniature lock mock up she had made with earth and metal parts. The water flowed from one section to another leveling the water and raising a small wood boat. She opens the lock gate and pushed the boat out with a satisfied smile.

    A few various craftsmen were watching with a look of wonder in their eyes. They had seen the simplicity of the design, each wondered ''how had I not thought of that?''

    Thus was the case for many of the inventions the craftsmen completed. The plow was something they were currently producing in high numbers. As it stood a plow could do the work twenty farmers do in a day, in half an hour.

    They were careful to keep this hidden for now though. They understood well that as soon as these simple devices entered the market there would be copycats and although Drew only truly cared about betterment of humanity, the craftsmen were in it mostly for the gold.

    They plan to wait until the main farming season and release all of their supply at low prices to the farmers within the County. They would also then announce the farming reforms. Once it was seen in use there would be a massive demand, most of this demand would flow to this guild, who had already proven they could produce them in seemingly large quantities, at a low price.

    As opposed to nobles just having the items reproduced by their own craftsmen as was typically done with expensive items.

    It was likely they were thinking about all this new technology much more carefully than Drew was.

    Work on the sheet-metal press was complete, and improved in fact. After around two days time they switch from a stone roller to thick cast steel rollers. If Drew saw this he would teach them the method of making bearings, something they vitally needed, but unfortunately he was still on his flight.

    If they were truly capable they would have found the design for the bearing on the steam engine and employed its use in the sheet metal press.

    And actually after a week using the new metal rollers that''s precisely what Susan will do. She will make the bearings with metal rings and compressed stone orbs.

    It seems they don''t have the technology necessary to mill ball-bearings but forming them in stone with magic will be seen as fairly simple to Susan. They wouldn''t last as long as the harden steel counterparts, but they will work well enough.

    Sheet metal was made at a fairly high rate. They understood that it would soon be a very important resource so they stockpiled many stacks of the sheets. Drew had been surprised to find a lot of the metal used in this world was actually steel. He was surprised that we weren''t aware of something called the ''Bessemer method'' but when Susan explained that the craftsmen instead used earth magic to add the ''carbon'' he shrugged it off and said ''Well that''s probably a better method anyways.''

    Drew used many words that the craftsmen didn''t understand but they each recognized the tone of the words. They were clearly in the tongue of the builders. The craftsmen creed was an English phrase so it wasn''t surprising that each knew a few words in the dead language.

    But for this kid to understand so much of it. It''s honestly frightening, he was clearly decades ahead of us technologically and intellectually.

    Each design that was completed from Drew''s drawings was seen as a marvel to the crafts-people. One that particularly struck them was a design using hundreds of precisely sized gears. He called it a timepiece. He said it was able to measure the passage of time to a near perfect level.

    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    He claimed it would only need to be wound every few days, or you could add a counterweight to automatically wind it through the pendulum effect.

    None of the craftsmen had been able to reproduce it yet though. The gears had to be far too precise, it wasn''t something that they could form with magic. This irritated most of the people. Only the wood-master, the man who had formed the planks for the bridge seemed intrigued by the fact that it couldn''t be made using magic.

    The wood-master asked Susan to build him a few tools for forming metal. The tool she had ended up devising was a metal file. Something this world hadn''t used before, and also something that Drew had not shown or even described to Susan. This was entirely this world''s ingenuity. Drew would have been very interested to watch the scene unfold.

    The crafts-people would end up using this metal file design to refine many of their items, including some of the cast items they needed for the steam engine that was currently being pieced together

    <hr>

    A deep growl could be heard outside the snowy church.

    It was a noise that kept most curious people and potential thieves far away. Inside the church lay a snoring beast. Its wings, if unfurled could easily bash the entire structure down. But it was ever so careful whenever it shifted as to not disturb the holy place.

    "You may be getting a new friend to play with soon." A young girl''s voice from the altar says stirring the dragon from its deep slumber

    "Ah so that''s what woke me up the other night." The beak of the beast replies mimicking the common language perfectly. "But you suppose he will come here?"

    "Likely, he''s a boy whose heart is yearning for adventure, at least that''s the ''intent'' I received from the pulse." The girl says in a singsongy voice

    "Humph; you could tell ''intent'' from that explosion of mana?"

    "Well not me of course but the plants and animals in the barrier within the bay sensed some trace of ''intent''."

    The beast shifts its body uncomfortably then shut its eyes once again. "Well lemme know when he gets here. I''ll show him a good time."

    "Oh! Perhaps he will be able to keep me company better than you." The girl murmured just loud enough for the winged beast to hear her.

    <hr>

    I decided to search on my own. Not because I think I''m some all powerful killing machine or anything. More actually for reason of testing the range of ''intent''. As well as to give Claire some extra time to train with professor mage.

    Mana vision still hasn''t been perfected, I could grasp the concept and achieve it to some level but maintaining it while moving at all was impossible, even just moving my head would break my concentration. It was really hard.

    So I was now walking up river to scope out the next town. Colgate''s village chief claimed that the next town up river had been abandoned after the demon attack.

    It seems most of the citizens in the bay were terrified. If ever another beast like Cal attacked they would be wiped out. Most ventured to either Havas, or a safer city like Godrick, which had the convenience of a road.

    Some things still confused me about the Cal situation. How had he been originally killed? I understood that it was the faeries who turned him into the demon but how had he died? And what about him made him turn into a demon? What was that certain situation that Joye had talked about? It was surely a situation that I needed to avoid at all costs.

    I find the abandoned village about an hour and a half up river. I sent a test message to Claire but receive nothing in return, I guess I''m outside its range then.

    It''s around noon so I stuck a hook in the river and pulled up a few fish for lunch. I roasted them more carefully this time and then began to think of another strange occurrence.

    The weather here, why had it gotten so much colder?

    It was hot when were were tramping through the jungle the first few days, but when we finally reached Colgate, the weather there was more pleasant. However the deeper I went into the bay of mountains the chillier it seems to be getting. Even the trees here were completely bare of leaves. As I examine my surroundings while chewing on the herb crusted fish I also notice a major lack of small plants, only trees and small patches of brown grass could be seen. I wonder for a moment if possibly fall had already come but that doesn''t seem likely.

    These trees weren''t in the process of changing season, they are completely in the hibernation phase awaiting winter.

    I decide to continue up the river past the abandoned village to investigate this phenomenon better. If my theory was correct I should find what I''m looking for in a few hours more walking.

    Walking through the empty forest I couldn''t help but notice my pace had increased significantly since I didn''t have to deal with brush under foot. It was handy, but it couldn''t be healthy for the forest. It seems there aren''t even any dead leaves on the ground. Just bare dirt that got whipped up by the wind from time to time.

    If it weren''t for these trees than Colgate would likely get hit by dust storms from all this erodible earth. I must protect this forest to prevent a dust bowl.

    I finally found what I was looking for just before nightfall. It looked like someone had just come along and drawn a line in the dirt. On the other side of that perfect line sat several inches of snow that grew thicker the further up river I went. I even noticed the river had been frozen in a line.

    It was beyond me and earth-me''s understanding. But we did understand one thing, this place is locked in the season of winter, while the area I was in before had been locked in the season of fall.

    It also explained the temperature earlier on the trip. That must have been spring and summer we were passing through without noticing, only these more dramatic and impossible changes were easily noticed.

    I had to ask to village chief and Claire about this phenomena. I decide to turn around for now and try to get back to Colgate before morning, I was a good four hours away so it shouldn''t be too much issue. I really wish my intent would have worked at this type of range but I assume since I got no reply earlier it must not be possible over a few miles.

    I was a good distance into the fall locked area when I heard the faintest hesitant cough.

    I was unsure weather it was human or animal at first so I stood alert and thought of drawing my blade. It remained quiet so I just remained standing, glancing at the tall trees around me.

    "Eh¡­ Uh, excuse me." A voice announces sheepishly.

    I turned all around but saw nothing, sensed nothing. I attempted a standing still Mana vision but saw nothing, other than the bright images of the mana filled trees around me I was alone.

    I had used this to investigate the bare trees earlier, they seemed unusually full of mana but I assumed it was due to the strange fall lock they were under.

    "You there; Um, person, who''s intent included a desire to protect this place, was that intent true? Or I mean¡­ if not sorry I mean I know I''m inconveniencing you just by talking to you¡­ " The tree said once again with a dejected tone slipping in near the end.

    "Ents?"

    "Ah you are aware of our species, that is¡­ astounding." The tree shakily says, its arms swaying softly in the breeze. "We are a young species so even the humans in the nearby village aren''t aware of our existence."

    That''s somewhat weird, I always figured Ents were to be an ancient race, but that apparently wasn''t the case here.

    From his explanation his people, who were actually nervously keeping quiet all around me, had been born to this area around one hundred and eighty years ago. Some time after that all of their leaves fell out and they became somewhat shy, even keeping quiet between their neighbors.

    These trees are embarrassed.

    That has got to be the cutest thing I have ever seen.

    Or so I thought but when I hear their story of nearby villagers coming to chop them down I couldn''t help but become furious. Sure it was somewhat the Ent''s fault for not speaking up for themselves. But who ever the villagers were, they needed to be told that they shouldn''t harvest lumber in this area.

    This is a dilemma for me. Do I go back to Colgate to ask about the season-locks? Or investigate the winter village that had been harvesting wood from these poor Ents?

 Chapter 13 - Snow

    The list of items I wanted to bring to this world seemed to increase each time I slept, I think sleep somehow connects to the unlocking of these memories. Since this was the case I often took any chance to nap. But this night was different. I had decided it would be best to investigate the town with Claire so my plan was to return to Godrick to collect her and any information about this forest that the chief might have.

    I greeted various tree''s as I passed through the forest rapidly, I wasn''t sure which were alive but I just assumed they all were and waved awkwardly at them as I bolted past.

    I doubt I was more than an hour away from Colgate at this point, I had already made it through the abandoned town and was nearing the edge of the Fall-locked area.

    The Ent''s had told me their kind didn''t exist outside this area of the forest, they said some had once lived in the winter area but they now assumed most were gone, since plants hadn''t continued to grow in the winter locked village they had seemingly cut down all the trees surrounding the village for firewood. it seems they had a similar issue to Godrick.

    It would really be helpful if there was a consistent supply of lumber so these villages wouldn''t have to expose them selves to danger by cutting down their barrier forests.

    It seems beasts are more likely to attack village if the forests around them were cut down. The Ent''s said it was due to the mana that tree''s hold, this large collection of mana would combining with the peoples mana to form a barrier, this barrier was capable of deterring most animals and magical beasts from attacking.

    It seemed the village that was cutting down Ents was using them to build a fence to protect from the wolf attacks that had been happening over the past few years ever since their own barrier forest was cut down.

    Its one of the reasons the Ents had stayed quiet, they felt it was the right thing to do. If their lives could be used to help protect the village, how could they refuse. But it still bothered me so I wanted to collect Claire and hurry to the winter village.

    I attempted to message Claire via ''intent'' once again. this time I actually received a reply. I had asked, "Can you hear me now?" in the mental message.

    "Yeah! Can you hear me?" Her voice suddenly shouted cutting deeply into my head.

    "Ah good I''m within range now I guess." I sent back quickly

    She explained that she had actually been able to hear me during my earlier check ups but since I hadn''t replied to her questions she had assumed her own range must be smaller than mine. It made sense, I was impressed with her deductive skills.

    Claire met up with me by the river and I explained the situation to her including the strange weather and Ents. She seemed amazed when I told her about the Ents she had apparently never heard of such a creature, I sent a ''intent'' message to the chief and he shared the same bewildered attitude so I assumed they really were a secretive and rare creature.

    Claire was glancing around at the bare trees as we neared the abandoned village. I mentioned this was the place where I had sent the first message and she seemed amazed that I had been able to send it so far, she seemed to quickly understand why she had not been able to reply to my calls.

    We continued through the forest towards a familiar bolder that I had used as a landmark, I introduced Claire to the Ent I had first talked to, the Ent greeted her kindly and she replied in turn. The two chatted for a few moments and then we bid farewell to the trees and told them we were off to warn the villagers not to take lumber from this forest any longer.

    They seemed thankful and swayed happily in the wind as we headed towards the snowy area.

    I wasn''t exactly sure how I would convince the winter village. By the way I had intended to find a better way to refer to but the Colgate chief had told me ''Winter Village'' was actually the name of the place so I quickly felt silly, and then smart for correctly guessing its name.

    But that did make me realize that this seasonal lock must have been in place for a long time. It all seems very strange and unnatural. In the few moments I was in Colgate I noticed the damage it had done to the forest there as well.

    Most of the plants that were flourishing there were plants that didn''t require a rest period to produce seeds, this meant they were practically all invasive species. There were large groves of bamboo and raspberry looking bushes, which while beneficial for the town was probably wrecking havoc on the forest, who knows how long it can maintain this constant growing period, its a wonder the soil hasn''t lost all its nutrition yet.

    Claire and I had been trudging through the snowy abyss for a few hours now, we could barely tell if we were even following the river, where it was once a small icy path in the snow it was now just a valley amongst many hills of snow. We had to back-track numerous times, Claire was somewhat nonchalant about the venture but I was aware of how much danger we were truly in, the wildlife here was starving, and the wilderness was all just vast white emptiness. If a heavy blizzard rolled in we could easily lose sight of each-other, intent would be helpful in that situation but we had to be sure to stay nearby each-other at all costs. I had no choice but to hold her hand, yeah, no choice.

    We must have walked twice the distance we needed to until finally finding the village, the Ents had said it was likely within a days walk but after the first several hours I was unsure of the quality of his knowledge.

    By the way the Ent apparently knew nothing about the bandits going by the name ''blood hook'' it didn''t even seem to know of the name so I just left it at that, it was preferable not to be feared.

    The village was indeed as its name described, it was entirely blanketed in snow, there were smooth paths carved into the snow, some of the paths even had sturdy hand rails seemingly carved from snow, I quickly realized it was the work of water mages, this was an intelligent use of magic indeed. Perhaps a student of professor mage?

    A few elderly men came out and greeted the two of us, it seemed having a new face arrive at the village was a big deal, its no surprise really, being so deep in the bay of mountains I suppose any new arrival would be a rare thing.

    The villages population was around one hundred. I was amazed it had fared so well under condition of being trapped in winter, when I asked one of the elders about it he claimed it was always how it had been, it was inconvenient but the only other option was to move from their homes which they weren''t willing to do. their ancestors had fought with their lives to build this village and a bit of snow was not going to force them out. It seemed the snow was not in fact a new thing, when I asked them they said most of them had never seen the dirt before. the ones who had had either dug under the snow or collected lumber from the forest to the south. Ah that part has finally come up has it.

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    How can I handle this¡­ I want to be polite but I also wanted them to understand why they can''t cut down that forest, is it right to reveal the fact that these trees are alive, well I mean of course they are alive I''m not a hippy, but I mean physically alive, possessing consciousness.

    But would the Elders even believe me? Colgate''s chief was hesitant to believe me, it was only when I told him about the outstanding amounts of mana the trees had that he finally relented that it was possible, he said the mage would likely be interested in them so I was to tell him about them when I returned from winter village.

    But I still faced the current dilemma, I asked who the lead elder was, and if he would be willing to take a trip with me into that forest in the morning. The youngest of the group claimed he was the Prime Elder and was willing to go, he seemed curious he said he had never ventured from the village before and that this would be a great chance to go with experienced travelers.

    The elders showed the two of us to an unused house and told us we were free to look around until night fall and then it was best to stay indoors, it seems wolves had attacked a woman two nights ago.

    Claire and I took this advice seriously as we had just encountered the beasts a few weeks prior. Claire had almost no scar at this point but I''m sure the emotional trauma of letting a wolf get the better of her still stuck with her.

    Honestly thinking back on the memory if Claire hadn''t pointed me to the witch''s camp she would have likely died, we had no horses and were two days from Godrick.

    Even with all my knowledge I couldn''t have done a single thing to help her. I wanted to make a world where that wouldn''t be the case, a world where magic wasn''t the only end-all savior.

    It seemed this town specialized in textiles, it wasn''t entirely a surprise, the elders from earlier had worn thick multicolored robes with many layers of separate intricate fabrics.

    I looked at the large looms they were using, they were simple, two chunks of wood with holes for the warp (non weaved threads of fabric) It was all strung in a stiff wood frame. It seemed they could only craft chunks around five feet by eight feet at a time.

    I mentioned a method for extending the length by folding the large wood frame and threading the warp onto a roll. The woman looked at me with wide eyes, then began sketching an image on a white scrap of fabric with a feather tipped brush. After I amended the image a bit to show what a semi-modern loom on earth looked like and she quickly ran the sheet of blueprints over to a man that had likely built her current loom.

    Well that should help. Baby steps.

    It had begun to get dark so not wanting to make complete enemies of wolves, we two returned to our house for the night. ''Our, house huh'' I chuckled to myself while sparking my black blade against a rock that was placed next to the fire place. After getting a small fire going and warming chilly house Claire and I sat down, again alone for the first time in a long while.

    Sure we had been alone while venturing in the snow earlier but I had been so nervous about getting lost that I wasn''t really focused on her feminine company.

    Claire spoke first this time.

    Well I say ''this time'' but it was often her speaking first, I wasn''t sure exactly what to say to her, it seemed like she was learning tragic news, or keeping tragic news from me around every corner, I wanted to comfort her but I didn''t want to patronize her. I was never sure what to say, but she seemed to handle it with no problems.

    "This village is kinda amazing isn''t it?" She said with a wide grin as she fell backwards into the chair beside the fire. "I mean with all this snow and still surviving so well. And those fabrics were so soft, I wonder what they were made from?"

    "She called it spider silk didn''t she? I''ve never heard of such a thing"

    Silk from worms and caterpillars was one thing, but I''ve never heard of silk made from spiders thread, well technically ''I'' hadn''t heard of silk even, but ''the other guy'' seemed fairly knowledgeable. Honestly I had probably never even said the word loom before today.

    "Ah if they can really make continuous rolls of that then I''d love a dress made from it!"

    "You wear dresses?" I asked honestly surprised. In the time I''d seen her, she would always wear pants and a linen shirt, it honestly suited her well, the casualness of the outfit seemed to highlight her features and chestnut hair. Thinking about it she would likely be even more beautiful in a nice dress, this is something I must see.

    "Of course I do, I''ll have you know I was quite popular in Havas, I''ve even attended a ball in the royal capital." She said with a smug grin

    "Have you really?"

    "Yeah I''m something of a star amongst the rookie Knights, they are even thinking about raising my rank to that of honorary noble¡­ "

    Ah was that really the case, she had seemed to achieved much in the time she had been gone. In comparison I had done basically nothing with my life, all that time I just wasted time training my blade skills with father.

    "When I entered training, I was seen as the top student within the first week, I even became unofficial sparring partner for the instructor, he refused to take any of my advice though," She said wrinkling her nose at the memory "but at least he recognized my skill. Honestly all my skill was thanks to your father''s training though. He really was a war god incarnate."

    That''s true my father had basically acquired the skill of hundreds of years of training, I was somewhat jealous for a moment but then an understanding hit me, he had training me so hard because he knew he wouldn''t be giving me his mind. I would have no life line, I had to use my own skill from now on, that''s why he had trained me so carefully. Suddenly I felt bad for thinking negatively about the training. Forgive me father. Luckily I never turned down his offer to train.

    Perhaps I''m better with a blade than I think, Claire is good with a blade but I can easily parry most of her blows, its only her determination that finally breaks through my defense. I wonder how I would fare against her instructor.

    Ah I want to go to Knight training. That would be fun. Making friends, rivals, lovers. But I suppose they wouldn''t let the Hawk of the Blood Hook Tribe be a knight.

    "You really must have been popular, when we get back we will have to go to a ball together. Who knows maybe I can dance." I said beginning to doze off in the comfortable chair. I had run around quite a bit in the last two days I was excited to sleep and begin unwinding some more memories.

    Claire tossed another large chunk of coal on the fire and lightly draped a blanket over me with a smile before leaning back into her chair and shutting her eyes.

 Chapter 14 - Bandits?

    So let me explain, the plan was to go to the town these people received their raw silk from. The name of it was incredibly intriguing. Since i wasn''t even aware of the fact that there were any other villages in the bay, well that just made it more intriguing.

    Spider village. It was located on a feeder river of the coil a river named, fittingly, spider river.

    But what was most amazing, as the Elders of the Winter village had explained, after we had come to agreement with the Ents to the south, was the fact that this village was apparently periodically (once ever sixty years) attacked by a group of massive spiders.

    The elder had said the village was entirely draped in spider webs, its even gone so far that the village has accepted the webs into their way of life, the village has evolved to use the spiders thick webs, the elder claimed the village, while residing in the spring locked zone, a fairly rainy zone, had been entirely roofed by the spiders silk, it was apparently something like a ball web wrapping up the city. It shed water but allowed for enough light to comfortably work. He went on and on about the city despite the fact that only a few of the villagers had even been there.Most trade with the city was done by a single well traveled merchant,i asked to speak to the man but he basically told me the same story as the Elder.

    So we decided to go, but that was a few days ago now, come on keep up.

    Now we have a much bigger issue, well now honestly its not an issue, it''s actually convenient, extremely.

    We got picked up by a group of bandits believe it or not. I honestly had to hold back laughter.

    I restrained myself though, this was clearly only a small group, there must be a larger camp somewhere, bandits are rarely nomadic. So I devised a ''clever plan''. Or at least that''s what Claire had called it when I told her the ploy.

    Claire is a young noble on vacation, and I am her body guard. Or that is what we told the bandits who threatened us with knives, they demanded everything we had, we complied calmly but before they struck us I offered them something they hadn''t thought of, since Clare is a noble, famous in the capital, the Count would surely pay greatly for her safe return.

    So now, here we are a day later walking, tied, on our way to the bandit camp honestly, I amaze myself.

    But why am I so calm right? Well, I have actually mastered mana vision somewhat, it was a few days after we left for spider village. I was cultivating mana stones and created a tiny globe shaped one, suddenly one of my eyes could activate mana vision perfectly, I continued to train and within a couple hours I had perfected the orb for my second eye and now I can easily gauge internal mana of plants and animal whenever I please, it obstructs my vision but I can just toggle it on for a moment so it''s not to much issue. Whats most interesting is it seems even the ground seems to emanate a bit mana, I wonder if its just this place or everywhere, I had heard that only animals and humans generated mana so how was it that mana was rising from the dirt. Moles? Rabbits? Probably not.

    These bandits are a joke though, seriously if I released a single ounce of my mana they will very possibly die. I''m kinda worried what will happen when the eventual battle ensues. Maybe I shouldn''t even call what this will be a battle.

    Is this just my ego? I''m honestly not sure. It could be, I guess we will see when I get to camp. Claire didn''t seem particularly worried either so we will just go with this plan for now.

    For bandits they were treating us fairly kindly, and I mean for them being bandits they treated us kindly, lets not mix up who''s the bandits in this situation. Yeah since my family maintains a tribal lifestyle we often get mistaken for bandits but we technically aren''t.

    I mean would bandits leave a perfectly toll-able bridge un-tolled? I don''t think so. typically the people who have taken the young noble and her body guard hostage are the ones considered bandits. Well it''s not like the police will be asking.

    While having these odd thoughts we finally arrived at the bandits camp. It was a little nicer than my own camp to be honest, I was a little bit jealous, should i steal these tents when I''m done here? What exactly am I going to do here, do I kill these people, technically they did threaten my life, I have every right to.

    "Hey! who''re these two?" A man seated at the large campfire spits through missing teeth.

    "This''un''s a noble, we can random em." The man says with a firm grin on his face unaware of his typo, er¡­ I mean unaware of his tongue flub.

    "Ransom them?" Another man corrected him

    "Yeah, right I mean ransom em," The man corrects "Well what''dya say boss?"

    "What you want us to really turn into bandits just cause he hasn''t paid in a few weeks?!"

    "Well boss we don''t even know if he''ll come back with more work, and it''ll be impossible to survive here unless we can make some income."

    "I suppose you are right, Well how do you even know this one is worth anything?"

    "Look at her."

    "Can''t deny that, even dressed in rags she is a sight, How did you find out she was a noble?"

    "She told us."

    "She told you."

    "Yeah, oy tell ''im yer name." The man who brought us here barked at Claire.

    "My name is Claire Duvont" She said quickly thinking up a royal sounding last name "I am daughter of the second cousin of the Count. He regards me kindly."

    She was truly a marvelous liar, though I suppose I had found that out earlier this month.

    "Mhm so she say, but how do we know what she says is true?"

    "Well I mean why would she lie?"

    "I suppose you are right, it makes little sense for her to admit she is someone of worth."

    Seriously? I thought we were boned there for a minute.

    "But what about the kid?"

    Oh is it my turn? Should I? I really want to.

    "Hey you heard him," a man behind me growled, "You know who you''re looking at? That, there''s the leader of the ''blood hook tribe''"

    A few men snicker in the background shallowly.

    Oh this is just too much. It almost hurts how excited I am to say this. I cough sharply and begin.

    "This man is a nobody, a disposable Knight that the count told me I must keep nearby."

    Oh that''s mean Claire, you stole my thunder, I was so ready. I had even opened a mana rock in preparation of a massive mana burst. I noticed Claire was glaring at me firmly so I shrugged it off. Perhaps she wanted more information before we acted. He did mention someone who was funding this, it''s possible they are the real issue here. I suppose we can wait and learn what we can and then free ourselves and leave for spider village.

    Don''t get me wrong I know this is the main mission, but I''m not just gonna leave this place because I complete my mission. There is much more I need to figure out, the season locks for one, and I just plain want to see spider village. Training with professor mage a bit more would be nice of course. Oh I wonder if they have completed the work on the new loom in Winter Village. They had begun construction when we left, but its been a few days since then. They must be close by now.

    "Well then why don''t we just kill him, he''s disposable after all." The leader says, I suppose he isn''t the cool headed one like I once thought.

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    "Well, yeah, but, I mean a knight''s a knight, I''m sure the count will pay something for this one." Claire effortlessly added.

    "This one is fairly smart, forget the count I should just take her up as my wife." The leader retorts with a perverted grin and cackle.

    Try it. Please. I''m getting bored.

    "Well lets talk to money-bags first, if the ransom doesn''t work out then we can do whatever." The man who brought us here reports. Well, he is smarter than I thought. Or maybe he is planning on taking her first while they wait for this money-bags. the look in his eye supports that theory.

    Try it. I''m itching, I wanna get these ropes off. I''ll take any excuse.

    "Would money-bags even know how to get in contact with the count with demands?"

    "Heh, of course."

    Hmm interesting, a theory is building. but I don''t know all the detail right now so I will keep quiet, ideally I''d like to meet this money-bags.

    By the way I have of course investigated mana levels of the people around. Incredibly the highest is actually a scrawny looking man who''s standing in the corner looking slightly sad with a thick hood over his ears.

    I say highest but this man is nothing, not even a single stones worth of mana. If anything he just won''t completely pass out whenever I choose to strike.

    If that''s the case I will just pulse him head on. Ah, right, I have learned to control my pulses to some extent. It was during Claire''s, training¡­ yeah that one. But it was a handy time I had where I could experiment with different pulses. I had now almost mastered targeting a single person up to forty feet away, it wasn''t much but it was something.

    The mana was also much more concentrated so I would have to be careful as to not kill the target. Of course Claire would be completely fine, I had inadvertently released an extreme amount of mana the other day. While it demolished most of the nearby trees and shrubs Claire was, although unconscious, not seriously hurt.

    So when the time comes I will only restrain a little, I didn''t want to hurt the tents but, at this point I could care less about the people. Most of them seemed perfectly okay with the thought of killing me moments earlier so by association they are each guilty. The only who maintained a gloomy look when my death was mentioned was the mage in the corner, I wasn''t positive but his intent seemed to whisper that he didn''t want to be here. Obviously it wasn''t an intent message like me and Claire had been using. His was more of the message his mana inadvertently revealed.

    Money-bags was apparently someone who lived in spider village, from the sound of it he was just staying there, the leader, a man I didn''t particularly want to get to know, had sent a few men to find the money-bags and ask about the ransom. I wasn''t sure but it did sound like the man would be coming here.

    I truly hoped that to be the case, if the ransom demand actually goes through they will quickly realize that we aren''t who we claimed. With raven communication it would still take at least six hours for word to arrive here so I just had to find out the identity of money-bags and the true identity of the person behind money-bags. But that was of course only if money-bags sends word before coming here.

    Oh yeah obviously money-bags isn''t the one with the actual money, if i had to guess, he is the middle-man for a rich noble, or worse. But I''m still not sure of the intention, or not positive. Its clearly something shady, these men, from their earlier conversation are clearly not bandits. They are more likely down on their luck mercenaries, mercenaries turn murderers. One thing i was abundantly positive of though, they aren''t the ''Blood Hook Tribe''.

    I still honestly wanted to laugh a bit, this had gone far to well. They were seriously morons.

    <hr>

    Hurry up money-bags, Its been over three hours. I was now sure he would be coming here, the bandit leader accidentally said something about him being late when he was near our cages. I say near but he was actually around twenty feet from us, Claire had claimed she didn''t hear what the man had said but I heard it extremely clearly. Perhaps I''ve attained superhuman hearing. Next stop daredevil costume, and incurable blindness.

    Ah, no what are you doing with that?

    Put that down. You can''t touch that, that''s mine.

    S*%t he''s opening the bag. All my stuff, hes getting his grubby fingers all over my stuff!

    No, don''t take out that jar.

    No! That isn''t yours.

    "DON''T TOUCH MY FUCKING CINNAMON!"

    Oh, damn. I didn''t hold back did I.

    Everyone was laying on the ground, The make-shift cage was obliterated as well.

    All that stood was me, the mage with the hood, and Claire who was groggy but still conscious, I''m glad. She seems to be improving rapidly. Had she? Oh, well, baby steps.

    "What did you do?" It wasn''t the mage standing terrified across from me who asked, but a man standing behind me.

    Huh, when did they get here, oh that''s right this is the man ''that'' unconscious leader had sent to collect money-bags from Spider Village. So standing between these two messenger pigeons must be the middle-man himself.

    One of the bandits quickly lifted a crossbow and aimed it between my eyes. I was honestly scared, how would I stop a crossbow bolt, it was like a bullet, except that Kevlar wouldn''t help here, truly one of man''s most formidable weapon.

    He fell, No I don''t mean he slumped over gracefully and died with a final gasp.

    He just fell.

    Into pieces.

    All that was left were the black scars Claire had carved into space. The middle-man standing beside the pile looked at me with breakfast appearing in his throat.

    The other bandit acted different, he raised his sword and ran at me, I said acted different, not smarter.

