HOMECOMING

Elemental Gatherers
​

Book 7
 Copyright © 2022 Chris Vines All rights reserved. No part of this
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First e-book edition March 2023
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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Yet again, I need to thank my wife Joy for her patience and
support as I continue my writing career. My kids continue to be a joy,
heh, in my life, and my oldest loves reading these stories.
A special thanks to my Patreons, and especially Mark, Adam,
Jacob, Sam, and Corwin, for helping me with support and feedback.
They helped me rewrite significant portions of the story, catching
mistakes and helping to increase the drama and action in the book.
This is the best one I’ve written yet, only because of them. Thanks to
Lesia from germancreative on Fiverr for yet another amazing cover.
Thanks to Janie from Lector’s Books for catching and fixing all the
errors that made it past the previous dozen eyeballs.
Especially a big thank you to you, my readers, for sticking
with Aiden and I on this awesome journey. Please leave a review
after you read the story, find me on Facebook to follow for news of
my next stories, and join me on Patreon to read ahead on new
works.
 PROLOGUE
Light staggered into the library chamber, causing Darkness to
leap to his feet.
“My dear, what is wrong?” he asked.
“Chaos and Death have joined,” she said. “I was able to get
the location of the sea Dungeon through their distortions, but only to
the Ashkhas. I started with them, and now I am too drained to
attempt another.”
Darkness moved in an instant, pulling her into his arms. “That
should be enough. Come, look.” He directed her to the globe. With a
thought, it zoomed in on the Ashkhas Baqiya. Originally clear, the
image started to distort until a flood of Aether from Darkness
stabilized it. “The priest is seeking out Qaq now.”
They kept watching and saw the urgent discussion between
the Ashkhas. Sultah Aleahil summoned Master Narwan, Ritter Felix,
Guardian Altan, and four other Soul Strengthening gatherers. They
discussed and planned, before voting to destroy the Dungeon with
extreme prejudice.
“See, my love, you succeeded,” Darkness said, pulling her
into a hug.
“That is good,” she said, “but I worry. The Naga and Harpies
are growing more active, recovering from their banishment and exile.
They still hate the other races due to their defeat by the M’Zee.”
“It will be fine,” Darkness whispered. “As long as they cannot
find the Staff of Nammu, our warding will hold. Death is isolated on
her world, and no one is stupid enough to let her in. I doubt even
Chaos will truly ally with her.”
“They will just fight over the corpse of our world if we cannot
keep them out,” Light said. “Unless your gamble with the Chosen
pays off. You know Chaos cannot turn down a challenger.”
 “We just need a Chosen to become strong enough,”
Darkness said.
“And for the world to unite, to hold back Chaos’s hordes while
the challengers fight,” Light said, gazing at the scene in the crystal
ball. “I just hope they have time.”
“Me too, love, me too,” Darkness said with a sigh.
 CHAPTER ONE
I​ staggered into my room, emotionally and physically
exhausted. The sounds of the ongoing city-wide celebration filtered
in through the silencing Inscriptions, but I’d been partied out. Six
hours of dancing, talking, and drinking. I marveled at my endurance
and social change. I’d never been one for long parties before, but
here I felt like I could have continued if I hadn’t been so tired to start
with. I collapsed into bed and stared up at the ceiling. The last few
months have been insane. I still barely believe that I came in second
in the individual tournament, and I might have won it entirely if I
hadn’t killed that Illyrian jerk. We went to the Divine Territory! Wait, I
never asked Spirit what they called it! I started laughing, the world
spinning around me from too many toasts.
Well. It’s amazing what we discovered there. Chaos is being
summoned. I sobered up almost immediately. Light, what is going to
happen when the Craesti army attacks Illyria? Will an infinite flood of
Chaos Beasts await them, or are only some of the Illyrians in league
with the enemy?
​I took a deep breath. No idea. I’ll have to talk to Librarian
Narwan and Sultah Aleahil at some point. I’ve got eight medallions to
communicate with people. Gotta give one to Aleks—I grinned at the
thought of my princess—and definitely to Gunther, the muscle-
headed dwarf. Another laugh at the stereotype pulled over from
Earth. Probably should make sure Sezhade Iswat and Shehzada
Maayari both get one, gotta keep the lines of communication open
among the heirs. That still leaves four more medallions, so I could
have Aleks give one to King Craesti, and one to each of the other
monarchs. I wonder if we can have two conversations at once? Let
the heirs and I talk, while the monarchs or their representatives
negotiate. An hour limit once a month will hopefully help cut through
the politicking. I yawned as the results of the last few days hit me
again. “Sleep time, deal with the rest later,” I whispered to myself,
then plunked my head onto the pillow and fell asleep.
​Two hours later, I woke up. “Of course the party is still going
on,” I said, laughing. “The army leaves, uh, today, and it’s not like
Condensation soldiers can’t go without sleep for a day or two. Light, I
used to pull all-nighters back on Earth, and it’s even easier now.” I
debated for a few seconds about going back out, but the siren’s call
coming from my ring was too strong. I sent a tiny filament of Aether
into the ring, and the football-stadium-sized space unfolded in my
mind's eye. I looked over the equipment given to me by Spirit, then
moved to the carefully set out line of knowledge stones.
​“Where to start, where to start,” I mumbled to myself.
“Gathering, obviously. Start at the beginning.” I summoned the
Aether Gathering-level technique knowledge stone into my hand.
The translucent blue crystal was a bit larger than my fist, and glowed
in my Aether Sight. I pulled another knowledge stone out of my ring,
one of my old ones from Azyl Academy, and compared. The stone
for my stealth technique was a smoky red color and half the size of
the Legacy one. The Aether inside was noticeably thinner, flickering
on the verge of being extinguished. Huh, I thought, I wonder if I can
figure out how to strengthen it. Make it last longer, since the next
person’s usage might break the stone.
​Dismissing my thoughts, I stored the stone again, then put the
Legacy knowledge stone to my forehead and put my Aether into it.
This time, instead of a flood of information streaming into my brain, I
found myself standing in a hallway. My body was misty and felt
similarly to when I was looking internally at my center. “Huh, weird,” I
told myself.
​I glanced around, and saw a few dozen doorways on either
side of the mental construct. The first hallway had writing in the
M’Zee language, but after a second it transitioned to Craesti.
“Cultivation runes,” I read aloud. “That might be Core runes. I
wonder what they have here.” I reached out and touched the door. A
wave of Aether accompanied a feeling of examination. A few
seconds later, the door popped open.
 ​ row of shelves lined the room, each with three layers of
A
displays. White jade tablets the size and shape of an iPad sat just
above labels describing what was on them. “Fire runes for low
compatibility,” I read from the first one, then picked up the tablet. A
simple rune of four lines that combined an F and an X traced itself
across the surface, and I knew how to make it and when to use it.
“Neat. I have no idea how this compares to what’s available in
Craesti, but this would be usable by people up to medium Affinity.
Way too weak for me, though.”
​I browsed down the shelves. Two dozen different runes for low
and medium compatibility, which I assumed meant Affinity, for each
Element. I grabbed the first one I saw labeled high compatibility, for
Lightning. The rune displayed itself, hundreds of lines rotating slowly
to show the three-dimensional nature of the rune. “Not quite as good
as the one I’ve got now,” I said. “Especially because I get some
benefit to Air and Fire from mine. Oh, there.” I put the tablet down
and took a few more steps to where I saw a label for True Flame.
​“True Flame rune, a rune for those with extreme compatibility
with Fire and at least high compatibility with Lightning and Metal. Uh,
Outstanding and High respectively, I guess. It will enhance gathering
speed and it gives a small improvement to Fire technique strength.
Nice,” I exclaimed.
I reached for another, but my hand was rebuffed. I looked
closer at the plaque describing it. “Huh, a Core rune for someone
with Excellent Affinity to Fire, Water, Ice and Metal? Is that why I
can’t touch it? I don’t meet the requirements. Just barely. My Water
and Ice are close to Excellent—though Water should be there soon
—but I still got a ways to go.”
I moved to the end of the room, where a single tablet sat in
the most prominent spot, taking up the space of a dozen on the side
walls. The label read, “For one who has achieved perfect
compatibility with every Element, surround your Core with this to
ascend.”
“Wow.” I gaped at it. “Perfect compatibility, Outstanding
Affinity, to every Element? Is that even possible? Well, now I want it.”
I poked at the shield preventing me from accessing the tablet, then
punched it. I tried to channel Aether into my fist, but it wouldn’t come.
“Oh yeah, I’m in my mind. I guess I’ll have to check out the others.” I
sulked for a couple of seconds before going back down the line.
After a few minutes, I found a Fire Core rune that excited me.
“Smithing Rune of Fiery Growth. Requires Outstanding Fire,
Excellent Metal, and Excellent Earth. Enhances gathering speed,
improves Fire and Metal technique strength, and allows for easier
creation of Lava, Ore, and Enhancing Aether,” I read from the
plaque, mentally translating the compatibilities to Affinity levels. “I
want Lava!” I grabbed for it, then gasped at the complexity of the
rune.
Hundreds of lines made a picture that somehow seemed to
evoke a miner collecting ore in a volcano’s tunnel, then using that
same volcano to smith the ore into a flame that grew into the sky.
Except it was just a series of runes twined together. “It’s like my
Lightning rune, enhancing everything I do.” I laughed, then I
grimaced. “Oh, this is going to suck to draw. Sooo much.” I looked at
it critically. “Do I really wanna?”
I took a deep breath, then pulled myself out of the Legacy
stone. I glared at it. “Fine. This will enhance my strength and
improve my gathering speed. I definitely need to get stronger, faster.
Everything seems to be coming to a head, but I know there’s still a
long road ahead. Heh.” I laughed, then dove into my center.
I looked at the Fire Core rune I had, still the same campfire
I’d started with so long ago. “Sorry,” I told it, laughing at the human
tendency to humanize objects, then with a grunt of pain I wiped it
away.
My spirit felt seared, and I had to spend a few minutes just
breathing before the pain dropped to the point that I could continue. I
pulled in a bit of Aether, testing the difference. Without eight Core
runes, my gathering efficiency was drastically curtailed. Nice, now I
got another baseline to compare to. I called to mind the new runic
pattern, and realized that the knowledge was more strongly
imprinted on my mind than from a normal knowledge stone. “Well,
that’s useful,” I told myself, my inner monologue coming out as
speech while I was a mental construct floating in my core.
 “Okay, try number one,” I said, then started to draw. My
Aether flowed around me, burning and carving the rune in the air. I
felt around, and realized that I was carving into my spirit, which was
separate from my soul. “I’m so confused.” I shook my head, and that
moment of distraction made me screw up a line. I tried to erase just
the bad spot, but it wiped away all of what I’d drawn.
I found myself pushed out of my center, and barely staggered
to the bathroom before throwing up as the spinning pain of my spirit
overwhelmed my senses. Healing powder, I thought, then
summoned one from my ring. I grinned at the awesome treasure I’d
won, then poured the powder into my mouth. The sickly sweet flavor
overpowered the vomit, at least, and I felt my headache fade away.
I moved back into the bedroom and sat down before
dropping into my center. This time, I focused on pulling Aether out of
my Core to soothe the area around my focus where I wanted to draw
the new Core rune. Tiny amounts of Wood, Fire, and Air Aether
vanished and the minute ache that rolled from my center decreased
significantly.
Ever since my advancement, I figured the range I could grab
Essence from had increased significantly, and while the normal
animals slaughtered for food did not provide much, in a city of
millions there were hundreds dying in my aura. Every once in a
while, I noticed a larger input, and felt sad that someone had just
died, but again, in a city of millions, there were people dying all the
time, even with the massive increases in lifespan that gathering
provided.
I grabbed a tiny piece of Essence from the few dozen drops I
had received since the time I’d used every bit to facilitate my
advancement to Seed Core. The Essence burned, especially when I
tried to force it into my spirit, but the pain vanished as soon as I
successfully merged the Essence with the spot I’d tried to draw the
rune. My brain felt off for a second, but the painful soreness of my
center disappearing helped me focus, along with a swirl of Geist that
just appeared and vanished again. “Okay, that was weird. Never
mind, now for try number two,” I said, then grimaced. “I do wish that
growing stronger didn’t hurt so much. Oh well. Suck it up,
buttercup.”
I drew the rune again, carefully measuring and moving
slowly, but still ended up making a small mistake in the angle of the
rune piece that meant pickaxe, hammer, or right arm, depending on
the angle you looked at it from. “Darkness hide it,” I grumbled as I
wiped away what I’d created. Again, nausea filled me, but this time I
resisted tossing my cookies. A few minutes of Aether treatment and
another drop of Essence fixed the damage, and I started again.
Stupid more complex runes causing more damage, I grumbled, why
couldn’t this be easy!
Sixteen. It took me sixteen attempts to successfully create
the Smithing Rune of Fiery Growth. I was covered in sweat, my face
pale from holding in the groans of pain each wipe tried to drag from
me. My center felt bruised and tender, sore from the repeated abuse
I’d just thrown at it. The last two failures especially hurt, as I’d been
just about done with the complex assemblage of lines that was the
final piece of the rune.
I pushed myself up off the floor, then staggered toward the
bathroom. I quickly doffed my pajamas, grimacing at the tiny black
flakes embedded in the clothing, then sighed as the hot water of the
shower hit my back. “I’m so, so, so glad that the hotel has hot
showers.” I moaned in pleasure as the water, most likely just shy of
boiling, soothed away the tension in my muscles.
After a few minutes, I felt more human again. I looked over at
my pajamas, then sighed. “I liked those. Why did putting a new rune
into my center push out impurities from my body? I didn’t temper
anything or work toward advancement. Maybe the staff will be able
to wash them out?” I groaned and scrubbed my hair aggressively to
get out the frustration of losing another set of clothing.
Finally, I’d gotten all of the gross black flecks out of my hair
and scrubbed every inch of my body. I stepped over the pile of
hopefully not trash and grabbed a bundle of cheap paper stuff that
was specifically for wrapping dirty laundry with. I picked up the
pajamas with it, then shoved it into a cloth bag and dropped it into
the hallway. I knew the inn’s staff would attempt to save my clothing,
but I doubted they’d succeed. Stupid impurities, I grumbled, next
time, just sit in a tub naked when I do this. I walked over to where I’d
dropped the gathering technique knowledge stone.
I picked it up, then sucked it back into my ring, mentally
guiding it to the table where the other stones rested. I felt at my Core
and frowned at the tenderness of my spirit and my center. “Yeah, I
probably shouldn’t replace any other runes for a bit,” I said with a
frown. “Even if I found a couple of really cool ones. I wonder what’s
available in Craesti City, or at Azyl Academy. Maybe there will be
similar-level runes in the library. I mean, there probably are, but this
one was cool. Lava Aether, come on!”
I focused in front of me, holding my hand up and pulling up
four motes of Earth Aether, three of Fire Aether, and one Metal
Aether. I stared at the circling Aether motes, then reached out
mentally to grab them. I crushed them together, thinking of the
Hawaiian lava flow I’d seen at Hickam Air Force Base on a summer
trip at the Academy. I thought of the different materials that made
lava, the heat and stone and ash that a volcano eruption caused.
After nearly a minute of effort, the eight motes of Aether
merged into one larger one, reddish brown in color, that wanted to
burn through anything in its way. I looked at what I’d created, then
laughed, folding over my waist as I giggled in success. “Okay,
definitely need more sleep,” I wheezed before absorbing the Lava
Aether into my center. The ball of advanced Aether didn’t break
apart, and I realized that I could now hold combined Aether in my
center. “This is awesome!”
I yawned again, the pain and effort having drained me, and
put on my second-to-last pair of pajamas. “Can’t lose many more,” I
told myself, then shrugged. “Eh, got plenty of storage. Just got to go
buy a bunch more sets of clothes. Of course, Ma was right. I did
need ten pairs of pants.” I laughed, thinking back to packing for the
trip here. “Oh well. Might as well act like I’m rich, since I am, you
know?” I yawned yet again, my mouth stretching, then I snuggled up
under the blankets.
 CHAPTER TWO
After a three-hour-long nap, it was still dark outside. I woke
quickly when I realized there was a warm body lying in bed with me.
Vaya shifted slightly at my motion, murmured nonsense, and went
back to sleep. She’s adorable, I thought. I very carefully got out of
bed, making sure to not move too quickly or abruptly. Once I fully
extricated myself, I just stood and looked at her for a minute.
A quick glance out of the window showed the party was
starting to die down, as the majority of people were at most
Condensation-level gatherers, so they needed more than the five
hours’ of sleep that I’d gotten. Well, I still have a bunch of time. Let’s
do another Core rune, I thought, then flinched as my center seemed
to spasm. Vaya stirred again at my gasp, but didn’t wake up. Or not.
I frowned down at my chest. I sent my Aether into my storage ring,
and looked over the Legacy again.
What should I look at now? I mused to myself as I poked
through it. I guess back to the gathering technique stones? I wonder
what I could find in the Soul Strengthening-level knowledge stone? I
summoned the aforementioned stone. This one was a deep purple.
With a grin, I put it to my forehead and sent my Aether into it.
Again, I found myself in a mental projection. This time,
though, there was a sitting room with two doors on the wall in front of
me and one to either side. Two bookcases full of the jade tablets sat
against the wall. I tried to step forward, but a wave of Aether swept
over me. A few seconds of being judged by whatever Inscription was
behind the Aether passed, and when I could see the room again
everything was gone except a single tablet.
I carefully walked over to it. “A Primer on Advanced
Gathering Tiers,” I read aloud from the plaque underneath it. With a
grin, I picked it up.
 Spirit appeared in my mind. Well, Spirit as they were before
they became Spirit. “Congratulations to you, my inheritor,” they said.
“I knew that you would seek to grab all of the knowledge inherent in
the Legacy, but what is within this area is beyond you. Knowing how
I was and you most likely are, though, I am sure that you will be
unwilling to leave without any information. Thus, this primer. Soon
you should be creating your Core, buttressed by the gains of the
Tower of Trials. The initial few layers of your Core are key to your
ability to successfully advance to Soul Opening. Each time you
compress your Aether to crystallize it, you need to control how the
layer forms, to prevent any imperfections as best you can.”
They took a deep breath. “At larger numbers of layers, you
need to be creating the runic structures dictated by your cultivation
technique, but do not be afraid to experiment. In the end, every path
to the peak is unique, and no technique created by another will be
perfect for you. While grinding away your advancement is painful,
there is little permanent damage. More information is readily
available in the Core Technique stone.”
Spirit laughed. “But you are here for what comes next. Once
you are ready, you will trigger the Tribulation, where the world will
test your Core, your mind, your techniques, and, most importantly,
your heart. Will you have the will to hold on and fight, or will your
Core shatter under the judgement? The Tribulation will purify and
correct any mistakes in your Core, and open your Soul Space.”
They shook their head. “I do not mean to minimize this. Less
than a quarter of the people who attempt the Tribulation are
successful in opening their Soul Space. I do not doubt, though, that
anyone able to win my people’s Legacy will succeed. Upon opening
your Soul Space, return to this technique stone for guidance on
appropriate techniques. In general, though, you will begin by forming
your Soul. Aether itself is insufficient, and must be condensed and
purified to become Ashe. Many who succeeded in opening their Soul
Space are unable to create Ashe, and find themselves limited
forever, but this will not happen to you. Afterwards, similar to creating
your Aether Pool, you will be enhancing your Soul Opening to allow
for a larger storage. Only with sufficient stored Ashe can you change
your spherical soul into a facsimile of your body.”
Spirit gestured at themself. “Once your Soul is Primed, you
can begin working to perfectly copy yourself. The better the
resonance, the easier the next step will be. To continue to advance,
you must rip your Soul out of your Soul Space. This is the singularly
most unpleasant experience you will ever encounter.” They
shuddered. “Once separate, you will work to strengthen your Soul
more, until it matches your physical body in capability. This is the
stage that stymied all of the gatherers of the M’Zee for nearly two
hundred years. It is only when conflict with the Harpies threatened us
again that I experimented by absorbing my Soul back into my body.”
“It reset me back to the very beginning of Soul Forming, but I
was stronger than I had been. In less than a decade, I had
surpassed everyone else in strength. The war ended when I
challenged the Harpy Queen to a duel, and destroyed her utterly.
Others copied me, and we eventually found that a single reset still
had a ceiling to the power you could gain. Sanaa was the first to try a
second merger, and then, twenty-five years later, Sadik performed a
third. Each attempt was more difficult; each return to my previous
height took more Aether, more Ashe, more resources.”
“It was only with the final war that we discovered how to feel
the fabric of the world. At the thinnest point, the Tower of Ascension
was built. When you are ready, you will need to seek it out. Until
then, good luck, and keep your people safe,” Spirit finished, before
vanishing from in front of me. I was immediately kicked out of the
knowledge stone, and unable to enter into it again.
“Well, that’s super important,” I said. “I need to tell Librarian
Narwan soon.” I looked outside, but there wasn’t even a hint of the
sun rising. “Later today, though.” I held the stone up in front of me.
“You’re my ticket to even greater wealth, I think. Probably should
trade being able to look into it for resources to push Jamila, Aleks,
and everyone else still in Condensation to Core, and maybe some
more equipment? I don’t know.” I stuck the stone back into my ring.
“What did you say?” Vaya asked, sitting up.
 “Oh, sorry,” I said sheepishly. “Uh, I was just looking into the
Legacy, and found something very interesting.” I paused
dramatically. She threw a pillow at me. I laughed, then continued to
explain what I’d just found out.
“That is amazing,” she said. “So, to advance you have to
move backward.”
“Basically,” I said with a shrug.
She nodded, looking thoughtful, then stood up and stretched.
Light, she’s gorgeous, I thought, admiring my girlfriend, and she
grinned at me noticing her. “Well,” she said. “I am going to take a
shower and change.” She was still wearing the dark-green dress
she’d changed into for the party.
“Enjoy,” I said. “I’m going to look more into the Legacy. I will
join you for breakfast afterwards?”
“Sounds good,” Vaya said, then left with a sashay in her
walk.
After watching her leave, I stood up and did some jumping
jacks before looking into the ring again. Now what do I want to look
at? Core-level gathering techniques? Not really. I kinda want to learn
what Librarian Narwan wants to teach us first. Maybe some attack or
movement techniques? A Lightning-based movement technique
should be faster than Gusting Northern Wind, though I doubt it’ll let
me fly. Maybe there’s a Speed Aether that I can use for a technique?
I pulled out the Core-level technique knowledge stone, then
dove into it. As with the first one I’d examined, I found myself in a
long hallway. “I want to look at Lightning-based movement
techniques,” I said aloud. The hallway rearranged itself, and I was
suddenly at a door.
I reached out and grabbed the doorknob but found it locked. I
tried to pull my hand off and go to a different doorway, but I couldn't
let go. A tiny suction feeling came from my hand after a second, and
I realized it was looking for Lightning Aether. I fed a tiny streamer
into the knob. I felt a tumbler move, but it was still locked. My mind
followed the Aether into the inner workings of the door, and I had to
carefully maneuver it around an obstruction through the tiniest bit of
feedback I could get from my Aether sense.
 My Aether sense had become significantly sharper from my
advancement to Seed Core, and I could vaguely tell what Aether
was around me in a five-meter bubble. By focusing, I could feel
minor details. This let me guide the Aether through a challenging
course of twists and turns. Twice I had to hold the Lightning off the
sides of a section, as touching it caused shocks to hurt my hand.
Finally, I flipped a fifth tumbler, and the door knob turned.
There was another hole I could put the Lightning Aether into,
but I wasn’t fast enough. The door opened, and the testing
apparatus vanished from my perceptions. “Well, I guess I got a good
enough grade,” I grumbled, then shrugged. “I still have to work on
fine Aether control some more. Let’s see what I can access now.” I
stepped into the room.
There were hundreds of jade tablets here, each one a
different technique. “Well, that’s awesome,” I said exuberantly,
bouncing on my heels before rushing to read the plaques. “Floating
Spark Movement Technique. Air with minor Lightning and Fire
Elements, uses unpredictable movements to confuse enemies and
close in for devastating melee attacks. Neat.” I nodded, then moved
to the next one.
The first two dozen were in the same vein, different
techniques to move in a battle. On closer inspection, I saw that the
jade tablets themselves had a series of stars on them. The first I
looked at, Floating Spark, had three stars, four stars, then two stars.
As I moved farther into the room, the number of stars increased in all
three sections, though some were lopsided. One technique,
Lightning Flashes Through The Field, had nine stars on the first row,
but only one in the second. The third row was seven stars, though.
I read the plaque. “Use Lightning Aether to explode forward,
giving incredible acceleration and speed while limiting your
movement to a straight line. Huh, so maybe the first row is speed or
acceleration or how quickly the technique lets you move? The
second row then could be maneuverability or control, I guess? Not
sure what the third row of stars is.”
I paused for a minute, then spoke to the room. “I need a
technique that’ll combine with Dancing Northern Wind to get a bit
more speed in battle. Gusting Northern Wind is good enough, but I
am starting to get eclipsed by some of my friends in speed, and I’d
like to try to catch up.”
The room sparkled for a second, then all but six of the tablets
vanished. The first one had two stars in all three rows, so I moved
on. The rest were disappointing as well, until I got to the last one.
Eight stars, eight stars, and ten stars, the highest I’d seen yet.
“Voltage Differential Nerve Induction Technique. Use Lightning and
Reflex Aether to enhance your body, allowing for faster reactions
and movement speed. Create voltage differential fields within your
aura to allow for unpredictable and rapid direction changes and
extreme straight-line speed. Now that looks awesome,” I exclaimed
with a giant grin on my face.
I reached forward and picked it up. “Oh, that’s what the third
star was,” I said. “Compatibility with my current techniques. Light,
this will be useful.” I glanced to the side, and suddenly an armchair
appeared. I shrugged and sat. The jade tablet glowed like an iPad,
and I found that I could swipe through the data on it. I looked at the
very beginning, and saw, both in front of me and in my head, a
teacher instructing the memory giver on the technique.
“Your nerves control your body,” the M’Zee said, “and only
through enhancing them will you be able to react fast enough at the
highest levels of combat. You do not need to worry about that, little
seedling, but by increasing your reflexes, you will stay safer while
hunting the low-level Spirit Beasts your team is tasked with. Now,
here are the main nerve pathways of your body.”
The teacher pulled down a rolled-up drawing. The outline of a
person was there, along with the brain and all the nerves extending
from it. More organs were traced out but not filled in, along with the
bones. I noticed a few things immediately. They only had one kidney,
and the intestines were larger. I didn’t see anything that could be an
appendix either. That was the limit of my biological knowledge,
though, and I had absolutely no idea what might have been different
about the brain or nerves.
The teacher then showed how to selectively enhance each
nerve bundle, allowing for faster movement of a specific limb. The
limits here were fairly noticeable, with a ten percent increase in
reaction speed before you’d start having to worry about tendon or
muscle damage. “This technique is recommended for you, little
spark, because of your near-perfect compatibility with Lightning,” the
teacher explained. “You should learn a high-level Metal or Earth
body-strengthening technique if you truly wish to excel at it.”
I moved on, and found where a different teacher was
explaining how to create what they called attraction locations. The
memory giver was now in Foundation Core and thus had a sphere of
nearly a hundred meters where they could express their Aether and
will. “Huh,” I said when I realized “attraction locations” were just
electrostatic attraction moving their body. “That could work. The
strength of the movement is much greater than I’d have thought it
would be. Silly Aether, not following physical laws.”
The student was jumping around, shooting to their attraction
locations at jaw-dropping speeds. I could feel them running a Metal
technique through their muscles and an Earth technique in their
bones and tendons to deal with the shock of stopping. Good to know,
I thought. Either get my body strong enough to deal, or learn a better
technique than the General Strengthening Technique. I guess that
should be next.
In the middle of a jump, the teacher blasted me with a
Lightning Bolt. I, I mean the student, rolled to the side and leapt to
their feet. “Good. You can use this technique because Lightning is so
much weaker against you,” the teacher said. “Just as you use
Lightning to leap between locations on the battlefield, so will
Lightning attacks be diverted to either you or your attraction
locations.”
“Teacher, what about my own attacks?” the student asked.
“Yours will not react to your technique,” they answered. “But
even your allies will be affected. You must be aware of this. The
Lightning Attraction Technique is extremely useful for quick, sudden
movements, but it does have its downsides. Now, continue.”
The student created another attraction location, then jumped
toward it with a thought. They saw the teacher creating another
Lightning attack, and threw down a different attraction location
nearby. Their movement curved, hitting a middle spot between the
two locations. The teacher’s attack diverted away from them and
went directly into the closest of the attraction locations to the student.
The teacher beamed at the student. “Excellent! Your battle
awareness is superb. Just as the technique can pull attacks toward
you, it can pull them away. We will continue to practice.”
The scene changed again. This time the memory giver was
alone. They were at Complete Core, or nearly, at least, but their
focus was all internal. The runic structures for the Nerve
Enhancement Technique and the Lightning Attraction Technique
floated in and around them. “Oh!” I exclaimed again, “that’s how they
combined them! By linking the Nerve Enhancement to the attraction
points, you don’t have to create the internal voltage points. That’s so
cool.”
I paused for a second. “I can combine this with the General
Strengthening Technique too,” I said, my eyes going wide. “Wait, I
need to look at all of my techniques with an eye for combinations.
There are so many options.” I shook my head. “Though what is
better, learning a new specialized technique or adapting one I’ve
already learned? I don’t know. Let’s see what Librarian Narwan
wants to teach us soon, and ask him and Knight Kaminski.”
The tablet went blank after that scene, but the knowledge
was all implanted in my head. I stood, about to go look for another
technique to learn, but my head started to hurt. I left the knowledge
stone and massaged my temples. “Okay, gotta take a break before
implanting more info in the noggin.” I glanced around, but Vaya
hadn’t come back, then looked out the window. The sun was just
starting to come up. “Yay, breakfast time.”
 CHAPTER THREE
I was directed to a different dining room. It was much smaller,
with only enough room for three tables of six. Vaya, Jamila, Lea,
Lilianna, and Milenna were chatting quietly over cups of tea and
coffee. Jamila saw me first, her beautiful, olive-skinned face lighting
up with a grin. I waved and headed toward the last open seat, next to
Vaya. Vaya’s golden hair glittered, silver and gold threads braided
into it. I could see the Aether on them. “Neat hair ornament,” I said,
sitting next to her just as she finished telling the rest of the girls
about a carnival game. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you,” Vaya said, pulling me into a hug. I hugged her
back, then reached over the table to squeeze Jamila’s hand.
“Your aura changed a bit,” Lea said, looking at me with a
frown.
“Oh, I finally got a chance to look at the Legacy,” I said, then
paused as a servant brought pancakes and eggs in. “Thank you. The
first part I looked at was about Core runes, and I found a really neat
one for Fire. So I replaced my old one with it. Hurt like it always
does, ridiculously bad due to the complexity, but I can already feel
the effects. I was going to find another one, but my center was not
ready for a new one. In fact…” I paused and summoned the
knowledge stone. Gotta get everyone stronger, so let’s share with
my friends. “Jamila, here. Find one that works for you, then give it to
one of the others. We’ll have a lot of time on the trip back to Craesti,
but might as well get started.”
“You are just giving us this?” Milenna asked. “I know you are
generous, but we could pay you for access?”
“It’s free,” I said, then looked at my finger where the ring
rested. “I’m planning on going through everything that is for Aether
Gathering-level gatherers and distributing it to everyone in all
nations. If we can improve the average gatherer's strength, I think it’ll
help reduce the damage that is coming. The war will not be easy,
and whatever Darkness summoned me here for will be worse, I’m
sure of it. This way, less people will die.”
“Then I will not turn down your generosity,” Milenna said,
“and will instead pay for this by charity work.”
I grinned at her. “Thank you.”
“Master Narwan told us that we should be ready to advance
to Seed Core less than a month,” Jamila said. “I would like to do so
sooner, but he said it would require some rarer pills now that we
have taken the ones from the Trials.”
“Well, I have something to trade for those pills,” I said with a
grin.
“Ooh, what?” Lilianna said, leaning in. Everyone else turned
and waited expectantly.
“Uh, I wasn’t able to get much detail, but the Legacy includes
the path forward for everyone at Librarian Narwan’s level,” I said.
A burst of air threw my hair forward, reminding me that I
needed to get it cut shorter soon. “It does?” Librarian Narwan said.
Lilianna and Milenna had jumped, but the others didn’t, used to my
master’s proclivities.
“Yes, Librarian Narwan, it does,” I said. “And of course you
will get access as my master.”
“Good, but not right now,” he answered. “Now you are called
before Sultah Aleahil, myself, and the ambassadors and heirs that
are present in the city.”
I looked down at my plate, and realized that he’d timed his
arrival with the last bite. “I am ready,” I told him, and stood up.
“Then follow,” he said, and rushed out of the room. He didn’t
vanish, but was moving fast enough that I had to push myself to
keep up.
I waved over my shoulder to my friends as I hurried after him,
my surroundings blurring slightly as I pushed Aether into Gusting
Northern Wind. I tried to use the Voltage Differential Nerve Induction
Technique, but I hadn’t practiced enough to form the attraction points
fast enough, so I gave up. The Nerve Induction part, though, did let
me turn corners a bit easier.
 Librarian Narwan sped up more, making me push every bit I
could out of my two different movement techniques. I wanted to use
the General Strengthening Technique too but running three different
sets of runes was too much for me, right now at least. I need to put
together the Nerve Induction with a strengthening technique, but I
need time to figure it out, I thought, my mental voice panting.
We arrived in less than five minutes, racing up to and through
a massive gate made of a gold-plated metal. Two Ashkhas guards,
both at Complete Core, stood aside as we ran, and saluted with the
pikes they held. I gave a salute back, my right fist across my chest,
and then we were past them.
Librarian Narwan finally slowed as we entered the main
palace, changing into a brisk walk rather than a run. It was still faster
than an Aether Gathering-level person could run, but no one I
noticed was weaker than Circulation Condensation. And those were
fourteen-year-old servants who’d probably only been gathering for
less than a year.
A few servants looked like they were going to approach, but
a single glance at Librarian Narwan’s face dissuaded them of the
notion. He led me unerringly through the twisting maze of hallways
for a minute, and then we arrived at a small, nondescript door. A
single guard was a few meters down the hallway, in front of a more
ostentatious doorway. “Go on in, Master Narwan,” the guard said
with a bow.
“Thank you,” Librarian Narwan said, then opened the door
and marched in. I followed nervously. The square room was fairly
large, each side around seven meters in length. Each wall had a
different map on it. Straight ahead was a map of the Ashkhas Baqiya
and Monster Island, to my right was a map showing the entirety of
the Interior Sea and the countries surrounding it, and then to my left
was a map of Borgby, the Illyrian fort city. That map was only partially
filled in, with many areas left blank as we just didn’t know enough
about the Illyrians.
A table filled half the room’s floor space, and seated at the
head was Sultah Aleahil. To his left was an older male Ashkhas who
had streaks of gray in his brown fur, and to his right was a female
Ashkhas with light tan fur and purplish eyes. Aleks was next to the
female Ashkhas, and smiled happily when she saw me enter. Two
seats were empty beside her, and then an older man in a keikogi
was sitting stiffly next to Gunther, who gave me a brief nod. Ritter
Felix sat next to him, and I felt the weight of his gaze evaluating me.
Another Volk sat next to him. On the other side, to Sultah Aleahil’s
left and across from Aleks was the Ashkhas heir, then the Topraki
heir, an older Topraki male that made me think of Librarian Narwan,
and a female Topraki who had a very large notebook in front of her.
After I was seated next to Aleks, I grabbed her hand under
the table and squeezed it. “Now that we are all here,” Sultah Aleahil
said, “we can begin our discussions.”
“Why is the boy here?” the Ashkhas sitting on Sultah Aleahil’s
left asked haughtily.
“He is the possessor of the Legacy of the M’Zee, Councilor
Darius,” Sultah Aleahil answered, “along with being an advisor to
King Craesti. His presence is germane to the discussion.”
The look on Darius’s face was obviously condescending, but
he didn’t say anything else. Ritter Felix spoke into the silence that
followed. “Where are the troops now?”
“The first wave is still roughly a week away from landing,”
Sultah Aleahil answered. “They have sighted the Primordial. The
Craesti team herding it plan to direct it into the fortifications a day
prior to our initial assault. We will not hear from them again until
nearly a week after the assault begins. The second wave of ships
will be launching from our ports in two days, with nearly a hundred
thousand Ashkhas troops on board.”
“The Topraki Empire will contribute two hundred thousand to
the second wave,” the female Topraki said, still writing in her
notebook. “I heard back from Emperor Futuh, and they will be ready
to launch in two weeks, joining your army.”
“The Weltreich has eighty thousand soldiers available,”
Gunther said, not looking at his ambassador. “I will be joining them
on the front lines.”
The Craesti ambassador added, “We will be sending one
hundred fifty thousand troops in our next deployment.”
 “We would send more,” Aleks said, “but we lack the ships to
hold them.”
“Once the initial assault has created a beachhead, our ships
will return to Craesti to move another hundred thousand people,” the
Craesti ambassador continued. “Thank you, Princess Aleks.”
“Uh, sirs and madams, I may have something that will assist
with getting information from the assault,” I said, then reached into
the spatial bag Knight Kaminski had gotten me to conceal the ring’s
effects. I summoned the Connecting the Myriad Peoples plate and
pulled it out of my bag. “This is one of the items I received from Spirit
in the Tower of Trials.” I popped off one of the medallions and tossed
it to Gunther. “Once a month, I can use the plate here to connect
everyone holding a pendant for a one-hour conversation. I do not
know exactly how it works, but that should allow for slightly easier
discussions and information sharing.”
“Who do you plan to give the pendants to?” Counselor Darius
asked snidely.
I handed another to Aleks and then one to Izhade before
sliding one to Sultah Aleahil. “My plan is one each to my friends that
are heirs to their thrones, and then one to the heads of each state.
That way we will be able to communicate among the nations, and
will allow me to further the next generations’ connections among our
countries.” With that, I passed two to Shehzada Maayari and one
more to Gunther and Aleks. “Please give the second one to your
parents.”
“Thank you, Aiden,” Gunther said, leaning forward to look
closely at the pendant. “I cannot even see most of the Inscription on
this. Fascinating.”
“This will be very useful,” Maayari said, his voice rough. He
gave a short bark of laughter. “I look forward to our discussions.”
“Aiden, that is a good segue into our next point of
discussion,” Sultah Aleahil said. “How much are you willing to share
from the Legacy?”
“And what precious resources will we have to spend to
assuage your greed, nang Craesti?” Counselor Darius added with a
growl.
 I looked at Darius, then over at Aleks and Librarian Narwan.
He gave me a nod. “Counselor Darius,” I said firmly. “If you speak to
me in that way again, I will ask you to leave. I have done nothing to
earn your enmity that I know of and it is distracting from the purpose
of this meeting.”
“Listen here, you —” Darius started, then Sultah Aleahil
slammed a fist into the side of his skull. The flash of Aleahil’s aura
made my breath catch, and Darius was flung into the wall with a wet
thunk. He groaned weakly.
“Leave,” Sultah Aleahil said. “You are removed from my
Council. Your masters will have to appoint another to sit in these
meetings to replace you.”
“You will regret this,” Darius said darkly to me.
“No,” I said, “I won’t.” I turned back to Sultah Aleahil. “I have
not had a chance to look over the majority of it yet. One part of the
Legacy includes, I believe, a listing of every single Core rune that the
M’Zee had discovered, including many more for those with lower
Affinity levels than I knew of. I plan to make all of the single Element
runes available to everyone, and I do mean everyone.”
I looked around the table seriously, then continued. “We need
to seriously increase the strength of the average citizen in our
nations. Right now, the majority of our populations cannot even clear
the hurdle of condensing a single drop of Aether. Imagine what we
could accomplish if every adult was able to reach Complete
Condensation?” I looked around the table, noticing the thoughtful
looks on everyone’s faces. “Additionally, a cataclysm is coming.”
Sultah Aleahil looked at me sharply, while Gunther had a quizzical
look on his face.
I paused to take a deep breath. Several of the people around
the table opened their mouths like they were about to speak, but
Librarian Narwan and Sultah Aleahil both motioned for silence. Aleks
grabbed my hand again, and I continued. “A bit over a year and a
half ago, I was extremely sick. At my worst, I found myself, my spirit,
speaking with Darkness, who warned me that something was
coming, and charged me to get stronger in order to fight it. He cured
my illness, and I recovered.” I sighed and shivered, remembering the
feeling of being in Darkness’s presence. “One of my goals to do so is
to make everyone stronger. Alone, I cannot stand against a calamity,
but together, we will succeed.”
“Is that why you precipitated the war with Illyria?” the Topraki
Soul Strengthening advisor asked.
I almost bristled at the question, but the tone didn’t have any
accusation in it, only curiosity. “No,” I answered, “I didn’t mean to do
that, if my actions in the tournament are what sparked it at all.
Defeating the Illyrians will make everyone else safer in the long run,
but I worry that in the short run we will all be weakened. Chaos is
coming, and Illyria seems to be allied with them. Maybe the war will
cause their plans to trigger sooner than they want, or maybe this is
exactly what they wanted. I don’t know.”
“It is good you did not deliberately cause a war,” was the
response. “And it is good that the war will hurt our enemies more
than ourselves.”
I smiled grimly, then continued. “Other than the Core runes,
I’m going to find gathering techniques, powder recipes, Inscriptions,
and anything else I can discover. If it is for people at the Aether
Gathering level or equivalent, it will be given away for free.
Completely, utterly free. Condensation-level knowledge will be
shared for a minimal cost, and a moderate one for Core-level
techniques. Soul Strengthening techniques, though, will be
expensive.”
“What could they have that we would want?” Ritter Felix
asked.
“Information on how to advance beyond where you all have
stalled out, and how to ascend to the next level,” I said simply.
“What!” the Topraki advisor exclaimed. “How? Why? How
much?!”
“Uh, I haven’t decided yet,” I said.
“And do not be tempted to try and rob him,” Librarian Narwan
said, looking at the others. “I and Sultah Aleahil will be watching.”
“That is the extent of what I’ve found in the Legacy so far. I
will figure out prices and what is available in the Legacy as soon as I
can,” I said.
 “You said that you will make single Element Core runes free,”
Gunther stated. “Does that mean there are multi-Element Core runes
available?”
“Yes,” I said, “though they are a pain to engrave in your
center.”
“We will talk later,” Gunther told me.
“Excellent, now that that has been discussed, we can move
on to the proposed trade agreement from Princess Aleksandra,”
Sultah Aleahil announced.
“Uh, one last thing if I may,” I interjected. Sultah Aleahil
nodded. “Spirit, the moderator of the Tower of Trials, gave me
designs to fix the portals to the Divine Territory. They would like you
to build the portal again, allowing the trial to occur much more easily
for everyone.” I took a deep breath, then said, “The portals include
an Inscription to teleport anyone inside the Divine Territory out before
they can take lethal damage, so no one else will die exploring it.”
“No one!” the Topraki Soul Strengthening advisor exclaimed,
pain in his voice.
“No one,” I repeated, giving him a sad smile. “They did
require that each of the races that were present this year, all of us”—
I gestured at the table—“have an equal representation in the Trial.
Spirit doesn’t want to let the Tower be limited by greed among the
nations.”
“And what if something happens that prevents it?” Sultah
Aleahil asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I think the portal design will allow you
to communicate with Spirit, but they were adamant when talking to
me about it. Also, the trials will still be limited to once every five
years, since they need time to re-create the rewards.”
“Another will be able to get the Legacy?” Ritter Felix asked,
incredulous.
“No,” I said, “but the pills that enhanced my tempering,
increased my gathering level, and for creating a Core will be
available. There is still much Spirit and the Tower of Trials can teach
us, and it will provide rewards for those who enter.”
 “What do you want to provide the plans?” Sultah Aleahil
asked.
“Uh, just to make a copy of them for each nation to study,” I
said. “They will help all of us develop new technologies, and Spirit
already rewarded me for this.”
“I will do so, please give them to Casmir as soon as you can,”
he replied. “I will ensure that multiple copies are created as quickly
as possible. Anything else, Munqiz Aiden?” I shook my head. “Thank
you. Now, Princess Aleksandra, on to your proposal for a trade
treaty.”
The discussions continued for the next hour about various
trade deals and other treaties. I managed to make a few poignant
comments, but mostly sat and listened. Finally, the meeting was
dismissed.
“Knight Aiden,” Prince Gunther called out, “wait a second
please.”
“Sure thing, Prince Gunther,” I answered, stepping aside.
Two pages had appeared, young Ashkhas standing just out of
earshot of a private conversation. A third was already escorting the
Topraki delegation away.
“I need a Metal, Earth, and Wood rune. We have not
discovered a Core rune of that combination suitable for those with
Significant Affinity,” Gunther said quietly.
“Can you trade the next level of your people’s tempering
technique?” I asked.
He looked up for a second, then nodded. “Yes, I can do that.”
“Then I will see what the Legacy has,” I told him.
“Ritter Felix and I will speak with you tomorrow,” Gunther
said. “Thank you.”
“This is mutually beneficial,” I told him. “We both get stronger.
You need to advance soon, or I’m definitely going to beat you into
the ground when we next spar.”
“Hah,” Gunther laughed. “We shall see about that.”
“Well, bring it on.” I grinned.
He shook his head, then gave me a slight bow. I returned the
gesture, and then a young Ashkhas girl in a formal uniform stepped
forward.
“Knight Aiden, I am Tudien Maryam, and have been tasked
with escorting you out of the palace. Please follow me if you are
ready,” she said, her voice high-pitched but steady.
“I am ready,” I said. “Thank you.”
 CHAPTER FOUR
It took me nearly an hour to get back to the inn, since I wasn’t
sprinting as fast as I could this time. When I arrived, I saw Librarian
Narwan speaking with Sam. I waved, but left them to do what they
were doing. I could see the Aether flowing in Sam as Librarian
Narwan talked. She didn’t respond, too engrossed in her center to
notice me.
I opened the door carefully to my room, and found it empty
yet again. Jon’s bed was rumpled, though, so he must have slept in
it at some point. I laughed, then pulled out another knowledge stone
along with a few sheets of paper. I found myself in the Herbology
hallway, and started to explore. Low-level plants, Inscriptions to
enhance the growth of hundreds of different crops, mixtures and
fertilizers and all sorts of information flowed onto the pages in front of
me.
After the first three Inscriptions caused me to start having a
headache, I figured out the trick to not getting a direct download of
information into my brain. I would read reports and transcriptions
from memories. Every few minutes, I’d pop back out of the stone to
write down what I’d been reading, checking over it a couple of times
to ensure I wasn’t missing anything important. I’ll still have to share
this stone around, I thought, but at least these notes should help me
as well. Light, I wish I could just absorb everything in the Legacy.
That would be so awesome. Alas, all that lies in the way are crippling
migraines and my brain exploding. I shook my head and laughed,
then dove back into the stone.
After about an hour, my door echoed with a knocking sound. I
got up, stretching my legs to get the blood back in them, and called
out, “One second!”
“Meet in the courtyard for training in five minutes,” Librarian
Narwan commanded.
 “Yes, sir,” I yelled back then changed into a looser set of
clothing. After getting ready, I hurried out the door, only to leap
backward as Jon tried to open it.
“Gotta change,” he said quickly.
“Yup, see you down there,” I told him, stepping aside so he
could enter.
A few minutes later, I was waiting with my team. No one else
had been summoned. “So, is anyone else excited to learn about
gathering at the Core level?” Vaya asked.
“Definitely,” Bridget responded.
A second later, Librarian Narwan appeared in front of us.
“Yes, you will be learning about gathering in Seed Core. Most will tell
you that the layers here in Seed Core do not matter, that they exist
only to get you additional Aether storage and strengthen your
physical body. Those who say so are short-sighted fools who will be
doomed to languish in mediocrity. Of course, that is not you.” His
glare promised significant pain if it was us.
“Your advancement through Core will be significantly
personal, so I will be instructing each of you individually. In general,
each time you create a new layer on your Core, you will be adding to
a runic structure that we will design ahead of time. This will not be
easy, and starting at Seed Core will make it harder. Most start in
Foundation Core. As an example, here is the initial setup I used as a
Seed and Foundation Core gatherer.”
A spherical crystal appeared in front of us, and the top layer
pulled away to reveal a tapestry of runes that formed it. They were
three dimensional and linked together in ways that revealed the truth
of Librarian Narwan. The connection of gathering and Wood runes
and the way they curved into the knowledge rune next to them told
me that he sought knowledge wherever and however he could get it.
Another spot, where a connection rune merged with one I didn’t
know, evoked his desire to lift up the common people of Craesti.
Looking at his core was like looking into his soul. One spot, though,
spoke to me of the pain of his loss. An entire quadrant of his Core
shouted his love for his wife, and his despair at losing her. Tears
formed in the corner of my eye, and Vaya took my hand as she
sought comfort as well.
Librarian Narwan ignored us, and refused to acknowledge
anything about that portion of his soul. “The Primordials I have
spoken to call this level Truth Seeking,” he continued. “You can see
why. Your Core will evoke the truth of who you are. If it doesn’t, you
will get few benefits. Now, each of you go to a corner of the yard,
and meditate on who you are as a gatherer and as a person. I will
speak to each of you individually.”
“Yes, Master Narwan,” we chorused. I jogged out to the far-
right corner, the farthest from the doorway, then sat cross-legged on
the dirt.
Okay, who am I? As a gatherer, I’m a Lightning-focused all-
rounder. I mean, even my lowest Affinity is High, which is better than
most people’s best Affinity. Uh, let’s not get arrogant. There are
many people with Affinities near mine. I frowned, then shrugged at
my thoughts. I probably do have the highest level of Affinities among
anyone in my generation at least, though. So, who I am as a
gatherer is the best. It is what I strive to be, what I want to be, and
what I am. Of course, I don’t know if I really am best, since I’ve never
gotten to fight Aleks as an equal with both of us at full strength. In
Craesti, she had fought three other people already, and in the
Tournament of Champions I was injured. Does it matter though? If
who I am is one who strives to be the best, then losing is fine as long
as I learn and grow from it.
Now, who am I as a person? Why am I going through the
pain, torment, and stress that my current path puts me on? I want to
save, well, everyone. I know that’s not realistic, but, Light, Darkness
summoned me here and asked if I wanted to save the world, after I
literally died to save someone else. That’s heavy, but I’m going to
meet his challenge. I can, I will be the hero of this world. I sighed. Is
fame really a part of my desires? I used to think that being a celebrity
would be horrible. Here, at least, there aren't any paparazzi, even if
at least half the Ashkhas give me that worshipful look that makes me
uncomfortable.
 What would these desires look like in a Core? I thought, then
started to sketch in the dirt in front of me. I know being a gatherer is
important to me, so gather needs to be a prominent rune, but I need
to bend it to make it part of a sphere. If I link it to Lightning, I can
bend the edges like… I drew, then got frustrated when the dirt didn’t
let me do what I wanted.
I focused on the air in front of me, and let out a tiny bit of
Aether. I used Earth as the Core, and then a tiny blade of Metal and
Lightning mixed to carve away at it. Tiny [A1]grooves and swirls were
cut into it. Hey, at least this way, when I make a mistake, I can just fix
it. I laughed internally as I sent a bit more Earth Aether to fill in a part
where the two runes didn’t connect like I wanted them to.
I ended up erasing the entire thing twice, rotating each of the
two runes and bending them in different ways. “You have to think
about what you are trying to express,” Librarian Narwan said once I
deleted my practice core for the third time. “And let the feelings that
the sentiment evokes in you guide your creation.”
“Yes, Master Narwan,” I said, then closed my eyes. I focused
on the joy I felt when I advanced, on how fulfilling gathering was, and
my goal of getting stronger and being a pillar for the kingdom and
world. The two runes formed in front of me, and I could feel the
bends necessary to link them. Together the runes made up about a
third of the space available on my pseudo-core in front of me.
“Good,” Librarian Narwan said, “and it only took you two
hours. Well done. Remember the configuration, and we can work on
another set of runes shortly.”
“Uh, sir, what should I do now? Should I not be gathering
until this is complete?” I asked.
“Gathering at the Core level is different,” Librarian Narwan
said. “Currently, it would probably take you around two hours to
create your next layer, assuming you use a gathering powder and
are in a place with significant Aether density. Out here in the yard,
without a supplement, it would take you six hours or so, and that is
very fast. Never forget that your gathering speed is abnormal, even
among the elite of the nations. The only reason your friends are
keeping up with you is your incessant need to give them gathering
powders, pills, and other enhancements. Anyway, if you were to start
gathering and have to stop before you could create a new layer, all
of the Aether you had gathered above your normal storage capacity
would quickly bleed off and be lost. To advance, you will have to
schedule significant time periods of just gathering.”
“Yes, sir,” I said. “Uh, so should I work on another rune set
now?”
“Take a few minutes to move around, stretch your legs, and
refresh yourself,” he said. “Jon is just about done; I will speak with
him next. Come back in a few minutes to work on this.”
I stood and bowed. He nodded back before seeming to
teleport to Jon’s side. Jon was poking at a floating ball of Ice Aether,
then frowned at it and washed it in Fire. Librarian Narwan started
speaking to him, and Jon nodded with a look of concentration on his
face.
Over in another corner I saw Vaya contemplating a carved
Wood core. She had three runes on it already and was tweaking how
a vine rune connected to one that meant control. Her core seemed to
say that she controlled the growth of everything around her, and that
she could control anything within that growth. Well, that’s cool, I
thought.
Bridget wiped away what she’d been working on when I
looked over, though not because I had. She quickly reformed
another core, dense Air rotating slowly in front of her, then it shifted
to show the rune for speed and one for agility.
Lindsay walked over to where I was standing with a tray of
lemonade. “Master Narwan bade me bring refreshments to you.”
“Thanks, Lindsay,” I said.
“No, thank you.” She smiled and gestured at her face. “I
advanced to Condensation, and the healers were able to remove my
scars. The Affinity Powders you gave me made it so much easier,
and now smiling does not cause me pain. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said. “I plan on giving more and more
people those powders, and I know Librarian Narwan is still looking at
ways of making them better and cheaper.”
 “That would be amazing,” she said. “But I should go, Jon is
standing up now.”
“Thanks again,” I said before taking a deep sip. The tingle of
the sour melded with the sweetness of the sugar, and a rush of
Aether showed that they’d used level three Sourburst Lemons to
create it, rather than the cheaper, more common Jungle Lemons. I
enjoyed the lemonade, and deliberately concentrated on it rather
than let my mind poke at the question of my core.
Once I was done, Lindsay appeared, gently took the empty
glass from me, then walked away. I grinned at her, then sat and
created the ball of Earth again. A few minutes of concentration gave
me the runic structure I’d created already. Now I have to add
something to either side. Alchemy needs to be included. I love
making powders and pills, and it’d be really neat to make a potion
that was usable for longer than fifteen minutes or so. I wonder if
there are ways to make the containers better, would that help with
longevity?
I shook my head. Focus on this now. There’s not really a rune
for Alchemy, but generally a combination of Wood, Fire, and reaction
can be used to mean it. Three more, let’s make these smaller
though, so that the three take up the same space as two. Actually… I
stood up, and Librarian Narwan appeared. “Uh, is there an optimal
size for the runes?” I asked him.
“Too big, and you will lose too much storage capacity in the
areas where there is no crystal,” Librarian Narwan said, “and too
small will make the creation and expression of them extremely
difficult. Remember, anything you decide you want to create, you will
have to make layer by layer as you advance. Any mistakes will make
your eventual Tribulation harder, or cost you valuable time to fix.”
“Can we just advance like others and then add in the runes
later, carving them down into our Cores?” I asked him.
“Yes, but it takes three times as long, as well as being
extremely painful,” Librarian Narwan said. “It also risks shattering
your Core, forcing you to start over with damage to your center.
Starting over takes twice as much Aether, generally, to create a new
Core, which is one reason why most who fail to advance to Perfect
Core end up never attempting to advance again.”
“Okay, thanks sir,” I said. “So putting three runes in the space
that I used for two already should be fine?”
“Yes,” he answered. “You could probably shrink the runes
down to half the size to give you more space to work with.”
“Got it,” I said, then focused on my model. I remade the runes
so that they took up a sixth of the space available, then asked, “Is
this going to be the fullness of my entire Core? So I won’t get many
benefits until I’m all the way to Complete Core?”
“No,” he said shortly. “The design you make now will be
through Foundation Core. At Constructed Core we will discuss
adding another layer of runes on top, and connecting them
throughout to what you have created already. Here at Seed and
Foundation, you focus on who you are. When you get to Constructed
Core, you will focus on who you want to be. Mistakes there are more
damaging, as they will change your personality. Do not worry about
that, though. You can always grind away the top few layers of your
Core to fix it.”
“But—” I started.
“But it will hurt, like everything else about gathering,
especially when mistakes are made,” Librarian Narwan said. “I will
explain the answers to your questions to the others. Jon did ask a
good question that you did not. You should make sure to include
your Bond in your Core, and use that to strengthen the connection
you two share.”
“Yes, sir,” I said, then bowed as he walked away again. I
turned and plopped to the ground. I idly gestured at the floating ball
of Aether, suddenly giddy at what I was doing, then stopped it and
started to connect my Lightning rune to the reaction rune. I focused
on my desire to know things, to create things, and the reactions that
electricity could cause. I thought about endothermic reactions, those
that required an energy input to create, and then threw the Fire rune
on the other side.
Fire and reaction had me thinking of Sia, and the instant
reaction that Jamila and I had to him flying over the Meditation
Grotto back at Azyl Academy. I thought about exothermic reactions,
and the heat that Vaya, Jamila, and Aleks brought to my cheeks
when they teased me, along with the joy and passion they brought to
my life through their friendship and love. I realized that I needed to
bend the runes a bit, so that Fire, Lightning, and gather all touched
at the bottom, and Wood connected to all three.
Wood, symbolizing the growth of my body, my growth as a
person, and the growth of my relationships in this world. Wood also
represented Jamila and Vaya, while the Fire took on aspects of
Aleks and Sia, of course. What if we don’t end up together? I
thought, then realized, I can’t see a future where we stop being
friends. I could see us growing apart enough to not want to become
married, but I doubt we’ll ever end up not in each other’s lives.
With that thought, I moved and put another set of runes, Ice
and steadfast together to symbolize my desire to be a shield for the
world, and how Jon acted as a shield for me. He had been my first
friend here on Zemia, and would always be my best friend. He had
helped me and shielded me from others at the start, and he acted as
the shield for our team. I knew he would stand with me to the end,
and I knew I had to help him get stronger so he could. If Jon’s not
equal to me, he’s going to get hurt trying to stand in front of my
enemies, I thought.
Over the next ten hours, we worked, took breaks to relax our
brains, and looked over each other’s cores. Vaya blushed brightly
when she saw mine, then threw her arms around me and pulled me
into a kiss. Her core did have a representation of me on it, along
with Jamila and Aleks.
Librarian Narwan saw that, and shook his head. “Youths and
your infatuations,” he said, laughing. “Just be aware, if your
relationships don’t last, you will need to modify your cores, or
remake them to show your pain.”
“I know, Master Narwan,” I said. “But I doubt it will be
needed.”
“Well, you are released for the evening. We will work on
gathering a layer tomorrow, and see how effective you are now that
you have designed a core. The first few layers are the easiest to
change.”
“Do we not get any benefit until after finishing Foundation
Core?” Jon asked, echoing my earlier question.
“You will see benefits nearly immediately,” he answered,
“though they will be minor. Your spirit knows what you are
attempting, and your Aether will be affected. Now, go.”
“Aiden,” Vaya said, “Aleks asked me earlier to have you get
dressed for a formal evening out.” She grinned. “It is her turn for a
date, as you called it.”
I gave her a hug. “And you are sure you’re fine with this?”
“Of course; she’s smart, funny, hot, and politically powerful,”
Vaya answered.
I shook my head, then nodded. “And so are you. What are
you going to do tonight?”
“Jamila and I are going to spend an evening together,” Vaya
said.
“Cool, have fun,” I said and gave her a quick kiss.