    I grabbed a blade from amongst the fallen merc''s and tossed it. It wasn''t as balanced as my blade but it still soared true. Or, actually, would it hit? This man was around fifteen feet away and closing, it was a good blade toss but the balance of this blade really ruined it.

    But why should Claire get all the credit in this final battle, its not my fault I don''t have many distance attacks. I wanted to use a mana pulse but his closeness to the man called money-bags, who was incredibly mana weak, prevented me from doing that. I didn''t want money-bags to die. I had questions.

    A void opened inches in front of my rotating blade. The blade vanished in a single rotation and then reappeared in the back of the mans skull. I can definitely see the reasoning for multi-void openings now. Professor mages juggling was a cool trick but this was surely its true purpose, and it was terribly deadly.

    I glanced at Claire, she was entirely green. I had assumed as much, she had just bisected a man with a void and then redirected my blade to kill another. I supported her slumping body and carefully rested her down on a log after brushing a corpse off it.

    The mage and money bags just looked at the two of us blankly. We sat amongst shattered wreckage of a cage and amongst thirty five bandits. And it all started because the bastard opened my damn cinnamon.

    I quickly stepped over to his, corpse and retrieved the jar and replaced the lid carefully, placing a kiss on its surface and replacing it into the bag.

    Well that''s settled.

 Chapter 15 - Intrigue

    Honestly this was a hard decision, there was still so much to do but we couldn''t just ignore the story money-bags told us. He had first asked if we wanted to know his real name but Claire and I just shrugged and told him we only really wanted the man funding him.

    The man grumbled slightly and then told us the tale. It was as I expected, well it was within range of my guesses I suppose. Despite all my desire to stay in this magical place, to investigate the strangeness of this place, it was impossible. I had to get to Havas as soon as possible. Luckily Claire had an idea. She concluded, that while dangerous, this was a perfect opportunity to try her newest skill. It was something she had learned from professor mage in the last days we were in Colgate, the demi-human village.

    On a side note the mage woman we ''saved'' from the bandit camp was actually an assistant of the very same mage, she had been kidnapped in a previous attack on the town. She was extremely grateful to us, it seemed she fully understood what Claire had done when she opened the voids inside the man. Soon after the fray she sheepishly asked if Claire was also a disciple of the mage, she told the mage she was indeed, and the girl smiled happily, likely assuming it was the mage who had sent us, well no harm in her assuming that.

    Claire was preparing carefully. This was something the professor mage had only heard about in a story. She would be opening a teleportation void. It was a void linked to another opened in a familiar location far away. I had always assumed she had a range to where she could open her tears but it seemed if she was well acquainted with the place and had a good recollection she could probably envision the place correctly, and open the portal. It seemed to be all based on proper recollection, if your envisionment of the area was incorrect it could break the connection. If we stepped through an improper teleportation portal we would likely die.

    First we would hop to Colgate''s mage tower. It was a place Clare had very strong recent memories of. If it was successful then we would then attempt it again, but as it stood Claire had never even done it before so it was better go slowly.

    Similar to the earlier void with Joye, direct contact had to be made with the creator of the void while traversing.

    This was known as void walking. It was something all the witches of the ''Blood Hook Tribe'' possessed. She was apparently very surprised that the professor knew of the ability but when the mage mentioned a mysterious witch that had taught him much she faintly smiled and continued her training.

    After a couple moments concentration Claire gripped at the air tightly and ripped the space apart. This one was black similar to most of the voids she opened, she seemed concerned about it, until a small stone was tossed through, she then grew excited and assembled us to travel.

    The stone was apparently something the professor mage had said he would do if a Void was ever opened in his tower. It seems Claire had planned this exit strategy early. I guess once a knight has finished her mission she must have an exit strategy to report her results, and in this scenario the sooner we returned the better.

    Within a single step the four of us were in the mage tower, I had knocked Money-bags out for easier travel, I really didn''t need him asking questions, or blabbing about the skill while we were in Havas. He was a fairly small man so carrying him on my back was no issue.

    I could always just send a pulse to wake him up if I need to. It had worked on the few surviving mercenaries, when they awoke they quickly bolted when I told them the scenario, and my true identity

    It felt great but I really wanted the effect of telling all thirty five bandits from earlier, but unfortunately most were dead. Oh well.

    We greeted the professor after he hugged the apprentice deeply. I noticed a slight family resemblance, but I know professor doesn''t have children, perhaps a niece or younger sister?

    The plan from here was to attempt it again, Claire wanted to try one in Havas directly, or possibly in my backyard at the Inn. The professor warned her of the dangers of a improperly connect portal so she relented and decided to try one in the stable we had stayed in in Godrick, the location was fairly easy to imagine, we had only stayed their for a night but it was the first night of the trip, it was hard to forget, even if it had been a month now.

    The portal seemed to open fairly easily, the professor claimed this was probably due to it being a recent memory. We bid farewell to the three mages thanking us gratefully and stepped through the portal, Claire sporting a backpack now stuffed with precious cinnamon, and me carrying the less precious, money-bags.

    As I understood it, a failed portal would send us into a endless abyss, I was somewhat worried about that aspect. Endless abysses don''t sound like much fun. But it was preferable over walking back through the forest for days.

    Honestly we lucked out staying in the stable, if we had stayed in the mansion the portal would not have worked at all. That''s because the mansion the stable and us now stood beside was completely under construction. Heavy beams of wood were being lifted via pulley and were being dropped onto the open roof.

    Good, I hope they dealt with the mold too. It seems like this town is doing well, I had assumed as much. Godrick was now home to a gold mine. They had been excavating for the past month and it seemed the gold vein didn''t appear to be waning.

    I was happy, good for them. I hope mugger miner is able to take good care of his family now. I''m sure since ''he'' discovered the mine he must be very rich by now. I hope he doesn''t let it get to his head.

    We said a casual ''hello'' to the woman who had allowed us to stay in the stable a month prior, she seemed surprised when we emerged from the stable, ''had we been staying there this whole time?''

    She thanked me deeply for my work on the mine. Ah so the mugger had spilled the beans, well no harm. I nodded back at her and Claire began concentration on the next portal.

    I talked with the village chief-woman. Yeah as it turns out she was actually in charge, I felt somewhat bad for wondering where her husband was earlier this month.

    She was a kind woman just as I had assumed, it seemed she possessed business sense as well, she had made a secret deal with the craftsmen guild of Havas to move the gold, if word got out that they had such a rich mine they would be overflowed by farmers and more mouths to feed so they had to plan carefully if they wanted to expand the mine.

    Claire claimed that she was struggling, the voids would open but she was unsure of their connection status so she was uncomfortable stepping through them. It seemed she had tried both the Inn and her barracks in Havas, both had flickered unstably.

    I had a theory for the Inn but I wanted it to be a surprise.

    Well we had cut our travel time by at least twelve days this was good enough. We borrowed a few horses from Godrick after we vaguely explained the situation with the bandits. The Chief-woman once again thanked me for the service, this time greater than before. I guess the town had been even more alert about bandits lately since they once again had income they needed to protect.

    The road was fabulous. I had to give Susan my deepest regards when I get back to Havas. It was a work of art, not a single rut was made in the tiled road. I was somewhat amazed by the speed they had accomplished this. Sure it has been a month but typically I would expect a road like this to take at least that long to be refinished. But as the craftsmen were nowhere to be seen it seemed they had finished some time ago.

    They hadn''t just repaired it there was no denying this road was upgraded. Heavily. It was no longer cobbles and mud. Instead it was now a work of the rock welding magic, they had formed small tiles that spread to create a sturdy road.

    This must be the craftsmen own ingenuity, it''s much better than what I would have suggested. And I assume it could be mostly assembled in house and then shipped to location. Truly genius. I will have to commence building roads to Colgate, Winter village, and the various other villages in the bay.

    Our pace was much faster than the day we had first left on the flight. The horses, although no replacement to Penelope and Daisy, something me and Claire relented openly, were quite quick creatures. We had done in one hour, what had previously taken two.

    There was a landmark I knew well, a small creek the road usually trudged through. Instead, said creek, now ran through a culvert underneath the road. Good work Craftsmen! The structure seemed to be formed from earth spec''d magic as well. It would likely naturally erode over hundreds of years. I also wonder how long these Tiles will last, they are each small so road maintenance could theoretically be done by travelers. But from the looks of them they were thick and had a good grippy texture to them, they also would easily shed water as each was domed slightly and the gaps between them was enough to wick water away from the surface. These were clearly not ordinary bricks, they were expressly used for deploying roads rapidly.

    I wondered how the inventor, thought of this, it''s an innovation I had not seen in this world before I presented them with my new technologies, so what from those drawings had prompted this?Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    Was it possibly just the concept of replaceable parts?

    It was clearly something new to this world, it was invented in the 19th century in America, so it''s no wonder they had never thought of the concept, it''s clearly not a technology the 5th century Anglo-Saxon mind in the former Hawk could think up.

    It still kinda surprised me though, how had they never thought of that? It''s so simple, and you could repair things like siege weapons for a fraction of the cost.

    I had been very clear when I explained the plow concept to Susan that each of the blade had to be identical so they could just be purchased whenever they broke. She quickly understood the concept and seemed to rip out her hair at its simplicity, and business potential.

    Well at least innovations are happening now even without my interference. Claire seemed particularly taken by the road as well. She seemed to be transfixed by the steady lines created by the offset tile pattern.

    We still each carried our cargo from before, Claire had the backpack and I was stuck maintaining with the frail body of money-bags, I was now forced to keep a small trace of my aura outside my body in order to just keep this man alive.

    This was something I realized when I first killed all the bandits, the pulse had robbed them off all of their mana, but the ones who were alive had small churning masses like me so I was unable to fully extinguish their flames.

    I could also use this to my advantage, if I wanted to keep someone like money-bags unconscious I just needed to kill him and keep a fraction of my mana inside him so his body doesn''t die, then once I needed to wake him I would just give him a small pulse of mana and he would arise.

    It was easy honestly, life is nothing but the presence of mana, or not.

    This must be similar to what the faeries had done to keep Claire alive, though my aura was unable to do anything like actually healing wounds I could easily maintain someone''s ''life force'' so to speak.

    But that also made me curious, could I possibly make someone into a demon the same way the faeries had with Cal? That was something I had to avoid at all costs.

    Oh, might it happen to money-bags?

    I somewhat doubt it, but it is possible. but since I will be the one refueling him I will easily be able to strip him of the mana if he is determined to be a problem.

    This somewhat feels too powerful.

    I''m now seeing everyone as a simple candle that can be snuffed out like nothing.

    And it''s because they are.

    If I make the slightest mistake, everyone within range of me will be extinguished like nothing.

    Other than Claire of course, it seems she has a large mass of spinning energy similar to my own when I first began cultivation of mana stones.

    I wonder if she could strengthen her''s somehow?

    Perhaps I could introduce more mana somehow if she is unable to draw it in like I am.

    I honest am not sure if my magic is something that only I can do, or if there are others like me out there. Or is professor mage perhaps correct, maybe anyone learn this magic with enough effort.

    The witch told me much, but mostly about tribal tradition and history, not much was explained to me about my power. She just unlocked it and began my day of initial training.

    All my current powers I had either learned from the professor mage or picked up myself through trial and error.

    But perhaps it''s better this way.

    Only I can best know how to use this power. Its likely that my father''s mind had a particular way of using the power.

    But for me, I would have to do it my own way.

    The inn, viewed via mana vision, was bright. I could see it and we hadn''t even left the forest yet. It was a beacon of mana seemingly.

    It made me somewhat relieved. I would likely not need to maintain my aura too carefully at home at least. These people were obviously quite powerful mana wise.

    Thinking about it I only knew a few of their magic spec''s, Degin was fire from what I remember, and there were of course a few earth''s and water''s but many didn''t use magic in their daily lives. It wasn''t exactly a convenient tool for everyday life, it was only some who had integrated it into their work like Susan and the farmers and miners. And for it to be useful one would have to train for at least a year.

    We finally rounded the final bend before the road meets back up with the coil. My mother''s Inn would come into sight soon. I was excited to see everyone, I''m sure they must be worried about what my thoughts were on everything, but I could hold them no blame.

    Despite my desire to stop at the Inn I would like to also finish the business with the Count, and I really don''t want to have to keep this guy alive while chatting with the tribe''s people. I wanted to be able to relax at home, and maintaining this guy''s life was not exactly relaxing.

    Degin approached the two of us on Horsey and asked of the travel.

    "It was a success, I caught those blasted Blood Hook Tribe members." I explained with a big grin.

    He looked at me raising a brow with a slight grin, he glanced at Claire who nodded at him and he let out a long laugh.

    "Good then, Wouldn''t want warmongers in our backyard."

    "Of course."

    "So you are taking this one into Havas then?" He asked looking at the unconscious man behind me.

    "Yeah he''s sedated for now, I have some questions for him and I think the count would like to hear them as well."

    Degin seems confused by the term sedated but he shrugs it off and nods. "Don''t be late now, your moms got meat cooking. And Susan will be joining us as well, she has much to talk with you about."

    I glance at the piles of sheet metal and Plows that are stacked behind the Inn. Likely the reason for Claire''s inability to properly place the Inn void. It seemed Susan had done well with my designs, even going so far as to run out of room at the storehouse of the guild.

    I had mentioned that she could store some materials here if she overstocked, it seems she had taken me up on it. I hope mother didn''t mind it.

    I also saw stacks of what must have been the Tile they used for the road, they were actually hollow from the look of it, that must have made shipping them much easier, they were stacked around one hundred tiles high by a few hundred wide, I wondered if this was enough to begin the roads between Godrick and Colgate. It would surely be a start. Ill talk to Susan about it at dinner.

    For now I needed to discuss matters with the count, it would be my first time meeting the man in person, I wonder if he has lost weight since that parade. Is his son in good health, what of the portly wife.

    They were a nice family but I had serious matters to discuss with the man, I couldn''t let little things cloud my mission.

    Entering Havas was a cake walk. While, when I earlier entered the town a month earlier I was forced to pay a fee and jump through various hoops. Now, with a single flash of a Claire''s knight emblem, the guard let the two of us enter and even retrieved our horses for us. I guess Claire''s position had some major perks.

    The Count''s castle was up a road about half a mile away, the town was fairly big over around.

    It had four main roads that intersected the main street running towards the castle, there were some small alleys between the roads but they were mostly inhabited by homeless or street vendors depending on the area of town. I passed the bustling craftsmen guild and waved at a few familiar faces.

    They seemed to be doing well, it seems they were busy producing seeds for the incoming growing season. They had rooms where rare light spec''d magicians were growing plants via artificial light, they would then harvest the seeds and repeat the process.

    Without the ''growth limiting'' factor of the night cycles, they were quickly nearing the amount of seeds we would need to plant the entirety of the fields surrounding the city as well as distributing them to the towns in the Bay.

    It was mostly turnips as we were nearing the winter growing season, Susan and I had originally planned on starting the reforms in summer, with clovers and beans but as turnips were already a common vegetable in Havas it wouldn''t be to difficult to prepare it before winter planting began.

    Crops would still suffer from the lack of nutrition in the soil, but we planned to introduce manure spreading techniques as well.

    I wasn''t sure how well they would take that, but once they see the size of the crop yield they should get over it.

    We neared closer to the Castle, it was a nice castle, it was many levels and had a tower rising from the center, it didn''t really resemble what I considered a castle from my memories of Earth but it was surely a fortified home.

    We entered into a chamber near the dead center of the large building, I was surprised he had agreed to speak with us so quickly, I was sure I would have to force the situation to take place. Perhaps he felt guilty?

    In the room stood Joseph, seated beside him a few feet away in a magnificent chair was the thick Count, leaning against the chair stood a thin silver scepter, it must have been his equivalent of a crown. I heard it was required to be nearby the Count.

    The count shuffled uncomfortably in the chair, his bulking body jiggling as he shifted. He suppressed a slight cough when he saw the man I had placed on the ground before him.

    "Excuse me for a moment." I said calmly as I prepared to resuscitate the man, careful not to accidentally knock out Joseph and the count while doing so.

    I carefully aimed my aura and released a light pulse, I placed just enough mana inside him, it was around the same as he had earlier so he likely wouldn''t turn into a demon, or some monster with endless mana.

    The man gasped loudly and gripped his chest as he abruptly righted his body.

    "Wha¡­ what happened where¡­" He began before grasping his surroundings.

    It was a place he had previously mentioned in his story.

    This man, Money-bags, was indeed the middle man. But not to some scheming noble, he was getting the money he paid these mercenaries directly from the Count. I honestly couldn''t grasp the Count''s logic.

    "So you have found out." Joseph says lightly rubbing his chin, "I had figured as much."

    From the long talk I had with the Count and Joseph, it seemed this was indeed the Count''s doing. Joseph, I later found out had only recently learned of the real details behind the bandits, he apologized deeply for the wild goose chase he had sent me on, I told him to forget about it, that it wasn''t a wild goose chase anyways, and that I had learned much from the adventure.

    So, the Count had given this man money in order for him to stir trouble in the Bay of Mountains.

    The endgame was for the King to take notice of the dangerous encroaching bandits and either allow the Count to garner a standing army to take down the bandits. Something that would require him being raised to level of a Earl.

    Or if not, to reduce the taxes he had to pay to the kingdom, with the excuse ''Bandit attacks have cost us so much this year, Perhaps we can pay next year.'' He claimed he just wanted more money for importing food for the starving citizens, his mana intent felt true so I was inclined to believe he truly thought the foolish plan would work. What of next year? Would you be able to continue importing food to feed your people?

    He had also told them to use the name ''Blood Hook'' as an attempt to use fear to increase war spending in his County, if nobles were aware that the terrifying tribe was attacking villages in their midst they would surely sell their precious belongings and give it to the Count''s fund. It had apparently worked so far, taxes from the nobles were at an all time high. It was perhaps the only reason the citizens were still getting food despite the terrible crop yields of late.

    It seems he was very upset when he heard the attacks had become deadly in some of the Bay villages. He prostrated himself and apologized for the trouble he had put me through, it was only then did I realize this man likely knew my true identity, not to mention if I told the King about his plan, it''s very likely the Count would lose his position, and possibly his life. It made sense for him to apologize so deeply, I was in a position of great power right now.

    I had no intention of turning him in though, he may have made a very, very stupid mistake but he did care about the people here. I told him I had no plans to rat him out and he thanked me heavily.

    He demanded that I receive commendations for ''Clearing out the ''blood hook'' bandits in the Bay of Mountains.''

    I accepted but told him to change the wording of the proclamation, He agreed to change it to just, ''bandits''. I thanked him for the consideration, left the gasping money-bags and went on my way.

    Should I have been harsher? Maybe, but despite his wrongs he was trying to make this County stronger, and to feed its citizens. Honestly I didn''t much care right now, I just wanted to get back to the Inn so I could eat some honey-buns and chat tech with Susan. Plus I still had much to do in the Bay, despite the mission being completed I''m not done.

    And of course the cinnamon.

 Chapter 16 - Transducionality (Noble)

    Dinner. Was. Amazing.

    I''ve never eaten so much meat in my life. It was hard to believe it had been a whole month since I''ve had one of my mothers meals.

    I''ve never gone this long without one before. It soothed my tired heart.

    Why was I even planning to go back to the Bay anyways? It''s too nice to be home, do i really have to go back and figure out whats going on at the center of the seasonal lock?

    It wasn''t causing too much trouble was it? Well, I mean Winter Village is definitely struggling. And people could likely move back to the abandoned village if the fall season that it was locked under ended, Yeah I really do need to get to the bottom of that. Not to mention investigate the intriguing ''Spider Village''.

    But mother has just discovered the amazement of cinnamon.

    She had heard me brag about it at length, but once she sniffed the bark she understood instantly.

    Its flavor was suited for the honey buns. Perfectly.

    She grated the bark carefully as I instructed and then placed it into a mortar to break it down even finer, the bark would be bitter unless made into a very fine powder, so she was very careful to fully powderize the bark before returning it into a smaller jar.

    She seemed excited to try baking them tomorrow morning.

    During the meal both Degin and my mother apologized to me, they explained that ''since keeping everything a secret from me was my dad''s final wish they didn''t have any right to do otherwise'', they asked for the ''forgiveness of the Hawk'' it felt far too formal, of course I forgave them. My father had revealed the most important part before he left so why would I be mad at them for keeping small details hidden.

    I was somewhat confused as to why i wasn''t told of my families history though. But once I thought about it, it may have given me a big head, so I''m somewhat glad i wasn''t told.

    And when i was younger and had a hot head, any negative talk I heard about the ''Blood Hook Tribe'' would have surely irritated me had I known they were talking negatively about my family. Now if I hear it I will probably quickly agree with the men, and then secretly snicker about it later with Degin.

    No them keeping me in the dark about these things was for the best.

    Susan on the other hand could barely keep quiet.

    She told me all about how the items I had designed operated. She explained about the issues she face with with the stone sheet metal rollers chipping, their replacement, and her experimentation with bearing designs. She reluctantly concluded my original design for the bearing was indeed best but i was still happy about her experimentation.

    The farmers had apparently saw a secret test operation of the plow and threw a fit. It was only when the guild agreed to provide next seasons seeds as a gift did they reluctantly agree to give the plows a try come planting season.

    It worried me, weather the reforms would go over with them being stubborn, but she claimed though they were proud they were anxious for anyway to better provide for their families.

    And, while they originally saw the plow as a job stealing machine they soon realized that it would instead increase the amount a single farmer could handle. They quickly requested the Count allow them to begin deforesting another area across the river for additional farm land.

    I was happy that the farmers were excited, I''m sure they will be thrilled with the changes.

    Susan also presented me with the greatest gift I''ve ever received. It was a book, it was completely empty, it had at least three hundred pages, she claimed she had gotten it from a friend who worked with the church. I found it somewhat ironic.

    She explained that it was actually an illegal item, all the books the church makes are hand written on blank books similar to this one. They were kept strictly within the church, how this one had made its way here i had no idea. But i was very thankful for the theft.

    With it I received a few pencil prototypes Susan had made from various materials. One worked very well but erasing was impossible, the other erased perfectly, even leaving soft shavings but the pencil itself was faint, I was conflicted but decided to go with both, I would write with the dull one and fill it in if everything was correct, it would take time but I think it would be worth the effort, and last longer.

    This would become my journal. I would enter everything of importance into it, including drawings and anything else I needed. I was sure this would become an invaluable item.

    But I quickly ripped a few pages out, much to Susan''s dismay, I then drew some various images on the pages. I then explained the process of making paper, and the concept of a moveable type printing press.

    She looked at me with a wide grin and accepted the sheets of torn parchment happily, I thought of something of importance and quickly asked for the sheets back, I then wrote a few various words in English on the back of them, along with the equivalent words for them in common language, i actually had some trouble writing the common words but Claire quickly helped me while sticking her tongue out at me. Cheeky girl.

    The common alphabet was only slightly different than the English alphabet so it wasn''t to difficult to just sound out the words but I often got strange looks and was forced to erase a few letters and start again under the gaze of all ten people seated at the table.

    It was embarrassing, its not my fault I wasn''t ever actually taught to read and write. Hopefully my impressiveness overshadowed the helplessness.

    I completed the simple dictionary after some minor trial and error.

    My mother and Claire both goaded me to go to school, it wasn''t actually a terrible idea. If I would be becoming an ''honorary noble'' like the Count had said, then it would be good to learn a bit about what it means to be a noble.

    Oh, it will be nice to flash a noble emblem and get through the gate without waiting.

    I can''t wait.

    I hope the gatekeepers are kind to Horsey.

    So despite my desire to stay here forever and keep talking technology and food with my female elders I would be returning to investigate no matter what.

    When I told the two women, and Degin, about the depths of the ''Bay of Mountains'' they were all amazed that we had gone so far in.

    The bay was known as a cursed place to most people. I wonder how I''d never heard that, granted it was a strange place, and people didn''t often venture down the path heading there, but I never heard it was cursed though. I thought the lack of traffic was just because there was nothing there.

    It seems there may actually be much there.

    Clearly there are natural and mineral resources in abundance.

    Plus the source of silk that the people in Winter Village use.

    And most important of all, was it was the source of the greatest river on the continent.

    The river that split the continent.

    It was only known as the Coil here, and in the bay. After the third waterfall a few hundred miles downriver from Havas, it was renamed the Scar river.

    I kind of liked that name more than Coil, but that wasn''t up to me.

    But first, of course, I would have to attend the royal naming ceremony they were expediting for my sake.

    It would happen tomorrow evening, they had to send word about my deed and hear back from the king. It was a traditional part of the ceremony, the ''reading of the commendation from the king''. It was basically a cookie cutter congrats letter from how I understood it.

    With Fourteen Counties six Earldoms and three Duchies under his throne it was obvious he wasn''t carefully reading each letter before replying.

    There must have been a ceremony a week. If I were the king, I''d leave that to my secretary, surely. (Shirley)

    But the ceremony wasn''t till tomorrow, I could relax until then. and now I wasn''t worried about mana either.

    Who would have thought the beacon I saw when walking here was actually mostly just my mother.

    Her mana levels were, put simply, explosive.

    She seemed to be a waterfall of mana. I was amazed that anyone was standing in the room but when I realized it was due to her natural welcoming energy it honestly made me chuckle. Only my mother would have a mana that makes you want to stay.

    She must have used it to steal my father.

    Heh She''d likely smack me if she heard that, I know that''s not that case, but it is an interesting form of mana.

    While most of my mana is dark and cloudy her''s was bright and pure.

    I had never seen mana so beautiful before.

    The trees, people, and animals I''d run into thus far had all had the same dark cloudy or sometimes even inky black mana but this was pure light, bright energetic happy light mana.

    Professor mage, perhaps you are indeed on to something, your three types of mana, I will have to ask more about it later.

    Susan began to ask about a variety of topics again after memorizing the dictionary, first she wanted to know my plans for the steam engine.

    I told her that she should just continue building and refining its power. It would be enough for some simple machines right now but it didn''t have any real torque. If we wanted to build any sort of vehicle or tractor we would be sorely disappointed at this point, the weight to power ratio is still far to high.

    At best we could build a train, but that wasn''t my plan, first we needed to start on the construction of the canal. I had briefly brought it up with the Count during the interrogation he said it sounded like a marvelous yet impossible task, I told him it''d be easy and he said ''go for it''. So land wise we had no issues.

    Susan had apparently with some spare sheet metal built six twenty foot water gates.

    When she described their construction vividly, I was impressed. I had never built anything like that so even if I knew the concepts the construction of the lock doors was something that would of course amaze me, I couldn''t wait to see them installed. She had mentioned she used a ''thicker gauge steel for the walls'', I praised her for the thought and mentally praised her usage of the language of the builders term. But I believe it was not something in their original dictionary, they must have picked it up from my notes.

    Well with this the lock should be able to be installed as soon as the canal team reaches the waterfall. The plan was to use the tallest waterfall as location for the lock, I honestly wasn''t sure what the typical routine for this was but I assumed I made the right choice, Susan thought about it carefully and concluded the same result.

    The waterfall was within the Counts territory so it shouldn''t be a problem, it would also run past five cities between the lock and Havas.

    With five ports suddenly making trade, the economy of this County will quickly change, I''m interested to watch what happens.

    We will also run the canal up river towards the heart of the ''bay of mountains'', but this would happen after the Count''s territory. I will hire some of the miners in Godrick to begin the work on their side, it should make things easier for Susan.

    We planned to actually bring the water level down a few feet total, this would make any sudden rainfalls easily dealt with, without any risk of flooding. An event that was common on the Coil, and even more prevalent on the raging Scar.

    We would need an Earls permission to dig the canal after the lock area, I was entirely banking on the fact that he would allow us to do so. I planned on using the successful maritime economy that was sure to boom in Havas and the other cities as an example of the possibilities for the earls towns. After that I would either get permission as we went further down, or I would get the attention of the king and ask permission. I thought both were likely scenarios. Though I would prefer to just finish it all with the individual nobles, I''m not sure what kind of person the king is, but I shouldn''t tempt fate.

    One thing i was sure of.

    Some day, that the canal would reach the ocean. It would take time, sure, but with the amount of earth spec''d mages in this world it should be possible. No, it''s necessary for the world. It will definitely happen.

    I''m not sure such a project has ever been taken on before.

    Certainly not here, but perhaps not even on earth. I know the longest canal on earth was in china, it was over one thousand miles long. I wasn''t sure of the exact combined length of the coil and scar rivers, but they were extremely long. And they were currently impossible to traverse by boat. If this wasn''t the case, imagine how travel and business could increase. For the first time there could be port cities trading with inland cities without the need of costly ground transport.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    As for replacing ground transport, I actually didn''t currently plan on using trains. For a variety of reasons, one being the current political state of the world, it isn''t right for running tracks across tracts of land. It would be a bureaucratic nightmare, even more of one than the already difficult canal.

    No I actually wanted to employ the ''village of winter''s'' specialists to handle transporting goods across the land. I was talking of course about the forgotten technology of the future, the blimp made from the fine fabrics of the winter village.

    I know this wasn''t practical, but for some strange reason the vehicles just seemed like the most ideal transport to me.

    I realize it was slower than the other air transports that I could build.

    But with current technology it''s the most realistic air based transportation system. And the payload can actually be significantly higher than that of a plane.

    Especially a plane we could create with the current level of engine mechanics Susan was experimenting with.

    No, blimping was surely the right path.

    No one will convince me otherwise.

    No one.

    Hindenburg; what?

    Don''t be silly where would I even find hydrogen? Oh the water, well yeah that is smart.

    But no, I would build hot air blimps, their lift was slightly lower but until I could find a source of helium I was out of luck.

    When I was explaining the concept of breaking water into its pieces Susan seemed to understand better than I expected, she explained that it was a concept she had learned from an alchemist.

    "No way! Alchemy works here? Can we make lead into gold, that would be really handy!"

    "It can be done but it''s very illegal." She explained with a flick of her finger.

    "Why illegal?"

    "The church see''s it as heresy, they say they will excommunicate any king who allows their citizens to commit the act."

    That seems a little too convenient to the royal bank keepers.

    They must have had a hand in the church''s proclamation. Though it was probably for the best. If they want gold to maintain any sort of true value as the primary coinage they would have to prevent the creation of the precious metals themselves.

    It seemed it was the case for all three of the ''money metals'' both copper and silver were also illegal to create, other than that it seemed alchemist, while rare, could do just about anything within limits.

    Well, then, that''s where I''ll get helium. I have no doubt they can make it but how will they conceptually understand what it is?. Perhaps they could begin by creating the by separate pieces of water, hydrogen and oxygen.

    The oxygen is useless. but the hydrogen, through fission could be turned to helium. It''s probably something a alchemist could do. If not, then maybe a wind spec could possibly extract it directly from the air.

    Oh, before i get entirely off the topic of precious metals. I wanted too discuss what I assume to be the variable worth''s of each metal.

    Its fairly complicated actually, According to the government one copper was worth 1/100th of a silver, However this wasn''t true.

    One silver could not buy one hundred coppers worth of grain, it was more currently around twenty. This was because the worth of one copper was entirely dependent on the the value of a bag of grain.

    Basically, instead of gold backing their coins. Currently wheat backed the copper coin, which veritably controlled the value''s of all the other denominations. Gold, while supposed to be worth ten silver, was actually more around fifteen, value wise. It was all somewhat backwards, while intelligent in some aspects the bankers didn''t seem to have a full grasp on the situation.

    I mentioned something I wanted from Susan.

    "Stockpile copper from now on."

    "Uhm¡­ are you aware that''s illegal?"

    Hm, I wasn''t, it seems if you posses more than 100 copper and do not redeem it for a silver you could be imprisoned. Wow. That''s idiotic.

    "Do you mind?"

    "Is it important?"

    "I think it will be the most important technology I bring to this world."

    The entire table, though drunk, went silent. I wasn''t sure how to explain the concept to them. One thing I knew they would have trouble swallowing was the fact that I didn''t plan to use the collected copper as money, but instead as a raw material.

    It was honestly easier than finding a copper mine, and since its value is so low I should be able to acquire it in massive quantities. It will obviously disrupt the currency system but ill leave that for the money managers in the royal capital to figure out.

    I wanted to create braided copper wire.

    I wanted to create incredibly long lengths of braided coaxial wire.

    It will be something I run along the the Coil Canal, this would soon become the spine of the communications system that will soon spread throughout this world.

    I know my technologies aren''t entirely all on the same level but I''m approaching them in the order I think most interesting. This world won''t even recognize the fact that I''m skipping steps, and best case scenario the people using the technologies will backwards engineer them into other technologies, like how replaceable parts have been incorporated into road building.

    Plus its not like any of them have been particularly hard to build so far, with magic nearly all machined parts can be created, so that removes about a few thousand years out of their advancement time automatically.

    Who knows maybe the telegraph won''t be successful here, but one thing i was sure by watching the growth of the united states, a well established communication grid planned well early will lead to a much simpler future.

    I wonder if I can design computer before I die, Id love to bring the internet to this world. I suppose if I fail my children will be able to continue the spread of technology.

    Oh, I suppose I just automatically assumed I would pass along my mind to my child just as my ancestor had done for so many generations, but shouldn''t I?

    That logically seemed like the right thing to do, even if it does limit my own life span it''s worth it, for the human race.

    Whenever my first son turns sixteen it will be my turn to die. I obviously wasn''t expecting to have any children just yet but I would have to keep it in mind.

    Right; On the subject, my mother, congratulated me on my engagement.

    It seems, the witch Joye had neglected to mention that I was traditionally to marry the Daughter of the witch upon returning from the flight.

    Claire and I both seemed uncomfortable with the aspect so it was put onto a side burner.

    I pray my mother doesn''t bring it up again.

    Don''t get me wrong Claire is a wonderful girl, and I do think I could see myself falling in love with her, but it would have to be on my own terms, perhaps its my American brain thinking arranged marriages are ''lame''.

    Or perhaps I''d just prefer to ask her myself. Well since the tradition of giving a ring doesn''t exist in this world I can''t exactly get down on one knee like they do on Earth.

    Ah, I could bring Earth traditions here if I wanted to. But ''that'' mind isn''t much of a romantic so the idea didn''t really hold much water.

    Degin, and the recent arrival Joseph, were both completely drunk.

    Claire and I exchanged glances and then reenacting a month prior, carried our two subordinates up to some rooms my mother had prepared. Tossing the two who were at least conscious this time into the rooms. I turned towards my room, the familiar door was like a maze of wood grain that I could walk even in my dreams.

    Claire softly coughed behind me this time.

    I turned my face to see her, who''s cheeks were flushed from the glasses of wine my mother had given us.

    "I don''t ''particularly'' care about tradition but¡­ "

    <hr><hr><hr>

    The rushed ceremony was extravagant, it didn''t look like the same room from earlier.

    There were heavy fabrics in multi colors hanging from the ceiling of the wide hall. The streamers flowed from the wind in the drafty castle and actually looked fairly beautiful.

    But it was somewhat hard to concentrate on that, I was still hungover this late into the day. I really wish there were more future technologies in this world. Tylenol being just one amongst them.

    Well, actually, maybe I should work on penicillin before that. Yeah that''s probably the main pharmaceutical priority I should work on.

    I''m also well aware of the innovation I wanted, but needed to stay away from. Earth-me was particularly weak against the intoxication of poppy based medications, so I would have to steer clear.

    I had actually seen the plant before, they were used by the herbalists guild to make simple medicines.

    But onto the real reason I''m here. The large Count and his portly Countess sat in fine chairs, behind them stood a extremely skinny boy who looked to be a handful of years younger than me.

    This must be the son.

    I''m glad he isn''t; more.

    He seemed physically fit, it seems he has good role models, or perhaps whatever you consider the opposite of role models.

    He has good examples, of what could be.

    Good for you, stay strong, and away from sweets.

    The Count had assembled a large audience, I recognized Joseph, Degin, Claire and my mother amongst the crowd. Well I say that, but Claire and Joseph were standing with other knights while my mother and Degin were with the random noble ''extras'' that the Count had assembled.

    The count held the scepter lazily in his sausage fingers, He began with his part of the ceremony once the crowd had quieted down.

    "By deed of extinguishing the bandit threat in the¡­ " He began to drone on with a false regal tone he often used in these situations.

    " ¡­And, with those words in mind, and with me of clear heart¡­ "

    " ¡­really where would we be without said forefathers, I know I¡­ "

    "¡­And that''s when I knew he would grow up to be such a strong young man¡­ "

    He had gone a little off topic at some point, the child turned bright red and bonked the man on the head softly.

    "¡­And now with that out of the way onto the topic of today''s gathering."

    Wait seriously?

    "Drew, of ''no last name'', you are here today because of a great feat. When no one else could, you, defeated evil and brought peace into far-away unprotected villages. For this deed, as their Count, all I can do is give you my utmost thanks, and the title of honorary noble, henceforth you will be called by the last name of your choosing."

    I had heard this would be the case, it was uncommon for a non noble to have a last name, thinking about it I may actually have a last name that I''m not aware of, I wonder if this will conflict, do I take it as my maiden name now or something?

    "And now for the reading of the ''Kings commendation''."

    He coughed slightly and retrieved a letter from a small man holding a silver tray.

    The letter bore a red wax seal on the back, I couldn''t make out the emblem but I assumed it was the kings.

    "With this letter, I King Loren hearby¡­ " The count began before pausing and continuing silently to himself. He gasped at the letters contents.

    "Huu¡­" He stammered awkwardly as he finished inspecting the letter, he shifted his weight uncomfortably and began to shake his head before turning his attention back to the letter, and then to me.

    "With this letter, I King Loren hearby bestow upon you the title of Duke. You will be henceforth be known as the ''Duke of Blood'', and will be granted rights over the land known as the ''Bay of Mountains''. You will proceed to the capitol in two months for your ''Installation Ceremony''."

    """"What!?"""" Nearly everyone, me including, said in unison.

    Duke of Blood?

    Did I just instantly get a promotion? And was the king aware of who I was by name? The count had swore he wouldn''t tell him who I was, only my deed.

    This was a problem.

 Chapter 17 - Road

    This was a minor problem.

    I honestly, just didn''t want to go to the capital, don''t get me wrong, I was thrilled.

    When Claire explained the perks of being a Duke, well I couldn''t help but get excited. And since the Count granted me the land north of here where our Inn was located. Life wouldn''t really become very different, other than maybe some paperwork i would have to do from time to time.

    If anything my life will probably get easier.

    Susan would surely suffer less headache building the canal. As long as I properly made a proposal to the king, it should be no problem.

    If he is a half intelligent king he should understand the benefits of cheap naval transportation between the Kingdom''s provinces. And it would also benefit his ocean faring capital as well.

    I should be able to accomplish it without too much trouble. I can be pretty persuasive if i need to be.

    It was actually Claire who came up with the plan as we headed towards the Inn.

    I was grumbling, really, to leave for the capital so soon after I had returned from my flight, it was completely unfair.

    That''s when she asked to go to the capital alone.

    It alarmed me, had I upset her?

    I didn''t think so.

    I''m pretty sure we were actually getting along better than ever.

    But it wasn''t what i thought..

    She wanted to travel to the capital, and then prepare a place for a teleportation void.

    In that time I would return to the Bay to investigate.

    It was an appealing offer but it also worried me.

    I cared deeply for the girl. And it

    be dangerous on the road.

    When I mentioned those things she blushed and then created a half dozen voids in an instant.

    Yeah, I suppose she will be alright.

    If she can open that many it wouldn''t matter how many opponents, or who they were, they would all fall.

    Likely in a gruesome manner. At least the first few.

    "Fear and confusion incite escape." That was what Claire claimed, it was likely something she heard from Joseph or her instructor.

    Speaking of Joseph he approached me once we reached the Inn, he was looking rather sheepish, I was sure I had mention my forgiving him the night before but it seemed he needed to hear it again.

    He seemed equally confused about the King''s Decision, but overall celebrated it., I wondered if perhaps he would resign from the Count''s Counsel position and jump ship. He chuckled when I brought up the thought.

    "You really are just like you''re father, a hot head before, and cool and collected after."

    "Yo¡­ you knew my father before his Ceremony?"

    "Oh, yeah, I grew up in a village near

    father''s camp. I was quick friends with the boy." He said with a smile as he took a sip of wine. "A bit of a hot head when he was a boy, as I said, a big ego. Much like you were before I hear.

    But when I met him again guiding traders to Colgate, he was a totally different man, he aided me in fighting the Demon and shared with me this."

    He pulled the blade from its pouch, it was indeed an exact copy of the sword I carried at my belt.

    "I should have died that day, I had no right to receive the blade in the first place. It was about to kill me when the hero showed up. He seemingly jumped a dozen feet and stopped its arms with his bare hand. Then with a careful move he ended its life. He said, ''You should have the blades, because all I did was clean up the mess, you were the one who fought.''"

    He turned his blade over slowly in his hand. Gazing at it with sadness, Claire could hear the conversation. He glanced at her and bowed his head for a moment.

    She placed her hand on his shoulder and told him to right his head.

    It seems they held this discussed before, the man once again offered the sword to Claire.

    He had apparently done this ever since he first time met her in the Havas training barracks. I chuckled at the action but then the attention quickly turned to me. I was afraid for a moment.

    Then the sword was thrust at me, well no, not like that.

    It was handed carefully towards me.

    Claire and Joseph both looked at me seemingly curious if I would take it.

    Honestly the thought of having the set pair was enticing. Extremely enticing.

    How could I say no?

    Joseph insisted Claire have it, and Claire insisted I should have it. Did I have any right to insist otherwise?

    I took the blade thankfully and the moment I touched it I could feel a burst of power.

    It felt like the mana of a thousand souls suddenly collided with my body.

    A weaker man would have surely died.

    Hell, I would have likely died if a few months prior.

    I knew there could only be one cause for the surge. It was because I now held both swords. But where had the mana come from? I didn''t get a chance to check it out with mana vision first so i didn¡¯t see, had it really been stored in the blade?

    The blades seemed to have an attraction, they didn''t psychically pull towards each other but when I took a peek via mana vision I could see a thick band of mana flowing between the blades.

    As I swirled the twin blades around the band of mana would stretch and tighten, but the blades remained weightless.

    They were incredible. They, while once possessing a light shimmer now embered a deep red under the black steel. I noticed a pattern in the pulses of mana and tested something.

    The moment I released a carefully aimed pulse of mana the swords ignited with red light.

    ¡°Cool.¡± I blankly said as i held the glowing blades in front of the Inn, a few tribes people looked at me, noticing the commotion when the initial mana burst occurred

    It would surely be an intimidating sight, I would have to keep this blade aura in mind in my next fight. Not that i particularly needed another card in my deck but, well¡­

    Anyways, how exactly was this made?

    I''m theoretically the most intelligent person in the world, not to brag.

    So how could I not understand these blades?

    Damn magic.

    Making this world confusing around every turn.

    I asked about the origin of the blade but neither Claire nor Joseph had ever seen anything like them before.

    My mother was actually the one with the most information, she said they were likely an item made by ¡®lower gods¡¯.

    I quickly brushed off the church talk and began experimenting with pulses of mana inside the blade. It seemed to be able to store a high amount. It was beyond my understanding. Can metal typically hold mana? Because this sword clearly could.

    Perhaps it''s made from something other than metal.

    All these thoughts swirled in my head.

    On the other hand, the tribes-people around me just watched me pulse mana with wide eyes.

    They all could handle a large pulse without much trouble. Even some of the younger kids in the tribe would have no trouble with what I considered a ''deadly pulse''.

    I wondered how our tribes bloodline could possess such high amounts of mana. I then mentally scolded the men and women for not mastering higher levels of magical training.

    They were wasting that mana inside them. My mother even, was only ''so'' skilled with water magic. But with her endless flows of mana she could likely become an unparalleled master if she only applied herself a bit more. I really felt like scolding her.

    Whoa. Which of us is the parent again? I should forget this line of thought, for my health.

    I think my earth-self''s mother had said a similar thing often. "If you only applied yourself."

    I had actually been activating more of ¡®

    person''s personal memories lately.

    Typically they were all memories of jobs or interesting museums and TV programs. But now I would find memories of eating breakfast, and family vacations and love.

    They were clearly pointless memories, but I enjoyed them almost more than the others.

    They were so simple and relaxing. I don''t think the boy grew up in a particularly amazing family, but it was a happy, kind home nonetheless. I wonder which of us had a better childhood? Is the grass only greener?

    His parents cared for his future, spoiled him, and of course kept things from him.

    It reminded me of my current life. It seemed everyone would face these things, but it was interesting how much the two of us had in common, despite the worlds apart.

    It had begun to get late. The dynamic duo were again plastered.

    The two had talked at length about how worried they were about us. so Claire and I reluctantly forgave the drunks. We again carried the two to their rooms and retired to our own.

    <hr><hr><hr>

    As it was my last night home for awhile I enjoyed the night to the fullest, and the hangover I had when I awoke reinforced that notion.

    The cinnamon rolls, and yes I would now go so far as to call them ''cinnamon rolls'' were delicious.

    My mother was in tears when I told her they were perfect. I showed her a basic recipe for frosting and she told me it would be the next thing she mastered.

    She had a very determined look on her face when she said that. I accepted the strength but mentally noted that sugar doesn''t exist in this world, we would either be forced to use honey or find some source of sugar.

    I will have to send out feelers in the Craftsmen Guild. There must be a similar plant to sugarcane in this world.

    Most plants here were like Earth¡¯s, I had seen turnips, clovers, oak trees, cinnamon obviously, and various other Earth plants. Since this was the case I assumed other edible Earth plants must be around too. Perhaps they just haven''t been discovered yet, or maybe just not popularized yet.

    The potato was one in particular i really wanted to find, i had carefully drawn its shape and told Susan to spread the image and a one hundred gold bounty.

    Oh, perhaps Count Augustine could help me find earth delicacies. I had heard at length about his various food vacations.

    He seemed to perk up yesterday when I told him about the mysterious spice I had discovered. He made a promise to come visit the Inn and try. I doubted it would actually happen though.

    Claire and I would leave simultaneously, it would be hard to say goodbye but this plan was surely the best one. I would be able to investigate, and possibly help out the villages in what was now my land, while Claire established a base for teleportation, Claire would then pick me up in two months in Colgate''s mage tower.

    It was a simple plan, I really didn''t see any issue''s with it. But still I was worried.

    Since Claire would be traveling alone she could move at a much faster pace.

    Whenever her horse grew tired she would simply buy a new one.

    I was also worried about money but Degin pulled me aside. He said he must show me something he¡¯d been ¡®meaning to for awhile¡¯.

    I¡¯d heard of the cave we walked towards before, my dad had told me strictly never to approach the entrance. He warned that it could collapse and I would fall to my death below.

    I of course listened to him and never drew within a hundred feet of the cave.

    Degin walked directly towards the chasm in the ground.

    With a graceful hop he disappeared from view.

    What?

    "You coming?" He asked peeking his head over the lip for a moment.

    I inched closer and then looked into the hole, it was dark but Degin was surely standing on stable ground. I took a careful step into the hole and my feet clicked loudly against the floor.

    "What is thi¡­" I began

    "The Vault."

    He ignited a flame in the palm of his hand with a sharp snap.

    Right, I''d forgotten about his fire magic.

    Sparkles shone for what seemed like miles. The cave was indeed as vast as my father had claimed, but it wasn''t nearly as deep. Likely because the ground was stacked with gold, gems and other precious metals.

    Beneath our feet sat goblets, coins, bricks and all variety of valuable objects. It was surely worth millions on earth. I dug through the pile slightly.

    Six inches.

    A foot.

    Three feet.

    Perhaps more than millions, this was fort Knox level. Sans security.

    There was truly no floor in sight. How much was really here? And how had it gotten here?

    "We, for generations kept a small camp here to guard the cave, It was when your father was visiting the cave like, you are now, that he first met your mother, decided to break tradition, and propose on the spot. It surprised everyone, except for Joye."

    I see, I had wondered why, and how, my father had decided to move here. I guess he wanted to be nearby that which was most important to him.

    I will leave it up for interpretation.

    But i was never aware him and Joye were close.

    Oh, well i suppose they would have had to be close.

    She was intended to be his bride, and they went through the ¡®long walk up the mountain¡¯ together as was tradition.

    After collecting a few sacks of gold and silver with Degin permission, we exited the cave.

    "You know you don''t have to ask for it. It''s your money, Hawk."

    "Ah, no this is my ancestors money. Don''t attribute this paltry sum to me." I say with a smile thumbing towards the cave.

    "Truly the Hawk''s child." He says chuckling at my words.

    I was of course joking, this was a substantial sum of money, but when you possess vast quantities of money like that, they are impossible to spend, If I began to spend the gold the market would quickly become overwhelmed by the newly circulating gold.

    It was unfortunate that gold wasn''t as useful as copper technologically, yet.

    If it had been I''d use it as a raw material instead of as money, that way it stays out of circulation and the economy doesn''t collapse. I was happy when I''d seen the copper in the vault, it would become a lot of wire, but not nearly enough yet.

    Would gold wire work? It would be target for thieves if the information got out surely. I will think on this carefully.

    There was no doubt it was almost all unspendable though. Best case we trade it for materials we needed, but ''real best case'' we never need materials.

    So far iron ore and coal are acquired from a town to the west but if I wanted to move the craftsmen into my Duchy then I would need my own sources, on my own land.

    Unless of course i was okay with toppling the economy, but I wasn''t thrilled on that prospect so I would add the gold slowly, and only import what i needed.

    Two of the bags went to Susan, she would be using it for purchasing materials and paying the Canal builders wages.

    They had actually already established a large Guild.

    The ''Earth Mages Guild''. It had once been a guild that taught young mages, but after the recent hard times in the district the building had all but been abandoned.

    It seemed the excitement for the well paying work was spreading quickly. We already had nearly four hundred people in Havas alone enrolled in the guild. All were preparing for work and learning safety measures. Susan was the right choice as leader for this endeavor. I¡¯m glad we met.

    The other bag, of silver, would be for purchasing copper. And again I don''t mean the legal way. I had told her to go around and exchange the silver for copper. I also told her the current actual exchange rate of the coins.

    She was astounded by what I said.

    "Twenty copper for a single silver?! That''s far too little."

    "Trust me it''s not, it''s fair. However, once the remaining silver coins are half gone you should assume the rate has gone up to around forty."

    "Why?"

    "Because of the drain on copper coins. They themselves will become in high demand. Especially once word spreads that someone is selling silver at twenty ¡é a piece."

    She seemed to swallow this concept after little time.

    The final bag went to Claire, It was slightly smaller so that she wouldn''t attract too much attention. It should still have more than enough to buy the dozen horses she would need to make the trip in good time.

    Also with enough left over for her to enjoy her time once she arrived. She did seem slightly excited about visiting the Capital.

    I had asked if she didn''t just want to leave later, or for me to come with her, but she claimed if she went early she could establish her base and teleport back if she truly wanted.

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    She was also adamant that I help the people in the Bay. I couldn''t deny her so I relented.

    I think i was just nervous about leaving her side.

    We had been together this whole past month. It was hard to even imagine traveling back into the bay without her.

    I would have said alone, but I wasn''t actually going to be alone.

    I''m honestly embarrassed to say I have completely forgotten the names of the couple, but a young family and their son approached me before i received the sword from Joseph last night.

    They wanted me to take their son Den with me on my journey.

    It seemed he was an earth mage, he had actually grown up with me, I recognized him faintly but didn''t know the boy by name. He mostly kept to himself. He was a nice enough kid though so I had no real issue with him going with me.

    He had just turned sixteen, so as was tradition he would also take his ''first flight''.

    The family was worried about the taciturn boy they assumed he would run into danger. They wanted me to take him into the bay, so he could experience adventure under the guidance of someone strong.

    Honestly it sounded like a hassle. But under the terrified glances of the mother and father, I had no choice but to agree. I don''t want to be feared, so if doing a few nice gestures now dissuades those thoughts then that will help me.

    They thanked me and asked that i not allow him to enter any danger, i assured them of the case.

    I waved the boy over and after a few minutes prep we began down the road to Godrick.

    The boy¡¯s parents had told it was even alright to just drop him in a town somewhere along the way, they said as long as he could experience life outside the tribe in some fashion the ¡®flight¡¯ could be considered a success.

    It actually relaxed me slightly that I wouldn''t be completely alone on the journey though.

    Sure I had the Earthling who was in my head, but he was quiet.

    Well silent rather.

    He wasn''t exactly great company.

    I, now that the road was repaired, was permitted to bring Horsey.

    It was another aspect that relaxed me about the journey.

    But saying goodbye to Claire as she turned towards the bridge was hard.

    We prolonged the goodbye for a moment and then both continued towards our destinations. It would be two months before we would see eachother again. And likely much would change in that time.

    One thing sure to change was the seasonal lock in the Bay, I would surely end it

    So I have two months.

    Should be more than enough time to investigate and eliminate the curse, if it truly even is a curse.

    My money, if i were a betting man, would be on some kind of barrier.

    It was a theory I first had while exiting the Bay days prior.

    It was when i first spotted my home in the distance.

    I had mana vision ¡®on¡¯ at the time.

    I was watching the floodlight-looking Inn in the typical cloudy darkness of mana vision, then the next thing I knew the clouds and darkness lifted, as if they had been a heavy blanket.

    The beaconous inn still shone bright from my mother¡¯s heavenly aura but the noise surrounding, the clouds and blackness between had vanished.

    I could even relatively make out my surroundings while outside the barrier, as opposed to the blackness it had been while inside. I could probably walk with mana vision now without tripping, this could be useful i thought to myself.

    The trees had seemingly less mana outside i noticed. The also ground emitted only fractions of the dull cloudy mana. While in the bay the ground seemed to steam with the mana while viewing with mana vision.

    When I turned to my back it looked like a large black bubble sat amongst the mountains, resting over the bay.

    That''s the sight I looked towards now, Den couldn''t understand why I had a twinge of fear in my eye.

    It was hard not to.

    It was an ominously large barrier from the looks of it. It¡¯s likely one similar to what held my mana for 16 years.

    But here it was holding back all the mana that every living creature in the massive forest leaked.

    As it had for likely the past two hundred years.

    There was an incomprehensible amount of mana packed within.

    So that explains the ents. They likely are just normal tree''s who have ingested too much mana.

    I wonder if me destroying the barrier will kill them?

    Perhaps.

    Well, no. Actually since they already possess the mana they probably won''t be stripped, especially since they seemed to generate it in the same way animals and humans do.

    So they

    be safe when the forest eventually pulses.

    Oh, wow. But what about everyone else, I mean like the whole rest of the world outside the barrier. Wouldn¡¯t they all die?

    The mana inside this forest barrier was billions of times more than mine. A pulse of that size could do untold damage.

    That would be regrettable.

    I must avoid that of course.

    Maybe I can focus the pulse upwards or downwards.

    Well, so far I don''t even know if this is all even true yet. I would first need to get to Godrick and get a place for Den to stay, then I would talk with the witch.

    A mining town seems the perfect place for an earth spec¡¯d mage right?

    The witch should know a way of releasing the barrier, and she might even know the purpose of said barrier. I also want to know any possible reason the barrier could cause the season phenomenon, i was sure they were linked. They both seemed to have the same point of origin.

    If not the witch doesn¡¯t know, then i will ask professor mage.

    If not him then the Ents, or the Elders.

    Then I will take a vacation day in Spider city.

    Because I deserve it.

    But then I would go to the source!

    It seemed to be on the base of the furthest rear mountain, the mouth of the legendary coil. I had probably gotten three quarters of the way there last time without knowing it.

    When i was in winter village the mountains cast a great shadow over the town, adding to the chill in the air.

    The elders claimed that all that was up river were some tribal ruins and few various structures.

    From basic geometry it seemed it must be the place.

    And the term ¡®various structures¡¯ was kind of a dead giveaway.

    But I couldn''t imagine what ruins could maintain such a powerful barrier. My life force had maintained my barrier. So what was maintaining this one?

    And to maintain a barrier for so long, perhaps it really was some cursed item or something I would have to destroy. Well surely i have to destroy whatever it is. It¡¯s wreaking havoc on this place.

    These fantastical thoughts floated in my head unbeknownst to the boy, soon man, who rode a wide donkey beside me.

    His mount forced us to slow our pace some, but Horsey didn''t seem to mind.

    Horsey was a lazy beast, but it''s what I loved about him. He was a creature who took after my own heart.

    But even at our pace we still arrived at Godrick in record time. These roads were truly something.

    I first noticed when the craftsmen guilds flatbed was carrying stone tiles for the road work in the grove.

    It had become priority since I owned the area.

    I noticed the carts at the time were able to go nearly twice as fast, due to the lack of stones and divots to avoid, and the smooth surface of the tiled road made the wheels roll much easier.

    This would surely be one of the technologies that changes this world.

    I instructed the craftsmen guild to apply a strict one year embargo on all inventions i gave them, some small things like the plow had already slipped through the cracks but it wasn''t exactly a loss. We would still become the main producers of the item once they went up for sale in the coming weeks.

    On the contrary I actually wanted competition for the plow, that¡¯s why we leaked the document.

    We would sell the items at cost, making nothing. So any craftsmen who tried to copy the item would need some major ingenuity to make it for cheaper. And unless you could make it cheaper or better you couldn''t sell it for long. This was especially true in this world.

    I expect they will likely connect the blades directly to the device instead of using replaceable blades like ours.

    This was surely an option, but the farmers would get sick of repairing them each time they struck a stone, and they will either switch to ours, or complain to the builder.

    <hr>

    Godrick should be renamed Goldrick.

    At this point they even had the stuff adorning their homes. It was a bit excessive.

    But, as they had hired some of my tribe members to guard the place, they felt no worries showing off their newfound wealth.

    It made me happy, my people are already prosperous. And they didn''t even know they were my people yet.

    I would enjoy this peaceful time while I could.

    I wasn''t sure of the extent, but i was sure I would have much to do as a Duke.

    We enter the brand new Inn and marvel at the construction. It was a new technique i had introduced, but i have never seen it before.

    Rammed earth.

    Large sheets of metal were placed on either side of where a wall was to be built. The miners or farmers would then scoop dirt into the form and compress it with magic, or manual labor. Then the forms were taken away to reveal a thick insulated earthen wall. The forms were handy for people like miners and farmers, who had the ability to dig and compress dirt, but had no way to shape it and form it like the highly trained craftsmen.

    I suppose the ability to build a house isn''t worth a few extra years of training.

    Lazy, I will nip that in the bud.

    Required schooling.

    Ah, although I say that, I haven''t actually attended school myself, maybe I should before I require attendance.

    After Den ran his hands over the surface of the compressed wall for a few moments, marveling at the building we sat down for a meal, and drink.

    The whole time we traveled Den hadn''t said a word, and still he sat mouth shut.

    While i enjoyed the time to think, it made me slightly uncomfortable, maybe it was best if he was left here for the time being.

    "So, Den was it? I know we grew up together but I don''t know you well, tell me about yourself."

    "Ah, Uhm, Well¡­ There''s not much to say Mr.Hawk sir."

    "Just Drew is fine. Were the same age after all."

    "Ah, but¡­ But i''m¡­"

    "Doesn''t matter, I''m fine. The title of Hawk is not really my style anyways. But really? There''s nothing about yourself you feel you could talk about at length? I feel like everyone has something like that."

    "Mh, I enjoy taking care of the animals. But that''s not much to talk about that."

    "Ohho? I hope Horsey doesn''t cause you any trouble."

    "Hors¡­ " The boy said clenching his lips tightly.

    "Mm, that''s the name I''ve given the horse I rode here."

    The boy erupts, I had figured it would happen, he had been stifling a grin a moment ago. Not to mention the fact that after my strong persisting he had accepted a cup of wine.

    "You¡­ you name them too?" He pants through laughter.

    "Oh, you too?"

    He calms himself and wipes his eyes regaining himself. "I named the goats. Eustace, Eugene, Euphy, and Eunise. You know I really have to say Drew, you are more different than I thought."

    "Hold that thought, why ''Eu'' names?"

    "Well because goats go, ''EUUUUUUUUUUU!''" He suddenly bleats loudly, surprising a nearby craftsmen.

    "No, No No, you are wrong it''s definitely ''BEEEEEEEEEEE!''" I return after slapping down my cup.

    The two of us compare impressions for a moment before being shut up by the craftsmen and laughing wildly to ourselves.

    This guy, was a good guy.

    He was quiet but he surely had something he could talk about at length.

    My father had once told me to judge a person by weather they can speak with passion about a subject. It doesn''t matter the subject, if someone can talk with fire in their eyes they could be trusted.

    This man could be trusted.

    "So what did you expect me to be like, you say I''m different."

    "Well I thought you were lazy when you suddenly slept for awhile, and it was over your birthday too, something i was so looking forward to myself,yet you had just slept through yours like it was nothing. I was sure you would get in trouble and not be allowed on your first flight, maybe even lose your position as Hawk. But instead when you finally got off your butt you were suddenly a different person, you seemed, smarter, and more ambition. Before that you were, not exactly a bully but, you would be upset by the smallest issues. But after, none of the previous fire inside you burned, it was like you had been doused in water. You turned from a raging bonfire to slow safe burning charcoal.But that''s not to say you lost your heat, in fact it''s probably more concentrated and dangerous now. You are the difference now between a blunt axe and a razor-edged dagger. You can very likely spot you¡¯re actually targets now instead of just blaming the world when you saw injustice."