 CHAPTER FIVE
In my room I found a set of black slacks laid on my bed. Next
to them was a bright-green long-sleeved shirt, a brown vest, and a
dark-green jacket with a tight neck and bone clasps. I could see
Inscriptions laced into all of them, though I wasn’t sure what they
were. A note sat on top of the shirt. “Aiden, please wear these
tonight.” I read the note, then shrugged. “Better than the keikogi.
That would have felt too much like a business meeting, not a date.” I
grinned. “I’m going on a date with a princess! A princess who is
amazing, kind, thoughtful, and extremely hot!”
I quickly took a shower and then got dressed. I nearly tripped
on the black shoes that were next to my bed, and laughed. “If you
were a snake, I’d’a been bit,” I said with an exaggerated accent, then
pulled on the black socks draped over the shoes. “Wow, whatever
tailor she went to did a great job… Wait a minute, how did she get
my measurements?” I looked concernedly at the shoes before
shrugging. “She’s a princess, probably just asked one of the staff
here, and superpowered vision got a good approximation. Magic
makes the world go round. Alright, let’s go. Totally not nervous at all,
no way. That’s not why I’m talking to myself instead of walking out
the door.”
I laughed, the ridiculousness of what I was saying finally
driving me to motion. I strode down the hallway, then leapt down the
stairs two at a time before stopping right in front of the door into the
lobby. I nervously smoothed my hair down, even though it didn’t
need it, then calmly opened the door. At least, calmly on the outside.
Aleks wasn’t waiting for me in the lobby. Lindsay was sitting
at the desk quietly gathering, but she jumped to her feet when I
stepped through the doorway. “Knight Kupiec,” she said formally, the
twinkle in her eye showing me how much she was enjoying the story
unfolding in front of her. “Princess Aleksandra has asked me to
inform you that she shall be present shortly. Please, come over and
allow me to assist you until she arrives.”
I walked over. “Thank you, Miss Lindsay,” I said, giving her a
small bow.
She grinned, then flicked an imaginary piece of lint off my
shoulder and tugged at my jacket to center it a bit. “You can undo the
top three buttons,” she whispered, her tone losing the excess
formality of her earlier speech. “It is more comfortable and
considered the fashion right now.”
At my nod she undid them for me. “Yup, much more
comfortable,” I said. “Do you know how long she’s going to be?”
“I signaled to her as soon as I saw you,” Lindsay whispered
conspiratorially. “She wanted to make an entrance.” I could tell the
teen was enjoying my discomfort, and very enthusiastic about Aleks
and I going out together.
The door to the stairs opened again, and Princess
Aleksandra, my Aleks, walked regally through the open doorway. My
jaw dropped as I took in the sleek, dark-green dress, matching my
jacket. It hugged her frame, showcasing her lithe body in a way that
made me gulp. Her black hair was curled, with bouncing ringlets
highlighting her heart-shaped face. She had a light dusting of
makeup that emphasized her green eyes. The best part, though, was
her smile when she saw my face, and the way her cheeks flushed.
I stepped toward her, then swept into a bow. “My lady,” I said,
mimicking the formality that Lindsay used earlier. “I am delighted to
accompany you this evening.”
Aleks giggled, and my grin grew wider at the absolute
adorableness of the sound. She reached out and put her arm in
mine, and gently guided me toward the door. “You look very
handsome,” she said.
“You are absolutely stunning,” I responded.
“I could tell,” she said, then giggled again. “Thank you.”
Lindsay had rushed over to the door, and held it open for us.
I could see she had a silly grin on her face, and then she gave me a
wink. “Your carriage awaits,” Lindsay told us.
 “Thank you, Lindsay,” Aleks told her. She reached out with
her right hand and patted Lindsay’s shoulder. “I owe you a favor for
this.”
“All part of my job,” Lindsay said, losing the formal veneer to
her speech.
“Still,” Aleks said.
Lindsay just waved us goodbye, and we exited the building to
find a fancy carriage of a dark mahogany wood with silver and green
trimming and the Craesti symbol embossed on the door. A middle-
aged man with salt-and-pepper hair opened the door as we
approached. I could feel that he was in the middle of Foundation
Core. An Ashkhas driver held the reins, and my newly expanded
Aether sense pegged her at the same level of power.
I helped Aleks step up into the carriage, then joined her. The
inside was fairly tight, so we ended up sitting with our legs touching.
Aleks just pushed into me a bit more, leaning against my shoulder
and sighing. When the door shut, the outside noise vanished, and
the carriage started to move forward.
“Wow, the Inscriptions on this are amazing,” I said, not feeling
any bumps or hearing the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves.
“Yes they are,” Aleks said.
“I wonder if there’s anything in the Legacy like it? I haven’t
had a chance to look through most of it,” I told her, then shifted my
arm slightly to put it around her shoulders. “So, where are we
going?”
“Ash-khana Ifsanos, the Chef of the Sea,” she said. “They
make an amazing dish called poke which I have never gotten
anywhere else. I have only been there twice, but I remember every
bit of each meal. They create the dish right in front of you, making a
big production of it each time. Dad took me there three years ago on
a diplomatic trip, and the chef threw a piece of fish into his mouth
from halfway across the room.”
She’d leaned forward slightly and turned to look me in the
eye. Her face lit up as she described the meal and how she’d really
enjoyed the trip because she got to spend more time with her dad
during it than she had over the entire year before. “It is hard
sometimes,” she said softly, “having my dad so busy. We only see
each other for dinner most days, and often Mom or Dad miss that
meal as well. Twice Mom went into closed-door gathering and did
not come out for six months.”
“That’s gotta be hard on a little Aleks,” I said.
“It was,” she admitted, “but I still grew up in a palace. My life
is infinitely easier than other people’s…”
“It is okay to be sad about your problems,” I told her, pulling
her in close again. “Just because others might have worse ones,
does not make your own invalid. I know you want to help everyone,
and you will be able to, but making sure that you are taken care of as
well is important. If you cannot support yourself, you will be unable to
support anyone else.”
She was silent for a beat, then said, “That is a good point.
Something you had to learn yourself?”
“Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “I got in a lot of trouble my first
year at the Air Force Academy back on Earth because I was
spending all of my time helping my classmates out, and didn’t take
care of my own stuff. My sergeant took me aside and gave me that
advice.”
“I will try to follow it,” she said.
“Good. So, have you had a chance to see the Core runes in
the Legacy knowledge stone?”
“Not yet,” she said. She looked shy for a second, then added,
“Can we not talk about the Legacy, or the war, or anything that
Princess Aleksandra has to decide on? I, um, would really like to just
be Aleks tonight.”
“As you wish,” I said with a grin.
“Vaya told me about that story,” she said. “Though she only
gave me a quick summary.”
“I will have to tell everyone about Westley and Buttercup on
the trip back,” I said. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Uh, green,” she said. “Even though Wood is my worst
Affinity, I have always liked green.”
“Well, your eyes are green, and really give me a better
appreciation for the color,” I said.
 She blushed prettily, then laughed. “Well, my mom’s eyes are
green too, so that is where I started liking it from. Mom was always
able to give me more time, and would often spend an hour reading
books to me when I was little. At first they were stories of princesses
finding friends and solving mysteries, but as I became older she
would read to me romances where the princess would be married for
political reasons, and then fall in love after the marriage. She wanted
me to be ready for when my time came. Thankfully, that should not
happen now.” She gripped my arm tighter.
“I hope not, at least,” I said.
“You know Dad is going to want to make us officially
betrothed as soon as we get back, right?” Aleks asked, going tense
against my arm and looking away.
I smiled at her. “Yes, I’m fairly certain of that too. So we
should spend the time now to get to know each other, you know, just
in case you end up disliking me by the time we get back.”
“I would never,” she said indignantly. I laughed, and she
smacked my shoulder. “Are you sure you are okay with it? I know
Vaya, Jamila, and I had a few long conversations about your world
and multiple partners.”
“It is sooner than I would have preferred,” I said. “But that’s
because on Earth, usually courtships would take years before
proposals and marriage.”
“How long were you and Jasmine together?”
“We dated for a bit over two years before I asked her to
marry me,” I told her, “and we still had another four months before
the wedding.”
“Well, even if we are betrothed immediately, we still will not
actually marry for at least a year,” Aleks told me.
“Okay,” I said, and she shook her head at the relief in my
voice. “Gives you a chance to really get to know me, and not have
an idealized version of me in your head. Same for me to get to know
you.”
“True, but ending a betrothal is difficult, and generally looked
down upon,” she said.
 “Well, then we’ll just have to resolve to be worthy of each
other’s love and trust,” I said.
“We will be.” She smiled happily at me, and then the
coachman knocked on the door.
“Princess Aleksandra, Knight Aiden, we have arrived,” he
said, his voice the only sound from outside we’d been able to hear
the entire time.
“Thank you,” I said, then the door opened. I exited in front of
Aleks, and held her hand as she stepped down. I knew she didn’t
need any help, as she was physically stronger than anyone on Earth
could ever possibly become, but it made her happy.
The restaurant towered over its neighbors, half of which
looked like warehouses. I could hear the waves in the harbor, but it
wasn’t visible. Two guards stood on either side of the door, wearing
silvery chain mail and wielding tridents. One of the guards held the
door open, revealing a boisterous crowd. The maître d' was waiting
for us, most likely signaled by the coachmen and door guards.
“Princess Aleksandra, Munqiz Aiden, you honor us with your
patronage,” she said, her mane, something only about a third of the
Ashkhas peoples had, flopping over her head before she flung it
back like a girl in a conditioner commercial. “Please, follow me. You
will of course have our best dining room.”
She turned and moved to the right through the doorway,
revealing a set of stairs. The walls were tastefully decorated with
paintings of the sea, ships sailing on the harbor, and one that
depicted the Kraken swallowing a boat whole. That one caused me
to stop, as I tried to calculate how big the Primordial was, but my
brain was breaking at the number. Its beak is the same size as the
boat, I thought, stunned. So roughly fifty meters long. Its beak! That
tentacle is ten, twenty times longer! A kilometer-long tentacle at
least! What, how!? Every time I learn more about the Primordials, I
end up with more questions than answers.
I felt a tug on my arm, and looked over at Aleks. She
gestured up the stairs where the maître d' was calmly waiting. “Your
reaction is not uncommon,” the maître d' said. “The Kraken is truly
awe-inspiring. Thankfully, it has been a long time since a ship has
been taken by him.”
“Him?” I asked, following Aleks up the stairs.
“Yes, we have an agreement with him. Every year, we
provide one hundred Beasts from the island, and he avoids the ships
marked with our Inscriptions. He allows it because it lets him taste
Beasts he would have no access to, and attacking the ships takes up
too much of his energy,” she said grimly.
“How do you know this?” Aleks asked, intrigued.
“I used to be the logistics officer on a merchant ship,” she
said, “but I wanted to raise a family, and Chef Tamin prefers to hire
those who have left the sea.”
“Do you ever miss it?” Aleks asked.
“Many days, but my tule is worth it,” she sighed happily. Aleks
grinned at her, then hugged my arm happily. We went up three more
floors to the end of the stairway. An ornately decorated hallway
greeted us once we turned right off of the stairs. Every door out of
the hallway was to my left. Three doors passed before the hostess
opened it, and inside we found what looked like a hibachi grill with a
table set halfway out on a balcony. The view in front of us looked out
over the harbor. We were high enough that the warehouse directly
behind the restaurant didn’t impede our vision at all. Dozens of boats
and ships dotted the waterscape, visible only by the lanterns and
Inscripted lights on them due to the nearly moonless night.
We were led to the table on the balcony, and I stepped to the
seat on the right and pulled it out. Aleks let out a little “oh” and sat. I
carefully pushed her in, then went around the table and sat as well.
She reached out and caught my hand, and we ended up holding
hands across the table.
The maître d' gave us a big grin, always slightly disconcerting
on a feline face, then placed a menu in front of us. It was a small
rectangle of engraved metal, written in Craesti, with a dozen different
meals available. “Up to you,” I told Aleks.
“Uh, we want poke, poi, lau lau, and then haupia for dessert,”
Aleks said confidently.
 “I will inform Chef Ramin, who shall be up shortly,” the maître
d' said, then bowed and left.
“I’ve never had any of these dishes,” I told Aleks.
“Well, I told you about poke,” she answered. “Poi is a dipping
sauce that I reallllly like. They serve it with these flat pieces of soft
bread. Lau lau is a leaf wrapped around veggies and Jungle Boar
meat braised with some type of red sauce. Haupia are these white
squares that are just the right amount of sweetness to finish off a
meal. Those will not be cooked in front of us.”
“I didn't realize you were so into food,” I told her.
Aleks blushed. “Um, is that okay?”
“Of course,” I told her. “That just means I’ll have to find some
good places to take you in Azyl City.”
“I really want to go to Jamila’s parents’ bakery,” Aleks said.
“Your visit will probably triple their business from then on.” I
laughed, then shook my head. “Make sure to talk to her first, and her
parents. It would be bad for them to not be able to handle the surge
of business.”
Aleks nodded. We talked about food, about her life growing
up, and mine. The chef was amazing, deftly cooking a dozen
different dishes at once all while flipping knives and food items from
one location to another. Aleks clapped and cheered when the chef
flipped me a piece of One-Fin Tuna and I caught it in my mouth.
After finishing the cooking, Chef Tamin grinned his big, toothy
smile, and gave us both a bow. “Enjoy your evening, young loves” he
said, then left.
I lifted Aleks’s hand, which hadn’t left mine once over the last
half hour, and kissed it. “Thank you for this evening,” I told her.
“It is not over yet,” she said, “and I feel I should thank you.”
She stood, then walked over next to me and pulled me into a kiss. “I
feel like I am in a story, living my own happy ending. I never thought I
would be with someone I loved.”
I laughed and squeezed her hand. “I’m the one with a
princess, living a fairy tale.”
She giggled, then sat back down to eat.
 CHAPTER SIX
Librarian Narwan took my team aside after breakfast, after
getting Aleks’s and Ming’s teams to head to the courtyard. “I want
you four to go to the Jungle Arena, and try the middle difficulty
again,” he told us. “Once you are done, Knight Kaminski will spend
some time with you discussing new techniques and how to adapt
your current ones. I want you to understand how much you have
grown and truly feel the difference between a Condensation- and a
Core-level gatherer. Your strength and capability, I believe, has
tempered your view on the differences, but you need to truly know.
The Sayaad Guild is aware that you are coming. Go.”
“Yes, Master Narwan,” we all intoned, bowing, and when we
straightened he was gone.
“I hope he’s helping the rest of them advance quickly,” I said.
“I really don’t like being a full tier above our friends.”
“You know that everyone back at Azyl is probably going to be
only at Circulation, right?” Jon asked.
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” I told him. “I’m going to have to make
so many gathering powders and pills. So will you.”
“Hey, I am focused on my explosives and technique
enhancers,” Jon said.
“Inscriptions do not really help people advance faster,”
Bridget said, shrugging, “or I would donate some.”
“Well, they kinda can,” I said. “Use the Inscriptions to run
missions, earn credits, and use them for gathering pills. Not a
straightforward conversion of gift to advancement, but still helpful. Of
course, I’m not saying any of us should lose money, but selling them
for just above cost could be worthwhile to help our friends who
stayed behind.”
“Jamila and I have already decided we are going to spend
more time in the infirmary,” Vaya said. “Though we will not be able to
really change the costs.”
After a quick stop at our favorite alchemist to restock our
powders and pills, we jogged the entire distance to the Sayaad Guild
transport facility. I stared in trepidation at the teleportation pad before
hesitantly stepping on it. The swirl of Aether around me and the
disorientation of the rapid movement, left me gagging and valiantly
holding my gut to stop myself from leaving a mess on the receiving
surface. “Ugh,” I said, then spat to the side of the trail. “I really hope
this gets better eventually.”
“Well, we do not have anything like this in Craesti,” Vaya
offered. “So this will be one of the last times you actually have to use
this.”
“What is worse,” Jon asked, “feeling like chum for a few
minutes, or taking two days to get to the Great Western Forest?”
I cocked my head in thought for a second. “Oh fine, yeah,
this sucks but it’d suck more to have to hike here instead,” I
grumbled.
“Come on,” Bridget said, pulling Jon down the trail, “I want to
see what the third level looks like.”
“We should be able to make it to the fifth,” I said. “I mean, we
probably could have made it through the third round last time.”
“Not without an injury that would have taken too long to heal,”
Vaya said. “We have a long trip home, but I still do not want any of
you to take unnecessary risks. Okay?”
“Yes, dear,” I said, pulling her into a side hug. Her grumbles
were barely audible, and I tuned them out. At least, I did until she
tickled me, and I jerked sideways while laughing.
We reached the Sayaad Guild’s stand, and a different
Ashkhas was meditating behind it. The haze of Aether in the air was
noticeably thicker. I said so out loud. “Huh,” Jon said, “do you think
Bruno is causing it?”
“Probably,” I said with a shrug.
The Ashkhas stood and stretched before looking at us. She
huffed, then said, “Yes, the Dungeon is causing the Aether in the
region to increase in density. This is causing the Beasts nearby to
advance faster than normal, and seems to be increasing their birth
rate as well. Names?”
I gave her our names, and she nodded. “You are scheduled
to enter the medium difficulty. The team currently inside should be
out soon, so you may wait here. As you are all Seed Core, your
rewards will be very little for completing the medium, and I would
recommend the hard, though you will struggle with going beyond the
first round.”
“Okay,” I said. “Master Narwan wants us to run the medium
difficulty to see what the difference is between what we were able to
do at Threshold Condensation and now at Seed Core.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “You are Munqiz Aiden! I did not
recognize your name, I am so sorry!” She fell into a deep bow, which
looked awkward with their slightly different skeletal structure.
“It’s okay,” I said.
The doorway behind us surged for a second, and then four
Volk stumbled out of it. All of them were injured, cuts from the Ants’
wings and mandibles evident across them. The Ashkhas minder
leapt over to them, and a stream of green and brown Aether covered
the Volk. Their injuries stopped bleeding, but that was the extent of
their healing. “You can go into the Dungeon,” the Ashkhas told us, “I
will take them to the healer.”
“Thank you,” Vaya said. We echoed her, then stepped into
the Dungeon.
“Aiden! Vaya, Jon, Bridget! Yay, you’re back,” Bruno yelled
around us. “And wow, you guys got swole!”
“Uh, swole?” Bridget asked, confused.
“It means strong, usually in reference to large muscles,” I
said.
“You know you’re way too strong for the medium difficulty,
right?” Bruno asked.
“Yeah, just wanted to see how strong we got,” I said.
“Ooh, ooh, ooh, do you want to do a challenge mode? I
haven’t gotten to do a challenge mode,” Bruno said.
“Uh, that depends, what’s a challenge mode?” I asked.
 “You fight by yourself, and get much better rewards. Your
friends can wait nearby, and jump in to save you, but you lose all of
your rewards,” Bruno said.
I looked over at the others, having learned my lesson about
jumping into things without talking it over first. Jon gave me a
thumbs-up, while Vaya looked nervous. “It should be fine,” she said.
“We will be ready.” Bridget nodded.
I turned back toward the center of the clearing and answered,
“Sure, though we do need to talk about your difficulty levels
afterwards too, okay?”
“Yay!” he shouted, his voice echoing over the interior of the
tree-lined circle. A glowing yellow line formed near the entrance. “No
creatures will cross that line. If Vaya, Bridget, or Jon cross it,
challenge mode ends. Once you move to the green circle”—it formed
in the very center of the arena—“the Dungeon Beasts will be
summoned. They’ll be the same types as your last attempt at
conquering the Jungle Arena to start with. Good luck, and use lots of
Mana!”
“It’s called Aether!” I said with a grin.
His laughter rang through the area.
I jogged over to the center. Before stepping in, I pushed the
Aether in me into the General Strengthening Technique with a focus
on Water and Ice Aether to increase my dexterity, toughness, and
strength. The second I entered into the green circle, sixteen Soldier
Ants plowed out of the ground and rushed me. They gave off the
aura of a level four Beast each. I turned to the nearest and punched,
sending a quick Aether Blast into its head.
The Beast exploded, with tiny bits of its innards reaching all
the way to the tree wall. “Wow!” I exclaimed, then stepped sideways
to dodge a bite. I kicked the Beast, and my foot sent it flying, broken,
into another. An Aether Slash took out three more, then I ran forward
to intercept another two. I quickly broke them, and then finished off
the last nine with the Four Twin Lightning Blasts technique. Each
Aether Blast of my weakest attack, usually used to disorient or
distract, killed an Ant.
 I stared at the holes blown in the last Soldier Ant, each the
size of a baseball, and shook my head. “Wow,” I repeated.
“Whoa, dude, that was awesome! One minute until the next
round,” Bruno said.
I checked my center, and shrugged. “I used less Aether there
than my natural regeneration, so I’m ready whenever.”
“Okay, then let’s GOOOO!” Bruno said, excited, and twenty-
four Beasts of a slightly higher gathering level leapt out of the
ground.
Aether flowed down my arms and into my weapons, thicker
and denser than before. This time I paid attention and felt the
difference. My trisula drank up the Aether, easily able to handle the
increased weight behind it, and the two Aether Slashes I sent to
each side crashed into and then through the Sword Bites the Beasts
tried to attack me with. Behind my attack, I blasted forward. In less
than thirty seconds, I demolished the second wave.
My Aether Shield, the thin layer of Aether that had become
second nature to hold at all times, deflected every attack they sent
out that I didn’t dodge. It drained my Aether storage a bit, but
previously they would have broken the Shield. Even breaking, the
Shield would keep the foreign Aether from rampaging through my
body, like when I accidentally pushed Aether into Nicolai.
“One minute until the next round,” Bruno announced when
the last Ant’s twitching stopped.
Every Beast dissolved into the unattributed Cores, then all
but four vanished. “Hey!” I shouted.
“You’ll get them back if you succeed,” Bruno told me.
“Otherwise, this is all you’ll get.”
“Got it,” I said. “I am kinda too strong for this.”
“Yup!” Bruno said.
“You know, the jump to the second round was too high when
we ran this before,” I said. “The Beasts should have been high level
fours not level fives.”
“Oh, why is that? And round start,” Bruno asked.
I barely paid attention to the Ants this time, stepping through
a quick circle before flinging my hands out and generating fifty
Lightning runes around me. A blast of electricity exploded out of me
as my Aether dumped into the runes. In ten seconds, I’d cooked
them all, though I’d used more than five times as much Aether as the
previous rounds. “Usually in games where you’re fighting various
monsters or enemies, the first time you meet newer ones they’re a
bit weaker, so you can adapt to them. You can leave the end result
the same, making each round’s jump a bit bigger, but the first round
of the second wave is probably the most dangerous, right?”
“Huh, makes sense,” he answered. “I’ll try to change it, but
I’m not sure I’ll be able to until I level up again. I’ll get five different
difficulties then! Oh, one minute.”
“Ugh, I need to make that attack more efficient,” I grumbled. I
took a deep breath. “Not in a rush, use less Aether even if it takes
more time.”
“Go Aiden!” Jon cheered from the side. “Yay! Kill those Ants!”
I waved at my friends, and Vaya grinned back. Her sword
was in the ground, and my Aether vision showed hundreds of
tendrils of Wood Aether, and a deeper-green-colored one as well,
almost writhing under the ground right at the demarcation line for my
trial.
Ants surged out of the ground and dropped off the treetops,
Bruno having refined his presentation for them arriving. The flying
Ants proved to be weaker than the walking ones, as I was able to
send an Aether Blast through three of them at once when they lined
up for an attack on me. The fourth round ended quickly, and so did
the fifth. When the last Ant twitched its last, Bruno announced, “Five
minutes until the second wave. You may stop if you wish.”
“No thanks,” I said, scooping up a Core. “Can I give the
Cores to my friends?”
“Sure,” Bruno said. “You can cross the line freely during the
breaks. They can’t, though.”
“Thanks,” I told him while jogging over to the others. “Hold
these?”
“I can do that,” Jon said, opening up his bag.
I dumped eighteen of the Cores into it, keeping two in my
hand, and then pulled the Aether out of them into my meridians. A
rush of neutral Aether flowed into me, then broke into a perfect mix
of my Affinities. I went from slightly down on Aether—Light, I can
hold so much now—to being slightly above my normal capacity. My
center felt tight, but I drained it quickly into thickening my Aether
shield.
“One minute,” Bruno said.
I gave Vaya a quick kiss on the cheek.
“I am ready to save you if necessary,” she said.
“I know,” I told her. “I love you.”
She grinned happily. “And I love you. Now go, and continue
to impress us.”
I jogged out to the center again and charged up a Wrath of
the Lightning Herald. It took me a third of the time it had previously,
and I ended up having to hold the technique partially finished to wait
for the Bears.
Eight Bears roared into the Arena, and I threw my technique
at the one directly in front of me. I drilled a hole straight through the
Beast the size of a beach ball, and it collapsed into two pieces. And
just like that, there were seven Bears in the Arena. “Whoa!” I
exclaimed, then quickly formed another Wrath as the Bears charged.
I used only half as much Aether this time, making the runes smaller
and more clustered toward my front, but it still obliterated the Beast.
I was able to kill a third before they got close enough for their
attacks. A series of Earth Aether Slashes came off their claws, and I
dodged most of them. I noticed yet again that everything they did
seemed slower, but there were still enough attacks flying at me that I
had to block one. Aether lined the edges of my trisula, and I charged
through one set of attacks with my blades crossed in front of me.
The Bear’s attack shattered on my defense, and then I
stepped into it, punching forward with an Aether Blast formed on the
rear stud. I hit it, and the Fire Blast I’d charged blew through the
Beast, throwing the five-hundred-kilogram Bear ten meters back in a
heap of destroyed flesh.
A paw flashed at me from another Bear, and Earth and Metal
Aether surged through my body as I formed the first and second
layers of the Granite Skin, Iron Bones Technique in the split second
before it hit me. My feet set, and the Beast could not move me. I cut
its paw off, then flipped a trisula around and stabbed it through the
brain. A few seconds later, I’d killed the last of them.
“Well, that was impressive!” Jon shouted, and Bridget
clapped.
“One minute,” Bruno said.
“Am I getting a shorter break due to the challenge mode?” I
asked.
“Yeah,” Bruno said. “Though it’ll increase when you get to
wave three.”
“Awesome,” I told him, then grabbed the two Cores that had
stayed. I checked my Aether reserves, but I was still in the upper
ninety percent range, so I just dropped them into the bag on my hip.
The next three rounds went nearly the same. The Beasts,
strong and tough as they were, were unable to take any serious
attacks from me. The Four Twin Lightning Blasts Technique killed
one, though it took sixteen shots from it, and Aether Blasts usually
worked with a single hit. The only exception was an Earth Aether
Blast, which was their strongest Affinity. The last set of Bears, near
the top of level five, took two hits from my Earth Aether Blast before
they stayed down.
“One minute,” Bruno announced.
“This is the level six one,” I stated, then started to build a
Pride of the Plasma Herald, runes flashing into existence around me.
Again, I finished way too soon. When the Beast formed, I was glad,
as my brain felt tight from holding the runes steady. The Bear roared
at me, and a bar of Plasma the size of my body swept through it.
The Beast wasn’t dead yet, but it was a close thing. I sprinted
forward, watching as its fur and skin started to heal, and leapt onto it
before its eyes and ears finished fixing themselves. I stabbed
downward, and blew it apart. All told, it took me five seconds to kill a
Bear that had taken everything my team had been able to send,
including our Bonds (though Sia had been limited) in the mix. I just
stared down at the Beast, then it shimmered and the Core stayed.
“Well, Light,” I whispered. “What next?”
 Adrakhsh Foxes were next, sixteen midlevel five Beasts that
shot bolts of Lightning and Fire at me. The Lightning tickled. They
were faster than I was, just barely, but blades of Air Aether slashed
across the field took them down, though I ended up using about ten
percent of my Aether reserves to do so. Of course, I was able to
suck down two of the four Cores left and fill myself back up.
I honestly can’t believe how strong I am compared to just a
month ago, I thought while ducking under a burst of Flame from one
Fox while grabbing another’s Lightning technique and redirecting it
into a third Beast. Their Affinities with their main Aether were weaker
than mine, and my higher gathering level let me just take their Aether
away from them once it was close enough to me.
The third round was where it started to get tricky, as there
were twenty-four of the Beasts at a peak level five, nearly level six in
strength. The Lightning attacks were still too weak to do anything,
but their claws were enough to damage my armor. I quickly got
scratched up, but each time they hurt me I killed one, a cut for a
backhand or stab.
The fourth round repeated the third, but with thirty-two Beasts
instead. Each gash took Aether to heal, each attack Aether to send,
and just keeping up with the speed-focused Foxes took Aether in the
General Strengthening Technique. I started to use the Voltage
Differential Nerve Infusion Technique as well, the attraction locations
deflecting the Lightning attacks and making the Foxes tumble when
they tried to speed up. Two ended up literally rolling across the
ground toward an attraction location when I amped up the Aether
usage.
The fifth round left me bloody and chugging down a healing
powder. “You have ten minutes until the next wave, if you wish to
continue,” Bruno said.
“Do you think I’ll make it?” I asked.
“Yes, even with me pushing the difficulty as high as I can for
it,” Bruno said. “Your strength and previous runs force me to.”
“Has anyone in Condensation beaten the medium difficulty?”
“A full team of five Ashkhas at Complete Condensation with
three Bonds did, though it took them a large amount of resources,”
Bruno said.
“I really can’t wait for you to have more difficulty settings,” I
told him. “That seems excessive for a medium difficulty.”
“Me too, my friend,” Bruno said with a sigh. “Me too.”
 CHAPTER SEVEN
The fourth level was, in many ways, easier than the third. The
Beasts, Mountainside Boars, were just higher level versions of the
Earthen Boar. Even at peak level five, I was able to outmaneuver the
dumb creatures. Twice I took the final one out by letting it charge into
a tree on the border of the Arena. I did end up injured, misjudging a
dodge on the third round and getting my left leg broken, but a quick
splint of Aether and a healing pill gave me enough maneuverability
to finish the wave.
Right after the last Boar bled out on the ground, I stumbled
back to my friends. “Can I have Vaya heal me and still continue the
challenge?” I asked Bruno.
“Hmmmm.” His deliberation hum echoed throughout the area.
“Yeah! It counts the same as using a pill did, so a minor downtick in
your rewards, but nothing major. But only now, between waves, not
during a wave or in between rounds. Sorry. ”
“Oh, thank Darkness,” I said, and hobbled over to her.
“Aiden, your tibia is cracked in three places,” she scolded. I
felt the surge of Aether from her; Wood, Water, and Earth supporting
and healing.
“That feels better,” I said.
“Are you going to continue? I believe we have gotten a good
feeling for the difference in your strength now,” she asked. “Is it
worth it to try and continue?”
“This is good training too,” I said. “I’ve gotten significantly
faster at creating runes, and I have the third layer of the Granite
Skin, Iron Bones Technique down pat now.”
“We will be watching anyway,” Jon said. “Bridget and I can
get to him in a second anywhere in the Dungeon, and your
techniques will intervene even faster. Come on, let’s see what the
last level is like!”
 “I do not like it,” Vaya said, “but you are right. We need the
training, and it is safer here than elsewhere. Go. You will win.”
“Of course I will,” I said. Jon and Bridget laughed, while Vaya
just gave me a look. “Sorry, I’ll be careful.”
She leaned in and kissed me. I stroked her hair, then hopped
back to my feet and jogged out to the center. I used two Cores to
refill myself, amazed at the usefulness of the Dungeon’s rewards.
“Light, I hope we can find a Dungeon that’s reasonable like you in
Craesti,” I told Bruno.
“I’m gonna be sad when you all leave,” Bruno said. “And I am
really thankful you found me. So, survive here, please.”
“You got it,” I shouted, then a single Beast snorted and
stepped into the clearing. It was a Rhinoceros of some type, and a
bit over initial level six in strength. It charged, quickly rushing toward
me. It was slower than the Foxes but faster than the Boars, and I
didn’t quite have enough time to finish a Pride of the Plasma Herald,
so I just sent two Lightning Aether Blasts into it. Flakes of brown
cracked off its skin, but its charge didn’t falter in the slightest.
I leapt into the Air, my Dancing Northern Wind Technique
letting me run forward over its head. Two steps into the run, I was
thankful for the Tower of Trials teaching me to place platforms at
various places to push off of, as I had to shove myself sideways to
dodge a shotgun blast of Metal spikes. I rolled in midair, shoved off
another Air platform, and formed the Forceful Punch runes along my
right arm. I slammed into the side of the Rhino as it tried to turn and
follow me, and the Punch blasted a hole through it.
It didn’t go down. Instead, its body flowed back together like
mud. Earth crush it. I've heard of Beasts like this, I thought, I’ll have
to drain it of Aether to make it drop. The Beast bucked sideways,
smashing me away from it. I flipped over and dove to the side to
avoid a wave of Mud that engulfed the area behind me. Two Ice
Spikes shot out of my trisula and stabbed into the Beast. It bellowed
in pain.
A glance over at the others showed Jon was screaming
something at me, but the rules of the challenge prevented me from
hearing it. Considering I’d heard them cheering earlier, I knew he
was telling me how to beat the Beast. Ice freeze it, I cursed, then
paused. Of course, freeze the mud then shatter it. That’s what Jon’s
trying to say! I looked back at the Mud Rhino to see a skewer of
Earth Aether heading for me, only a meter away. A quick twist had it
rip through my side instead of my heart, cutting through my armor
and a centimeter of my skin.
I gasped in pain, then leapt at the Beast, pissed off. Ice
Aether flowed into my trisula, and I ducked under its thrashing horn
and hamstrung it. The Rhino fell, but its wounds started healing,
though a bit slower than before. I stabbed both of my weapons into
its chest before it could fully recover, and blasted a chunk of Aether
through its heart. Ice filled it, and a line through its body froze and
shattered, cutting the Beast in half.
It shimmered and vanished, leaving a different color of Core.
“Huh, what’s this?” I asked myself, bending over and picking up the
fist-sized object. I saw the same mud-brown Aether as the Rhino
swirling inside the crystal. “Mud Aether? No, it's not the same,
there’s still the swirls of unaspected Aether too.”
“It’s a Core of Mud and Neutral Mana,” Bruno said. “And it’ll
help you figure out how to make Mud Mana easier, I think. Still kinda
figuring out this whole Dungeon thing, ya know?”
“Thanks, Bruno,” I said with a laugh.
“My pleasure,” he responded, and giggled. “You have five
minutes. I can warn you, though, that the Beasts will all be different
this time, and they will all have a second-tier Mana type.”
“Oh, neat,” I said with a grimace. I jogged over to where I’d
dropped my bag, and dug out a gathering powder and a healing
powder. I chugged the gathering powder, then spread the healing
powder along the gash in my side, not even wincing at the pain.
Light, my pain tolerance is insane, I thought. I guess that’s what
happens when you get hit by a Tribulation and work on tempering
your body over and over again.
With the powder’s effects surging into me, I walked back to
the center of the arena and started to channel my Aether into a Pride
of the Plasma Herald, copying how I’d used it against the giant
Crocodile that was munching on Aleks. I pushed myself into the
same headspace, reaching a level of clarity where my only focus
was that my opponent must die, but I held back from dumping all of
my Aether out again. I only used around fifteen percent of what was
stored in my center, a value that was nearly equal to what I’d used to
destroy the Crocodile. So much, I thought, no wonder it takes so
much longer to advance through Core than Condensation.
An Ostrich squawked as it landed in front of me, swirls of an
off-white Aether flowing around it. I blasted the Beast, and the Wind
Aether, a focused form of Air, tried to deflect the beam, but it wasn’t
enough. The deflection did prevent its instant death, but the changed
angle let my attack cut off one of its legs. It bugled in pain, then the
Wind Aether shield shattered toward me, the edges of the Aether
sharper and faster than I expected. I got my arms in front of my face,
my trisula covering my forearms, but the pieces that hit my legs cut
to the bone.
What’s the point of all my tempering if I still get injured so
badly! I growled to myself, but I felt the wounds closing. Yeah, yeah,
healing faster, stronger, still tougher. I bet if I hadn’t tempered as
much I would have lost a leg to that attack. Level six Beasts are not
jokes, even if I am strong enough now to deal with one by myself!
I sent a stream of Wood Aether to my leg, then jumped over
a swirling whirlpool of Wind Aether that tried to finish slicing me
apart. In midair, I shot two Earthen Spikes that I put a sheath of
Metal Aether over. The Metal was abraded away by the Wind
Ostrich’s shield, but the solidness of the attack was unable to be
deflected, and the Earthen Spikes punched into the Beast and
pinned it to the ground. Four more finished it off, after I pulled a
stone wall out of the ground to block its wild flailing.
“Five minutes,” Bruno said. “And the Ostrich has a Wind Core
to let you figure it out better.”
“Awesome,” I said, “three more.” This time, I pulled one of the
four high-quality Flesh Mending Pills out of my belt and swallowed it.
I carefully controlled the Aether from it, letting half flow into my injury
but corralling the rest in my center to be used during the next fight. It
wouldn’t dissipate for over an hour, so I knew I could hold it in place.
 I decided to start out with Pride of the Plasma Herald again,
though I did assume it would just be the opening attack against
whatever Beast was up next. This time, a Frog landed, a pale-green
Aether swirling around its mouth. I attacked, and it spat a ball of Acid
Aether. The Plasma of my attack burned through the Acid, but the
Frog’s technique continued toward me. My beam hit it before I had to
dodge, but I couldn’t keep it stable while moving sideways. That’s
something I’ll need to practice, I thought with a grimace, then sent a
Fireball at the Beast.
It was croaking in pain, one of its eyes burned away and a
massive wound across its meter-wide face. The Fireball detonated,
knocking it sideways, but it recovered quickly. Another ribbit
preceded a belch of Acid into the air, and a stinging rain fell over half
the arena. “Ow, ow,” I grumbled. Each drop that hit me caused a tiny
burn and a drain on my Aether. I flipped my trisula around, then
formed a Forceful Punch with a quick addition of a rune meaning
extend. I sprinted at the Beast, then threw the Punch from about two
meters away.
It was a good thing I stopped, as a cloud of Acid swirled
around the Frog the second I did so, and the ground dissolved under
the punishment. The Punch blasted it away from its defense, and I
leapt up, over the Acid, and landed next to the Beast. I quickly
formed a dozen Metal Blades out of Aether and stabbed them into
the stunned Frog. It swelled, and I ran. Behind me, the dying Beast
exploded into a fountain of Acid, and only my quick rabbit impression
kept me from being engulfed in it. It wouldn’t have killed me, but the
injury would have made me easy prey for the next challenge.
“Whew,” I sighed, then walked into the area where the Acid
had vanished and picked up the Acid and Neutral Core. I noticed
then that the sleeve of my blue training shirt was scorched through
and cut apart. “Air blow it, I need to get stronger clothing. I guess this
is why there are specialty stores catering to those at the Core level
and above.”
I meditated for a minute, setting up a single spiral in my
gathering technique and letting it fill my Aether stores a tiny bit more,
before Bruno gave me a one-minute warning. I quickly stepped
through the motions of the Pride of the Plasma Herald Technique,
thinking, If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. I kept the power level down to
fifteen percent of my Aether reserves, then frowned when that
dropped me to less than half full. Only I would whine that I’m running
low on Aether after fighting through a veritable horde of Beasts, I
laughed internally.
A low mist settled over the ground, and a Mountain Mist
Gorilla formed out of it. My Plasma beam speared toward it, but a
gesture from the Beast had a chunk of stone create a wall in front of
it. The Earth Aether wall burnt away in front of my attack, but the
Beast gained itself enough time to dodge. I formed another attack,
switching to Wrath of the Lightning Herald to shave a second off the
time needed, and sent it just as the Beast cleared the left side of its
wall. I could see the swirling pale-blue color of the Mist Aether in its
body, visible through the brown Earth Aether. The Beast screeched
in agony as my Lightning hit it, then it vanished in a puff of Mist.
The Mist surged across the Arena before solidifying again
into the Gorilla, now only a meter away from me. Its arms were
easily that long—the Beast stood nearly four meters tall—and I only
just avoided its backhand. The attack moved fast enough that the air
cracked at its arm’s passage. I ducked underneath the blow, but a
wave of Mist followed behind it, knocking me backward.
I rolled with the motion, coming to my feet just in time to see
the Beast springing upon me. I joined Earth and Metal Aether to form
Strength Aether, and I shoved it through the General Strengthening
Technique while guiding Lightning and Fire into my trisula. The
bladed edge of my weapons caught the Beast’s fist, burning through
the Mist surrounding it, and I held my stance.
The Gorilla screamed as its hand was cut in half, and I yelled
back as I felt the bones in my arm crack. Mist flowed around, as it
tried to retreat again, but I just threw more Fire at it, burning away
the Mist as it formed. As the last drops of my Fire Aether flew out of
my arms, a swirling Core of Mist and Neutral Aether plopped onto
the ground. I dropped to my knees and moaned for a second, before
forcing myself to my feet. I pulled out one of the earlier Cores of just
Neutral Aether, and pulled it into my meridians. Compared to the
emptiness in my center, though, it was like a light sprinkle on a
parched field.
I groaned, and quickly moved to my backpack, where I pulled
out a Fire, Lightning, and Metal refill pill I’d gotten from the Alchemist
in the city, and a Bone-knitting Pill, a specialized version of the Flesh
Mending Pill I took earlier. My Aether reserves surged, but I was off
balance enough that I pulled out an Earth and Wood Refill Powder
and chugged it down as well. “Light, this is getting expensive,” I said,
then looked at my bag. “Except I’m sure these combined-Element
Cores will be worth a bunch. If we want to sell them; learning a bit
more about how to use and create these would be helpful.”
“One minute,” Bruno said helpfully. “Last round. Good luck.”
“I won’t need it,” I said cockily, deliberately not looking toward
the others. My arms were still sore—the pill needed more time to
work before they would be fully healed, but I pressed on. I should’ve
gotten one of Jon’s explosive potions, I thought. Light, I should’ve
taken everyone’s powders and pills, and some of Bridget’s
Inscriptions too. Too arrogant, and I didn’t take the time to think. At
least Vaya will be able to finish healing me up afterwards, cause I’m
definitely feeling all the injuries I’ve taken throughout this last wave.
Each of the Beasts I’d fought in this round were just barely
level six, strong but not exceptionally so, but this was the last one. I
was worried, but decided to just go big on the first attack. Pride of
the Plasma Herald, my favorite and strongest attack, formed around
me, only this time I used the extra range I’d gotten by advancing to
Seed Core. I created two layers of the runes, doubling up on the
effectiveness of the area technique, and pumped half of my Aether
into it, causing some of the runes to vibrate in the air because they
were so overcharged.
A Porcupine that glowed a silvery white appeared in front of
me, only to be obliterated by my attack. The Plasma was drawn into
the Sharpness Aether, a mixture of Metal and Fire that was mostly
Metal, and the Beast was shocked into a stupor. I followed up with a
dozen Lightning Blasts that were attracted to its spines, and it died
without acting. The stress filling me loosened up, and I dropped to
my butt laughing.
Vaya reached me in seconds as the yellow line turned green.
Bruno saying they were free to enter did not really process in my
brain. Vaya knelt down in front of me and said, “This is going to hurt,
but I’ve got to get it out.”
“What?” I asked, then looked down. Two of the porcupine’s
quills were sticking out of me. A glance behind showed that they
were sticking through me, actually, and I realized I didn’t collapse
due to relief, but because my spine had been cut. “Oww.”
Vaya grabbed the one not in my spine, and pulled it through
after cutting the end off. A Flesh Mending Pill was shoved in my
mouth as her Aether surged into me, and then she yanked the other
one out. It hurt a lot. Jon and Bridget lifted me by my arms and legs
respectfully.
“Don’t forget the reward,” Bruno said, as a chest formed in
the center.
“I will grab it,” Vaya said. “Just get him to the healer outside.”
They hustled me out, and the administrator exclaimed, “How
did you get so injured in the medium difficulty?” while sprinting to me.
Another wave of cooling Aether soothed the pain in my gut while Jon
and Bridget kept running toward the healer’s hut.
The healer, a Perfect Core-level Ashkhas, appeared at the
entry flap, and took me from my friends. More Aether, a cream that
was spread over the injuries, and a powder that I was told to just
hold in my mouth, and then Vaya was there as well.
My head was swimming, so I missed the discussions, but
Vaya and the healer were both working on fixing the issues in my
stomach. The Beast’s Aether was still there, cutting away at every bit
that was healed, and only with significant effort and the last of my
personal Aether were they able to get it out.
A few minutes later, Vaya slumped against me and the
Ashkhas healer walked away tired. “Go back to your lodging and
rest,” she told us. “Do not train or do anything but eat, read, and
sleep. Got it?”
 “Yes, ma’am,” I said, then Jon helped me to my feet. I leaned
on him, and Vaya leaned on Bridget, and we staggered back to the
teleporter. “So, what did we get?”
“A dozen more advanced Element and Neutral Aether
Cores,” Vaya said, “none of them the same, and a metal ball that
we’re supposed to attach to the mapping device we got at the last
Dungeon run.”
“You know,” I said, laughing hysterically for a second, “we
totally forgot to use that in the Divine Territory.”
“Well, oops,” Jon said, and we all chuckled ruefully.
 CHAPTER EIGHT
A few hours later, I was sitting with Vaya and Jamila looking
at my right arm and left leg respectively. Jon was bragging about the
Dungeon run. “And then he went with a ‘pah’ and the Rhinoceros
split in half!” Xiao laughed good-naturedly, while the others listened
in rapt attention.
“So, if we go into a lower difficulty, we might be able to earn
significant rewards alone?” Ming asked.
“Seems like it,” I said.
Librarian Narwan appeared next to us. “I want you to get
prepared to leave. There is a merchant ship heading back to Craesti
tomorrow midmorning. Unfortunately, I will not be able to join you, as
I must go back to the King as soon as I can. Knight Kaminski will be
joining you, however, along with Miss Samantha.”
“Uh, Master Narwan, could we take the Skysurfer home? I’m
sure it’d be faster,” I asked.
“Skysurfer?” he said.
“Oh, uh, can I stand?” I asked Vaya.
“Yes,” she said, “you will be fine.”
I started to stand up, and Jamila helped me to my feet. I
summoned the two-meter-long surfboard from my ring as I faked
pulling it from my bag. Instantly it was taken from me.
Librarian Narwan was running his hands over it, a tiny
streamer of Aether flowing into the device from his fingertips. “Hmm,
yes,” he said, and it floated over our heads and expanded to its full
size of six meters wide and twelve long. Instantly, everyone else in
the dining room was looking up at it. It shrank back down and he
caught it again. “This will hold you all and let you travel much
quicker. Unfortunately, it is designed for increased weight bearing
capability and Aether efficiency, not maximum speed. My own flying
device is significantly faster, so I will not be joining you still. I will let
Captain Martin know that his services are not needed.” He paused,
then nodded sharply. “Instead of tomorrow, we will depart in three
days. Use this time wisely.” He handed me the surfboard, which was
remarkably light for something made of metal.
“Yes, sir. Uh, I have an idea I need to test,” I said, after
getting a look at the full size. “But this is something I really don’t want
anyone else to see.”
“Come.” Librarian Narwan gestured, and walked out to the
rear courtyard.
I injected a tiny bit of Aether into the Skysurfer, and it floated
half a meter off the ground. I sat down on it and sighed, my leg still
hurting. Apparently advancing to Seed Core, especially with the
Tribulation I underwent, made it much harder to heal, and I would
have to use my natural regeneration to get the rest of the way better.
Of course, I would be fully healed by tomorrow, but still, not pleasant.
Riding the surfboard down the hallway was so much cooler, anyway.
Jon held the door open, and I floated into the courtyard.
Everyone followed, missing only Aleks, as she was still in
negotiations with the Weltreich trade ambassador, and Sam, who
was in a lesson with Knight Kaminski as she had been since we
rescued her. The area around us quickly grew hazy, and the noise
from the square outside the inn vanished. “We are secure,” Librarian
Narwan said, “Not even Sultah Aleahil can sense what happens
inside my technique.”
“Cool,” I said, slowly getting off the Skysurfer. I felt Librarian
Narwan’s disapproving gaze at my statement. I bade it to lie flat on
the ground, and injected Aether to expand its size. “Neat.” I then
summoned the Portable Home from my ring, letting it appear at full
size on top of the surfboard. The Portable Home took up nearly half
of the area. Still got some room on the Skysurfer, I thought. I doubt
we’ll be able to control the Surfer from inside, so having some space
will be useful. Now, for the all-important test. I told the Skysurfer to
rise, and it did, though I needed to triple the amount of Aether I was
giving it. “Hah! It works! So, we can travel in style on the way home.”
“What is that?” Librarian Narwan asked.
“Uh, Spirit called it the Portable Home,” I said.
 “I have never felt anything of its power, besides the
Primordials,” he said. “Tell me about it.”
“It’s supposed to be a collapsible, storable home, hence the
name,” I answered. “Spirit said it had sixteen bedrooms, a kitchen,
an Alchemy lab, an Inscription lab, and a Forge. I have not been
inside yet.”
“Then you should be first,” Librarian Narwan said.
I grinned, then tugged at Jamila, who had her hand on my
arm. “Come on,” I said. I limped the six steps it took to get to the
door. With an effort of will, I dimmed my Aether Sight enough to
admire the outside of the Portable Home, rather than the brilliant
glow of its Inscriptions. Its siding was a pale wood with green
striations in it. The windows, one on either side of the door, didn’t
show anything through them. Each was a circular pane of glass with
a crimson wood trim. The trim on the door was Auric Gold, as was
the door handle. I pulled and it opened.
The main room was six meters long and wide. The left wall
had four doors, each a different color. The closest to the front was
silver, though I could tell it was still wood. The second door was the
same crimson as the window trim, while the third was the pale green
of the siding’s striations, and the door closest to the back wall was a
bright, cheery yellow.
There were three doors on the far wall, a bright red, a dark
green, and a pale blue. On the right wall were three more doors, a
dark blue, a pale purple, and one without any paint on it, the same
color as the walls. Other than the doors, the room was barren,
leaving me to furnish and decorate it.
We walked in, with Jamila pausing at the doorway to look at
the side, where it seemed to extend only a meter and a half to the
side of the door, then inside the main room. She went back and forth
a few times, then just shook her head and said, “This is amazing! Is
this what you won in the Tower of Trials?”
“Yup,” I said, “and a couple more things. Once we’re on our
way I’ll hand out presents.”
“I like presents,” she said with a playful grin. “Which door
first?”
 “You pick,” I said, as the others filed into the main room
behind us.
“Um, we should go left to right, so the silvery one,” she said,
and I nodded. We strolled over to it, and I pulled the door open. A
wave of heat rolled out of it, and I saw an Aether Forge, an anvil, a
workbench, and a large set of tools hanging on hooks on the wall.
“Can I work in here?” Xiao exclaimed, peeking over my
shoulder. “That is the strongest Aether Forge I have ever seen.”
“Sure,” I said, chuckling to myself.
“Next room,” Jamila said.
The crimson room was the Alchemy room, with a vent hood,
several mortar and pestle sets, a workbench, an Aether Bunsen
burner equivalent, and a large pill furnace. The pale-green room was
for Inscriptions, with two workbenches, empty ink pots, another
Aether Bunsen burner, and a small cauldron. The yellow room was
the kitchen, with two ovens, a preparation table, a large pantry, an
Inscribed storage box to keep perishable items cold, and a six-
burner stovetop to put a fancy house to shame.
“The left side is all of the production rooms,” I said. “So the
rest must be the bedrooms, but there were supposed to be sixteen.”
“Then let us go see,” Jamila said.
I heard a clang from the Forge, but when the door closed a
moment later all noise cut off. “Well, that’s useful,” I said.
“Yes. I can just shove him in there when he is talking too
much,” Ming said.
I looked at him askance, then laughed. “Yeah, he can be a
chatterbox.” A few steps later, I opened the bright-red door to find a
small sitting room, only three meters on each side. Each of the other
three walls had a door, and there was just enough space between
them that a nice chair fit in each corner. The chairs were the same
color as the door, plusher than anything I’d seen yet. Each door had
a number on it, one through three.
Opening door one I found a bedroom. It was fairly small, only
four meters by three and a half or so, with a simple double bed, a
dresser, and a desk with a chair in it. Next to the bed there was a
doorway that opened into a bathroom, with a toilet, a tub, and a sink.
“Well, that’s nice,” I said. “I wonder how much water is stored, or if it
uses Aether?”
“If Aether, how does the Portable Home even work?” Jamila
asked. “There are so many Aether-fueled functions that seem to be
working, but I could not sense the Home pulling in the ambient
Aether.”
“No idea,” I said. “Maybe it has special storage and we’ll have
to keep it filled up? I hope not, though, as I’m sure that will be
extremely difficult.”
The other two rooms had similar furniture in them. “Huh,” I
said, “I wonder why the main room didn’t have any furniture, but
these rooms do?”
“Maybe Spirit wanted you to be free to put your personality in
the main room, but still wanted you to be able to use the rest
immediately?” Vaya suggested from behind me as I looked into
crimson room three.
I shrugged. “That’s as good an idea as any will be. Come on,
let’s see the rest.” The next four doors mimicked the red one, with
each having the same sitting room, color matched to the door, and
bedrooms in it. The difference came when I opened the door of pale
wood with green striations into what could only be the owner’s suite.
The room was easily the size of three other bedrooms put
together. The massive bed in the center had an ornate headboard,
three large white pillows, and a pale green comforter with gold
stripes. There were two desks with chairs, one empty and the other
with a clear crystal ball set into an Auric Gold insert. The ball glowed
with Aether bright enough to make me squint. Two night stands and
a dresser completed the furniture in the room. The door into the
bathroom was open, and I could see that it was similarly huge, with a
tub big enough for four people and a fancy shower as well.
“Well, someone is going to be living fancy,” Jamila said.
“Yup, and I’ll enjoy every minute of it,” I said. “I’ll probably let
Knight Kaminski have this room, at least for the trip back.”
“Why? It is yours,” Xiao said.
“Politics,” I said. “So I’ll let Knight Kaminski have it as the
strongest of us, or Princess Aleksandra as, well, the Princess. The
other rooms are fine for me, and we have plenty.”
“Aiden, inspect the crystal ball,” Librarian Narwan said, not
acknowledging what I’d said at all.
“Yes, sir,” I said, then stepped around Xiao and Lilianna, who
were looking into the bathroom and remarking on the Inscriptions
decorating the outside. I pulled the chair out and slowly settled
myself into the seat. The cushions seemed to adapt to my body, a
tiny stream of Aether leaving me to power the function. “Ooh, that’s
nice.”
“Do not become distracted,” Librarian Narwan chided me.
“Sorry, Librarian Narwan,” I said with a grimace, then leaned
forward. Two spaces on either side of the ball seemed to be
highlighted in my vision, so I reached out and put my hands on them
both. This time, instead of Aether flowing out, Aether surged into me,
and then I knew what the orb was and how to use it. “Wow, this is
the control orb for the entire facility. I can reshape it, though the total
area and volume must remain the same. It is upgradeable, but I, uh,
don’t believe that it is reasonable to do so.”
“How much?” Jon asked.
“The first ingredient needed is the core of a level ten or
higher Primordial,” I said flatly. Choking sounds came from the
others, as by itself that was a priceless item, and it was merely the
first of ten items. “Yeah, that’s not happening for, well, probably ever.
One thing that is available is I can change the color of each bedroom
triplet. Probably won’t now, though. I can also grant access to all of
you to specific rooms, since the only reason the doors are opening
right now is my presence. That won’t work during the entire flight
home.”
“Be careful who you show this item to,” Librarian Narwan
said. “It is most likely the most valuable single thing I have ever
seen.”
“Of course, Master Narwan,” I said, standing up to bow to
him.
“Good, get some furniture for the main room and stock up the
kitchen. I will prepare a few items for your journey, then we must
speak of your task,” he said, then vanished.
 “All right, uh, let’s all pick our room, and then go shopping
afterward!”
I grabbed room number three in the dark-blue region,
ignoring the others cajoling me to take the master bedroom. Once
everyone had their rooms picked out, I gave them access to their
room, the kitchen, the workrooms, and the main door. Librarian
Narwan had left the privacy field up, so I didn’t store or shrink the
Portable Home. “Who wants to go shopping?” I asked as we stepped
out of the shrouded area.
 CHAPTER NINE
Almost everyone bowed out of furniture shopping, leaving me
with only Vaya and Jamila. Lindsay pointed us to a few different
places, though we’d need to walk pretty far to reach them. Just as
we were leaving, Aleks arrived in the carriage. “Hi, Aiden, Vaya,
Jamila,” she said, sounding tired.
“Are you okay?” I asked, stepping forward to help her down
from the carriage.
She grinned at me. “Yes, just a long day,” she said. “What are
you up to?”
“Furniture shopping,” I said.
“We have a six-meter-by-six-meter room to furnish before we
leave,” Vaya added.
“Ooh, can I come?” Aleks asked.
“Of course, Aleksandra,” Jamila said quietly. “Can we use the
carriage?”
“Herd on in,” Aleks said, taking Jamila’s arm.
The entire experience was strangely intimate. I could tell
Aleks was confused about why we were furnishing a room, but she
didn’t ask the burning question. The girls went all out in coordinating
the decorations, and purchased a few paintings and tapestries to put
on the walls. Vaya subtly got Aleks to buy a decoration for her room
as well, though only one painting of the lighthouse overlooking the
city.
After a bit of discussion, I decided to get one big u-shaped
table for us to eat at, and then a bunch of lounge pillows for the other
half of the main room. It took some finagling, and a very expensive
Core-level carpenter, but he was able to make the table come apart
and pack flat, so if we really wanted we could clear the space.
Vaya arranged the delivery, and we followed the wagon back
to the inn. “Where do you want us to unload?” the head Ashkhas
porter asked.
“Right here is fine,” I told him. “We’ll haul it into the right spot
ourselves.”
“Sure thing,” he said, then the other four carefully handed us
the pieces of the table.
Jamila had run into the inn when we first arrived, and came
back with Jon, Ming, and Lea. “The others are coming once they put
down what they were carrying,” she said.
“Thanks, Jamila,” I said, hefting the three-meter-long
centerpiece over my head. I carefully walked to the rear entrance to
the courtyard, where a servant was holding the door open. I didn’t
recognize the young man, but he gave me a big grin then bowed. I
could see a couple of servants working on something in the rear of
the courtyard, occasionally glancing at the dome-shaped privacy
field. Since I couldn’t see through it either, I held the board as high
as I could.
This was a good thing, because Knight Kaminski was
standing only a meter in front of where I entered with a face like a
thundercloud, and I would have clocked her in the side of the head if
I wasn’t careful. “Oh, sorry, Knight Kaminski,” I said hurriedly,
stepping to the left to avoid running into her.
“Good, you are here,” she said. “Master Narwan said that you
had changed our plans, but did not specify how, and only told me to
bring Miss Samantha here and wait for you.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” I said. “Uh, the metal platform on the ground
is a flying device that can hold all of us up and utilize everyone’s
Aether to keep us moving. Librarian Narwan said his is faster but
won’t hold enough people, but this will be much faster than taking a
ship.”
“That is correct.” Knight Kaminski nodded. “Though before
we leave I will have to tell you the rules of flying over the ocean.
What is that shack, and why can I not sense inside it at all?”
“Let me show you,” I said. I walked up and found Sam
leaning against the side of the Portable Home. “Hey Sam, come on.”
“Is this yours?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
 “These are by far the most intricate Inscriptions I’ve ever
seen,” she said, pointing at the wall. “I can’t even see the detail in
parts of it.”
“You can see the Inscriptions?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah, uh…” she said, blushing and suddenly shy. “My,
uh, Darkness gift is the ability to focus on an object and see its
Inscriptions.”
“Neat, mine was language translation and the ability to see
Aether,” I said. I held the table up with one hand, and opened the
door with the other. No one was exiting, so I moved in and set the
piece down.
Knight Kaminski audibly gasped when she entered behind
me. “What is this?” she asked, awe and a little fear in her voice.
“The Portable Home, one of my prizes from the Tower of
Trials,” I said, “and the pinnacle achievement of a peak Soul
Strengthening crafter. Through those doors—” I pointed to the front
and right walls “—are bedrooms. Most have been selected already,
but there are enough for everyone to have a separate room. Knight
Kaminski, the wood door there is yours.”