    This man is articulate in the common language as well, he must read often at the library in Havas. And what do you think i am, a superhero? I know you¡¯re parents are tribe fanatics but cool your jets.

    I am relieved he has opened up though. I supposed there was no harm in telling him, I''m sure it had been left up to my discretion.

    "You''re parents told you nothing about what happened to me in those days?"

    "They told me if I was seen as worthy the Hawk may tell me."

    Oh god what have these parents indoctrinated this kid with.

    "Remember, calm; not the hawk, Drew."

    "Ah, yes, I know I just was repeating what they said, they see you and your father with great reverence. It is hard for me not to as well, I''m aware these innovations are your doing" He says pointing to the rapidly assembled building we were staying in.

    "Right, well what i''m about to tell you, I would prefer others not¡­" I began to say before slapping my forehead with a grin.

    I was thinking too hard, i just had to explain it to him via an ¡®intent message¡¯. Then no one could eavesdrop on the conversation.

    How had I forgotten. Silly, silly me.

    I need to figure out how to explain it to Den, it was such a long explanation that I really should start at the beginning with the meaning of our tribe.

    "Does it have something to do with the ''education era''s''" He asked moving in and whispering.

    "Oh well if you know the gist of the story that makes things easier." I said before finishing the story via intent. I explained about the ceremony, the witch, everything.

    While I sent the message to Den, he just looked at me with a glazed look, he seemed amazed that i had just spoken with his consciousness.

    Well spoken

    , and it was his mana, not his consciousness, but he doesn''t need to know all that yet.

    I had to be careful or he would begin to think I''m some sort of god. I must not show him my ability to resuscitate people.

    I explained to him that basically the voice was a form of magic and he seemed very interested, it seems he trains magic a lot in his spare time, he had even neared earth-forming level magic. He could probably build a building like this without forms after a little more training.

    A little more work and he could begin training to replace Susan.

    I realize now i should introduce him to professor mage instead of the mine boss. I lightly smack myself for planning on sending this kid to work in a mine for his ¡®first flight¡¯, that was really dumb, even if it is an opportunity to make lots of money it''s still dangerous, exhausting work, not something a smaller bookworm like Den would enjoy.

    No, the professor mage''s tower was the place for him. He could read from among the seemingly endless books the mage had on magic.

    He is also probably around the same level, magically as the young mage assistant girl that we rescued. Perhaps they would become classmates.

    Ah that would be wonderful.

    That is a much better plan for a first flight, he will surely come back stronger.

    "I know where we will go!" I exclaimed lifting from my seat suddenly.

    The wine disagreed with my decision and promptly forced me to slump back down. I received a few odd glances from the workers.

    Someone mumbled something about ¡®learn to handle your liquor¡¯

    If these people knew I was their Duke perhaps they would be embarrassed by me.

    Oh well. They will get over it.

 Chapter 18 - Koi

    "No, no, no, you need to concentrate, not on the grains in the stone, but on the mass itself."

    "Like this?" Den asks the female mage assistant Lola.

    "Here." She says clasping her hand shut and crushing the stone into a small shiny pebble. "You need to imagine the entire stone getting smaller. Try it again."

    Den is a little lower level than the mage it turns out, but it worked now I have time to discuss what the witch had told me earlier.

    "So she told you nothing that you didn''t already know?"

    "Yeah, pretty much."

    "That''s unfortunate. Well I will admit I wasn''t aware there even was a barrier. I was born in Colgate, I''ve never seen this bubble you talk of. But it interests me, if I had to guess I would say it''s a ''compressed aura'' barrier."

    "Compressed aura?"

    "Mm, It''s something like the aura field every creature creates. Its possible to thicken the walls and create a mana tight wall."

    "Interesting."

    "Mm, but if it''s truly one of those there would have to be a person maintaining it through strict concentration."

    We talk for a few more moments about the barrier.

    I''m all but positive it''s a barrier at this point.

    The professor also claims that the seasonal lock was something possibly linked via intent.

    But how, and who, could maintain something like that, and why?

    An extremely old and powerful mage I''m sure.

    Why are they doing it though?

    Is it an experiment?

    If so, it''s been a failure, so why has the barrier been here for this long?

    The mana inside the bubble was nearing levels of toxicity. Though the residents didn''t seem to notice, it was something a weaker person like Den suffered from as we walked deeper.

    It started with vomiting.

    At first I had thought it was just a stomach bug. But when he continued to suffer at the witch''s camp she asked the faeries to intervene.

    They, like with Claire, softly kissed the boy''s skin. Within moments his internal mana level had increased and his color had started to return. When the witch explained the condition I felt bad. Den would have likely died if the fairies hadn''t intervened.

    Toxic mana. Inconsistent seasons. Talking trees. Ferocious wolves. This barrier was doing no good as far as I could tell.

    Well, okay. The talking trees were fine.

    The professor luckily agrees with my assumption that the Ent''s would survive. Since I hadn''t had the time to tell the mage about the creatures, he was amazed when I talked about them.

    We made plans to go there tomorrow.

    We wouldn''t be able to teleport which was a shame but the Ents forest wasn''t too far away.

    I was excited to see them. It''s only been a little over a week, but I needed to know they were still in good health.

    I''m sure the elder has warned not to harvest trees in the forest by now.

    When the Ents explained the situation to the Elder he had fell to his knees in tears. He was amazed by the Ents selflessness, honestly I had been too.

    I had arranged a trader from Colgate to make the trip to Winter Village with lumber so they should be in good shape now.

    The Demi-human population living here in Colgate understood well the art of forestry. They still had a dense forest surrounding their village. It was impossible to see the village from the river. They still harvested vast quantities of lumber though. They have ''Adventurer Lumberjacks'' who venture life and limb for the best trees to collect.

    They were careful not to harm the natural mana balance of the forest. With mana vision you could find areas with over-concentrations of mana and remove the trees. This would allowing the forest to breath again.

    They would become my lumber suppliers.

    With Go(l)drick, Col(Wood)gate, and the Winter (Fabric) Village, my Duchy was already coming together nicely.

    Well thinking about it, Winter Village may need to change their name. I liked the name, but it won''t be winter there for long. I''m not sure the name will fit once all that snow melts.

    The Elder''s will think of something good I''m sure.

    "By the way, have you heard of ''Spider Village''?" I ask the professor remembering my planned vacation day.

    "Hmm, Oh! You mean ''that'' village."

    "Well, yeah. The webbed one, or what ever."

    "Ah, yes I know of it. What about it?"

    "Do you know how far away it is from here? I heard the people of Winter village go over there to buy silk, but their directions to the place seemed vague."

    "If you go north the Spider river joins the Coil. It''s a few miles before the abandoned village, from there it''s a two days journey to reach the city. But I should warn you, it''s a strange and dangerous place."

    "Dangerous?"

    "Ah" He glances at my human ears after a moment. "Right, I had forgotten you were mere human. There is a large church following in the city. It should be no problem for you though. I would avoid antagonizing the people of the church though."

    Actually Professor, the church likely hates me much more than you. But since the man wasn''t aware of my position I stayed quiet.

    "The church is different from that of the Capital''s and Havas'' though." He explains reading half my thoughts.

    It turns out it was a wholly different church.

    In the early days after the tribal conglomeration each empire had its own church. They either combined for strength, or ate each other and now all that stood was the ''Holy Hook Church'', and aparently the ''Holy Spider''.

    I wonder, how the ''Holy hook'' will feel if they heard about this place?

    By the way, I wasn''t happy about our naming scheme being taken.

    But I couldn''t exactly lodge a complaint.

    I decide I will leave for the ''dangerous city'' once the mages have become acquainted with the Ent''s tomorrow.

    It would be the perfect opportunity. I will need to pass winter village to deal with the barrier anyways. So this would really be my last chance to visit the amazing city before my induction.

    As I was having these thoughts, and the professor was reading, we notice it has become quiet in the small tower.

    The girl Lola, and Den who should be practicing, were silent.

    Too silent.

    ''Oh, wow.'' I thought after opening the door.

    What we saw in the room was an eye opening sight.

    Me, for different reasons than the girl''s stand-in father.

    ''Good work Den.'', I silently praised as I look down at the boy and girl sloppily kissing. They both had clothes removed and skin bared.

    "What is happening?!" The mage professor shouts while gripping at his hair.

    This boy would surely become a man during this flight.

    <hr>

    I have left Den in good hands.

    That''s what I thought to myself while I creep down the Spider river in the direction of the city.

    It was called a river but it was more of a creek. The fact the city could survive on such a dribble surprised me.

    Perhaps they have a well.

    It would be the first I''d seen in the Bay. Most of the Chiefs and Elders claimed the Dirt was far to firm to dig a well.

    I would have to develop a well digging machine. It shouldn''t be an issue, I have a few designs that should work. In fact I''m excited to develop the tool, I made a few sketches in my notebook quickly.

    I had figured wells would be dug using earth magic. Since it would still requires removing the heavy dirt though, it was seen as too difficult.

    They would instead just build on the rivers which flowed consistently.

    But here, this creek was just a trickle of water, yet the people survived.

    Or thrived even.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    As I near the village I hear the sounds of singing.

    The professor had said it was a religious city. Upon hearing the majestic voices reverberating from city, I couldn''t help but feel a little god in me too.

    The fact the sound could travel so far from the cotton ball looking city in the distance, amazes me.

    It was maybe somehow being amplified?

    But how?

    Magic intent? I''t doesn''t smell like it.

    No, this sounds acoustic.

    I near closer to the web crusted village. There is a divot pressed into the bubble encompassing the city. The webs looked to be formed in a way to port the sound coming from the church in all directions, like a speaker box. It must have taken a vast amount of ingenuity and time to devise.

    I have to learn more about this amazing city.

    How were they able to form the web so easily?

    I pay a small coin to the guard standing at the gate.

    "We don''t get many outsiders here." The man says with a large grin.

    It was haunting. He was excited, but he just looked like a puppet due to his pale skin tone.

    Everyone in the city had the same pale pigment.

    It was no wonder, the inside of the city was dark.

    The web obscured the sun almost entirely. It was only after my eyes became accustomed to the darkness did I start to marvel at my surroundings.

    The ground wasn''t dirt, or rock, or even payvment, it was a thick mesh of web. The same firm web that wrapped between and around houses and over the dead trees.

    The entire village was really covered, and constructed in these thick spider webs.

    I grasped at one carefully, worried my hand might stick.

    But it doesn''t. The web had long turned to stone. It even had a creamy color to it, not the white it appeared from a distance.

    "Surprise ya?" A man says, surprising me.

    "Yeah." I say feeling the rough web, and curiously looking at the pale fellow. "How can a spider produce this?"

    "They don''t exactly." The man explains with a satisfied look. "Follow me, you must be new."

    He took me down the main street towards an area where many people were crowding. I was worried it was a church gathering.

    Should I flee?

    No, they were surrounding a small crumpled body.

    Beside the spider''s corpse sat a man, lightly kneading its abdomen.

    In front of the abdomen sat a woman carefully pulling the thread and winding it round her arm.

    She carefully counts the wraps and then nicks the silk with a knife. She places the pile of silk into the arms of a woman and then turns to another customer.

    They exchange words and then the man, who sat kneading, slows down his pattern. The woman again began extracting.

    This time the silk was instead thick and gooey. It looked like a liquid form of the stone webbing I saw earlier.

    So by kneading the abdomen you are able to change the material the dead creature produces, nifty.

    The paste that the woman slowly pulled into a barrel, was unhandleable, she shook her hands of the material with each pull.

    "That is?"

    "Construction paste. It''s used for the work on buildings. It''s great for connecting stuff together like stones or bricks. And, give it a week and it''ll be hard as concrete"

    "I hear they don''t come out often though so where¡­ " I began.

    "People have been harvesting from ''that'' spider for the last twenty years. If the harvesters stop for even a day the thread inside will become hard and impossible to use. We choose the largest and use its thread until the next ''great building''."

    "Great building?" I ask.

    "The time when the ''great spiders'' come up and ''expand'' the village."

    "Expand huh?, but don''t people usually get attacked by the spiders? What''s so great about them?"

    "It''s rare for people to be injured. We have learned the signs and evacuate a short time before the ''great hatching''. And they make our town prosperous, it''s hard to not have reverence."

    The man explains that he doesn''t see the creatures in the same way as the rest of the town.

    He did admit to their usefulness though.

    He explains to me the way they were able to survive on such a small river, something I was very interested in.

    It''s due to the structure of the spider nest. It collects water from the morning fog.

    The dew then drains down the web towards the central post of the nest.

    The post is located in the city square, they had even excavated the area in order to create a lake.

    The web constantly drips freshwater into the large lake. They even have a school of fish living in the waters.

    Genius.

    After the ''great building'', the web would be workable for several days. After that time all the webs would become locked in place. The man complained about the fact that a large road was now inaccessible due to the last expansion.

    I took my leave after he showed me around the city a bit. He left me, with a wave, in front of an Inn. I begin thinking about my next move, and the various things he had told me.

    He explained the church here, I was forced to admit, they were really doing good. I feel bad for the earlier thoughts I had, if only they could make peace with Demi-Humans I could get behind them.

    They were the ones who kept track of the spiders hatching.

    They were responsible for the villages safety each time the event occurred. And, for the past four hatchings, nothing had happened. They also feed the poor and treat the sick and elderly. Fairly noble causes altogether. Why can''t the ''Holy Hook'' Church be like the ''Holy Spider'' Church?

    I also learned the this city was much older than the other villages. This may be the only one built prior to the formation of the barrier.

    It was also the least affected by it. Other than the limited river water, due to the lack of mountain snow melt.

    They also of course were forced to import food, due to the lack of growing season. But paying for that was no issue for the city.

    All in all this was likely the most prosperous village in the Bay.

    They have a large trade network. I heard they even export silk to other countries. I wasn''t sure how they were getting the silk out though.

    As far as I knew the only way out of the Bay is the road to Havas. And I hadn''t seen the silk or food in transit before.

    This Duchy of mine is rote with mysteries.

    I wouldn''t have it any other way.

    I shut my eyes when I reach the bed in the vacant Inn, I began to plan my movements for tomorrow. As much as I wanted to explore the bustling web crusted town. I had to continue moving. I wasn''t sure how much time I would need to deal with the barrier. It has already been nearly half a month.

    I had less than forty days to make it back to the mage tower.

    I doubt the king would mind me being late, but I don''t want to risk it.

    I plan to arrive early.

    <hr><hr>

    Ugh, where the hell did they all go?

    When we got back to the camp it was in ruins, other than a large pile of disturbed dirt, our camp was empty. All our comrades were gone.

    "Where in the hell have they gone?"

    "I dunno, we checked in town and didn''t see no sign of a fight, so we must not any have a new jobs, wierd."

    "They couldn''t have been killed¡­ Do ya think?"

    "The boss? Psh, no way. He''s strong. Even I couldn''t lay a scratch on that guy." The first man said slashing a sword as they walked down the path.

    These mercenaries knew the area well, they were scouts, they had to know the area.

    That''s why it was strange when they heard.

    "Do you men possibly know the route to Winter Village?" A young boy peeking from behind a bush asked them.

    "Oy, you see him?" I whispered to my brother.

    "Yeah, asking about Winter Village, must be a trader from Spider. Should we?"

    "Of course! Who knows what he could be carrying!"

    "Alright let''s do it."

    The two men readied themselves with a smile, both grabbing for their blades.

    "So are you ready to go then?" The boy asked with a big grin. Two red lights embering on his belt

    "Are you?" I shouted as I leapt for the young merchant.

    He wasn''t a merchant was he?

    Those were the thoughts that ran through my head as I fell.

    "Damnit I should have told them who I was first." The boy relented as he looked around the clearing. "I also should have waited until they told me where the village is. Man, I''m totally lost. I knew I should have followed the river."

    <hr><hr>

    The trip to the capital was hellish.

    I didn''t rest once.

    In total it was sixteen horses, four weeks of riding.

    I wonder if I beat a record. Maybe nearly. I''ll have Drew ask the king.

    If the eighth horse wasn''t a dud I would have cut a few days off easily.

    Maybe I''ll try it again once I feel better.

    The ocean air was refreshing. I wonder, has Drew ever seen the ocean.

    He would likely say "I haven''t, but ''he'' has. So may as well''ve"

    I think he will still be amazed by its size though.

    He often claimed that things didn''t surprise him. I didn''t believe that for an instant though.

    Yeah he has changed, but not to such an extent.

    He was still the boy I grew up with.

    The boy I crushed on.

    The boy I was forced to leave.

    But, ''The boy I was destined to marry.'' that just didn''t sound real.

    I shake my head of the thoughts, and look around the small shack I have bought. I need to remember every crack in the floor, every streak of the light, every fleck of the dust.

    I need to be able to memorize every detail of this place.

    It was my duty, to my lord.

    I giggle when I think that and return my focus to the task.

    I was ''too easily distracted''. My dad told me so often during sword training.

    It wasn''t just Charles, Drew''s father, who taught me the blade.

    Yes you could say he was the one who helped me master the blade, but it was my own father who taught me its firm grip.

    My father Cal becoming a demon was tragic, it can''t be seen otherwise. It frightened me. Mother had said it was due to his bloodline.

    ''So it was my bloodline as well.''

    ''Would I have become a demon if I died that night with Drew?''

    Those thoughts kept me up at night.

    I realize, I''m a mess without Drew.

    Has it always been the case? I diligently worked while in knight training. But I couldn''t consider that time living. Yes, it was fun at times, but it was just work, something I had to do.

    Even at that time the thing that kept me going was the knowledge of what I would have to do when we turned sixteen. Another sense of duty, a sense of someone needing me.

    I again analyze the room. I want to get every single speck ingrain in my mind. I failed on teleporting to both the Inn and barracks, forcing us to walk back from Godrick.

    I never wanted to be a hinderance again, I want to be able to help his great mind.

    I know I could get ''to'' the mage tower. It was something I was very cautious of.

    I tested it daily. I never stepped through, only opening it and waiting for a rock or envelope to appear.

    Thus far I had only gotten the one letter. It was from the professor mage.

    Someone named Den was getting along too well with his daughter. The name sounded familiar but it couldn''t be the same Den, surely not.

    He complained about the boy, fondly, at length in the letter. He left very little space on the paper to mention the intent message that Drew had sent him.

    It had originally been the main point of his sending the letter.

    I had received the ''intent'' message also. But since Drew wasn''t positive of his own range, he told the Professor to send word to me just in case.

    "I reached Winter village, I can''t decide does the blue silk suit you more? Or the lavender? Both bolts are stunning, maybe I should just buy both. I will be heading to the center of the barrier now, if you don''t hear from me¡­ Well, I''m sure you''ll hear from me. See ya."

    It was a very typical Drew message. I wanted to gripe to him about its empty contents. He told me nothing. But since he was relaxed about it how could I not be also.

    There is no limit to what he can accomplish. In just a short month he had changed so much. Figuring out some snow should be easy to him.

    As I finish the thousandth memorization of the room. I again feel queasy, Drew''s words about ''raw and cook meat'' resound in my head.

    I want those ''health inspectors'' he had talked about to come to the Royal Capital.

    I vomit into the nearby bucket for a few moments.

    I couldn''t contain my disgust when my stomach growled afterwards.

    "Stop it you, don''t you see what eating this stuff does to you?" I say prodding my now empty stomach with a finger.

    I will have to stick to vegetables and charred meats from now on.

    I can''t be sick when we meet with the king in three weeks.

    The sun was still low in the sky so I ignore the disgust and decide to head to what I figured was a safer restaurant.

    If this doesn''t work I will cook meals myself. Drew had taught me most of the basics while camping in the Bay. Including the art of spices, and salt.

    I remember he grabbed what looked like a weed from the side of the road and stuffed it into our fish. It gave them a rustic, pine flavor. That fish became a mouthwatering feast.

    If only the dishes in the capital were half as good.

    Would Drew mind if I gave cinnamon to the bakery I frequented here? I''m sure he wouldn''t.

    I think I have become spoiled by Drew''s innovations.

    I wonder, what new spices will he find after the induction ceremony? He talked about a fruit to the Count as well.

    I wonder what new foods I will be able to eat. What is this ''Pineapple'' he and the Count talked about?

    The cinnamon rolls were one thing, but he claimed there were ''tons more delicious things'' in his head. ''Thing he must bring to the world.'' He had said it with great passion.

    It reminded me of his father''s advice.

    "Love a man who can speak with passion"

    Ah, why couldn''t time pass faster.

    The days I have stayed in the capital have been nice.

    And the smell of the ocean and call of the birds were refreshing. But I want to go back to the Inn.

    My room there felt more ''mine'' than anywhere else I''d lived.

    The tales of void time-travel my mother told float in my head. I shake them away by looking at another quaint shop on the main road.

    Ah, that smell.

    I must be near the craftsmen guild.

    Eh, they are building those ''plows'' aren''t they?

    I wonder how Drew would feel about this? Was this good? He found the strangest things good. When Susan had tears in her eyes and revealed that a prototype was stolen. Drew said it was ''assumed and according to plan''.

    And even before that. He, while in godrick, grinned on seeing some reddish rock formations. Then he pulled gold from the ground like nothing.

    I knew how it worked but it was astonishing.

    Was it really Drew i was talking to though?

    Or the other one?

    Would there even be a way to tell?

    Who was I falling in love with?

 Chapter 19 - God

    The dream occurred two days outside ''Winter Village''. I''d already sent word to the Professor and Claire so inquiring about the dream seemed unwise.

    But I couldn''t help being curious of the night''s events. I knew it had to be associated with the closeness to the center of the mass of mana.

    It was a mass. The deeper I got in the Bay the darker the mana cloud became. I must have been nearing the churning center of this barrier.

    In my dream it was dark. Completely black.

    I was alone.

    With myself.

    All I could hear were my thoughts. I tried to vocalize in the dream but nothing would come. The only sounds were the thoughts that passed through my head.

    A foreign thought grew louder. The words were nothing but gibberish at first but began to grow meaning.

    "Hello? Can you hear me?"

    It was the ''language of the builders''. English.

    This is the voice of the man in my mind isnt it.

    I had wondered when this might happen. It would confirm my theory that the person was in fact conscious of my actions. This voice must be the one who presents me with the necessary memories.

    If you think about it, the fact that the perfect memories of times would come when I most needed them. The only likely scenario was that another consciousness was delivering the memories to me.

    But I had no way to reply to the disembodied voice.

    At the time, all I could do was think silently in the dark blackness of the dream.

    "Don''t worry, I can hear those as well." The voice resounded again in the darkness of my mind.

    "I must tell you, you''re world is incredible. I feel blessed to be placed in your mind, I had gotten particularly bored lately. This is the perfect vacation."

    ''Vacation? This voice does know he would likely never leave my head right? Well do you? I plan on passing you down to my children, and children''s children.''

    "And I have no issue with that of course. On the contrary from my point of view it''s an incredible turn of events. I''m now immortal. How great is that?!"

    ''Hm, that is true, as long as the ceremonies continued, the traditions continued, we will live on. But is a copied mind truly continued life? I tend to think the moment my brain dies, I will die also. Even if my memories are passed along I will be gone.''

    "But isn''t that selfish thinking? I mean, just a little while ago you claimed memories are all that make up a person. Am I not still a person?"

    ''He does make a good point. The fact that he can talk to me like this, with some sense of intelligence, proves he may still be ''alive'' In a very weak defining of the word.''

    "Hey what''d you mean ''some sense of intelligence''?"

    ''Oh right, I have to watch what I think. I would hate for this guy to know what I ''really'' think about him.''

    "Eyy?!"

    I chuckled in my mind which felt odd.

    ''Sorry, I was just messing with you.''

    "Lil'' brat."

    ''Well anyways. What''d you bring me here for? Did you have something to talk about?''

    "No reason. I''ve been attempting this for weeks just to see if I could. I had notice each time you go to sleep your mind becomes closer to my own. I figured with enough time and shouting you would hear me eventually."

    ''I see.''

    "Yeah, must be something to do with REM sleep or something, I also noticed you got real close when you were first training in the Joye''s ''timeless zone''."

    ''That names awesome so I''ll log it away to tell Claire later.''

    "Yeah, you like that!? You can keep that one. I got tons of those. I''ve been so bored up here all I do is name stuff and look at your memories."

    ''You''re looking at my memories? Talk about invasion of privacy.''

    "Oh, Well now you are just obviously baiting me."

    I laughed again.

    I knew this guy was a good guy, I''m glad I got linked with him.

    ''Oh, by the way, what of ''your body'' on earth?''

    "I''ve been wracking your brain about that. If I had to guess I''d say I''m still just living normally on earth. Or I''m dead. Fifty, fifty."

    ''Wait dead? You think Claire pulling your mind over here may have killed you?''

    "I''d say it''s possible. I can''t confirm it but I also can''t deny it either. The death of the mind''s body seemed to be necessary for the transfer so I would think maybe my body must die as well."

    ''I suppose, it''s untouched territory, even Claire or Joye wouldn''t know. What do you think of the barrier? Any theories?''

    "Ah, that''s magic stuff I leave that all to you."

    ''Oh, yeah. Thanks for the help man.''

    "Hey it''s not my mana. I don''t know how to handle it. I''m more of a paperwork, technology, quality of life kinda guy. I leave the fighting and the mana based stuff to you."

    ''Oh, alright real helpful.''

    "Sorry."

    ''Well I mean I guess I can''t really blame you, and don''t get me wrong, I am thankful for those things.''

    "You''d better be."

    ''Well, you are helpful, but let''s not get uppity now.''

    "Sorry."

    ''Right, well is there anything else? I feel I hear birds chirping. I''m worried if this goes much longer I will wake up. So important issues now take priority.''

    "Not so much an important issue, but I wonder. Have you thought fully of the repercussions of taking the barrier down? All of them?"

    ''You mean the pulse? It would likely destroy the planet. It doesn''t matter where I port it. Up or down, both would destroy the world one way or another. Poison the air or the soil? Was that really a viable set of choices?''

    "That isn''t what I refer to. You, too often think of the big picture. You need to narrow your scope of view at times. Remember this."

    With those words the voice vanished.

    I attempted to think towards him again but I could feel the sensation of his disappearance. It was linked to mana some how. With training I think I could achieve this state if I wanted. I really wanted to know what I was overlooking.

    I wracked my brain about it. What was I not seeing. That''s all that rang in my mind as I trudged through the deep snow directly towards the peak of the mountain in the distance.

    It was the only point of bearing the villagers told me.

    ''Follow the river until its gone, then walk towards the tallest peak. You will find the camp ruins.''

    The river was now completely hidden. So all I had was the peak.

    I''d hoped mana vision would help me follow the river. But the river disrupted mana was masked after a few feet of snow.

    Mana has a tendency to act differently based on its surroundings. It flowed in wind, dropped in rain, cascaded in snow. It became easy to recognize after the month in the Bay.

    This place felt like another home. Everyone I met became a new friend. Even the small arctic foxes and rabbits in the winter area seemed to come greet my kindly as I continued towards the source with determination.

    I still wasn''t too worried about the trip back to the mage tower.

    If all went to plan the snow would be gone. Leading to a much faster return.

    This happy thought kept me sane in the endless white abyss.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PEG~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BREK~~~~~~~~

    I sensed the creature a mile away. Well that wasn''t accurate, it was, well unmeasurable due to technology, but much more than a mile.

    I wonder when it had detected me?

    I''m sure it had. The beast''s mana sent off a feeling of curiousness. If it had been one of bloodlust I''m not sure what I would have done.

    Mana levels were something hard to compare. Mine were likely much higher. But its standing limit seemed vastly higher than my own.

    What I mean by that is nearly all my mana is locked away, only by releasing it can I access it. So technically I''m only a human with Atypically high standing mana level. I just also happen to have a few hundred times more mana locked away in stones.

    But this beast likely had four stones worth of mana just standing idle. This would be something no one but I could stand near.

    I was probably equally curious of the creature.

    What was it?

    Is it large?

    How powerful is it? Can it hurt me?

    It''s a beast that controls this much mana. Even with its curious intent it''s likely dangerous. And it''s causing harm to people so I know what i must do.

    I have no choice but to fight the beast.

    I sallied forth with a bursting smile. ''This ought to be great fun!''

    The snow dunes had been replaced by snow packed trees and I began to notice the first signs of humanity.

    Humanity long gone.

    An odd pile of snow would turn out to be a stone wall or the remnants of a large fire pit.

    This area was once a large town. The largest I''d yet seen. I''d likely been walking through it for several miles without realizing. It was a sparse but massive place at one time.

    I would have loved to see it.

    From the shapes of the snow piles the city looked to be shaped in several arcs, from my guess I''d be nearing the sixth one.

    I continued truding into the beast''s domain, worry growing with each step.

    I now saw my destination. A massive stone church in the distance. All the triangulations work out. This was the direct center of the dome. Just as the water had in spider village the mana warped around the thick barrier and collected here in a thick pillar.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Something massive seemed to sponge the energy in this church. And the only culprit could be the large ball of mana who sat inside the church.

    Curse this snow and its ability to slow me.

    Oh, am I dumb? How have I overlooked this.

    I trigger a small aura and instantly the footprint I stood in expands to a one foot radius around my body.

    When I attempt to step forward I found my entire body was now restricted by the snow instead of just my feet. I could partially plow through it by pushing, but it was actually more work.

    I figure maybe by if I use a fifty foot pulse and then repeat. But that would likely anger the beast I was nearing so I will politely trudge the final half mile.

    So I do.

    I also kindly wipe my feet when I enter the snow swept church.

    I would hate to anger god by tracking in snow to the abandoned place.

    I could hear the loud breathing as I knocked my shoes against the wall carefully.

    What lay before me in the small church was a large dragons body, it was intimidating. However the head was less so.

    Cockatrice, I believe, is the name of the creature. I had heard of them from earth memories but I didn''t see them as the magical creature type.

    Infact all the impression the head of the beast gave me was one of hunger for poultry.

    It was undoubtedly a half chicken, half dragon. It was a marvel. I find myself thinking of its flavor but I grimace when it then begins to speak.

    "She''d told me you would come. I didn''t believe, but here you stand."

    "Oh you can talk? And wait, who told you what? And what''s going on here anyways?"

    "Oh. I was sure you knew of this place. You being you." The beast says, stirring and walking carefully towards me crushing the surviving pews.

    "So you know who I am. But I still don''t know who you are, or the ''she'' you spoke of."

    "Answers, answers. Humans always want answers. Why did you attack village? Why did you eat pig? Always with questions. Can''t you find time to relax, enjoy the weather, maybe sleep."

    His words flag me oddly.

    "You, why are you here?"

    "More questions, questions, questions," The chicken mutters under his breath as he peers at me deeply with grotesque eyes. "You should be more thankful, that I even let you in the forest valley, I could have blocked you''re entrance or exit even back before that human dirt town."