She went over to the door, but couldn’t open it. She stepped
aside so I could open the door, and when she saw inside asked, “Are
the others of similar size?”
“No.” I shook my head. “All are much smaller.”
“You will take this room,” she said sternly. “It is yours, this
building is yours, and you need to act like the noble you are.” I
opened my mouth, but she held up her hand. “I know you want to be
polite, but this is yours. You do not give up your own room, even if
the king visits. Now, show me the other rooms.”
“Okay,” I told her, trying hard not to sound sullen.
“This is really nice,” Sam said, looking into the room, which
dispelled my worsening mood.
“The other rooms are pretty nice too,” I said, “just a little
smaller. The rooms still left are red two, light-blue three, dark-blue
one and two, and purple one.”
“Purple,” Sam said. “It’s my favorite.”
 I stepped over and opened the purple door. “Each of the
other colors has a sitting room as well; gives you a bit more privacy if
you just want to sit and read or something.” I opened room one’s
door. “Each of the bedrooms is exactly the same, except the color of
the bedspread.”
“I will take the light-blue room then,” Knight Kaminski said.
“Then I’ll make it official,” I said, and went back into the
master bedroom to give them both access to their rooms and
everything else.
“Hey, Aiden,” Vaya said, poking her head in. “Princess
Aleksandra cannot get inside.”
“Light! I thought it’d let her in if I was inside,” I said, jumping
to my feet and rushing out the door. “Sorry, Aleks.”
She was standing off to the side, holding a lounge pillow and
looking perplexed. “What is this?” she asked.
“Come inside,” I said, and this time the doorway didn’t block
her entrance.
“What, how!?” she exclaimed.
“Uh, Spirit made this just before they ascended,” I said. “You
need to pick a room.”
“Is that room available?” she asked, pointing at the yellow
door.
I laughed. “Well, if you want to sleep in the kitchen…”
She smacked my arm lightly, then laughed. “Okay, fine, jerk,”
she said. “Which ones are the bedrooms?” I pointed at the other two
walls. “Are any available? If there are only five…”
“Come on,” I said, taking her hand and pulling her to the
dark-blue door. I opened it and showed her the sitting room, then
said, “One and two are open, as is room two through the red door.”
“So there are eighteen rooms? How big is this place?” she
asked.
“Well, sixteen, the owner’s room is bigger,” I said sheepishly,
“and then there is a kitchen, Alchemy room, Inscription room, and a
Forge.” I opened door one and she followed me into the room.
“This is fine. Show me your room, please?” Aleks asked,
leaning a bit into me.
 “Of course,” I said, “I have to program the control core to let
you in anyway.”
We exited the room and sitting area to find Jon, Ming, and
Vaya setting up the table while Jamila and Lea were arranging the
lounge pillows into three different circles. “Looks great, thank you,” I
said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Jon said, waving a leg of the table at me. “You
schmooze while we work.”
I sent a tiny twister of Air Aether that jerked the table leg,
bonking him on the head, then I had to duck under a small ball of
Water Aether. Ducking was the wrong move, as it hit Aleks in the
face and splashed down her pale-yellow dress. “You,” she said,
playfully angry, then she sent a wave of Water and Ice Aether into
me.
I didn’t try to break the technique, but I did push against it so
I didn’t fall down. The added Ice made me shiver, even though I
barely felt heat or cold from the weather anymore. She gave me a
look, then broke out laughing. I shook my head, carefully collected
the water off me and her, then cooled it down even more before
dropping it on Jon’s head.
He spluttered, and then Bridget walked in, frowned at me,
and made a snowball in her hand and threw it at me. Within
seconds, all work was forgotten as a widespread water and snowball
fight exploded among us. It lasted until Knight Kaminski came in with
a grin on her face. Her power flared, snuffing all of our Aether out,
and then we were all drenched in her summoned Ice and Water. “I
win,” she said simply, and everyone lost it, laughing.
“Okay,” I gasped, then grabbed Aleks’s hand. “We still need
to get you registered.”
She followed me to the master bedroom. When she saw
inside, she said, “Wow, that is a nice bed.” She let go of my hand
and went to explore the room.
I sat down next to the control orb and accessed it, setting
Aleks’s permissions to her room and the other spaces, then I heard
her whisper, “Definitely want to use that tub.”
 “Anytime,” I said, then gave her, Vaya, and Jamila access to
my room. “You can get in here without me opening the door.”
“Oh really?” she asked, then gave me a sultry look. “Aiden,
we are not yet betrothed.”
I blushed, then shook my head and laughed. “Yet,” I said, a
big grin on my face. “My life here seems much like a dream
sometimes.”
She sashayed toward me, flaunting her figure for a second
and drawing my eyes. When she reached me, she leaned down and
gave me a soft kiss, then whispered, “Right reaction.”
Someone knocked on the door, and we both froze. Aleks
looked at the door grumpily. After sighing, I reached out and opened
it, grumbling under my breath. “Time for the lecture on flying,” Knight
Kaminski said.
“Thank you, Knight Kaminski,” I said, standing from the chair.
Aleks took my hand, and we walked into the main room. The lounge
pillows had been rearranged into two semicircles, one wrapped
behind the other, that were open in the center front. We walked over
and sat, with Jamila next to me and Vaya next to Aleks. I reached
over and grabbed Jamila’s hand, and she gave me a big smile,
before Knight Kaminski cleared her throat.
“In general, flying devices do not have the Inscriptions
needed to divert the attention of the Primordials of the deep,” Knight
Kaminski started. “This puts a limit to how low you can fly over the
ocean with minimal risk. Eighty meters in altitude is considered the
start of the safe zone, and it is recommended that you maintain an
altitude of ninety meters at all times. This is not zero risk, though, as
Kraken and Tizheruk can both reach that high, and Leviathan’s storm
is always above them. We will fly around every storm we see, or we
will not make it to Craesti.”
“Ma’am,” Jon asked, “can we just fly higher? If ninety meters
is not completely safe, then why not two hundred?”
“That is our other limitation—we cannot fly over one hundred
meters in altitude. Somewhere above two hundred meters, the world
distorts, and the Primordials of the sky rule. The Beasts of the sky
generally will not attack if we stay below one hundred, though that is
not a guarantee. Nothing in life is safe, and the ocean is beyond our
control.”
“Um, how will we maintain our altitude correctly?” I asked.
“Master Narwan has gone to procure—” Suddenly Knight
Kaminski’s hands extended in front of her and two shining silver
objects appeared in them. “Casmir,” she grumbled under her breath,
and I vaguely heard laughter from outside. I wisely kept my face
completely neutral, and the snort of laughter from Jon got a quick
glare that promised retribution later.
She sighed, then held up her right hand. “This is an altimeter
that measures the change in Aether densities from Water to Air, and
is accurate within about five meters. The rate of change isn’t always
consistent, but the altimeter will attempt to adjust for slow changes.
A quick change will scramble it, and I will reset the device once we
are away from whatever is causing the issue. During those times, I
will be assisting with maintaining our altitude, and everyone will be
ready for defense. There are more Primordials and near-Primordials
in the ocean than anywhere else, and we will need to convince them
that we are not a worthwhile meal.”
“Does that work?” Milenna asked, horror in her voice.
“Usually,” Knight Kaminski answered. “The majority of level
five and six fish are much easier to hunt than a flying device full of
Condensation and Core gatherers. As long as we can weather the
initial attack, they will generally leave us alone.”
“I cannot help but notice that you used a lot of qualifiers,”
Aleks said.
“Flying over the ocean—any travel over the ocean—is never
truly safe. Master Narwan and I believe you will be safer using the
Skysurfer than taking a merchant ship, if for no other reason than
that it will be a shorter trip. Make no mistake, though, I will require
constant vigilance and we will do as much training as we can,”
Knight Kaminski said. Immediately afterwards, she unleashed an
attack ten times stronger than my best Pride of the Plasma Herald
into the wall. She didn’t build up an area technique to do it; she
simply used her internal power. The spiraling putrid-green spear
slammed into the wall, then dissipated before it could touch anything
else.
The wall was not scratched, but I could feel a pulse from the
control core that it wanted more Aether. “We will do some sparring
and training in here, as the walls and doors can handle anything you
could possibly do.”
“Uh, we’ll have to recharge the Home’s Aether stores every
time too,” I said. “I can kinda feel it.”
She frowned but nodded. “That will put a small limiter on our
training. I do not want anyone going below half their total Aether
capacity, just in case.”
“Knight Kaminski, what is the other item?” Jamila asked
before she could dismiss us.
“This is a compass that will point unerringly toward Craesti
City, where the Navigators Guild has a large Formation. Every ship
that travels the ocean from Craesti has one, and often multiples from
every nation they trade with. I will procure an additional one from
every nation before we leave if I can, but this one is the most
important. Now, finish getting ready to leave and make your final
purchases,” Knight Kaminski said. “I want you to spend the next few
days training and ensuring that you are truly ready.”
We all stood and bowed, before heading back out of the
Portable Home.
 CHAPTER TEN
I pulled Aleks, Vaya, and Jamila off to the side. “So, I have
something that literally everyone wants,” I said without preamble,
“and I plan to trade it to all of the Soul Strengthening gatherers here.”
“What do you have that the King would want?” Jamila asked,
curiosity oozing from her as she leaned in.
“The Legacy includes how Spirit and a few other M’Zee
advanced through Soul Strengthening and reached the next tier of
gathering,” I said. Jamila gasped. “So they want it, almost need it.
What should I ask for?”
“Pills and powders to get the others to Seed Core,” Vaya
said, her arms around Jamila’s shoulders. “The sooner they
advance, the safer we’ll all be on the trip back.”
“Gathering techniques and tempering techniques,” Aleks
said. “You should ask for and get their best tempering techniques. I
know my father will give you literally anything you could ask for…”
“Including you?” I said with a grin and an eyebrow waggle.
She laughed, and Jamila reached out and poked me in the
gut. “Be serious for a bit,” Jamila said with a grin.
“Who, me?” I asked, and then had to laughingly deflect a
bunch of pokes from all three girls. “Okay, fine. So gathering
techniques, tempering techniques, pills and powders to push you all
to Seed Core. Anything else? Uh, how about live plants for the
garden you wanted to do, Jamila? Anything specific?”
“Make a list,” Librarian Narwan said from beside me, “and
then you and I will bring it to the others. You are correct that it will
make you safer. Include in your demands one Aether Ocean Core
Burrowing Pill for each of you. It is a Water Affinity pill that only the
Ashkhas make, and a dozen will be the entire production for the last
two months. They should have them, and if not you will get the
promise of more.”
 “I do not really want any plants from here,” Jamila said. “It
would be too hard to grow them properly in Craesti. The climate is
wrong.”
“We could build a greenhouse,” I suggested. “Use glass to let
in light but hold in heat and humidity.”
“Okay,” she said, smiling brightly. “Then I will make a short
list for you soon.”
“I will go with you,” Vaya said, “and add anything I would like
as well. Thank you, Aiden.”
“Of course,” I said as they both left. I turned to Librarian
Narwan, and summoned the Soul Strengthening-level gathering
technique knowledge stone out of my ring. “Master, please look over
this prior to meeting with the others.”
“This is it?” he asked. I nodded, and he took it from me
gently, then held it to his forehead. Aleks and I waited nervously for a
few minutes. He suddenly dropped his arm. “Thank you. This—” he
paused for a second “—was not quite what I was thinking would be
the way forward. There is more here to see, and I will ask that I may
keep it for the journey across the ocean.”
“Of course,” I said.
He nodded. “Unfortunately, this path would result in a
temporary reduction in my, our, power, so it is not extremely useful
for the war. The others may argue for a reduction in cost due to this.
Do not let them. Now, Lindsay will be delivering crates of food for
you to store. Use your ring and the spatial bags you were given.”
At my confused head tilt, Aleks added, “Sultah Aleahil let
everyone keep the bags we took into the Divine Territory as a reward
for everything we brought back.”
“Yours is in your room, did you not notice it?” Librarian
Narwan asked, then laughed. “It seems that our training in
observation must continue.”
Aww, Light, I thought, then ducked under a smack only to
have my knee kicked out from under me. “I look forward to it, Master
Narwan,” I said, getting back to my feet as I held in a groan from my
bruised and battered body.
 “Good! Pack enough food for a month, though Knight
Kaminski will probably allow Siarczysty and Zimnodlot to fish. Listen
to Knight Kaminski, she has traveled across the sea many times.
Now, prepare your demands. I will bring you to the meeting in a few
hours,” Librarian Narwan said, then vanished.
The next two hours passed quickly, as Aleks, Vaya, Jamila,
and I made a list of what we wanted to trade for. Aleks included in
the requirements that anyone not in the current area had to pay a
similar amount to be taught any of the information gained. “Yes, that
includes my father,” she said when Jamila asked. “Aiden earned this,
and he deserves a reward for it. It is still far too cheap of a price, but
the nations will be unable to pay what he truly deserves with the war
going on. This way at least all of us will be able to get stronger faster,
and reach a higher level of strength with the other nations’ gathering
and tempering techniques. Even the Legacy has different, not
necessarily better, techniques.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
She blushed. “Uh, I got to look at the Aether gathering
technique knowledge stone when Vaya and Lilianna were handing it
around to everyone. I found a good Ice, Air, and Water rune to match
my upgraded Affinities after the Tower. I took a look at some of their
lower-level techniques too. They were basically a mix of a gathering
technique and a tempering technique, always focused on one
Element.”
“Neat,” I said. “Speaking of tempering, Vaya, you and I
should use the Volk method again in another Element or seven,
since the Tribulation counted as tempering in every one of them.”
“Can you temper in other Elements?” Jamila asked. “Like
Mud, or Acid?”
I looked at Aleks, then Vaya, who all just shrugged. “No idea,”
I said. “That’s something to ask Librarian Narwan.”
“Yes, you can,” he said, appearing directly behind Vaya and
making her shriek. “Though it is often not as useful as simply
advancing with the base Elements. Very few make it past the third
level of tempering, where it would be potentially advantageous to
temper with advanced Elements. For Aiden and Vaya, it should
provide some additional strength and defense, but the amount is
nowhere near as significant as the first level of tempering in the base
Elements. Using the Element tempering Attack method will provide
better results. Come, all four of you are invited to speak before
Sultah Aleahil and his guests.”
We followed him out of the inn, waving at Jon and Ming as
they hauled a crate toward the courtyard. “Sure thing, you go have
fun with your girls and leave us working here!” Jon yelled with a grin
on his face.
“Yup, but I’ll be bringing presents back afterwards, I hope,” I
called, waving jauntily.
Bridget ran up to the wagon that was holding the food. “Ooh,
I love presents,” she said.
Librarian Narwan created the Air platform he’d used to bring
me to the forest for my Tribulation, then Jamila, Vaya, Aleks, and I
stepped on. He joined us, and we shot off like a rocket, zooming
over people’s heads at a height of four to five meters. What had
taken ten minutes to run or an hour to stroll only took thirty seconds
of motion on the Aether transport. We set down right in front of the
palace, and the guards waved us in.
“Why don’t more people fly around on these things?” I asked.
“I’m pretty certain I could make something like it, though I’m not quite
sure how to make it move yet.”
“Most major cities have laws against flying,” Aleks explained.
“To keep the skies clear in case of attack. Those with urgent need
can get permission, or seek forgiveness later, but usually people just
walk or run. In Craesti, there are more mounted riders as well, but
the Ashkhas do not have the food reserves to allow more than
Bonds in.”
“Um, has anyone heard from the Bonds over the last few
days?” Jamila asked. “I have not been able to communicate with
Fluffy since he left with Sia.”
“Sia told me he was taking the Bonds on a trip into the forest,
that they would be safe, and that he would come back before we
left,” I said.
 “I have already informed him of the departure time.” Librarian
Narwan preempted my question or attempt to speak with Sia. “They
will return either tonight or tomorrow to allow for better planning. Use
your time wisely. Now, get the rope in your hands, it is time to speak
with the other Soul Strengthening gatherers and their
representatives.”
He led us into the same room where I’d spoken to them two
days ago, and the same people sat around the table. “Welcome
back, Munqiz Aiden,” Sultah Aleahil said. “Thank you for offering the
techniques for us old wheezers, giving us hope to continue to
advance. Casmir has let us know the majority of your initial price,
and I speak for us all when I say that it is not enough…”
“Uh, Sultah Aleahil, I honestly believe you are incorrect,” I
interjected. “The knowledge in this stone is literally priceless, and
should easily be worth some pills and plants.”
“Yes,” he said, a grin stretching on his feline face. “Exactly.
Your demands are not sufficient, and would create too much debt
between us. Each of us will provide a number of pills and powders,
including some that may take longer to arrive.”
“Yah,” Gunther said, “I sent a message back to my da to put
together twelve Stahlbruchfestigkeit Pills. You will be the first Craesti,
the first non-Volk, to ever take them.”
“Please do so near a healer,” Ritter Felix said, “and record
what happens and how effective they are.”
“Are you agreeing to share a gathering and a tempering
technique as well?” I asked. “I thought that would be a harder sell,
actually.”
“Yes,” the Topraki Soul Strengthening gatherer said, his voice
gravelly and deep. “And we are not going to scrimp and scratch to
make value.” He placed on the table two knowledge stones, Aether
dimly swirling around inside them. “Though I do ask you to not share
these beyond the twelve of you and your families. This is the Aether
Ingestion Core Dissolving Technique, used by the elite of our Hayil
Bayta”—my mind translated that as Warrior Lodge— “and is a better
technique for using Beast meat and Cores to advance than anything
your nation has. The other is only usable by those in the latter stages
of Condensation and Core gathering: the Self-Flagellation Tempering
Technique. It is not pleasant, but is the second-best technique for
strengthening your skin and muscles to prevent damage.”
Self-flagellation, fun times, I thought, nodding.
“We have already shared part of the tempering technique,”
Ritter Felix said. “On this stone are the next three layers of the
technique. It is the Äthermuskelinfusion Einatmen Technik. I look
forward to seeing what you become when combining all of our
techniques together.”
“If only we had a few years for you to grow,” Sultah Aleahil
said. “Rather than an Aether gathering technique, I have a single
Geist gathering technique, the Mind-Enhancement Inward Focused
Technique. It is slow if you do not have a source of Geist, but you
naturally create just a little, and can use that to gather and temper
your mind to produce more. With a source of Geist, such as our
Tower, you would advance faster. As the others have provided
external tempering techniques, I will share my Bone Crystallization
Marrow Cleansing Technique, further preventing harm and allowing
you to utilize the prodigious strength that combining the other
techniques will grant. Become our champion.”
I nodded. “I will—we will—do our best.”
“In addition, we will each provide one thousand level three
Cores, five hundred level four, and one hundred level five Cores from
the Jungle Arena Dungeon or twice as many Beast Cores from other
sources,” Sultah Aleahil continued. “All of you will be given priority
for Dungeon instances when you are around, and one platinum to
allow you to commission armor and weapons to keep yourselves
safer.”
“Yah, and when you come visit the Weltreich you will be
given access to the Tower of Geist for as long as you are available,”
Gunther said. “Though I do expect some spars!” He burst into
laughter.
“That just means you gotta catch up,” I told him with a wink.
“Nah, now it is fair!” he said, then pounded the table in mirth.
“If you are ever in the Topraki Empire, you will have access to
one of our national treasures as well,” the Topraki said. “Though I am
unsure if it will be helpful to you. Our Temple of the Moon
strengthens our wolf and hybrid forms. You are welcome to try your
luck anyway.”
“That is very generous,” I said. I looked over at Aleks, Vaya,
Jamila, and Librarian Narwan. Three nods and a shrug met my
questioning gaze, then I turned back to the others. I reached into my
bag, summoned the knowledge stone in question, then handed it to
Sultah Aleahil. “I accept.”
“Then take your earnings,” he said, gently accepting the
stone from me. He hesitated for a second, then put it to his forehead.
Iswat scooted the two knowledge stones in front of Sultah
Aleahil toward me, and I scooped them up and put them in my bag,
then into my ring. The others gave me their stones as well, and then
a servant in a fancy silver coat gently placed a long sheet of
parchment in front of me. A quick glance showed me that it included
all of the items from Jamila and Vaya’s list, everything Sultah Aleahil
had just offered, and the limitations on the techniques we’d been
given. There were a few more special pills called out to be delivered
within six months, and then there were five lines to sign.
Aleks stepped forward and signed it on the Craesti line. “My
father will pay similar amounts to learn this technique.”
“Okay,” I said, then signed the document myself. I looked
around the table. The servant had placed another of the contracts in
front of each of the others, and once signed, they passed it to their
right.
Sultah Aleahil blinked out of the knowledge stone, then
signed the papers. “I had hoped for a quicker path, but this will be
useful. I will speak with the rest of the Council. Will you allow us to
spread the knowledge if we send additional payments?”
“Yeah,” I said.
Aleks cleared her throat and whispered, “You should increase
the monetary cost, since learning additional new techniques will not
be helpful.”
“Yes, we can double the amount of Dungeon Cores, or pay
the market gold price for them,” Sultah Aleahil agreed instantly. “This
is still low enough of a cost that I feel a debt, but it is not
insurmountable.” He passed the stone to Ritter Felix, who
immediately used it.
“I would like to add twenty level six Dungeon Cores to the
list,” I said. “The level five and below will only be useful for a little
while, or for family instead of us.”
Sultah Aleahil nodded. “That is acceptable. I will put out a
notice that I will purchase the level six Cores, as none have been
sold yet.”
“Thank you,” I said, seeing our path forward solidifying. The
same servant passed out another agreement, penned in just the last
few seconds, stating our new agreement as well.
Librarian Narwan signed this one on behalf of the Craesti.
“Headmaster Glav will be able to use this technique immediately,” he
said, “since she is unlikely to be sent to the front lines anytime soon.
I will work with her on advancing quickly.”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
Every one of the Soul Strengthening gatherers around
frowned, or emoted something that felt like a frown through my
translation ability. “I’m sorry that this isn’t the slam-dunk
advancement to give you the win in the war,” I explained.
“No, this is useful,” Sultah Aleahil said, “though I doubt any of
us will be using the information until someone has been groomed to
take our place.”
“I hope the war does not last long enough for this technique
to make the difference,” the Topraki said, gesturing with the stone.
“Should I leave the stone with Sultah Aleahil?” I asked
Librarian Narwan quietly.
“No need,” Sultah Aleahil answered. “I am more than capable
of transmitting the knowledge to another, as are any of us. Give it to
your King, and make sure you get paid.” He grinned, his sharp
leonine teeth making the gesture somewhat terrifying, but I could feel
the mirth in his face.
I nodded back, keeping my laughter inside, as I thought,
Khajit has wares, if you have coin.
“The items for the initial purchase will be delivered before the
end of the day,” Ritter Felix said. “Master Narwan informed us you
wanted to leave by tomorrow midday, so we prioritized getting the
items to you quickly.”
“Thank you,” I said, then bowed. “And thank you for your
generosity. Please, send some Core-level gatherers to Azyl City or
Craesti City to learn the Aether Gathering-, Condensation-, and
Core- level techniques as well. For Condensation techniques, ten
level five Dungeon Cores; and for Core, one level six Core or one
hundred level five. Aether Gathering-level techniques will be free, as
I said before.”
“Can we send someone tonight?” Gunther asked.
I nodded. “Sure.” We organized having three people come
tonight, one from each of the other nations, and Gunther told me
he’d be bringing some Volk spirits to toast a successful tournament.
“I look forward to it!” I told him, then everyone got up to leave
the room and get back to their days.
 CHAPTER ELEVEN
The next morning, I woke up in the main room of the Portable
Home, lying in a pile of lounge pillows and bodies. We’d all
staggered back to the Portable Home once the party had started to
wind down. My head was on Vaya’s lap, and she was stretched out
over Jamila’s stomach. Aleks was sleeping on my right thigh, and my
leg was numb. Huh, I guess I can still have body parts fall asleep. I
laughed internally, then sent a tiny stream of Aether into my leg
along the nerves. With a bit of effort, I was able to flex the muscle to
allow my blood to flow better.
I thought back to the party the previous night, and then the
aftermath where Vaya, Jamila, and Hanna healed all of us from the
impending hangover. Gunther was disappointed I wouldn’t show him
the flying device, but I told him it was Librarian Narwan’s rule so he
didn’t push it. “I couldn’t race you anyway,” I told him. “It’s designed
for cargo capacity, not speed.”
“Ah, bummer,” he complained. “Fine. More grog.”
I grinned while remembering, then grimaced. Gotta pee, I
thought, looking down at my leg. I very, very carefully formed a thin
film of Air Aether, my power responding easier than ever before, and
put it under Aleks’s head. I used a second one to compress my leg
down, and gently slid it sideways. I moved a pillow from under my
back to under her head, and let her down slowly before carefully
sitting up.
I looked around, surprised at the pile of people. Jon, Bridget,
Xiao, and Lilianna lay in a group, while Hanna and Milenna spooned
off to the side. Ming was sleeping in an awkward half crescent, and
the slightly open door to the kitchen informed me that Lea was
cooking. She’d taken a liking to the culinary arts during our trip,
learning how to purify and enhance Beast meat and Aether herbs.
 I stepped around my friends and into my room, silently
laughing at our silliness for not going back to our rooms that were
only a dozen meters away. I quickly familiarized myself with the
bathroom, then moved over to the kitchen where I found Lea frying
eggs that gave off a slight hint of Aether. “Good morning,” I said,
closing the door behind me. “Need any help?”
“Sure,” she said, then gestured with her left hand, which was
holding a whisk, at a large metal door. “Can you get out a kilo of
Earthen Boar bacon? Should be at eye level on the right.”
“Got it,” I said, then went and opened the door. A blast of
cold air, which I felt more as knowledge that, ‘hey this is cold’,
without any physiological reaction to the near-freezing temperature. I
was surprised to find that the refrigerated area was the size of a
walk-in closet, not just a normal fridge. Five shelves ran across each
side and around the back, and they were all piled high with meat,
fruit, and vegetables. I searched through the fourth shelf, the one at
eye level, and found a box of bacon. I separated out about a
kilogram of it, and brought it to Lea.
A streamer of Aether took it from me, and quickly separated it
into strips and onto a pan on the stovetop. “Now, in the pantry, grab
twelve Ground Potatoes from the bin on the floor, wash them, and
put them in that bowl.” She gestured at a large steel bowl that floated
next to the sink.
I spent the next twenty minutes fetching items and washing
produce. “Is there anything else I can do to help?” I asked once I
finished the most recent task.
“Would you allow anyone to help you make a pill?” she
asked, flipping the hash browns she’d made from the potatoes. Metal
Aether from a peak Condensation-level gatherer cut level two Aether
Plants like a hot knife through butter, letting her expertly dice the
potatoes in seconds.
I realized, watching her cook, that I’d been neglecting some
of my capabilities while preparing ingredients. “Well,” I answered,
“only if they’d been trained on what I was doing.”
“I feel the same way,” she said. “So, no, I do not need any
more assistance.”
 “I’ll go make the table,” I said, laughing while shaking my
head.
“You do that,” Lea answered, and I could feel her grin from
behind her.
I exited the kitchen twenty minutes after entering it to find
Ming, Aleks, and Hanna groggily sitting up at the quiet click of the
door closing. “Go perform your morning ablutions,” I told them softly.
“Lea is cooking breakfast right now.”
Aleks got up and gave me a hug, then stumbled toward her
room. I tuned the other’s movement out, and used streamers of
Earth Aether to pull the table pieces out of their storage location and
insert the legs into their slots. It only took me a minute to put the
enormous table together. The only tricky part of setting up was
sticking a chair such that, when Jon sat up, he’d run into it. I quietly
chuckled at the pending prank, then found where we’d stored plates
and silverware in the cabinets that now lined the walls between the
doors. Each cabinet was half a meter thick, and filled literally every
centimeter of the available wall space, giving us a massive amount
of storage.
Even my room had new storage, as we’d used as much
space as we could to fit in foodstuffs and purified water. Water
generated with Aether was great for cleaning yourself off, but only
mildly satisfying for quenching your thirst, so we needed to carry
some with us for drinking. Once we ran low, we’d refill by purifying
sea water, but that wasn’t super safe, so we wanted to delay it as
much as we could.
“We are returning,” Sia told me, his voice clearer than it had
ever been. “The others learned a great deal, and we are ready to
support the group as best we are able. We will arrive in three hours.”
“I can’t wait to see ya, bud,” I sent back, grinning. Over the
next ten minutes, everyone else slowly stirred awake, and then
stumbled to the bedrooms, or more importantly their bathrooms, to
finish the getting-up process.
About halfway through the process of everyone waking up,
Lea opened the door to the kitchen with four large platters of food
balanced on Aether tendrils. “Food is ready,” she said. “Thank you,
Aiden, for setting the table.”
“Thank you for cooking,” I said. “It smells delicious. The
Bonds are on their way back, so we should be able to make our
plans for the next few days before leaving.”
“Awesome,” she said, “I cannot wait to explore that ruin we
found on the way here. Are you going to teach us any of the
tempering techniques Vaya told us about?”
“I’m pretty certain we’re supposed to head straight home,” I
told her. “But yes, of course. That’s one of my main goals tonight and
tomorrow.”
“Awesome!” she repeated, then pouted. “Do not be a fuddy-
duddy. An extra day or two to get back will not kill anyone. Come on,
ancient ruins from the same timeframe as the M’Zee people? Maybe
there is a Geist tower there. Did you not say that we have a
technique on gathering Geist that would work better with a source?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Let’s talk about it with everyone, especially
Knight Kaminski and Librarian Narwan.”
“Pfft,” she said, “better to ask forgiveness than permission.”
“We’ll see,” I said.
“We will see what?” Ming asked, sitting next to Lea. I
pretended not to notice him grabbing her hand under the table,
knowing that he was very uncomfortable with public displays of
affection.
“Let’s talk about that once everyone is out,” I said. “I don’t
want to repeat myself over and over again.”
“Of course,” Ming said, gracious as always.
We waited silently for the next five minutes as everyone filed
out. Jamila sat to my left, and Aleks to my right. Vaya sat across
from me, and winked while gesturing for me to take both their hands.
I was still getting used to having three girlfriends, and still terrified
that I would hurt one or more of them by being an idiot. Ming and
Lea served everyone once we were all there, then Lea stood and
said, “Light and Darkness, without you we would be lost. Thank you
for your blessing, and thank you for your children’s sacrifice. Guide
our lives, and let us do good to those around. Light up the correct
path, and hide those we should not follow. Light and Darkness.”
“Light and Darkness,” Jamila, Ming, Jon, and Milenna
echoed. I belatedly joined in.
“Thank you for cooking,” Aleks told Lea, then bit into her
eggs. “This is really good.”
“You are welcome, Princess,” Lea said, bowing in her seat.
“None of that now,” Aleks said, then blushed and smacked
my arm. “You have corrupted my speech. No bowing, not here. Here
we are all equal in rank, having surpassed the Tower of Trials,
survived the Divine Territory, and placed in the International
Tournament of Champions. You all will be knighted, at least, upon
returning. I would not be surprised if Aiden is raised to Baron,
skipping Lord entirely.”
“Wait, what would I be obligated to do as a Baron?” I asked.
“Probably establish a town,” she answered. “That is usually
what Dad tasks new Barons with. We have too many people in the
cities, and only with extensive Aether techniques can we support
them all. Every new farming community established allows for more
people to be supported, for more soldiers to be supported, and more
power to be projected on our enemies. Usually people are not raised
to Baron until they have proven their ability to protect a town, or have
reached Perfect Core.”
“So winning the tournament means I can protect a town?” I
asked.
“Not necessarily, but it does mean that Dad will gamble on
you being able to,” Aleks said. “He also loves raising people to
higher political ranks from those who held none in childhood, hoping
to help break the noble council’s stranglehold on the Kingdom’s
politics.”
“Should you be saying this?” Hanna asked. “I know our
families are with you, but what about the Los or Volkovs?”
“I will not speak out of turn about things spoken in
confidence,” Ming said, and Xiao gave an enthusiastic set of nods.
Vaya looked conflicted for a second, before agreeing with Ming.
 “So, to distract from the political discussion that shouldn’t be
talked about, I have presents for most of you,” I said. “You know,
once breakfast is over.”
I have never seen people eat so fast. A few minutes later,
we’d cleaned all the dishes, dried them, and stacked them back in
their cabinets before putting away the table and congregating in the
lounge area. I summoned To Hold The World On High, the shield
from Spirit, and said, “Jon, you need this. Maybe if you had had this I
wouldn’t have been brutalized in the Tower of Trials.” I paused for a
second, then laughed. “Sorry, I don’t think that’s really true. You are
an awesome defender, and my best friend. As the only shield user in
the group, I wanted to give you this. It’ll help you protect all of us,
and keep yourself safe too.”
“Thank you,” Jon said, examining it in awe. “I do not think I’ve
ever owned anything so valuable.”
“Use it well,” I said. Then I pulled the Spear Of Twilight out.
“Jamila, my heart, I believe this is the best item I can give you.” I
held it out to her.
“I will have to get used to using a short spear, instead of a
staff,” she said, “but I can tell that this will enhance my healing ability
as well as combat. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said. “It should also help with growing
your garden, as it enhances any Wood technique used through it.” I
turned to Ming. “You have stood by me, and helped me as best you
can. Now I can return the favor.” I held out the sword, Starkiller.
He took it reverently. A gentle flick of the blade made the air
scream, and he looked at it wide-eyed. “This is amazing. Thank you,
Aiden,” he said, standing and bowing a full ninety degrees to me.
I nodded at him, then pulled out the cloak. “Bridget, as the
sneakiest among us, I gift you this, to let you be even sneakier. Trick
Jon all the time.”
“Of course,” she said, taking the Hidden Mantle. She slung it
over her shoulders, and then I had a hard time focusing on her, even
knowing that she was sitting right there. That is amazing, I thought,
then shrugged. I already took the best items, the Skysurfer and
Portable Home. I can share the wealth of these amazing items.
 I pulled out the breastplate and helmet, the Bulwark of
Kasa’ulin’zi, then turned to Aleks. “These are supposed to be a set,
so I want to give them to you—” I started.
“I am going to refuse them,” she interrupted, her voice oddly
formal. “I will have access to the entire palace armory when we
return, and my mother has already commissioned a set of armor for
when I advance to Seed Core. Please, if you must gift it, give it to
someone that needs it and cannot afford something of this quality.”
“I will not accept,” Lilianna said.
“Me either,” Hanna chirped in, then Milenna shook her head
when I looked at her.
I frowned for a second, but nodded. “Okay, then Lea, would
you accept this set, to keep yourself safer?”
She nodded, then put the helmet on her head. “This burns!”
she exclaimed, excited. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” I said. I looked back at Aleks. “I am going
to insist that you take this, though.” I accessed my ring and retrieved
To Call The Heavens. “This Inscription could kill Librarian Narwan, so
keep it handy just in case. Your enemies will be stronger than mine,
and vastly stronger than you for now.”
She took it reluctantly, folding it and slipping it into her belt
pouch. “Thank you,” she said, her voice husky.
I grinned, then pulled out the necklace. “So, I’m not giving
this away, but for the journey home I want all of you to share it. This
is the Center Of The Universe, and it allows you to gather
significantly faster while wearing it.
“So, what did you keep for yourself?” Jon asked, looking at
me over top of his new shield.
“Well, the house we’re in right now!” I said excitedly,
gesturing around, “plus the Skysurfer. I still have the plate from
Connecting the Myriad Peoples, and a belt that increases strength,
but I can’t use that safely until I advance a lot more.”
“Why did you not keep everything?” Milenna asked.
I blushed and scratched my ear. “Well, I’m going to be even
more stupidly wealthy once the payments for the Legacy knowledge
I sold arrive this afternoon, plus all the gems I’m sure Da has created
and sold in our absence. I can afford to purchase armor and
weapons to my own specifications, so I wanted to help out my
friends.”
Xiao pouted, then Lilianna spoke up. “Well, I will have to have
my mom make an armored keikogi for you.” She poked the young
man, who perked up immediately. Hah, I bet he’s just happy to
spend time with her, I thought, then grinned. Of course.
“Sorry, Xiao,” I said, “but it seems like you’re getting a better
consolation prize anyway!”
The door opened behind me, and I turned to find Librarian
Narwan holding a crate as he maneuvered through the doorway.
“Ah, good, take this from me,” he commanded.
I hopped to my feet and grabbed the crate, nearly staggering
under the weight. “Uh, sir, what is this? I’m not sure we have room
for much more.”
“As your master, I was planning on gifting you a much more
capable travel Alchemy set once you reached Seed Core and I could
teach you the finer points of potion and pill making. Because you
have this house, I was able to scale the equipment up drastically!
Inside, you will find a significant amount of herbs for Ice Flower
Tempest Pills, and a book with the recipe included. I expect you to
have mastered it by the time you arrive in Craesti,” he answered.
I smiled hugely, my cheeks hurting a bit, and I hefted the box.
“I cannot wait, Master Narwan,” I said. I rotated toward the Alchemy
room to find that Jon had already opened the door. I hauled the box
over, a bit of Aether running through my muscles to assist, then
carefully set it down next to the workbench. A quick jab of my fingers
pried the lid off, and I found a second small box, an Auric Gold-
encrusted pestle, a Volcanic Iron pestle, an Ironwood Bark pestle,
and six other pestles along with four mortars, one each for the Air,
Fire, Water, and Earth Elements. The other half of the box was a
massive pill furnace, heavily Inscribed with a silvery metal I’d never
seen before.
“The different mortar and pestle sets can be combined to
enhance, counteract, or diffuse the properties of the ingredients
prepared in them,” Librarian Narwan explained. “The set I had
planned to provide would only include the Auric Gold pestle and a
Spiked Basalt mortar, as that combination is the best for the Affinity
Powders. The pill furnace is Inscribed with Elemental Palladium, an
extremely rare Aether-infused metal. It allows for near-perfect control
and transfer of Aether along its runes, which will be necessary as
you advance.”
“Sir, why use the metal in a pill furnace, and not a weapon?” I
asked.
“It is too soft and is easily damaged,” he answered.
“Additionally, it is best used for moderate amounts of Aether over
longer periods of time, not large bursts.” Librarian Narwan
straightened out, then looked over all of us. “I am proud to have
taught you. Be safe, and return.” He suddenly got a serious look on
his face. “I am commanding you to explore the ruins we discovered.”
“May I ask why?” Aleks asked.
“The Lamia—” he started, and I gasped.
“The Lamia was a Naga! Why did that not occur to me
before!” I exclaimed. “Oh, Light, the Lamia was a Naga!”
“Yes,” Librarian Narwan said. “They were doing something
there, and we must know what. Naga have been sighted a dozen
times in the last two weeks. Sultah Aleahil believes they may have
been involved in the loss of another eight merchant ships. The
Ashkhas are looking for their home, but their available forces are
limited due to the war.”
“We’ll find whatever they were looking for,” I said.
“Good. I need to leave as soon as possible,” he answered.
“The priest of Darkness at the temple spoke with Sultah Aleahil
yesterday. A message from Darkness came to him in a dream, and it
took him weeks to interpret it. There is a Dungeon on the seafloor
that is growing stronger. Ritter Felix, Guardian Thaddeus, and
Hunter Fatemah will be joining me.”
“Four Soul Strengthening-level gatherers,” Jon exclaimed.
“Are you truly that worried?”
“Darkness’s message said to not underestimate it,” Librarian
Narwan explained.
 “Uh, Librarian Narwan, can you not just leave now?” Jamila
asked.
“I do not trust the other Soul Strengthening gatherers who
are not joining me to not move on you if I was to leave,” he said. “I
know there is much more knowledge in Aiden’s hands than he has
revealed, or even seen himself, and so do they. You do not dangle
meat in front of a starving Beast without protection.”
Most of the crowd looked moderately scared at that. I just
shrugged and said, “I guess we need to get stronger, then, so that no
one can take our things without payment.”
Librarian Narwan boomed out a laugh.
“Should we all not leave now then?” Aleks asked.
“No,” he answered. “Just as you will use the next two days to
enhance your power, we will be training. The hard level of the Jungle
Arena will provide a useful training ground for the four of us, though
we will not be able to go all out. As for you, plan your time wisely,
and be ready to leave at any moment.”
 CHAPTER TWELVE
“Hey, Sia, we’re all packed, but Librarian Narwan wants us to
train for the next day and a half or so,” I told Sia mentally. “Are you
going to be back soon?”
“We are crossing the city now,” Sia said. “Five minutes.”
“Got it,” I responded, then repeated that to the others.
“Lampart’s armor should be very interesting,” Vaya said. “She
would not let me be part of designing it.”
“Armor?” I asked.
“Yeah, the Bonds were testing out armor they had
commissioned,” Jon said.
“Fluffy looks so cute in his!” Jamila exclaimed.
“Sia didn’t even tell me about it,” I groaned, then laughed.
“Oh well, not sure how much armor he could even use. What about
Kami? Didn’t she already have armor from Bruno?”
“No idea,” Bridget answered, “she wants it to be a surprise
too.”
The next few minutes passed quickly, waiting outside the
privacy shield for the Bonds to arrive. Zimnodlot was the first,
dropping out of the sky and flaring his wings to land on Jon’s arm.
Thin layers of an icy-blue metal lined his talons, and a helmet
covered part of his head, extending over his beak to enhance his bite
too. “That looks awesome, Zimnodlot,” Jon said.
“And they enhance my attacks and protect my head,”
Zimnodlot told us, causing several of us to look at him in surprise.
“Well, of course he can talk to all of us,” Jon said. “He made it
to level six during our Tribulation.”
“I didn’t know that!” I exclaimed, then gave Zimnodlot a slight
bow. “Congratulations!”
“So did I!” Kami said, bounding around a tree. Her voice was
definitely higher than expected coming from a massive pangolin. I
saw her new Stone-scale armor was covering her body. Her hands
had dark-brown leather gauntlets over the scales, with a greenish
metal covering her claws.
Just before she reached Bridget, Lampart leapt from the top
of the nearest tree to land nearby. Sleek, black leather armor
covered her torso, head, and the upper parts of her legs. Unlike the
other two, she had no additional claw extensions added, but it would
have been difficult for her to run with them on.
Fluffy leapt off the tree following her, the flying squirrel
zooming through the air with a puff of Air Aether from the four
bracelet-like jewelry items he wore on his upper legs to give him a
better gliding time. Like the others, he had a helmet on, and his
upper paws had leather gloves on them, though the bright green of
Life Aether let me know they were probably to help him heal better
instead of fight better.
The rippling rainbow of colors that was Sia’s wings exploded
into view as he flew over the tree and grew to be four meters wide.
The metal helmet he was wearing seemed to stretch, getting a bit
thinner but still covering the top and sides of his head. Unlike
Zimnodlot’s, his helmet didn’t extend over his beak. His claws had
blades the same dark red as his helmet, and they extended out with
his Aether, reaching nearly thirty centimeters in length. I shuddered
at the thought of being hit with those. He screeched in excitement,
then dove at me, shrinking again and flaring his wings before
acrobatically flipping around and landing on my right shoulder. I
could feel his Core-level aura through our touch, since he’d
advanced at the same time I had. Soon, we’ll be unstoppable, I
thought.
His new talon blades clinked against my armor, and made me
realize I really needed new armor now that I’d advanced. Eh, I’ll deal
with that when we get back, I thought. I have a stupid amount of
money now, and can get something really good. Anything I could find
here wouldn’t fit me right, since the Ashkhas have a different body
structure.
“Are you ready to train?” I asked.
 “Yes,” he answered, projecting it to the group. “We went
hunting to test the new armor and weapons, and used the Beast
parts and Cores to help pay for them. The rest came from our
proceeds from the Divine Territory, so we do not have any last-
minute tasks. The others are still struggling with the necessary
Aether control to change size, and I will continue to work with them
on the trip back.” He projected a hint of exasperation at the younger
Beasts. “Which boat are we taking?” Sia asked the last part of just
me, plaintive whining in his voice at the thought of being on a
wooden ship again.
“No boat,” I said. “Come on, let’s get settled and ready to go.”
I could feel Sia’s confusion, and Kami twisted her head
sideways and tapped her fingers together so cutely that I nearly
laughed. “Can we hurry?” she asked. “These are really neat, but they
are not very comfortable.”
“Yup, we just need to get to the courtyard,” I told her
consolingly.
Kami and Lampart stopped for a second upon seeing the
black eggshell of Aether in the courtyard, then followed us through.
Sia and Zimnodlot could not stop, riding on my and Jon’s shoulders,
though Sia did turn his head to look at me with narrowing eyes
before I stepped through. “This is part of my rewards from the Divine
Territory,” I said once we were safe from prying ears. “A flying device
and a spatial house. Vaya, can you show Lampart and Kami to an
available room, if they don’t want to sleep with you and Bridget
respectively? Sia, I got a perch added to my room for you, and to
Jon’s room for Zimnodlot.”
I paused. “Uh, weren’t you going to try to get Bonds here?” I
asked Aleks and her team.
“It did not work out,” Aleks said with a pout. “But Gunther has
promised he will look for a cub whose mother would be interested in
having us Bond and get them to travel to Craesti.”
“Nice of him,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile.
“I had to give him a trade concession for it. He negotiates like
an Ashkhas!” she complained, and everyone laughed.
 We entered the Portable Home to find Knight Kaminski
reading a book on a lounge cushion. “The Bonds are here. What is
the plan for training, Knight Kaminski?” Aleks asked regally.
“Good,” she answered, hopping to her feet. “Aiden, have you
explored the Self-Flagellation technique yet?”
“Uh, not yet, ma’am,” I said with a shrug.
She nodded. “Then your task is to learn it and teach the rest
of the group. Princess Aleksandra, Lo Ming, your teams will work on
the Pinpoint Tempering Technique taught by Ritter Felix. Advance
yourselves through another Element. You are all ready for it.” She
turned to Vaya, Jon, and Bridget. “You three will spar, with your
Bonds joining you. Test out their new equipment, and make plans.
Siarczysty, work with the rest of your team. I will be watching.”
“Yes, Knight Kaminski,” we all chorused.
The others spilled back out of the Portable Home, but I took
advantage of it to plop into a lounge cushion and pull out the
knowledge stone which held the Self-Flagellating Tempering
Technique. I shook my head, then dove into it.
I found myself in the body of a Topraki, with another standing
in front of me. They were in a small, sand-covered courtyard, with
bamboo walls lining the area. The Topraki I was learning the
technique through was in the early stages of Condensation, still
building their Foundation, while the teacher was at least a Perfect
Core.
“The base principle of the Self-Flagellation Tempering
Technique is the same as every other.” He spoke quietly, and my
ears flicked forward to listen. “The details define the technique,
though.” He shrugged out of his shirt, then a whip of Earth Aether
formed, floating in front of him. After a second, it split apart, revealing
dozens of runes that were its makeup. “Here is the basis of our
defensive strength.”
He then went on to explain the function of each rune and how
they changed the effect of the next one in the line. My borrowed
body then spent days working on the whip, each attempt slightly
better, before they finally were able to create the whip without error.
 “Good,” the teacher said. “Now you will need to coat the skin
and fur where you will be strengthening yourself with the Rapid Skin
Healing Technique.” Again, he demonstrated the technique, then
slashed himself with the whip. A tiny mark on his skin almost
instantly healed.
“Master,” the source of the knowledge stone said. “Must we
be the one to injure ourselves? Would it not be easier to let someone
else control the whip?”
“The technique is possible to use split in that manner,” he
explained, “but it is weaker by a significant margin. The Rapid Skin
Healing Technique resonates with the Aether in the Self-Flagellation
Technique if they are both done with the same Aether. No one has
the exact same Aether makeup as you, and thus you lose the
exponential increase in effectiveness.” He snorted. “It also trains you
to focus on multiple techniques at once, and to continue to do so
through immense pain. Now, begin!”
Another few days passed quickly in the knowledge stone as
the young Topraki learned the intricacies of the first layer of the
technique. It ended soon thereafter, and I woke up in my own body.
I stood and stretched, getting back the feeling of me after
being a Topraki for nearly a week, though only a few minutes had
passed in the real world. I extended my hand and tried to create the
whip out of Fire Aether. It took me only six tries to get it working
properly, one of the many benefits of using knowledge stones.
Huh, I thought, looking at the glowing band of Fire Aether in
front of me. With a gesture, the runes spread out, losing a significant
amount of power but letting me examine them better. These three.
They are similar to some of the runes in the Pinpoint Tempering
Technique’s attack side. The healing side is too different, though. I
wonder if the Pinpoint healing part would work with the Flagellation?
Did they only focus on skin tempering because it is too difficult to
hold better healing techniques and attack yourself at the same time?
I bet I could do it.
“Wait!” I exclaimed. “If I did both sides of the Pinpoint
Tempering Technique, would that make it stronger?” I shucked off my
shirt, knowing I was going to try the Self-Flagellating technique soon
anyway, then formed the Pinpoint Tempering Technique over my
right pointer and middle finger and my left bicep.
Well, I tried to anyway. Splitting my focus on two very
complex and different techniques that I hadn’t practiced extensively
was harder than I thought it’d be. Five minutes of focus, though,
along with the massive increase in power, concentration, and Aether
density from advancing, had both parts of the technique stable. With
a grunt, I slammed my fingers into my arm.
The Fire Aether flared through my skin and muscle, burning
away any impurities and weaknesses found, but it didn’t seem any
different than when I used Lightning with Aleks. I frowned at my arm,
then shrugged. I’ll think about it more later. There’s definitely
something there, but I need more information. When we get back, I’ll
ask Librarian Narwan about getting access to more tempering
techniques. With some work, I’ll make a supreme technique that will
shake the heavens and advance myself to supreme ruler! Ahahaa.
Okay, weebness averted; moving on.
I laughed, then created another Flame Tempering Whip. “You
know, this might be a useful attack technique too,” I told myself, then
shook my head. “Eh, maybe. Focus on tempering now.”
I took another minute to practice the Rapid Skin Healing
Technique before I mentally commanded the Flame Whip to slash
across my chest. I was unprepared for how much it hurt, somehow
piercing straight through all of my previous tempering and my
advanced level. I didn’t bleed from the injury, but only because my
flesh was cauterized.
It was a struggle to hold the Rapid Skin Healing Technique,
but I did. It took almost two minutes to heal the damage done. I
stood up, having dropped to my knees from the pain, then grunted.
“A little pain won’t stop me.” The Whip slammed back into me, in the
same spot. If it hurt less, it was minor enough that I couldn’t tell.
After repeating it ten times, though, I knew that it was doing
less damage. I grinned before creating a small ball of Water Aether
that I used to scrub away the sweat covering my torso and head. I
then spent another minute just meditating, dropping the stress of
repeatedly mangling my own body to advance, before putting my
shirt back on and opening the door. Aleks, Milenna, Lilianna, and
Hanna were standing inside the privacy technique that Librarian
Narwan had created, poking at each other.
I grinned at Aleks, then walked toward the inn’s back door.
“Stay between the poles,” Aleks called to me, gesturing to where two
thin sticks had been stabbed into the ground. “The others know to
avoid the spot on the other side.”
“Thanks!” I said, altering my path slightly to walk through
them. The noise of the city, and my friends sparring, assaulted me as
soon as I cleared the barrier. “Hey Jon, come here for a second!”
He turned to look at me, then yelled as Zimnodlot took
advantage of his distraction to smash him to the ground with a Wind
Burst. I laughed uproariously, then slapped a weak Icicle out of the
sky. “Very funny,” Jon shouted, jumping to his feet covered in mud.
“What do you need?”
“I figured out the first level of the Self-Flagellating Tempering
Technique, so you get to be the dummy so I can test something,” I
called.
“Oh fine,” he said, walking over. Zimnodlot screeched a
greeting, then zoomed off after Sia.
I spent a few minutes teaching Jon the Rapid Skin Healing
Technique, then told him, “Now, keep it running on your left forearm
and extend it in front of you.”
“This is going to hurt, right?” he asked.
“Yeah, it is,” I said. I created an Ice Whip this time, using the
smallest amount of Aether I could, and gently slashed it into the spot
I could tell his technique was running. It barely did anything, only a
tiny scratch forming even though he’d let the technique through his
Aether Shield.
“Uh, that technique is going to take forever to work,” Jon
said, looking at his arm. The scratch healed within seconds.
“Watch,” I said, then held out my own arm. This time, the
Whip flayed through my skin and muscle, nearly reaching the bone.
“I guess that’s why it’s the Self-Flagellating Tempering Technique.
Now I need to figure out why.”
 “Later,” Knight Kaminski said, walking over calmly.
“Everyone, come. Aiden, please teach the group the technique as
best you can. You have until dinner time. After dinner, your time is
your own.”
 CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The next two days passed in a blur of training, learning, and
preparing. I’d picked up the Bone Crystallization Marrow Cleansing
Technique, which was a very different form of tempering. It felt more
like the cultivation techniques from the Legacy, as it both improved
my ability to store and use Aether while making me tougher. The
technique turned my bones into Aether crystal, very, very slowly,
while improving my marrow’s ability to provide blood cells. These
blood cells were also better at transporting both oxygen and Aether,
almost causing my blood vessel meridians to simply merge into my
blood vessels. I planned to investigate that more, but I didn’t have
time.
Prince Gunther popped by on the second day to spar with
me, but the difference between Complete Condensation and Seed
Core was just too much. “Fine,” he grumbled after the third time I’d
knocked him into a wall, “I concede.”
“Advance to Core and this’ll be fun,” I said, helping him to his
feet.
“Bah.” He brushed his arms off, then pulled me into a one-
armed hug. “I leave in the morning for the front lines. Safe travels,
my friend.”
“Safe travels, Gunther,” I said. “Kick lizard tail for me.”
He laughed and nodded. “I promise.”
That evening we bought even more supplies, this time
focusing on Alchemy, Inscription, and Smithing ingredients to let us
utilize the awesome capabilities of the Portable Home. I took Vaya
on a date one night, and Jamila the next, exploring through the town
both evenings. After breakfast on the last day, my team and I were
sparring, the Bonds using their new equipment so we could all get
used to their new capabilities.
 An hour into training, Librarian Narwan appeared and
announced, “I am ready to leave. Prepare yourselves.”
“We are, Master Narwan,” Aleks said from the side, where
her team was working on the Pinpoint Tempering Technique.
“Good,” Librarian Narwan said, gesturing at the privacy
shield. We all filed through, then found Knight Kaminski reading a
book in the Portable Home’s living room. “Time to go.”
“Yes, Master Narwan,” Knight Kaminski said, jumping to her
feet. “Everyone, please set down what you do not need, grab a
lounge cushion, and leave the room. Knight Aiden, once we leave,
store the Portable Home how it was before you showed it to us. We
want to leave without it being visible.”
Bridget helped Kami out of her claws, and Sia plucked his
blades off his talons and carefully put them on a shelf. He was deft
with his beak and a bit of Aether. Everyone filed out of the house
we’d just entered and circled up. I reached my hand out, and tapped
the ring to the wall, mentally pushing my Aether out to envelope it. A
much smaller chunk of my overall storage was used to pull it into the
ring this time, rather than the large amount it took in the Tower.
When it vanished, so did the privacy screen. Lindsay and the
other servants were waiting outside, and they all bowed and
chorused, “It was our pleasure to serve you. May Light and Darkness
guide your journey!” Every one of them left except Lindsay, who
stepped forward and said with a smile, “We will miss you. Thank you
for being excellent guests of the Murih Khamara.”
“Thank you, and all the others, for taking good care of us,”
Aleks said.
Librarian Narwan appeared next to us. “You did excellently,”
he told Lindsay, “and I have relayed that to Ambassador Arvid to
ensure that you are all rewarded thusly.”
Lindsay bowed deeper, blushing a bit, and obviously
extremely happy. When she straightened up, she turned and left,
recognizing the dismissal in his tone.
He turned back to us. “Good, now we should be leaving. I will
follow you for the first part of the journey. Now, all of you channel
Aether into the Skysurfer. Aiden, fly.”
 The others sat on the lounge cushions they’d brought out,
and I could see a steady flow of Aether from each of them into the
Skysurfer’s storage. My Aether streamed out of my feet to the control
Inscription, and I mentally commanded it to rise. With a lurch, the
Skysurfer flew. I was slowly increasing our altitude when Librarian
Narwan zoomed in front of us on top of an honest-to-Light flying
sword. Off to my right, I could see the other three Soul Strengthening
gatherers on their own conveyances, though they were far enough
away to be barely noticeable. “Follow,” he commanded again, and
took off at an angle upward.
I pushed the Skysurfer to keep up, and the drain increased
on me a bit, but its Aether storage kept filling up from the input of
eighteen people. We shot off across the sky, and two Complete Core
Ashkhas waved at us as we passed them. Librarian Narwan kept
speeding up, and after only a minute had started to seriously
outpace us.
I was able to keep track of him, though, so I just gamely
pushed on. The Skysurfer is definitely not built for speed. I laughed
inside. I’m pretty certain I could run faster than this.
“Why are you going so slow?” Sia asked from his perch on
the back of a chair. Knight Kaminski had pulled out all of the table
pieces, two chairs, and three boxes of food to create the impression
that was our storage. Each box was Inscribed like my spatial
backpack, giving about six times the internal space. Only those three
boxes were Inscribed; all of the others placed inside the Portable
Home weren’t, to save on costs. Each Inscribed box was two
hundred gold, not including what it stored.
“This is the fastest it accelerates, and we’re getting close to
the maximum speed too,” I told him.
“Bah,” he told me, then took off. He quickly grew to his full
size and blazed after Librarian Narwan. We were still inside the
harbor area, climbing up to maybe forty meters in altitude, so we
were still safe from sea monsters. Suddenly, Sia dove down, a sheen
of Air Aether surrounding him as he speared into the water. Two
seconds later, he exploded back out, Fire pushing him forward, with
a massive Sea Bass in his talons. His beak flashed downward and
pecked through its skull, putting the Beast out of its misery.
“I am hungry,” he told us.
“Just don’t make a huge mess!” I screamed at him, as he
dropped the fish at the tip of the Skysurfer. The splatter got on
Lilianna, who glared at him before conjuring a small wave of Water to
wash the gore away from her. Sia chittered in amusement, then
ripped a piece off his meal. Zimnodlot and Lammy joined him. “Uh,
Kami, can you eat fish?”
“I can, though I do not like to,” she answered. “It upsets my
stomach and I have to use Aether to calm it down. I prefer ants, and
Knight Kaminski said that she has a full crate of them for me.”
“That’s great!” I told her. As I watched, a wall of Air Aether
shot up from the edges of the Skysurfer, and the wind noise
vanished. I could see through it easily enough, and saw Librarian
Narwan turn back toward us.
He blurred, stopping right next to where I stood in the middle
of the Skysurfer. “I had hoped it would be faster than this,” he said
softly, a frown on his face. “It will take you nearly three weeks to
reach the ruins at this rate.”
“How quickly can you get back?” I asked, forming a quick
tunnel of Air and Ice Aether from my mouth to near his ear.
“Three days,” he said. “If you were to use my Po Kong Zhi
Jian it would take you seven days. I do not know how long it will take
us to destroy the Dungeon, but I believe I will still beat you home.”
I laughed. “I’ll definitely take a month of travel in style over a
week on a sword, unable to move properly.”
He shook his head, a grin forming on his normally stern
mouth. “I would too, but there is too much to do and not enough time
to do it in.” With that, he sped back up, and took his position in front
of the Skysurfer. We flew together for the next hour, gradually getting
up to forty kilometers per hour, which seemed to be the fastest that I
could push the Skysurfer.
The others had stopped feeding Aether into the Skysurfer, as
it had started to reject their attempts. Knight Kaminski and I were the
only two still working, maintaining our speed and height.
 Finally, another hour later, Knight Kaminski walked over.
“Aiden, we are far enough away now, feel free to place the Portable
Home and take a break. I will guide us for the next six hours. Use
this time to set up a rotation and eat a snack. Once you have done
so, return outside with your team for training. The others will get
training afterwards.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said. I felt her Aether slip into the Inscription,
and released my own. With a wave of my hand and a surge of
Aether, the Portable Home popped into existence on the back half of
the Skysurfer. I grinned at my awesome gift. I went inside, and
immediately noticed that it was a bit warmer. The chilly air outside
didn’t bother me, but it was more comfortable in the Portable Home.
“Huh.”
“Yeah, this place keeps the temperature perfect,” Milenna
said. “I definitely will not tell Mom, or she will try to buy it from you
incessantly.”
“Yes, please keep this place a secret,” I said. “I don’t
particularly want to be plundered.” Jon snorted, and I grinned at him.
“So, we’re going to need to set up a watch routine, since someone
needs to be steering the Skysurfer at all times.”
“I would rather not be alone outside,” Lilianna said.
“I feel the same,” Jamila said.
“Well, I only need two to three hours of sleep a night,” I said.
“Jon, Vaya, Bridget?”
“Yeah, Core rocks!” Jon said, throwing his pinky and pointer
finger up.
I rolled my eyes at him as he mimicked something I’d done a
few times over the last year. “Yes, it does. Maintaining altitude and
direction doesn’t take that much mental power, so you should be
able to train a bit while doing so. Knight Kaminski is going to be
training us hard over the next few weeks. I really want to have all of
you reach Seed Core before we get back.”
“Is that what the small boxes with our names on them are
for?” Ming asked. “They were dropped off by some Askhas porters
along with several large boxes of Dungeon Cores. We packed them
in our rooms, but I have not opened mine.”
 “Yes,” I said. “One of the things I bargained for was resources
to push you all to the next level.” Several of them started to protest,
but I held up my hand. “This is not just generosity. If you, my closest
friends, are stronger, I am safer, and our country is safer. We are the
future of Craesti, and we will be a massive force on the battlefield
once we arrive there. Stand by me, stand together, and we will all
make it. I refuse to accept anything less.”
“You know that is unrealistic,” Ming stated.
“Yeah,” I sighed, “but it doesn’t mean I’m not going to push
for it.”
We sat quietly for a few seconds, before Aleks stood. “I am
going to grab a sheet of parchment,” she said. She quickly came
back with a long sheet of parchment, then tacked it to the wall.
“Wait, what?” I said, seeing the little pointy object stuck into
the indestructible surface.
“Neat, huh?” Aleks said. “I discovered that we can put things
up on the wall with nearly no difficulty, even though any deliberate
attack on the wall will fail. This place is amazing. Here…” She wrote
out time slots for each hour for the next five days. “Now we can just
put our names on the list, and rotate through who we are all working
with.”
I stepped forward and wrote my name on the line six hours
from now. “Knight Kaminski said she was going to steer for the next
six hours, but that is it for her. Vaya, Jon, Bridget, we have training
with her after we finish this, so we should take the next couple of
slots. That way everyone else gets to train afterwards.”
“Got it,” Bridget said, putting her name down.
“I want a snack first,” Jon said, heading to the kitchen. “I will
stand watch with you, Bridget.”
“We’ll probably just keep training,” I laughed, following him.
We ate a small snack of crackers and cheese, the rich flavors
accentuated by the Earth Aether in both. “This is going to suck, isn’t
it?” I asked.
“The training? Yeah, probably,” Jon said. “Not as urgent, but
the war is more life-threatening, so…”
 “Gotta get stronger,” I said. “The stronger we are, the less
likely it is that one of us dies.”
“You know…” Jon started.
“Yeah, I know war is dangerous, and there are going to be
hundreds or thousands of enemies at our level. Even if I could beat a
dozen Seed Core gatherers myself right now, if there’s fifty, I’m still
screwed. Together, we could stand in front of an army and defeat it,
but we’d probably lose people doing so. I know, I know, it’s not
realistic, you don’t need to keep hammering it in,” I growled at him,
my aura leaking out and smothering Jamila, Ming, and Milenna,
who’d joined us for the snack.
I took a deep breath, pulling my aura back, and said, “I’m so
sorry.” I drew Jamila into a side hug, and she hugged me tighter.
“It is fine,” Ming said. “You are still new to your strength. Clan
Lo generally has newly risen Seed Cores spend a month learning to
keep their aura in at all times. Though that is more for the protection
of children and Aether Gathering level gatherers.”
“I’ll work on that more,” I said. “Are you okay?” I asked
Jamila.
“Yes,” she said. “It just surprised me. After a second I was
fine, but…” She pulled me in tighter. “We will be fine. We are all
strong and capable, and we still have time before we will be sent to
fight. Focus on what you can do now.”
“Good point,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “Come on,
Jon, it’s time to train.”
“Fun,” he groaned, following me out of the kitchen. We’d just
been standing at the counter, munching away. Xiao and Lilianna
were sitting at the table, looking at a manual on Smithing and
discussing it quietly when we opened the door. Bridget, Vaya, Aleks,
and Lea were arranging the lounge cushions. Bridget and Vaya
immediately dropped the two they were holding and joined us when I
motioned at them.
Aleks gave me a bright smile and waved, then plopped down
on a cushion and closed her eyes. The Aether in the room rushed
toward her as she started to gather, the Center of the Universe
enhancing her gathering speed immensely. A Dungeon Beast Core,
placed on an Inscription built into the main room, released a stream
of unaspected Aether into the air.
A quick glance showed me that there were four different Core
receptacles around the main room. “Neat,” I said. “Good thing we’ve
got so many Cores.”
“Hundreds from Bruno’s Dungeon, and nearly a thousand of
different Elemental Affinities in various boxes and bags,” Bridget
said. “I should know, I counted them as we packed up. Now, come
on, I want to see what Knight Kaminski wants to teach us!”
I laughed and pushed open the door to the outside.
 CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Knight Kaminski was holding the compass and frowning at
the horizon. “Master Narwan left after we discussed your training
plan.”
I heard Jon gulp. “We will give it our all,” I said, bowing to
her.
“Yes, you will,” she said. “Now, come, stand in front of me.”
We strode forward, then lined up next to her. I was astounded
yet again at the size the Skysurfer reached. Six meters wide was
plenty of space to spread out. The six meters of free space on the
front, what the Portable Home didn’t take up, was long enough that I
could have run wind sprints. Well, before I advanced at least. Now,
that would entail less than a second’s worth of acceleration, and
turning around would require an Aether platform to push off of. I
grinned at the thought.
“It is good to see that you still have a superior attitude,”
Knight Kaminski said. Oh, crud, I thought. “First we will be working
on aura control. All of you are able to suppress your aura, keeping it
contained within your body. This is all that you are capable of while
in the Condensation stage of gathering. Now you will learn to control
and utilize your aura as a weapon and a defense.” As she said this, I
felt her aura manifest around me and crush me downward.
I resisted, easily able to stand up under it, but I could feel my
Aether react sluggishly when I tried to strengthen myself with it.
“When you are able to suppress another, you limit the power they
can utilize,” Knight Kaminski continued. “In an army, there will be a
hundred Condensation gatherers for each Core. Even for someone
of your power, getting surrounded by the enemy can result in your
death, unless you are able to suppress them all. Even now, you four
are barely able to move, because you are not trained in using your
aura yet.”
 I stepped forward and felt the truth of her statement. She was
two meters in front of us, barely out of reach, but it felt like I was
covered in weights while back in basic training. Getting closer to her
was a mistake, as the pressure seemed to double for every quarter
meter that I crossed. When I reached a meter away, I was driven to
my knees. I unleashed my own aura, forcibly pushing it out of me. To
my left, I caught Vaya with her head bowed in my peripheral vision.
“Good, Vaya, your family taught you the beginnings of aura control.
Now, can you reach me? The pressure will not stop until you touch
my hand,” Knight Kaminski said with a laugh in her voice.
I growled, shoving my aura out of my body. It worked, a little
bit at least, and I was able to stand again. I shuffled forward, my feet
unable to get all the way off the ground. Knight Kaminski’s aura
seemed to focus on me, commanding me to stay still. I could feel my
aura being smashed back into my skin, and when it was pushed
inward enough, my ability to move vanished entirely.
I roared in my mind, grabbing my Aether and circulating it out
of my skin. It didn’t want to flow, and it took entirely too much to free
myself from the restriction. “Good!” Knight Kaminski said. “Your
Aether is your aura. Your aura is your Aether. Connect them and
understand. Only when you are truly able to move will you succeed.”
I ground my teeth, stood, and stepped toward her, only to be
blown back by a small blast of Air Aether. She pushed me back three
steps, drastically dropping the suppression on me. I immediately
took two steps forward before being suppressed again. “Yes, the
distance from you affects how effectively you can suppress
someone,” Knight Kaminski said with a laugh. “When you grow
strong enough, or become capable enough at manipulating your
aura, you will be able to extend the range on specific targets or in
specific directions. Right now, I am just controlling the volume
around me, wasting strength on the space above my head and
below my feet. If I was not, you would be unable to move entirely.
The best way to learn how to project your aura—your Aether—
around you is to resist someone else’s aura suppressing you. Now,
step forward and touch my hand. I have all the time in the world to
stand here.” She laughed again, her hands drifting at her side.
 A wave of Ice Aether shot out of Jon, his aura almost
exploding out of him as he screamed, pushing forward the two steps
he needed to grab Knight Kaminski’s hand and then collapse. He
rolled onto his back, panting, as the rest of us tried to emulate his
success.
The second person to succeed, finally figuring out whatever
was the key to moving forward, was Vaya. The wave of Wood Aether
seemed to bolster Bridget and I, and we both took a half step
forward. I laughed, my Aether surging in response, then with a flick
of my mind I pushed, a wave of Plasma, Lightning, and Fire ripping
apart the suppression. At the same time, I felt a wave of Ice, Air, and
something I didn’t recognize, and together we stepped forward to
grab both of her hands.
The release of the pressure on me caused me to jump almost
three meters into the air. I landed and let my legs collapse under me.
I slumped onto my back, panting as the exhaustion piled onto me
like a giant blanket. After a few minutes of just languishing, I finally
forced myself to my feet.
“Excellent,” Knight Kaminski said. “You all have succeeded at
pushing against the Aether suppression of a Constructed Core-level
gatherer. If I was to truly attack you, you would still be unable to
move, but progressing is better than stagnating. Now, form back up
and undergo a bit stronger of a suppression.”
The pressure pushing against my shoulders redoubled, and
only a stronger push of my Aether, rebuffing the utter compression of
Knight Kaminski’s aura, let me still take a couple of steps toward her.
Her Aether pressed against me, trying to throw me farther back, but I
cut the resistance with a feeling of peace from Earth and Metal
Aether. I surrounded myself with my own strength, and pushed
against the force that Knight Kaminski was trying to force me down
with. Her aura felt immense, and my ability to rebuff it seemed more
about redirecting the force she was exerting versus actually
forcefully pushing against her aura.
After a few minutes, I was able to completely redirect her
aura and stand up. I felt it focus on me, but I had practiced how to
appear as the surrounding aura, and felt its pressure vanish against
my shoulders’ surface. My steps forward felt constrained, but I was
able to slowly push my way forward. Each tiny step increased the
pressure on me, but I was able to sluice it off. I couldn’t actually take
steps forward, but each shuffle of my feet moved me the tiniest
fraction of a meter closer to Knight Kaminski’s hands.
For the second time, I barely touched her fingers, and then
was immediately thrown backward. I rolled with the force, coming to
my feet facing Knight Kaminski. I roared, throwing my aura, myself,
against her suppression before crashing into her capability and
competing with the utterly ridiculous amount of force required to
push through it.
I forced my way through the restrictions of her aura, feeling
her force as she redirected my own. I threw my will against her,
breaking apart her resistance and shattering the wall that tried to
hold me in place. The distance I’d been thrown made it much
simpler, as I was only a few centimeters from the front edge of the
Skysurfer. Wow, Knight Kaminski is powerful, I thought before
grinding my teeth and throwing my left leg forward a half step.
Restricting all four of us, flying the Skysurfer, and preventing the
others from being affected. I thought the difference from Complete
Condensation to Seed Core was huge, but this gap of power feels
immense.
We continued for nearly an hour. Bridget was the first to fall,
twenty minutes in, and not get back up. She lay in the middle of the
training area, groaning, her hands on her head. Vaya went to check
on her, but Knight Kaminski said, “She is fine. Using your aura takes
Geist, and overdrawing it can cause headaches. Only time will allow
you to feel better, and by doing so your ability to use Geist will be
slightly stronger.”
“Is that one reason you are pushing us this hard?” I asked,
panting as I pushed forward another step.
“One of many,” she answered. “There are many people who
will be attempting to have you assassinated, and I need you to be
stronger so that I do not have to devote as much time and attention
to protecting you. Princess Aleksandra is tying herself to you, so
your strength also protects her. Keeping the knowledge inside your
head safe, both the Legacy and what came from your previous
world, is incredibly important. All of these reasons push me to make
you stronger, with the strongest foundation we can possibly set up.
Now, move!”
Vaya roared, taking four steps in a row to poke Knight
Kaminski in the gut before being blown backward again. “I will be
strong enough too,” she said, standing back up.
Jon was the next to collapse, two minutes later. I could
vaguely feel the aura around him change, going from a suppression
to an exclusion to keep him safe. I marveled yet again at Knight
Kaminski’s control and strength. Vaya and I lasted for thirty more
minutes, with her crumpling to the ground only about thirty seconds
before I did.
I tried to stay upright, but my vision narrowed into a single,
lighted dot, and I lost all control of my body. A few seconds after I
collapsed, I managed to move my hands to my temples, squeezing
on them as the worst migraine of my life bloomed.
“Amazing,” Knight Kaminski said. “No one I have ever used
this technique with has lasted that long at your tier. The Stairway of
Determination has enhanced you immensely. Now, rest here until
you can stand, then return inside. Send the others out, including
Miss Samantha, for their training.”
I didn’t even bother trying to answer, though I noticed that
Bridget was staggering to her feet. I just concentrated on breathing,
letting the pain in my head flow through me without stopping to
concentrate on it. I tried to use Aether to soothe myself, but it didn’t
do anything. Geist really is something completely different, I thought,
and I definitely need more of it. Resisting the suppression of other,
higher-tier gatherers will be super important on a battlefield, and if I
grow strong enough to protect the people around me, that could turn
the tide of a battle. Ow, stupid head.
It took me nearly ten minutes to get back up, my migraine
finally dropping to “very bad” from the “atrocious” point it had been. I
slowly got to my feet, then helped Vaya to hers as she tried to get
her feet under her. Together, we slowly limped back to the Portable
Home.
 I opened the door, and we stumbled inside.
“Light!” Xiao exclaimed, “if training is that bad, are we sure
we want to do it?”
“It’s your turn,” I said. “Everyone else is supposed to go for
training. That includes Sam.”
“She’s in the Inscription room,” Milenna said. “I will get her.”
“I will knock on doors to inform everyone else,” Lilianna said.
“Thanks,” I said, turning toward my bedroom. Vaya was still
leaning on my shoulder, and we both collapsed into my bed. I was
asleep before my head hit my pillow.
 CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I woke up groggy, but the migraine that had dominated my
thoughts before collapsing was gone. I shifted slightly, about to roll
over and stand up when I realized that Vaya was still sleeping on my
shoulder. Unfortunately, she stirred just after I did. “Sorry,” I
whispered, worried she’d still be in pain.
“It is fine,” she said, then yawned hard enough I thought I
heard her jaw crack.
Yawns being contagious, I immediately began one as well.
Once I had my face under control, I asked her, “Do you feel that?”
She gave me a confused look. “No?” she responded.
“Huh,” I said. “I can feel the others outside, gathering I think.
It’s hazy instead of clear, like seeing through cloudy glass.”
“I cannot,” she said. “I am hungry, though.”
“It is about time you woke up,” Sia said, then he chirped a
laugh, letting me realize that he’d been in the room the whole time.
“Why did you stumble in here? Drinking already?”
“No,” I groaned at him. “Training with Knight Kaminski. What
have you been up to?”
“Sleeping,” he replied, “until someone woke me with their
snoring.”
Vaya laughed softly, poking me in the side.
“I was talking about both of you,” Sia said smugly, then
squawked when she threw a pillow at him. He chirped another laugh,
then flew toward the door. The door opened for him before he
reached it, without him using his Aether as a telekinetic hand.
“Nifty,” I said. “Automatic doorways.”
Vaya turned over and stood from the side of the bed, then
flipped me off the other. I thumped to the floor and got to my feet.
“Fine, fine, let’s get food.”
 We left my room to find Jon sitting at the table, dejectedly
poking at a book instead of reading it, his head resting on his left
hand. The expression of pain and misery on his face let me know he
hadn't recovered from our training session yet.
Vaya hurried over to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Do not bother,” Jon whispered. “Jamila could not help earlier either.
It is as Knight Kaminski said. I just need time to recover.”
“You need sleep,” she told him. “It helped us, and it will help
you. Now, up and to your room, or I will have Aiden drag you.”
Jon nodded, the motion causing his eyes to squint harder,
then he carefully stood and shuffled out of the room.
“Well, I guess it’s good to know that sleeping is a good way to
recover Geist,” I told her.
“Can you sense how much you have?” she asked.
I tried to feel inside my own head, but didn’t find anything.
“Nope,” I said with a frown. “That’s not useful.”
“I will collect some food for us,” Vaya told me. “You look into
the Legacy and find something on gathering Geist. I want to get
better with it as well as Aether.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a grin. She shook her head at me
and walked toward the kitchen. I watched her leave, then plopped
down on a lounge cushion.
It took some digging, but I found the Geist techniques before
Vaya returned. They were in the Core-level gathering techniques
knowledge stone. As when I examined the core runes, I was
scanned by the door and limited in what I could see.
There were dozens of options, from extremely simple
techniques used to bring someone’s Geist levels up to a minimum
standard, to tempering techniques where you used the Geist your
brain and spirit naturally developed to forcibly enhance your
meridians. “Huh, that’s what I’m talking about,” I said, picking up a
jade tablet and letting the knowledge of the Enhanced Natural Geist
Growth Technique enter my mind. Its description stated, “The best
technique for midlevel Geist cultivators to grow their capabilities
without strain, creating a solid foundation for future advancement,
both in Geist and Aether capabilities.”
 I laughed as I pondered the technique. “Okay, set up an
Aether circuit in my head, then move the Geist that naturally rests in
my brain along it in a spiral,” I told myself, “and once that is set up,
do mentally challenging activities. Seems simple enough. The author
of this jade recommends math puzzles. I could do Alchemy too, I
guess, but I’d be worried about wasting ingredients if I got
distracted.” I brightened. “I know, I can teach people Latin Squares
or Sudoku. I wonder if they have something similar here? Could
probably play board games too. Anything that stimulates the mind
will result in the production of really tiny amounts of Geist, and the
Aether circuit captures and refines it so it stays around longer. That’s
so cool.”
“You are mumbling to yourself,” Vaya told me from the table.
I looked up and said, “Oh, sorry. So I found a good technique,
I think, for all of us to use. Well, it does require that you have enough
Geist to start with, and it was in the Core area of the Legacy, so
maybe only us four can use it? I don’t see why the others couldn’t,
though Sam might not have the requisite Geist capability yet.”
“What about the Geist technique Sultah Aleahil gave you?”
Vaya asked.
“I looked at it earlier, but none of us have enough Geist for it
to work yet,” I said with a shrug. “So hopefully this technique will get
us there.”
“Well, what is the technique?” Bridget asked.
I shrugged, then gestured in front of me. I formed the Aether
circuit in midair, then said, “You need to form this in your brain, so
the runic structures here and here are tiny.” I pointed to either end of
the oval-shaped Aether flow, where a series of seven runes
anchored it. “Then you’ll have to take Geist and wrap it around like
this.”
I combined Fire and Air into Joy Aether, letting the bright-pink
Aether be my visual cue that it was supposed to be Geist, and
twined it around the Aether circuit I had floating. “Once you’ve got
this stable, you need to do something that is mentally challenging.”
“That seems … difficult,” Vaya said, her lips tight as she
concentrated on the image I had created. “Just maintaining this
technique will be challenging at first.”
“That might count, honestly,” I said with a shrug. “The jade
recommended math puzzles, and I know a couple different logic
puzzles that might be fun to learn.”
“My village had some good puzzles too,” Bridget said.
“Though they were more to help the farmers with thinking about
planting their crops.”
“Neat,” I said, giving her a grin.
“I need some paper to show it,” Bridget said, hopping to her
feet and brushing the crumbs from her sandwich off her pants.
I felt a small surge of Aether, and every bit of food that
touched the ground vanished in a swirl of it. Autocleaning, nice! I
mentally prodded the Portable Home, and got a feeling that it was
about two-thirds full in its Aether tank. I’ll need to drop a Beast Core
into the charging port soon.
Bridget hurried to her room, then came back and sat down.
She quickly traced out a grid, then wrote numbers to the left and
above it. “Each number tells you how many squares in each row or
column need to be filled in,” she explained after finishing. “And only
that many can be filled in.”
“Picture square!” Vaya exclaimed, then her face fell. “I used
to do these with my mom, before she got too busy for me.”
I pulled her into a hug. “Well, now we can do them together.” I
looked at Bridget. “May I use this one to try out the technique?”
“Go ahead,” she answered. “I have plenty of paper to make
more.”
“Why give it up though?”
“I only use it to practice some Inscriptions before actually
creating them. I think this will be a better use of the paper,” she said.
“I have some as well, and I’m sure the others do too,” I said.
“Thank you for offering.”
“Well, go on,” she said. “Try out the technique and let us
know how it works!”
Vaya rubbed my back and said, “I will be watching, just in
case.”
 “Sure,” I laughed, “thanks. I don’t think it’ll be necessary, but
it's still nice to know.” I smiled at them both, then dropped into my
center. With a few mental adjustments, my perception moved from
my chest to my head and encompassed it utterly. I’d been doing this
for nearly a year now, and it still amazed me that I could see my
body like it was a model, or one of those exhibits at a museum. I
traced the different parts of my brain, following the bumps and
creases. I could feel my synapses firing off, my perception somehow
looking at my perception. Trippy thought, I giggled to myself, then
mentally shook my head. Focus.
I pulled a strand of Aether from my center, naturally formed
from a balance of Elements equal to my Affinities, and formed the
circuit, creating the oval of Aether that mapped to the inside of my
skull minus a centimeter, then peeled off pieces to create the runes.
They were pretty complicated, taking me several minutes to form
correctly. Twice I messed up, a tiny surge of Aether springing from
them that made my head spin for a second. Don’t like messing with
my brain, I thought after the second failure. Hopefully this is worth it.
After finally getting the Aether portion of the technique set up,
I was ready to start on the Geist piece. I reached into the center of
my brain, where the Enhanced Natural Geist Growth Technique said
I would find the pool of mental energy. It took another minute to find
the subtle off-white energy blending in to how I perceived the brain
matter around it. My imaginary fingers pinched the Geist and gently
stretched it out of the pool. I then wound the thin streamer around
the Aether circuit and carefully pulled more to finish the technique.
It took about a third of the Geist in my mind to create a long-
enough spiral to fully circle my brain and return to the pool. Once
ready, I opened my eyes and looked at the picture square puzzle. It
hurt to think and the world felt like it was wrapped in cotton wool.
“Ugh,” I groaned for a second. “Concentrating is hard. I definitely
wouldn’t want to do Alchemy while using this.”
“Are you going to be okay?” Vaya asked, healing Aether
flowing into me from her without finding purchase.
“Yeah,” I said, my eyes squinched only half open. “Just a
headache and brain fog.” She patted my shoulder, and I bent over
the puzzle. I worked through it, eventually creating a set of back and
forth lines down the page like alternating rows of crops. It took me at
least four times longer than it should have to work my way through
the fairly simple problem. I did notice the extra Geist the technique
generated, though it kept getting swept into the spiral, so my thinking
ability didn’t get any better.
After finishing the puzzle, I checked my Geist pool, and saw
that it was a tiny bit larger. “So, did it work?” Bridget asked, leaning
in to look at the paper.
“Yeah, but it’s not a large increase,” I said. “Maybe one
percent. Maybe. It was enough that I could tell my Geist increased,
but it will take a long time to get much stronger with this technique.”
“Were any of the others better?” Vaya asked.
“Again, maybe,” I said. “Several of the others would have
helped at the top of the Stairway of Determination, so if we can go to
the Weltreich at some point to use their equivalent we’d get better
results. There were a few techniques I couldn’t look at, so maybe
once we get enough Geist, or hit a threshold of capability with it, or
something, we’ll have access to better ones. For now, I think this is
the best one to use. It just sucks, well, like most tempering or
gathering techniques do.”
Vaya shook her head while Bridget snorted at that. “Well, let’s
draw out a couple of puzzles for each other and try out this
technique some more.”
“Oh, I can teach you both a number game from Earth,” I said.
I drew a nine-by-nine grid, then thought back to when I played
Sudoku all the time at the Academy as mental stress relief. My
memory was still hazy, but I could bring up the occasional perfect
glimpse, giving me a single beginner puzzle to show. I wrote the
initial numbers, glad yet again that Craesti used a base-ten number
system. I showed it to the girls, then tore the paper in half to repeat
the puzzle for Bridget. I explained the rules.
“Huh, that is a bit more complicated than Elements In A
Row,” Vaya said. “It is played with an eight-by-eight grid, and each
row and column can only have each Element represented once.”
 I thought for a second. “Yup, very similar. Each Sudoku
puzzle has a single unique solution, and I think an Elements In A
Row puzzle might not. Still a good challenge.”
“There is also the Unique Elements Puzzle,” Bridget said. “It
is also on an eight-by-eight grid. You have to put each Element on
the grid without overlapping in any direction, including diagonally.”
“Oh, that’s the eight queens problem from chess,” I said,
excited. “I know how to do that. Neat!”
We talked for a few more minutes about different puzzles,
then both Bridget and I went to our rooms to get more paper. I wrote
out a dozen different Sudoku puzzles, Vaya wrote a couple Elements
In A Row she remembered, and then Bridget put together twenty
Unique Elements Puzzles. Once ready, we swapped with each other.
I ended up with a Unique Elements Puzzle, but I didn’t start
gathering yet. I watched as Bridget and Vaya both set up the new
technique, instructing them on a few missteps that they made and
ensuring that they were stable.
Once both of the girls were working on their respective
puzzles, obviously moving slowly and carefully as their headaches
exploded on them, I dove back into my center to create the Aether
circuit yet again.
 CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Two hours of puzzles and headaches had me sitting on a
lounge cushion with my head in my hands. “What have you been up
to?” Jamila asked, crouching next to me.
“Gathering Geist,” I whispered, then looked her over. “You?”
“Body weight calisthenics under Knight Kaminski’s direction,”
she said, gesturing to the sweat-plastered clothes she had on, “and
the technique that makes you feel like you are ten times heavier than
you are. She had us use Aether to strengthen our muscles the entire
time, which is the only reason that I can still stand up.”
“May I?” I asked. At her nod, I swept my Aether through her,
and felt a resonance from almost all of her. “You are very close to
advancing.”
“I took one of the pills you bartered for,” she said with a cute
blush, “and it smoothed out and enhanced my center and meridians.
Now I only have to finish working on my muscles and a few bones
that I did not get right during Threshold.”
“Good,” I said. “I’m glad you’re getting stronger, so you’ll be
able to heal better.”
“Yup,” she said, smiling brightly. “I have many questions that
I need to ask Counselor Stojka about healing techniques. I do not
have any for the Core level.”
“Great,” I said, pulling her into a hug.
“I should go get cleaned up,” she said, her voice muffled from
where her mouth was near my robe.
I released her, and we both stood up. I saw Lilianna and
Milenna stagger through the doorway into the common room they
shared, Xiao was leaning on his sheathed sword as a cane, and Lea
was helping Ming stand as they limped through the main door.
“Knight Aiden, bring your team out here, please,” Knight
Kaminski’s voice echoed in the room.
 “I will get Jon,” Bridget said.
I helped Vaya stand from where she was lying across two
cushions. “This trip is going to be as bad as the one here, isn’t it?”
Vaya asked.
“Hey, contraction,” I laughed, and she shook her head. “Yeah,
probably. I’ll take it, though, if it keeps us alive in the war.”
“Me too,” she whispered, and we strolled arm in arm out the
door. I let her go through first, as we didn’t fit side-by-side.
Outside, we found Knight Kaminski talking quietly with
Samantha, walking her through the steps of the Eight-by-Eight
Gathering Technique. She was trying to finish the third set, but was
messing up the twenty-third movement, which was an awkward
single-leg crouch with a sweeping motion of the left hand while the
right hand and right leg were pushed straight out behind you. The
angle between the left sweep and right leg had to be just over one
hundred degrees, but the natural motion was to make it about ninety
instead. It had taken me quite a few tries to get that through my thick
skull.
“Knight Aiden,” Knight Kaminski said, then she frowned.
“Hmm, you are more drained than I expected.”
“Uh, I found a Geist gathering technique from the Legacy,
and taught it to Vaya and Bridget,” I told her.
“Please teach it to me,” she said.
“Me too,” Jon said brightly, stepping up next to me with a
spring in his step. “That nap was great, thanks, Aiden.” His
deliberately chipper attitude made me glare at him. His grin grew
wider, then he yelped.
“Aiden is not the only one with a headache,” Bridget growled,
and mimed pinching him again.
“Sorry,” he told me.
“Now that that is over,” Knight Kaminski said. “Aiden?”
I quickly demonstrated the circuit and spiral design, and
explained the need for mental stimulation.
“It takes a lot out of you, and it is hard to think while using it,”
Vaya added. “So we have been using puzzles.”
“I really like the Sudoku game,” Bridget said.
 “You are unable to continue the training from before, which
was my plan,” Knight Kaminski said with a frown. She brightened
after a second and nodded sharply. “Instead, I will work with each of
you individually on a single technique. Knight Aiden, you are first.
Vaya, assist Samantha in her attempts.”
“Yes, Knight Kaminski,” Vaya said. “Bridget, come with me
and demonstrate, please.”
Vaya and Bridget broke off and walked over to Sam, who had
just stumbled on the same movement as before. Jon walked to the
end of the Skysurfer and watched Sia and Zimnodlot as they flew in
front of us.
“Your Dancing Northern Wind Technique should allow you to
continuously run on the Air, and with some advancement to fly
directly with wind currents,” Knight Kaminski said.
“Yes, ma’am,” I responded. “But I have only used it for a few
steps at a time.”
“Good, then you will practice. Run two hundred laps around
the Skysurfer. For each time you have to step on it, add ten laps.” I
nodded, then glanced down. “Yes, even the steps to get off the
Skysurfer the first time,” she added with a smirk.
“Okay,” I said, then leapt off the side, clearing the two meters
easily. As I started to come down, I formed an Air platform under my
left foot, then pushed off. I circulated my Aether in the way the
technique had taught me, creating a pulling force in front of my legs
and a pushing force behind while solidifying the Air underneath my
feet. I ran forward, nearly jumping off each platform to clear two to
three meters with a single step. It’ll take me less than twenty steps to
circle the Skysurfer, I thought, I can do this easily.
Each step increased the Aether cost, though. Even my
prodigious reserves started to drain as I worked on my third lap. I
glanced at the Skysurfer and saw Jon standing on a chunk of Ice. He
levitated for a second, sliding backward toward the Portable Home,
then dropped down. Knight Kaminski spoke to him quietly, her hands
gesturing as she described something. Vaya and Bridget were still
working with Sam, leaving me alone in the air around the flying
surfboard.
 “You are not a bird,” Sia told me, flying up next to me.
“Nope,” I said, my next step vaulting me forward almost four
meters as I tried to outmuscle my problem.
“Then why are you in the sky without something to stand
on?” Sia asked.
“My Dancing Northern Wind Technique should let me run
indefinitely at this stage,” I said, “and Knight Kaminski wants me to
figure it out.” Another platform, a turning jump as I cleared the front
of the Skysurfer. “At this rate, though, I’ll run out of Aether before I
can complete ten laps. I don’t know why this is getting harder with
each step!”
Sia increased in size and flew in front of me. I landed on his
back, then jumped off to create another Air platform. The cost had
dropped to be negligible again. “I don’t get it!” I screamed.
“That counts! Ten extra laps!” Knight Kaminski called out to
me. “Keep going, you can figure it out.”
I grumbled under my breath, then focused more on what I
was doing with each step. Okay, runes go in front, behind, and below
my feet. The platforms are created just before I step down. Can I
delay it slightly? Putting less lag in there should reduce Aether usage
a little bit, I thought. I tried it on the next step, only to have the Air
platform break when my foot hit it.
I created another, much larger, one to land on, and caught
myself with a huff of expelled breath. I stood up and winced at the
drain that continuous contact was causing. “Well, I guess that’s why I
can’t just do what Jon is,” I grumbled. I hopped up, this time giving
the requisite amount of time for the platform to form. “Only a few
milliseconds, but still, grr.”
I continued on for another lap, trying to see what was going
on. Where is the Aether going? I thought, then looked closely at my
feet, taking short steps to get a better view. After five steps, my eyes
widened. There’s a connection to the previous steps! Of course,
that’s how I can use the technique to create the mist clones. Ooh, I
should use Mist Aether to do that! I sent a burst of Aether into the
barely felt connection, and a human-shaped body of mist appeared
at the previous step.
 I laughed out loud, then, on my next step, I cut the
connection. I had to consciously break it with every step, which kept
the Aether consumption down. Wow, I’m taking in more Aether than
I’m expending now, I thought. The distraction let a few connections
build, and I had to sever them with a flare of my will. I noticed that a
tiny bit of Geist was being spent with each cut, giving me a different
limiter for my technique.
Huh, there’s got to be a different way of using this, I thought,
or I’m going to run out of Geist before I can finish the next hundred
sixty laps. Maybe only cutting it every fourth step? I shrugged,
keeping my steps long to reduce the number of platforms I had to
create. I let the Aether cost build up, then sliced the lines reaching to
my previous steps.
A quick calculation let me know that was slightly more
efficient on Geist, and kept my Aether consumption to just below my
replenishment rate. Still wasn’t sustainable for hours on end, though,
so I tried six steps. This made it so I was losing Aether slowly, but I
figured I’d still run out of Geist first. At eight steps, though, the Aether
drain was significant enough that I’d probably run out of Aether first.
I ran four laps with that pattern. Okay, get used to this, and
try to set up a gathering technique, I thought. I wish there was a way
of gathering Geist from around us everywhere, but only very specific
locations create it. Otherwise, it’s only what I can make myself. I
guess that’s why the technique I picked is good, it increases the pool
of Geist I have.
Twenty laps in, and I finally had enough of a grasp of the
intricacies of the techniques to set up a single Spiral Gathering
Technique. I didn’t try to make it perfect, just enough that my Aether
gathering rate got closer to my Aether channeling rate. The three
gathering meridians on my back, one of the many ways that I was
unique in Craesti, pulsed with Aether as I pulled it in, only to have it
distributed by my leg, skin, and leg bone meridians. I didn’t quite
reach equilibrium, but my Aether storage was high enough that I
wouldn’t run out before I finished the two hundred and ten laps.
I ran another fifty laps, each circuit a weird extended
rectangle due to the Skysurfer’s movement, just letting myself get
into the zone. Finally, everything felt automatic enough that I could
examine the runic structure of Dancing Northern Wind, to see if I
could figure out where the connection was being created and how to
stop it.
It took another ten laps, but I finally decided to remove a
series of runes that wrapped around my ankles, and the connections
stopped forming. “YES!” I screamed in exultation, then sped up,
blazing through the sky. “I found it! Why isn’t this just shown in the
base technique? I mean, at this drain, I could have run in the air
forever at Circulation, instead of only now.” I grumbled at the last
part.
“You could have,” Knight Kaminski said, running along beside
me. I could see a large pillar of Aether still connecting her to the
Skysurfer, but I had to shake off my fascination to focus on her.
“Most people cannot regenerate anywhere near what you can just by
existing, so the technique focuses on creating options instead of
efficiency. Have you been using the distraction aspects of Dancing
Northern Wind, or have you just been using it as a way to increase
your speed?”
“Uh,” I said, “just speed, ma’am.”
“And have there been times when having a distraction would
have been helpful?”
I thought back to both fights against the giant Crocodile, then
other fights where it could easily have helped. “Yeah,” I said with a
defeated sigh.
“Then you need to practice creating and utilizing the mist
clone aspects of your technique,” she said. “Finish your laps, and
then we will focus on that. You can worry about true flight later.
Running on air is enough to save you in case you go overboard, and
will let you fight if any Beasts try to make us a meal. Go.” She
gestured to the side.
I nodded, then took off, falling back into the zone with my
new technique and letting the next twenty minutes or so fly by. Every
step, I tweaked the rune placement a tiny bit, the removal of the
connection runes changing the overall flow enough that I needed to
reoptimize it. Finally, I completed the two hundred and tenth lap, then
guided my steps to land on the Skysurfer next to Knight Kaminski.
I dropped to my knees, panting, and shook my head. That
took more out of me than I thought it did, I thought, while waiting for
her to finish instructing Bridget on an aspect of her movement
technique.
“You need to be able to focus all of your movement,” Knight
Kaminski told Bridget. “You are utilizing the straight-line speed of
Arrows’ Flight well, but you should be able to put all of your
momentum into a single strike as well.”
“I am sorry, Knight Kaminski,” Bridget said, shrugging with
her machetes in her hand. “I probably should have picked a different
technique. I have not been able to make it work with these. It really
wants a spear or a lance.”
“Then adapt it slightly,” Knight Kaminski said. “Try to change
the attack into a slash instead of a stab. Show me the runes again,
and let us see if we can figure this out.”
Bridget nodded, then two dozen runes appeared in front of
her. They glittered purple, made out of Ice Aether. “May I?” I asked,
and Bridget nodded. I looked over them, but only understood half of
it.
“These here,” Knight Kaminski said, and a ribbon of light-blue
Air Aether circled five runes in the latter two-thirds of the sequence.
“I believe these are what controls the final impact.”
“Those three are from Aether Blast,” I said, pointing at the
first three of what she indicated. “Maybe change them for Aether
Slash?”
Bridget nodded. “I can try that.” She stepped back twice, then
took three steps forward. Her third step blurred, clearing the four and
a half meters to the back of the Skysurfer in an instant. Her right
machete swung down, and a wave of Air and Ice Aether exploded
out of it. The wave wasn’t very coherent, though, and dissipated after
only a meter or so of travel.
“That was good,” Knight Kaminski said. “Much better than the
last few attempts. Now, how can you adjust it?”
 “Well, instead of using Aether Slash, I can maybe base it on
my Air Blades technique? I’d have to replace all five runes with
seven others, but that should be doable,” Bridget said, then
projected the technique with her proposed insertion.
“This one will interfere with the rest of the technique,” Knight
Kaminski said, highlighting the second to last, “and you should be
able to leave it out.”
“I will try,” Bridget said. She focused for a few seconds, then
streaked forward. The wave off the end of her technique was
completely unstable, and detonated almost as soon as it appeared.
Knight Kaminski vanished, appearing in front of Bridget and
shielding her from the blast. “Maybe not,” she said.
We spent the next thirty minutes working on Bridget’s
technique. Jon was sliding around on his Ice sheet, muttering to
himself and adapting it every few minutes, while Vaya danced in
circles near the door to the Portable Home. Her form seemed to blur,
waving about like grass in the wind, and Knight Kaminski would
occasionally throw a very weak Aether Blast or Slash at her. Vaya
swayed out of the way of the attacks, her movement seemingly
random but still taking her out of danger into safety.
“We’re all working on different aspects of movement,” I
commented when Knight Kaminski turned to give me the majority of
her attention.
“Correct,” she said. “Vaya’s technique is exceptional at close
combat, Jon’s will let him take multiple people flying for distance but
not speed, Bridget’s technique lets her close into a fight quickly with
a strong opening attack, and yours allows for rapid movement with a
distraction factor, allowing you to get away from stronger opponents.
You could also use it to close and fight them, though without the
initial attack that Bridget’s brings. Now, let us focus on your mist
clone.”
I nodded, and we went to work.
 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Three hours later, I staggered into the Portable Home. Jon,
Lilianna, Xiao, and Lea were all collapsed on the lounge cushions.
The others had come out to train about an hour after I started on my
Mist Clone Technique. I’d decided to rename that portion because I
could now cut it out of Dancing Northern Wind and use it with just
quick dodges. Using Mist Aether, made from three parts Air to one
part Water, drastically improved the fidelity of my Clone.
With Knight Kaminski’s help, along with Bridget and Jon, I’d
figured out how to create a layer of Mist over myself, making it
harder to tell which was the Clone and which was me. This led to a
series of tests against Ming and Xiao where I had to trick them with a
Clone, and they tried to see through my technique. After four passes,
I’d managed to finally tag Xiao. An hour’s worth of work let me figure
out how to add a third, and then a fourth Clone, though the Aether
cost was multiplied for each additional Clone.
After the hour, I was given the direction to manipulate a
single Mist Clone and have it mimic my movements, while the others
went into different training regimen. It was hard to fit everyone
outside, so we cleared out the table and shoved the lounge cushions
against the wall to get some more space inside. Everyone was
gradually exhausted, pushed to their breaking point and slightly past
it.
When I plopped onto a cushion, helpfully pulled away from
the wall by Jon, I had a full Core. My tiredness was more mental
than physical, my body continuously healed and refreshed by my
Aether even as I spent several times even my prodigious capacity in
Aether. Keeping a low-level gathering technique going the entire time
was great practice. I’d lost it many times, but keeping my Aether
reserves high would be super important once we managed to get to
the war, and gathering while channeling was a useful skill.
 “You finally dropped,” Jon complained.
“Ming’s still sparring with Knight Kaminski,” I said.
“Yeah, but he had several hours of break,” Jon whined, “and
he is the only one still going.”
“Sam’s piloting,” Xiao said.
“Stop raining on my pity boat,” Jon groused.
The rest of us laughed, though it was a weak sound. “So, did
you learn anything?” I asked Jon.
“Yeah. If your weird metal stick breaks, I can fly us all to
safety,” he told me.
“You do not have that kind of endurance,” Lilianna said. More
laughs.
“Funny,” Jon said with an eye roll. “I have had a bit of
success on my Floating Ice Barge Technique. I have a long way to
go to master it but I should be able to fit everyone on it if we really
need to though. Uh, I would need a lot of recharge pills and powders,
though, to make it to land.”
“That’s fine. Several of us could ride on Sia and Zimnodlot,” I
told him. “And I can keep myself in the air indefinitely.”
“I cannot wait to reach Core,” Lilianna said. “My Flametrail
Technique will finally let me fly.”
“That is awesome,” Xiao said, giving his crush a grin.
“Unfortunately, my movement technique does not have a flight
component to it, so I will be relying on you.”
“Come on, Xiao,” Lilianna said, struggling to her feet. “Let us
go gather. I am ready for another of the Varme Ugn Pills. A few
more, in addition to gathering with the Beast Cores we were given,
should be enough to advance.”
Xiao hauled himself to his feet, and they both shuffled toward
the green door, where he was in room one and she was in room two.
Each of the common rooms had at least one box of Beast Cores
available for use, and another couple boxes were stored in the
Alchemy lab.
“Hey, Aiden,” Jon said once they left.
“Yeah?” I asked.
 “Wake me up in an hour,” he responded, then let his head
flop backward. Within seconds he was snoring.
“You know, that’s a great idea,” I said, then conked out
myself.
I woke up to a kiss. I blinked my eyes open to see Vaya
kneeling next to me. “Hey, you,” I said, a giant smile on my face.
“Wake up time, sleepy head,” Vaya told me. “It is our turn to
take a watch. Samantha is ready to be done with her time piloting.”
“Got it,” I said, standing up and stretching. I took her hand,
and we walked out the door together. “Hey, Sam, we’ll take over from
here.”
“Oh, good,” she said. “I don’t know how you do it, keeping
channeling for hours at a time. My meridians hurt.”
“They are like muscles, the more you use them, the stronger
they get,” Vaya said, taking the other girl by the arm. I saw a flare of
green around their arms, and Sam straightened a bit from her
slump.
“Thanks,” Sam said, “I didn’t know you could heal meridian
strain.”
“Only a bit,” Vaya said with a shrug. “Jamila can do more, but
rest is still your best option right now.”
“Oh, yeah, sleep is good,” Sam said. She looked at me. “Can
we talk sometime?”
I nodded. “Of course,” I said. “But not right now.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, then turned and walked off.
“I will control the Skysurfer,” Vaya said. “Can you keep an eye
on our surroundings?”
“Can do,” I said. “I was going to ask you to anyway. I need to
rest my leg meridians too.”
Vaya reached over and grabbed my shoulder. A sweeping
feel of her Life and Healing Aether, made from various mixes of
Water, Wood, Earth, and Metal, ran through me, and many of my tiny
aches vanished. “Do not make me have to force healing,” Vaya
grumbled.
“Sorry. I should have asked earlier,” I said.
 “Good. Now, what are you going to do about Miss
Samantha?” Vaya asked.
I looked over and saw she was gone, and we were alone
outside on the Skysurfer. Sia and Zimnodlot were still flying and the
only people who could possibly overhear us, though it was unlikely
given their distance in front of us. “What do you mean?” I asked.
“She desires you,” Vaya said.
“I know,” I said, my hand combing through my hair, “but I
don’t desire her back. I mean, she’s a great young woman, but …
Light! I don’t feel that way about her.”
“Yet,” Vaya said. “This is a very similar protest to yours about
Princess Aleksandra.”
I shook my head. “No. I still don’t know how I’m going to give
the three of you enough attention, care, and respect. I don’t think I
am good enough for one amazing young woman, let alone all of you.
Why would I try to add a fourth? Sam is latching onto me because I
saved her, and that is not the best foundation for a relationship
anyway.”
“Her drive to catch up to the rest of us is admirable,” Vaya
said, “and her instinctive ability with Inscriptions is amazing.”
“Do you want me to try and pursue her too?” I asked.
“Really?”
“We will see,” she said. “I do like her.”
“I’d be more than happy to have Ma and Pa adopt her, but
she needs to be part of this world and not a slave for a lot longer
before I think she’d be ready for a real relationship. She is very
strong, mentally, to be able to just bounce back from her horrid
experiences, but there is no way she’s not extremely fragile right
now. This is not a good time for anyone to pursue her romantically,” I
said.
“True, she needs recovery right now,” Vaya said.
“What’s that?” I asked, pointing off into the distance behind
us.
Vaya turned to look. “I do not know, but there are a lot of
them, and they are closing in pretty quickly!”
 “Sia, there are things closing with us from the rear,” I shouted
mentally at my Bond.
“We are returning now,” he responded.
“Good!” I told him, then ran back to the door to the Portable
Home. I threw it open. “Some kind of Beasts approaching. Get ready
for a fight!” My shout echoed through the common room.
“I am ready,” Knight Kaminski said, appearing next to me
while throwing on her shirt. “Help me with this.” A scale mail top was
thrust into my hands, and I held it up to allow her to wriggle into it.
The power of her armor was evident in the way it burned in my
Aether Sight.
Ming threw open the door to the purple rooms while buckling
his sword belt across his waist. Lea followed him, and he turned to
help her into the armor set I’d gifted her.
The door to the outside was open, and Vaya shouted, “We
have at most a minute left until they get here. There are at least fifty
of whatever they are. They look like a mix of birds and people.”
“Harpies!” I shouted. “They are one of the peoples that
summoned Chaos last time. Be ready to defend, but they should be
intelligent. Maybe they aren’t here to fight?”
“We will give them a chance for peaceable contact,” Knight
Kaminski said, “but we will also be ready if they want to fight.”
“Would it be better if you revealed your power to start with, or
if you hid as a trump card?” I asked Knight Kaminski.
She thought for a second, then said, “Better to intimidate
them and possibly prevent a conflict than to appear weaker and
guarantee it.” She unveiled her presence, and I felt, deep in my
bones, that I could not defeat her. She took a step and moved to the
other end of the Skysurfer, then she jumped into the air above us.
“I do not think this will end well,” Jamila said. “I feel uneasy.”
“I’ll protect you,” I told her. I pulled out my trisula and growled
toward the incoming Harpies. “No one will hurt my friends.”
Knight Kaminski’s aura exploded out of her, and for a second
I felt like I was suffocating. The initial impact dropped away quickly,
and I pushed the rest off with my own aura. “Greetings and
welcome,” Knight Kaminski said, her voice echoing across the
distance to the oncoming swarm. “If you come in peace, we welcome
the opportunity to meet new people. Be warned, we will defend
ourselves if you desire war.”
An answering aura, nearly as strong as Knight Kaminski’s,
flared out from the foremost Harpy. He looked older, with gray-tinged
feathers coming out of the scalp of his human-like head. The Harpy’s
eyes were closer together than a human’s, and his mouth was a
hooked beak like a vulture’s. His wings extended out from his torso
nearly three meters in each direction, and ended in a three-fingered
hand with a wicked claw on each digit.
I scanned through the Harpies and saw that nearly all of
them were using some type of Air technique to increase their lift.
Most were near the peak of Condensation, with six in Seed Core,
one in Foundation Core, and the leader, either Complete or Perfect
Core, I wasn’t sure.
The leader cocked his head sideways and cawed, and my
gift of tongues triggered again. “M’Zee? No, you are too thick. What
are you? Cah, no matter, your blood will satiate Ozomene, and she
will reward us with power. Kill them!”
“They’re going to attack!” I yelled up to Knight Kaminski, then
I jumped into the air. I created a platform under my right foot,
channeling a Fireball through the Bond mark in my center to my right
arm and trisula, letting it improve the power with its Inscription. The
Fireball came out blue, though I could also see the red of the Fire
Aether inside it, and I could feel the heat coming off it.
Before I could throw it, though, a massive slash of Wind
Aether formed from the Harpy leader and shot out at us. It was big
enough to cover Knight Kaminski, myself, and the entirety of the
Skysurfer. Knight Kaminski threw her hands out, and hundreds of
Metal Spikes formed and exploded like the pellets of a shotgun,
blowing apart the attack.
My Fireball streaked in as I aimed it at a gap between the
other attacks. A Complete Condensation Harpy at the bottom of their
formation was my target. It cawed, a cone of Sound Aether streaking
into my attack in an attempt to block. My Fireball blew through the
defense like it wasn’t there, then impacted the target. It detonated,
the unstable runes dumping all of the Aether in it instantly. Two
Harpies tumbled from the sky.
The rest of the Harpies started to chant. “Kill, kill, blood for
our Ozomene, marrow for our brood!” Dozens of attacks rained down
on us.
“I am coming now!” Sia said, and I saw him dive from above.
He grew, wings extending until they were eight meters long each,
carrying his three-meter-wide body. Sia was enormous and terrifying.
He plunged through the Harpy flock, whose eyes were all on their
prey, and fired off a Flame Wave. In his talons, he crushed the
Foundation Core Harpy.
She screeched and flexed, ripping his claws out of her, but
one of her wings was broken. Sia’s beak flashed down to bite her.
She screamed, using the same Sound Cone, only this time it
knocked Sia’s head back. With a twist, he threw her, then dove again
to gain speed.
I glanced down and saw Jon, Kami, and Lilianna focusing on
defense. Jon had streamers of Ice extending from his shield, giving
him a nearly three-meter-diameter circle to block with. Lilianna had
dozens of leaves floating around her, each one rushing out to slice
apart an attack before it could strike the others. Kami grew to four
meters tall, her armor extending over her body as she stood in front
of Vaya, Bridget, and Milenna.
Ming and Xiao were sending out intricate Aether Slashes
from their swords. Each cut and swing changed the angle, spin, and
composition of the Aether attacks, and any Harpy that failed to
dodge risked being cut in two. Bridget was corralling the flock,
sending Wind Gusts spiraling around to keep the Harpies in a group,
while Vaya had grown five-meter-long Vine Tentacles that snapped
at any Harpy that got too close.
That moment of distraction, though, cost me. One of the
Seed Core Harpies’ talons pierced through my shoulder and yanked
me off the platform I’d been standing on. It tried to peck my brains
out, but my circlet’s shield stopped it. “Let go of me,” I growled,
grabbing its leg with my uninjured arm. With a yank, I snapped the
leg. Whoa, that broke easy, I thought.
 The man screamed, Sound pounding me while I held on to its
crippled limb. My other hand spasmed and my trisula started to fall.
A quick twist of Metal Aether brought it back to me, but I couldn’t grip
it while I had a bird in my shoulder. With a twist and an application of
internal Aether, I got the claws out of me, and realized that we were
falling.
I threw my Aether into Dancing Northern Wind and rotated so
the Harpy was below me. It took four platforms shattering before I
managed to make one able to hold our combined weight. Of course,
the Harpy took the brunt of the impacts, though they didn’t seem to
do much to him. “I will eat your bones,” he said, spitting in my face,
and three Air Blades formed in front of my eyes.
I released my aura and created a dozen Fire Blasts to knock
aside the Air Blades. My aura was stronger, thicker than his, and
caused his attacks to slow down. My left hand regained its function,
and I used it to punch the birdbrain in the chest. Forceful Punch
formed instinctively, and the Harpy nearly exploded as my Aether
shattered his body.
Light! I thought as I glanced into my center, I’m down at least
a third of my Aether. That Beast’s attacks were hard to defend
against. No time, more to fight.
The battle had moved past me, and I sprinted toward the
others. A massive wave of Air Aether, coordinated between the four
Seed Core Harpies, swept onto the Skysurfer, buffeting Jon and
Kami’s defenses. Six Harpies sped through the gaps created. Four
were cut down almost immediately, Ming, Xiao, and Aleks showing
why they placed so high in the tournament. Another tried to attack
Lampart, only to get eaten.
The final one, though, grabbed Milenna and threw her into
the air. It didn’t live to attack her again, but she fell screaming off the
side of the Skysurfer.
 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Milenna!” I screamed, and I heard Lilianna and Aleks at the
same time. I jumped, flipping around, and created a platform under
my feet. In my panic, I dumped a massive amount of Aether into it,
and when I leapt off, throwing myself toward the falling girl, a gush of
Air shoved me twice as fast as I was expecting.
One of the swooping Harpies tried to interpose themselves
on my flight, but I cut it apart with a Plasma Slash before it could get
between me and Milenna. The swing, though, caused me to spin, so
that I slammed into her with my back instead of catching her.
Milenna’s arms wrapped around my chest, and she yelled,
“Now what?”
“Hold on tight!” I bellowed, throwing my arms out to spin us,
then I formed two cones of Fire and blew them out of my feet. Gotta
slow us down or she’ll get hurt! I thought. The attempted rocket jets
didn’t do enough, so I dropped them after a second. I used Dancing
Northern Wind to make another platform under us, only to crash
through it immediately.
Six more brought us to a stop, though my ribs felt squished
from Milenna’s death grip. “Look out!” she exclaimed, and I jumped
off the last platform. A massive tentacle, easily thirty meters long,
slapped through the area where we had been. I looked down to see
a Kraken, its baleful eye glaring at me from the water.
The Beast’s aura tried to stifle my ability to move, but the
distance gave me enough of a buffer to dodge the return strike as I
jumped upwards. It screamed, the air shattering in front of the sound,
but Milenna quickly formed an Air shield that blunted its effects. My
ear drums still burst, and I’m sure she was in even more pain. The
world was silent for a second, but my hearing popped back into
existence to catch Milenna whimpering.
 Above us, I could see that the others were being bombarded
by long-range Aether attacks, and having trouble returning fire.
There were just too many Harpies, even as Sia swept through them
again. Zimnodlot was perched on Jon’s shoulder now, assisting with
holding the shield. Zim’s wing was bleeding, though Jamila was
feeding Aether into him to restore it.
“Cover my back!” I told Milenna, then leapt again past the
Skysurfer. Two of the Seed Core Harpies turned toward us, while the
Foundation Core was chasing after Sia.
“Stop fighting like you're still in Condensation!” Knight
Kaminski commanded us as she dodged a blade of Air that was
easily the sharpest thing I’d felt to that point. Of course, she
immediately put that thought to bed with her return slash, the Metal
Aether viscerally slicing apart the sky. The amount of Aether they
were both outputting with each attack would have been enough to
cause my projection meridians to shatter if I tried it, and I would drain
myself dry trying to keep up.
I stopped in midair, a dozen meters away from the Harpy
flock. Milenna kept up her shield of Air, mixing in Ice and Water to
create a V shape. It broke apart two Air Blades from the Seed Core
Beasts attacking us. They were winging toward us, with only a few
seconds before they crashed into the shield. Fight like I’m Core, I
thought, then formed the runes for Forceful Punch two meters away
from me.
I punched forward, and the runes mimicked my motion,
exploding into the frontmost Harpy. With a thought, a dozen Plasma
Blasts formed and shot into the same guy, and he screeched as his
wings burned. Sound rippled from him, smashing apart the rest of
the blasts before they reached him.
Of course, I wasn’t the only one who could create techniques
at range, and I saw the Aether streams from both of them enveloping
us. I slashed my right hand, Plasma arcing off it to break apart their
techniques before they finished forming. Being able to see Aether is
such a cheat, I thought as my left hand sent out a wave of Lightning.
Turn to the dark side, we have cookies!
 The Seed Core Harpies in front of me dodged to either side. I
followed the one to my left, my Lightning beating against its Aether
Shield as it tried to retaliate. I felt its aura fluctuate, and then Milenna
sent an Ice Spike into it. With a squawk, its Shield collapsed, and it
cooked.
Milenna’s distraction, fatal as it was to that Harpy, let the
other one get an attack through. I shifted before it hit, letting the Air
Slash rip through my armor and cut into my stomach to keep it from
cutting off Milenna’s arm. The enemy’s Air Aether savaged my flesh,
trying to cut deeper in. I grit my teeth against the pain, cycling Aether
to that area. My Aether was denser, stronger than the Harpy’s, and
the attacking force was pushed out of me and dissolved. A small
spurt of blood shot out of my gut, then the wound sealed itself.
I growled, quickly forming a Wrath of the Lightning Herald,
and blasted the Harpy out of the sky. It was thrown backward and
up, then it dropped. It twitched weakly, but didn’t move beyond that.
As it fell, a tentacle from the Primordial below us wrapped around its
body, moving faster than I could comprehend.
I turned toward the rest of the group, ready to rush to their
assistance, only to find Knight Kaminski ripping apart the remaining
Condensation-level Harpies. Sia led the Foundation Core enemy in
front of the others, who met her with a withering wall of firepower.
Vaya’s vine tentacles grabbed her, and though she broke through
nearly immediately, the forcible jerk startled her and let Sia turn
around.
Jon, Bridget, and Zimnodlot sent a combined Ice Air Blade
into the distracted Harpy, while Kami and Lampart blasted it with
Earth and Wood Spike respectively. The others contributed Aether
Slashes and Blasts of various Elements, and her defenses were
immediately overwhelmed. Sia finished off the Harpy with a Fireball
that made mine look puny.
I sprinted for the Skysurfer, only for a bellow from below to
shatter my Dancing Northern Wind Technique. We dropped for a
second, as I tried to create new platforms only for them to be
destabilized by the reverberating Sound. Milenna was trying to push
against it, but fighting a Primordial was futile.
 The Primordial’s roar stopped after three seconds, and I was
able to finally make progress toward the Skysurfer. I glanced down to
see a forest of tentacles, many reaching higher than I was. The
falling Harpies were grabbed and dragged under. “Throw the Beast
the bodies!” I screamed. “All of them. Bribe it!”
I jumped one last time, and we landed on the flying device
with a roll. “Hold on!” Knight Kaminski shouted, and I saw a flood of
Aether from her surround the Skysurfer and grab onto it. With a
lurch, we exploded forward, moving nearly ten times as fast as it
normally could. Two tentacles swept through the area we had
vacated. They wrapped around the bodies thrown overboard,
bringing them down to a mouth that I didn't want to see. I’m going to
have nightmares forever, I thought with a shudder.
Knight Kaminski could only sustain her movement technique
for a few minutes, but we left the Kraken far behind as it feasted on
our enemies. “We are safer now,” she said, then collapsed.
Jamila was at her side in an instant. “She’s just exhausted,”
she said after a quick check. “Help me get her inside her room?”
Jamila picked up our unconscious mentor and gestured at the door.
I nodded, then rushed inside to open the door to Knight
Kaminski’s room, since no one else could. Jamila placed her on the
bed, then told me to shoo. I went back to the front room to find
everyone but Aleks and Sam collapsed on the lounge chairs, three
Beast Cores discharging Aether into the air. They were gathering
frantically, trying to refill their nearly empty tanks in case more
Harpies came. Kami, Zimnodlot, and Lampart were all munching on
some Beast meat at the table, while Fluffy was chittering on Lea’s
leg, channeling Aether into a wound to help it close.