    "You''re control extends that far? And I figured you''d love that town for all the gold. Why say its dirt?"

    "Heh, were not dragons." He says with a snuff turning around and walking back towards the alter. "Cockatrice enjoy beauty different from ''those things'' in our view gold is just a cheap replica of the real precious metal, copper."

    "Hehey, brothers in copper." I say grinning and flashing a thumbs up. I assume my desire for the metal was different from his but oh well. I''ll take what I can get. He will answer more of my questions if he likes me.

    "Oh, you have good tastes." He sighs glancing through the coins I had in my hand.

    It seems truly, like Dragons, the Cockatrice enjoyed the luster and beauty of the metal. But unlike them, they didn''t have a strong desire to hoard. I had tried to bribe him but he said I should keep it. Not that I minded. I needed all I could get.

    I didn''t understand the beast. He was reserved at first but he also seems happy to see me. He didn''t want to talk he claimed, but would speak at length.

    It''s like he was lonely. The Ents had been the same way.

    He''s been here maintaining this barrier how long? Just how much of that time has he been alone? All of it?

    Do Cockatrice have families?

    They must miss him.

    I feel bad, I originally came to kill this beast. It''s obviously not something I want to do now though. It''s a friendly creature, and obviously very magically skilled.

    "So would you like to battle?" It suddenly asks with a beaky grin.

    "Battle?"

    "You clearly have mana in great amounts. Let''s compare shall we?"

    "Oh! Well yeah. Sounds like fun."

    It must be like a magic duel. He explains the rules to me. Its pulse against pulse. You judge by whose aura overwhelms the other. I was worried we would kill each other but he just heartily laughed. It won''t be a issue for us he claimed.

    We both carefully step from the Church towards a snowy town square. The Cockatrice uses the wind from its wings to sweep the snow as it walks.

    It was much more efficient than my large pulse method.

    When I showed him the trick he laughs loudly and then attempts it himself. The square was crisply swept. Perfectly. It wasn''t an uneven sphere like my own aura. This was a perfect cube of mana.

    "How?" I asked agape.

    "You can''t control the shape?" He asked with a curious tilt of his head.

    "Nope."

    "Bah, what''d we even teach you ''this'' for."

    "Huh? What''d you teach me?"

    "Well obviously I didn''t" he says simply, "Well forget it. Let''s go shall we."

    This creature speaks odd words. It was Joye who taught me these skills. Even if his ''we'' referred to the Cockatrice race Joye was clearly not one.

    "Alright, lets."

    We both step to the required ten paces. It wasn''t like a gun battle. We would both present aura in turn. The cockatrice explained that this was for the purpose of proving you have control over the level of power. Suicide attacks were prevented with this rule.

    I hadn''t even been aware such a thing was dangerous. Its lucky he told me or I would have just unleashed every mana stone I had during this pulse.

    Such a thing would likely kill me I now understood.

    The cockatrice carefully readies himself with shut eyes. I notice via mana vision that this beast was drawing the mana around him. Then, with a fierce look it releases the strong pulse.

    The strong feathers on its face all stood straight, giving an intimidating look to the silly creature.

    The pulse maintains for a few moments, overwhelming my body in heat. It was strong. Even strong compared to the whirlwind of mana already in the air.

    It was more stones worth than I expect.

    He has a smug look on his face. I think he thinks he scared me. Maybe my face looks scared, I''m more impressed. I didn''t know a pulse could be maintained like this. I would have to attempt it during my turn.

    He studies me carefully once he reigns in the mana. I''m not sure what to do, give him a big one, or try to match the control of his own.

    The control looks to be an important aspect of the duel.

    Well, here goes nothing.

    I will go for a large but maintainable burst. Something I can feed for a few seconds without draining myself.

    I''m not positive this is the correct method for controlling a burst but it will be better than nothing. I wouldn''t have time for a practice run.

    I carefully draw upon the strength of a dozen stones. This would destroy them but I had plenty now. The small pile had now become a veritable river bed of rocks and pebbles.

    I would use fist sized stones for this. It should be sufficient to overwhelm the beasts aura.

    It is.

    It looks dazed when I open my eyes. He meanders drunkenly for a moment then shakes his head.

    "Well it seems you''re control is poor, but your cultivation is strong. You haven''t entirely lost the teachings of the beasts. Tell me though, does the witch really not even know of her reason for living here anymore? You should be more careful how much you reveal with intent. That was foolish. I now know all there is to know about you. You are a new mind are you? And to want to destroy the barrier. Tsk tsk"

    "Wha¡­"

    "Lets return, there is much to talk about young Land God. Perhaps she has finally decided to reveal herself to you."

    There is too much to question.

    He had seen through me from my pulse? He knew I wanted to destroy the barrier? Was so much of my intent really in the pulse? He mentioned the witch, and her reason for camping in the Bay.

    Does it have something to do with the barrier? She said she knew nothing about it. Was it really something lost to time?

    I knew the tradition of camping in the bay mountain has been one that had been passed down for generations by the witches of the Tribe. But to actually forget the reason seems foolish.

    I follow the dragon body back to the church, and perhaps towards the ''She'' that the dragon talked of.

    Will she tell me more about the things he talked about. I hoped so.

    "I will, don''t worry." A female''s voice echoes in my ear. It has no source. The sensation felt like that I had earlier while talking to the ''Earthling'' in my dream.

    ''Who are you?''

    ''My name is Astra, I was the head priestess of those known as the Upper Gods. It is nice to formally meet your new mind, leader of the Mid Gods Drew, Duke of Blood, and Hawk of the Blood Hook. I''m aware there is much you don''t know, worry not. In time.''

    I recognize two of the titles. But the last reminds me of words the Cockatrice said earlier.

    God?

 Chapter 20 - Tribes

    In the beginning there were fifty.

    Fifty tribes, fighting for culture, food and water.

    Battling for resources, hunting lands, and personal quarrels. It was a period of great death. War began without cause, revenge became reason enough.

    Three tribes living on the the Hook peninsula gathered together to discuss the problem.

    They were gathered before a great beast that ruled the world. Each tribe explained their method for stopping the bloodshed.

    The first, the war tribe of the Southern Hook. Claimed they would simply dominate the other tribes. With adequate force all the tribes would eventually bow.

    The Second, the peace tribe of the Northern Hook. Claim the best method would be passionately asking for peace. Through kindness they presumed the wars could end. Peace could settle across the world.

    It was the third method though, the beast god overseeing the conference saw true strength in the tribe.

    He taught the three human tribes the skill of assembling the world energy. An energy the Beast God called Mana. With this energy the three tribes would have the power to hatch their plans.

    The first used their newly discovered magic to dominate the wars.

    The second used theirs to spread the songs of peace.

    The third, carefully thought what they would do.

    But then, they just continued as they had. Living as a human tribe in the center of the peninsula while their now godly neighbors wreacked havoc in the world.

    And it was havoc.

    The era of forty eight was likely more deadly than fifty.

    The Upper and Lower gods had nearly destroyed the population with their pulling in one direction or the other.

    The Upper Gods used their powers to protect the weak.

    The Lower, used theirs to dominate the weak.

    The Dragon God, who sat watching wondered when the Mid Gods might show their power.

    This world began to overflow with the mana that the two Godly tribes generated.

    Whirlwinds of Pure and Corrupt mana whipped across the planet.

    The Beast God cared little about the deaths of humans. He simply cared about a world he could enjoy watching. He personally thought the Mid Gods, the tribe who had lived center in the Peninsula had the best mind for the task. But he chose to not intervene.

    The Two powerful God Tribes had amassed unheard of quantities of mana. This was before the advent of common magic so the energy was unheard of and dangerous to the people of the tribes.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    But in this time the tribes continued to strive and war. The Corrupt God''s campaign was powerful. It quickly drew many to their side through sheer might. The same happened with the Pure. Two large factions had taken the world.

    Those standing proudly behind the Pure Gods, vs, those who cowered behind the corrupt gods.

    It would surely lead to the greatest battle of all time.

    Only the Mid-Gods stood outside the battle. A neutral state in a colossal world war.

    Blood irrigated the world.

    Those living in the Corrupt God''s land starved and looked towards the Pure God''s land greedily.

    One side starved while the other sat in fear of having nothing to protect their lands.

    The Pure Gods and the Corrupt God''s had failed. They both saw this clearly. Their way would change the world too much. Domination lead to famine and death. Peace led to stagnation and discontent.

    But the Gods could not stop. They refused to back down. They now were satiated by the people living in their regions. Those in the Pure territory fed their Gods the Pure Mana they generated. While on the Corrupt side the same happened.

    The Gods, while understanding of their failures. Knew that without the Mana they would have no way to maintain their eternal lives. War was all the Corrupt could do, same with peace for the Pure.

    Life could not continue. It could, but stagnation isn''t continuation.

    The Dragon, who had seen this coming assembled the Gods again.

    He offered the Two failed tribes peace.

    Not the peace the Pure gods desired, and certainly not the one the Corrupt wanted either.

    It actually worked out best for the tribe who had said nothing.

    They all sat at the large church in the Neutral zone. It was a zone that the Beast God and Mid-Gods now shared.

    The only area of true peace.

    A valley seen as cursed.

    The valley wasn''t cursed, it was only thought to be. Due to the fact that it''s where mana first began to accumulate in the world.

    The two tribes bickered back and forth while the True God and Mid Gods watched. The Beast God then spoke.

    "Do you wish to end it?" He asked through pointed teeth, fire flashed behind each word.

    The two tribes looked terrified. They knew that this Beast could strip them of their godly power at any time. They didn''t truly want to stop. They wanted to continue drawing their energy from the people. They wanted to continue to farm their citizens of mana. They wanted to continue to live.

    "Do you wish for an end where you, who have become powerful, can continue on?"

    The tribes seemed intrigued by this offer. Only the Mid Gods knew what it was the beast had been talking about.

    It was something the Mid Gods had conceived via magic while the other Gods spent their time cultivating and warning their people.

    They called them voids, openings to other worlds. Only the God knew they possessed such a skill.

    "Your people can survive. All you must do is vanish." The beast said with a frightening smile.

    Vanish? They all assumed he meant death. They shifted uncomfortably while thoughts of their own death flashed in their minds.

    "Leave the world to the Mid Gods, enjoy your lives in stagnation elsewhere."

    "Leave this world?" The Corrupt god leader asked indignantly. "And leave it to them?!"

    "I find it hard to agree with a southerner but I concur, what could the center tribe possibly do? What have they even done with your Godly power?" The woman representing the Pure said with contempt.

    With that question the entire church froze in silence.

    Only the three leaders of the tribes could move.

    "What is this? What happened to my men?" The Corrupt Leader asked shoving a nearby frozen subordinate.

    The man didn''t budge an inch, just maintaining the expression he held moments before.

    "They are frozen in time. Don''t worry they are fine. It''s just something my wife learned to do while you all were fighting and singing." The Mid God leader said standing idly beside his concentrating wife. "Now let''s talk."

    The three leader Gods and the dragon God then talked about the Mid God''s proposal. The two were reluctant but felt they had no choice but listen.

    This was beyond their understanding of magic. Their magic consisted of controlling natural elements.

    The pure developed Wind and Water magics, the corrupt Fire and Earth.

    But here stood a woman who could control time. And all she had to do was tear a large black rip near the church''s roof.

    The two leader Gods realized quickly they were nowhere near as powerful as the two Mid Gods they stood against. They had thought the two representatives had unusually high levels of mana. But to be able to utilize it was another issue.

    The Chaos Tribe leader explained his plan. He would have his wife create two worlds. Two universes.

    They would be given to the two tribes.

    These worlds would be linked to this one. They would be fed traces of corrupt or pure mana in order to maintain the gods that lived there. These traces would be increased tenfold upon entering the worlds.

    With this, the two worlds could even be fed by a single mana carrier.

    With this proposal the two most powerful individuals of the two tribes would stay behind and join into the Chaos tribe.

    There they would then interbreed. In order to make a single mana controlling god. One who could balance the world. A possessor of each type of mana.

    And, then with the help of a ceremony the leader had been developing with his wife, make a new and greater world.

 Chapter 21 - Altar - (End of Volume 1 In Blood)

    Oh.

    Well then.

    "So that makes you my ''great-great-great-aunt'' or something?"

    "Right," The voice replies to my mind. "It was my sister who was married off to the leader of the Corrupt who stayed behind. And my brother, the leader, who married the Pure God Woman."

    "And the children those two couple''s produced?" I ask leading her towards my assumption.

    "Were the first Hawk and Void Walker. They would then conceive the next generation."

    "And those generations then conceive the next generation? The Witch is my Aunt then? And Claire is my Cousin?"

    "Mhm."

    Ah, well. That makes some things I have recently participated in, less couth.

    "It''s perfectly natural for god''s." She explains, reminding me she can read my thoughts within the Bay.

    I had been speaking blankly to the altar for a few hours now. She explained the tale of the Fifty earlier. She then explained her own position in the tale. She was the twin sister of the void mage in the story. It was her who had maintained this barrier for so long, it was actually to protect the altar she had now resided within. The device was the only thing keeping the three worlds linked.

    Without the barrier powerful beasts might come and feed on the leaking energy.

    When she explained that I glanced at the large Cockatrice that was slumbering beside us.

    She interjected that the beast was actually aiding her in the maintenance. It was him who provided any excess energy when needed. Maintaining this barrier was more difficult than originally expected. So the Beast God contracted the Cockatrice to keep the girl company in the desolate church.

    And here I had planned to kill it. ''Tsk tsk'' indeed.

    The girl laughs at my thoughts cutely. She must have been young when she was merged with the intricately carved altar. The story hadn''t revealed much but I assumed the leader''s wife to be older.

    "We''re immortal so¡­" She says interrupting my thoughts. "By the way, it''s kind of weird Degin didn''t tell you all this. He''s still around right?"

    "Degin? Well I mean it''s a title so it''s got to be a different person by now."

    She laughs again

    "Well sure it''s a title, I''m not dumb. But it''s been the same man carrying the title for the past three hundred years."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Nearly positive. Hell, I bet a lot of people I''d recognize are still there. Especially now that the world is so chock-full of Chaos Mana."

    "But how? There are only forty tribe members?"

    "Oh well then now I''m completely sure. We had forty when I was around too. It''s probably the same guys, are Ron and Deb still trying?" She asks hoping to get some tribe gossip out of me.

    The names, they are surely Den''s parents names. I feel bad it''s taken me so long to remember the names. They looked younger when I met them. Had they really been trying to conceive Den for the past two hundred years?

    "Yep. Well that''s a relief, but really ''Den''. People with three letter names are so boring! At least be a little creative with your naming."

    Why didn''t they tell me any of this?

    Why had they kept so much from me again. I had even asked Degin about the barrier and he claimed he knew nothing. I actually had a bit of trouble believing the Altar girl''s words.

    She then shows me a Intent image of the man she remembered. It was indeed Degin. He looks wierd with facial hair, it''s good he shaved it.

    "It will be your turn next, I understand from the intent of the earlier pulse you have already taken a few steps towards creating the new generation Hawk."

    It''s hard to cover the reddening of my face. Her words bring back pleasant but now conflicting memories.

    Earth-me thought the conduct was inappropriate with a cousin.

    But the real me still loves Claire with all my heart.

    I also didn''t like the thought of dying, the moment I have a child my life will become a ticking clock.

    Sixteen years and I would have to choose, die or continue along selfishly?

    It was clearly not an actual choice though.

    There would only be a single answer, when the time came i would happily hand my mind to my child. But it wasn''t something I had to look forward too. Right?

    "It''s understandable to have trepidations, the first hawk was nervous to exchange his mind as well. He wondered if he couldn''t handle it all in his lifetime. As you see around you it would have been entirely impossible."

    "But wouldn''t he have been immortal? Why pass on the mind if he could have just continued forever?"

    "It''s not about time. The first Hawk learned that while nearing the ceremony of his son. It''s about giving another mind an attempt at the task. That''s the only way we can truly continue. Your father felt the same way, and now here you stand. The begining starts again."

    I see.

    Dad did much to prepare. He locked my mana away in order to make me into a blank slate. He also instructed Joye to train in building a world with high levels of Pure and Corrupt mana. And forced me to cultivate my first stone inside it. With my first stone being a combination of all forms of mana I could attempt to put the world at balance. And if I failed I would have the chance to create a new Godly mana holder with Claire.

    I have to work on doing it myself with the power my father granted me.

    Not that I don''t want children. It''s more that I want to fix the world myself. I think I can.

    It sounds the perfect task for me.

    It sounds the perfect task for the other mind too. I can feel his excitement by the happy memories he quickly flashes me.

    "Well I''m glad you both agree."

    "There''s something i still want to do though."

    "Mhm, I figured as much, even with explanations for it''s purpose you wouldn''t likely give up would you? You''re intent told me as much."

    She says some words that bug me slightly, she had said the same thing the Cockatraice said earlier. I apparently leak my intentions with every breath. I leak secrets I keep in my mind, I leak my name, my history, my habits, my weaknesses. She told me that she had heard all these things about me long before i even stepped into the winter zone.

    I also learned about the season zone earlier. Its due to the latent intent of the lazy Cockatrice. It was as I assumed when he first spoke. He wants to leave, he wants to enjoy the seasons in a nice place.

    This desire for vacation. This desire for comfort, had been incorporating with the large mass of mana. This created a massive cloud of intent mana.

    His discontent in staying in the church had created this horror, yeah you''re damn right i still want to put an end to it.

    "I see. Well there is little I can do with my drained power. The barrier had formerly only extended around the church and city ruins. With my weakening power I can''t maintain its shape. And as you''ve already guessed, the explosion from its destruction would kill the world."

    "So the only chance is to shrink it again."

    "If you''re desire is to stop the weather effects and toxicity, that indeed would be the only way. But with the density of mana it would require massive amounts to accomplish."

    "I see. So it''s not something I can do in the two weeks till my coronation?"

    "Your coronation is tomorrow Drew."

    "What''s that?"

    "Have I not mentioned the dilation?"

    "Dilation? You don''t mean?"

    "Right with the heaviness of the mana ''time'' here passes much slower than elsewhere. What was an hour walKing here in the snow this morning was days in the capital. Claire is actually already in the mage''s tower. She arrived around a half hour ago here, a day ago in Colgate."

    "I don''t understand? How''s that possible?"

    "Traces of my sister''s magic mixing with the mana in the air."

    "From freezing time here hundred of years ago?"

    "She didn''t exactly freeze time, if the God leaders had looked at their subordinates for longer they would have realized they were in fact moving, only very slowly. My sister only slowed the time down heavily for everyone except the god leaders. Look there." She says making an arrow appear in my mind.

    I look up at where she has indicated and see what remains of a thin tear in the church''s steeple. It was small but it was clearly a void which vibrated chaotically.

    "Oh, so thats a¡­ Wait, no. If Claire is already here then I need to go. I don''t want to be late even if this is important. Don''t get me wrong. I will destroy this barrier, it is my sole mission right now. After receiving my Dukedom."

    "Well I suppose that is fairly important." She huffs, somewhat unsatisfied with my answer.

    She is likely as lonely as the Ents and Cockatrice. I can''t imagine this lazy Cockatrice being my only company. Must be hard.

    "You have no idea."

    Oh damn, I gotta stop forgetting about that.

    "But if like you said time is dilated, how will I return in time? You can''t make teleport void can you?" I ask salivating at the new possible tool.

    "No. I can''t, that actually was developed by the first Voidwalker, The Corrupt God and my sisters daughter. So I don''t really know how it works."

    Oh so she was particularly skilled as well, well I suppose that makes sense. She was descendant of interbreeding between god tribes. The child would naturally be extremely gifted.

    Well I suppose I''m one of those too. I should develop some magic!

    "You really can''t focus for more than a half second can you? You remind me of my brother."

    "Thank you."

    "Ok well, he was an important person. But don''t get me wrong that wasn''t a compliment."

    "You''re right, Oh! How ever will I return? I could never make it at the pace I was going!" I say overtly loudly towards the Cockatrice. "If only I had a majestic magical beast to fly me through the air at breakneck speeds."

    I tried to make it sound passionate. I think I did well, The cockatrice slowly opens its eyes and peers at me.

    "Heh, you brat. I know your game. Alright so be it, but I can''t promise I can get out of the mass in less than a half day."

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    The time dilation confused me but his conception of the time seemed to have no issue, he had said a half day but he meant a half day on the outside. He seemed to be able to grasp his pace and cross reference it against the rate the dilation was set at.

    "Thank you kind beast. You are truly gracious." I say to him as we begin walking out of the small ancient church.

    "Oh I''m just doing it because the damned Beast God wouldn''t shut up in my head."

    "Beast God? He''s still around?"

    "Mhm, he floats around, he can read the mind of all the magical creatures in the world. He was watching carefully during our duel. It pissed me off."

    "Oh, well I''m sorry." I say carefully getting onto the back of the creature who has just kneeled down infront of me at the church''s steps.

    Anyone who saw this sight would surely be confused, was this beast bowing to the church? The deity inside? Or the deity who awkwardly stumbled onto its back?

    Surely it couldn''t be the last one.

    <hr>

    It was fast.

    Well from the outside it probably looked like a leaf slowly floating in the sky but inside the thick mana we flew at indeed breakneck speeds. It was hard to hold tight. The feathers were delicate so it wasn''t like fur I could grab.

    The scales were slick too, so that was no help either.

    The sharp edges of the scales tore at my pant legs. I was extremely happy I had switched off of the typical bandit skirt I had worn a few months prior.

    I can''t imagine the aftermath of riding while wearing the freeing garb. It wouldn''t be pleasant.

    Another thing that is high on my list for this world is simply underpants. How is this overlooked?

    Well with the new looms running in Winter Village and the planned road between them and Spider Village it should be something they can produce.

    I had insisted on such a road. No one would be forced to ambush bandits in order to ask for directions ever again. Not that I assume it was a common occurrence.

    The mana had begun to dissipate the further we flew from the church. I could now see the ground from inside the thick mana.

    I was still over snow, but when I looked in the distance I could see the line of dirt indicating the fall zone. I wonder, since the Cockatrice, the source of this season desiring intent, is leaving the church would this weather stop for a short time?

    "Nope." A cute voice sounded in my head suddenly.

    Oh, you''re still here?

    "Well don''t sound too excited, I can use intent to hear and speak to you anywhere in the barrier over the bay. It was so hard not to pipe up during your first flight."

    Oy, you could have helped with the wolves couldn''t you?

    "Maybe¡­"

    Unforgivable.

    "Wait ah, I¡­"

    I''m kidding no harm.

    "Would you two stop whispering!" The Cockatrice crows loudly from its beak.

    ""Sorry."" We both sent via intent.

    It was my only way to speak to the beast over the roaring wind.

    We passed over the edge of winter and into the fall zone. We must be passing over the Ents

    I pass a quick wave to the trees below.

    "Oh you know about them too?" The Cockatrice asks.

    "Yeah, nice guys, dealt with the logging problem they faced."

    "Oh really? I didn''t know they faced such an issue. I feel apologetic for my recent slumbers."

    The Cockatrice is a stubborn guy but he seems to care for the place deeply. I suppose he has lived here the past Hundred some odd years to help with the barrier.

    And, despite his hate for Dragons and the Beast God, he did faithfully fulfil the duty. I feel like I should relieve him of the duty. I really want to come back after the banquets and find my own way to deal with this energy. Maybe I can just absorb it all.

    Maybe not.

    It is a lot of mana. It would make my stones look like a joke. It would take years in the already dilated space. Centuries outside, I couldn''t waste that much time.

    "Hey Cockatrice, do you have a name?" I was suddenly curious, I had been meaning to ask after the duel but the talks with my great aunt interrupted that.

    "Nope, only the Dragon God has a name. If I remember right he got it from the last leader of the Mid Gods tribe, before you all took the name ''Blood Hook'' and made the first Hawk. The leader beat the beast in a duel and they gave each other names."

    "Oh?"

    "Hm, you now want to give me a name?"

    "Yes, and I need a last name too!"

    "Oh? I see, then i will think on it."

    "Likewise." I reply with a smile through intent again.

    This is a perfect turn of events, I had been bothered by the request to come up with my own last name. I was somewhat relieved I had been given my other title by the King, not that I particularly like the connotation of ''Duke of Blood''. But it was a relief not to think of my own royal title.

    The Count was Count of Foods by the way.

    It fit him perfectly, and he happily accepted the title. There was also an Earl of Sheep and a Duchess of Grace. I wanted to meet the two, I wonder if they will be at the ceremony.

    "Cock?" The cockatrice suddenly asks.

    "Nope, no chance, not a chance in hell."

    Drew Cock, Are you joking me? That is just cruel.

    "Heh, fine." He mutters through the tearing wind. "Oh, perhaps Gordianus?"

    "Gordianus?"

    "Right, it''s the name of the ruined town outside the church. It''s a good name!" The woman again pipes in.

    "It''s as she said, the city was once greatly feared by the beasts in the time before the tribes. It was only the Dragon God who finally destroyed the town, and with that he declared the war with humans over."

    Interesting I knew nothing about this Beast God, I very much wanted to meet him.

    He reminded me of the guy in my head. Just wants to watch an interesting turn of events. I wonder, have we entertained him up till now? Is he happy with his investment?

    Colgate appears in the distance. I can see the mage tower sticking up from the elaborately carved town. It was even more beautiful from atop. But I was looking forward to the other beauty that was awaiting me, I cared little for the view. I just wanted to move faster.

    And in turn the beast increased speed. He must have been forced to by my accidental slip in mana.

    "Sorry about that." I say patting him who seems surprised by his sudden increase in top speed.

    I reign in my mana and he returns to his earlier state.

    It reminded my other mind of a imported tv show he''d watched. There was a beast who could sense the feelings of its rider, it went faster when asked, stoped when asked.

    Its name popped into my mind, it''s not bad.

    "Vigi?"

    "Oh? It''s not bad. I like it!" He suddenly snorts circling the town a few times to slow down his intense speed and then he lands in a clearing near the river.

    With mana vision they should be able to tell I''m with him so it shouldn''t cause too much commotion.

    It would also be a good chance to introduce the village to the creature who helps protect them. He will surely love the attention.

    Even if he pretends he doesn''t.

    As I expect a large group assembles. It reminds me of the day I first arrived at Colgate a few months prior. It was nostalgic, even a few of the villagers smiled this time instead of looking upon me with fear.

    "Howdy." I say after hopping from the beast.

    "Always one for a flash entrance I see." The village chief says chuckling as he steps forward.

    "Is there any other way?"

    "I suppose not for our Duke."

    "Oh, you found out?"

    "Yeah this one has been bugging everyone about it. I''m sure there will be much you two will need to discuss" He says pointing with a broad smile towards the area where the crowd is parting.

    "Ah. Long time no see, you sure are late. As usual."

    I''m surprised by what I see through a quick glance of mana vision.

    "Aughu¡­ Uhh¡­ Yeah um, Claire. Can I speak with you aside for a second." I gulp after a moment.

    "We don''t have time, the ceremony is today. Come on we need to hurry."

    So it''s already been a day, huh?

    But, no! I have a much more serious topic to discus with Claire.

    She silently lead me towards the mage tower without a word, dragging me roughly. I had wanted a chance to introduce the beast I rode to the people but it instead burst off towards the church. I would miss Vigi, the time riding him was fun. But I again, have bigger fish to fry right now. So to speak.

    "Here let''s go." She says stepping into the empty mage tower.

    I again remember the scene I had seen Den and Lola in, it reminded me of my own situation.

    "Claire wait," I say trying to grab her hand, she instead grabs mine and has already pulled open the void. She drags me into the small dusty shack she has been staying in the past two months.

    <hr>

    Lit by the dimming sun from the window in the capital. I take a moment to reactivate mana vision to reconfirm what I had seen earlier, it could have been a mistake on my part but this time I was sure.

    "Claire, wait." I say stopping her from pulling me from the dirtied room and towards the door. I understand she was in a rush to get to my ceremony but the ceremony was peanuts compared to the discussion I have to have.

    "Have you been sick lately?" I ask already sure.

    "Yeah, a little, from the food I figure."

    "It''s not the food." I switch on mana vision a third time to check. It''s not rare for tests to be wrong. Right?

    No, there is no denying it. She once had a single distinct mana ball forming in her gut. But here I can clearly see two separate orbs of mana. One much smaller than the others.

    "Claire, do you remember what we did the night before you left for the capital?"

    "Auh, uhm. You mean when we¡­?"

    "Yeah."

    "Wait you''re not saying I''m¡­?"

    "Yeah, It''s easy to tell with mana vision." I explain embarrassed by the situation, it''s typically not the man''s job to explain this type of occasion.

    "You''re pregnant Claire."

    <hr>

    TO BE CONTINUED IN VOLUME II

    LINKED ''IN GOLD''

 Vol 2 (in Gold) - Chapter 1 - Year

    "Have you seen the report for the lock toll earnings?"

    "Degin came by and took it to be filed away" The mother of my child says from across the desk as I shuffle through the various piles of papers.

    So Degin took it.

    "Do we still have the copy that''s going to the king?"

    "Yeah it''s here."

    She passes me the form and I glance over the remarkable numbers again. I had indeed met the goal. A year ago now the king and I had a conversation.

    After the ceremony another duke made a fuss, he didn''t want to pay for the construction of the canal. So I made a deal with every lord at the gala, if their district didn''t see a double in tax revenue I would reimburse them for the construction costs myself. It felt a little strange to get such odd stares but paying it shouldn''t even dent the vault. Either way I would win.

    Suffice to say I won''t need to touch the vault though. These forms indicate that with docking fees alone the districts have made a mint. My adjusting the copper market seems to have helped a bit as well. Pay has increased for most work. The economy had become more stable simply from my buying copper in a few districts. I was pleased with the work Susan had done.

    "Should I bring this to the pigeon master?" Claire asks motioning to the form I had just set back down, the one that was to be delivered to the king.

    "No, I''m thinking about doing something a little flashier."

    "Flashier?" Another voice questions while walking into the room, I had sensed the presences the moment she entered the hall. It was Goldianus'' Craftsmen guild''s leader Susan.

    "Yeah it''s exactly what you are thinking." I nod to her. "The big one isn''t ready yet is it?"

    "No with our current number of alchemist we can''t maintain its altitude."

    "I figured as much, making helium is harder than I thought. Well no problem we can use a hot air blimp instead."

    "You want to go to the capital in a blimp?" Claire asks cocking an eyebrow at the two of us.

    "Sure it''s a perfect chance, a high number of lords and nobles will be there for the annual summit."

    "Mhm I agree, if we hope to spread news of the vehicle quickly this is the best way. And not only to the nobles and lords, but the the merchants who follow those groups. Those merchants are likely to be our more desired business partners in the long run."