Outside, Sam was still steering while Aleks was providing a
bit of Aether to the Skysurfer to let it keep moving. I checked my
reserves and saw that I was still over a third full. “I can take over,” I
told them, pulling a bottle of gathering pills out of my belt. “Here,
each of you take one, then go inside and recover. I’ll keep watch
outside.”
Sia landed next to me, still three meters tall. “We will,” he
echoed.
 Aleks let my Aether take over, then stepped to me and pulled
me into a kiss. “I will be out as soon as I recover to give you time to
rest too. You cannot take all of the pain on yourself.”
“Got it, babe,” I said. I looked over at Sam. “You did great,
keeping the Skysurfer steady.”
“How do you deal with…” She gestured at the splotches of
blood around her.
“They attacked first,” I said, “and it gets easier with time. Go,
rest. You’ll be fine.”
“I just wish I could do something besides huddling behind a
shield,” she said bitterly.
Aleks looked at her sharply. “We talked about this. You did
what was needed, keeping us steady and moving. If you did not do
so, we would have been overwhelmed much more easily. Come on.”
Aleks hooked her arm in Sam’s, and they walked into the Portable
Home, leaving me with Sia.
 CHAPTER NINETEEN
“I do not know if Zimnodlot and I will continue to catch fish,”
Sia said after a minute, once I’d stabilized the Skysurfer and
checked our heading on the compass. We were aiming for a path
thirty degrees to the left of the position the needle pointed, which
showed the direct line back to Craesti City. Hopefully this would bring
us to near where we had found the ruins. Once we reached the
Craesti peninsula, we would search the coastline for a few days.
Knight Kaminski didn’t want us using too much time, so we would
only have a week to find it.
“Yeah, the Kraken was scary,” I said. “Fire burn it, I thought
we were all dead for a second. Hopefully it didn’t follow after us.”
“If it did, we can fly higher than it can reach,” Sia said.
“True, but I doubt we could avoid its attacks,” I countered. “I
bet it has really strong Water attacks. Its roar disrupted my technique
without trying. What would it do if it was targeting us? We couldn’t
survive if it really wanted to get us. I guess we’ve just got to be a
more difficult meal than what it could get otherwise.”
“We will endeavor to be hard to catch,” Sia said sardonically.
“We will not fish for two days.”
“That should be fine,” I said with a shrug. “We have enough
food to feed everyone all the way to Craesti even if you don’t catch
anything. I’d rather you be safe.”
“Well, safer.” Sia laughed, jumping into the air and shrinking
to land on my shoulder. I felt his Aether connect to mine. “You pay
attention to flying. I will work on gathering.”
“Do Beasts advance through the Core stages the same
way?” I asked him.
“No,” he answered. “You will need to gather enough to create
a new layer of your Core in a single go. I, however, can slowly add
sections of crystal to mine. What I have to do, though, is imbue my
Truth into the Aether I use. This acts something like your runic
structures.”
“What is your Truth?” I asked him, mentally this time as I
sensed this was a private matter.
“To fly over all other Zarorzels, to surpass my mother, and
destroy Chaos wherever it arises,” Sia said. “At least, it is now. My
Truth can be mutable, though the farther I advance, the more I will
be set in my thoughts. This is why it is often impossible to negotiate
with a Primordial.”
“Will we be safe visiting your mother?” I asked.
“Yes. Her Truth will not allow her to attack a guest. I will
instruct you on proper behavior before we visit, to ensure you do not
violate her rules,” Sia said, then pecked my ear. “Now hush so that I
may concentrate.”
I shook my head, laughing. The Aether around us, slightly
thinner than what I would find in the Meditation Grotto back at Azyl,
started to flow toward Sia and I. I sunk into my center and quickly
built a single spiral for my gathering technique. “Here,” I said after
popping back out. “Try not to take so much that I go below a quarter
of my reserves.”
“I do not need much from you,” Sia said, “other than the
natural boost to my gathering speed that being around you creates.”
“Neat,” I said, letting my mind control both the gathering
technique and the Skysurfer at once. Ever since my advancement,
I’d been much better about holding or creating multiple techniques at
the same time. How far can I stretch this? I thought, then created a
small Fireball off to my left and held it in place. Three techniques I
knew well were easy. I added an Icicle Spike to my right, then a
Metal Blade in front of me. Creating the Metal Blade took twice as
long as it usually did, and I could feel the strain from holding the five
techniques active.
A sixth, a Lightning Blast, destabilized with a small clap of
thunder, and the backlash broke apart the Icicle and Blade. I
desperately reinforced the Fireball, then tossed it away. It flew ten
meters before blowing, my frantic motions not quite enough to fully
stabilize the technique. Thankfully, my control of the remaining two
techniques was sufficient that I didn't lose either my Spiral Gathering
Technique or let the Skysurfer drift off course.
“Really? I felt that,” Sia complained.
“Sorry. I’ll work on that later,” I told him consolingly.
He butted the side of my head, then went back to gathering.
Three techniques were easily doable, I thought, so how
about I use this time to temper a bit more. Not Geist, but I can
expand on my Ice, Water, and Wood tempering to bring them to
match the other five Elements. Water first, since, you know, I’m
above the Ocean right now.
I dropped into my center after checking the heading one last
time. From there, I moved my viewpoint to my aorta. Okay, Librarian
Narwan only ever showed us the first three levels of the tempering
technique, but I’m at the equivalent of four levels now. I want to get
to five, where my main Elements are. I think if I run the first- through
third-level parts of the technique in series it’ll do something useful.
I set up the level one portion, three runes stacked on each
other. Level two had another five runes, then eight more for the level
three. Wait a minute. Three, five, eight. I bet the next one will be
thirteen more. Hmm, what other runes are needed? How about some
from the Pinpoint or Self-Flagellating techniques? I thought while
channeling a tiny bit of Water Aether into the runic structure I’d
created already. My blood cells passed cleanly through it, very tiny
changes occurring in each one as minute bits of improperly
tempered cells were discovered. The Tribulation Lightning had
brought me up to a higher level, but the quickness of it missed tiny
sections that needed to be raised up to the final level.
I held the technique while popping out of my center to look
around, scanning for Harpies or other enemies. Seeing nothing, I
went back into my center and found the technique again.
I watched for a minute, examining my blood as it was slowly
brought to a tiny bit better temper with Water. Each bit flowed just
that much better, only noticeable due to my advanced gathering level
and brain processing speed. This is amazing, I thought, shaking my
head in wonder. Wait, I think I can collapse all three sets of runes
into a single set. I wonder… I reached out and grasped the runes
with my mental hands. With a few tugs, I had them laid out in a
single sphere, rather than three lines, and then I crushed them
together. Five of the runes merged with others, leaving me with
eleven, and on instinct I added two more, one that represented
destruction that I took from the Whip of the Self-Flagellating
Tempering Technique and one for rebirth that I’d learned from Sia.
Immediately, every blood cell that moved through the
technique was broken apart and then rebuilt. The reforged cell
glowed with Aether for a few millimeters, and then deposited that
Aether into the walls of my aorta. The cells of my artery were
similarly broken down and reborn when the blood cell gave of the
Aether it stored.
I can hold this technique as one of my five, I thought, looking
on it with awe. Now, let’s build one for Ice and Wood. I can do all
three at once, though it will take quite a while to finish. I need to
show everyone this technique when I can.
I quickly formed a copy of the runic structure I had set up,
only with Water replaced by Ice. It didn’t do anything at all. Huh, I
thought. After a few seconds, though, I realized, Well, maybe the
Aether infused into the blood cell is preventing the technique from
working? Let’s move it farther forward, see if that helps.
It did. As soon as the blood cell lost the film of Aether coating
it, the tempering technique was able to break it down again. I pushed
it farther, though, building the Ice technique at my jugular instead. I
then created a similar set of runes at my femoral artery in my left leg,
giving all three techniques space to work their magic. My plan was to
swap locations once they met up, and keep the techniques working
until all of my blood had been advanced with it.
“That is interesting,” Sia said, and I could feel his mental
presence looking at my Water tempering technique. “I should utilize it
as well.”
“Yes, you should,” I told him. “Get stronger so I don’t have to
worry about you.”
“I did defeat a Harpy who was a level above me in strength,”
he said.
 “Yeah, you did. That was pretty epic, but I got the feeling
those Harpies were not at the level of competing in an international
tournament. They were more what we would get from the moderately
talented people who get lucky. So they are not indicative of the
strength of their elites. You know what I mean?”
“Yes,” Sia responded, “they were not our equal, but that does
not mean there are not Harpies who are. So I should endeavor to get
stronger, and so should you. Now, focus, we are starting to drift.”
“Oops!” I exclaimed, then focused on the Skysurfer. I brought
us back to the right two degrees, then another two for two minutes,
before returning us to our proper heading. “Okay, I’ve got steering,
the Spiral Gathering Technique, and three Elements of tempering in
my blood vessels. I don’t think I can hold any more, so now I just
wait, keeping everything running.”
Sia laughed, then said, “Only you would be annoyed at only
being able to hold five techniques at Seed Core. Everyone I have
spoken to before could only hold three or four, at most, while you can
use five and still hold a conversation! Stop with the self-doubt. You
are the strongest gatherer for your generation, if not the strongest
ever at your stage of gathering. You are going to be betrothed to the
heir to the Kingdom, to an extremely savvy and capable noble, and
to one of the best healers ever. Stop doubting yourself and realize
your true capability.” He slapped my head with his wing.
I grinned, shaking my head, then spoke aloud. “I know. It’s
hard to go from, ‘Hey, I’m pretty crippled and can barely walk,’ to ‘I
am the strongest person of my age group in the entire world.’ You
know? It’s been less than a year and a half, and I’ve gone from
someone who literally died and was born again into an extremely
damaged body, to the best and most eligible bachelor of my
generation. At least two amazing young women tried to get me to
take them as a mistress, just on the off chance they’d get benefits
and their—our—children would be set for life. In many ways, I’m
having huge problems with that, just because that isn’t how the world
should work. Why does a talented young woman have to basically
sell herself to get a better future for her kids?”
 “Is that not what Master Narwan and you are working to
prevent?” Aleks asked, making me jump in surprise.
I steadied the ship, then turned to her. “Yes, exactly that,” I
said. “The point of the Affinity Powders is to raise the poorest
people’s Affinities, and thus let them advance faster. Imagine if
everyone over the age of twenty was a Condensation gatherer?
Even if they never could reach Core, they’d still be stronger, faster,
healthier. How would it change farming if every farmer could use
external Aether techniques to speed up growth?”
“I know,” she said, grabbing my arm. “Why do you think Dad
funds Master Narwan’s experiments? The Affinity Powders are the
result of two centuries of investment and time by the best Alchemist
in the Kingdom, because we want to raise up the common person,
and reduce the power of the noble clans.”
“And, if everyone is able to reach Condensation, then the
available pool of soldiers is significantly greater,” I said.
“Yes, that is one aspect,” Aleks said with a shrug. “When we
are surrounded by existential threats, saved only by the fact that
most Primordials are apathetic about expanding their territory, having
more soldiers is never a bad thing. The Beast Waves they send
occasionally are just the dregs of their offspring, but every year tens
of thousands of our people die to repel them.” She sighed.
“Hopefully, we can reduce the casualties and let us stabilize the
edges of the Kingdom.
“The Affinity Powders help with raising elites as well, though.”
She pointed at me. “Look at you. How much did the improvement to
all of your Affinities when you were just a Fog-level gatherer speed
your growth?”
I nodded. “Probably quite a lot,” I said. “Upgrading my
weakest Affinities especially helped, and selling the powders to
others probably helped them all as well.”
“Your concern for your team, and me, is touching,” Aleks
said, “but you could protect them better if you were to be more
selfish, you know?”
“No, I don’t know,” I said. “I cannot be everywhere. Jon is one
of the best defenders I know, and even he couldn’t protect me from
everything the Tower of Trials sent in our joint challenge, though we
were both right next to each other. Even now, against the Harpies, if I
had been selfish and hoarded all the advancement pills, used them
over and over again to reach Foundation Core before we left, could I
really have protected everyone better than having Jon, Bridget, and
Vaya as Core, and the rest of you at Complete Condensation instead
of everyone at Threshold?”
I took a deep breath, realizing I was ranting at my girlfriend.
“Sorry,” I said, bowing my head.
She lifted my chin then leaned in and gave me a quick kiss.
“It is okay,” she answered. “I know you want to protect us all.”
“Yeah, you just hit on one of my own worries,” I told her. “I
wonder sometimes, if I had been more selfish, could I be even
farther along? If I was, could I protect everyone? Librarian Narwan is
one of the most powerful people in our Kingdom. Even so, he
couldn’t protect us when the Chaos Beasts invaded the Askhas
Baqiya, because the Illyrian matched him.” I shook my head, taking a
few calming breaths. “I believe that improving everyone is more
efficient and better for saving the world. One person at the peak of
Soul Strengthening will be weaker than a dozen at the initial stages.”
“You sure about that?” Aleks asked.
“No, but I think I can keep all of us accelerating upward,” I
said. “Befriending Bruno, opening the Tower of Trials. Darkness’s gift
of languages is probably my most useful ability.”
“I think it is your ability to spread hope,” Aleks said, stepping
into a hug and squeezing my ribs. “Before you, I was resigned to
marrying for the benefit of the Kingdom. Vaya was stuck being a
trading piece for her family. Jamila would probably have ended up a
slave in all but name to a noble house. Jon and Bridget would have
been mediocre gatherers and ended up just foot soldiers in the army.
Thousands of people would never have learned to read, and been
stuck at the basest levels of gathering because they could not
understand the free directions given out. Our world is better just
because of your presence.”
A weight I didn’t realize I was carrying lifted off my shoulders,
and my gathering technique ticked up in efficiency. “Thank you,” I
said, my voice heavy and clipped.
“Why do you think I want to spend my life with you?” Aleks
asked.
“Because I am ridiculously good looking?” I responded, then
laughed. She giggled against my chest.
“You need to rest too,” she told me. “Go, I will steer the
Skysurfer.”
“I will stay with her,” Sia told me. “I am mostly recovered.”
“Thank you,” I told him, then nodded to Aleks. “Fine, I can go
gather in my room.”
“Lilianna and Xiao cooked a spread of Mountain Boar
sausage and Zhaoze Goat cheese, with Gilded Grain Wheat
crackers. Xiao said it was based on a tale from your old world,” she
told me.
“Nice, adult Lunchables.” I laughed, then shook my head at
her questioning look. “Sorry. There was a product called a Lunchable
that was for kids. It was usually made of cheese, meat, and crackers,
with a dessert of some type. When adults had it, it was called
charcuterie but people would joke that that was just a pretentious
name for an adult Lunchable.”
She smiled and shook her head. “I can tell you find it funny,
but it…”
“Yeah, inside jokes don’t really work outside the context,” I
said. I picked her up and spun her around. “Now we just need to
make our own inside jokes, if we are going to spend centuries
together.”
She giggled again, then cupped my face with both her hands
and drew me into a much deeper kiss. We separated panting, and
she said, “Go rest. You are still stronger than any of us but Knight
Kaminski, so having you at your peak is important. We can spend
more time together in the palace.”
“As you wish,” I told her, then handed her the compass and
walked away. Inside, I found several platters full of meat, cheese,
and crackers. Jon and Bridget were sitting next to each other at the
table, with Jon’s arm over her shoulder. Bridget gave me a grin when
I grabbed a plate, then turned back to her boyfriend.
 I filled the plate, then headed to my room. I had to walk
around Lilianna and Xiao, who were sleeping on the lounge cushions
while holding hands. I smiled down at them, and winked at Ming,
who had cleared a space to work on a sword technique. He nodded
to me, then danced, his sword leaving afterimages that I felt could
still damage his opponent.
In my room, I put the plate on the desk not housing the
control orb. I opened one of the boxes underneath the desk to pull
out a level five Dungeon Beast Core, and found one of the four
Inscriptions to pull the Aether out of it. There are four Beast Core
Inscriptions in this room, I thought. Light, how dense could I make
the Aether in here? Probably dense enough to cause me problems.
I checked the Aether capacity of the Portable Home, and saw
that it was nearing the halfway point. The control orb had a
receptacle near it to absorb a Beast Core, so I put the strongest one
I had available on it. It started to drain. I ate my food slowly, enjoying
the perfectly seared sausage. Ten minutes later, I checked on the
Portable Home and its Beast Core. “That’ll get it to seventy-five
percent or so,” I told myself, then nodded. “I’ll stick another one on in
a bit.”
A quick check showed the tempering techniques were still
running, strengthening me, so I sat on my bed to focus more on
them. Without having to worry about steering or even gathering—the
Aether density was such that my gathering meridians were pulling in
a massive amount by themselves—I built a second version of each
of the three Elements, and focused on holding them all steady.
 CHAPTER TWENTY
I decided to create the first new layer to my Core a few hours
after recovering from the Harpy attack. I placed two level five Beast
Cores, one from the Dungeon and one that had Lightning Affinity, in
the Inscriptions to increase the Aether density in my room by an
order of magnitude.
I sat on my bed, breathing deeply to relax, then fell into my
center. With a thought, I created the full Triple Runic Spiral
Technique, all three spirals extending out of my body and almost
reaching to the wall behind me. Immediately, the Aether density
dropped as I absorbed as much as I could. Quickly, my center filled
up, and then my meridians.
After a few minutes, I was holding as much Aether as I
normally could. Here’s the hard part, I thought, gotta pull in twice this
much. Ugh, this is going to hurt, isn’t it? I groaned, but kept pulling
the Aether in as fast as I could.
After ten minutes, I was feeling bloated. Every meridian was
overloaded, uncomfortably stretching outward to hold all the Aether I
was absorbing. It flooded into my body; my bones, muscles, and
organs holding more than they normally could as well. I felt full,
painfully distorted, with my everything barely holding on. It wasn’t
enough yet.
Twenty minutes after I started, my entire body was shaking.
The Aether I’d gathered was pulsing, barely under control anymore.
My Core was full, my center uncomfortably stretched, my meridians
distended, and I finally felt that I was ready.
With a thought, I pushed every bit of Aether out of my body
into my meridians. They ballooned even further, but my mind was
ready, and I clamped down on them. My center absorbed the
massive influx of Aether, and I grabbed it all, crushing it onto my
Core. The Aether in my Core shot to the surface and joined the film I
was creating. I infused into it the runic structure I was pushing
toward, and forced voids where it was required. My Geist flowed into
my Aether, supercharging it and compressing it at the same time.
I bellowed in agony, strain, and joy, as every bit of Aether I
had stored and gathered compressed to form a single additional
layer of my Core, with the barest hint of the runic structure evident in
a few miniscule gaps left open. An explosion of Aether flew out of the
newly formed layer, moving through me and changing my body in the
slightest of ways. I felt empty.
The feeling soon passed. The Beast Cores were still
discharging into the air and my gathering technique still pulling
Aether into me at a fast clip. My Core filled, slowly, taking around
forty minutes to finish. My center then took another thirty minutes
before I felt reasonably full again.
Once ready, I hopped off my bed and stretched, my muscles
tight from the concentration required to advance even a single step.
“Only a thousand more of those to reach Complete Core.” I laughed.
“Lightning blast it, this is going to take a while. Thirty minutes for just
one layer, and the next one will take longer. How long will each layer
take in Constructed Core? In Complete Core? And that’s with having
a ridiculous amount of Aether available. I guess Bruno will be
extremely busy forever, since he provides a large number of level
four, five, and six Beast Cores that are perfect for everyone’s
gathering capability.”
I shook my head. “I really hope we can find a Dungeon like
him in Craesti, and not another crazy one that needs to be
destroyed, like the undersea one Librarian Narwan is heading
toward. I hope he’s safe. I’m still kinda worried about what the
Dungeon’s appearance means. Is Bruno still helping Chaos, even if
he doesn’t mean to? And even if he is, is the benefit he gives to
everyone greater than the damage he does?” I shrugged, then bent
over to stretch my hamstrings.
“Nothing I can do about it—no way to answer that question
yet,” I told myself. “Plus, I don’t want to kill Bruno over something he
doesn’t have any control over. So, moving on.”
 I walked out of the room to find the common area empty. An
increase in the Aether density around the runes on the Forge and
Inscription rooms told me someone was inside them, working. I
peeked out the door to find Ming and Lea talking quietly, with Lea
holding the compass loosely in her right hand. They were glancing
around at the sky and sea every few seconds.
I pulled my head back in, then thought, Now would be a good
time to work on Alchemy, I guess. I went into the Alchemy lab, then
frowned at the large stack of boxes along the back wall. “Well, I
guess we had to put stuff somewhere,” I said. “First things first, what
do I want to work on?” With a laugh, I shook my head and
commented, “That kinda depends on what all we got. Inventory
time!”
Two hours later, Jon poked his head into the Alchemy room.
“Light! What are you doing?” he exclaimed.
“Inventory,” I told him. The work tables were covered in items,
pages of paper were stuck to each box behind him, and I was
counting out Cyan Lily Petals into a small glass jar. “Wasn’t sure
what I wanted to make, so I decided we needed to know everything
that we have available as ingredients.”
“There is more in my room, Lea’s room, and one of the empty
rooms,” Jon said.
I sighed. “This is tedious and boring, but necessary. Can you
grab the stuff from your room and I’ll go through them?”
“Nah,” Jon said. “I will inventory the rest. You make
something that we can all use.”
“Well, I do have a recipe for an Ice Affinity boosting pill,” I
said, “called the Polar Vortex Chill Pill. We have the ingredients.” I
stood and grabbed a box from the second row. Metal Aether shot out
of me to support the boxes above it, and I gently set them down so
nothing broke. “Enough to make fifty of them. Should let me get
fourteen made successfully.”
“Cool, I would love to get my Ice Affinity higher,” Jon said. “I
will be back in a bit.”
“Thanks,” I told him, digging out Snowdrop Petals; Camellia
Blooms, of which I needed the stamen; and Glory Of Snow Flower
Stalks. A different box held Nordlig Maple Bark, White Cotoneaster
Berries, and Nandina Leaf. Three more boxes held the rest of the
twenty-six ingredients I needed.
Once I had the ingredients set out, I put my new Alchemy set
on the table, grinning at the amazing gift Librarian Narwan had given
me. I grabbed the dark-blue marble mortar, feeling the resonance it
had with the Water Aether in the air around me. “This should be
good for most of it,” I said, then grabbed the lightly purple-colored
pillar of metal. I channeled a tiny amount of Ice Aether into it, and it
flowed smoothly through the pestle.
I set the pill furnace aside, carefully positioning it so I could
get it started soon, but I had a number of items I could preprocess to
improve my success rate. I pulled out the knowledge stone that
Librarian Narwan had included in the gift, and quickly reviewed it.
Three different grinding techniques, thirty-seven different ways to
use the pill furnace, and a general knowledge of ingredient
preparation was included on the stone. Wow, that’s a lot, I thought,
but I definitely needed it. According to the information I just got,
using the pill furnace is significantly more complicated than I thought
it would be. I can use the Ice Firmament Pill Condensate Technique
to create the pills! I might even get more than one out of a batch with
it. Neat!
Glory Of Snow Flower Stalks were placed in the mortar first,
and I ran my Aether through the mortar and pestle. I could feel and
see the Ice Aether in the stalk get separated from Water and Wood,
and the Wood was refined almost into something different, a
lavender tinge added to the green. Huh, what is going on there? I
thought, leaning in.
A tiny stream of Air Aether into my eyes enhanced my Aether
Sight, allowing me to see the effects of the pestle crushing the stalk
into paste. After a few rotations, I frowned. The change isn’t even, I
realized, I’ve got to rotate both directions! Immediately, I started to
crush the greenery sunward, three full circles before I did one more
widdershins like I’d begun.
After the change, I alternated back and forth, and quickly saw
the lavender spread evenly across all of the Wood Aether. The Water
Aether seemed to evaporate into the air, and Ice Aether had become
a blue-purple, lighter than Water but darker than Air. Once the paste
was ready, I gently scraped it off the mortar and into a bowl. Two
more ingredients, the Camellia Bloom Stamen and the Nandina Leaf,
were then ground up as well, this time together.
The Camellia Bloom Stamen was interesting, as it was
Elementally aligned with Lightning instead of the Wood and Ice of
the rest of the flower. The Lightning acted as a catalyst, sparking the
Nandina Leaf’s Wood Aether into Ash and Growth Aether somehow,
removing every bit of Water from it. After this mixture was ground up,
it was dumped into the bowl as well, and then a quarter liter of
Moonlit Glow Sap was poured in. I set the mixture aside to soak,
flipping a five-minute timer over as I did so.
Two more sets of pastes were created, one a mixture of the
Snowdrop Petals and the pit of an Arctic Supreme Peach, which I
had to crack with a hammer blow of Earth Aether before I could grind
it up. I used the Volcanic Iron pestle, Earth and Metal Aether flowing
through it to grind the pit into powder that then deepened the Ice
Aether into Arctic Aether, making my hand feel cold even from two
dozen centimeters away as I scraped it into a second bowl.
Once three bowls were soaking, stirred each time the timer
went off, I started a pot of Pure Spring Water boiling and mixed in the
Nordlig Maple Bark, White Cotoneaster Berries, and Snowball Bush
Flower Petals. I waited until half of the water evaporated and then
added the pre-ground pastes into it. The concoction flared, Aether
interactions trying to break apart what I’d made, and my Aether sunk
into the water, pulling apart and smoothing out snarls in the Aether
flows within the brew.
After another ten minutes, I’d gotten it under control and let
nearly all the water boil away. Once ready, I pulled the pot off the
burner, swirling Water and Ice through it to bring the temperature
down rapidly. This goop was then scooped into the Flamewrought
Copper mortar this time, and ground together while I ran Fire Aether
through the pestle.
Another pot was set to heat up, though I kept the setting at its
lowest point. Above it, I connected a few tubes and a hood to create
a condensation drip point into a bottle. In the pot went the flesh of
the Arctic Supreme Peach, Glacier Water, and some more
Cotoneaster Berries that were squished. I stirred the pot with one
stream of Aether while continuing to grind up the first mixture.
A few minutes of muscle work, Aether manipulation, and
drips of condensate gave me about twenty milliliters of slightly
pinkish water. I poured it into the mortar, then began to grind in the
pattern of the Ice rune. Sixteen times I created the rune, then
immediately dumped every bit of it into the Elemental Palladium Pill
Furnace.
My Aether surged, following the Ice Firmament Pill
Condensate Technique to heat and cool different areas of the inside.
Ice, Fire, Earth, and Air Aether all swirled throughout the mixture,
kneading and combining the pieces while firming them into two
lozenge shapes. After five minutes, my Core seemed to vibrate
slightly, and an intuition that the pills were too big hit me pretty hard.
I glanced at my ingredients, then shrugged. I’ve got enough for a
dozen more recipes, we’ll see what this weird feeling is about.
I cut the back third off both pills and crushed them into a third
pill. A feeling of rightness flowed over me, and I nodded. The final
stages of the pill technique required me to surround and condense
each pill with a cage of Ice and Water Aether. The Elemental
Palladium in the furnace made manipulating Aether inside it easier
than manipulating it in the air in front of me, and I could see and feel
the pills trying to form.
“Condense!” I shouted, burning with power as I poured my
Aether into the pill furnace. Every bit of my mind and willpower was
spent to crush the pills into existence, while tiny flickers of Fire and
Lightning Aether played across the surface of them to burn away
miniscule impurities that stuck up out of the smooth surface.
It took another thirty minutes and half my Aether to finally get
the pills to form, and with a loud thump the pill furnace lid bounced
up, signifying the finish. I pulled the lid off, panting in exertion, and
grinned wildly. “Two normal pills and an exceptional one! Sweet, I
almost can’t believe I got it right the first time!” I shouted, jumping in
glee for a second before gently picking up the pills and dropping
them in a jar for safekeeping. “Alright, let’s make another dozen.”
I pulled out another set of ingredients, and got to work.
 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The next few days moved quickly. Every morning, we spent
two hours on aura training while the others gathered, pushing toward
Core. Immediately afterwards, we cultivated Geist. We were lucky, in
that everyone had enough Geist tempering from the Stairway of
Determination to use the Enhanced Natural Geist Growth Technique,
even if Lilianna and Xiao could only manage a few seconds to start
with. Xiao especially pushed extremely hard, and would cultivate
over and over again.
After Geist training, we’d eat a quick lunch, then I worked on
creating various pills. Using the books Librarian Narwan and Spirit
gave me along with the Legacy, I was able to create enough Ice,
Water, and Metal Affinity enhancing pills for everyone. The Fire pill
recipe, unfortunately, took some ingredients I only had small
amounts of, and it was complicated enough that I messed up half of
it. Still, I was able to make four, giving them to Aleks, Vaya, Jamila,
and Hannah, strengthening our healers at Knight Kaminski’s
direction.
After a few hours of Alchemy, only occasionally interrupted by
Jon causing an explosion on the other workbench, Knight Kaminski
would have two of us spar. At first, we were made to fight without
any techniques. It was eye-opening how different my body was, how
utterly superhuman I’d become, ever since advancing. The first time
Ming and I fought, it felt like he was moving in slow motion. I
exaggerate a bit, but only a bit. I easily overpowered him.
Now, with techniques we were a little closer, as I still hadn’t
learned a better ability than the General Strengthening Technique.
Even with techniques, though, I was faster, stronger, and tougher
than he was. It was only his extensive training with his sword,
compared to my less than a year’s experience with my trisula, that
the fights were even close.
 Sparring practice was followed by technique practice, with
Knight Kaminski focusing on teaching everyone how to hopefully not
fall off the Skysurfer. Whether by creating small walls of Ice or Stone,
quick bursts of Air or Fire to throw themselves back onto the surface,
or tethers of Wood and Ice to hold them down, Knight Kaminski did
not want a repeat of Milenna’s fall. Jon, Vaya, Bridget, and I were
directed to work on our ability to fly or run through the sky.
Vaya was able to modify her Entangling Vines Technique to
create the vines from thin air, though she complained that it took
nearly five times as much Aether to do so. Using those vines, she
swung through the sky like Tarzan, and was able to quickly snatch
me out of the sky when I faked falling. Jon worked on his Sky Glacier
Technique, with the large barge of Ice slowly drifting on unseen
currents. He couldn’t move it as fast as the Skysurfer, but, with
support from Zimnodlot, was able to hold the technique for hours on
end.
I got faster, sprinting through the sky with the smallest Air
platforms I could make, keeping my Aether usage well below my
natural recharge rate. This would let me fight better, and longer,
while staying up in the air. Knight Kaminski would also throw balls of
Water at me while I was running, and I would have to create
platforms as a shield. “Your modifications to Dancing Northern Wind
are incredible,” she told me the first time I showed her that ability. “I
was trying to make you dodge, but this is better. We will work on
dodging as well. Block Water, dodge Wood.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a sharp nod.
“Now, go,” she commanded, and I took off. A Wood Spike,
barely holding itself together since she didn’t want to actually hurt
me, shot out at me.
I created an angled platform to sidestep the attack, then
threw an Air platform in the way of a Water Ball. Another splashed
against my left leg, hidden behind the first, causing me to trip. It took
me a second to catch myself, and then I had to immediately throw
my body sideways to dodge a spike. This continued for an hour,
even as she was instructing Jamila on an Earth Technique and
sending lines of Fire at Jon.
 Wow, I thought, creating four Air Shields. How can she
manage so many streams of Aether and still hold a conversation?
Hopefully the Geist training will help me get better at multitasking.
How much is Aether changing me? Not just physically, but mentally?
I’m able to remember things perfectly, I can think faster, react faster,
to events happening around me.
A Wood Spike broke against my chest and I fell off the
platform I’d stopped on. I laughed out loud and stopped my fall
again. “I guess I’m not that different,” I mumbled to myself. “I still get
easily distracted.”
Sia’s laughter echoed in my head. He and Zimnodlot were
flying around, acting as scouts to watch for more Harpies or other
Beasts, and he was close enough to hear my complaint.
In the late evenings, we worked on different tempering
techniques. I shared with everyone what I had figured out about
Librarian Narwan’s technique, and how I was keeping it running
almost all the time. The only time I dropped it was when we did a
different technique, such as the Pinpoint, or during technique training
as I needed to be fully focused on Knight Kaminski.
Five days after the Harpy attack, I was sprinting ahead of the
Skysurfer, working on straight-line speed. Gusting Northern Wind,
the first modification I made to Dancing, helped enormously with
that, but it had been created to help with running on the ground. So I
was working on fixing and updating it, and wasn’t paying too much
attention to my surroundings.
Which was why, when a shadow fell over me from above and
talons the size of my torso wrapped around my chest, I was unable
to react for a few seconds. Not that doing anything was possible, as
the instant I was captured the aura of a Primordial froze every
movement of my body. Only my heart continued beating, as even my
lungs were paralyzed.
“You are different.” A rumbling chirp, like a parakeet the size
of a skyscraper, sounded over me. “Why are you different?”
The aura holding me still vanished, and my Aether senses
showed that we were gradually drawing closer to the Skysurfer. “Uh,
in what way?” I asked.
 “Your soul does not belong,” the bird said.
I looked up at it. The Primordial was only a bit larger than Sia
was at his full size, probably so that it could interact with me. Instead
of feathers, though, it had metal scales. Its Affinity showed through
its scales, nearly blinding me with silvery light until I could force my
Aether Sight to its minimal setting. “Uh,” I stammered.
The bird snorted. “You are different.”
“Yes, I am,” I said. “I got very sick, and woke up with new
memories.”
“Hmm, reincarnation, interesting,” he answered. “I am
Minokawa, one of the Guardians of the Sky. Ozomene reported a
violation of the Oceanic Flight Agreement, and I am investigating.
You interest me, so tell me why you were flying above the limit.”
“We weren’t, sir,” I answered. “We have been careful about
staying at around ninety meters from the sea. A few days ago, we
were attacked by Harpies. Is that what the violation was?”
“I doubt that Ozomene would allow her offspring to violate the
Agreement, and then have me investigate,” Minokawa said.
Sia streaked over. “It is the truth, great one,” he said. “We
attempted to greet them peacefully. They attacked with no warning,
no communication.”
A stream of Aether, as thick around as my thigh, shot out of
the Primordial. It shimmered a pale lilac, though just looking at it
made my eyes cross. The Aether paused right next to Sia’s head. A
tiny feather of Flame tentatively reached out and touched
Minokawa’s. They connected, and Minokawa’s Aether sunk into Sia’s
head.
Five seconds later, the Aether tendril snapped, leaving a tiny
piece with Sia. I felt his mind shudder and grow minutely stronger.
“My payment,” Minokawa said. “I will investigate Ozomene’s
knowledge of this attack. She will be sanctioned if she condoned it,
otherwise the guilty party is dead already.” He let me go, and I
quickly formed an Air platform to land on.
“Uh, sir,” I started. “May I ask you a question?”
“You already did,” he rumbled, then laughed. I could feel Sia
roll his eyes through the bond, and I politely chuckled. “Yes, ask
away.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “What does it mean to be a Guardian of
the Sky? How do your people live? Do you have islands you land on
elsewhere in the sea? Are there Beasts that never land?”
“Breathe; I can only answer one question at a time!”
Minokawa said, his tone changing from the serious judge of our guilt
to almost a kindly grandfather. “The Beasts of the Sky live on the Sky
Islands. As a Guardian of the Sky, I keep the peace between tribes
and protect the Guniguni Harang.”
“The Illusion Barrier?” I asked.
“You are limited to flying only below one hundred twenty
meters, as your people measure them, to prevent intrusion upon our
territory,” Minokawa answered. “The Guniguni Harang is a layer of
Aether woven to block the senses of those below it, so that you
cannot see the Sky Islands. It only works on those below Soul
Expression, or Perfect Core as you would know it. One of the
Guardians speaks to every person who advances to that stage, just
in case they somehow missed being informed of the Sky Islands by
one of their own elders.”
“Is there ever a way we could visit the Sky Islands?” I asked.
“You may request it, though I do not recommend even
attempting until you express your soul,” Minokawa told me kindly.
“Travel between the islands is fraught with danger.”
Drat, I thought, then nodded. “Uh, do your people ever come
below the Guniguni Harang?”
“Often,” he answered. “We hunt in the sea for a portion of our
meals. The Katiwala, or Overseers, guide our livestock and prey
populations on the Islands, and fishing is a way of supplementing
what our environment can sustain.”
“Do you have any problems between the Sky Islands? Or
between the Sky Islands and a ground nation?”
“Many, but that goes beyond information I am willing to
share,” Minokawa said, his tone slightly admonishing.
“Okay,” I said, hopping between feet, creating new steps
each time. I’d figured out that it was more efficient to do so than to
just stand still, surprisingly. Air did not like being chained to a single
spot. “My nation, and several allied ones, have just declared war on
the Illyrian Empire, because they have allied with Chaos. Dungeons
and Chaos Beasts have been invading our world, and a calamity is
coming.”
“That is grave news indeed. Does Siarczysty know of this?”
“Yes,” I said. “I do not keep secrets from my Bond.”
“Siarczysty, will you allow me to examine your thoughts
again?” Minokawa asked.
“Of course, Guardian,” Sia answered.
I watched the Aether form again, this time seeing tiny flecks
of Geist flowing down the center of the tube. It’s Mental Aether, I
think, I thought to myself. Maybe using Geist to transform the Aether,
or using the Aether as a channel for the Geist to share information?
He’s obviously seeing something in Sia’s mind. Maybe you can’t lie
effectively when connected that way, and so they trust information
exchanged in this manner more? No idea, but I’ve not been
experimenting enough with what Aether can do. Too much time and
thought on combat only. Unfortunately, I don’t see that changing
anytime soon.
“I thank you for this warning,” Minokawa said formally. He
thought for a second, then shrank down to roughly my size. “I do not
have any treasures with me, but I can show you how to make a
stable Air construct. Now, watch.” A streamer of Air shot out of him,
this time shimmering with light as the Primordial willed it to be visible
to all. Minokawa did not know that I could see Aether, and I liked it
that way.
He formed a platform very similar to my own. The runes,
however, weren’t still. The way the Air construct hardened kept
rotating around, but the balance didn’t change. It rotated flat. “Jump
onto it,” Minokawa instructed.
I hurried and obeyed. I expected the platform to be rotating,
but it wasn’t. It held still, even as the runes underneath me swirled
around in seemingly random patterns. “How?” I asked.
“Air does not stop moving, and when forcing it to, you
weaken it. This is what is causing the additional drain over time of
your technique,” he explained.
 “Why am I not turning around?” I asked. “It looks like the
runes for the hardening and surface are spiraling, and I thought the
platform would mimic their movement?”
“The surface is not moving, only its support is,” Minokawa
answered. “These two runes define the surface, and their relative
position never changes.” Two runes pulsed.
Light and Darkness, why did I never think of that! That’s
amazing. “Thank you,” I said. With a thought, I created the runes for
Dancing Northern Wind’s Air platform, then started them spinning.
After a few seconds, I released my control on most of them, with only
two, very similar to the ones Minokawa was using, held in a sort of
stasis, spinning around each other. I jumped over to it, and stood.
The Aether cost was consistent, a tiny bit higher than one without
moving runes, but it didn’t change. “This will be incredibly helpful.”
“Now will yourself forward,” Minokawa said. “You control your
Aether, so move it.”
I reached out mentally to the construct I’d built, and pushed it
sideways like I would if I wanted to create the platform at the end of
my next step. It moved, the Aether drain tripling instantly, but it
moved. I’m flying. “I’m flying!” I shouted, zooming around. With some
minor movement of the runes and technique, I coated my legs and
torso, then leaned forward and shot toward the Skysurfer.
Jon held his hand out, and I slapped him a high five as I flew
past him. “Knight Aiden, is everything safe?” Knight Kaminski yelled,
flying in front of me.
I stopped moving and nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” I said. “The
Primordial is named Minokawa, and is a Guardian of the Sky. He
was told that we violated the agreement, and came to investigate.”
“The one who reported the violation must not have known of
Siarczysty’s presence,” Minokawa said, appearing next to us. “His
people and my own share a bond, and we can speak experiences to
each other. Thus I was able to confirm your version of the events
that unfolded. I will bring this to the other Guardians, and we will
uncover what truly occurred. Be safe, and know that I will be
watching for your advancement, Bond Aiden.” He shot away and
grew to utterly enormous proportions before blurring upward and
vanishing into the sky.
“I’m going to practice flying some more,” I said with a grin.
Knight Kaminski nodded, then hit me in the face with a ball of
Water. “Yes, you obviously need it.” The smile in her voice made me
laugh, and I blazed forward to continue my training.
 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The next two weeks passed quickly. I finally finished updating
every one of my Core runes, and my gathering speed increased
enormously. Of course, that only offset the rapid increase in Aether
requirements to advance in the Seed Core stage. The first layer took
me half an hour of continuous gathering to create. The second, after
updating another Core rune, took thirty-three minutes. The third, forty
minutes. I was only gathering to advance a single layer once a day,
as the wave of Aether that each one created left me feeling sore and
bloated afterwards.
At this point, Sia started to gather with me. With the second-
to-last Core rune completed, and Sia’s assistance increasing the
speed of my gathering, it still took thirty-seven minutes for the fourth
layer. Sia hopped off my shoulder and flapped over to his perch after
finishing. “I still have hundreds of layers to add to my Core to
advance,” I said, panting as I stood and stretched. “How much longer
will it take to advance in Foundation, or, Light guide me, Complete
Core?”
“Each layer does help you gather faster, but you are right. It
will eventually take you days to advance a single layer,” Sia said.
“There is a reason that the fastest advancement through Core I know
of was eight years, and they only reached the end of Complete Core
and stopped.”
“Who was that?” I asked.
“The City Lord of Western City. His family is extremely
wealthy,” Sia started.
“Yeah, on the backs of their people,” I interjected. “That rotten
fish was the one trying to make a profit off the Beast Wave we
stopped. Gah, I hate that city.”
“True. He bought his way to the top of Core, spending nearly
all of his time gathering and using extreme amounts of pills, Beast
Cores, and other supplements. He never tried to advance because
he knew he would die in the Tribulation. Too many impurities, too
many short lines. He would be found wanting such that the
Tribulation would destroy him.” I snorted and we went to get food.
Other than gathering, I focused on sharing the Legacy with
the others, and we all learned new techniques. Jon and I both found
good widespread damage techniques. His was a field of sharp
snowflakes that cut apart anything inside and mine was a storm
cloud that blasted Lightning over its surface. “If the Harpies come
again,” he growled, “I will be ready for them.”
“We will be,” I said. Everyone else learned at least one new
technique, and we trained incessantly. Being Core made it so much
easier to fit everything into my schedule, since I only needed two or
so hours of sleep a night. Along with the pills I made for everyone’s
gathering assistance, I also worked on mass-producing Affinity
Powders. I still owed Librarian Narwan a few hundred of them, but
my ability to focus on multiple items and channel five different Aether
techniques at once, along with the awesome new mortar and pestle
sets he got me, let me make ten at once. I created over a thousand
sets before we found land, firmly meeting my debt to my master and
giving me a lot of extras to sell.
Three days prior to finding land, Aleks advanced to Seed
Core, which seemed to set off a ripple effect that brought everyone
else up over the next two days. Pills, powders, elixirs, Beast Cores,
all of a supremely high quality —all had been consumed in quantities
that even Aleks didn’t normally get to use. The Alchemical items
given possessed very little impurities, created by master Alchemists
using exquisite ingredients. The Soul Strengthening gatherers of the
four nations had truly paid me a fair price for the knowledge I sold
them, with most of the supplements being items that were impossible
to simply purchase. Even Sam was able to advance to Circulation
Condensation, Librarian Narwan’s treatments having fixed her
foundation enough for her to advance, finally.
At last, we found the Craesti peninsula after three weeks and
a day of traveling. “Land ho!” I shouted, seeing the beach. “We’re
home!”
 “Well, sort of,” Jamila said, sitting with me on watch. “We still
have to find the ruins, and then get back to Craesti.”
“So, which way to the ruins?” I asked.
Jamila shrugged. “You would have to ask Knight Kaminski or
Aleks. I am not very good at navigation.”
“East,” Knight Kaminski said, appearing next to me in a
similar vein to Librarian Narwan. “We will head east until we reach
the point of the peninsula. If we have not reached the ruins by then,
we will turn back and retread our journey and head west from here.”
“Got it!” I said. “We’ll turn to the left once we reach the coast.
I can’t wait! I wonder what we’ll find? Maybe another source of
Geist?”
“It would be good to be able to temper with it,” Jamila told
me. “I have only made a little progress at gathering Geist.”
“Prince Gunther did invite us all to the Weltreich to train,” I
said. “They have a tower of Geist there, so we’ll be able to advance
with that.”
“Your method works, it is just slow,” Jamila said.
“What about the mapping device?” Bridget asked. “We still
have not used that thing.”
“Good point!” I said excitedly, pulling it out. We’d merged the
metal ball into it already, and it now stood up from the center of the
plate. I started to charge it, though I didn’t push Aether in too quickly
as we were still over the water.
We chatted for another twenty minutes before turning east to
follow the coastline. Right after we turned, I surged the last bit of
Aether needed to activate it. The metal ball lit up, runes scrawled
throughout its surface, and jumped two meters into the air. A wave of
Aether shot out from it, reaching at least three kilometers from where
we were. When the wave returned, bouncing back like a slow-motion
radar beam, a map formed just like last time, only covering ten times
the distance the map previously was capable of. “Well, now we know
that the sphere increases the range,” I said.
“Look there.” Vaya pointed, and the map grew bigger,
zooming in on where she pointed. A spot glowed the green of Wood
Aether. “I think it also shows sources of Aether! This will be useful for
exploring.”
Forty minutes later, and a dozen maps made and examined,
Jamila pointed. “There’s the temporary fort we built! We’re almost
there!”
“Can you go get Aleks and Knight Kaminski?” I asked.
“Sure,” Jamila said, then ran inside. A few moments later, she
returned with Aleks, then Knight Kaminski appeared next to me.
“We are almost there,” Aleks said. “This is exciting.”
The rest of the crew slowly trickled out to see the land.
Everyone started to chatter, pointing at the forest, and then at the
beginnings of the ruins. Tiny broken-down walls and clear areas of
the jungle revealed where houses, roads, and businesses used to
be.
“There.” Jon pointed at a larger area that only had a few
small trees in it. “I swear that used to be a warehouse. That would
make that”—he pointed at an area of slightly less dense trees—“the
main road in and out of the city. At least, in this direction.”
“Cool,” I said. “Should we set down to investigate here?”
“No,” Aleks said. “Up ahead there was a large area of
partially intact ruins. We should land there.”
“Got it,” I said, pushing us ahead as fast as I could. It wasn’t
that fast, the Skysurfer yet again showing that it was designed for
comfort and carrying capacity over speed, as we puttered along over
the slowly increasing density of ruins.
“Drop!” Knight Kaminski yelled suddenly. I immediately
released the hover enchantment on the Skysurfer, letting gravity pull
us downward.
A bar of a disturbingly greenish-black Aether shot through
where we were flying before I let us fall. The Aether made my skin
tingle. “Who shot at us?!” I screamed as I piloted us toward the
ground. We corkscrewed through the air, and four more beams of
Aether rose to meet us.
“I will block!” Knight Kaminski yelled. “They do not know how
many of us there are, or how strong we are. Aiden, bring us down,
then store your Portable Home. Do not store the Skysurfer. I want
them to think they brought me down, and I was alone. Now, dive!”
The urgency in her voice drove me to turn us nearly
perpendicular to the ground. The training we’d undergone throughout
the journey revealed its worth, as everyone was able to hold
themselves steady even with the Skysurfer at eighty degrees to the
ground. When we were three meters above the beach, I desperately
pulled up, and we slammed into the ground with the Skysurfer
parallel to it.
Everyone except Knight Kaminski fell down, collapsing under
the impact of the Skysurfer to roll across its surface. Groans rose
from the prone group. “Get up!” Knight Kaminski yelled, and I
struggled to my feet. “Go, I will draw them off.”
“Who attacked us?” Lilianna asked.
“I do not know,” Knight Kaminski answered, “but they were
proficient in the weird Death Aether just like the Naga before, so they
are not anyone to play around with. Get into the jungle and hide
yourselves. I will draw off pursuit. I will return to the crash site after
half an hour. Be ready to ambush those that are tracking me.
“We will,” I said. “Come on.”
“Wait,” Jamila said. She grabbed Knight Kaminski’s shoulder
and triggered the Steady Bazsazi Technique. “This will help you stay
safe.”
“Thank you,” she said.
I struggled to my feet. Everyone else staggered to theirs as
well, recovering from the impact with the sand. Jamila moved among
us to use the same technique, enhancing our natural healing ability
and giving us greater stamina.
The Skysurfer itself was embedded in the dirt at a thirty
degree angle. I hope it’s not damaged, I thought. No, it should be
fine, it’s way too strong for a simple impact to break it.
“Pull the Portable Home into your ring,” Knight Kaminski
commanded.
I reached back and tapped the shack-sized structure, sucking
it into my ring and taking up half of the available space. After that, we
all ran toward the tree line. Knight Kaminski sent a massive bar of
Fire Aether through the woods, and I heard a dozen creatures
screaming in agony as they burned. “You are weak and pathetic!”
Knight Kaminski yelled, then she bolted in the opposite direction we
had run. “I will murder you all for attacking me!” She sent another
absolutely massive blast through the jungle, disrupting any trail we
could have made.
She’s protecting us while attracting the attention of all our
enemies. Light, I hope I can be as brave if the time comes for me, I
thought. We ran for a few minutes, avoiding plants as much as we
could to hide our trail. A tree thudded to the ground somewhere
behind us. “Hold up!” I whispered loudly before extending my
Forgotten Mists Technique, the stealth technique Headmaster Glav
had given me, over everyone that wasn’t already covered in some
type of stealth technique. When I finished, I hissed, “Be still!”
Lampart, Bridget, Zimnodlot, and Hanna had each hidden
themselves, and Sia had shrunk down and landed on my shoulder to
basically count as part of me for the technique.
Jon shifted, and I grunted. I was already straining to use it on
nine targets rather than one, and every motion made my center
twitch as the Aether drain increased.
After twenty minutes, Lampart said to us all, “You can release
the techniques. The nearest Naga have departed.”
Naga! I thought, then dropped the technique. My right leg
hurt from the surge of Aether I’d used, but I could feel it healing in
real time. “What are the Naga doing here?”
“Looking for something. I do not know what,” Vaya said, “but
it cannot be good.”
“We need to find Knight Kaminski,” Milenna said. “She might
need our help. She is already late.”
“It has only been twenty-five minutes,” Lilianna said. “We
should wait until she is actually late.”
“True,” I said. “Everyone, gather quickly. If Knight Kaminski
doesn’t get back soon…” I trailed off, then shrugged. Everyone but
the Beasts dropped into their centers to pull as much Aether in as we
could. Five minutes passed glacially, worry soaking through all of us.
 Finally, Milenna repeated, “We need to find her. It has been
too long.”
“Yes, we do, but we need more information about our
enemies to see how we can help. Lampart, did the Naga take the
Skysurfer?”
“Knight Kaminski did something to prevent them from moving
it,” Lampart told me. “Two were attempting to steal it, but were
unable to.”
“I can track them,” Bridget said. “Especially with Lampart’s,
Zimnodlot’s, and Sia’s help.”
Sia leapt off my shoulder to one of the low-hanging branches.
“Then let us go.”
“Be careful,” I told him. He chirped, and I felt his amusement
through our Bond. With a flap of his wings, he was suddenly well
above the treetops, still in his smallest size. Somehow, he’d turned
his feathers to a dark-blue color, making him harder to see. There
were a dozen other birds off in the distance, helping to camouflage
him.
“Follow slowly,” Bridget said before she ran off back the way
we came.
“We will wait a few minutes to let you get ahead,” Jon called
quietly after her.
After two minutes, I said, “That should be enough,” and
moved after her at a walk while keeping my Aether sense and Sight
on their highest settings. The dense Aether of the Zaboj Swamp tried
to hide what was around me, but I was able to focus through the
haze. Dozens of trees glowed in my Sight, though they were all on
the weaker end. I was still amazed at how many Aether plants were
available here on the edge of Craesti.
We moved carefully through the swamp, retracing our path
until I reached a massive clearing that hadn’t been there before.
Over a hundred trees were lying shattered on the ground, the
leftovers from Knight Kaminski’s attack. The Skysurfer rested in the
distance, untouched by our attackers.
I scanned the open space, but the Fire and Air Aether that
went into her technique screened everything around. I had to shut
off, as much as I could anyway, my Aether Sight. Even without it,
though, I could see nothing beyond the tiny fires left over from the
explosion. “Anyone see any Naga?” I asked.
“No,” came a short chorus.
“I’m going to grab the Skysurfer,” I said. “Do you see where
Bridget went?”
“Over there,” Lilianna said, pointing to our right. I looked to
see a fallen tree had an arrow carved into it. It was just three quick
slashes, but that was enough to point the way.
“Go, I’ll catch up,” I said before taking off toward my flying
device. A film of Aether coated it, but when I touched it, the Aether
surged over me and vanished. With a flick of my Aether, the
Skysurfer shrank to the size of a surfboard and then it vanished into
my ring. I turned and sprinted after the others.
Vaya had reached the edge of the cleared area and paused,
waiting for me to catch up. “There,” she said, gesturing at another
mark. “They went that way. Come on.”
We spread out, keeping at least two of us in sight at all times,
while trailing after Bridget and Lampart. I could feel Sia above us,
and he fed me information on the moving Beasts around us. There
were dozens of level two and three Beasts hiding in burrows or the
branches of trees, but we ignored them and they cowered away from
us. Even with our control of our auras, the lower-leveled Beasts
knew we were beyond them, and they shivered in their homes until
we passed.
“Sia, do you see anything?” I asked.
“There are at least a dozen Naga in the forest,” Sia told me.
“And there are weird movements that make me think of the Alghul
we saw from the last Naga. Be careful down there.”
“Do not blow your cover unless we call,” I told him. “Having
you as a source of information is worth some minor injuries on our
part.” I felt his disapproval but I didn’t care. “I’m serious. We need to
know what is going on around us more than we need you to fight for
us. If we are truly in danger, I’ll scream for help, and you can berate
me later. Right now, it is better to know where the Naga are, where
their forces are, than it is to have you fight our battles for us. We can
beat the few Naga we encounter.” I paused for a second. “Do you
know where Knight Kaminski is?”
“She left a few burning clearings behind her,” Sia said,
projecting a vision of holes cut out of the forest to our left, “but I do
not see any indications of where she is now. The ruins are ahead,
and at least a dozen Naga are exploring the nearer edges.”
“Light blind it,” I cursed. “So how many total do you see?”
“Um,” he said, a feeling of focus echoing through our bond,
“at least thirty. Only a few are close enough that I can feel their
strength. Those are high-Condensation tier, with one at Seed Core.
Her scales are a deeper green than the others. That may be an
indicator, as several others with similar coloring are hiding their
power. I cannot get close enough to break a veil without giving away
my own.”
“Do not,” I told him severely. “We will simply assume that
every Naga with darker coloring is stronger than we are, and avoid
them if we can. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Watch out!” Sia sent, and the underbrush in front of me
parted. An Alghul stumbled out of it, saw me, and warbled loudly to
its brethren.
 CHAPTER TWENTY-
THREE
I lashed out with a squeak, my fist slamming into and through
the rotting thing’s chest. Its scream stopped, but it didn’t stop
moving. With a backhand to the head, I cut it down. A dozen more
warbles echoed from our surroundings, the Alghul’s compatriots
responding to its call. “Fire burn it,” I whispered, frustrated at myself
for not noticing it quicker.
“Cut them down,” Aleks commanded, her voice muffled by
the trees separating us.
I leapt into the branches of the tree in front of me, the tinest
flicker of Aether enhancing the limb I landed on so it didn’t break. I
still couldn’t see far, but I finally located an undead with my Aether
Sight on full. It was like a hole in the Aether; the trees and grasses
near the creature lost tiny bits of their Aether as it passed. The
Alghul’s Aether was the twisting green and black from before, but the
colors seemed to fade into a dark gray if the creature wasn’t in my
direct line of sight. It was hard to notice among the swirls of brighter
colors, which could be why I missed them earlier.
Vaya stepped forward and sliced the undead in half, and I
saw its Aether spread into the ground where it fell. Even the dark
brown of Earth Aether seemed to get a bit fainter, though the effect
faded within seconds. Those things are damaging the world around
them, I thought, and the Naga are making more. This is not good.
A choking growl was followed by a weight slamming into me
from behind. Unfortunately for whatever it was, I was well braced
and barely moved, while the sound of bones breaking echoed
around me. I leapt up, spinning in the air to catch myself on another
branch and found a zombified Jungle Panther standing back up on
the ground below me. Its front legs were bent awkwardly, but the
Beast didn’t care.
I dropped from the sky to crush its skull before yelling, “There
are Beast zombies too. Everyone collect up so we can fight as a
group.”
“There are four Naga near you,” Sia said. “I cannot sense the
Alghul at all, so I am useless at protecting you. I will return to fight by
your side.”
“We are fine,” I told him. “We have twelve Core gatherers and
four Core Bonds. These things are mid-Condensation at best. Sam
could fight one, and so could Fluffy, so we will simply tear them
apart. How strong are the Naga, though?”
“Three are at Threshold Condensation, and one Seed Core.
There is something odd about their Aether, though,” Sia said. “You
only have a minute before they will reach you.”
“Guide me to intercept them?” I asked. “Jon, Vaya, follow me.
Four Naga incoming, we’re going to meet them.”
“Go,” Jon said as he smashed a zombie snake into a tree,
pulping it. “I think they turned most of the animals in the jungle into
these things.”
“They need to pay for that,” Vaya growled.
“Then let’s make sure they do,” I said, then froze for a
second. “Sia, be careful, the birds up in the sky with you may be
enemies as well.”
“I have seen no indications of that, but I will watch them as
well,” Sia said. “There is a small clearing ten meters in front of you.
You will reach the edge just before the Naga do, be ready.” I could
feel his thoughts communicating with Jon and Vaya as well.
We crossed the distance in a few seconds and crouched
behind a tree. I pointed at Jon and gestured to my right, then at Vaya
and my left. I then indicated I would go up, over Vaya’s head, so that
all three of us could attack at the same time. They nodded
understanding and hefted their weapons. Crashes sounded from
behind us as the others obliterated the zombies in the woods. Very
little Aether was being used, though, so the Naga still had no idea
how strong we were.
 After a moment, I could hear the slithering of the Naga. I held
up the last three fingers of my right hand, keeping a grip on my
trisula with my thumb and pointer, then counted down. I leapt into the
air, a small platform forming under my foot to redirect my charge.
The closest Naga, a male with dark-green scales on his snake body
and a silvery breastplate over his human torso, reacted too slowly,
his eyes growing huge as an Ice Spike from Jon took him in the
chest, stabbing straight through his armor.
I focused on the rearmost Naga, who gave me a feeling of
danger. My Wrath of the Lightning Herald drilled into her, but a
swirling shield of Water and Chaos-ified Death Aether formed nearly
instantly. My technique broke the shield, but the tiny fraction of its
power that was left shattered on the armor she wore.
Her human-like face twisted in a sneer, and she stabbed
toward me with her hand like a claw. A two-meter wide talon of
Death Aether exploded at me.
I cut it apart with Lightning before it reached me, but another
followed quickly after it. I could see another technique forming
behind her, only this one was targeted back the way they came.
“Can’t let that finish!” I thought, then I ducked under one of the Death
Claws. I formed an Air Aether Slash and yanked a chunk of Essence
out of my Core. Infusing the Slash with the Essence, I cut at the
Naga while maintaining a connection to the technique.
She created that same shield and sent another Claw at me
from the side.
I forged the Iron Skin, Granite Bones Technique and trusted it
to take the attack while I pulled sharply at the Air Aether Slash. It
curved over the shield and my connection to it snapped. Thankfully, I
was able to line it up on her still-forming technique. When the
Essence-infused Slash hit the Air and Lightning Aether runes, they
were cut apart. The snap of the Aether rebounding into the Naga
made her stumble. Her Claw slammed into me, cutting through the
first two layers of my technique before breaking apart.