    "Better business partners than the nobles?" Claire asks. "How so?"

    "Merchants work on a single principle, Supply and demand. While nobles run on desires and needs of people. Merchants are more stable buyers in the long run. Who knows when a noble will lose his money or head?"

    "I still don''t know if flying there is best though." Claire says returning to her original worry.

    "Would you prefer to boat?" I asked prodding her rib and reminding her of the canal trip we had taken. It had lead to much vomiting on Claire''s part. And this was post giving birth.

    "No." She says folding her arms. "I''d prefer to teleport."

    "Oh well of course we will teleport, but we will teleport into the blimp."

    She seems to ponder this for a few moments. It was something we had experimented with while boating down the canal on our honeymoon.

    It was convenient, we could pretend to be traveling while resting here at home.

    "That reminds me, Susan, do you have any news on the gold mine?"

    "Which?"

    "Oh, not Godrick, the Canal-Sands project."

    "Right, it''s progressing well. Word has gotten out about why we took the dirt and sand in the first place. Some of the Landlords made a fuss but the king quieted them down quickly so I hear."

    Susan seems to have ears in all districts nowadays, she seems to fill a position of intelligence advisor as well as construction advisor.

    The latter position she seems to prefer. When I told her a few months ago that we would be rebuilding the great city of Goldianus she, after telling me she had never heard of it, seemed very excited. She worked hard these past months. What was once ruins now resembled the beginnings of a city.

    We had brought in around two hundred craftsmen at first. We developed the city with two different methods. The central ring would be the noble district. It would be built using current building techniques. While the outer commoner rings would be using my technique.

    I had thought this a little backwards at first but upon thinking about the facts it seemed to make more sense. My method, ''Stick building'' while looking very nice was comparatively cheap and insecure in the eyes of nobles. They were used to having thick rock walls and wood plank doors.

    But this lead to an inconsistency in building speed. The craftsmen who I had taught ''stick building'' could assemble a row of houses in a few days, while the noble constructors take weeks on a single mansion.

    As a result I now have a town that has two outer rings and only half an inner ring.

    I''m glad I designed my castle to be built from two separate methods, if I hadn''t I''d still be living at the Inn near Godrick with Mom.

    "That reminds me, Is the Inn''s port completed?"

    "The port is, but we ran into more issues than we assumed. It''s such a steep hill up to the Inn that we were unsure how to carve a comfortable path. We were planning a large set of steps but we scrapped the idea for an elevator system instead. But honestly, it seems unnecessary. The Inn is constantly packed, leading more traffic towards it won''t change business. Your mother is already turning customers away. I don''t understand why she refuses to expand."

    "Well none of that matters, but I do think the traffic will slowly shift towards river based. Especially once we popularize the steam-powered ferry."

    "True."

    "How are tests going for that by the way?"

    "Good, the shipbuilders at the Hidden port are truly incredible. With the dimensional lumber that Colgate is milling now, the production rate of the steam ship only increases."

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    "We still don''t have a source for the steel though?"

    "No, the prospectors you trained have found nothing in the mountains yet. We still have to purchase ore from the west. However, now that we use the blimps for trade our purchases are less frequent, and we can get better deals when we do buy."

    "It''ll do for now I suppose, but we should find our own source. It''s our only deficit."

    "Agreed." Susan says with a nod writing a few words into a book she carried.

    The paper was wood fiber based. It was what quickly turned our district into the richest in the kingdom. It had also made us the enemy of the Empire.

    Susan developed the machine for pressing the paper herself, all she had to go on was the basic concept that I had explained to her.

    She was a genius. I have now given up on drawing the designs myself. All I need to do is explain them to Susan and she will have a prototype made in an hour. Often her prototypes have features I have never even mentioned.

    After the paper development was perfected she began construction of the letter press. We were printing textbooks within three months. They started simple, the first was simply a book on reading and writing.

    I discovered inconsistencies with the common language while writing these books. Some words could be written multiple ways, there was also no official rules for punctuation. I decided to just introduce them myself. There was a large section about comma usage in ''Volume 3 - Sentence Structure''. It makes me wish I had paid more attention in class, I feel like I''m partially making up these rules.

    I had also written a few books on psychology and physics in hopes to draw a curiosity towards the subject. They would likely be seen as paranoid scribblings and plagiarism on earth but they were taken as profound thoughts in this world. It gave me a slightly big head. I had to be sure to use pen names or else I would be praised as a god. Well I suppose I am a god but that''s not the point.

    "There are two new books on the shelf," I say pointing towards a shelf I often placed completed works onto. "Could you take them two the press?"

    "Sure, no problem." She says walking towards the shelf and carefully examining the books and smiling at their topics.

    ''Basic Mathematics for Merchants'' and ''An Idiot''s Guide to Medicine and Field Surgeries''

    The latter I want to spread quickly. It was written with the help of my wife and our mothers.

    The sound of a crying baby from the next room interrupted Susan and I''s talk.

    Claire and I rapidly move our fingers to the tips of our noses. I had introduced this style of decision making. Last person to touch their nose has to do whatever needs doing.

    In this case Susan stood glancing between the two of us before realizing what we were reacting to. She quickly dropped her head and then peaked towards the open doorway of the nursery.

    She trudges into the room and carefully lifts the child, sniffing around the cloth diaper. Her unpleasant reaction assures Claire and I that we made the right choice.

    We casually slap five and returned to our work at the desk.

    "You should get a maid." Susan says from the next room while changing the diaper. "I really don''t think this is a job for the guild."

    "Think so?" I ask sarcastically.

    "Well actually, I guess our guild just does whatever you say, so I guess this is a job for us." She returns to the room carrying the fussing child. "I don''t particularly mind it."

    She lifts the babies shirt and blows a raspberry on the tubby belly grinning widely at the child''s reaction.

    My child is spoiled by three grandmothers. Truly a lucky child.

    I had assumed Susan would be the most business-like around the kid but she seems to pamper the child more than my, or Claire''s, mom.

    She groans and grunts whenever we ask her to change her, however despite all Susan''s prompting to ''get a maid'' she has never interviewed one or even offered to look.

    I don''t think she actually wants us to get one. She enjoys the opportunity to be a mother.

    "Is Sophie coming to the capital too?" Susan asks while bouncing the baby on her knee.

    "I''m not sure." I say turning my attention to Claire, She mentioned fear over teleporting our child before, it was something she was uncomfortable with.

    "I think it''s Okay." Claire says extending her arms to Susan to receive Sophie. "It shouldn''t be a problem. I just have to be careful I think."

    Looking at Claire who was cooing cutely at Sophie I somewhat share her concern. We had learned to trust the teleports so quickly that we had never really thought about the inherent danger of it, a single mistake and we could vanish from the world.

    "Shall I come as well?" Susan asks, realizing that everyone in the room was now going, and feeling slightly left out.

    "Unfortunately I want you to stay and keep watch on the construction and immigration. I also really don''t want that crystal left alone. Someone who understands its nature needs to be near it at all times."

    "What about Degin?" She asks.

    "Degin is coming too, he''s the only one who can confirm the King is who he claims to be. He will be the only one on the blimp the whole time, gotta get him used to it somehow." I say with a laugh

    "I see. Do you really not trust him?"

    "The king? Not necessarily, he seemed to be telling the truth. But it was still quite a story, no matter how you look at it. I just don''t know his true intentions. Are they as simple as what he said?"

    Thinking back a year ago, the conversation I had with the king was likely even more bizarre than the conversation I had with Claire about her pregnancy earlier the same day.

    I wonder which changed my life more in this years time?

 Chapter 2 - Talk

    A year ago, after explaining the situation to Claire about her recent sickness she didn''t seem nearly as concerned as I. In fact she was all smiles. She seemed to bite the smile slightly in attempt to hide it but it was impossible. She clearly was excited by the thought of having a child. Perhaps it was only me that was terrified, but how could I not be? if it''s a boy I will die. There was no debate it''s simply fact.

    "Is it wrong that I''m excited?"

    "Well that''s not what''s wrong."

    "Hmm?"

    "Did you know your mother is my father''s sister?"

    "Yeah?"

    "You did?"

    "Of course. My mom told me that long ago, even before I lived with you guys I knew you were my cousin."

    "And you don''t think thats¡­"

    "Why? Your grandfather married his sister, same with his father before him, and his father before him. I consider that a little more risque than a cousin."

    "That''s true but¡­"

    "Do you not like me?" She asked quivering her lip purposefully.

    "Of course I do, that''s the problem."

    "Is it really a problem though?"

    "Ahh, i don''t know, maybe not. Maybe it''s just the other mind making excuses."

    I apologized for my insensitivity and hugged Claire who seemed a bit upset by my line of questioning. It was apparently something she had thought about a lot. She said her feelings for me were the reason she chose to leave in the first place. She pondered the feelings for years before finally deciding before the ceremony she didn''t care about our relation.

    I felt bad she had to deal with those thoughts alone, I had probably made things more difficult for her.

    We two began our journey to the castle to the east. Claire''s room was a small edge of a large ''C'' shaped building. From there we turned right towards the main road that would lead to the Royal castle.

    Claire pointed me towards the Bakery that she had chosen to help. We grabbed a bag of cinnamon buns they carried and continued walking towards the main road.

    The buns were different, they seemed to have a slight citrus hint to them. I wondered if maybe citrus fruits were grown around here, there were palm trees and tropical plants so it wasn''t unlikely.

    Reaching the Noble Courtyard didn''t take long, Claire seemed to have chosen a room very close to both the river road and the castle area.

    The Noble Courtyard was beautiful, each manor on the street was filled with elaborate shrubs bordered by well trimmed green grass.

    It was the first lawn I had seen in this world.

    The noble court was dwarfed by the two large gardens that sat a mile or so in the distance. The two arcing gardens seemed to have shaped trees and bushes in all sorts of angles, The area was overflowing with color despite the season.

    Between us and the magnificent garden was a stereotypical medieval castle. It even had a moat and drawbridge, it felt almost silly. Was a moat really needed in the center of a city with a wall? Perhaps the King is afraid of his citizen revolting? But everyone here seemed fairly happy. There was starving but it wasn''t blamed on the royalty, they apparently were very kind to the people. Even importing food out of their own pocket.

    I still found it odd to look at the large drawn bridge. I expected as we neared it would fall but it didn''t, instead I noticed a small plank had been placed across the thick water.

    I supposed they only drop the bridge for troops or carriages. Anyone else would just use the wood plank leading towards a small door.

    I steadied Claire carefully and eased across the bridge. The water below was murky, a iridescent bubble would appear from time to time. It wasn''t something i wanted my pregnant girlfriend falling into.

    We began to knock when we reached the landing but the door opened before I had the chance.

    "Come this way." A young man in a suit said.

    "Righto." I replied gripping Claire''s hand as we were whisked away.

    It was only when we were both given changes of clothes did we realize the lack of nobility of our own dress. I wore the pants I had made from fabric I got in winter village. They were winter pants so style didn''t matter, only warmth.

    I had given Claire some nice silk like what the dress she held was made from, but as we had just teleported to the capital of course she hadn''t had a chance to make anything from it. Instead she wore a dress made from a thicker cotton. It was cute, don''t get me wrong. But the dress she was given by the maid sat against her skin much better, complimenting her appearance and giving her a more mature look.

    It was captivating, I could barely concentrate on changing my own clothes, we really should have chosen to dress in separate rooms.

    After scolding my own thoughts I placed the multi piece suit i was given on as well. With each button I felt more constrained.

    It felt, wrong.

    Really wrong.

    I refused.

    This wasn''t me, I had already said I would be honest from now on. At least when possible, this includes now. I''m the son of a tribe leader, not a noble. I carefully unbuttoned the shirt and refolded it. I replaced it and grabbed the strapped leather shirt I had worn into the castle. Perhaps it would be an insult to reject the clothes, but I don''t care.

    This leather strap should never leave my side. To replace it with a tie would be sacrilegious to the tool that saved Claire''s life. No, I would wear a shirt bound by this strap for the rest of my life. And I will make it tradition for the Hawk to do so for all time. Or I suppose I can pass down traditions to the next Blood Duke now.

    After nodding to Claire who cocked her head at my outfit we stepped back into the hallway where the servants awaited. I handed them the clothes, a few looked shocked but one quieted them and began leading us towards the center of the massive castle.

    It felt like we walked almost as long as we had outside, but we finally reached a doorway.

    "Hold on a moment." The male servant said before knocking on a nearby door.

    It wasn''t the door we stood before but one adjacent it, it was slightly smaller but still a fancier door than what stood in my mom''s inn.

    "Oh they''re here?" A small voice piped behind it. A small tan girl stepped out from the swinging door and pressed it shut behind her. "It''s rare for someone to get invited into the ''actual'' royal chamber. But I suppose since it''s you it makes sense."

    There was something I wouldn''t have noticed a few months ago.

    Her skin color, it was similar to my own, I''d begun to assume that the olive skin tone me and Claire shared was related to our tribal bloodline, I had never seen it on anyone but a tribe member.

    The young servant man bowed his head to the girl and then to us and then turned away towards the direction we came from.

    "Let''s go then shall we." She said pulling out the two large doors to reveal a blank rock wall.

    "Wha¡­" Claire begins but then became transfixed by what she saw instead.

    The small girl frantically gripped at the stone wall and then a black tear appeared. It expanded, nearing the width of a human, and then rapidly filled the doorway. With that she turned, nodded to the two of us and grasped for our hands. We both knew the routine so we held her hands carefully and stepped into the girl''s Void.

    It wasn''t teleportation, i could tell immediately, we were in fact passing through the material of the wall, nothing more. The door is the Void, And she is the key. But how? How was she able to pass through a void?

    "It''s a pleasure to meet you Hawk," A man said, bowing deeply before me.

    I had expected the king to be wearing fancy embroidered robes but instead he stood with a torn leather coat similar to my own.

    At first I had thought, ''No, this man bowing before me can''t be the king.'' but no one else was in the room, so he must be. I noticed he too shared the girl''s olive complexion.

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    "I apologize for that earlier." He said, likely referring to the clothes the servants offered. "I felt a bit uncomfortable addressing the Hawk in my regular dress though. I see you felt the most comfortable in yours as well, I suppose our personalities don''t suit our positions."

    He laughed at the words and then righted himself and sat down in the simple throne in the back of the room. I couldn''t help but chuckle at them as well, he was right. I now understand completely the situation.

    "When?" I ask

    "My grandfather, your great grandfather, conquered this kingdom years ago. He placed my father, your grandfather''s brother, in charge of the place."

    "I suppose that makes sense, why would we live in an unsecure place, this way we would always have protection against the empire and the church."

    "Mhm exactly."

    "But a void walker?" I ask pointing to the girl who was playing with Claire. Claire seemed to be showing off the expanded version of the professor mages juggling technique. She opened a couple dozen voids and threw the ball with all her might, it bounced between the voids endlessly. Increasing speed until it reached terminal velocity.

    "She possesses the void specialization but she isn''t a walker, technically a voidwalker is one who can create and walk in Void planes. Teleportation alone doesn''t qualify one."

    "So you knew i would teleport here? Then why the two months?"

    "Well I figured you had stuff you needed to do before coming." The king said with a blank expression.

    Well that was kind of him, but why call me here at all then? This doesn''t exactly make sense. And why give me a Duchy? I have so many questions.

    "Can I build a canal?" I instead ask.

    "A canal? Can you? Well I see no issue with it if you say you can do it. I assume you speak of the Scar?"

    "Right."

    "Hm, I see the benefits, it would surely help this city, who sits on both the ocean, and mouth of the scar. I imagine it would help us and you in the Bay of Mountains most of all."

    "I''m not so sure, I think everyone on a river adjacent district would benefit, even when the canal is built, the travel time up it will still be long. Ports at all cities will be frequented for refuel or rest."

    "Of course, and with your new engine shipping will surely become faster." He said with a sly grin.

    "So you do have spies then?"

    "''Spy'' is a harsh word, just ''concerned citizens''."

    "Right, concerned for their wallet?"

    "Wallet?"

    "Nothing. So why am I a ''Duke'' anyways, and ''of Blood'' for that matter, don''t people usually get to choose that themselves? What if I had wanted to be inconspicuous? If you consider me Hawk aren''t you supposed to follow me?"

    "Ah but I''m you''re familial elder, that trumps even the position of Degin. I follow you, but I also lead you towards the right path."

    "I see, so what do you intend by making me a Duke? Or won''t you tell me? Degin seems to keep quiet when he has some ulterior motive."

    "No I will tell you, I intend the world to envy your Duchy. I want the Bay of Mountains to become the most desired place to live."

    "Why? Increase the canal profits? But you didn''t know I was planning to build it, unless spies told you."

    "No, no, that will just be a convenient addition. My reasoning is different, I think Envy is the best way to advance the world."

    "Envy."

    "Mhm, if the world envies the advances that the Mountain Bay is making then they will have the desire to improve themselves. Don''t you agree?"

    "It could work, it''s better than any of my plans." I say honestly thinking about it. "You want me to keep my innovations in the Bay then?"

    "No, not necessarily, I just want you to show that it''s you who are furthering the world. If others see that they will grow curious, ''what could I do to advance the world?''"

    "I see. It''s simple and fits into my own plans of giving technology. So there is no problem with me, and it will give me the advantage in negotiations."

    "Mhm, from what I had seen it didn''t seem to be something that would negatively affect you. As the Count of Food was about to make you a noble anyways I saw no issue with it. I just wish I could have seen his face when he read the Commendation, I heard it was quite a scene."

    "That''s one way to put it, it''s not often a Lord has lands removed from him during a naming ceremony. Much less a Duke named." Claire finally piped in. Her concentration on the seventy five mile per hour rubber ball finally breaking, allowing it to smash into a nearby bookshelf. She seemed to brush off the damage and continued talking. "It was very funny, I enjoyed the joke sire."

    "Finally someone around who understand my sense of humor. But you really don''t need to call me sire, If anything you have the higher position here." He laughed then pointed at the tan skinned girl who was gasping along with me at the damaged books. "That one never gets my jokes so it''s nice to have someone with a sense of humor in the family."

    "She did seem a little dry." Claire says rubbing her cheeks lightly. I wonder if she knew she was referring to his daughter or if she just didn''t care.

    "That''s what I always say. Hear that Aeri? A king''s daughter should understand jokes!"

    With those words Claire''s eyes got big and she turned slightly red thinking of some of the tales she had regaled the curious young girl with.

    From there our positions changed. I entertained young Aeri, who peered at me with rosy cheeks, while Claire exchanged comedy tips with the King or something like that. I wasn''t paying much attention to their talk, holding onto a rubber ball with aura took more concentration than I expected.

    Time passed and we all prepared to leave the chamber and enter the adjacent ''fake chamber'' for the induction ceremony. It was called ''fake'' but it was apparently fancier and kinglier than this one. I suppose that''s why it was called fake. It entirely didn''t fit this unkingly king.

    Or so I thought until he arrived wearing bright purple robes. It was a king''s color here as well then.

    I had heard the only reason it was considered a noble color on Earth was because the material needed for purple dye was rare. I wonder if that was the case here.

    But it suited him. Earlier I thought he wasn''t much of a king, now I don''t know how I could have thought that.

    He carried himself with great dignity, barely resting a moment to let the drape from his back fall to the ground. With a nod Aeri opened a Void on a blank spot on the left wall and we entered the the ''fake chamber'' where the nobles and a few Lords were waiting.

    I was worried we would just stumble into the room but the castle design had the power in mind and a small room was between the fake and real King''s Chambers.

    The Gala after the ceremony was uneventful. I settled a few debates the Lords had about the canal, it seemed they had heard about the construction.

    Just how many spies are there?

    Or perhaps it''s just a few business conscious spies. If that''s the case I would be interested in hiring them. Nobody can spin a story like a spy. At Least that was the case in America.

    The Landlords didn''t trust that money would come from such an expensive undertaking. I explained that it would likely take each of their district''s farmers only a few months to complete the work, but they claimed that would be a ''huge expenditure'' based on the daily salary of a farmer.

    The most difficult part would be completed on our side of the project, we would have to install the massive lock, so I don''t know what they were complaining about. Are they aware that a project like this on Earth would take a decade, and here we could likely have it done before the next summer. These people don''t realize how lucky they are. I will happily hold the numbers in front of their face next year when the Lords Summit comes around.

    I truly looked forward to the day. I even put my money where my mouth is.

 Chapter 3 - Deposition

    When I first returned from the royal capital I still had only a single intention. Find a way to remove the mana clouding the bay of mountains. Now I desired it more than ever.

    If the king wanted me to make my land desireable then I first would need to make it liveable. And non-time warped.

    This would work great, while Susan and the builders worked on the canal I would work on repairing the land. When Claire and I checked in on Godrick Susan had proudly announced that she had moved her team of craftsmen team and renamed themselves the ''Blood Craftsmen of the Mountain Bay''.

    The name was metal, but it was a little too metal.

    I told them to hold off on announcing themselves for awhile until I thought of another, less intimidating name.

    My farewell to Claire wasn''t nearly as exhilarating as it had been a few months prior but nothing could be done about it. We shared a simple kiss outside the mage tower in Colgate and then parted ways. We received a few hoots from the townsfolk but we ignored it.

    Claire pleaded to go with me but I outright refused. When I explained the state of ''time'' in the area she seemed to understand the damage it could cause to her and the baby within, she retreated back into the void after promising she would be safe.

    To be honest even I wasn''t sure what would happen if she came with me, but I can''t imagine her body would react well to the mana or the rapid passage of time.

    As I ventured deeper into the mountain bay the only thing on my mind was the desire to return before the birth of my child. I wasn''t sure how long it would take me to execute my plan, but in the time dilated inner ring of the barrier, it would only stretch longer.

    Vigi''s presence suddenly appeared inside my range of attention. He was still around a quarter mile away so I waited a few second before waving. I still hadn''t spotted him visually through the thick snow but his mana was clearly influencing the rest of the mana nearby.

    He apparently hadn''t made it entirely back to the church yet when my aunt told him I had returned to Colgate. The time dilation here really messed with my mind.

    ''Oh, right. Why didn''t you warn me?''

    "Are you ''thinking'' to me?" My great aunt''s voice returned.

    Who else would I think towards?

    "Well maybe the other mind."

    I suppose I could do that, but he''s quiet I don''t think he''d want to be disturbed.

    "I don''t mind. Just don''t make a habit of it."

    "See." My aunt again replied completely lacking the surprise I held.

    Could he really reply whenever he wanted? Would this be helpful somehow? I already possessed his mind, what would verbal communication help with?

    "Exactly." He again voiced.

    Hmm, but there really could be questions I want answered.

    I thought about questions for him, during most of the flight to the church. Vigi seemed satisfied with his increase in speed but I continually pumped more and more mana into him as an experiment.

    I felt bad using the creature as a test dummy for future projects but as a powerful beast he''s the perfect tool for mana based testing. And he didn''t particularly seemed to care.

    "Don''t feel bad I use him as a test bed too." My aunt said with a smile visible in her voice.

    Those words didn''t particularly help my mind.

    Did you know about the king?

    "Nope, but I now know, based on your spilt intent."

    Ugh. Yeah, yeah, I have to learn to control my intent I get it. You are like broken record.

    Do you think I''m crazy?

    "For thinking you can remove the mana in the Bay before your child''s birth?"

    Yeah.

    "No. Well, maybe. If my calculations are true you have less than a week here."

    A week. Huh, well that''s something. I would need to shrink the aura of the barrier as if it were my own aura. It would require immense concentration I assume.

    "Indeed, we will discuss ways when you arrive. From the looks of it Vigi can take another spurt of Mana. Go for it" She prodded hidding a giggle.

    I followed her advice and gave Vigi a large burst of mana and he began to rocket even faster towards the church, I noticed we were nearing a magic number so I pulsed a bit more, in hopes I could show Vigi a new world.

    It happened, a large ''BOOM!'' could be heard and he increased speed once again. He had just broken the sound barrier. Vigi grinned with his chicken beak and fluffed his feathers happily as we circled the church at over seven hundred mph.

    After a few circles for fun he slowed his speed and dived towards the Church. We had likely used up a few days outside the barrier with this fun but it was worth it.

    "It starts with expanding your mind." The woman within the altar said after I sat down in the church. "You need to envision the area as your body."

    "The church or the¡­"

    "The whole bay. Envision the entire area of the barrier, and even the area outside it. Find the clear line between the two and then compress it."

    This training reminded me of Joye''s. First I needed to detect the Aura outside me, and then find a way to view and control it. Now I needed to do the same at a much larger scale, I need to sense the edges of the barrier from all angles.

    "Expand your sense of self, become more than just you, become the trees and the animals within the Bay of Mountains. Become a true ''God'' of this place. Only then will you posses the control needed."

    Expand my sense of self. That''s heady, it reminds me of buddhist teachings, becoming ''one'' with your surroundings or something like that.

    This seemed to be a few steps passed the exalted ''nirvana'' state though. This was entire control over an area.

    Was this only possible here with the barrier or could this be accomplished elsewhere? It would be a dangerous weapon, or a life saving tool if the whole world could be controlled in such a manner.

    But I had little time to think of the whole world. Outside this church it had likely been weeks and here i was in a daze about mass power. I had to concentrate on expanding myself.

    On becoming less, while more.

    Forget myself and become everything, was such a thing even possible for a human?

    "You aren''t human."

    Right, I suppose so.

    I can do it. I can concentrate the mana into a single point. No one other than me can do it, therefore I must.

    I had to at least learn to detect it the way my aunt had described, that would be the first step to see if this was possible.

    It felt too difficult to forget myself when I had so much on my mind though.

    The thought of Claire slowly showing a bump appeared in my mind. Such a thing was unnoticeable while at the capital but in the weeks I''d now been gone it''s likely grown more prominent. I bet she was upset her new dress no longer fits. I wished I could comfort her.

    "You can not concentrate for a minute can you?" The woman again resounded. "Wanna try something that might help?"

    "What''s that?" I asked out loud, hoping the change in scenery from opening my eyes would help.

    "I will turn the intent of the entire forest into what you call an ''Intent message''. Addressing the areas intent to you will overwhelm your system forcing you out of yourself theoretically."

    "DDoS my mind?"

    "Something like that." The voice said after analyzing the memory that the Earth mind showed us. "But it will be a beneficial attack, you will be overwhelmed by positive data, data you need to intake anyways. It will simply require reorganizing a bit."

    I see, it could work. And since the mind used a helpful memory to explain the concept to me it seemed he was okay with the idea as well. I suppose I have no choice but to try, it can''t hurt.

    Or well, it can I guess, but I hope it doesn''t.

    "Let''s start with the trees in the winter locked zones. They should be a small shock in order to see if the concept is even viable, if you can comprehend and intake the intent then we will continue from there."

    ''Right, sounds like a plan. Lets try it then.''

    With those thoughts a strong sensation overwhelmed my body and mind. I felt the urge to expand, the desire for strength and a deep tiredness.

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    These were the feelings of the trees around this place. I understood their desire and feelings and they incorporated within me. I began to share the desires of the trees and passed them my own in turn.

    It was working, I need more.

    With that another pulse struck me, this one broke a few dozen stones within my gut. The pulse was intense, I had never felt a mana stone break before. I wasn''t even aware it was possible at the time, but I was glad I had so many. They likely kept me alive.

    After addressing the cracked stones I returned my thoughts to the disorganized intent I had just received from the pulse, I realized however there was none.

    I had already understood it and it had become ''me''. I was becoming the forest. I realized my body now was lost amongst the land. It was terrifying, I was simply a soul amongst thousands fighting for my mana. I knew I had nothing truly to fear but the sensation of being a mind lost from its body was terrifying.

    Was this what Earth-me is going through constantly?

    "More or less." The man''s voice echoed in the darkness.

    I see.

    Well I can''t just stop now, more.

    With those thoughts again I felt a pulse in my far off body. The pain was less intense now, perhaps because it was now shared amongst so many thousands of souls.

    I began to grow a deep understanding of things as the forest and I traded consciousness. I knew I was nearing the limits of this method''s ability. So I began to expand myself on my own. I quickly noticed missing pieces amongst my many branches throughout the bay. I linked them often by simply following the river.

    I crept as an incorporeal mind across many familiar terrains. I had reached Colgate now, its thick forest was healthy and I happily accepted it into myself. It possessed great amounts of mana which emanated the desire to protect these people who protect the forest. I too felt the desire without even needing their intent so they accepted my offer without a trace of resistance.

    Most of the trees and beast did the same. The wolves bowed graciously when my mind passed over them. It seemed they held my aura in great regard. The lone wolf survivor had told tales of my terror to its brethren, and as such the incorporation of their strong mana was quick.

    I possessed no exact control over the beasts now, but we did share a linked mind. With this I could understand their feelings as well as them understanding mine. It was an unnecessary but useful tool if ever needed.

    I continued down the river and noticed a branch that brought back the same memories. I followed it despite the fact that most of the area was already under my control. There were a few strong mana carrier in the area that I wanted to consume personally.

    I was somewhat surprised when I noticed Joye had already joined into my mana conglomeration. I felt it was bizarre for a human to be considered a part of the forest, but I realized it was likely due to the fact that she already possessed a connection to the forest prior to my consumption. I just needed to find the pesky fairies.

    The trees indicated they were nearby, but their mana levels were faint and distant. I had nearly given up on them and moved on when Joye roused from her sleep and peered at the place my mind was viewing the area from.

    She scrambled over to a table and ignited sparks into a pile of half burnt ashes. Once they ignited she turned her cloudy eyes back towards the tree i was using as an eye. She smiled a little and then cocked her head as she stepped closer. She spoke but the words were just jibberish to the earless tree. She then touched the tree lightly.

    I felt her press a surge of mana into the tree it was a vague intent message. I replied my reasoning for coming and she quickly speared her finger with a knife. The bright dots appeared instantly and rested on her finger. I commenced the consumption of them and they accepted it more willingly than I expected.

    No being had been unwilling so far. The only large masses left were the lake in Godrick and the Cockatrice sleeping in the church.

    "You need to acquire Vigi as well." The woman''s voice again rang in my mind. "You also still haven''t given up your sense of self, you can only get so far this way."

    Give up my sense of self? I don''t exactly understand what that means. I have already become lost from my body. What more is there? Do i really have to give up control entirely? Well for now I will just focus on the two large masses, I''ll bother with that after.

    The lake was interesting. I had marveled at it''s endless fish before, but now it seemed even more a mystery. Deep inside was a large creature that had vastly more mana than the fish. It wasn''t threatening, it''s aura felt friendly enough. It seemed to only desire the lake to stay filled with water. It was a simple enough intent for a marine animal. I saw nothing wrong with the intent so we happily bonded.