She unleashed her aura, no longer caring that it would affect
her companions. Not that it mattered, as only a second later Vaya
cut down the third Condensation Naga. “That’s it?” I exclaimed,
surprised at how weak her aura felt. Aether surged into my legs, and
I exploded forward. Aether coated my trisula as I went to slash with
my right and stab with my left, only for her to catch my weapons with
the gauntlets she was wearing.
My strength was beyond her. I wasn't able to cut through the
gauntlets but I could hear the bones in her arms snap as she
blocked. My left trisula continued, deflected down and to the right by
her block, and cut through the side of her stomach. I planted my foot
and spun, trying to backhand her across the face only to be smacked
backward by a tail slap.
My reflexive attempt at attacking her tail cut off the tip, and
she screamed again. Sound Aether tried to push me away, but
instead degraded the last layer of my defensive technique. A Vine
Whip ripped out of the ground next to her and wrapped around her
chest, pinning her arms down. Jon arrived just after it, slashing
across the Naga’s gut. Her shield sprung up again to block, causing
her Sonic defense to fade away.
I sent a Lightning Aether Blast into her unshielded snake
bottom, altering the runes slightly to give it more of a shocking effect
rather than damage. Her Aether Shield had been destroyed already,
letting my Aether wreak havoc across her nerves. She spasmed, and
Vaya used the distraction to push a dozen Wooden Spikes out of the
ground into the snake. Jon straightened up and cut her head off with
a powerful chop.
“Anyone else? Sia, anything?” I asked them.
“There are some moving in the trees, but it looks like you are
undiscovered for now,” Sia said. “Princess Aleksandra asks that you
join her in another clearing, forty meters away to your right and rear.”
“Thanks,” I told him.
“Lampart says that there were two other Naga in the jungle
near us, but she and Zimnodlot removed them before they knew they
were under attack,” Vaya told me.
“Awesome. Come on, let’s meet up with the others,” I said,
waving. We hurried through the jungle and found the clearing Sia
had directed me to. In the center, Jamila was crouched over Xiao
while the others stood, nervously watching the plants around us.
Hanna was the only exception, as she was sitting off to the side,
gathering. “What happened?”
“One of the undead bit him while he blocked an attack on
Lilianna,” Jamila said, her hands glowing green in my Aether Sight.
“Some kind of curse is causing his cells to necrotize. This did not
happen last time!” She growled that last bit. “I am cleansing it now,
but it is resisting. Vaya, can you assist? Hanna already exhausted
herself trying.”
“Of course,” Vaya said, rushing to her side. Her Aether joined
Jamila’s. “Wait, we have it isolated in his forearm right now.”
“Yes?” Jamila asked. “If I loosen my grip on it, it will spread
rapidly.”
Vaya pulled out her knife, coated it in Metal Aether, and
sliced a chunk out of Xiao’s arm.
Jamila flinched backward, losing control of her Aether, and
the bloody hunk of flesh rapidly rotted away. “Well, that worked,”
Jamila said, bending back over Xiao and quickly healing the damage
done. She frowned as Aether poured off her. “Healing everyone is
getting more difficult. With each temper and advancement it takes
more Aether to fix problems and regenerate flesh.”
“That’s why they could heal us so well when we were only
Aether Gatherers,” I said. “Huh.”
“Now what?” Aleks asked. “Do we wait for Knight Kaminski to
find us, or do we seek her out?”
“The explosions stopped a few minutes ago,” Ming said. “So
it is likely she lost her pursuers and is searching for us now.”
“Or she has been taken and needs our help,” Milenna said.
“What could we do against someone she could not beat?”
Jon asked incredulously.
“Heal her with techniques and pills, then keep the weaker
Naga off her so she is not overwhelmed,” she answered. “They do
not have anyone stronger than Perfect Core, or we would already be
destroyed.”
“She makes a good point,” I said. “Everyone, finish
recovering and clean your weapons if needed. We’ll wait here for an
hour or two. Sia, can you look for Knight Kaminski? Do you see
where the ruins are?” I repeated what I’d asked Sia aloud, so
everyone else could hear.
“The edge of the ruins is a kilometer away. I can see a dozen
Naga inspecting a building, with a hundred or so of those Alghul
standing motionless throughout the area. No sign of Knight
Kaminski. The last place she used a technique has a few undead
milling around. The Beasts around us have seemingly vanished,
though the birds are still circling above me. They are not undead, but
have not answered any of my calls,” Sia told me.
“We should circle around to another side of the ruins,” Aleks
said, “if Knight Kaminski does not return. The Naga will be watching
this area more closely, especially if they realize their patrols around
here were killed.”
I frowned. “Should we even wait then? If we move carefully,
we might be able to pass through their lines, but if we delay too long,
they may realize that Knight Kaminski was not the only person on
the Skysurfer.”
“Let us wait,” Lilianna said. “I am not sure Xiao is ready to
move.”
“I am fine,” Xiao said, trying to sit up.
Vaya and Jamila both held him down. “Wait,” Jamila said. “I
need to be sure that we fully cleansed you. If any of that Death
Aether got into your heart or brain, I do not know what would
happen.”
He stilled, not resisting as they pushed him back down. The
two girls continued scanning their Aether through him for another five
minutes before Jamila was willing to say, “You are clean. Run your
Aether through any meridians in the healed area. Let me know if you
feel any discomfort.”
“Thank you,” he said, sitting up.
Lilianna sat next to him and put her arm over his shoulder.
She pulled him into a side hug and whispered something I
deliberately didn’t hear.
“Did anyone else fight any Naga?” I asked.
“No,” Aleks said, coming over to stand next to me.
 I smiled at her. “The Seed Core Naga I fought seemed…
weak,” I said. “I’m not sure if that is good or not. If they’re all like that,
Knight Kaminski should have demolished them, and that beam of
Death wouldn’t have forced us down. Did we get lucky, or are their
strongest fighters doing something else right now? If so, what, and
do we need to stop it?”
“We do not know,” Aleks said. “We can only act on the
information we have. Have you used every current source of
information you have?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you not get information from Light and Darkness once?
Have you asked them? What about the mapping device?”
“Uh, no.” I shrugged. “I didn’t think of it, actually.”
“No harm in trying, right?”
“Sure,” I said. I bowed my head, closed my eyes, and
thought, Hey, Darkness, Light, any hints as to what is going on here?
Should we get involved quickly, wait for Knight Kaminski, just leave?
I’m not certain what is right here. I waited for a minute, then shook
my head. “I don’t think they can communicate with us easily. I’ve only
heard from them once.”
“When was that?” Sam asked, nervously holding a club with
some paper wrapped around it.
“When they told me about you,” I said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t
have known you were a slave of the Illyrians.”
“I’ll have to thank them, then,” Sam said. “I’m going to kill the
Illyrian slavemasters.”
“We all are,” Ming growled, angrier than I had ever heard
him. “Their disgusting practices have caused too much pain for
anything but death.”
“Focus on our current issues,” Aleks said. “While I agree and
will be supporting the war as much as I am able to, we are currently
near a substantial enemy force.”
Ming looked sheepish for a second, before nodding
determinedly.
“I do not think we should use the mapping device,” Bridget
said, answering Aleks’s third question.
 “Why not?” Aleks asked.
“While none of us here can feel or see the Aether wave
used,” she explained, “that does not mean that no one else could. If
one of the Naga, especially the Perfect Core, can, we would be
dead. Better to use our own senses.”
A round of nods met that declaration. We waited another
hour, but Knight Kaminski never showed up. “Well, let us go explore
and see if we can find her,” Aleks said, and we started to
circumnavigate the ruins.
 CHAPTER TWENTY-
FOUR
Over the next four hours, we carefully crept through the
edges of the Zaboj Swamp. Every dozen meters or so, one of us
would sense a zombified Beast or Alghul. Each one was avoided,
making our path much longer than it would have been otherwise.
While we could easily have obliterated them, we’d decided to try and
actually be stealthy this time.
This was validated as a good idea when, after half an hour,
Sia reported, “At least fifty zombies have just sprinted into the
swamp. Ten Naga followed, surrounded by another fifty undead. I
can see their paths, as they are simply cutting through the foliage.
Keep moving; you are already out of their way, but we need to be
ready in case they spread out.”
“Got it. Thanks for being our eye in the sky,” I said.
We continued on, with Sia giving us updates about the
search party. He didn't see Knight Kaminski, though. Even the
undead near us were acting more agitated, with some pacing
around. We avoided those at a larger distance, barely able to feel
them in our Aether senses. My Aether Sight was less than helpful, as
they were nearly invisible in it. I kept trying to enhance or change my
Sight, but no matter what I did, the zombies were still just barely
noticeable blobs of dark-gray Aether unless I was close to them, with
nothing in the way. They faded into the background of Water, Wood,
Earth, and Air that was everywhere in the Zaboj Swamp. It didn’t
help that there were occasional natural pockets of Death Aether,
usually over a Black Lily or Shrouded Hyacinth, both of which Vaya
noted the locations of.
“I really want to harvest them,” she said, pointing at a small
batch of Black Water Lily floating in a small pond. “They are
extremely rare and valuable, but it will take me an hour to get just
one successfully. We do not have time now.”
“We’ll come back later,” I whispered back. “I’d love to see
what I could make with those too.”
“Another undead snake, ten meters to the left,” Bridget
whispered. “Follow me.”
We kept sneaking, until we’d reached about a third of a circle
around the ruins that we knew about. A quick, quiet discussion had
us head straight in from that point, until we found our first partially
collapsed building. The visible architecture was interesting, as each
of the still-standing bricks had the smoothness of Aether-built
structures, but they were each only twenty centimeters tall. Why
didn’t they just conjure up the entire thing? I thought as we looked at
it. A Weeping Cypress Tree was growing through the center, its limbs
bowing at the edges to partially shield it from sight.
Inside, there were the remains of three rooms, with one
possibly a kitchen based upon the fallen-apart stove on the edge.
“These bricks were Inscribed,” Sam said, scooting up next to me.
“Each one only has a few runes, but they add up. That’s the only
reason why they survived this long, though there is no Aether left in
them.”
“Is that why they are bricks instead of a solid wall?” Milenna
asked, leaning in.
Sam looked to see how close she was and grew flustered for
a second before answering, “I think so?”
“As much as I want to examine this further,” Vaya said, “we
should barrel that until we take care of the Naga problem.”
“Good point,” I said.
“Can you store a few bricks for later?” Sam asked.
“Uh, sure.” I threw two that had fallen from the wall but were
pretty much intact into my ring, then looked around at the others.
“Anyone sense any undead?” No one answered, so I nodded. “Okay.
Let’s keep moving deeper into the ruins. If we find a lone Naga, we
should try to capture them. Try to eliminate any undead we locate
without being detected.”
 “Spread out,” Aleks said. “Stay five meters apart or so, and
we should be close enough to support each other while letting us
cover more ground. Aiden, ask Sia to stay near us. Kami, can you
speak with everyone here?”
“Yes,” Kami said. “I can speak in your mind up to a hundred
meters. I can speak to Bridget farther. I can speak to Lampart farther
still.”
“I will explore ahead,” Lampart said. “No one under Perfect
Core will be able to find me.”
“Be careful,” Vaya told her.
“Of course,” Lampart replied, then seemed to fade into the
plants around us.
“I’ll anchor the line,” I said. I scanned the distance, but didn’t
see any major sources of Aether within my line of sight. “Come on.”
We moved slowly, picking our steps with care and keeping our
Aether senses extended. A few minutes later, a massive explosion
occurred in the distance. I froze as I felt Knight Kaminski and another
Perfect Core’s aura, though it was faint.
“Knight Kaminski just attacked a group of Naga,” Sia told us.
“And then she fled into the jungle. The Naga Perfect Core is chasing
after her.”
“Thanks, Sia,” I said. “Relay to the others to speed up a bit?
I’m sure the Naga are distracted now. ” I felt his affirmative response,
and took off at a faster pace, though we still weren’t trying to run
through the swamp. There were too many places we’d cause
excessive noise and alert our enemies.
“Did Knight Kaminski look injured?” I asked Sia during our
jog.
“No,” he responded. “She did not. That was a lot of Aether
though, so she may be hiding for a while to refill.”
“Got it,” I told him. “Keep an eye out for her, and shout if it
looks like she needs help.” Again I felt his agreement, then focused
back on our trip.
“Aiden, follow me,” Lampart said as she appeared in front of
me. “Everyone, there are undead ahead. Sneak behind them and
behead them in a single strike.” With that command, she turned and
bounded through the jungle.
I hurried after her, running in a crouch and pushing my
Forgotten Mists Technique as hard as I could. We passed another
dozen small ruins, and then she hopped up to the second story of a
larger one. I jumped up beside her, using the tiniest flare of Air
Aether that I could to set down quietly.
Ahead of us, three Naga, two male and one female, were
hissing at each other, one male having just arrived from inside a
larger ruined building. “Did you find any hint of the vault?” the female
asked in a commanding tone.
“Forgiveness, Enta, I did not,” said the male, who was
wearing a light leather chest plate and helm with a spear on his
back, lowering his head and turning it to the left.
“The Enti will not be happy,” she responded. “We have been
searching for days, and still cannot locate her desire. Of course,
ones as lowly as us only get to search the least likely of places.”
“Enta, we will find the vault and elevate you to Ente!” the
other male said boisterously.
Enta, or the Enta—I wasn’t sure if it was a name or a title—
nodded sharply then said, “Come, there is another to inspect.” She
gestured at the building I was in. They were only five meters away or
so, and with her gesture I saw a dozen Alghul shuffle out from
various rocky places.
The closest undead was only a meter away from the door, or
three meters from where I stood. The floor under us was only
partially there, but the rotted remains of a desk provided some cover
to hide behind. “I have called the others over,” Lampart said. “When
the second humanoid undead enters, I will attack and draw them
through the rear. Be ready to remove the Naga.”
“Good plan,” I told her, and started to form the Myriad
Elements Enhancement Technique I’d learned a week prior. It was a
direct improvement to the General Strengthening Technique, and
seemed tailor-made for me. Every Elemental Affinity I had at or
above Excellent—so every single one of them now—was able to be
used to improve my strength, speed, flexibility, proprioception,
perception, and toughness. I went from being able to lift a ton, to ten
tons. Measuring that had been a fun day, and I was still amazed at
how much stronger I was.
I kept the technique only barely formed, not letting too much
Aether run into it to prevent it from overwhelming my stealth
technique. Lampart had padded over to the other side of the second
floor and was looking down the hole in the floor. The first Alghul
staggered through, made a chuffing sound, and kept moving
forward, into a still-intact room. The hole I’d entered through was
above it. All the walls on the upper floor were gone, but the bottom
floor had three different rooms still intact.
The second undead that bounded through was a Rodent of
Unusual Size, a giant rat with the body shape of a capybara but the
pointier face of a sewer rat. It sniffed a few times, but didn’t detect
anything before it ambled over to the doorway the humanoid undead
walked through.
The third enemy to enter was an Alghul, and Lampart
pounced on it. It crumpled to the ground, Lampart’s claws ripping its
head off as a line of Aether extended from them. With a growl, she
shot across the room to slam the ROUS into the wall, both front
paws digging into it to pull it in half.
The undead in the back room bugled in alarm, with the other
zombies joining in. Lampart growled, then went into the other area to
take out the last Alghul inside before leaping out the window. Three
more undead rushed through the main doorway before getting stuck
trying to all squeeze into the rear of the building at the same time.
“Inanna’s sake,” the exuberant male said. “Stop. One at a
time.” At his command, the Alghuls ceased moving, and then orderly
stepped through. I could sense the other six creatures heading
around the building toward where Lampart had curved her path.
The Naga got close enough that I could feel their gathering
level, even with my suppressed senses and their own suppressed
auras. The Enta was at the high end of Complete Compression,
almost ready to push for Seed Core, while the two males were only
in Threshold. Individually and together, they posed no threat to me
unless I really screwed up, but I wanted to make sure that no
warning went out to the other Naga.
The excited male entered below me, and I could see the
other two were going around. I crept forward to one of the many
holes in the floor, tiny, tiny bits of Air Aether keeping me from making
the partially rotten boards creak, and looked down. The Naga was
examining the first Alghul Lampart had re-killed, a frown on its
human-like face. Except for the lack of a nose, the Naga could have
been the upper half of a Craesti. The image was ruined due to the
forked tongue that he flickered out to taste the air.
His back was to me. I tensed up, keeping my attention on the
re-dead body, before I jumped down. My trisula slammed point first
into his torso, and I ripped my hands across his body, eviscerating
the Naga. He died instantly, without a single Aether flicker, and the
two other Naga I was tracking with my Aether Sight didn’t shift their
path at all.
Whew, that worked. Now I’ve just got to overwhelm the other
male Naga and disable the female one. She’s higher ranking, so we
want to take her alive for better information, I thought to myself as I
carefully rushed out the door.
The area in front of the ruined building was the first place
without significant ground cover. There were even patches of the
road still visible. Up and down the road I could see dozens more
buildings in various states of repair, with the area to my left gradually
getting more complete than the building I had just left. The Naga
were to my right, though, and had just turned into the alleyway
between two standing walls. I ran forward, my Myriad Elements
Enhancement Technique springing up to full power. The Naga
started to turn, but I crossed the remaining distance in a blink.
My left hand formed a Lightning Strike, a simplified version of
my Wrath of the Lightning Herald that I could produce in less than a
split second, and sent it into the male Naga. He’d managed to turn
halfway around, only to catch my attack in the side of his skull. He
was blown into and through the wall next to us.
My right hand created a much weaker Lightning Aether Blast,
again modified to be more stunning and less burning. The Enta had
turned all the way around and drawn the two-handed sword she was
wearing. My blast went into her sword, which she dropped with a
shriek, hands spasming. I rushed forward, and deflected away a
Sound technique that was supposed to push me backward. My fist
slammed into her gut, and then I brought my knee into her face as
she bent over.
Both attacks I moderated a bit, as I was fairly certain my full-
power blow would just kill her. After the knee, I smashed her head
into the wall, breaking the leftover stone. The Aether Technique I
could see her using to strengthen her body shattered, and she was
left incoherent. “Sia, tell the others that I have captured a Naga,” I
said.
“Good. Vaya and Aleks both report that the others have killed
two dozen Beast undead. None of them were able to make any
sound,” Sia told me. I felt his presence fly over me, and he directed
me to a smaller house with four intact walls. I carried the barely
conscious Naga into the only room to find Vaya, Jamila, and Aleks.
“Everyone else is on watch,” Aleks said. “I am here as
Princess, Vaya wanted to guard, and Jamila is going to keep the
Naga alive. I need you to translate for me, Aiden.” She smiled a grim
smile. “Okay. Jamila, heal her head, please, but none of her other
injuries.”
“I still do not like this,” Jamila said, bending over the
scrambled Naga. Lighter-green Aether, Life Aether I thought,
streamed into our enemy’s head.
After a few seconds, the Naga screamed. “It hurts,” she said.
“Tell us why you are in these ruins, and we will heal you,” I
told her, my voice growling.
“I am an Enta of Tiamat, and will never betray my people,”
she hissed at me, Aether collecting as she tried something.
With a tiny surge of Essence, I broke her technique apart.
“Everyone talks sometime,” I said.
Another Aether surge, this time internal and too quick for me
to do anything about. With a snap, her heart exploded.
“Great, religious extremists,” I said, staring down at her dead
body. “That was unexpected,” Vaya said.
 “It does give us good information,” Aleks commented. “We
know not to bother taking prisoners.”
“At least, not prisoners who are Enta, or whatever that
means,” Vaya said.
“My translation makes it something like junior priestess,” I
said. “And Tiamat is Chaos, or related to Chaos or something. This is
not good.”
Jamila was looking at the corpse in horror, and apparently
didn’t hear what I had just said. “She just… but why? We would have
healed her.”
“She believed in her people and their cause enough to die
rather than tell us anything,” I said. “That makes me worried.”
“Why?”
“Because if telling us about it was betrayal, that probably
means it has something to do with us, or at least with Craesti,” Aleks
said. “We need to stop them… whatever it is they’re doing.”
 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“We should split up,” Ming said. Aleks and I had called
everyone together, other than Lampart, Sia, and Zimnodlot, who
were all keeping watch, so that we could talk. They could all take
part anyway.
“Why?” I asked.
“Each of our teams is fully capable of exploring the city. It is
easier to keep out of sight when we are only four people, instead of
thirteen. There are three major roads that Sia has spotted in the
ruins, so we can each move down one. Sia, Lampart and Zimnodlot
will need to split up, though, so that one moves with each team to
allow for communication,” Ming said.
“What about Kami?” Bridget asked.
“I recommend that Kami, Fluffy, and Miss Samantha stay
here.” He gestured at the building behind us.
“Kami, Sam, can you turn this house into a bunker? Kami,
you could use Earth and Metal Aether to dig out an underground
area, with tunnels that lead in all directions. Sam, I’ll leave you with
Inscription materials. Can you strengthen the bunker and house, and
make attack Inscriptions?”
“Yes,” Kami said, waddling into the house and nosing around
in it.
“Uh, sure,” Sam said. “I’ll get Kami to help charge the
Inscriptions. They’ll probably only reach Complete Circulation
strength, but that’s better than I can make without help.”
I reached into my ring, and discovered that I could mentally
grab things from inside the Portable Home. I pulled out every bit of
Alchemical and Inscription material I could, then passed out to the
others bottles of healing, gathering, and refill pills. The majority was
retrieved from their backpacks and other luggage, while the rest
were made by Jon, Hanna, and myself.
 “Okay, we’ll take the center,” I said once we were ready to
split up. “Ming, your team will explore the right side, while Aleks, you
four will explore the left. Hopefully, Knight Kaminski will meet up with
one of us soon. Be safe, everyone, and retreat if necessary. If one of
us has to run, all three teams will regroup here, and we will fight it
out. If they are too much, I’ll bring out the Skysurfer, and we’ll run.”
“Should we send Sam to Oddali to get reinforcements?”
Milenna asked.
“I can’t power the Skysurfer for long,” Sam said.
“Then should we all just go?”
“That might take too long,” I said. “We’re still at least four
days away even flying, and the Naga might have found whatever
they’re looking for by then. Imagine if they were to attack Oddali with
the undead and that curse was unleashed on the civilian population.
What if it was trying to turn Xiao into an Alghul and they were able to
spread exponentially? We cannot let that happen. We are here, and
we are strong enough to deal with the problem. So we will.”
“Well said,” Ming told me, clapping his hand on my shoulder.
“We are ready, let us explore.”
With that, Jamila gave me a quick hug, then jogged off to be
the rear point in the diamond formation that Ming’s team fell into.
Aleks nodded at me with a smile, then turned and led Milenna,
Hanna, and Lilianna to the left, moving through the jungle for a bit
before they would find the road on that side.
“Be safe, Sam,” I said, then looked at Kami, who was halfway
buried as dirt rippled around her, and Fluffy, who was sitting on
Sam’s head and looking around. “If you are discovered, be ready to
run and hide.”
“You all be safe too,” Sam said. “I’ll make a fortress for you to
return to.”
“Thanks.” I grinned, then looked at Jon, Vaya, and Bridget.
“Let’s go.”
Ten minutes later we were twice as deep into the ruins as I
had been when I ambushed the Naga. The buildings gradually got
more put together, though vines grew over a significant portion of the
walls. We’d found and eliminated a couple undead, but no Naga so
far.
A beam of Death Aether shot into the sky from a few
kilometers away. The ruined city was huge, so that put it near the
center. “The Perfect Core is warning me off, or trying to kill me. I will
have to watch from a farther distance for a bit, or else she will
determine that I am not a normal Beast,” Sia said. “No sign of Knight
Kaminski, but there was no pulse of Aether that would signify a fight
either, so I think she got away. There are Naga clustered around a
large building two hundred meters farther in, at a cross street to the
one you are currently on.”
“Thanks Sia, be careful,” I told him.
We hurried forward before stopping at the edge of the
building at the corner. I could hear some hissing, but it was too far
away to make out what they were saying. Bridget vanished into the
building, which looked like it might have been a storefront with a
home above it. I glanced in and saw that there was a large open
room. Bridget leapt onto the second floor through where the stairs
used to connect as I watched.
The other side of the room had an open doorway that looked
out on the opposite street. I snuck inside and followed the wall
around to the farther opening, ducking under a small window that
was mostly covered with detritus. “... believe this is the place,” I
heard a female Naga say.
“We still need to explore the entirety of the building,” another
one answered. “Male, what is taking so long?”
“There is a still-intact vault in the basement,” a gruff, guttural
voice said. “The Gallu are unable to damage the walls, and it will
take us several turns to get in, if we can at all.”
“Incompetent,” the second female said.
“Forgiveness, Ente,” the male said, then his voice changed.
“Someone is listening to us.”
I dove away from the wall just in time, as a lance of Metal
Aether exploded through it. Three Core auras burst out, two Seed
and one Foundation, and I could feel their Aether senses trying to
locate exactly where I was. I wrapped Air, Lightning, Ice, and Water
Aether around me, dismissing myself from their senses.
“Behind the building, one Craesti,” the senior female hissed. I
felt them dart around the building.
“Come get me, you stupid snakes,” Jon yelled.
I rolled to my feet, charging up a Pride of the Plasma Herald
as Jon created a massive shield of Ice. Through the doorway I’d
entered, I could see the edges of the Ice, and watched as the male
Core Naga smashed an enormous maul into it. It cracked, but held,
until a beam of Death Aether smashed into it. The Ice seemed to
fade out.
“Hey, idiots,” I said. “He’s not alone.” The male turned, only to
get a face full of Plasma as I poured a frankly ridiculous amount of
power into it. He screamed for only a second, before his personal
Aether Shield was overwhelmed, then having an open mouth just let
the Plasma burn through his interior.
“Gallu, come,” the junior female bellowed, and dozens of
howls sounded around us.
“Don’t forget about me!” Jon said, then his Ice Shield
exploded outward, dozens of Icicles forming from the remains.
I darted out of the door to see the two Naga. The older
female had a grayish sheen to her green scales, and was wearing an
ornate bronze breastplate along with a silver hauberk of chainmail
over her hairless head, neck, and shoulders. Her weapon was a boar
spear, with larger lugs off the tip than normal. It glowed brightly in my
Aether Sight, so I knew it was heavily Inscribed.
The younger Naga had blue-green scales and a black robe
on. The robe had an eight-pointed star embroidered on it, but unlike
the normal Elemental compass, each point was colored gray. She
held a staff that again had a gray, eight-pointed star on it. That staff
was even more heavily Inscribed, and she was the one with the aura
of a Foundation Core gatherer. She gave off a feeling of danger, and
I knew she was the biggest threat we’d ever faced, beside
Primordials.
The weaker Naga had an Icicle embed itself into her arm,
while the other one created a cylindrical formation of Death and Air
Aether that rapidly corroded the Ice Aether away. Ten Gallu, the
Alghul as we’d been calling them, clambered around the corner
behind the Naga, only for Bridget to leap out of the second story and
sweep her blades across and away from her body. A blade of Air and
Metal Aether, the Wind’s Razor as Bridget called her new technique,
shot out and bisected all but one of the Gallu.
A forest of Wood Spears blasted out of the ground
underneath the older Naga. The majority of them skipped off her
scales, but three hit just right to pierce all the way through. She
screamed, and Sound Aether blasted apart all of the Spears. Blood
poured from her wounds, as Vaya had learned how to add Decay
Aether to her Wood attacks, which prevented healing. The explosion
of wood shredded the last Gallu and tossed Bridget a meter away.
She rolled to her feet then glanced to the side. “There are
more of those Alghul coming! I will delay them,” Bridget yelled, then
darted away.
The stronger Naga sneered at us, then chanted something
that didn’t translate. Jon and I both blasted at her with different
techniques, while the older Naga fought with a set of Vine Whips that
Vaya had grown around her. Both Jon’s and my attacks were
dissipated by the whirling cloud around her.
“Jon, defend me and I’ll work on a stronger attack,” I shouted,
jumping back a meter and starting to form runes around me. Dozens
flashed in every second, just like they did around the priestess.
Aether poured out of Jon, creating a swirling shield of Water, Ice, and
Air in front of us. Vaya was still hiding behind the store, letting her
Aether techniques attack for her.
“Inanna’s Judgement,” the Naga shouted, her staff glowing a
decidedly unpleasant green gray. A spinning star of Death Aether
shot out at us.
“Ulinzi Dhoruba!” Jon yelled, using the incantation to focus
his Aether a bit stronger. The spiraling Aether in front of him
solidified into six layers of alternating Air and Water, with a film of Ice
between each layer. The star reached the first layer, only for the Ice
and Air to explode out at it. Each subsequent layer erupted when its
Ice was broken, and each eruption reduced the momentum and
strength of the attack.
I finished the runic pattern I’d been working on just as
Inanna’s Judgement reached the last layer and was stopped. It
detonated, spikes of Death Aether shooting in eight directions. Jon
intercepted one with his shield, another pattern of runes etched into
its surface. I held both hands over my head, and engaged the spiral
of enhancement runes. “Electromagnetic Tribulation,” I stated, not
feeling the need to shout it. “Jon, move.”
Jon dove to the side as I stepped forward and stabbed both
of my trisula toward my opponent. I’m really glad City Lord Kowalski
made me new weapons before the International Tournament. My old
pair would have exploded with this much Aether flowing through
them, I thought as the largest Lightning Bolt I’d ever created blasted
out. It was an incredibly dark yellow, seeming to swallow all of the
light around it. I’d enhanced the Lightning with more Lightning into
what I was calling Electromagnetic Aether.
It skipped across the distance, both straight there and taking
a staggered path in a way that made my head hurt, and shattered
the Naga’s defense. My attack blew up on her armor, throwing the
priestess ten meters farther down the road. She flipped and rolled
another two meters before getting her tail under her to stand up. Her
motions were jerky, lacking the deadly grace she had demonstrated
earlier. Her armor was cracked, and burn marks marred her skin
underneath it. With a snarl, her staff swept at Jon and I, a dozen
skulls screaming out of it.
I dropped to my right knee, panting with the effort of the
single largest attack I’d ever done. With a groan, I dove forward to
roll under three of the skulls, only to see them start to turn toward
me. Jon sliced apart two and then blocked another one while
dodging between another two. The other four were curving through
the air, already changing their movement to catch us.
I flipped my trisula around and powered out a dozen tiny
Aether Blasts from the modified Four Twin Stabs Technique. It took
four to blow apart a skull, but I could make them fast enough to
defend against her attack. “I have them, attack the Naga!” Jon
yelled, ten Icicles orbiting his head as he focused on defending.
“Got it,” I said, then sprinted toward the Naga. She smirked at
me, and I could see Aether infusing her body as it glowed. I did the
same, pumping my strength to new heights. She smashed her staff
down at me right as I got in range. Only the massive increase to my
proprioception, perception, and reflexes from my new technique let
me keep up with the higher-tier gatherer, but with them I was equal
to her speed.
I roared as I pushed both trisula up, and caught her staff
between the tines of my weapons. I spun to my left, twisting my
trisula so they jerked her arms straight ahead. Her staff spun out of
her hands, and I kept the spin going to slash at her with a backhand
attack. She blocked it with the bracer on her right arm, hissing at me
as the metal bent in. A Sound Blast rocked my head, and my ears
rang.
I snapped a front kick at her, channeling an Aether Blast
through and just in front of it. The impact doubled her over, then the
blast sent her flying into the air. An Icicle slammed into her armor as
Jon joined the attack. It glanced off, a small mark the only evidence.
She stopped in midair, a look of hate on her alien face.
“Enough,” she growled, and a stream of Aether Bolts shot out at me.
I threw four Air Shields in front of the attacks, angled so that the
blasts were diverted into the buildings around us. A quick glance
showed me that the other Naga had ripped Vaya’s vines out of the
ground, but Jon had jumped over and was shield bashing her into
the ground.
Vaya ran around the corner to send a healing technique into
Jon, who had a bite taken out of his left leg. Bridget grunted audibly,
then a Gallu’s top half came soaring over the crossroad to land with
a splat. It was still weakly moving, but an Air Blade removed its head
shortly after landing. Everyone’s fine, I thought, focus on my enemy.
Three of my Shields had cracked apart in the split second of
my distraction, as the Naga poured out her power at me. I
surrounded myself in Air Aether then rocketed upwards, dodging
around her attack as she twisted to point her extended hands at me.
Her beam cut off as I spiraled around it, a Poisonous Metal Arrow—a
combination Metal, Wood, and Decay attack from Vaya—embedded
in her tail. She screamed, olive-drab lines extending out from the
Aether in a venous shape.
Bridget leaped over the building to my right, and targeted the
Naga with her Steam Spear, a combination of Fire, Ice, and Air that
exploded into a burning cloud when it stabbed someone. The Steam
obscured the Naga’s vision, so she didn’t see me as I streaked
toward her. My blades were charged with a technique I was calling
Plasma Edge, which created a cutting line on my weapons that was
eerily reminiscent of a lightsaber.
A pulse of Air blew the Steam away from the Naga, only for
her to scream as I flew, blades first, into her chest. Her armor held
for a second but I created an Air Shield behind her to shove us
together. My trisula cut into and through her. I started to drag them
apart.
“Fine, then we die together,” she said, her arms wrapping
around my torso and pulling me into an uncomfortable hug. I felt her
Aether surge as she prepared to detonate her Core.
“No,” I screamed at her, channeling more Aether and
Essence into my blades to strengthen them.
Before I was able to cut her apart, a massive force ripped her
off of me. Sia had her in his talons and he slammed her into the
ground before leaping away. All five of us threw Aether into various
shields around her prone body, all of which barely contained the
detonation of her Core. Every bit of Essence I’d spent was
immediately refilled, and my Core stretched uncomfortably.
“Thanks,” I said, staggering over to Vaya, who immediately
started to heal the deep cuts on my arms left by the Naga’s last
grasp.
 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“We should explore the building they were in,” I said. “I heard
them mentioning something about a vault that they couldn’t open.
Just like the previous group was looking for a vault. Hopefully, we
can find what they’re looking for before they can, and stop whatever
their plan is before it can start.”
“It would be a good place to recover as well,” Vaya said. “I
am exhausted and need to gather.”
“I too could use a rest,” Sia said, shrinking down to land on
my shoulder.
“There were three other Naga along with the undead,”
Bridget said, “but they were all pretty weak. Nearly thirty of those
Fire-blasted creatures though. Vaya, can you check me out for their
curse? I got scratched and bit a couple of times, but I think I
managed to keep it out of me.”
“Sure,” Vaya said as we walked toward the building the Naga
were investigating. The structure was four stories tall, the largest of
any we’d seen so far. There were four pillars stretching upward to
the overhang, though only two still connected. The walls were made
of brick, like all the other buildings, but these ones were various
colors of white marble, brilliantly bright compared to the store next to
it.
“Whoa,” Jon said.
“Yeah, now that I do not have ugly things pawing at me, I can
admire it. This is a gorgeous building,” Bridget said.
We hurried inside, looking over our shoulders just in case
some other Naga were coming to investigate the sounds of battle.
“Zimnodlot is still above the city,” Sia said. “Princess Aleksandra has
not encountered any Naga, and he does not see any response to our
fight. They were unable to hear it; something about the still-intact
buildings is disrupting the sounds from around us. Princess
Aleksandra is investigating a structure now. Lampart tells me that
Ming has ambushed two Seed Core Naga and eight Alghul.”
“Thanks, Sia,” I told him. “Come on, we can investigate this,
uh, bank. It kinda looks like a bank.” Inside the double entryway,
which was unadorned with a door like every other structure in the
ruined city, was a large, open atrium. The room stretched three of
the four stories of the building, and had a few windows looking into it
from the wall across from us. A large stone counter still stood to the
right, and the rear wall had three openings leading deeper in. The
floor was mostly covered with stone dust and detritus, leaving the
tracks of the Naga and Gallu obvious. Each doorway and the counter
had a line straight to them.
“So, where first?” Jon asked.
“Probably need to find some stairs down,” Bridget said.
“Vaults are usually placed underground if possible.”
“I am going to see what is behind that counter.” Vaya
pointed.
“Uh, I guess let’s split up, but don’t go too far,” I said. “Jon,
you take the far-left door. Bridget, the middle one, and I’ll check the
right door. Sia, see if there is anything visible in the rooms through
the windows?”
I felt Sia’s agreement as he leapt off my shoulder with a
flutter of wings, while Vaya followed the Naga’s path to the counter. I
kept looking around while walking to the right door. The room was
bigger than I thought it was, as the doorway was three meters tall.
The center door was nearly ten meters away.
My chosen door led to a large hallway that extended another
twenty meters. Every four meters there was an opening to the right. I
looked into the first one and found a small square room. “Huh, I
wonder what this was for? Maybe the attendants would take the
customers here for one-on-one meetings? All the furniture must have
rotted away or been taken whenever the M’Zee evacuated the city.”
I investigated all the rooms, but they were identical. The end
of the hallway had another opening, but I didn’t want to get too far
into the building without talking to the others. I turned and jogged
back to the main atrium, and found Bridget had just gotten back out
from her door as well.
“I found a bunch of small rooms, along with two bathrooms,”
Bridget said.
“Only the small rooms for me, though the hallway extended
deeper in,” I said.
“Mine too,” she responded.
“I got the stairs up,” Jon said, poking his head out. “The first
floor has a smaller open area to the rear of the building, but I did not
go past that.”
“There is a small lockbox in the counter that has not been
opened,” Vaya said, walking over. “I could not figure out how to do
so.”
“Neat,” I said. “Show me?”
“We are going to go upstairs and explore,” Jon said, grabbing
Bridget’s hand.
Vaya led me to the stone counter and then around it. The
counter had two built-in shelves that ran the entire length, with the
exception of the very middle. There, fully enclosed in the stone, was
a metal box. The door of the box was smooth metal, with the only
blemish being a small hole. The box lightly glowed with Aether,
letting me know that it was Inscribed and powered, but I couldn’t see
the runic lines. “I wonder if we should get Sam to come check this
out?” I said.
“Why?” Vaya asked.
“You know how I can see Aether?” She nodded. “Well, Sam
can read Inscriptions. She’d be able to tell us what all of the runes
are.”
“Or we could just break it open,” Vaya said. “Samantha has
her own task right now.”
“Okay,” I said with a shrug. I formed a Forceful Punch, only
using it with a hammer hand straight down on the counter next to the
box. The stone shattered, collapsing the counter for nearly a full
meter to either side of my impact zone. The safe tumbled out of the
now-broken enclosure, and Vaya quickly caught it. It zapped her, but
it was only at the upper end of Condensation in strength.
 “Ow, that stings,” she said, carefully putting it on the ground.
“I am going to slice off the very front of it only.” She held both her
hands out, and then started to run Water Aether between them. It
formed two lines, each one speeding up every second. After almost
a minute, she slowly separated her hands until they were just wider
than the box. The lines of Water were moving fast enough that they
were howling, and as she carefully dragged them along the edge of
the box the metal seemed to scream.
The Aether in the box flared for a bit, a small shield
appearing on the metal attempting to stop the cutting. It broke nearly
immediately, though, Vaya’s strength well beyond what it was
designed to resist. Vaya spent nearly two minutes carving through
the box. She could have done it much faster, but she was very
obviously focusing on keeping any damage to the interior of the box
to a minimum.
With a clank, the front of the box fell off. She’d estimated the
thickness of the safe’s door nearly perfectly, leaving only a very thin
film of metal blocking entrance to the interior. “I am not sure I can cut
through that precisely enough,” Vaya said. “Can you?”
“I think so,” I said. I crouched next to the box, then extended
a single finger. I coated the tip of my finger with Aether, modifying the
Plasma Edge technique to use Metal Aether instead. I created a tiny
blade, only five millimeters long, then tapped the upper left corner. It
punctured straight through. I moved down the top, making a cut
every centimeter or so. Once I reached the right edge, I moved back
along the line to put another hole in the middle of each pair.
After finishing cutting through the entirety of the top, I moved
a quarter of the way down on either side. Once done with that, I
pushed the top in enough to get a finger through, then yanked
outward with all my strength. With a shriek, the metal ripped off the
front, giving us access to the safe.
Inside, there were three disks of metal covered in
Inscriptions. I reached in and took them. “Well, these are pretty neat,
but I don’t know what they do,” I said.
“Might be keys for the vault downstairs?” Vaya suggested.
 “Here.” I handed her two. “I’m going to run some Aether
through the input here.” I pointed at one of the few runes I
recognized.
“Be careful,” Vaya said, stepping away from me.
“I’ll be fine,” I said. Once Vaya was a few meters away, I
focused on the disk in my hand. I pushed a tiny streamer of Aether
into the Inscription. Over the next few seconds, the runes carved into
it gradually grew brighter. Nothing else happened beyond it starting
to reject the Aether after ten seconds. I looked over at Vaya. “Eh,
probably keys like you thought. They’re not doing anything else but
glowing right now.”
“Well, what now?” Vaya asked.
“Hey Sia, where are you?” I asked him.
“Third floor. I believe I am in the manager’s office. There is
intact wood furniture in this room,” he told me.
“Can you tell Jon and Bridget that Vaya and I are going to the
end of the right hallway?”
“I will,” he answered.
“Want to check out the hallway there?” I asked Vaya, pointing
where I had looked the first time.
“I do not have anything else to do,” she said with a grin.
The end of the hallway was a small room with the stairs down
dropping from the middle of it. Piles of dust around the edges
showed that there were probably cabinets or shelves there before
the city was abandoned. There were ten stairs down before a
landing flipped the direction, and then another ten stairs. There were
two more landings, each separated by ten stairs, before the stairs
ended.
In front of us was a small room, four meters by three meters.
The only adornment was a two-meter square of solid metal. The left
side had a meter-long rod that was attached into the door as a
handle. The door was incandescent in my Aether Sight. “Whoa, that
is huge,” Vaya said.
“Yeah, it is. I don’t think we’re going to get through that
easily,” I said. “I can barely see the metal due to the Aether it is
giving off.”
 “Try one of the keys?” Vaya asked.
“We can try,” I said, then put it to the door and channeled
some Aether into it. I felt the disk vibrate, then tried to pull the bar
down. It didn’t budge.
“Maybe all three?” Vaya said, then put the other two onto the
door. It didn’t work. We tried all three, two, each one individually,
then tried to put them on the bar, under the bar, around it. After
twenty minutes of trying, we finally gave up.
“Yeah, I don’t think these are for the vault,” I said. “Want to try
to cut through it?”
“Let us explore the rest of the building first,” Vaya answered.
“Maybe we will find the actual keys to the vault.”
“Aiden, there is something in this room that seems odd,” Sia
sent to me. “Can you come up here and see if you see something
with your Aether Sight?”
“Sure thing, bud,” I said, then looked at Vaya. “Sia thinks he
found something on the third floor and wants me to check it out.”
“Well then, I will race you,” she said, then turned and sprinted
up the stairs.
“Cheater!” I yelled after her, breaking into my own run to try
and catch up. All I heard in response was laughter. I followed her up,
down the hallway and around to the leftmost doorway. The opening
led to the stairs upward, and I followed closely behind Vaya.
We ignored the first two landings, and the stairs ended on the
third floor. “Ha, beat you,” Vaya said.
“Eh, I was just enjoying the view,” I told her.
She immediately turned bright red, then gave me a sultry
smile. “Well, thank you,” she said. She spun away from me and
sauntered through the open doorway, deliberately exaggerating her
stride.
I gave her a wolf whistle, which only resulted in a confused
look. I broke out laughing. “I guess that doesn’t translate,” I giggled.
“I can guess from context,” Vaya said with a grin, her face still
red. “I do not think I have heard anyone whistle like that, or whistle at
all to show appreciation for someone.”
 “Huh, got it,” I said. “I think you are beautiful, and I am
amazed that you are interested in me at all.”
She shook her head and laughed. “Only you would doubt
your own worthiness. Come on, let us see what Sia discovered.”
I grinned after her, then we walked through a hallway before
following the flickering light given off by Sia’s feathers. “About time,”
Sia told us. “That wall. What do you see?”
“Uh, it’s definitely Inscribed, but I can’t tell how,” I said. “The
edges of it are here.” I moved to the wall, then etched two lines
showing the corner of the Inscribed area. I then did the same on the
other three corners, only for the stone surface to ripple and then
vanish, revealing another safe in the middle of the hidden area.
“I figured out what the disks are for,” Vaya said, then tapped
the disk she was holding to the safe. It clunked, and the door
opened. Inside were three bars of a glittering metal, green gold in
color, and a single disk with a different set of Inscriptions. “That is
orichalcum! I have only heard of it. It is an incredibly rare metal,
stronger than anything else we have found, and it can hold
Inscriptions like nothing else.”
“Well, yoink,” I said, putting all three bars into my ring. “Do
you think the disk there is the key to the vault below?”
“It could be,” Vaya said.
“Then take it down and try it out,” Sia said.
“Will do, Sia,” I said. “And without you, we would not have
found this at all!”
Sia cawed triumphantly, then flapped up to my shoulder. He
pecked my ear, and I felt his impatience.
“Come on, Vaya, his imperial majesty Siarczysty wants us to
open the vault below,” I said, faux importance dripping from my
voice.
“Well, we cannot inconvenience his august self,” Vaya said,
doing a giant bow, beyond even what I would give to King Craesti.
“It is about time you recognize my importance,” Sia said,
though I could feel laughter in his voice.
We ran back down, waving at Jon and Bridget who were in
the hallway on the second floor as we passed by. After navigating all
the turns, we arrived in front of the vault. Vaya stepped forward,
pushing Aether into the new disk, only for nothing to happen yet
again.
“Uh, ask Kami to bring Samantha here?” Vaya said, looking
down at the disk.
“Yeah, maybe she can spot something. Sia, can you scout
the path from the safe house to here?” I asked him.
“Take me outside,” he said. I ran out of the bank, and Sia
jumped off my shoulder and spiraled up into the sky.
Two minutes later, Kami came running into sight, Sam riding
her back with an expression of terror. “How can you be so fast?” she
asked rhetorically, staggering as she slid off Kami.
“Once you advance enough, it will seem slow,” I told her. “We
have a puzzle for you. I’m hoping that your Inscription Sight can
figure out what we are supposed to do.”
“I’ll try,” Sam said. She followed me down to the vault, where
Vaya was holding the manager’s disk and the disks we found in the
atrium counter.
“Samantha, thank you for coming,” Vaya said. “This was
found …” She explained where the different disks came from and
what we had attempted to do so far.
Sam nodded, taking the disks from her and looking at them
closely. She started to mutter to herself, too quietly for me to really
hear it, and turning the disks over. She moved over to the vault door,
her head turning back and forth as she examined it.
Finally, ten minutes later, she handed me the smaller disk
found in the counter. “Channel Aether into this, and hold it here,” she
said, pointing to a specific location in the upper right. “Vaya, do you
have another disk? Good, then channel Aether into it and hold it
here.” She guided Vaya to a location in the bottom right of the vault
door. After we both were settled, she started to channel Aether into
the manager’s disk, and placed it just to the right of where the bar
would go once it rotated ninety degrees.
A loud clunk sounded, and she grabbed the bar and pulled it
down. It moved easily, and once it was horizontal she was able to
push the door open with no issues.
“Whoa,” I said, looking inside.
 CHAPTER TWENTY-
SEVEN
The vault was huge, easily ten meters wide and deep, with a
height of five meters. The door opened into the middle of one wall,
and along the back wall in front of us were stacks of silver bars that
reached the ceiling. A smaller stack of gold sat to the right of the
silver, and beside it was another ten bars of orichalcum.
Turning the vault into a maze were lines of Inscribed metal
cabinets, each of them one and a half meters tall and a meter wide
with two doors that opened into the two-meter wide hallway. Sam
darted forward to inspect the first cabinet. There was a wire wrapped
around the handles, with a small lock holding the wire tight. Sam
tilted her head in curiosity, then yanked downward on the lock. The
wire broke. “The cabinets have Inscriptions for preservation, not to
prevent theft,” she said. “The lock didn’t have any Inscriptions for
preservation, so the wire grew brittle.” She looked inside.
“Unfortunately, this is empty.”
“Even if we find nothing else, that wall of money makes this
worth it,” Jon said. “Even divided among all of us. I absolutely cannot
wait to play with some orichalcum.”
“You don’t smith,” I said.
“Well, yeah, but maybe we can grind some up and use it in a
powder? Maybe it will be explosive, like you said aluminum is when
ground into very tiny pieces,” he retorted.
“Uh, that takes really, really tiny pieces,” I said.
“You and explosives,” Bridget said, shaking her head with a
grin. “Come on, let us explore.”
Jon nodded and went to the other side of the makeshift
hallway to start looking in the cabinets on that side. I just walked to
the end of the cabinets and looked to the left. More storage lined the
left side, while the right was the silver bars. More hallways extended
back toward the front wall all the way to the end. The far end had two
layers of cabinets instead of one.
To my right, though, the end was different. There was a large
open area at the far-right corner, with an Aether Glow that made me
shield my eyes for a second, until they adjusted. I immediately
headed toward it to discover a heavily Inscribed display case. Vaya
saw me turn right, so she went left to explore down those hallways.
Inside the case, there were five weapons. The leftmost one
was a two-meter-long halberd, sitting at a diagonal. The ax head on
the halberd was huge at sixty centimeters wide. The hook on the
back was smaller, as was the spear head on top. All of the metal was
the shimmering green color of orichalcum.
Next to the halberd was a jian, slightly longer than Xiao’s
current sword but otherwise perfect for him. On the far right was an
unstrung metal bow. The bow had stripes of orichalcum and a silvery
metal in it, and I was assuming that was what gave it the flexibility to
bend. Next to the bow was a dagger with a twenty-five-centimeter-
long blade, making it just short of what would be called a short
sword. Vaya switched to a dual long blade style, but she might be
interested in the dagger, I thought.
I glanced at the center weapon, a staff with an eight-pointed
star on the tip. Inside the star was a black crystal. The staff was the
only weapon without any orichalcum on it, and instead was made of
a very dark gray metal with streaks of deep green barely visible, with
black wood inlaid in the runes. Looking at it made my stomach
clench, and I had an extremely uneasy feeling about it.
Sia felt uncomfortable as well, and the emotion spiked every
time he glanced at the display case. “What do you sense?” I asked
him.
“Death,” Sia said. “That staff is not meant for good.”
“Why do you think it is in the display case?”
“Just because something is evil, does not mean it cannot be
expensive and rare. The four other weapons all look like they were
made by the same person. You can see the similarities in how the
blades were folded. Even the tips of the bow show the same pattern.
The staff, though, does not.”
“I think the staff may be what the Naga are looking for. I
wonder why it is not farther into the center?”
“Maybe the center of the city was more of an administration
district, and this area was where the wealthy actually lived. Like how
Azyl’s rich district is to the north of the city center, due to the
presence of Azyl Academy.”
“Good point,” I said with a nod. “So we got extremely lucky
that the Naga here were trying to open the vault themselves instead
of calling for more help. Maybe there is another couple of banks or
other places with vaults near the center that is keeping the other
Naga busy?”
“No matter what, we do not have infinite time. How do we
open this so we can take it away?”
“I do not know,” I told Sia. “Sam,” I called out. “Need your
help here.”
“Coming!” I heard her yell.
About thirty seconds later, she walked over, and Fluffy
jumped off her shoulder onto mine, on the opposite side from Sia.
“That is disturbing,” she said, her eyes locked on the staff.
“Yeah. Sia and I think this is what the Naga are looking for. I
want to take it away, then leave this area so they can’t get it. We’ll go
to Oddali to alert them to the Naga’s presence, and then head to
Craesti City,” I said.
“Well, I will try to see if I can figure out the Inscriptions on
this. Nothing I’m seeing right now points to the keys we used
already,” Sam said, moving closer.
“Where’s Kami?” I asked her.
She looked at me absently, then shook her head. “She said
she was going to stay in the atrium and watch for Naga. I’m going to
need some more paper. Got any?”
“Sure,” I said, then found and brought out a stack and
handed it to her. She had a quill and inkpot that she’d taken out of a
belt pouch. With a plop, she sat down in front of the display case and
grabbed the top sheet of paper. She pressed it onto the glass, then
started to trace the Inscriptions that she could see. Tiny marks
indicated the three-dimensional nature of the runes. Once she filled
that sheet, she put a small Aether rune on the edge, and it stuck to
the glass.
Huh, I thought, leaning close to see the rune. That’s neat. I’ll
have to remember that. It’s not very strong, but it’s enough for a
sheet of paper. Maybe I can scale it up to use to attach my trisula to
the sides of my legs? I’d have to ask her, or Librarian Narwan, how
to use the rune properly for that, though. While she’s working, I’ll
start loading up the gold, silver, and orichalcum.
With that thought, I walked along the rear wall until I got to
the pile of metal ingots. Each bar of orichalcum absorbed easily, but
when I stacked them inside my ring I realized that they were actually
floating a bit. I pushed more Aether into my ring, dragging my
perception to right next to them. “Weird,” I said aloud. “It feels like
the ingots are twice as big as they actually are. I wonder why? Did
the Inscribed weapons do that same thing? Good thing I’ve got
plenty of room in here.”
The gold and silver stored easily enough. I jogged down the
row to find Jon holding a book that had seen better days. “Eh, I do
not think the preservation Inscription was up to keeping a book intact
for a thousand years,” he said. “The ink is gone and I am pretty sure
if I sneeze the paper will disintegrate.”
“Let me have it?” I asked, holding my right hand out.
He shrugged and gave it to me.
I immediately absorbed it into my ring, where it settled on the
table in the Portable Home. “There, I’ll keep it safe in my ring until we
can get Librarian Narwan to look at it. Maybe he’ll be able to get
something from it?”
“Sure,” Jon said. “He is a librarian. I have not found anything
else of interest in the cabinets. Most of them are empty, and the few
that were not mostly had piles of dust or rotten wood. I would say
that this bank was mostly empty when whatever happened to the city
happened.”
“Yeah, probably,” I said with a shrug. “So the gold and silver
ingots were probably the bank’s collateral or reserves.”
 “I found some coins!” Vaya yelled from the other end.
“Ooh, I want to see,” Jon shouted, taking off in a run. Bridget
was already on the path toward the far-left side. She looked over her
shoulder and laughed at us, then turned sharply, using her
movement technique to let her corner better.
Vaya was standing at the end of the little hallway, where a
much larger cabinet was set into the wall. Inside were five bins. Two
were full of bronze coins, one was mostly full of silver coins, one of
gold, and the last had twenty-seven orichalcum coins. “I guess they
used orichalcum the same way we use platinum,” Vaya said,
gesturing at the bins. She held up one of the gold coins. “Does that
not look like Spirit?”
“Yeah, it kinda does,” I said, taking the coin. On the front of
the coin, an M’Zee looked regally out of the metal with a crown on
their head. The back of the coin had a tower engraved on it, along
with writing that said, ‘Long may they reign!” I translated for the
others. “Are the coins the same?”
“They all have Spirit, or whoever that is, on the front, but the
backs are all different,” Vaya said. “The orichalcum coins have an
Elemental Compass on them, while the silver ones have a winged
horse and the bronze a building that looks like a fancier version of
this one.”
“Neat,” Bridget said, pulling out a silver coin. “How many do
you think there are?”
“A few thousand bronze, around a thousand silver, around
five hundred gold, and twenty-seven orichalcum. Though I honestly
have no idea how much these will be worth,” Vaya said. “Aiden, store
them for us?”
“Sure,” I said. Each bin stored easily, though the orichalcum
coins exhibited the same strange metaphysical presence that the
ingots did. We explored for another few minutes, finding two more
books and a smattering of silver and gold coins. Two metal blades
were found in a cabinet. They had not been Inscribed, but were
elegantly created. The alloy they were made of gave them a brown-
silver color, but none of us recognized them. Again, I pulled them
into my ring.
 “It’s a good thing we ate so much food on the way,” I said
laughing, “or I wouldn’t have space for this stuff.” The blades were in
the last line of cabinets before the clear area with the display case.
Finished with exploring the rest of the vault, I returned to find
Sam had completely covered the left half of the display case with
papers, often stacked two or three deep. “Sooo, I have no idea how
to get through the Inscriptions on this,” Sam said. “There are quite a
few runes I don’t know, though I can infer most of them by position.
Like this one.” She walked over to point to a rune that was shaped
like two x’s touching. Three vertical lines were drawn through the
letters, one through each x’s center and one through the place both
x’s connected. Above the lines, a notation told me that the x’s twisted
on themselves in the z-plane, and the vertical lines created another
set of x’s.
“Yeah, that’s weird,” I said. “Though, with only one twist, it
could be a variant reinforce rune.”
“Exactly,” Sam said, giving me a grin. “I think this means
‘reinforce structure,’ or ‘reinforce plane,’ or something along those
lines. More specific than a reinforce rune, and thus stronger in its
niche. I thought about trying to disrupt some of the runes, especially
the five lock runes around the handle, but I cannot so much as
scratch the surface of the glass.”
“Well, I’ll try,” I said.
She moved over and cleared a spot on the glass. Pulling a
piece of chalk out of her pocket, she made a mark. “Cut a few
millimeters into the glass here,” Sam directed.
I nodded, then played around with some runes before
creating a blowtorch technique. The tiny flame burned blue before
turning a deep indigo as I cranked up the heat. “Shield your eyes,” I
said, then bent to the glass. The bright light made me squint a bit,
but my eyes had been strengthened like everything else about me.
Which made me wonder about the Aether brightness making my
eyes hurt. I shook my head and touched the flame to the glass.
The Inscriptions inside the display case flared, rejecting the
heat from my torch. My finger started to grow hotter, but my own Fire
couldn’t hurt me. I frowned, and pushed, focusing on increasing the
flow rate of Aether. After five minutes, I gave up. “Wow, you’re not
kidding,” I said. “That case has some serious defenses on it.”
“Must have been owned by someone very important,” Sam
said. “And unlike the wire and locks for the cabinets, this setup was
done well enough to last forever.”
“Maybe we can just blast it down?” I said. “There are four
Seed Core gatherers here, and Sia as a level six Beast is just as
strong. Collect your papers off the case and I’ll try to just break the
glass.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Jon, Bridget, Vaya, get ready to join in,” I said. “There is no
way that this still has significant amounts of Aether left, so we should
be able to deplete it fairly rapidly.”
“Does it have some kind of defense?” Jon asked.
“There is an alarm,” Sam said, “but it doesn’t have any active
defenses that I can see.”
“Where does the alarm go?” Vaya asked.
“Uh, no idea,” Sam said with a shrug.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Aiden?” Vaya said, turning
to me.
“An alarm would probably go to the manager’s office, and
maybe the local guard station,” I said. “Since there’s no one there,
no one will hear it. The ruined state of the buildings around us
probably means it won’t work anyway, but it should be fine. Unless
you all have a better idea?”
“Can you just store the entire case in your ring?” Vaya
asked.
Everyone looked at me. “Okay, that is a great idea,” I said. I
reached out with my Aether and tried to wrap it around the display
case, like I did with the ingots earlier. “No can do. It’s attached to the
wall too firmly for me to break off,” I said.
“Well, then let’s cut it out of the wall,” Jon exclaimed, and
channeled a large Ice Spike that he stabbed into the stone. A tiny
chip cut out of it. “This might take a while.”
We laughed. “Okay, Jon, Bridget, you take this side. Vaya
and I will work on the other. Sia, can you cut away from the top?
Sam, do what you can here in front.” They nodded at me, and we all
got to work.
Ten minutes later, Sia said, “Princess Aleksandra reports that
they have met up with Knight Kaminski, and killed another Naga
search party. Hanna and Milenna took some injuries and will need
time to heal. They are retreating to the safe house. Ming’s team is
investigating another bank-like structure. They have managed to
avoid the Naga in their area. Kami says all is quiet around our
building.”
“Thanks, Sia,” I told him, stabbing my trisula with Plasma
Edge on it into the rock at chest height. It took significant effort to
carve into the stone, its inherent Aether resisting our attacks.
Thankfully, whatever Inscriptions were on the walls had failed at
some point before. I guess the M’Zee never thought someone would
tunnel into the vault from outside without detection. The external
Inscriptions on anything but the door were much weaker.
We were barely carving into the wall, only trying to break the
connections it had to the display case so I could pull the whole thing
into my ring. We didn’t want to do too much damage, in the hope that
we could fix it with some Earth Aether and keep the Naga guessing
for even longer.
“Naga coming!” Kami shouted, pounding into the vault. “Lots
of Naga are coming down the streets now!”