    Last but not least was my friend Vigi. His intent was vast, it was vast enough to take up half the barrier. I already knew its meaning, he desired to leave.

    He desired to fly and be free. He desired to sleep happily for years in a field that experienced all seasons. It was almost ironic that this great desire was the same thing that locked him in a state of eternal frigidness.

    No actually I believe that''s the exact definition of irony.

    His intent was simple to comprehend, and easy to accept.

    But wouldn''t the real way to solve this problem be freeing him from this task? I spoke to him, using his mass as a beacon to find my own body again for the first time in awhile.

    "Vigi, under my assumed authority as a representative of the ''Demon God''. I hereby free you from your duty and permit you to leave the bay assuming you complete one final task."

    "And that is?" The beast asked, opening his eyes.

    "Incorporate your mana with mine, once I have completed the compression of the mana barrier you can leave."

    "Fair enough."

    Then with that it was done, I had been branching out my sense of self for awhile now. My conception of time was entirely gone. It could easily have already been a week in the church. I hope I didn''t miss it.

    "It has only been two days, a few months outside the barrier." My aunt said from within the altar. "You still have time, but you must forget yourself to become all. This next step isn''t a particularly short one you must hurry."

    Right, So I must forget myself? How, when I have all this weighing on me how can I forget it? It''s impossible.

    How can I know that I will regain myself when I already feel lost amongst the various intent''s I''ve consumed. I''m now just an echo in the vastness of my mind.

    How can I know I will contain the same desire when I lose myself, how do I know the desire to remove the barrier will still stand when I am not myself.

    "Trust."

    Trust, in who? Me? The forest? You?

    "In the ''intent of betterment''."

    Does such a thing exist?

    "Of course, it''s a desire of all living creatures. It''s what moves us forward. It''s something very strong within you, and you shared it with every creature in the forest. It will serve as a tether to this world, your tether to this body. Just relax and forget your own desire."

    Forget my desire?

    Forget myself, and become nothingness. In doing so I would become all.

    Forget myself, become nothing. Become all.

    Forget and, become all.

    Forget.

    Be all.

    <hr>

    Concentrate.

    Concentrate.

    Concentrate.

    Press.

    Withstand.

    Concentrate once more.

    Repeat until state change detected.

    ?

    ?

    Coalesce.

    Precipitate.

    Nucleate.

    Fuse.

    Compress.

    Grow.

    Force deposition.

    Counter natural sublimation.

    Expand nucleus.

    Crystallize.

    Collect.

    Crystallize.

    Link and continue crystallization.

    Withstand.

    Expand.

    Contract.

    Retract.

    Breathe.

    Repeat process from start.

    <hr>

    If [Repeat] impossible end task.

    <hr><hr>

 Chapter 4 - Consequence

    Am I me?

    How could i even tell?

    When I awoke I was alone in the church. Even Vigi was gone. How long had I laid there?

    It felt like years.

    My memories, if they were even mine, felt jumbled. I could remember Earth. In fact those memories felt stronger than my own.

    Am I not Drew?

    Perhaps I''m the Earthling?

    But wouldn''t I know my own name if I were from Earth?

    No, i must have be Drew. Then that means my mind had properly returned as my aunt surmised it would.

    I waited a moment but nothing came, no voice ringing in my head. Was she being shy suddenly? She had normally been so boisterous.

    "Are you there?" I asked out loud feeling slightly dumb for not knowing my great aunt''s name.

    Nothing came, the room was silent.

    But it wasn''t empty. Across from where my body had collapsed, encrusting the central altar was a large interlaced gem.

    It had countless thousands of facets extending along the fractalite crystal. It was primarily a deep red color but some of the tips shone black or white. If i were to guess it''s the mana forms individual colors. Black for corrupt mana, and white for pure.

    I reached my hand near the delicate crystal but as I neared a bad feeling grew in my gut.

    This object is dangerous.

    It holds endless energy inside it. Enough to kill the world while in a gaseous state. Who knows how much more dangerous it could be in this condensed form.

    This is the condensed barrier. The mana from every man woman and creature in the bay for hundreds of years. I had really done it then. I had succeeded.

    But in doing so I destroyed my aunt, hadn''t I?

    No voice resounded so I took my thoughts as truth. She had never mentioned any danger to herself, what about the other worlds? Were they harmed by this? Had I made a terrible decision? She told me to trust, so does that mean I wasn''t doing wrong? Was she okay with this result?

    I wish I could ask her those things.

    I stretched my neck and peered around the empty church. The time warping tear in the ceiling had completely vanished.

    I could also now see again with mana vision.

    The whole area seemed to be slowly refilling the vacuum of lost mana, in more average amounts this time. It seemed I had been successful even at such high cost.

    I walked outside and I confirmed my thoughts. The snow was melting quickly due to the regained heat in the area. From the amount that had already defrosted i assume it had been a real day since I cleared the area. There were already some areas where reddish clay was visible.

    A heavy stream of water was cutting the path I had taken to get here. I noticed there was a main road from the original city underneath all the snow. It was in surprisingly good shape for its age. But the heavy flow of water still prevented me from a comfortable walk.

    At that time words I had spoken with myself passed through my mind once again.

    I was ''overlooking something'' the Earth mind said.

    It''s now obvious what it was. All this snow, it can only go one place. And that place is currently in its most dangerous state. I truly hope canal construction has progressed well. I pray nobody was near the river when the snowmelt began, its surely a whirlwind by now.

    My theory was confirmed when the ancient Goldianus city road met up with the river. It was flowing heavily. Chunks of broken ice had piled up on both shores and were dripping rapidly

    The river was noisy, the brownish water sloshed against the shore splashing the melting snow and quickening its defrost.

    It was moving quickly, I really wished I could move that quickly.

    Oh. Well I supposed I could.

    I lifted a nearby log and focused on it with my mana.

    Once it accepted my mana I began manipulating the grains of the wood like clay. I took the thick log and squeezed it flat like a pancake, I then extended the block shape long and thin into a surfboard shape. It wouldn''t need to be perfect. I would use my mana to protect it, it just needed to flow through water predictably.

    Once I felt satisfied with the makeshift surfboard I rubbed a bit of the excess bark off the bottom and carefully stepped on. While standing on the board on the shoreline of the roaring waters i felt a moment of panic. The feeling was quickly replaced by desire to see my child though. It was very possibly I had already missed the birth.

    With a pulse from a large chunk of mana reserves I carved a wide divot into the dirt below me.

    It slowly filled with water lifting the board I stood on.

    I gave a small pulse of mana to the water behind me and it shot towards the filthy roaring waters.

    I''ve never surfed before. Hell I don''t think ''I'' had even seen the ocean. But with mana it was a breeze. From time to time a large rock would set me off balance but a single pulse of mana in the correct direction easily righted me. It was convenient, fun even, but I didn''t have time to enjoy.

    I had caused this natural disaster, I had to be sure my people were safe.

    The deeper I ventured in the winter area the worse the waters became. A few times I was completely submerged by large rapids. I almost stopped after the third hit but my body healed quickly from the damage so I continued. How could I let a few broken ribs slow me?

    I neared the Winter village. In theory it should be ok. The river ran a hundred feet from the village and the ground was planed at a slight incline.

    From the looks of it the water level had only risen about a foot and a half at this point, but it would only grow higher the further I went. The real dangers would be to Godrick and Havas who sat close to water level. I pray the canal was completed in those areas.

    As my board grew closer to the village I assessed it for any damage. The water had risen up the long bank and shifted the ice quite a bit. A few large chunks had knocked into a some houses but it didn''t cause too much damage.

    Several people were gathered along the shore watching the quick moving water. Others were pushing the more dangerous chunks of ice away from the village with long sticks. I threw them a solemn wave while simultaneously evaporating the ice near the shore.

    A few villagers dropped jaws while few others waved back at me likely not noticing the ice.

    It was the least I could do.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    I continued down the river.

    From the rate i was moving I figured I could probably make it to colgate within a few hours. I wanted to check in on the Ents but I figured being older trees they would likely endure, if not enjoy, the event.

    No, humans were my priority now. In particular Godrick and Havas. Oh, and perhaps the lock as well. I''m sure they have no idea how to handle this. I just hope I can ride ahead of the major damage.

    I neared the border of the fall zone, I would enter the ents domain soon, and then pass by Colgate. From there it would be a long surf to Goldrick.

    The river was now two feet above its original iced over path. Each river that merged with the Coil made it ten fold more dangerous. The ice was likely a worse enemy currently than the rocks. I wish I could fly.

    It was now eight occasions that I almost died if not for my massive mana stores and rapid healing. Come to think of it my rapid healing was the only thing that had never been explained to me. But my last link to that world was gone. Perhaps Joye knows. Oh or degin, he is apparently ancient.

    Oh, I maybe could fly, sort of.

    I forced more mana into the board. Each grain of wood began to glow a deep yellow before the chunk morphed into a more narrow streamlined board. The speed of the board exceeded twice the river''s, and increased further whenever I pulsed mana.

    I ripped through ice and even rocks as they entered my path. I had to be careful to stay on the river or I would carve a large gash into the bank and have to restart my travel. But it was surely faster than just surfing.

    I barreled down the river.

    I planned to completely surpass the Colgate bend with a wicked jump, since they were a safe distance from the river. But my plan veered off when I detected a familiar aura amongst the gathered crowd.

    It was one I could never forget, it was that of my soon to be wife. And from the sensation of the mana she was still pregnant, I had succeeded in my ultimate goal. But the fact that she was here worried me. Why had she chosen to teleport while pregnant? I had told her to be extremely careful about it and now she was late into her pregnancy, it would only be more dangerous now.

    I rocketed the board into the bank purposefully and leapt from the board towards the crowd that was watching the spectacle of the flood. And here I had planned to show them an epic stunt.

    Next time I suppose.

    Claire approached me and quickly embraced me into a hug.

    I too was extremely happy to see her, but I was also extremely cautious of her bulbous belly. It was a bit of a shame to see it on such a beautiful girl. But the fact that ''my child'' was the reason made it more beautiful I wager.

    "Why are you here?" I asked glancing around for either Susan or my mother, none were present so I was sure she had teleported here.

    "I was at the Inn. But Susan got word of a terrible flood damaging the lock. I got worried about you, and the people up here, so I came to see if they had heard anything. I knew it was dangerous but I had to come." She said carefully prodding her wide stomach.

    "Damage to the lock?"

    "Mhm, she said a few people were repairing a chain when the flood hit, they were washed away. The water also ripped the chain from its post."

    "How many?"

    "Eight," She began before coughing lightly when she noticed my teary reaction. "And another twenty six in the village below the lock. The spillway ramps for flooding were¡­"

    She trailed off as I fell to the ground, I understood the issue.

    I couldn''t stop the tears. And why should I?

    I''m a seventeen year old kid, I shouldn''t have seventy three notches on my belt. First the thirty nine mercenaries, I could chalk that up to an accident if I liked, but it wasn''t. And now thirty four villagers and craftsmen. They weren''t accidents.

    And they were innocent.

    I made this choice.

    The knowledge that this would happen was in my mind, I had just overlooked it.

    I had overlooked this damage.

    And it wasn''t even over yet.

    It would only get worse.

    What have I done?

    And how many more will die from my actions before the day is over?

    "Then this was¡­" Claire said before quieting herself when she realized what I was so upset about.

    "This was due to my over confidence."

    "You only did what you thought was right."

    "Without thought to anybody else, I wanted the world the way I thought was correct, so I changed it. And those actions killed those villagers, it killed the craftsmen, it killed my aunt."

    "Mom?" Claire began, her eyes widening.

    "Oh, no, no. Joye is fine." I assured her after glancing with mana vision towards her mountain top, she was indeed fine. "I refer to the disembodied intent of our great great great aunt who resided within the mana of the church."

    "I see, removing the barrier removed the power?" Claire asked.

    "I hope it''s that simple, it''s possible the two worlds she maintained were lost as well, I thought of nothing though. If the world are indeed gone I suppose 73 is a trifle compared to the thousands or even millions that must have lived there."

    "Those deaths aren''t on you."

    "Of course they are."

    "But you just¡­"

    "I tried to carry the world on my shoulders. I tried keeping everything to myself. If I had discussed this with anyone at length I would have noticed the problem with the snow melt, yet I didn''t. I''m supposed to be a duke, yet I can''t even remember that snow turns to water and flows into rivers. What kind of a joke is that?"

    It was only then that I realized I was making this ruckus in front of my very pregnant girlfriend and a large group of my citizens. And I was ranting about my own incompetence. Some duke.

    "We should go." Claire said gripping my hand firmly and gripping the air with the other hand. She easily ripped the void open. She must have undergone lots of training during those months I was gone.

    <hr>

    At the end of the day the total was two hundred and fifteen.

    The next day the total increased to two hundred and forty six due to death from injuries.

    The event was later known as the Flood of Blood. The name had nothing to do with the tribe.

    As the river was known as the ''Scar'' and many deaths were caused by the flood, it was only natural to equate the clay seeped waters with blood.

    The event would carry my name for eternity.

 Chapter 5 - Lesson

    It had only been four months I''d been gone. Claire was upset with me. She claimed I didn''t properly tell her how long the process would take. She feared I died. I wonder if that''s true. She must know I can''t die so easily.

    If I could, I would have many times, while surfing down the flooding river a few days prior.

    But i was still in the dog house, not that I hadn''t placed myself there.

    The guilt of so many deaths weighed on me even greater than Claire''s anger.

    I sat up three night drinking and crying. Many people came to try and shield me from my own blame but they each failed. It was only after Degin Susan and Claire gave up and my mother lightly scolded me did I finally snap out of my drooling stupor.

    "You should go to school." My mother simply said with her normal tone. "Maybe you will be less inclined to make mistakes, and the socialization will help you."

    School.

    People?

    That didn''t'' sound pleasant. But it is something I should do isn''t it? But I would be alone. It would be frightening. Claire won''t be able to come with me in her state.

    I''m the most powerful person on the planet, but teenage bullying would surely kill me.

    "Do I have to?" I pleaded with her, attempting ''puppy-dog eyes'' while drunk. I mostly just strained my eye muscles uncomfortably.

    "Yes." She confirmed. After looking at me with a confused face.

    I''m a Duke, obviously I don''t ''have'' to. But she is my mother, I wouldn''t deny her.

    I would go to school then.

    "Is this the same school you went to?" I asked Claire who was sitting a few seats away.

    She glared at me for a few moments and then eventually broke into a smile as per usual. "Mhm. It''s a good school. And although it''s mostly nobles, knights, and squires it''s unlikely any of them will know you. Other than Julius."

    "The Count''s kid goes there?" Degin asked.

    I was confused about it too. Surely the Count employed tutors, why was the boy going to school? It made me curious about the place.

    "Yea, he was in a few classes with me before I got knighted. After, I rarely had time for school but I assume he''s still there. I''m sure if you told him to keep quiet about your title he would. You can always threaten him, he''s a few years younger than us after all."

    "Well I don''t think age really decides who I can and can''t threaten." I said gulping down the glass of water my mother had placed in front of me.

    I had to hand it to her. The mention of school brought me out of my emotional chains, and it seemed to have lightened the anger Claire held for me. She even seemed a tad jealous. Susan mentioned the school was hosting a swordsmanship tournament. I''m sure had she not been pregnant Claire would have loved to fight in the tournament. I would''ve enjoyed it too. Next time.

    This time I would enjoy my free win.

    After eating some of my mother''s cooking to right my sloppy mind. I turned my attention back to the gang that had been attempting to make me feel better earlier.

    I apologized to each of them and presented Susan the journal she had given me months prior. It now contained various pictures descriptions and other designs I wanted her to begin on. It also had several pages of english word definitions and mathematical equations.

    I also asked her to bring the newly developed lumber mill to Colgate. After that she should send craftsmen to begin work on a capital city around the ruins of the old church. I already felt uncomfortable leaving the place alone. I just hoped the fear would deter people from messing with the dangerous crystallized mana.

    <hr>

    Susan was on her way into town later that day anyways so my mother went with her to register me for school. I didn''t plan to stay long. Obviously I had much to do with my Duchy but I still felt I needed a vacation. Even if it only felt like a few weeks for me, I had been working for the past six months straight.

    I suppose it''s somewhat backwards for the adventure to be work and the school to be vacation. But that''s just how it was in this scenario.

    The plan was for me to stay in school for a few months until our child was born. At that point presumably enough of the city would be built to move into the keep. As it stood there was nothing really for me to do. There was a growing stack of paperwork but that could wait. For the most part my Duchy was self sufficient.

    The only things I could do, the thing Degin seemed interested in, was raise an army. Other than a King, Dukes are the only ones who could garrison an army larger than one thousand men.

    I contemplated it but i was unsure if I could even gather a thousand men. There were surely over a thousand people living in the Bay. Around four thousand if I had to guess but it was unlikely they were in fighting shape. And I had no use for an army, Degin just wanted men to lead.

    No, I think going to school here will help me think about what I want to do in the future. I must see how life is lived here if I want to figure out where to improve it.

    The canal will probably do the most to help the world. That may seem like a bold statement, but the ability to transfer goods quickly between the inland areas and coastal cities will vitally aid all districts. Not only the ones bordering the river.

    Sure, the first to notice the benefits of cheap trade will be river towns. But those savings will spread along the pre established trade routes. And, with the help of the master fabric makers in ''The town formerly known as (Winter Village)'' I would have no trouble increasing the speed of the trade routes.

    The merchants will soon learn the miracle of flight. I just need Susan to master propulsion for the machine.

    She claimed there were actually a couple ways to levitate and move the blimp. Fire mages or Air mages.

    But if we wanted hydrogen or helium then alchemists would be needed, and in large numbers. A single small airship would require five alchemists. And they were already rare.

    I could think of a dozen ways to do it with the magic that I''d learned from the forest but I assume I couldn''t exactly teach those.

    While my mother and Susan left for Havas, Claire and I sat somewhat idly. It might sound awkward or strange to just sit alone in silence in the inn foyer but for me atleast, it was peaceful.

    I hadn''t sat in this room with this girl in far too long.

    I had been so wrapped in my sadness and self doubt before that I didn''t even want move, but now I didn''t want to move for an entirely different reason.

    Claire, noticing my glances towards her stomach casually lifted her shirt and revealed her stomach to me. She then beckoned me towards it with her hand.

    I almost asked permission but then I understood the stupidity of the question, this was my child, of course I could feel.

    I slowly moved my hands towards her porcelain stomach.

    "It''s warm, or maybe my hands are just cold. Oh, the coldness couldn''t hurt the baby could it? Should I move my hand? Am I touching somewhere fragile?!"

    "Relax." She said resting her hand on mine and guiding it lower on her stomach.

    I grew worried where it was headed and then I felt something jab my hand softly from beneath her silky stomach. It seemed to detect my hand and backed away before striking again softly.

    "This is¡­"

    "Mhm." She nodded.

    "It''s amazing. It''s really is in there."

    "Mhm."

    Neither of us said a word, we remained in the position. Both leaving the tears welled in our eyes. We just stood in the strange position and stared at each other. It must have been a few minutes until I thought of an obvious fact.

    I pulled my hand from between hers and carefully pulled her shirt back to cover her belly and keep it properly warm.

    I then took a step back and lowered myself carefully onto one knee.

    "What is this?" She asked cocking her head.

    Right, this wasn''t a ''thing'' here. and I didn''t even have the necessary items anyways.

    Oh, no. I can make this work.

    I put my hand out to quiet her and then carefully looked around to see if anyone was nearby. I wanted to keep my new powers a secret for the most part but it was of course Ok for Claire to see.

    And this would be better than any normal diamond ring.

    I opened my empty left hand and held it, palm up.

    I then carefully assembled a dozen mana stones worth of mana from inside me.

    I was very selective with the stones. It was an ironic mix.

    50% Chaotic 25% Pure 25% Corrupt.

    It was our blood. It was the same mana content of the child within her. It would make the perfect ring.

    I understood the construction of gem, but forming it into a cut gem ring was more difficult. I actually grew and disintegrated the ring about a dozen times in an instant before settling on a successful crystal structure.

    I just hoped it would fit.

    "Claire will you marry me?" I asked lifting the warm ring with my right hand.

    "How did you do that?" She asked mouth agape.

    "I was a forest for a few months." I explained and then gripped for her hand "But wait, that''s not the question."

    "You were a forest?" She said looking at me dubiously she then shook her head and a smile returned to her face. "Of course I will! But you know we technically are already married. The moment we laid together. But I had been a bit upset I wouldn''t have a nice ceremony like nobles do."

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    "Of course we will have a wedding! With cake!"

    "Cake?"

    "Ohhh, you are in for a treat. Literally."

    <hr>

    "Oh new kid?" A stocky kid seated in the third row asked as I stepped in.

    Maybe this wouldn''t be so fun.

    The instructor quieted the students down roughly. I thought it was strange to see a man shouting at the group of noble snobs. But it felt good to watch the scene. It seemed the only person in the class not making a major fuss about the arrival of a new student was a shorter blonde boy seated in the back. He just sat with his mouth open and eyes wide.

    I gave him a soft nod which he returned with a cock of his head. I supposed i would have to explain later, i just hope he can keep quiet till then.

    Oh, I suppose there was another who just looked at me blankly. She looked familiar but I couldn''t place it. I eventually shrugged it off, but I couldn''t shrug her petite face out of my mind. I have a wife. I can''t be thinking of other girls.

    I shook my head roughly and took the seat that the teacher had pointed out to me.

    The classroom was actually fairly normal if I compared it to Earth. Each student had a desk and chair. They were made from wood instead of plastic but it was very reminiscent of Earth. We each sat in rows facing the teacher who stood in front of a slate blackboard.

    One of the largest differences were the lack of books in the room, and the lack of paper and pencils on the desks. From what I understood tests were taken orally or on the blackboard. So why have desks? Maybe we would write on a slate at sometime?

    Right now they were learning history. I paid close attention.

    Unfortunately it was just a vague version of a story I had already heard from a closer source. It was the story of the tribes rise to civilized time. They mention the gods very little, instead focusing on the period that followed the fall of the gods. The era of endless war. The rise of the lost tribe. The era of the Blood Hook.

    My cheeks grew red and I noticed four eyes glued firmly to the back of my head.

    If looks could kill.

    I need to know what this other person knows. They clearly connect me to this subject, or else they just feel like staring at me for fun.

    Was I that attractive?

    <hr>

    "So yeah, if you could just keep quiet about it; that''d be great¡­"

    "I see. Well I understand the reasoning, it''s the same reason I go to school here. I want to learn proper socialization and networking before I take on the scepter. I just wish people didn''t know who I was, don''t worry I won''t tell anyone." The blonde boy said to me when I pulled him aside after the class bell.

    We got a few odd glances from the class but they will get over it. Fortunately it seemed he wasn''t aware of my tribes true identity. Threats wouldn''t be necessary.

    "You go on ahead I have to address something else." I said to the boy as the second bell rang, indicating the start of the next class.

    "Alright." He said and then ran off to class.

    "Come on out." I said towards the empty hallway he ran into.

    A small girl popped out from behind the trashcan in the hallway and stepped towards me gingerly. She had a surprised and scared expression on her face. I hated to see the look so I tried something I figured was probably a bad idea.

    I sent a soft pulse of mana out at the same time that I pressed a smile across my face. The smile was genuine I had thought of Claire''s belly while making it so i was sure happy thoughts were inserted into the mana pulse.

    It worked. She beamed for a moment before realizing the strangeness of the action and quickly hid it. She still seemed to find it all funny though so she let out a soft laugh before holding her mouth closed carefully with her hand.

    "You know me somehow?" I asked.

    "You don''t remember?" She asked kicking the dirt with down turned eyes.

    "I suppose I don''t."

    "Really? Thats too bad." She said shaking her head sadly.

    "Is it?"

    "Mm¡­ Do you remember Claire?" She asked cocking her head to me.

    "Of course, she''s my¡­ um¡­"

    "Wait really! You remember her but not me!?" She asked her eyes widening.

    Who in the hell is this girl? She knew us? Was she someone we met while Claire lived at the inn?

    Wait. No. I got this one, its coming back. Acts shy one moment, turns into a raging monster the next. But I was sure she was older than me, she can''t be this child.

    I looked down at her for a few moments arching my eyebrow. Syph had barely grown an inch since she moved away all those years ago.

    But wait, that was before Claire came to live with us wasn''t it? How did she know Claire? Had I met Claire before she moved in with us?

    "Your face says you remember but feel bad for not remembering." She said through slanted eyes.

    "You can still break my poker face that easily?"

    "You are an open book young grasshopper."

    Where did she learn that phrase?

    "You will have to teach me then." I said bowing deeply to her who smiled and nodded confidently.

    "Did you two intend to go to afternoon class?" A tall man asked cracking his thick neck as he spoke.

    "Of course. I''m sorry sir." Syph said turning to the man and putting her fist to her heart.

    "And what about you?" He said turning to me. "Being new doesn''t permit you to philander with the other students."

    "Ah, I wasn''t philandering I was just¡­"

    "No excuses! Get to the courtyard!"

    "Courtyard?" I asked after I got out of earshot of the man and caught up with Syph who was nearly running.

    "It''s swordsmanship/archery class now."

    "Oh, fun."

    "Think so?" She muttered under her breath as we neared the court.

    I reckoned my old neighbor didn''t like swordsmanship and archery. She was always a delicate girl from what little I remember. It was easily ten years ago if not more. I wondered why she had moved away. It was nice to have non-tribe member neighbors. I then realized I had just answered my own question. Her parents probably felt uncomfortable with the tribe as neighbors. It''s understandable, but no reason to move from your home.

    "So you two decided to grace us with your presence?" An older man holding a wooden sword said. "If you think you can skip practice you must think you are pretty good."

    "Oh no." Syph whimpered.

    "If you think you are so great how about we pit you against the class?" He said tossing two swords in my direction.

    I caught each and carefully handed the second blade to Syph. She gripped it carelessly with a limp forefinger. The blade would surely be redirected with her current stance. She would be a sitting duck. I suppose that''s what the instructor intended. This was a punishment, not a test.

    He underestimated my ability to protect those close to me.

    I won''t use magic. It would be unfair for a few thousand reasons. And dangerous to boot.

    Swords would be more than enough.

    And yes I mean ''swords''. I grabbed the lump of wood from Syph''s limp grip and stood in front of her, opposite the largest group of attacking classmates.

    Here I hadn''t even met these people yet and i was already fighting them.

    So much for a regular school life.

    Well I would start with a surprise attack while my prowess was still a surprise.

    I leapt forward and landed a kick to the leading attacker, he was moments away from a swing so his momentum was his downfall. While he tumbled I used his back as a kickboard and jumped behind the large group that was stood behind him. I swung each blade for thier ankles and dropped them one after another. They seemed surprised by the loss of their leader so almost no resistance was made.

    I knew leaving Syph alone would be at risk, but I waged that the surprise of my move would distract the rest from attacking the defenseless target.

    My wager was correct and even Syph stood stunned looking at the scene. It was perfect. Now for a little ''luck''.

    I tossed the blade with full force towards the two who were beginning to regain the will to attack the girl. It couldn''t possibly hit. I knew that, the class knew that, the teacher knew that.

    But someone should have told the blade, because it flew end over end shifting slightly with each flip. It then struck one of the men directly in the face and then bounced off striking his partner in the chest.

    Seven down, five to go.

    Or so I thought.

    "Enough, I understand now. Then you are truly the same Drew that trained with Claire."

    With those words from the instructor the class erupted into discussion. It seems she was a celebrity around here.

    I was just glad nobody noticed I used impossible magic to perform that last attack. The gold glow from wood magic was a little too noticeable, I had to be sure to use less mana next time.

    Unfortunately I wasn''t able to grab the blade back from the ground before the instructor received it.

    He looked at the blade closely. His eyes were wide with wonder at what he saw. The once simple wood sword was now a near perfect replica of one of my twin blades. I was worried my intent for the sword would rub off on it. Damn.

    He looked to me with terrifying eyes. If I didn''t know better I would think I was about to get chewed out.

 Chapter 6 - Lies

    "Care to explain?" The man asked when the rest of the class broke for lunch. Several students were carried to the nurse''s office but I doubted they were seriously injured.

    He referred to the blade in his hand. The wood even maintained a dark tint similar to the swords I had left at the inn. Standing against the questioning was me and the other person who had seen the sword transform. Syph.

    "Honestly?" I asked. I then grabbed the blade from him. Since he asked I would be honest. "It''s magic."

    When I said the words I generated a small bit of mana, enough to morph the blade into the shape of an octopus. Each wood tentacle stretched organically prodding at the air. Once i was satisfied with the show I pulled the wood back into the blade shape it possessed earlier in the day.

    I handed it back to him and nodded simply.

    "Wood Magic?" He asked scratching at his balding head. "Never heard of such a thing."

    "Me neither." Syph said carefully touching the blade the teacher held. It didn''t bite her and she seemed relieved by that.

    "It''s not ''wood magic'' exactly. It''s just magic." I said waving my hand to the mistaken duo. "Look."

    I point to a nearby stone and with a swing of my finger slice it clean in two.

    "Modern theory about magic is wrong." I said nodding my head like it was known fact. I was lying of course about the nature of the magic but if this helps them discover the theory that the professor mage proved then this would be good.

    "Syph, take him to her."

    "But I haven''t had lunch!"

    "Don''t complain!"

    "Fine. Come on Drew lets go." She grabbed my hand firmly and pulled me towards the hallway we entered from before the fiasco.

    "Where?"

    "School''s mage tower."

    "I see."

    "Mhm, class will start soon but I agree with his judgement, this is something the professor needs to see before the rest of the class assemble. You have already drawn enough attention to yourself."

    "Right."

    Well this was not going well. If this mage was truly competent they would see through to my real abilities. It was the reason I had avoided the professor mage in Colgate on my way back. Not that I had a ton of time to visit with the town.

    "Well, well, what do we have here?" A woman said as we rounded the final spiral stair step.

    I was surely blown judging by the look on her face.

    "You are interesting. Aren''t you?" The woman said lowering her glasses and opening her eyes wider. The sound of Syph''s stomach interrupted the scene. "You can go. Just don''t be late."

    "Ok, thanks! I will bring you something too Drew!" She said as she dashed off.

    "Oh, but if I''m correct he doesn''t require food or water." She murmured as the girl disappeared. "Do you?"

    "Then you know what I am?"

    "From what theorize I think I know exactly who you are. You are a ruler of gods aren''t you? But for the ruler to be so young was something I couldn''t expect."

    It seems she understand much, but not all about me.

    "My name is Drew Goldianus. I am leader of the Land God tribe known as the ''Blood Hook'', I am also the Duke of Blood from the Mountain Bay."

    She grew a great smile across her face. She then deeply bowed to me.