 CHAPTER TWENTY-
EIGHT
“No more time!” I shouted. “Break it out now! Kami, shut the
door. We can open it from the inside. Sam, make sure the door is
locked. Sia, tell the others that we are going to be trapped here and
to converge on us. Make sure they know not to reveal themselves
until we are ready for them to. Go, go, go!” I extended the Plasma
Edge and slammed it into the wall. With a surge of willpower, I bent
the technique and shoved against the stone. I could feel the stone
resisting, but my Aether and stubbornness overpowered it. I didn’t do
this earlier as I was vaporizing the wall in large chunks, way too
much to ever cover up.
I saw Jon form a spinning saw blade out of Ice; the power he
poured into it was more than any of us could possibly have done
before we advanced. The door into the vault closed with a quiet thud,
Kami and Sam keeping it from hitting too hard. A couple more clanks
sounded as they locked the door, trapping us inside. For now, at
least, since we could open it ourselves from the inside.
“I cannot speak with Lampart and Zimnodlot anymore,” Sia
said once the locks were engaged. “The vault is preventing it.”
“Well, fish guts,” I said. “We may need to carve our way out.”
“That will take entirely too much time and Aether,” Vaya said.
“Just getting the case off the wall is tiring us out.”
“We may as well fight our way through them, once they have
started to attack the vault again,” Jon said. “As long as their Perfect
Core is not here, we should be able to. Especially if the others are
nearby.”
“Do not count your catch before bringing the nets in,” Bridget
said. “We still have to figure out if you can even store the case.”
 A wash of flame curled around us as Sia blasted apart a
huge chunk of stone. “Hurry,” he told us. “And maybe we can get out
of here before the Naga arrive.”
Grinding from Jon’s Ice Saw started again, and I created a
small film of Air Aether over my ears to block it out. Vaya and Bridget
were working together, where Vaya was creating small cracks using
Earth and Wood techniques, then Bridget would fill them with Water
and freeze it with Ice to break it apart faster.
It took another three minutes, and a good third of my Aether
reserves, before I was able to push the case over. With a crash, it
fell. “Okay, store it,” Vaya said, “and let us get out of here.”
I extended my Aether over the case, measuring it, and
realized that I didn’t have enough room in my football-field-sized ring.
“Heh,” I said, then turned to the side and dropped out a crate of
preserved level three fish meat. “Now I have room.” With a grunt, I
pulled the case into my ring.
The staff clattered to the ground, rejected by the ring the
same way a living animal would. “Lightning blast it!” I said, looking at
the distasteful thing on the ground. The uncomfortable feeling had
increased massively now that it wasn’t in the display case anymore.
“Ugh,” Sam said from the doorwat, loud enough that I heard
it.
“Now what?” Jon asked.
“The Portable Home can store things and shrink so that it is
tiny, right?” Vaya said. “Put it in there?”
“Gotta clear some room first,” I said. I turned to the nearest
line of cabinets, then kicked over the first one. The bottom of the
storage broke off, but it cleared space. We smashed apart enough
cabinets to give me space to put the Portable Home. It settled with a
crash, crushing some of the debris left on the ground.
Vaya threw her cloak over the staff, unwilling to touch it even
with her gloves. In spite of that separation, she still shuddered as
she picked the staff up. I opened the Portable Home’s front door.
She took off at a run, trying to get it put away as quickly as possible.
She hit the plane of the door, and the staff stopped moving instantly.
With a grunt, Vaya ran into it and collapsed backward.
 I caught her, and the staff rolled out of her arms onto the
ground. “I swear that thing is laughing at us,” Jon said, looking at the
now-uncovered black thing again.
“I can sense the staff from the other end of the vault,” Sam
said, walking over. “It’s making my stomach curdle. No luck storing
it?”
“No,” I said, pulling the Portable Home back into my ring. “It
won’t go into the Portable Home, or my ring. Light, I’m not even sure
I could get it back in the display case again.”
Just as I said that, the vault’s door rang as something hit it.
“Fire burn it,” Bridget cursed, “what was that?”
“Bad news,” I said. “The Naga are here.”
“Start carving our way out the back?” Kami asked, waddling
over. “I can dig a tunnel.”
“I guess you can try. See how much you can get done,” I
said.
Kami nodded, more of a dip of her head than a true nod, and
walked over to the small hole we’d already made. Her claws glowed
with Earth, Metal, and Stone Aether. When she stabbed them into
the stone, it seemed to melt away from her claws. With a grunt, she
ripped backward and a chunk the size of one of the cabinets peeled
off the wall.
Vaya leapt to it, picking up the stone and jogging toward the
front. “We will never hide a tunnel,” she said. “So we should make a
wall in front of the vault’s door. Strengthen it as much as we can to
delay the Naga.” The door rang again, even louder than the last
time.
“The Perfect Core Naga has to be out there,” I said, wincing
at the sound.
“We do not know that,” Vaya said. “Now help me.”
I nodded, then ripped apart another cabinet, carrying the
metal pieces to the door. Jon followed me, dropping a pile and then
creating yet more pieces from the cabinets around us. Another
attack on the vault door left echoes banging around inside the vault.
With a thought, I put a thin barrier of Sound Aether around my ears,
blocking out the ringing before my ears started to bleed.
 I took a strip of the metal from the cabinet and laid it across
the edge of the vault door. My finger made a blowtorch again, and I
carefully welded the metal to the doorway. Over and over again, I
bridged the gap between the door and its frame, creating a bond that
would take yet more force to overcome.
Every two minutes or so, the vault would ring with an attack. I
could feel the Aether in the door reacting to each one. Each time, it
flared the tiniest bit more weakly, and I knew that the door would fail
eventually.
It took me nearly an hour to finish going up the side of the
vault door. I worried the entire time that Aleks or Jamila would be
hurt while we were trapped in here. Kami was making good progress
on creating the tunnel, though she had to rest fairly frequently to
recover her Aether. I had dropped another crate, full of Beast Cores
this time, from my ring so she could use them to refuel. I envied the
Bond’s ability to just eat a Beast Core to absorb its Aether, rather
than using the limited resource of the Dungeon Cores.
While I was standing on Air and welding plates to the top of
the door, Vaya was creating a sloping wall using the stone pieces
that Kami was creating, along with extra metal from the cabinets.
Bridget was helping Kami by feeding her Cores and Aether, throwing
the stone out of her way, and helping to cut apart other obstructions.
Just after I finished welding, they cleared the foundation of the bank
and started to move through dirt.
“I can hear Lampart again,” Sia said. “They are hiding in
some of the nearby buildings. She says they have had a few scares,
but have gotten away without being detected so far. Wait, the Alghul
are moving. They are starting to examine the ground behind the
bank. I believe they can sense us. Kami, how quickly could you go
straight up?”
“One minute,” she said. “It would take me one minute to
reach ground level.”
“We need to be ready to move,” I said. “Kami, go up. I’ll hold
the staff. Sia, tell the others that, when we emerge, we’re going to
fight our way out. Have them hide until they can get good strikes on
the Naga.”
 “Knight Kaminski agrees with your plan,” Sia said. “She will
be ready to intervene and take out the Perfect Core Naga as soon as
she shows herself.”
“Excellent,” I said, then I looked at the welding job I’d done.
“Weld, that was worthless.” I grinned, and Vaya groaned, but the
tension broke slightly, enough to get us back to maximum capability.
“The Alghul are digging now, directly over where Kami is,” Sia
said.
“Kami, be ready to fight,” I said. “Sia, I want you to stay small
and hidden if you can. I doubt they will be expecting you, so wait a
minute after we all rush out before joining in. Unless, of course,
we’re getting overwhelmed.”
“Will do,” he replied, and I felt his power bank to the point that
I could barely tell he was nearby.
“Alghul!” Kami exclaimed, and I sensed an explosion of Earth
Aether. “The hole is open!”
“Go, go, go!” I shouted, sprinting up the tunnel. The staff was
wrapped with a set of spare clothing I had and strapped to my back,
keeping it out of the way and not touching my skin. I reached the end
after only three steps, then leapt upward. An angled Air step
launched me up the end of the tunnel. A Gallu was looking down,
about to jump, when I hit it with an uppercut enhanced with Forceful
Punch. The undead disintegrated.
I turned the impact into a spin, using the movement to get a
good look at the alleyway we’d ended up in. There were nearly a
hundred undead just starting to look up from digging at the ground.
At the corner I saw two Naga, one male, one female, gazing at me in
shock.
Kami was laying waste to several Gallu as I spun, and
another three were about to jump on her. I swept them, and another
five, back into death with a massive Metal Aether Slash. “Thanks,”
Kami said, then she swiped forward, creating a dozen Earth Spikes
to impale the same number of Gallu.
I landed, then stomped my foot, mimicking Kami with Metal
Aether. A wave of my Aether shot out of my foot and ten Metal
Spires slammed out, stabbing through eight Alghul. Two shuffled out
of the way, though it didn’t seem intentional.
The Gallu’s auras varied wildly, from Fog Gathering to Seed
Core. The two that inexplicably dodged were both Seed Core, and
they moved with a bit more intelligence than the others.
Jon landed next to me, planted his shield, and formed a large
Ice Wall. “I am clearing the field,” he shouted, then slammed the To
Hold the World on High shield into the Ice Wall. It transformed into
nearly a hundred Icicles that blew through the Gallu like a giant
shotgun blast.
The Core undead were the only ones still standing after Jon’s
attack. They both had a few Icicles stabbed into them, but they just
ignored the damage as they charged at us.
A wave of Aether behind me let me know that Vaya and
Bridget were watching our backs. Jon stepped forward and met the
leap of the closest Gallu with a Shield Bash, Force, Air, and Water
Aether forming into a coating on his shield to blast the undead away
from him.
I met the charge of the other Seed Core Gallu by enhancing
myself with the Myriad Elements Enhancement Technique. The
creature’s movements seemed to slow down as my perception and
reflexes surged upward. The Gallu are dangerous to those under
them in power, I thought as I ducked a slow-moving haymaker from
the undead, but they do not seem to be able to use techniques
anymore. Their only threat is from their bodily strength and inability
to feel pain. I sliced its leg off at the knee, then turned and stabbed
my trisula through its brain stem. The impact shattered its skull,
returning it to death.
“Kalon’s Staff is here,” the female Naga screamed. “Entu, it is
here!”
“Retrieve it!” a voice bellowed.
“Yes, Entu,” she said, then chanted while swinging her staff in
a spiral in front of her. The male Naga slung a shield off his back,
Metal Aether surging into it to create a technique. Jon blasted a large
Icicle at the chanting snake girl, but the technique drifted into the
male’s shield. He grunted, his shield slightly deforming from the
impact of the Icicle, but holding.
“Death’s Skull!” the Naga priestess shouted, her staff pointing
toward us, only for her to grunt and collapse forward. Milenna stood
behind her with her spear held out.
“There are more here!” Milenna shouted, turning back onto
the main roadway and letting loose an Aether Slash.
Jon and I exploded forward. Just as I cleared the edge of the
alley, a Foundation Core Naga streaked into view, slashing down at
Milenna. She jumped backward at the same time he attacked, her
spear coming up to block like a staff. His sword broke through her
weapon, but was diverted just enough to miss.
I growled, trisula snapping together as I sailed through the
air, and I quickly formed the Pride of the Plasma Herald Technique.
All of the practice had gotten me to the point where I needed only a
second to fully create it, and a beam of Plasma picked up the Naga
and threw him into and through the wall of the building across from
the alley.
I reached into my ring and grabbed the halberd from the
display case. Whatever Inscriptions were on the case were not up to
preventing the power of an artifact at the peak of Soul Strengthening
from ripping right through them. “Here!” I shouted, and it dropped
into her hands.
Three more Naga and an absolute horde of undead Beasts
streamed down the road. The Naga, all females, stopped about a
hundred meters away, slammed their staves into the ground, and
shouted “Death’s Embrace” together. A wave of Death Aether surged
into the Beast Gallu.
The undead doubled in size in an instant, and the massive
wave of Beasts threatened to drown us.
 CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Jon stepped forward to defend, creating an Ice Wall to blunt
the Beasts’ advance while throwing a Snowflake Storm on the other
side to damage the enemy. The front row slammed into it and cracks
formed throughout. I knew the second grouping to hit would break it.
Milenna spun her new halberd, Air Aether streaming through it, and
created a twister that landed just beyond it, enhancing Jon’s
technique. The lighter Beasts—foxes, snakes, and birds mostly—
were pulled into the sky as the cyclone roared.
The larger Beasts, including a rhinoceros-like creature with
three horns, made it through the Air technique and broke Jon’s Ice
Wall. Aleks landed from an Air-assisted leap just in front of them,
then sent a wave of Metal Spears in a crescent. The rhinoceros and
hippopotamus in front impaled themselves then crashed to the
ground.
Three undead bears rumbled over the newly re-dead bodies.
I met the first with a triple-charged Forceful Punch while fully
channeling the Myriad Elements Enhancement Technique, putting
every bit of tempered strength, technique improvements, and my
trisula’s Inscription into the attack. The undead, sitting near the top of
Seed Core in power, met my punch with a claw swipe. Our hands
collided, and my technique detonated through the Beast.
It roared, a gurgling sound as its vocal cords were partially
dissolved, and then was thrown back. Its paw, leg, shoulder, and a
third of its torso disintegrated as my Aether surged through it. The
remains of its body slammed into and through another Beast,
rekilling it as well.
Aleks sliced apart the second one, her sword a blur as she
used her body enhancement technique to raise her strength to be
my equal, even with the tempers I had over her. That was the benefit
of being the Princess, though I was sure that once I got my Myriad
Elements Enhancement Technique to a better level of understanding
I’d jump ahead yet again.
The third bear was met by Jon, while Milenna kept her
tornado going to keep the riffraff out of our hair. “Where are the
others?” I asked, ducking under a Jungle Jaguar’s lunge.
“Other side,” Aleks said. “There are more Alghul and Naga
there!” She growled and stabbed her sword forward. An arrow of
Metal, Earth, and Fire Aether formed and shot out, blowing apart four
more Gallu Beasts as they rushed toward us.
I caught a Giant Swamp Beetle’s mandibles on my trisula,
straining against a Beast that was nearing the power of a level
seven, or Constructed Core, Beast. My Aether drained as I struggled
against it, holding it in place while I formed a dozen Metal Arrows
that then stabbed into its thorax. Earth Aether surged upward, and
then the Arrows exploded into a porcupine of Stone Spikes, ripping
apart the bug’s body. Thank goodness these things have no brains!
“We have got to deal with the Naga!” Jon shouted, smashing
an undead Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly away then swinging his
sword into a Brine Mallard. The bird died, again, as it spewed a
sludge of Brine and Acid, burning away at Jon’s Aether Shield.
I sent a set of Metal Spears forward, blunting the advance of
yet more undead Beasts. “Did the Naga empty the entire Light-
blinded swamp to create their zombies?!” I screamed, frustration
oozing from my voice.
“The Naga are enhancing them. You have got to stop them,”
Jon yelled again. “I will protect Aleks and Milenna. They will kill the
Alghul. You go kill the Darkness-shrouded Naga!”
“Language!” I yelled, then stepped on the next Beast’s head.
I leapt into the air, sending a deluge of Metal Aether Slashes into the
tornado that Milenna had been maintaining for the last two minutes.
Each of my attacks killed tens of the weaker undead Beasts as they
struggled against the Air currents.
Behind the Beast horde, the three Naga priestesses had
multiplied to an even dozen, all of them chanting and sending bursts
of Death Aether into the undead Beasts, enhancing their power and
prowess.
 I kept rising, wrapping myself in Air Aether to blast forward,
trisula extended to spear the forward-most Naga on the tips. A shield
of Death Aether tried to stop me, but my focused Metal, Earth, and
Sturdiness Aether, channeled into my weapons, punched straight
through. We’d spent a few days working on new Aether
combinations during the trip. My Aether Shield, the base technique
that Azyl Academy had taught me to cover myself in my own power,
dimmed as the Death Aether tried to corrupt it away, but I was
through before it could finish burning it.
The Naga grunted, her chant disrupted, when I slammed into
her point first. Her armor, a chainmail equivalent, split apart in the
wake of my attack. I rolled off the collapsing body to send two
descending Metal Aether Slashes, cutting into two more of the Naga
enhancing the Gallu. Both of them staggered back, their techniques
stopping, but they were still standing.
The one on my left hissed, “He is mine,” then darted toward
me. Death, Water, and something that was a mix swirled around her.
The other leapt into the air, Air and Ice coating her scales as she
started the chant up again.
“That was not smart of you,” I said, unleashing my aura and
focusing it on her. She did the same. Even though she was a stage
above me, I was able to restrict her control to only a tiny area around
her. With a thought, I created a dozen orbs of Lightning and sent
them streaking into her.
The shield she’d created blocked the attacks with only a
small decrease in the mixed Aether to show for it. I frowned, then
snapped my trisula up to block her staff. The Aether construct
covered her weapon as well as herself, and it tried to run down into
me. I rejected it, my aura and willpower pushing against hers, and
found hers wanting.
I slammed my foot into the spot where her snake tail merged
into her human-like torso, Plasma Edge coating my boot. The Death
and Water Aether stripped most of my technique away, but what was
left was enough to put another hole in her armor and send a stream
of blood down her side.
 A blast of Death Aether exploded out of her staff into my
face. My circlet’s shield absorbed it all, but I knew it couldn’t take
another hit like that. I growled at her, engaging Iron Bones, Granite
Skin and yanking on her weapon. I turned the momentum of her
forward stumble into a bear hug. My defensive technique started to
degrade, though I bet she thought it would fail much faster. With my
new strengthening technique running with my absurd Aether
reserves flowing into it, my physical might magnified exponentially,
and I crushed my arms together.
The Naga made a squawking sound, then her spine
snapped. I threw her into the wall nearest us, and the stone
shattered and collapsed onto my enemy. The other Naga dropped
beside me, a Metal Spike sticking out of her side. I spun a kick into
her head, using Plasma Edge again, and this time it disintegrated
everything over her shoulders.
I turned around to find the Gallu mostly gone, Jon, Aleks, and
Milenna having taken care of them while I took out their enhancers.
More Naga were coming up the street, but were still at least five
hundred meters away.
I started to form my new Stormcloud attack, enhancing it so
that it would reach the Naga before they were able to attack us. Two
seconds later, I was putting the last dozen runes into the technique
when the bank’s wall next to me exploded outward.
“I will do it myself!” shouted a female Naga as she emerged
from the collapsing building. She wore black plate mail armor and
carried a much larger staff than the others. Her staff glowed with a
black light, and everything around it seemed dimmer. The staff on
my back seemed to vibrate in time with the pulsing of the Naga’s
staff. The Perfect Core Naga could feel it as well. She turned to me
and tried to freeze me in place with her aura while forming a
technique to kill me.
Her aura was slightly weaker than Knight Kaminski’s, and
thus I was able to move while under it, though the backlash of my
failed technique was making my head spin. A beam of Death Aether
shot at me, and I was able to dive out of the way only by the skin of
my teeth. A snap of the Naga’s tail sent a line of Force and Air
Aether that picked me up and sent me shooting across the road into
the same building I’d thrown the other Naga.
I smashed through three walls before coming to an abrupt
stop on the fourth. Knight Kaminski’s aura soared into the area as
she shot forward to prevent the Entu from squashing me like a bug.
Her spear slithered forward, spiraling around the Naga’s staff to
slash at her neck. The Naga tilted back on her tail in a move that the
human body couldn’t reproduce, then used her tail like a whip again.
Knight Kaminski lifted her right leg to catch the side of the tail on her
shin guards, then yelled at us, “Keep the little ones off me and I will
take care of this one!”
“Yes, Knight Kaminski,” Aleks called, then danced across the
roadway toward the oncoming Naga. A whirlwind of Fire formed
around her as she twirled, then continued down the street.
Jon sprinted in front and to the side, out of the way of her
technique but in a position so that he could intercept the Death
Skulls two of the Naga sent screaming at her. Milenna took the other
side, Aether Slashes meeting a group of Death and Air techniques
that looked like bats flapping their way toward us.
I dug my way out of the collapsed rubble, my side screaming
where my ribs had broken. Aether surged in me to coat the damaged
areas, numbing the pain and increasing my natural healing factor,
but I didn’t take any more time than that. Air Aether enveloped me,
and I blasted into the sky.
When I’d been hit, Sia had surged out of the hole to defend
me, but a dozen flying undead Beasts met him in the air. Zimnodlot
and Sia were weaving through the crowd, Fire and Ice blasting
around them. I shot toward them, landing on the back of an eagle
with a ten-meter wingspan. Its body cracked as I landed, and I hit it
with a massive Fire Arrow, channeled like all of my Fire techniques
through my Bond mark, immediately afterward.
The undead bird cried out, then started to tumble toward the
ground. My power swept me back into the sky, and I sent two Metal
Aether Slashes into the path of a vulture before it could pounce on
Zimnodlot. Sia’s flames, tinged with Metal and Lightning, burned the
wings off a giant sparrow, leaving us with only five more undead to
clear out.
The other side of the bank was a massive melee, Ming, Xiao,
Vaya, Lilianna, and Lea clashing with dozens of Gallu and male
Naga. Bridget was leaning against a wall, Jamila next to her with her
hands glowing green in my Aether Sight. Hanna stood in front of
them, shielding the injured from the Gallu while occasionally
throwing out her hands to conjure a barrier that prevented an attack
from hitting one of her compatriots. Wow, she’s got impressive
battlefield awareness, I thought while dodging a snake with wings
attempting to bite me.
I slashed upward as the Beast tried to turn, slicing it in half
diagonally right where its wings connected. The pieces tumbled
toward the ground, the head still hissing at me. I snorted, then turned
through the air to zoom toward where Aleks, Milenna, and Jon were
fighting. It seemed like they were up against the rest of the Core-
level Naga, while the larger scrum was those at the peak of
Condensation. Ming and my other friends were outnumbered enough
that it wasn’t an immediate win, but they weren’t in any major
danger.
The Fire Cyclone from Aleks had been dispersed at some
point. Most of the Naga had burns, but none were serious enough to
impede their combat capability. Others had cuts and stab wounds
from Icicles and Air Blades. Milenna’s left arm hung loosely at her
side, a gray pallor visible in it as I slammed into a superhero landing
next to her. “Here,” I said, tossing her a healing pill.
“Thanks,” she said, a burst of Air Aether redirecting it into her
mouth where she immediately gulped it down. She ducked under
another Death Skull, then sent an Aether Slash into the second one,
blowing it apart into a cloud of gray Aether.
A shockwave from behind us sent myself and Aleks
sprawling. Jon was pushed into an Ice Wall he’d erected earlier, and
Milenna skipped forward, Air swirling around her ankles as she
hurriedly stepped to avoid a Death Bat. I glanced back quickly to see
Knight Kaminski floating in midair, Aether surrounding her upraised
hand as she glared at a new crater in the roadway. She brought her
hand down, and a globe of Wood, Earth, and Metal exploded
downward to grind through the dirt.
The Perfect Core Naga’s aura wavered for a second, then
strengthened again. A scythe of Death Aether slashed out of the
crater at Knight Kaminski, who shattered it with a swipe of her spear.
A hint of blood was at the corner of her mouth, and a rent in her
armor showed she wasn’t untouched in their duel.
A Skull detonating less than a meter from me caused me to
pull my attention back to my part of the battle. Jon threw an Icicle in
return at the Naga who’d sent it. Somehow, we’d created a battle of
techniques. There were six Naga sitting ten meters down the road.
Two were focused entirely on defending against the attacks Jon,
Milenna, and Aleks were shooting at them, while the other four
pelted us with Death Skulls, Death Bats, beams, and bursts of
Aether.
Jon deflected most of the attacks with Ice Walls, Shields of
Air, Ice, and Density Aether, which he made out of Ice and Metal,
and well-placed attacks. Milenna helped as well, her Air Blades
specialized at disrupting other techniques. Aleks sent blasts and
whirlwinds of Fire, Metal Spears, and Exploding Boulders back,
matching in output the same as three of the higher-level gatherers.
I joined in, stepping forward and creating a Metal Spear, then
wrapping the back with a modification of the Forceful Punch. When
the Spear hit something, the Punch would go off and slam it forward
again. Two seconds of work, and I flared Lightning Aether to
accelerate it forward like a railgun. The Spear cracked the sound
barrier, its travel time infinitesimal to even my enhanced senses.
The nearest Naga blocked it with her shield, an evil grin on
her face. Then the Forceful Punch blew the Metal Spear straight
through her shield and arm, stabbing into her chest. The gap created
by the impact let a Fire Blast from Aleks slam into the Naga directly
behind her. The Fire scorched her face and right arm. The Death
Skull she was creating dissolved as she shrieked in pain.
I spun my hands over my head, creating a hundred runes in
a second to throw a Wrath of the Lightning Herald into the other
Naga with a shield. She caught my attack and was rocked backward,
only for Milenna to slide an Air Blade underneath her upraised
shield. “Nice shot!” I shouted.
“Aiden,” Aleks yelled, rushing up to me, “where is the staff?”
“It’s on my back,” I said, reaching over to where I could feel it
resting. There was nothing there. I flexed my Aether, and shattered
whatever it had done to make it feel like it was still on me. “Light
blind it, the staff tricked me!”
Ahead, the Perfect Core Naga appeared behind her sistren,
bloody and battered, but carrying the staff from where it had fallen.
“Sisters,” she said, “for Inanna and Tiamat, we give ourselves.
Return this world to Chaos, to Death!” The staff dimmed in her
hands, actively drinking in the light around it. Each of the Naga
shouted “To Death!” and then sundered their Cores.
With each death, the staff grew darker, until only the Perfect
Core Naga was left. In common, she snarled, “You will pay for
interfering.” She then stabbed the star of the staff through her neck,
dying instantly.
 CHAPTER THIRTY
“That’s not good!” I shouted, looking around for Knight
Kaminski. The area around the staff vanished into pure blackness, a
deeper void than Darkness created.
Knight Kaminski flew over and landed next to me, streamers
of Death still stuck on her right wrist and ankle. “No, it is not,” she
said, gazing at the aftermath. “Go, check on your friends. I will
monitor this situation.”
I nodded, then shot over to Jon. “I am fine,” he said, “as is
Princess Aleksandra and Milenna. Go, check on Vaya and Jamila.” I
gave him a grateful grin, then blasted up into the sky and back down
in a quick triangle. The last male Naga fell to Ming’s blade as I set
down.
“Aiden,” Vaya said happily, staggering over to me and nearly
falling into my arms.
“Are you okay?” I asked hurriedly, giving her a quick glance
over.
“We are just tired,” Jamila said. “The fight was exhausting,
but we were not in any danger.”
“There were just too many undead,” Xiao said, sitting and
leaning against a wall. “It only took a small effort to kill each one, but
it added up.”
I glanced down the road to see the pieces of at least a
thousand zombified Beasts and nearly the same number of Gallu.
They’d all come from the west, away from where we’d entered the
city. “Wow,” I said, then frowned. “Rest quickly. The other Naga did
something with the staff, and it will probably turn out poorly.”
“We are coming with you,” Ming said, striding over. His black
hair, normally kept in a neat ponytail, was frayed and plastered to
him with sweat. “Show us what they did.”
 “Okay,” I said, my face tight. “Take a refill powder or pill, then
a gathering pill. If you don’t have one, come to me. Otherwise,
Knight Kaminski is on the next road over. Come on.” I turned and
started walking.
Vaya poked me, then threw her arm around my shoulders.
“May I have a Wood refill pill, please?” she asked while batting her
eyelids at me. She was only able to hold a straight face for a second
before cracking a grin.
I laughed, then pulled one out of my belt. I had a series of
compartments that each held five refill pills, one for each Element. I
passed out a couple more to Lilianna, Xiao, and Lea before we
reached the others. The black sphere had grown to nearly three
meters in diameter by the time we arrived.
“That feels like… emptiness,” Sam said. She was the most
pristine out of anyone, having been left in the back. She’d managed
to do some supporting with the Inscriptions she’d created, mostly by
creating small walls to blunt the Gallu’s charges and gusts of Air and
Wind to deflect attacks.
“The Naga priestesses sacrificed themselves to the staff we
found,” I said, “and that is the result.”
“We should destroy it,” Xiao said, then launched an Air
Aether Slash at the black zone. It broke apart at the edges without
any visible result.
A massive welling of Aether made my head turn, and I saw
Knight Kaminski holding her hand out. She stated simply, “Spear,”
and a Wooden Spear two meters in diameter formed just in front of
her and stabbed into the void. Again, the technique seemed to
shatter, only this time I felt the pieces go somewhere deeper, in a
dimension that wasn’t x, y, or z. She frowned, her face severe, then
she gestured at the ground around it.
Immediately, stone rose up behind the sphere, creating a wall
that nearly encircled it. Only a one-meter-wide gap was left directly
between us and it. Knight Kaminski paled a bit, and I tapped her on
the shoulder. “Here,” I said, handing her an Earth and a Wood refill
pill.
 “Thank you,” she said, throwing them back without hesitation.
In that, I knew she was more worried than she let on. “Miss
Samantha, do you have any Shock Touch Inscriptions left?”
“Uh, yes, ma’am,” Sam said, dropping her backpack and
digging into it. She pulled out four sheets of parchment.
“Apply them to the wall I just created, then make some more.
I will imbue them if we have time,” Knight Kaminski said. “I believe
that the staff is making a portal to somewhere, and we must be
ready for it.”
“I have some trap Inscriptions that I did not get to use earlier,”
Lilianna said. “We should probably put them inside of the circle,
though.” She held out one of three metal plates, each covered in
runes. I recognized Fire, Explosion, and Force among them.
Knight Kaminski laughed. “Good, Fiery Step Traps.” She
reached out and took them, then a wave of vines directed each of
them into the hemisphere of stone.
“Uh, ma’am,” Jon asked. “Can you put these in a place where
they would fall into the circle if we want them too?” He had two of his
Volatile Explosion Potions in his hand. “Aiden, I have another five in
my room still.”
I looked into the ring, found the potions, and then carefully
extracted them. It took us another ten minutes to finish setting up.
Whatever came out of the blackness would find itself met with
explosions, stabbings, restrictions, and whatever else we could think
of.
Of course, none of us believed it would be enough. Everyone
gathered quickly, keeping one eye open, getting back to full
capability. Pills were consumed to heal, refill, and speed up
gathering. “I really want to get the recipe to the Metal Muscle
Empowerment Pill,” Jon muttered while stretching, a cut on his leg
having just healed that left him a little stiff.
“The what?” I asked, sitting nearby and cleaning off my
trisula.
“A pill that temporarily enhances your strength,” he
answered, bending back far enough to touch the ground. Along with
superhuman strength, we’d gained superhuman flexibility.
 “How does that work with enhancement techniques?”
“I do not know,” he said. “But the information I read on it said
that it would continue to work if you used one.”
“That would be pretty neat,” I said, then a crack like thunder
echoed through the roadway. I leapt to my feet, turning to face the
exit from the dome Knight Kaminski had made.
The blackness receded from the spherical shape it’d taken,
condensing down to a flat oval, hovering a few centimeters over the
ground. It was three meters tall and two wide at its thickest point.
The surface started to shimmer, then it solidified. Over the next ten
seconds, the black of the surface faded to reveal a starry sky over a
rocky surface. What looked like a canyon extended beyond the
portal’s landing, leading into the distance beyond what I could see.
The background was of secondary importance, though, to the
absolute horrors that stood on the floor of the canyon: dozens of
Beasts that looked like mutated gorillas, lacking all fur and standing
two and a half meters tall, with large hands tipped with wicked claws.
Their faces were extended slightly, a muzzle more like a squashed
wolf’s than an ape’s dominating it, with four pointy canines extending
out of both the top and bottom.
That wasn’t the extent of their wrongness. Their skin was
broken in places, showing muscle underneath, but no blood came
out of the wounds. Several of them were standing unnaturally still,
only to suddenly dart to the side. The worst part, though, was that
they did not seem to be breathing at all.
“They are undead,” Knight Kaminski said. “Be wary, they will
probably spread the same curse the Alghul did.”
The surface of the portal, which was what the oval had to be,
cracked apart with no visible damage. The first of the undead,
Ghouls I decided to call them, leapt out of it into the enclosed area. It
was immediately destroyed as an explosive Inscription combined
with an Air Blade one to rip it apart.
One after another, Ghouls ran out of the portal into our world,
only to be destroyed by Inscriptions, potions, or techniques. Ming
stood near the opening, having won a quick game of straws to be
first. Every few seconds, he would slash his sword in front of his
body, the Ethereal Slash Technique leaping from it to bisect
whatever was in front of him. The technique was amazing in that it
used Air, Sharpness, and Avoidance Aether to bypass any armor or
shields in front of it, though it lost in power somewhat to standard
attack techniques. I was able to nearly ignore the attacks, my innate
defense enough to result in only scratches, but using the Granite
Skin, Iron Bones Technique did absolutely nothing to prevent the
damage. Against those who had not tempered to an extent that their
bodies were the equivalent of forged armor, the attack would be
devastating.
Against the undead, it was perfect. It sliced them apart as if
they had no defenses at all. The creatures collapsed to the ground in
two or more pieces, then more explosions from the Inscriptions
would blow them apart further. For a few minutes, it looked like we
were winning.
“One of the undead has broken the wall to the rear of the
fortification!” Sia said. The Ghouls had been coming out of both
sides of the portal, but we could only see the one. Our preparations
were sufficient for a little while, but eventually the Inscriptions ran out
of Aether or were used up. After that, the Ghouls started carving
through the stone of the wall in a frantic need to get out.
“Ming, Xiao, Jamila, Fluffy, Lea, Milenna, Hanna, Lilianna,
Aleks, Sam, stay here. Jon, Bridget, Vaya, Sia, Zim, Lampart, Kami,
follow me to the other side. Knight Kaminski, please be ready to
support any group being overwhelmed!” I shouted, shooting into the
air and zooming around the containment sphere to see a Ghoul
halfway through the wall, clawing at the stone near its waist. I twisted
in midair to stab my trisula into its skull, then sent a pulse of Aether
into it to blow its head apart.
The body collapsed, then continued to claw at the wall. Even
without a head, it continued to fight. Light save us all, I thought, then
sent a wave of Fire Aether into the sphere of stone to burn away
everything within. “They are easy to destroy, but you have to destroy
them utterly or they will keep fighting!” I shouted, Air enhancing my
bellow to make sure everyone heard.
 The flow of Ghouls seemed endless. Every few seconds,
more jumped out of the portal and were disintegrated by techniques.
All of the Inscriptions had faded by this point, and now it was only us
fighting. The Ghouls had been joined by an undead wolf-like Beast.
Again they had no fur, and cracks in their skin showed muscle
without blood. I realized shortly after attacking the first one that they
didn’t have blood, but instead a type of Death Aether, corrupted
beyond my understanding into something abhorrent, flowed through
them to power their being.
Whatever they used to live, they didn’t use it to fight. Only
their body, barely at the extent of a Threshold Condensation
Gatherer, was their weapon. Their true danger was their unending
numbers, and the fact that we had to completely obliterate them to
remove them from the fight. Cutting them into pieces just left
annoying fingers that curled to try and cut us, legs that kicked at
nothing, and mouths that bit the air. The Corrupted Aether made me
wary, and I was sure that getting injured would not be good.
“Aiden, we have to close the portal,” Vaya said, twenty
minutes after we’d split apart. “We are being ground down, and will
run out of Aether or Geist before our enemies run out of bodies!”
“I know!” I shouted back, Aether Slashes ripping apart a
Ghoul and a Warg, as I’d decided to call the undead wolves, before
they could reach the hole in the stone sphere. “Strengthen the rest of
the sphere. We need to make sure they are only coming out one of
two ways!”
“Aiden, rest for a minute, gather and recover!” Jon yelled,
then he slammed his shield into the ground and created a field of Ice
Spikes that impaled a dozen undead. “You have been killing them
all. Now it is my turn.” The Ice grew, freezing even the evil Aether in
the Ghoul’s bodies. When they shattered, the pieces didn’t continue
to fight.
I could tell the toll that took on him, but Jon was right; he was
much fresher than I was, even with my gathering meridians giving
me superior Aether regeneration to everyone else. “Knight Kaminski,
I don’t know what to do,” I called out.
 “Can you see anything? Your Aether Sight has been a trump
card many times, can you use it now?” she asked, appearing next to
me. Stone flowed up over the sphere, reinforcing and compressing it
to make it stronger. I could tell that she, Vaya, Hanna, and Kami
were all working to do so. The Ghouls obliged, trying to get at the
living beings at the current openings more than trying to create a
new opening. They were mindless beings, and I despaired at the
thought that the Naga might have been able to control the utterly,
ridiculously resilient creatures. The thought terrified me.
I looked, my Divine Senses Technique activated to the
utmost, pushing more Aether into my eyes and brain than I was
capable of holding in the middle of Condensation. The portal swirled
in front of me with corrupted Death Aether—a deeper-gray Aether
and an off-white, bluish Aether combined to create it. With some
effort, I looked through the opening, and saw a ribbon of Aether
connecting it to something that reached up to the top of the canyon
visible within.
“The staff, if it still exists, is through the portal,” I said.
“Regardless, something inside is connected to it.”
“Go. Siarczysty, take your Bond and find the source of the
portal. Find it and bring it back here,” Knight Kaminski said. “Do not
destroy it unless you are right next to the portal. I do not want to lose
you to whatever realm that is.”
“Yes, Knight Kaminski,” Sia said, dropping in front of me from
where he had been burninating the Ghouls. “Get on!”
I jumped onto his back, even though he was barely bigger
than me, and we shot forward with an explosion of Fire and Air
Aether. Sia’s wings folded against his body and together we burned
through a Warg as we took its place and passed through the portal.
 CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The air through the portal felt empty, the world hollow. There
was still Aether, but when I absorbed it through my meridians it
seemed to shrink in on itself. My gathering efficiency had dropped off
a cliff, making it maybe five percent of what it should be. “Sia, did
your gathering drop as soon as we arrived?” I asked as he flew into
the sky. Below us, a few Ghouls had tried to jump and grab Sia as he
flew through the portal, but only succeeded in getting their limbs
burnt away.
Off in the distance, I could see flying creatures, looking like
the Wargs only with bat-like wings. Air Aether buoyed them up,
letting the ungainly things fly, but it was a hollow Aether, pale, a
shadow of what it should have been. “Yes. The Aether here is devoid
of Truth, and nearly worthless to us. At least you still have a very
large quantity of refill powders and pills,” Sia said.
“True. Alright, we need to head that way,” I told him,
indicating where I saw the ribbon of Aether leading.
Sia turned to the left and then dove sharply. A Bat Warg shot
through the spot where he’d been, its skin color shifting from the
dark blue of the sky to the gray of the stone. I pulled one hand off
Sia’s back to throw a quick Fireball at it. While I could use
techniques without hand gestures, I was still better at hitting my
targets if I did, and I could hold onto Sia regardless of whatever
maneuvers he was doing.
The Fire washed over the flying thing and scorched through
its wings. With a shriek, it plummeted to the ground. Answering
shrieks above us told me there were many, many more that I hadn’t
seen before. My Aether senses swept around me, causing me to
look down rather than up. We were still above the canyon, which
extended for kilometers from the portal. A steady stream of Ghouls
and Wargs were sprinting down it, still in uncountable numbers. The
problem was that one in every ten of the undead below me felt like
they were level six Beasts. “Oh no,” I told Sia. “Core-level Ghouls.”
Sia dropped lower in the sky and said, “Keep my back clear. I
will burn through the ones below us as we fly.”
“Got it,” I said, rolling over and wrapping my legs around his
torso just below where his wings connected. Above us, high level
five Bat Wargs were dive-bombing toward my face. Unlike the rest of
the undead, though, these seemed to be able to use some sort of
technique, as a wave of hazy Aether exploded out of their mouths.
I grunted as a wash of flame beneath me heated the air, then
quickly formed a few Air Shields above us. I forced the Shields to
continue moving, adapting the technique on the fly, heh, to keep
them in front of the Bats. The first one’s technique hit and seemed to
rebound off my Shield, only to bounce back from the Bat toward it.
The second impact was harder, but there wasn’t time for a third
before the Bat splattered onto the Shield.
My Shield broke, but so did the undead creature. With a
quick twist of the runes, the second Shield was rimmed with Fire and
Lightning, burning the zombie Bat that ran into it.
The third bat, though, slowed down its dive enough to let the
Sound technique bounce thrice, and with the third impact shattered
the Air structure of my Shield. The Sound technique then returned to
the flying Warg and bounced again. This time, the undead staggered
from the impact of its own technique. That’s got to not be pleasant, I
thought, then formed two Lightning Bolts. I focused on the incoming
wave, then slammed both bolts forward, hitting it right in the center.
The first bolt broke the Sound attack into four pieces. The
pieces continued forward and out, spreading away from us in such a
way that they’d miss on all sides. Instead, they impacted the
canyon’s walls and splattered some of the Ghouls below. The
second bolt seized the muscles of the Warg Bat, burning away at its
torso for a few seconds, before it recovered and shrieked at us
again.
I could feel a massive rush of Essence from below, as Sia
burnt away the majority of the Ghouls. This was the first time he’d
had to go truly all out, without having to worry about hurting anyone
else, since he’d gotten his power back. This Essence was gross,
wrong in a way that I couldn’t really articulate. I knew I didn't want to
keep it that way, but I wasn’t sure how to make it better.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to deal with it, as more of the Bat
Wargs were coming.
I fired a steady stream of Lightning Bolts at them. The
majority died again to the first or second one, but a few continued
through my barrage. I was trying to conserve Aether, as Lightning
Bolts were the cheapest attack that wasn’t a simple Aether Blast,
and it was mostly working. As the first flying zombie got close, I built
up a Wrath of the Lightning Herald and let it loose.
It did barely more damage than a Lightning Bolt did. “Sia,
area techniques are nearly worthless here!” I shouted, building up a
Fireball with a huge heaping of Aether in it. The Bat belted its Sound
attack at us, so I broke it with an Air Blade before the Fireball would
be disrupted. The Beast hit the Fireball and was blasted into pieces,
the cumulative damage enough to break through whatever defenses
the Bat had.
The swarm of Bats following behind started to strain my
ability to multitask, as I threw Lightning Bolts, Fireballs, Air Blades,
Metal and Earth Spikes, and even Wood Stakes and Icicles, cycling
through the Elements to preserve the Aether balance in my Core. I
was rapidly draining, though, while the Bats seemed never ending.
“Look ahead,” Sia said. “Are we close?”
I glanced to the side and up, to find the ribbon of Aether
connecting the gate to whatever was powering it was starting to drop
toward the ground. Ahead, the canyon walls opened up, and I saw a
castle in the middle of a valley. There was still no greenery
anywhere. “The castle. Whatever is causing this is coming from the
castle!”
“Understood,” Sia said, then we were enveloped in his Fire
and Lightning Aether. With a jerk of acceleration, we covered the half
kilometer to the castle in a second, where his wings flared open and
we slammed onto the top of the keep. A Warg that had been
standing there was flattened, even its Core-level body unable to deal
with Sia’s flames. Aether attacks from Core-level Ghouls shot into
the sky behind us, beams of Death like the Nagas’ along with globes
of Acid and Corrosion Aether that sought to dissolve whatever they
hit.
I leapt off Sia’s back and met a Ghoul’s charge with a
Forceful Punch, my aura reaching out to deflect the Acid Ball that it
tried to create. It was the first time I’d used my aura to actively fight
against a technique, and I felt the strain on my Geist as I pushed it
beyond what I’d been trained to do. The Acid didn’t form, its Aether
disrupted before it could, and the creature barreled into my fist and
exploded.
There were no more undead on the top of the keep, though I
could feel some moving below us. Sia jumped into the air, a wave of
Fire reaching out at the oncoming Bat Wargs. “I will keep the riffraff
from entering the keep,” he said before diving below where I could
see.
“Burninate,” I told him, then sprinted for the doorway and the
stairs down. I knew the staff, if that was what I was sensing, was at
most two floors down. Its presence washed out everything around it,
so I couldn't tell if there was anyone else in the same room as it, but
I didn’t expect to grab it without a fight.
The first level down was a barracks for guards, and it held a
dozen Ghouls. They were already rushing toward the doorway up,
with the first at the base of the stairs. I met its rush with my trisula,
Aether enhancing both my body and my attack, a Forceful Punch
and a Fire Bolt merged into one to splatter and burn the too-resilient
Beast. My left hand was crafting a Fireball that I threw through the
top of the doorway to explode in the middle of the room, killing
several of the undead Beasts.
The detonation wave tossed another two Ghouls onto the
floor in front of me, giving me a perfect attack at the back of their
heads. I dropped to a knee and smashed their skulls apart, stilling
the undead, permanently I hoped. My Aether senses screamed at
me, and I dove into a roll while flexing the Iron Bones, Granite Skin
Technique to cover my body with Stone Aether. It was slightly
weaker against physical attacks, but much stronger against Aether,
especially Water and its derivatives.
 The Acid Ball splattered on the wall behind me, and a few
drops burned into my armor. I really need new armor. Stupid armorer
saying it would take three weeks to make what I wanted, when we
only had a few days before leaving. Definitely getting a set made
wherever Aleks or Lilianna can point me to as the best, I thought, my
skin burning for a second before my Aether finished countering the
Ghoul’s technique.
By that time, I’d already crossed half the room’s width as I
rolled to my feet. With a swipe, I kicked the strongest Ghoul’s legs
out from under it, blasting them with a Metal Aether Blast, though I
took a blow to the chest to do so. There were only three left after my
Fireball, all at a power level equivalent to my own. Well, equivalent to
a normal person at Seed Core anyway. Bruno the Dungeon had
shown us the gap between a Complete Condensation and Seed
Core, but on the trip across the ocean, Knight Kaminski had made
sure to emphasize that we were not normal gatherers and were
instead truly elite.
That fact left the Seed Core Ghouls in front of me as barely
better than the lower-level fodder I’d obliterated with a single
technique. The closest one had a haze of gray Death Aether around
its fists as it dropped a hammer blow toward my head. The second
one was rushing in, I guessed to tackle me to the ground, while the
last was creating another Acid Ball.
My left trisula came up, Plasma Edge lining the blade, and
sliced off the first Ghoul’s arms at the elbow while I stepped forward.
Its fists dropped behind me as my right trisula extended to pierce the
tackling Ghoul’s shoulder and detonate an Aether Blast inside. The
explosion broke its arm off and threw its body far enough off its path
to miss me. I rotated my left shoulder forward at the same time,
checking the now arm-less undead into the third’s Acid Ball. A quick
burst of Air Aether blew the Acid splatter away from me.
I created a Fire Wall, based loosely on Jon’s Ice Wall
technique, behind the two undead as they were knocked by my
throw. The two creatures fell into it, bellowing as the Fire cleansed
them.
 I was slammed forward and had to jerk myself into a dive
over my own Fire. I used the wall before the stairway to turn myself
around. I immediately had to create an Air Platform and shove
myself sideways as a beam of Death blasted the wall beside me.
The strongest undead had gotten back to its feet, even with half the
flesh on its right thigh gone from my kick.
Stupid undead and not really needing bodies, I grumbled,
sending an Aether Slash at the Ghoul that it blocked with a raised
forearm covered in Corruption Aether. That same arm then punched
out and blasted a beam at me. Trusting my technique, even as I
reinforced it, I let the beam hit me in the chest as I rushed at it.
The Ghoul wailed at me, the first instance of one using
Sound as an attack. The reverberations struck and tried to break
apart the Stone Aether of my technique. Granite Skin, Iron Bones
resisted the attack, though, as the multiple layers changed the
necessary Sound frequency to truly damage it, as each layer needed
a different one.
The Ghoul struck just as I would have gotten in range, as I’d
expected from something with so little ability to think and plan. I
stutter-stepped, taking a single instant longer to reach it. Its hand
blurred past my face. My trisula stabbed into its torso. Its Death
Aether tried to flow up them, a defensive technique I hadn't seen
before, but the pressure of my Lightning Aether vastly overpowered
it. Less than a second later, the Ghoul exploded.
I stood over the pieces of the undead, panting from the
eruption of effort needed to defeat them quickly. I pulled out a
Lightning and a Fire refill pill—I’d forgotten the flowery names for
them—and tossed them down.
“I am surprised one such as you could survive here,” a
grating voice said. Eerie maniacal laughter echoed up the stairs
following the statement.
 CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
I jumped, turning toward the stairs then hesitating.
“Well, come on down. Speak to me. Let me see you before I
kill you,” the voice said.
I took a deep breath, then covered myself in my Forgotten
Mists technique and started to slip down the stairs. “Sia, are you
okay?” I asked.
“Yes. I am getting tired, but I can fight for an hour or more
still,” he said.
“Be ready to send Fire into the second level from the top of
the keep. I might need help soon,” I told him, and felt his affirmation.
Unlike the stairs to the top, these ones extended multiple
levels down. The feeling of the staff was on this floor, so I knew it
was the correct one. I stored my left trisula in my belt, shaking my
head as my belt nearly came off due to slices in it, before pulling a
handheld mirror out of my ring. I extended it at the very bottom of the
stairway to look beyond, keeping my stealth technique running full
blast to try and hide from whatever made that horrible laughter.
Through the mirror, I saw a sitting room with an open door
leading into a larger area. The staff was floating in midair through the
doorway, glowing in a deeper gray than the Death Aether I’d been
seeing. A crystal just like the one we’d cracked in the Dungeon was
connected to the top of the staff, giving off the same light that made
my stomach turn. It was worse, a combination of Corruption, Death,
and Chaos, trying to change everything around into a facsimile of
life, corrupting where death stood in the cycle of life. The part of me
that held the blessing of Darkness seemed to roar at me to destroy
it.
A shadow moved through the gray light, only to resolve into
someone that could have been Spirit’s twin, if Spirit had never eaten
anything and had no eyeballs. It gave off the feeling of a Foundation
Core gatherer, but its aura was increasing with every breath I took.
The lich, for it could be nothing else, laughed again and looked
directly at me, though my techniques should have hidden me.
“Come, now, speak with me.”
I saw a window behind it, and grinned. At least Sia is a trump
card in this fight, I thought, before forming a Lightning Bolt and
throwing it at the lich. A shield of gray-green Aether appeared in front
of my attack and blocked it. My Fireball was deflected by a plane of
dim purple Aether, Stillness, through which the explosion didn’t
progress.
“Really, I did say I wanted to speak first,” the undead elf said,
staring at where I stood with weapons raised.
“You also said you were going to kill me,” I said.
“Well, of course,” the lich said, grinning a terrible grin. “You
are worthy to be like me, and the first step is to die. Death is not the
end. You could gain immense power by joining me.”
“And let you kill and enslave everyone on my world? Join
with Chaos in destroying the order which life requires?” I demanded.
“Bah, if a weakling cannot resist my change, why should you
care about it?” the lich asked.
“Not everything has to be about strength,” I said. “The strong
protect and raise up the weak. By doing so, society is improved and
more people will become strong.”
“But you are still ruled by the strong,” they said. “Is your
emperor not the strongest being in your nation? What if I could make
you stronger than they are, right now?”
“The King rules because it was he who brought our people to
safety,” I said. “He protected everyone weaker than him, and created
a society where he could grow stronger as well. His children are
protected, not just because he is the strongest, but because he
created a society where people do not prey on each other.” Aether
flared through my body, the Myriad Elements Enhancement
Technique massively increasing my capabilities, as I channeled
Aether to the tip of both of my trisula, one getting a Metal Spike and
the other a Lightning Bolt. “Now, my friends are fighting Ghouls right
now, preventing the influx of dangerous beings into my world. Give
me the staff, teach me how to shut down the portal, or die, again.”
The last part I growled, releasing my aura and concentrating it
around the lich.
“How rude,” they said, then they obliterated my aura with
their own. They were stronger than I was, at least at Foundation if
not Constructed Core. They weren’t at Perfect Core, I knew, or else
I’d already be dead. Each second, however, their power rose as
Aether and something else streamed in from the portal. “I guess I will
just have to ask my questions once I have captured your soul.”
I threw the spike at them, mentally guiding it to go for their
leg, assuming they would defend less against a lower attack than
one targeting their center of mass. I pushed on my aura, trying to
force it to pierce theirs, only to feel like I just threw my face against a
wall. The Metal Spike was blocked by a shield, piercing into the
ground only a few centimeters from their foot, so I blasted the
Lightning Bolt into it, getting it to arc into them.
“Ow,” the lich said, a frown forming on their skeletal face.
“Congratulations, you have hurt me. That makes you the first in a
century to do so.”
“That’s kinda pathetic,” I said, dodging a beam of Disease
Aether, what I’d finally realized the gray-green Aether was. I had the
feeling they were playing with me. “I’m only fifteen years old, and
nearly strong enough to defeat you. How old are you? How pathetic
is your gathering capability? Shouldn’t you have opened your soul by
now?”
“And I will, with access to your world and its untainted Aether
supply,” the lich said, its face stretching into a facsimile of a grin.
“Nope,” I said, then released a pulse of Force Aether. The
lich was knocked backward, its body still frail due to the absence of
flesh. “Now Sia, this one!” I told Sia, creating a flash of light to signal
which window. I threw two more Lightning Bolts at the undead elf,
trying to hold its attention. It worked, as two more shields appeared
to block my attacks and they glared at me behind their techniques.
A wall of Flame entered from behind the lich, catching it by
surprise. It screamed, turning around and blasting a series of
techniques out the window. I used the distraction to rush forward,
realizing I probably wouldn't be able to defeat the lich, so I grabbed
the staff. It burned me, trying to prevent me from taking hold of it, but
I ignored the damage.
It pulsed with Aether, and the lich growled, turning back
toward me. I was only a meter away from it, and slid underneath the
attack it tried to shoot at me. A Forceful Punch blew my enemy out of
my way, even though it blocked all of the actual damage from the
technique.
I dove out of the window, screaming, “Sia, catch me!” as I fell.
Behind me, I channeled as much Lightning, Fire, and Air Aether as I
could, filling the window with a barrage of attacks to keep the lich’s
head down.
The staff continued to burn me, throwing its Aether against
mine. My aura shut it down, though, as it wasn’t able to resist the
willpower I sent at it. The thing had a personality, but no true will
behind its attempts to force me to drop it. “Back to the portal,” I
shouted. “As fast as you can. Do not spare Aether!”
“Refill,” Sia said, and I connected my meridians to his,
throwing all of my Aether into him. As I ran low, my meridians
screaming in protest, I chugged down another eight refill pills and a
gathering powder. I could feel the impurities the pills were leaving in
me, and knew I would have to either take special pills to clean them
out, or waste extra time gathering to purge the damage they created.
It was better to pollute my system than to die, though, so I threw
down another set when it wasn’t enough.
My senses screamed in warning, and Sia must have felt the
same as he shunted himself sideways with Air and Water. I threw the
strongest Air Shield I could behind us, and wrapped Sia and myself
with Granite Skin, Iron Bones. Our connection allowed me to use my
own enhancement and defense techniques as if we were one body.
Sia himself covered us with Flameskin, which would burn away
Aether attacking us.
All together, our techniques were barely enough to save us,
as a pillar of Disease and Corruption Aether smashed down on the
canyon. The attack utterly obliterated every single Ghoul and Warg
visible. The shockwaves from the impact were enhanced with
Aether, shattering both of our shields and sending Sia into a barrel
roll as he tried to control himself.
We were only a few hundred meters from the portal, but the
way back was now partially covered in shattered stone and dirt.
Craters filled the canyon from my friend’s attacks, making the
Ghoul’s slower. At least that gives the others a good break, I thought.
The Aether cylinder was still present when Sia finally righted
himself. Just as he was steadying out, the pillar grew thinner, but
spikes formed along the entire side pointing toward us. “Die!” the lich
screamed, their voice echoing with Sound Aether and something
else. Their power had increased all the way to Complete Core,
beyond what I could hope to defeat. I could see the unknown Aether,
but the color seemed off. It was a pale purple, but washed out, dingy,
and twisted in a way that made my stomach turn.
The Sound pounded on our Aether Shields, while the pale
Aether tried to worm its way into our minds, focusing on our heads. I
pulsed out Plasma Aether, burning away the attack, only for Sia to
dive toward the ground as the spikes of Disease and Corruption
exploded out of the pillar. They curved in the sky, arcing toward us.
I quickly formed a dozen Fireballs, commanding them
mentally to explode while near the spikes. Each explosion wiped out
at least four spikes, but there were hundreds still coming. “Clear a
spot here,” Sia told me, picturing a location up and to the left.
I nodded, then threw out a set of Fireballs while stuffing
another batch of refill pills into my mouth. My attack wiped away the
spikes in the area Sia wanted, while also blowing apart a few from
behind and to our right. Sia curved upward, pulling on my Air Aether
extensively to throw himself through the gap created in the
encirclement.
The lich screamed in anger, and the spikes exploded.
Disease Aether splashed over us, only for Sia to burn it away. I could
feel he was starting to flag and was running low on Aether even as I
fed mine into him. “Just go for the portal. Straight shot, we can take a
single hit if needed,” I shouted. “Jamila and Vaya will fix us up.”
“Last gasp,” Sia said. Fire, Lightning, and Metal enveloped
us, and I felt him use the knowledge of magnetic fields I’d told
everyone about to accelerate us toward the portal.
A straight line was predictable, and the lich, who even with
their power was still too slow to catch us, used it to send a beam of
Corruption five meters in diameter.
I covered us with a series of Aether Shields: Air, Water,
Metal, Wood, Earth, Ice, Fire, and lastly Lightning. My Geist gushed
out, quickly enough that I would run out in only seconds as my
Aether drained as fast as I could possibly use it. My projection
meridians burned and my skin flaked off as I overloaded all three
skin meridians.
The cleanest Essence in my center gushed out as well,
flowing into the Shields. Some of the corrupted Essence did as well,
and it hurt in a way deeper than I could express. Thoughts of
abandoning Sia and leaping ahead tried to worm themselves into my
brain, but I rejected them categorically.
The beam of Corruption hit and burned through my Shields,
one after another, but the impact threw us even faster through the
portal. The last Shield shattered just as we crossed the line, and I
shoved Aether into the staff and slashed it at the portal.
The Corruption burned, sloughing off the skin and muscle of
my right arm, only to be cut off as the portal snapped shut. Sia
slammed into and through the stone wall that the others had
reinforced in front of the portal, and I went spinning off him as I
struggled to hold onto consciousness.
 CHAPTER THIRTY-
THREE
“Aiden, you have to let go of the staff!” Vaya screamed.
I don’t have a staff, I thought, but was unable to speak. I hurt
too much. A moan was the only sound I could make.
“Just cut his hand off,” Ming said. “He is dying. Hold it
straight!” A sharp pain cleared my mind.
I opened my eyes to find Vaya and Jamila both kneeling by
my head. I lifted my right arm to see that it now ended just below my
elbow. The area above my elbow didn’t look good either, with muscle
and bone visible. A stream of soothing Aether shot into me, wrapping
my arm in Wood and Water while Life and Healing Aether searched
through my internals.
“What happened?” Vaya asked, looking to where Sia, in his
smallest form, stood near my head.
“There was an intelligent undead that was nearing Perfect
Core in strength,” Sia said. “They used Disease and Corruption
Aether, I think. To make it back, Aiden took a full-powered blow from
them.”
“Corruption and Disease, that is what that feeling is,” Jamila
whispered to herself.
I tried to speak, but Vaya just shushed me. “We need to
concentrate,” she said. “The enemy’s Aether is fighting back. Rest,
gather if you can, but rest.”
I nodded, a tiny movement that was the most I could do, then
dropped into my center. “Wow, no wonder I’m not very functional,” I
said with a gasp. My center and Core were empty of Aether, and the
only Essence left was the corrupted stuff from the Gallu.
Aether was starting to pour in, though it only came in fits and
starts rather than a steady stream like it should. “Gather, if you can.”
Jamila’s voice echoed through her Aether as it wrapped around my
center. Tinges of pain flared through me as she fixed tiny pieces of
my center where the Corruption Aether had, well, corrupted my
physical and metaphysical flesh.
I couldn’t form any runes, so I was limited to gathering like I
had when I first started, before I had any techniques. My mind
reached out to the space around me, visualizing the Aether as
motes. My mental hand wavered as my focus drifted, then
sharpened again at another flare of pain, and I grabbed every mote
that was within my body and pulled.