    "Blood Hook? Then¡­ This explains much. I don''t even know where to begin. What to ask? Oh, I am being rude, my name is Lucille. I used to be a traveling magical researcher. I settled when I heard about the mysteries in the Bay. But now I think the pieces are coming together."

    "Do you want to know the whole story?"

    She grew extremely excited but then she glanced at a small board that was placed outside the window. It was a small sundial. It seemed the next bell would ring soon. She looked horrified that this chance would slip her fingers. I assured her I would tell her after class if need be.

    "Thank you. But, well can I¡­ Ah well, you seem to possess great amounts of mana, I''m curious do you¡­"

    "I can do some magic, but it''s all self taught and self developed kinda."

    At the words her eyes grew wider than before. I suppose those were very strange things to hear. But I can''t help it I''m a strange person I guess.

    "Here." I said holding my right palm out. I tried to think of what to make. Something that would require little amounts of energy. Water would be predictable, and it''s something anyone could do.

    No, i needed something interesting and thrilling. Earth would be incredible, even earth mages can''t create dirt. But even that would be a little boring.

    Perhaps I can work off of that though. I began to focus the mana into my palm. I imagined the chemical makeup of what I desired. It was the most basic reaction in the universe. I generated large quantities of a few light elements. I then increased the pressure around the invisible gasses until they had compressed into a single superheated point.

    From there nature took over. All i needed to do was protect us from the UV and Heat radiation that was generated by the small fusion reaction.

    I had made a sun.

    Or a star to be more specific.

    It''s hard to consider it a star though, it fizzled out after a few moments, and was likely less than a few grams of total material. A real star would be a billion times this size. Even with my power it would be impossible. Or at least improbable.

    "What was that?"

    "With one of those you''d have more hours in the day." I said pointing towards the sundial that indicated students should arrive soon.

    "Then it really was a miniature sun?"

    I didn''t bother correcting her celestial body misnomer. The fact that she understood the concept of stars being a mass of heat and energy amazed me enough.

    "I brought food!" Syph said as she bounded up the steps. From the looks of her it was as if she owned the place. Perhaps she is a magical prodigy. As it stood I couldn''t see the reason for her attending the school. Her parents weren''t particularly rich from what I remember. If they had been I doubt they would have bought the ratty house beside the inn.

    "Oh? Smells like you already ate."

    She was right there was a strong smell of cooked meat. Susan and I raised our eyebrows and glanced at the palm of my hand where the sun had sat moments ago.

    It was bone and sinew.

    I tried to remain still but I couldn''t help move my fingers slightly. Each muscle was visible and the small movements could be traced by their spiderweb pattern.

    I raised my other hand and put my finger to my mouth to quiet the restless Lucille. I didn''t want Syph to see this. It would be over in a moment but this was still not a pleasant sight.

    It was fascinating however.

    Lucille and I couldn''t take our eyes from the scene. We watched as each muscle grew an outer layer. Those outer layers then merged together and began to fill with blood vessels and tissue. We watched as my hand reassembled, all while Syph munched away unaware.

    Once it was completed Lucille turned to me with a wild look in her eye.

    She looked to be planning to cut me open with knives. I was semi-against it.

    Luckily the start of class interrupted the live autopsy.

    They weren''t happy to see me but I was happy to see them.

    Class was interesting. Even if the instructor was distracted for the most part, she spoke on many advanced topics. After talking about air magic for a few moments, she broke the class into groups based on their magic specialization.

    There were four groups surprisingly. Two students in the class were fire spec. and one student was an alchemy novice.

    One of the fire mages was Julius, the other was a quiet girl who I had struck in the chest with the blade earlier. I tried to apologize to the girl but she just shied away while clutching at her chest with a pained look.

    The novice alchemist was none other than Syph.

    The groups of water and earth practiced amongst themselves, while The professor focused her attention towards the two smaller groups who had to train harder to see results.

    The magics they possessed were rare and extremely rare, as such no long term training methods had been developed. Or if they had, they have not spread nearly as much as earth and water. I wondered how alchemy fit into the mana breakdown that the professor in Colgate theorized. Was it a Pure mana, or Corrupt mana based skill?

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    I checked the contents of Syph but it was fairly typical. Only real difference was the calmness of the mana maelstrom within her. Most of the students in the class had extremely churning masses of mana. Hers was almost still, it just revolved slowly.

    Perhaps I was happening upon a theory of my own. ''Mana forms'' might be a part of the equation.

    The fire mages were clearly such because they possessed higher than normal levels of Corrupt mana. I could tell this from a single glance of mana vision. This followed the theory the professor mage had. But I may have just added to the theory.

    I realized then that I was the only one left out.

    The teacher hadn''t even noticed that I had simply stood aside when the groups split. She likely assumed I had started with a specialization just like all mages, and only over time acquired these skills. She was wrong though, in fact it was impossible for me to use magic until eight months ago. Maybe I should keep that to myself.

    "What are you doing standing around?" The stocky boy I leapt over earlier asked.

    "I don''t have a magic specialization, so I don''t know what I should do." I had said that phrase often as a child, but only now did I hide a smile behind it.

    I was honest.

    "What?" Another mage beside him said mockingly.

    "So yer only good with your hands?" The first said with a flip of his hair.

    I wasn''t sure what type of character he wanted to play.

    "If you want to fake an accent you should maintain it for the whole sentence." I said cocking my head at him. "But just because I''m not specialized doesn''t mean I''m not a better mage than you. I could probably even teach you a thing or two."

    I watched as the professor silently warned me not to continue. But I couldn''t just stop now. It actually fit into the request I received from the king all those months ago. It was on a smaller scale but if I could show this class how greatly outclassed they are in magical ability, it will force them to work harder.

    "Watch closely." I said smiling brightly.

    I then stepped towards the window and pointed up at the air. The sky was clear blue. A single cloud could be seen in the distance. There was no sign of impending storms.

    Until my mana reached the upper atmosphere.

    From there the clouds began forming. It was actually a simple water magic spell. Just used at an incredible height. Within moments flakes of snow began settling on the building. It wasn''t cold enough so they quickly melted but the students still understood the message.

    But why should I finish there. I only motivated half of them.

    I grabbed a handful of rocks from the table the earth mages were working on and held them in my palm.

    I had learned from last time, so I protected my palm with a thicker layer of mana. I heated the rocks with fire until formed into a thick bright paste, I then molded the magma with my left hand without touching the mass. When the heat dissipated I placed a small intricate cockatrice sculpture onto the table.

    I had demonstrated fire and earth magics in a single step.

    Everyone but the teacher now looked between Syph and I. Only the professor had seen me show my use of alchemy earlier before class. But it would be lazy to just use that again. I also worried my protective layer wouldn''t be enough, it had been sufficient for the warm lava but a fusion reaction was different.

    These people didn''t need to see that kind of gore yet. It would have traumatized them.

    No I would do something elementary. But it would still be seen as an incredible level of skill.

    "Would you hand me two glass containers." I asked Syph who also seemed intrigued.

    I received the two containers from her and placed each on the table before me. I wasn''t sure how most alchemist used the art but I likely used it differently.

    I placed the palm of my right hand to my chest and it ignited with mana. I wasn''t sure why it glowed but it sure amazed the crowd. I then carefully held the breath that I had taken during the pulse. I grasped for the container and unlidded it. I then blew the breath into the glass and shut the container. I repeated the action into the other container but used two breaths the second time.

    Everyone, including the teacher looked at me with a confused expression.

    Stay with me.

    I collected the surprisingly advanced tools the lab had acquired. Some of them were actually inventions I had recently developed with the help of Susan. I found several glass tubes and other scientific glass instruments. I carefully arranged them into an apparatus to combine the two gases.

    I unlidded the gases with the help of Syph and quickly pressed them against the two tubes I had left exposed. From here they would flow upwards and combine in a clear globe. The reaction should be visible while safely contained.

    Hydrogen and Oxygen. Both can easily be made by changing the structure of my lungs. Obviously I can also just assemble to gases in mid-air from water vapor but that would ruin the effect.

    This way all the students could understand what had occurred. It would cause two things. An interest in alchemy, and an interest in chemistry. A concept that doesn''t even exist. As far as they are concerned magic is the only way to form water, but here they had watched a drop of water form without any use of magic. Other than me assembling the ingredients.

    "See, I don''t have a specialization. But that doesn''t mean I can''t be skilled with magic. It just took lots of practice." I lied.

    "Woah."

    "That''s amazing. Did you see what he did with the rocks?"

    "He''s easily better than professor."

    "Think so?"

    "Yeah, she may know a lot about magic but she can''t do em all like that!"

    Oh man, I had started a chain reaction that would not lead to a good end. I had to think on my feet.

    "Woah! Hey I couldn''t do all this without the training I received from her though." I again lied while pointing to the teacher who stared at me.

    "Wait, you taught him?! Can you teach me that too? Can you?"

    "Me too"

    "And me." Syph added believing my lie and lining up with the rest behind the professor.

    I seemed to have messed up again. I may as well dig the hole deeper. It''s the only way out.

    "Teacher I think that shipment of books you ordered from Colgate will be here soon. Maybe they are ready to receive them now." I said to the professor pointing towards the class. She seemed to understand what I meant. I would be giving them books. She had no reason to not follow my lie now. She had interest in the book''s contents as well.

    "I suppose they might be." She said carefully eyeing the students as if judging there worthiness.

    She put on a good act. The students all stood firm against her piercing gaze. They desired knowledge now. And here a few minutes ago they were slacking off and not training properly.

    You can thank me later teach.

    Now I just needed to get some books to mass produce for these students. The professor in Colgate had books about varying levels of magical training for almost all magic specs. Even some I had never heard of. Most of the rare ones only contained small pieces of training but even a small step was huge to an aspiring fire or air mage.

    As for Syph she would have the one book I had been interested in most. It was basic so I would fill in blanks with theories and knowledge of my own.

    I was sure Susan had a prototype printing press somewhere. Producing a couple dozen books over a weekend shouldn''t be a problem.

    Maybe I will write some textbooks for all the classes and donate them anonymously. Math and science need it most. And it wouldn''t hurt to write a true history textbook. What harm would telling the real story to the world be? It was hundreds of years ago.

    Who will care?

 Chapter 7 - Apologies

    "They should be arriving soon. You ready?" I ask Claire as she adjusted the cap on Sophie''s small head.

    "Mhm, I just don''t want her getting too cold when we get up there."

    "It''s not as bad as the first version. It''ll be much warmer now."

    She eyes me carefully, likely remembering the first trip we had taken in the chilly vehicle. It was insulated but it still got fairly brisk. It wouldn''t be a problem for the cargo blimps, but passenger ones need comfort.

    I made sure to address the issue with improved insulation designs.

    "If you say so." She says wrapping a thick scarf around my neck.

    I laugh through the fabric that obscured my vision and blindly reach for Claire''s hand. I find it and then notice the air grow colder after a single step.

    I will need to improve the insulation further I suppose.

    Two mages glance at us from the back of the ship and then nod casually. Most of the craftsmen had gotten used to Claire''s teleportation, I was thankful we had sent two of the knowledgeable ones to pilot the craft.

    The fire mage, who only needs to use magic occasionally to maintain altitude, walks over to us while the Air mage continued to steer the craft.

    "Good to see you Your Grace; Duchess." He says bowing to each of us formally. He then crouches to the level of the bundle at Claire''s chest. "Lady Sophie."

    Sophie fusses lightly and tosses her arms about in the sling. It seems she has accepted the greeting.

    Me and the Mage spoke for awhile about the new fire training that I had developed for the guild.

    All the mages in my Duchy were amazed by the rate at which they increased in skill with the new training. It was a culmination in research of both professor mages, with small additions I had developed. Now even the least talented fire mage would produce a reasonable flame after a year''s work.

    I printed the books and was giving them to the individual mage guilds for free.

    The mage pilot was grateful for the work. He hadn''t been skilled enough for most high paying work. Mostly settling for lighting torches in wealthy capital cities. Now he says he is paid triple his prior wage, and can produce an eight foot flame with ease.

    He could likely now get any magic based job he wanted, but he was adamant about staying under the Blood Duke''s employ.

    I had heard similar from many before. The benefits of working under us in the Bay were better than anywhere else. We provided healthcare for workplace injuries, free room and board for craftsmen constructing the capital. And I gave away the knowledge necessary for people to better themselves.

    And I was just getting started.

    "Oy were dropping." The Air mage shouts from the back of the long open ship.

    "Oops." The fire mage says hurrying back to the large metal tube.

    He lets out a concentrated burst of fire up the tube and into the balloon above. The movement, and heat, is noticeable immediately. It seems excessive. I think this man is showing off. He should do it later when my wife and daughter aren''t in the danger.

    I eye him silently and he notices my thoughts. He smiles apologetically and shifts the blue flame into a soft yellow.

    "We are close right?" I ask approaching the air mage and looking at the glass window he stared through.

    "Yes my Lord. We should be able to see the capital behind this mountain soon."

    The man points with one hand while keeping the other on the steel tube beside him. This was the system used for air magic based propulsion. It was basically a simplified jet turboshaft engine powering a propeller on the back of the blimp.

    We currently have three methods of propulsion and two of elevation.

    The loadout can be an air & fire mage like we have now, or any combination of the two. The current setup is the fastest but the ship could even fly with a single fire mage and a steam powered propulsion system. And we were even developing a ethanol based turboshaft flight system. With that even lone merchants could pilot it.

    "There it is." He says after Claire joins me to investigate the small window.

    It''s interesting to see the city from above. I can see every flaw in its design. It''s not terrible, but it''s not perfect by any means. The blocks are angular but there are a lack of organized alleyways. It''s likely they built the city based on necessity instead of function. Roads were built, and then citizens were told to build structures. This lead to many irregularly shaped buildings and unoccupied spaces.

    My city however was going to be perfect. I''m sure the King will be very jealous once he sees it. I''ve built it carefully so far with expansion in mind.

    I have to admit, I am excited to see the king and tell him of my progress. And Claire will probably have much to show Aeri regarding Void magic. She''s progressed much in her training the past year. Claire''s already surpassed her mother''s skill and is experimenting on her own. This time the king would have no doubt she was a void walker.

    I wonder what possibilities void magic holds. Could she attain the same level our ancestor had? If I feed her mana she could probably even surpass that level. I''m interested to see what may come of her powers.

    The blimp begins to lower towards the small landing zone we had made outside the city. It is only when we near the ground could I truly grasp our speed. It is alarmingly fast.

    I fear for the life of my wife and child, but as it stands it is still under control.

    I wonder how that earthling could ride on airplanes so easily? That would be much more terrifying than the speed we currently fly.

    I watch the air mage carefully as he lands the zepplin. He coordinates with the fire mage as if they are a single mind. One slows his pulse of fire into the balloon while the other quickly pulses air downwards to slow the descent. If a single mistake is made it would fall too rapidly, but they would make no mistakes.

    They were the best pilots we had. With them the blimp had arrived at the capital in a record destroying one week. And they hadn''t even been at full speed.

    True, most of the other records had been made via horse, but there weren''t any rules against it were there?

    I feel a little bad for Claire getting her record beaten so soundly. But if it makes her feel any better Vigi would probably arrive here in seconds if he attempted the time trial. Oh, but wouldn''t Claire teleporting beat everyone''s records?

    "Here let me get it." The air mage says once the ship had come to a halt and we walked towards the craft''s exit.

    He leans over and unlatches the deployable ladder. It unfolds smoothly and I descend first, followed by Claire with Sophie. After that the air mage descends and refolds the ladder behind him.

    It''s now the fire mage''s job to maintain the balloon. It would be too much of a hassle to refill the craft so instead mages would take shifts keeping the balloon semi-aloft until we leave. It''s safely tied so there isn''t to much to worry about.

    I thank the farmer we hired to create the landing zone, then turn my attention to the crowd that had assembled in the field around it. There appears to be people dressed in all sorts of outfits, I can see nobles, fishermen, merchants and of course farmers. There are others, but I can''t identify them with Earth stereotypes.

    "I''m glad you are all present to see the maiden voyage of the ''HMS Sophistry''. This magnificent behemoth was made by the craftsmen of the Duchy in the Bay of Mountains. Claire would you?" I say extending my hand to Claire.

    The name is something I came up with on the spot, it is good enough. I just hope my sales pitch is good enough.

    She was confused earlier as to why we had brought this object she now handed me, but i assured her it was necessary. I know the order is backwards but this also isn''t actually it''s maiden voyage.

    So who cares?

    I grab the neck and swing the heavy glass bottle against the wood and metal frame of the blimp. It cracks spilling the liquid against the ground and ship. I feel bad wasting our liquor but it was the only bottles we had on hand in the keep. And now that we have multiple stills there would be no trouble producing more alcohol.

    The townspeople looked at me strangely. Only a few ship workers as well as merchants seem to understand the display.

    Hopefully I have done enough to spread word of this craft. It was already used regularly in my Duchy but we have only sold a few at this point to neighboring districts. Havas now has one and an earl I haven''t spoken with has a couple.

    I want there to be dozens in each district to broaden trade, and that can only happen if merchants and nobles see it.

    It will become the most useful trade tool I create. Unless I decide to build a train system at some point, but I don''t foresee needing to introduce that. I will pick and choose carefully what I bring to this world. I will spread the tools I need to help the world and no others.

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    I won''t develop explosives because this world mines with magic.

    I won''t develop gunpowder because this world doesn''t need more tools for war.

    <hr>

    "Introducing The Duke of Blood Drew Goldianus, and his wife Duchess Claire Goldianus."

    A small round of applause is heard as well as some soft whispering amongst the other nobles and lords at the pre-summit gala. This event is held as a way of determining the sides for the coming summit.

    From my spy''s explanation of things, it seems the summit is a war-zone each year. A political war-zone. Lords will trade villages like trading cards, trying to assemble resources in exchange for areas with resources they have in abundance.

    The summit becomes a redistricting, as well as a scouting mission between the various lords goods, and this is all before the actual summit begins.

    I note carefully the people Syph told me to speak with during the briefing. These are the strongest political powers amongst the Lords.

    Title doesn''t matter, even a count is amongst them.

    Well two. But I already know I likely have one on my side. Even if I did steal land from him, I also saved his son from kidnappers while attending academy. I also sold him a blimp to better trade between our two capitals. He''s surely forgiven me.

    I felt strange assembling allies but Syph said it was vitally necessary in upper court.

    The knowledge Syph passed me was extremely helpful. I had to thank her parents whenever they returned from assignment. I also would need to speak with the King about assigning Syph''s parents to watch us in the first place. Discovering that she operated at the school as a spy for the count had initially confused me. But I got over the surprise when I noticed her skill with creating poisions with alchemy. She also explained that her calm mana was actually something breed into her, it helps to mask her presence.

    I speak with a few of the Lords and Ladies on the list, then my face turns to one of smugness when i see the man who attended my coronation and griped about the measly cost of the construction of the Canal. This was one of my missions for the trip. I know for a fact his capital city is now twice its size. I have the paperwork to prove it. A dozen docks have been added, as well as a dry dock for river boat construction. They are prospering.

    "Ahem." I fakely cough to draw his attention.

    "Yeah, yeah, I see you." He says waving at the air. "Well you sure look smug, but I can''t deny you it. I''m forever indebted to you. I thought the cost would completely ruin us honestly, but instead our county is stronger than ever. I know I have you to thank for that, if there is ever anything you need, I will see to it personally."

    "Thank you but it''s unnecessary, your support is enough. If your people are living better than I am satisfied."

    "With the farming techniques that came from the Havas Craftsmen, as well as the new canal, food is at its all time cheapeast. Our farmers are training themselves to become mages with the time they now have. It has truly become a tizzy in my capital city. I barely found time to come."

    I won''t bother telling him the farming techniques are mine as well as the magic revolution. It will make him praise me as a god, that wouldn''t be couth in the gala.

    I already have him on my side, it is enough.

    I move to the next one on the list and exchange pleasantries, it seems this was the Earl who I had sold the pair of small airships. His district was directly beneath the counts. He thanks me for them with a sly grin and then assures me that I have his complete support.

    I feel a bit of concern about the behavior but I''ll brush it off with the help of some pastries. Claire truly judged well, she gazes at me coyly while I wolf down the tarts. These people have gone from a small bakery to catering this lavish gala.

    Impressive.

    <hr>

    Dozens of Lords sat around a wide round table that had been wheeled into the fake chamber of the Royal Castle. The king and his wife sat almost exactly opposite my own position. A few feet behind them was Aeri who was standing lazily, glancing around the room. The Royal couple''s seats sit slightly higher than the rest of ours, it gives them a domineering look.

    The chamber is decorated with elaborately weaved fabrics and silk.

    I recognize some as spider Silk, the fabric my district has become most famous for.

    The purple room was illuminated by a pair of ''light'' specialized mages at the corner of the room. The rare mages each held a finger in the air maintaining a soft glow throughout the room.

    "Are we waiting for something?" I finally ask. We''ve sat at the table silently for near twenty minutes. I can tell I''m not the only one becoming restless.

    I''m just the only one ballsy enough to speak on it.

    "The summit is always lead by a prayer from the Church''s priest. However this year I''m told a special emissary from the Church will be leading the prayer instead. They should arrive here shortly."

    I don''t like the sound of that, but the king appears to see no problem with it so I shrug the feeling off as paranoia.

    "Then before that, let''s talk about the elephant in the room!" A woman standing behind a small timid looking boy says with fury in her voice. I hadn''t seen the mother and child pair at the Gala.

    Oh, no, that''s not true.

    The woman was there. She was yelling at the Earl moments before I spoke with him. What was her issue with the shrewd businessman?

    "You''re issue being, the forced change of your sons borders?" The king asks looking between the Shy Duke and the Earl.

    These two are nearly neighbors of mine, yet I know nothing about this.

    Border change?

    How?

    When?

    By ''forced'' he must mean the change in borders was done through force instead of the usual trading.

    No. You can''t mean?

    "Yes! Him and that blasted Blood Duke used their air behemoths to steal one of the islands my son controls in Goddard Lake."

    "I only did because your son refuses to participate in trade like the rest of us. I have offered many good villages to the duke in exchange for the single island. I even offered a dozen of my finest slaves. Yet he still refused. The offer was vastly better than a few island towns. There is even an Alchemist amongst them. He acts belligerent by refusing. So I chose to strike."

    I hate this man. How did we allowed him to use our technology for war? We should have watched him, we should have vetted him. People can''t be trusted.

    "I''ll allow it then." The king says blankly. "On that same subject I''m removing the limit on standing armies. All lords may now assemble armies at their leisure."

    I bolt from my chair and glare at the man. ''What are you doing?!'' I shouted through a domineering pulse of intent towards the king.

    The whole table turns to face me but as I have said nothing to them it just looks like I was just agreeing with the king''s decision by standing with him.

    ''Now phase II begins.'' He whispers with his own sly intent into my mind. ''Change in borders by force has been allowed. Your land appears ripe with advances and intelligence to the other Lords. Your war can be fought to protect. Your tools won''t be feared for your actions, only continuously envied. The Era of the ''Righteous Gods'' can now begin. We just have to wait for the last pawn to arrive.''

    What are you doing?

    I don''t think I can easily stop this current momentum without killing the king. But that''s not a reasonable option.

    The rest of the lords have already become animals. They look at their neighbors with blood in their eyes. Some just gaze at me with frowned brows.

    Envy.

    War.

    And when the church gets here it will likely become even worse. The king was planning to draw the empire into the war as well. With that he thinks I will be forced to develop technologies of war to protect my people. Those technologies would eventually be stolen and reproduced by the warring parties as they always are. That was his plan. I was sure.

    Could I still throw a wrench into it?

    Ah. Possibly.

    I''m sorry Claire.

    I''m sorry Sophie.

    I''m suddenly glad for those weeks I spent at the academy. If I hadn''t found that scroll ''Lord Hood Rules & Regulations'' in the library I would''ve never known about the clause.

    I just have to wait out these stares until the real action begins when the Empire''s emissary the Church Priest, arrives. They will be my saviors.

    But, if my plan hits a hitch I will have to kill the king and take the throne from him to reverse this decision. It''s the only other way to prevent all out war.

 Chapter 8 - Rest

    "Claire, I need you to open a portal to the Church Sanctum in Goldianus. We don''t have much time."

    "Alright." She answers, grasping her fingers together and tearing a portal without effort. When the void is complete she glances at me with a puzzled look. "Why though?"

    "I don''t have much time to explain." I say sticking my hand through the portal. "Put simply we''ve been betrayed. I won''t have more blood on my hands. I won''t be someone''s pawn."

    "What are you doing?!" She asks looking at my arn inside the void. She''s worried I''ll enter on my own. I know better of course. Without Claire''s touch I will get lost in the voidspace. However that doesn''t mean I can''t pass my aura through the voidspace into the church.

    "Taking care of a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. Claire, I''m sorry. I have to leave, it''s the only way to keep you and Sophie safe. The king will be forced to negotiate a peace amongst the districts once I make my move. He''ll have no choice, it has to work. The altermative is¡­" I gulp at the thought of Aeri growing up without a father. "It''s not something I can do."

    I also have no desire to be a king.

    She stares at me as I work my aura through the portal, I can''t entirely grasp the mix of emotions on her face but it feels like trust might be one of them.

    I can''t imagine why.

    "How long?" She finally asks after twist her face for awhile.

    "Honestly, I dont know. It''s possible I''m just calling the King''s Bluff. This could all be nothing if the king retracts his words, or passes them off as a joke. The summit hasn''t even begun and the entire world is already in peril."

    "So the spy girl was really correct in her description of the summit." Claire says with a hint of disdain in her voice.

    It''s an uncommon tone for claire, I sense she''s still jelous that Syph was able to attend school with me before coming under our employ.

    The look on Claire''s face when she saw how close Syph and I were at the tournament was an especcially rare one.

    I, of course, assured her nothing was going on between us. Syph was the one with the rare expression then, but blink and you''d have missed it.

    Without time magic I probably would have.

    She truly was skilled in concealing her emotions. A spy''s child I suppose. I was glad now that she had given me such a long run down of the summit.

    "Seems like it, I''m just glad I was able to ask for this recess until the Church''s envoy arrives."

    "That''s right, all this you could have just told me with intent. So why call for the recess?"

    "If he doesnt retract the words and I''m forced to act as the Church intends I don''t know how long I''ll be gone. I couldn''t do that without seeing you and Sophie first, I''m sure they won''t allow visitors."

    I had intended to use my time to play with the four month old but as she was sound asleep I left her at her mother''s chest.

    "What are you talking about?"

    "I''m going to be arrested by the church for herasy. I just hope they don''t try to give me the death penelty." I explain with a grin at the latter words.

    She begins to mutter some words of protest with a slack jaw but I intereupt her. "If I do, all I need you to do is stay in the Duchy, I''ve taken the crystal and established a barrier of my own. It will be safe there from anyone who means us harm. I''ll be back once I''ve figured a way to correctly lead humanity down the right path, and fix the mistake the king just made within the kingdom. I just pray tensions with the Empire won''t rise over this stunt."

    The barrier would be overkill. I know.

    But the clause protecting a child rearing Lordess was something so obscure I''m not even positive it will be respected.

    "Why do you need to shoulder all this?"

    "Because it''s being repeatedly placed on my shoulders. I don''t have a choice."

    "No, you do. And you''ve made it. I will do as you say, but we will have words when you return." She turns towards the void to leave the royal capital.

    So it will end like this?

    She stops her final step and turns to me. After a few quick swordsmen lunges she wraps me in a deep hug. "I love you, but you are an idiot sometimes."

    Stolen story; please report.

    And here I had feared for my life.

    She wipes her eyes carefully and takes a glance at Sophie who''s strapped to her chest. She makes sure they share skin contact and then she steps away into the Church in the heart of the Goldianus construction site.

    They will be here anytime now. I''m glad my family is away from thier grasp.

    <hr>

    A loud bell rang from the room where the Summit was being held. I had sensed the presence a few miles out while working on the crystal, it hastened my pace.

    I was watching the masses carefully with a searcher aura this whole time.

    I reluctantly begin towards the hall. My strut now looks visibly drunkish. I suppose this is what they call mana intoxication. I haven''t had enough time to process the mana I just stole from the gem. Until I can control the mana my motor skills will be reduced. To any of the lords it will just seem like a drank a bit to much at the gala or during recess. But it will also make me incapable of using stronger magics or wielding a sword.

    The nearer I stumble the more I grow uncomfortable. The Church typically sends a single priest from the local chapter. This time the mass of mana I sense is strong, and there are many with it.

    I slam the heavy door to the chamber open and am greeted by a single shining gold priest and a batallion of holy knights standing beside the large round table.

    I also notice the King has brought in more knights than he had earlier before the recess. He wore a sly grin when he looked at me slouching into the hall. Surely he doesn''t know I''m holding onto an unheard of amount of mana. No, he must assume I''m resigned to my fate and drinking.

    It wasn''t entirely wrong.

    I take my seat and glance around the table. They also seem a little more on edge than earlier. This heavy church presecence is overwhelming. Everyone is wondering who is going to move first. They seem to be aware there are two factions at play here. I wonder if any of them know there are actually three?

    And I have more troops at the moment.

    Well, maybe not troops but firepower. Not that I can use it.

    Is this how the US military feels?

    But seriously, who is going to act first? Now its just a staring match between the king, the golden priest, and me.

    "Would you like to begin to prayer?" The king finally says after a longer moment.

    "I can''t in good conscious lead a prayer infront of a sinner of such magnititude. No I shall begin with the more time sensetive mission. Duke of Blood Drew Goldianus is herby under arrest for crimes against the church, including but not limited to Heresy, Profit off of ungodly technology, Black magic, and Sedition."

    "You raise heft claims against one of my Dukes."

    "They are not claimes they are fact, each proven by eye witness."

    "I do not doubt that. However, Drew will not be going anywhere."

    "You will resist the churches wish?"

    "Mhm"

    "Do you wish for the Empires wrath?" The priest asks with a cocked brow.

    "We d¡­"

    "No, we do not." I say interrupting the Kings order to attack. I hadn''t expected him to be so rash. Luckily his men are already incapacitated so even had the king made the order they wouldn''t have caused any trouble. "Therefore, I surrender myself."

    I link my arms behind my back and glance around the shocked room. It seems my move was indeed unexpected, even the king looks utterly flabergasted. Surely he was aware this plan of his was something I wouldn''t allow right? Had he really thought i would just be his pawn?

    I''m going to sacrafice my Queen, my Rook, and allow my final piece, the Pawn to be surrounded. Its my only play. But its better than playing into my enemies hand.

    I''m not exactly sure how the rules work on three front chess though.

    I guess out of the frying pan into the fire.

    Except the fire will be a 4'' x 6'' jail cell in this case.

    Honestly maybe I''d perfer fire.

    <hr>