Every drop of Aether that wasn’t mine, the atmospheric or
natural Aether that permeated the world and drove life here, within
my grasp was sucked into my Core with no discernible effort. The
Aether condensed into a single drop, which whisked itself up my life
meridian to my brain, clearing the fog completely. “Huh,” I said, then
reached beyond myself, mentally enlarging the net I’d imagined to
cover a meter in all directions. With a jerk, my Core received all of it
again. It felt like the first time I’d ever gathered, the tiny strain of
grabbing only a few motes, then a result unimaginably greater.
I spent a few minutes just grabbing the Aether in that meter-
radius sphere, letting my system get used to it and recovering more
of my faculties, before I finally had enough Aether to create the
Spiral Gathering Technique. The Aether structures formed, and
immediately my gathering meridians screamed in pain. I grunted and
strained, Vaya’s hand pressing on my head as she tried to soothe
me.
I shattered my technique, then rebuilt it with only three
spirals, vastly reducing the speed. It was enough to create a tiny
strain, pain that was barely noticeable among the other aches and
pains that covered me. I moved my mind along the gathering
meridians, and found dozens of spots where the Corruption,
Disease, and Death Aether that had damaged my body had
impacted them.
Each second, the damage was healed a miniscule amount as
the environmental Aether became my own, flowing into the
meridians and cleansing them of the injury. At the rate it was going,
though, I wouldn’t be fully healed for months. And that’s why we do
not rely only on natural healing, I thought as I pulled a stream of
Aether out of my Core. It wasn’t much, as I was basically just
redirecting the input of my gathering technique into healing.
I formed the runes of my self-healing technique around the
first spot of Diseased flesh, and let the Aether crush the infection.
“Light, he is Diseased,” Vaya said. “Jon, Ming, I need you to hold his
legs! Keep him still!”
Confused, I let my perspective move to my full body, only to
discover it was mid-seizure. The joining left me confused, my brain
suddenly affecting my consciousness exponentially more than it had
been only seconds ago. I struggled for a minute while the others
healed me, then I managed to separate my mind from my body
again. “Light and Darkness, I’m way more hurt than I expected,” I
sighed. “Sia, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” Sia answered. “You idiot. You were supposed to share
the damage with me, leaving us both injured but not crippled.
Instead, you took it on yourself, and now Jamila is panicking that you
are going to die on her.”
“Can you tell her I’ll be fine, please? I can’t talk right now,” I
asked.
“If you cannot talk, why do you think you will be fine? Hold
on,” he said, and I felt a push on my stomach, vaguely connecting
my mental body with my physical one. Sia’s Aether jumped into me,
connecting through my meridians and flooding into my center. “Now,
heal and recover. We will talk later about your idiocy.”
“Fine,” I told him, dragging out the middle syllable, then
laughed at the exasperation I felt through our Bond. The massive
influx of Aether was hugely beneficial, though. I immediately grabbed
a handful and fueled my healing technique more, trying to fix my
gathering meridians.
After a few minutes, I scanned my body again, and found
Jamila was working on fixing my arm, or what was left of it, while
Vaya continued to support my heart, lungs, and center. “Wow,” I told
myself after I scanned my body. “How am I alive?”
 “Your ridiculous amount of tempering, the strength of a Seed
Core gatherer, our Bond, and two miraculous healers,” Sia said,
appearing in my center as a bird made of pure Fire.
“Hey, welcome to, uh, me,” I said.
He shook his head, mirroring one of my mannerisms, then
sighed. “Come on. Show me the healing technique you use, and I
will direct some of our Aether.”
“Thanks, really,” I said.
His projection flapped over to mine, landing on my shoulder,
then he slapped my head with his wing. “We are Bonded, now and
forever. I will not lose you to stupidity.”
“Fine, fine,” I said, fending off his wing with a laugh. I grabbed
Aether and flew up my lower gathering meridian. “So, I’ve been
focusing more on the Disease than the Corruption and Death
injuries. It seems like they are more aggressive at trying to spread,
and fixing them is giving Vaya some breathing room.”
“I can work on that,” Sia said.
I demonstrated the healing technique, talking through each
rune and how they connected along with the process of applying the
Aether to the damaged sections. After two injured spots, skipping
another three of the other two types, Sia hopped off my shoulder and
pecked my ear. “I will work on your upper gathering meridian, and
will inform you when I finish cleansing it.”
“Thanks,” I said, nearly tearing up at the fact that three
people, no more, since Jon and Ming were both holding my body still
so that Vaya and Jamila could work, were pouring their everything
into keeping me alive. I vaguely felt Aleks hovering nearby as well,
powders and pills sitting in a neatly organized pile next to her. Vaya
was directing Aleks and she would grab a healing powder and pour it
gently onto my chest. I realized then that I was barely decent, a cloth
over my waist the only clothing I wore.
The blush that I felt internally was apparently visible on my
physical body, as I heard Vaya laugh. “He is awake enough to realize
he is not wearing anything,” she said, a smile in her voice.
“He will make it,” Jamila said, the relief audible. I felt Aleks
lose some of the tension that was keeping her up. “We still have a lot
of work to do to make sure he is not crippled. Come on.”
Crippled! I thought. My embarrassment was gone in an
instant, and I dove into clearing away the Disease in my meridians
with a renewed will. Nope, no, no way, I will be fine. I will fix
everything. I will not be weak! The series of thoughts seemed to
explode through me like a mantra.
“Aiden, take your time,” Sia told me, his mental projection
appearing before mine to stop me from throwing a surge of Aether
into another Disease spot.
“I cannot be crippled,” I said. “I have to be able to protect
everyone.”
“Aiden,” Sia yelled, and I stopped, shocked by his tone. “You
are incredible, smart, talented, and strong. You are not
indispensable, however, and if you died we would move on. We
would be sad, but you have taught me much, and I will continue your
crusade to have everyone in Craesti grow stronger. Even if you were
unable to fight, your knowledge and drive would infect everyone
around you to get better. Stop flagellating yourself, and take your
time, Fire burn it! If you make a mistake healing yourself, it would
take ten times longer to fix it, and that might be what cripples you
forever!”
My projection took a deep breath, symbolic though it was.
“Thanks, Sia,” I said. “I was locked in a panic spiral there.”
“Good. Now I do not have to slap you silly,” he said. “Work on
healing, but do not lose yourself in it.”
“Hold on,” I said, then brought myself back into contact with
my body. I found that I could move, a bit at least, with only a small
amount of brain fog to push my thoughts through. I extended my
right hand and surged my Aether. The Skysurfer formed under it, just
past Vaya, and then I put the Portable Home on top of it. “Get home,”
I ground out. “Don’t touch the staff or crystal with bare flesh.”
“Rest,” Vaya said. She turned away from me. “Okay, put the
poles under him. We can bring Xiao, Lilianna, and Aiden in comfort
to Oddali.”
“I will speak with the City Lord and get a detachment of the
army to investigate these ruins further,” Aleks said.
 “Xiao and Lilianna?” I asked Sia from my center.
“They are both injured, though not to the extent you are,” he
said.
“Light blind us.” I was jerked upwards, and found myself
resting on a stretcher formed of Stone and Wood, manipulated with
Aether to carry me without bouncing. I floated forward and Vaya
guided me into my room. Good thing I gave all of my girls permission
to enter my room without me, I thought. I’d hate to be relegated to
bean bag cushions for now.
“On three,” Jamila said, then she counted. I was floated off
the stretcher with Air Aether, and laid gently into my bed. Vaya lay
next to me, keeping her focus on my center and organs and
maintaining my life by doing so. Jamila pulled a chair over, leaning
over the back and holding my arm. I felt her continuing to block off
the Disease and Corruption that was trying to spread up my arm and
infect the rest of my body. My arm still ended just below my elbow. I
knew she needed to cleanse it from the evil Aether before she could
work on regrowing it.
I dove back into my gathering meridian. I knew that
increasing how much Aether I had inside me would make both of
their jobs easier. “Sia, where is Hanna?” I asked.
“Tending to Xiao, Lilianna, and Knight Kaminski,” he
answered from my upper gathering meridian. I found that we could
talk even though I couldn’t see his projection. “Xiao and Lilianna
were both severely injured by the Ghouls, and have a similar
Corruption trying to spread throughout their bodies. Knight Kaminski
overstrained her meridians and was injured during the fight, so
Hanna is helping her recover as well. Hanna knows that she can
scream for assistance and Jamila will help her, but so far they are
much less needy than you are.”
“Were we not fast enough?” I asked, my face falling.
“If we had taken longer, more of our friends might have been
injured,” Sia said. “As it stands, no one died, so yes, we were fast
enough. Everyone’s injuries can be healed. You do not have to beat
yourself up over your perceived failures. No one else could have
returned the staff and the crystal attached to it, not unless Knight
Kaminski herself abandoned protecting the Craesti. Without her
there, everyone would be injured, if not worse. You were the right
choice, you succeeded, now move on. If you must berate yourself,
do so by growing stronger, so you do not have to make this choice
again.”
“So, like I keep saying, I gotta get stronger,” I said, then I
sighed. “Light, it's easier when I’m the one hurt.”
“We will be going to war soon,” Sia said. “Others are already
on their way. In war, people die… Beasts die… Bonds die. If you
cannot deal with that, you will be a weakness instead of a strength.
Now, focus on healing. Knight Kaminski said it will be two days
before we reach Oddali.”
“Aye aye, captain,” I said, snapping into a facsimile of
attention and throwing him a sloppy salute. I turned back to the
meridian I had been working on, took a chunk of Aether that Sia had
given me, and got back to work.
 CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The next day drug on, and on, and on. Gathering was always
a fairly boring prospect, though the level of focus required did help to
distract from it, and healing internal injuries was worse. Once I got to
a large burn on my lower gathering meridian, all I had to do was set
up the healing runic structure, then hold it in place while feeding
Aether into it. I didn’t have to concentrate on it, which left me entirely
too much time to think.
Sia was a lifesaver, even if he did berate me for the
depression spirals I’d get into. After a few hours of travel, Vaya was
able to reduce her support of my heart. They had figured out that
healing slowly was better, as the Disease Aether especially seemed
to react poorly to quick Aether applications. Several times, it tried to
split apart and seek out new hiding spots from which to spread.
“Whoa, careful,” Jamila said, and a streamer of Life Aether
reached out and covered some Water Aether from Vaya. “That
Corruption really likes to change Water.”
“Thanks,” she responded. “This is the first time I have had to
use advanced Aether types to heal.”
“It does take getting used to.” Jamila’s Aether sank into the
Corruption Aether while Vaya mixed Wood into the Water to make
Healing Aether, her movements a little clumsy to start but quickly
becoming adept.
They were quiet again for a little while, and I finally finished
the first gathering meridian. Sia was still only a third of the way
through his efforts on my upper gathering meridian. It had been
closer to the damage and the bleed off of the Disease, Corruption,
and Death Aether had affected it more. The rush of Aether through
the repaired meridian made muscles relax that I hadn’t even realized
were tense.
 A few hours later, I vaguely heard Aleks timidly ask, “How is
he?”
“Recovering well,” Vaya answered. “Very little chance he will
die now.”
She slumped forward a little. “Oh, good.” She sat next to
where Vaya still lay and put her left hand on Vaya’s shoulder. “And
how are you two?”
“Tired,” Jamila said, “but I can continue for hours still. How
are Xiao and Lilianna?”
“Knight Kaminski and Hanna have them stable,” Aleks
responded. “The others are watching for more Naga while flying the
Skysurfer. Jon is barely holding it together.”
“What about you?” Vaya asked, and I felt one of her hands let
go of me to grab Aleks’s hand. “You know we are here for you.”
She smiled, a fragile, small one but still real. “Yeah, I know. I
will need to speak to City Lord Wojcik when we arrive at Oddali. I do
not know how much of her forces are available to scour this area of
the Zaboj for more Naga presence. She needs to be warned about
the Gallu and the plague they can spread as well. I do not know how
this is going to go over on top of the war with the Illyrian Empire.”
“The world is getting more dangerous,” Jamila said.
“We will face it together and triumph,” Vaya said, gripping
Aleks’s hand and reaching over to squeeze Jamila’s shoulder.
“Aleks, can you bring some broth for Aiden? I think a bit of Aether-
rich liquid will help.”
“Of course,” she said, hopping off the bed and rushing out of
the room.
A few minutes later, she came back with a bowl and spoon
and sat just next to my head. “All you need to do is swallow,” she
whispered to me, gently stroking my hair. “Please be okay. Please.” I
got the feeling I wasn’t supposed to hear the last bit. She carefully
dribbled a spoonful of broth into my mouth, and I reflexively gulped it
down.
That was how the next hour went, with Aleks channeling a
tiny stream of Heat Aether, created from Fire and Air, to keep it
steaming. Even if it was boiling, it wouldn’t hurt me now, but the taste
was best just below that temperature. We’d figured out a workaround
to my inability to speak, and had Sia relay anything I had to say,
though he was very annoyed by it.
As the day turned into night, Vaya started to nod off on my
chest. She’d been able to gradually shift from supporting my heart
and lungs, keeping me alive, to healing them and the surrounding
tissues. I’d probably have been able to support myself, but that
would have prevented me from working on my gathering meridians.
Once they were all fixed, progress sped up on healing everything.
Using my Aether as a supplementary source of energy let Jamila
and Vaya both relax their draconian control of their own.
“You… should… sleep,” I said aloud, each word taking a new
breath.
Jamila jolted. “What? Don’t speak, save your energy.”
“Sia, can you tell them to take a break and sleep?” I asked.
“They’re both drooping and need the rest.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ll be fine. I may not make any progress healing, but I won’t
regress or die, and they are going to pass out soon. Even with the
advance to Core making us need less rest, they’ve had a really
stressful and busy day.”
“I will tell them, but you know they will disregard it.”
“Gotta try.” I felt Sia talking with both girls, Aleks having gone
to train once she was done feeding me and didn’t have anything else
she could do to help. I could tell that not being able to help heal was
eating her up inside, so I had Sia tell her to work on tempering.
Vaya yawned, then nodded. “Fine, I will rest. Right here,
though, just in case.” She snuggled up tighter against my side and
laid her head on my chest before nearly instantly falling asleep.
Jamila frowned. “There is still so much work to do,” she said.
“Rest,” I breathed out.
She climbed all the way into the bed and pulled a pillow over.
“Okay. Sia, you will wake me if anything changes.” Her voice grew
tight at the end.
Sia nodded. “Of course. I will not allow him to get worse
anyway.”
 “You better,” she said, though the last word drowned itself in
a yawn.
Again, she was asleep in seconds. “You need rest as well,”
Sia told me.
“I will sleep when they wake up,” I told him. “You can rest
though. I will scream if I need you.”
I felt his eye roll. The next three hours passed even slower,
until Vaya stirred. “Why are you still awake?” she asked, her voice
holding a dangerous edge.
“Now it is my turn to sleep.” I stretched and managed a
smile.
“Yup,” she said, and a twist of Water and Wood Aether
seemed to slam into my mind. What, no! I was asleep in seconds.
I woke when the entire Portable Home seemed to shake.
Vaya jumped off the bed. “I will find out what is happening,” she told
Jamila, who nodded. I was still covered in injuries, Disease, and
Corruption, but was getting close to where I could get up and walk
around, at least.
“How long?” I asked Sia.
“One and a half days,” he told me. “Vaya and Jamila have
taken turns keeping you asleep and healing. We have just arrived at
Oddali.”
“I need to be able to stand and talk,” I said, diving into my
center and rushing down along my legs. There were a few places
where Corruption was disrupting my nerves, keeping my legs from
responding to my commands, so I focused on the first of those.
Jamila and Vaya hadn’t been too concerned about those and were
trying to make sure that my major organs, brain, and center were
safe before moving outward.
Sia felt my urgency, and threw his own focus into my other
leg.
Jamila smacked me lightly on my head. “Do not make me put
you back to sleep. You are not ready to meet with the City Lord.”
“The lich that was on the other side of the portal might be
able to open it again,” I told Sia. “We need to make sure they send a
strong presence, at least one Perfect Core but preferably two, along
with a full century of troops. The Naga seem to want to give this
world to a deity associated with Death and Chaos, which seems
worse than Chaos directly. Whoever Inanna is, she seems to be
allied with Chaos anyway, and any weakness will lead to our
destruction.”
“I will tell Aleks, Jamila, and Knight Kaminski,” Sia said, “but I
doubt Vaya and Jamila will let you get up anyway. So rest, heal, and
I will answer questions for you.”
“Oh, fine,” I growled at him, then dove back into healing.
“This is remarkable.” A voice I didn’t recognize said sometime
later. An older woman walked into my room, then bowed to me. It
was a slight bow, only a bit deeper than just a nod, but it was telling
from someone at the peak of Perfect Core. “I apologize for intruding,
Kupiec Aiden, but I had to see that you were truly laid low.” Her
short, black hair framed her thin face, an arrogant smirk revealing
her opinion of me.
“Will… you… send… troops?” I asked, each word difficult.
“A decurion has already departed, with a Complete Core
leader,” she said dismissively. “Any more would weaken Oddali’s
defense too much. I do not know what you children saw, but I will not
risk my people on your word.”
“Even with my order?” Aleks said, stomping into the room.
“You are a child,” City Lord Wolcik said, waving her hand
dismissively.
“Sia, tell her this,” I told him, rage welling up inside me. “You
will send at least one Perfect Core to watch over the portal’s
location, or your city will drown in its dead and our nation will be lost
to your hubris! Do it now, or King Craesti will force your hand and
you will lose political power and influence.”
“Who are you to speak to me that way?” she growled.
“I am Knight Kupiec Aiden, hero of Craesti City, champion of
the International Tournament of Champions, Munqiz of the Ashkhas,
chosen bearer of the Legacy of the M’Zee, betrothed to Princess
Aleksandra, and the youngest Seed Core gatherer in history. I can
and will see to your destruction if your own actions do not lead you
there anyway!”
 I saw Aether collecting around her hands as her face twisted
into a hateful glare, only for Knight Kaminski to arrive next to her. “Do
not make me kill you,” she said quietly, her voice full of malice.
“Fine,” City Lord Wocik spat. “Centurion Wozniak will take his
century to the ruins. You will regret this.” She blurred away and
Knight Kaminski vanished after her.
“Wow, Aiden,” Vaya said, squeezing into the room. “You put
her in her place.”
I laughed, a wheezing sound that made me grimace, but they
seemed to recognize it. “I wish she had done what is right without
the threats, but I will not regret making an enemy if it prevents a
zombie apocalypse.”
Five minutes later, Knight Kaminski came back. “She did as
she said, and a Perfect Core centurion has departed with his troops
toward the ruins. We can leave for Craesti City. We will stop ten
kilometers from the city, and I will take Princess Aleksandra to speak
with King Craesti. I believe that he will want to hold a parade
welcoming you back.” She paused for a second, then nodded. “You
have three days. Do your best to get well enough to fake health,
please.”
“Of… course,” I said with a grin.
“Good,” Knight Kaminski said, then she stepped forward and
put her hand on Jamila’s back. The flood of Aether between them
was easily visible, and my Aether senses told me that Jamila went
from nearly empty to completely full of Aether in only a few seconds.
Knight Kaminski drooped a bit afterwards, but winked and then
vanished, rushing back into the common room.
The bed shuddered when the Skysurfer rose into the sky
again, and we continued our journey back home.
I worked at healing my legs more, and noticed that, after
removing the Disease and Corruption, the remaining tissue was
stronger. It’s like the damage is tempering my body to it, I thought,
but it's limited to the areas where the damage is greatest. How can I
spread this out? Increasing my strength and decreasing my
vulnerability to Corruption and Disease seems like it would be highly
useful. Hmm, maybe if I push the Corruption around?
 I smashed a hammer of Wood Aether into the ball of
Corruption blocking the nerves headed deeper into my right leg. This
time, I let the pieces left over spread around and grow for a few
minutes before breaking them apart again. Over and over, I traced
the damage down my leg. Each bit healed afterwards let the benefits
encroach on a larger area, though to a lesser extent. I growled at it,
then tried feeding unaspected Aether into the growth to encourage
it.
The Aether just burned it away, instead of fueling its growth.
“Light blind it,” I growled. “I was hoping to get more tempering out of
the stupid Corruption, but it looks like that won’t work.”
“You should just focus on healing,” Sia said. “We can figure
out how to temper more evenly to Corruption, Disease, and Death
later. For now, you need to be able to walk, run, and fight. Without
that ability, being slightly stronger against Death Aether will mean
nothing.”
“Fine,” I sighed, then gave up on spreading the Corruption
Aether out, and focused on just obliterating it where I could.
This continued for another two days, with Jamila and Vaya
enforcing a three-hour nap every day on me. I reciprocated, making
them sleep as well. Halfway through the third day, the Skysurfer set
down again. Finally, we’re home, I thought as my flying surfboard
settled.
 CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Two hours later, Aleks strode into my room. “Can he walk?”
she asked Jamila.
“For a bit,” she said, looking at me. “What do you think?”
“I… will… stand,” I said. Talking was still difficult.
Aleks frowned but nodded. “Okay. We will have you hold on
to two of our arms to support you without looking like you need it.
Would that work?” She looked at Jamila instead of me.
“It is… fine,” I growled.
“That should be okay,” Jamila said, reaching over to grip my
bicep. “We just want you to be safe. You know that.”
“I know,” I sighed. “Still annoying.”
“Sorry,” Aleks said. “I am just worried. You were severely
injured in a way I have never seen before. Looking weak in front of
the city would be a poor idea as well, especially since you…” She
trailed off, blushing.
“I…?”
“You declared we were engaged to City Lord Wocik. I do not
know if Dad will be okay with that.”
“Well, we could have a meeting before we enter the city. It
has been a month, I think,” Vaya said, walking in. “Aiden, can you
check the Connecting panel?”
With a thought, I pulled it out of my ring. The sheet of metal,
absolutely covered in minute Inscriptions well beyond my ability to
see, even with the enhancement that Seed Core had given my
senses, appeared in my hand. I sent a tiny stream of Aether into it,
probing at the connection and checking Connecting the Myriad
People’s charge. “It’s ready,” I said.
Aleks held up her medallion. “Well, let us have another
meeting. The last one was short and did not demonstrate the true
power of your equipment.”
 “Does King Craesti expect us to start walking in a parade
soon?”
“No, we are still a day out from Craesti,” Vaya said. “Knight
Kaminski had us set down for everyone to rest and recover before
we cross the final distance. She said she was going to speak with
King Craesti before we arrived.”
“Thanks,” I said, then surged Aether into the plate.
Immediately, I felt a ping explode across the world, my mind seeming
to stretch with the Aether surge. After a second, I felt a response to
my southwest. Another few seconds passed, and three different
points activated to the northwest. Two more triggered even farther
north and to the east, then a final response came.
Immediately, I found myself standing in an area enclosed by
fog. Aleks appeared to my left, then rushed to my side. “You still look
like chum,” she said, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. I
relaxed down onto her, letting her Seed Core strength hold me up as
I sagged in relief.
“So, is this why you called a meeting?” King Craesti asked.
“Or were you just hoping to get frisky with my daughter in a mind
space?”
“Daaaaad,” Aleks whined.
Boisterous laughter echoed, and Prince Gunther appeared.
“King Craesti,” he said, laughing, “I am Prince Gunther of the
Weltreich.”
“Prince Gunther, it is a pleasure.” King Craesti walked over
and gave him a head nod.
Gunther gave a much deeper bow. “The pleasure is my own.
Unfortunately, I cannot give any updates on the front lines. My
retainers and I are still on a ship headed for the Illyrian coast.”
“Nor can we,” Shehzada Maayari, the Topraki heir, said,
materializing out of the mists. “We still journey toward home, to
speak with my mother and collect our troops.” The Topraki Soul
Strengthening representative, Librarian Narwan’s equivalent in the
tournament, appeared, then bowed deeply to King Craesti, Prince
Gunther, Princess Aleksandra, and then me, in that order. He was
missing a hand, which made my eyes widen when I noticed it. He
gave me a grin and a nod.
“Princess Aleksandra, Prince Gunther. Oh, King Craesti,”
said Sezhade Iswat, the Ashkhas heir, surprised. “I apologize, sire, I
did not realize that the medallion had made its way to you already.”
“Good!” Sultah Aleahil said. “The last meeting was worthless,
only these silly children playing around. Gunther, Felix, have you
reached your parents yet?”
“No, Sultah,” Gunther said. “We are still sailing. Ritter Felix
met up with me after the Dungeon attack rather than journey home.
He is still recuperating from his injuries.” Felix Ritter nodded, the
burns on his face still red and puffy.
“I may have to admonish him,” King Craesti said, appearing
in front of me. “What happened to you?”
I looked around, then nodded. “The Naga were at the ruins
we discovered on our trip to the Ashkhas Baqiya,” I said. “Looking for
a staff that radiated evil. We found it first, only to have to fight
superior forces. We were successfully repelling them when the
Perfect Core Naga leader sacrificed the rest of her people and then
herself on the staff and opened a portal to a dead realm. They were
referencing deities named Inanna and Tiamat, who I believe is
Chaos. Inanna should be Death or something like that.”
I shivered slightly then continued. “The staff disappeared into
the other realm, and during our fight against an undead enemy, my
Bond and I rushed into the portal to try and find the staff and close
the incursion. An intelligent undead, a lich, was in possession of the
staff. They were only at the power level of a Constructed Core
gatherer to start, but quickly grew. Sia was able to surprise them,
and I took advantage to grab the staff and run. We managed to
dodge all of the lich’s attacks until just before we crossed the portal
again, but they managed to hit me with a blast of a uniquely deadly
Aether combination. Once through, I closed the portal, but my friends
were forced to cut my hand off to prevent the corruption of the attack
from spreading. I am still recovering.”
Of course, this opened the floodgates, and dozens of
questions flew at me. I spent the next few minutes answering them,
before finally I waved my hands. “I need to speak to King Craesti, as
we are only a night’s travel away from Craesti City. Uh, can the rest
of you speak among yourselves? There should be another thirty
minutes of time left.”
“Rest well and recover,” Sultah Aleahil said. “We will look for
the Naga around the Baqiya, as well as warn the merchant captains
as they sail. Thank you again for your proactive defense of my
people.” The leader of the Ashkhas in all but name bowed to me.
“Uh,” I stammered. “You are welcome.”
He laughed, then turned and scooped up the Ashkhas heir
with a wall of Air Aether. We’d discovered during the last meeting
that you could manipulate Aether as if you were truly here, and the
stronger people were able to do more, as would be expected.
“Hmm, would you prefer to just fly your treasure into the city
with little fanfare?” King Craesti asked.
I looked over at Aleks, then sighed. “Yeah, I would, but it
would be a disservice to my friends and colleagues.”
“Hmm. Do you need a stronger healer?”
“Uh, I don’t think so.” I shrugged. “I think I just need time to
recover. Jamila and Vaya both have been pausing and letting my
body rest between healings for the last day or so, and I’ve drunk at
least six liters of broth today.”
“I will have chariots await your group. You will land just
outside the eastern gate of the city, and then only have to transition
to the chariot,” King Craesti said, then his face grew stern. “Each one
will only hold two people. You will ride with my daughter, then your
other two paramours will ride in the next vehicle. Behind will come
the rest of your party, except Knight Kaminski. She will know what to
do. Once you arrive at the keep, we will have a long discussion
about why you thought you could declare yourself my daughter’s
betrothed.” His face grew increasingly stern. Near the end of his rant,
his aura started to crush me into the ground, and I gulped in terror.
“Daddy,” Aleks said, stepping in front of me. “We chose each
other. You and Mom said you would support any choice I made if it
was acceptable to the Kingdom. Aiden is the champion of the
International Tournament, the holder of the Legacy of the M’Zee, and
the youngest Seed Core gatherer ever. Are you going to say he is
not a good choice?”
The aura that King Craesti was projecting popped like a
balloon. “Of course not, minnow,” he said, and I felt Aleks’s blush. “I
just hoped you would talk to your mother and I before pledging
yourself.”
“Uh, I, uh, didn’t mean, uh,” I stammered. “I was—”
“Just trying to put City Lord Wocik in her place? Create a new
political problem for me while I was pushing through war ordinances
and tax increases?”
“Yeah, uh, no,” I gulped. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“It is fine.” He laughed, then scooped me into a hug. “I was
hoping you would come to see my Aleksandra as a woman and a
friend, instead of one or the other. The Volkov will be a mite difficult,
but not too much. I am sure the Naanva will be more than delighted
to have their daughter as a subsidiary wife to a Prince of the land.
Now, I have to figure out what the best rewards are for you. Hmm,
you are already a Knight, so a Barony! That would make sense, and
would give you a taste of leadership. I cannot wait to see what you
do with it.”
“Dad, really?” Aleks asked.
“Of course, you will get to participate as well. I will think on
this. How to keep you two together?” he mumbled, seeming to
withdraw into himself. “I have time to decide. Now.” He turned to the
others. “I only yesterday received a report from the advance forces.
The assault on Borgby was successful! The hated fortress city of the
Illyrians has fallen, and the defenses turned against them. Initial
forays into the interior of the Illyrians’ land have gained footholds, but
our forces have found another series of strongholds that we will need
to capture.”
Cheers echoed from the others, who’d taken the opportunity
to speak among themselves. “Aiden! I wish to spar,” Gunther said.
“Unfortunately, my friend, I am still recovering, and even here
I feel it.”
“Bah. Can you demonstrate for us anything from the
Legacy?”
 “Can we trade items? Did you try that last time?” Ritter Felix
asked.
I summoned the stone with the Core runes in it, then handed
it to Gunther. “I can feel it. It is tenuous though.” He put the stone to
his head, and I saw the line of Aether that connected them.
Somehow, it arched out from the knowledge stone through me and
back to Gunther.
With a flex of my own Aether, I found that I could tell what he
was looking at. Water, Ice, and Air rune, enhances temperature
regulation and Ice creation capabilities. Neat, I thought as he
examined a rune I could not see, due to my slightly insufficient Ice
Affinity. After another few seconds, I pulled away, not wanting to
invade his privacy like that. Well, not too much.
I looked through the Legacy, then pulled out three of the
lowest-level stones. One was on gathering techniques, one on
techniques using Air through Metal, and the last techniques using
Earth through Ice. “Ritter Felix, look through this and see if you find
anything helpful for your people,” I said, handing him the Air stone. I
turned to Sultah Aleahil and gave him the Earth stone, repeating
myself. The last one I gave to Altan, the Topraki representative.
I found more stones, all Aether Gathering level, which I was
willing to just give away for free, and handed them out to everyone
else. I turned to Aleks. “What would you like to see?”
“Inscriptions. They have some interesting ideas that I want to
see if I can combine with some of my lessons.”
“As you wish,” I said with a cheeky grin, then I pulled out the
Condensation- and Core-level stones, and gave them to her.
“Aiden?” she asked softly.
“You are my betrothed. It has some perks.”
“Speaking of…” King Craesti said, turning away from the
Aether Gathering-level stone on Smithing he’d gotten. “Another
announcement, this one of a happier note. I am sure you all
overheard, but I wish to make it official. Knight Kupiec Aiden has
asked for my daughter’s hand in marriage, and she has agreed.
Cheer for the future couple!”
“Uh, what about Headmaster Glav’s rule?” I asked.
 “You have reached Seed Core, and are a first tier no longer,”
he said. “Plus, it is not like you will be married anytime soon. There
are proprieties to maintain, of course, and a few surprises awaiting
you in Craesti City. Now, let us use this time wisely, for we have only
twenty more minutes before the Inscription will fade.”
“Uh, sire. How is Master Narwan?” I asked.
“He is well, and arrived in Craesti City last night,” King
Craesti answered. “They destroyed the Dungeon, and all survived,
thankfully. Unfortunately, he will not be back at his peak strength for
a few months. Go train for a bit, I will speak with the others.”
I nodded, then pulled out the Core-level Alchemy stone, and
went back to work, learning their methods of creating Affinity Pills.
 CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Just before the time was up, I approached King Craesti. “Sir,
we still have the staff. Knight Kaminski was unable to damage it. Can
you, Master Narwan, or another of similar power, meet us outside
Craesti City to attempt to destroy it?”
He looked at me concernedly for a second, then nodded. “I
will speak with Casmir. At least one of us will be there.”
“Thank you, sire,” I said with a deep bow.
He snorted, then smiled. “Soon you will be as irreverent as
my daughter. We will speak again soon.”
With that, Connecting the Myriad Peoples ran out of Aether,
and I opened my real eyes. Vaya was still sitting next to me, and I
could feel a thin thread of Growth Aether carefully massaging my left
iliotibial band. Microscopic tears in the tendon healed, and I knew
she was being careful to maintain full functionality of my leg.
“Thank you,” I said. “King Craesti or Librarian Narwan should
be on their way. Help me outside?”
She gave me a once-over with her Aether then nodded. “Of
course.”
I grabbed onto her extended arm and she lifted me one
handed out of the bed. It was yet another example of how utterly
strong we had all gotten. I tentatively put weight on my legs before
wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She reciprocated with an
arm around my waist, and we three-leggedly walked out of my
room.
Aleks walked behind us, a frown on her face as she shook off
the lingering effects of the medallion. We’d noticed last time that it
took everyone else a few seconds to recover from sending their
consciousnesses to another place, at least those below Soul
Strengthening in power. “Hopefully Dad comes,” she said. “I would
like to talk to him.”
 “Everyone, either King Craesti or Librarian Narwan should be
here shortly,” I announced, breaking everyone out of their gathering
trances.
“Woo, we can finally take a break!” Jon said cheekily.
I just shook my head. “Come on, outside!” Vaya helped me to
the door.
Once the door was fully open, Librarian Narwan appeared in
front of us. I blinked while Vaya let out a little eep of surprise. He
snorted, a grin on his face, while I heard King Craesti chuckle off to
my right. Part of Librarian Narwan’s hair had been burned away, and
his left eye was bloodshot. A bruise covered the same side of his
neck, extending to reach below his shirt. “Master Narwan, King
Craesti,” I said calmly. “I apologize for not bowing, but I doubt I would
be able to without falling.”
“No need,” King Craesti said. “Alright, Casmir, you had your
fun. Let them out.”
Librarian Narwan laughed, then gestured with one hand. A
film of Air Aether wrapped around me and pulled me out of Vaya’s
grasp. He moved backward just as fast as I moved forward, and I
found myself standing in front of King Craesti, Knight Kaminski,
himself, and a third, older man with graying blond hair, blue eyes,
and a sharp nose wearing a shining red hauberk over a black tunic.
The red was replicated in the greaves and vambraces he also wore,
which made me think of the bracer I’d outgrown a while ago. I really
should get a better set of armor, I thought. Something to protect and
empower me. Add that to my list of tasks in the city.
“Champion Krigare,” Aleks said, walking up behind me with
the others.
“Princess,” he responded, his voice a bit higher than his built
frame made me expect.
“Where is the staff?” King Craesti asked.
“At the front of the Skysurfer, Aiden’s flying device,” Aleks
answered. “We were unwilling to bring it inside the shack. It is tied to
the device and wrapped in several layers of blankets, so that none of
us would accidentally touch it with our hands if we had to move it.”
 Librarian Narwan pulled the bundle to us the same way that
he had me. It floated about a meter away. The Air Aether formed a
tiny hand and unwrapped the blankets from around it, until it floated
in its malevolent glory. After a second, it dropped to the ground as
Librarian Narwan hissed in pain. The edges of the Air Aether had
corroded green, and he severed them with a burst of white Fire.
Purity Aether, I thought. “Never have I seen anything as foul as this,”
Librarian Narwan said. “I can sense the Aether inside it. You are
right, we must destroy it. Krigare, protect the children.”
A wall of Fire formed in front of us, reinforced by molten
Metal and Lava. After a second, the wall became see-through,
though it took me another five before I could get my Aether Sight to
focus beyond the blaze of Soul Strengthening Aether. Champion
Krigare stepped forward, while King Craesti and Librarian Narwan
vanished on the other side.
They reappeared about a hundred meters farther down the
plain we were in. A blanket held the staff which was placed directly
between them. They both unfurled their auras, letting them use their
power to its fullest extent.
Even through the protection of the Champion, I could feel the
aura try to crush me. I pushed against it with my own, and saw
Champion Krigare nod. Of course they’re using this as a training
opportunity, I thought. I’m one hundred percent certain that Librarian
Narwan is behind that. Light and Darkness! The last exclamation
came when runes started to form around the strongest people in the
Kingdom. Millions of runes, more Aether than I could express in a
year right now, bloomed out of both of them. It was bright enough in
my Aether Sight, already repressed to see through Champion
Krigare’s wall, that I had to blink away an afterimage as I turned it
down.
The blanket wrapped around the staff as it floated ten meters
straight up, into the middle of a sphere of runes. All eight Elements
flowed into the construct, a carefully choreographed display of power
and control. Streamers of each Element separated and joined into
others, with dozens of secondary Elements forming. All of them had
something to do with destruction or a means of breaking things, such
as Flame, Forge, Decay, Rot, Erosion, Abrasion, and others that I
only vaguely recognized or could only guess at what they were from
the way they felt.
The massive sphere, over fifty meters in radius, slowly
started to contract. As the outer edges collapsed inward, they picked
up speed. Every second, it doubled, until they flared with
breathtaking power as every bit of the Aether surged onto the staff at
the same time.
An explosion of light and sound pounded on the shield in
front of us, causing it to shake. Cracks formed even as Champion
Krigare poured more Aether into it. He grunted and curved the
shield. The bend let it shed the force still pounding onto the Aether
construct. Finally, thirty seconds later, the wave passed.
The shield now ended on the lip of a hundred-meter-wide
crater, dipping into the ground just under ten meters at the center.
Dirt, rocks, and plant roots were visible on the edges, until the very
middle of it. Librarian Narwan and King Craesti both floated a few
meters apart, and they both were looking down with nearly identical
frowns on their faces.
The staff stood proudly, its tip plunged into the ground. I
looked closely and saw that it bore no damage from the attack,
though the crystal stuck to it was gone.
Glancing around, I found it. The crystal that had adorned the
staff was now embedded in the side of the crater just below us. Its
color had changed from the black of the pit to a sky blue, though as I
watched it seemed to shimmer and turn forest green. I got the
impression it was undecided about what it should look like.
The shield of Aether vanished as Champion Krigare relaxed.
Immediately, I felt the crystal calling me. Something within my heart,
my Core, cried out for me to take the crystal, to recover it before the
staff could consume it again.
I didn’t even notice myself moving before the gem was in my
hand. A surge of knowledge blasted into me, freezing me in place.
Information dumped into my mind, demanding an answer.
“Aiden!​” Aleks screamed, slamming her arm into mine and
making me drop the crystal.
 I staggered to the side, slipping on the slope of the crater,
and fell to one knee. Unconsciously, I raised a tiny platform of Earth
to catch my slide. Aleks was at my side in an instant. I blinked a
couple of times, then looked up at Aleks. “Thanks, but it wasn’t
hurting me. I wasn’t sure how to not make a decision, though, since
this isn’t a good location for it. Dropping it worked, so that’s good.”
“Make what decision?” Vaya asked, sliding down next to me.
Jamila and Jon were looking over the side.
I glanced back to see Librarian Narwan and King Craesti
standing near the implanted staff, examining it with frowns of
concentration on their faces. Master Narwan looked over at me and
nodded before turning back to it, so I knew they were listening as
well. “Uh, the crystal is a Dungeon Seed, or at least it can be.
Someone can plant the Seed and channel Aether into it to create a
new Dungeon. I got the feeling that doing so would make you the
Dungeon Spirit, so you might lose your body entirely, so I do not
want to be the one to do that. Maybe someone who was already
dying could use it? Not the best option anyway, I think.”
“Options?” Aleks asked.
I nodded and continued. “The Seed could also be given to an
already open Dungeon, strengthening it immensely. If we gave it to
Bruno, for example, I think he’d be able to open two or more new
instances, and make the highest-power one stronger too. If he was
nearby, I’d be advocating for that one. However, the last option is the
most interesting, and unique. Somehow, the Seed searched my
memories and saw the design for the portal to the Divine Territory. It
could be merged into a portal like that to create a link to a known
Dungeon, the Jungle Arena in this case, from anywhere in the world!
Not entirely sure what that would mean, exactly, but it would be
awesome to link together Craesti and the Ashkhas Baqiya like that.
Maybe we’d be able to exit there even if we entered here!”
“So, if you wanted to do that, why were you having trouble
not making a decision?” Aleks asked again.
“Uh, when I tried it rejected my decision because there wasn’t
a portal already built,” I said with a frown. “Not sure why, but we
should decide where to put it without touching it again, just in case.”
 “Interesting,” King Craesti said, his voice carried over to us
on a gust of Wind Aether. Another line of Aether created a shell of
Stone around the crystal and floated it over to the king. “I will make a
decision about this soon. You will be rewarded for the crystal, on top
of everything else you will be receiving.”
I nodded. “Of course, sire.”
Aleks and Vaya both reached in and grabbed my arms. “On
three,” Aleks said, then counted up. At three, they leapt into the air,
dragging me with them, and landed in front of Jamila and Champion
Krigare. Jamila looked at me questioningly, seeing as I was nearly
dangling from the arms of the other two young women, so I gave her
a reassuring grin.
“I do not believe that pure brute force will destroy the staff,”
Librarian Narwan said after nearly an hour of examining it. We’d sat
down and started a meal while he and King Craesti had conferred. “I
will explore some of the older tomes in Azyl’s library, as it is still
better than yours, Markus.”
“Yes, yes, though Aiden’s printing press will let us create
more of them now,” King Craesti said. “Still, it is time for us to go to
Craesti. Per, Casmir, assist the youngsters with their travel. I will be
waiting at the square for you.” He leapt into the sky, then blurred
away.
“All right, everyone, onto the Skysurfer,” Librarian Narwan
said. We all piled onto the front. “Aiden, shrink the shack please.”
I nodded, then reached out to touch the doorway. With a
thought, it shrank down. We’d decided that hiding the Portable Home
completely wasn’t really feasible. So we were pretending it was just
a six-by-six room that shrank down for transport. Nothing beyond
that was told to anyone but King Craesti and Librarian Narwan. Of
course, City Lord Wolcik knew something about it, which worried me,
but that was fish overboard. I was also to hide my ring’s abilities as
best I could, so I had a large Inscribed storage bag sitting obviously
on my waist.
With the Portable Home out of the way, we were able to
spread out. “Aiden, control the Skysurfer to float twenty meters off
the ground,” Librarian Narwan commanded once we were situated.
 I reached out with my Aether, sinking it into the control
Inscriptions. The Skysurfer smoothly ascended into the air. Once we
hit twenty meters, I held us steady. Librarian Narwan and Champion
Krigare moved to either side, and a bubble of Air, Speed, and
Stability Aether encompassed the entire thing. Without so much as a
lurch, we shot off at nearly a hundred times the speed we could
normally have achieved.
Of course, the massive Aether investment made it so that
was a short-range boost, but it was enough to shave the half-a-day
journey into only ten minutes. Both Soul Strengthening gatherers
were winded by the end of our shortened trip, revealing why we
didn’t just use that to get from the Ashkhas Baqiya back here.
Once we could see the walls of the city, Champion Krigare
stopped adding his Aether to the structure, and we slowed down.
Librarian Narwan deftly brought us to a near halt, then told me,
“Land us by the gate.”
I nodded, and we descended as smoothly as we’d ascended.
The little traffic that had occupied the road was stopped nearly fifty
meters away from the gate, the Craesti City Guard holding the
merchants to allow us clear space. Five meters from the massive
gates leading into the city from the road heading toward Oddali was
a single Guard waving at us and indicating the spot to land. Just as
we set down, the gates opened.
A stream of chariots, guided by more of the City Guard,
rushed out and turned to allow us to enter in an obviously
choreographed display. It was awesome. Most of the chariots were
plain, used for training and war, but three of them were
ostentatiously decorated with silver, gold, and the two-headed lion on
a shield that was the Craesti symbol.
“Princess Aleksandra, Knight Aiden, you are on the closest
chariot,” Champion Krigare said, which was only the second time I’d
heard him speak. “Miss Vaya, Miss Jamila, you are on the second.
Mister Ming, Mister Xaio, you are on the third…” He detailed the rest
of everyone’s positions. “Knight Aiden, be careful to show strength,
not weakness.”
 “Thank you, Champion Krigare,” I said, bowing my head and
offering my arm to Aleks. “Uh, is someone going to collect the
Skysurfer?”
“I will bring it,” Champion Krigare said.
I nodded. “Thank you again. Shall we, my dear?”
Aleks giggled, then took my arm. Most people wouldn't be
able to tell that she was effectively holding me up, but I did my best
to walk anyway. My Aether flowed through me, and I basically used it
to manipulate my legs and keep my body straight, with Aleks’s
support keeping me stable.
Thankfully, it was only a few meters to the chariot. The driver,
a captain of the Guard, reached out to help Aleks first, and then
myself. I put one hand on the side of the chariot, and the other
looped through Aleks’s. Through the open gate, I could see
thousands of people lining the roadway, cheering for us.
“King Craesti instructed me to tell you, you are still human,”
the captain said with a frown. “Not sure why.”
I nodded. “So we do not let the cheers go to our heads, and
we stay vigilant and humble. Thank you, Captain…?”
“Menghao,” he said with a grin. “I am Captain Menghao.
Thank you for asking.” I nodded, and a horn sounded from the end of
the chariots. “We are ready. Hold on, and be sure to wave to the
citizens!”
The horses pulling the chariot, sleek fifth level Beasts with an
Air Element, took off at a slow trot when Captain Menghao flicked
the reins. A few seconds later, he pulled gently, and they slowed to a
walk, letting the people cheering see us.
I carefully pulled my left hand off the side of the chariot and
raised it to wave at the crowds. At my gesture, the cheering
redoubled. I saw young boys jumping and waving at us from the front
while younger women flashed smiles and kisses, trying to attract
attention. Families stood, little children waving on the shoulders of
their parents.
The vast majority of people I saw were only in the Aether
Gathering stage, even the parents and grandparents in the crowd. I
kept the frown off my face, but I redoubled my desire to help
everyone advance. “A nation of Condensation Gatherers,” I said.
“That is my and Librarian Narwan’s goal.”
“We can do it,” Aleks said, gripping my arm tighter with one
hand and waving with her other one. I saw young men trying to get
her attention too, which was somewhat comforting. At least it's not
just the girls, I thought, though the power dynamics still need work in
this Kingdom. We can fix it, it will just take time.
“Only with your support,” I said aloud, dismissing my concern
for now. Something to think about later, and act upon. I know I’ll have
Aleks’s support. We continued through the city until we arrived at the
same square where I’d been knighted, only it was even more
crowded than it had been then.
 CHAPTER THIRTY-
SEVEN
A stage was erected, Stone, Wood, and Metal Aether woven
together to elevate a speaking position three meters up. This way,
everyone could see it, from every road leading into the square. The
only clear space was a path just wide enough for the chariots to
move down, and the base of the stage where parking was available.
Captain Menghao jumped over the side of the chariot once
he stopped us, directly in front of the stairway up. He rushed around
and helped Aleks then me down.
I thanked him, then took Aleks’s arm and walked to the stairs.
“Ladies first,” I said.
“Thank you,” she said, then winked. “Even if you just want to
look at my butt.”
I blushed, and she laughed. She stepped in front and walked
up the stairs, emphasizing her stride to draw my eyes. I blushed
again, then reached out for the handrail. My Aether flared throughout
my body, and I moved up the stairs. Each step was agony, but I
didn’t show it on my face. I kept a smooth stride up, not too quick,
but not too slow either.
I paused at the landing, facing the crowd and waving. I made
it seem like I wanted to wave to them, instead of taking a break to let
my meridians rest for a few seconds. I gave a wink to the crowd,
then turned around and walked all the way up. Aleks was waiting for
me at the top, and I smoothly took her arm. The crowd yelled louder
at that, and hoots, the equivalent to a wolf whistle in Craesti, echoed
from the people.
King and Queen Craesti were waiting along with everyone’s
parents and a few advisors. Vaya’s mom gave me a bright grin while
Pa and Jon’s dad both gave me proud nods. I had to scrub my eyes
with Aether to clear the tears out of them. We marched over to the
King, who stood near the front with a single podium raised off the
surface of the stage. I recognized a few of the runes Inscribed on it
from the Message Inscription I learned almost a year ago now.
King Craesti waved for us to stop just on the other side of the
podium. Everyone else filed in behind us, forming a line across the
front of the stage. Once we were all present, King Craesti stepped to
the podium. “Citizens of Craesti City,” he announced, the Inscriptions
projecting his voice evenly across the crowd. “Here I present to you
the Craesti Condensation competitors from the International
Tournament of Champions! They stand before you victorious!”
He paused here, and the cheering redoubled as people
screamed themselves hoarse, vicariously celebrating our
achievements as their own. King Craesti let them cheer for nearly a
minute, then said, “I could not be prouder of my daughter, your
Princess Aleksandra! She won first place in the individual
tournament, and came in second overall. Three cheers for your
future ruler!”
More screaming, dozens of people jumping and waving at
the stage as they showed their support for the beautiful woman
standing next to me. King Craesti allowed it to continue for another
minute, before finishing his speech. “She was not the overall winner
of the tournament, though. That honor belongs to Knight Kupiec
Aiden, who you witnessed earning a noble title only six months ago.
He was instrumental in saving our beloved city from the Primordial
Jellyfish. His team won first place in the team portion of the
Tournament of Champions, and he came in second, losing only to
Princess Aleksandra because he willingly took injuries to
permanently remove the Illyrian heir! Later that day, he then proved
instrumental in saving the Ashkhas Baqiya from the Illyrian plot,
directing our forces to destroy the Chaos-summoning ritual they had
erected. The Ashkhas name him Munqiz, hero in our tongue, and we
do as well!”
More cheering exploded through the crowd. King Craesti let it
continue for longer than he did the cheering for Aleks before he
raised his hand. The crowd quieted. “His exploits continued, as he
earned yet more accolades from the Ashkhas from discovering the
secrets of the Divine Territory of Alilahat Nuwr. All told, I could stand
up here for an hour just recounting his deeds. For this, he has
earned significant glory for himself, our Kingdom, and our people!”
King Craesti paused for more cheering. “Of course, he will be
rewarded accordingly!”
He turned to me and smiled. “I name you Baron Kupiec
Aiden, and give to you land and a charge. Develop a new town, build
up a people, and strengthen our land. I reward you five platinum for
constructing your new dwelling and creating your new domain. For
the reward for great success is yet more opportunities for additional
accolades.”
“I… uh… I…” I swallowed, then bowed deeply to him.
Thankfully, Aleks kept a tight grip on my bicep, so I didn’t faceplant. I
straightened up. “I will endeavor to strengthen our Kingdom and
build up my town to the best of my ability.”
“Of course,” he said with a nod, then he turned back to the
people. “Of course,” he repeated. “That is not his only success. As
you can see in front of you, my daughter is standing arm in arm with
him. She has chosen Baron Kupiec as her future partner, and
together they will eventually rule Craesti Kingdom!”
At this, the cheers seemed to explode off the crowd. I saw
dozens of techniques designed to enhance sound appear throughout
the mass of people, and the cheers of approval and acceptance
echoed louder than anything I’d heard besides the roar of a
Primordial. “Because of this, I now announce the betrothal of
Princess Craesti Aleksandra to Baron Kupiec Aiden. In one year’s
time, he will become Prince Kupiec Aiden. May they have a long,
love-filled marriage, and together work to strengthen our Kingdom!”
I was pretty certain at this point that everyone cheering was
trying to see if they could break the stage around us with just sound.
I knew it was partially because they knew I had just been a
commoner before King Craesti knighted me. I had grown up like
them, they thought, and they saw me achieve the ultimate dream.
Winning the International Tournament and the Princess’s hand at the
same time was beyond most people’s dreams. Even if their approval
was only because they could live vicariously through me, I basked in
it.
King Craesti gestured for Vaya and Jamila to step forward.
He announced their standings in the tournament, and extolled their
virtues before presenting them as Knights in their own right.
Everyone else was knighted for their parts in the Tournament, the
Divine Territory, and their efforts in stopping the Illyrian attack on the
Ashkhas. Jamila, Bridget, and Lea were the most flabbergasted with
their elevation to nobility. Jon almost seemed like he’d been
expecting it, only winking at me when his knighthood was finished.
The others knew they would become nobility eventually, if only
because of their families, but earning it on their own made it worth
more, as I could see from their beaming smiles.
“In honor of the amazing achievements of our next
generation, I declare today and tomorrow a feast day! Celebrate the
success of your youth! You are dismissed!” King Craesti declared,
then stood back and let the cheers die out. It took nearly five minutes
before the last cheer stopped. The crowd milled about for a few
seconds, before starting to disperse.
King Craesti walked over to me. “Take care of my daughter,”
he said.
I clutched at her arm, entwined with mine, and bowed my
head to him. “With every bit of my body, mind, and soul. She will be
safe, loved, and cared for,” I promised. I turned to her. “I love you,
more than I can ever really express.” I looked over at Vaya and
Jamila, standing arm in arm only a meter from us. “And I love you
both beyond words. I don’t know how I will ever really show it, but I
promise I will do my best. I am incredibly lucky to have you in my
life.”
Vaya beamed at me, but Jamila had a pensive look on her
face. I knew that I had to talk to her, just the two of us, soon, or I
might lose her completely.
“Baron Aiden,” King Craesti said, “return to the chariots. We
will speak more over lunch.”
A shimmering curtain of Aether blocked the view of the last
few people still lingering in the square. “Oh good,” I said, slumping
as my legs gave out.
Aleks grinned for a second, then scooped me into a princess
carry.
“Hey!” Laughter was the only response to my exclamation.
Aleks leapt off the top of the stage, landing with barely any
bend in her knees even as she gently set me down, keeping her right
arm around my waist.
I mock glared at her, then grinned. “Thanks,” I said.
“Come on,” Jon whined as he slammed into the ground
behind us. “I am hungry.”
We hurriedly got into the chariots. Captain Menghao nodded
at me. “From what I have heard, you are a good man,” he said as
Aleks helped me up. “If you hurt our Princess, the whole Kingdom
will hate you.”
“I have no intention of hurting her,” I said, “though I am sure I
will, sometime. However, we will work through it, and come out the
other side stronger for it.”
Aleks hugged my side. “That is sweet,” she said.
“Good!” Captain Menghao laughed. “Now, the King has
summoned you.” With a snap of his reins, the chariot leapt forward.
We only took another five minutes to arrive at the King’s
palace. Here, I again faked being strong, as dozens of servants
worked to put away the horses and chariots. Again, Captain
Menghao jumped over the side of the chariot to help us both down.
A young page, an eleven-year-old boy wearing a gold-lined
black tunic with green pants, waited at the doorway. “Princess
Craesti, Baron Kupiec, Knight Volkov, Knight Naanva,” he said,
bowing each time he said one of our names. “Please, follow me to
the reception hall. Knight Lo, Knight Lo…” He turned to the others
and gestured at another page. “Edward will guide you to a separate
dining area. King Craesti has requested the others for a private meal
to discuss Baron Kupiec’s Barony.”
“Thank you,” Aleks said.
He gave her a happy grin, then turned and walked steadily
down the hall. A dozen turns led us to somewhere I’d never been,
and there was a low murmur of voices through the doorway.
 Two guards stood on either side of the hall. When we
approached, they turned and opened both doors. “King Craesti,” the
woman on the left announced, “Princess Aleksandra and her guests
are here.” Inside was a moderately sized dining room, with a fire
burning merrily in a fireplace just past a table that could seat up to
twelve. King and Queen Craesti were talking, with Queen Craesti
holding Aleks’s younger brother Tomasz in her arms. I grinned to see
that Pa was there too, talking with Liam, Jamila’s dad, and Baroness
Volkov Amalia, Vaya’s mom. I looked around the room but didn’t see
anyone else.
“Aleks, Aiden, Vaya, Jamila, come in,” King Craesti said,
turning with the announcement.
We filed in. Pa stepped away from his conversation to walk
over to me. “I am so proud of you,” he said, pulling me into a hug.
I grinned, then he stumbled as my legs decided to give out
again. “Sorry, still recovering,” I said as he held me up.
“I can see that.” Pa changed his position so that my arm was
over his shoulder while Jamila checked on me with her Aether. We
walked over to the table, and everyone was seated. I was placed
next to Aleks, with King Craesti on her left and Vaya directly across
from me. Next to her was Jamila, sitting next to the King. She looked
intimidated to be there, but I was sure King Craesti would be able to
make her feel at ease soon.
Queen Craesti sat at the other end of the table, a highchair
set up beside her to hold Tomasz off to one side. Beside her at the
table was Amalia and Liam, then Pa who sat next to me. He leaned
in. “So, Prince?”
“I didn’t plan that,” I said.
“He really did not.” Aleks laughed from beside me. “He fought
against it for longer than I thought he would.”
“Why him?”
Aleks leaned into me. “He was the only guy my age who
treated me like a person, instead of a target or a prize.”
“He is a good boy,” Pa said.
“Yes, he is,” Vaya agreed, giving me a smile.
I smiled back, then turned to Pa. “Where is Ma?”
 “Champion Krigare could only carry three on his flying
device,” he said. “And Ma needed to take care of Nadia.”
“Nadia!? I have a sister!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, Nadia, our little hope, because of the hope you have
brought to our lives,” Pa said.
“To all of us,” King Craesti said. “I need to thank you for the
hope and joy that your successes have brought. The people needed
a good announcement to distract from the war and the Beast
waves.”
“Beast waves?” I asked.
“As before you discovered that first Dungeon,” King Craesti
said. “Dozens of Beast waves have hit the population from both the
Great Western Forest and Zaboj Swamp. I have rangers searching
to see if they can discover why, but so far, Light has not revealed it.”
“Dad,” Aleks said. “What can we do to help?”
“Learn and grow,” he said, giving her a grin. “You, all of you,
are the future of our Kingdom. We will need you soon, I think. Make
yourselves the strongest gatherers you can.” He turned to me.
“Become the best noble you can. Aiden, as a Baron, you will be
tasked with building up a new town. For that purpose, you will be
given one thousand square kilometers of land just to the east of
Woodfell.”
“That is Bridget’s home town,” Jamila said.
King Craesti paused, looking over at her, then nodded with a
smile. “Woodfell is the northeast-most town on the border of the
Great Western Forest. Baron Zuguo will be your neighbor to the west
and he will be available for advice on constructing a town on the
Forest’s borders. Your town will quickly draw people, however,
because you will have the only link to a beneficial Dungeon in our
lands.”
“Sire, you mean—” I started, only to be interrupted.
“I will provide resources to construct the portal beside the
town hall you build, so that you may link it to the Jungle Arena with
the crystal you discovered,” King Craesti said. “It is only a day’s
travel for most outside Azyl City. You will be connected to them, as
you must still work on your education and training, even if you have
advanced from first tier to third tier faster than anyone else in the
history of our academies. There is much for you to learn.”
“Of course,” I said. “Uh, will I have to leave Azyl Academy to
lead the town immediately?”
“No.” He shook his head, and Aleks squeezed my arm
thankfully. “Though one of your first tasks will be to appoint a mayor
to govern in your stead.”
I turned to Pa, but frowned sadly. “I am perfectly happy
leading the printing press and gem creation businesses,” he said. “I
cannot take on another task on top of those.”
“Well, I guess that will be something to work on in a few
days,” I said.
“Of course, you need to recover still. Healer Saoirse will be
available to you after dinner,” Queen Craesti said. I felt a phantom
grip on my shoulder as a stream of Wood Aether left her. “We also
have a list of candidates for you to look over. We will help as much
as you wish.”
“The whole Kingdom is behind you,” King Craesti said,
gesturing at the window, where I could still hear the sounds of the
festival he’d declared. “None of this would be possible if not for you.
Without you, we would have potentially lost a key trading partner, no
one would know of the Legacy, and the Illyrians would be free to
continue their raiding. You, all of you young adults, are the future of
our nation, and I cannot wait to see what you do with it!”
Pa patted my back in pride, Aleks gripped my hand, and
Vaya reached over and gripped my other. I saw that Jamila was
holding Vaya’s hand and beaming at me, while the others looked on
proudly. I laughed, happier than I’d been in a long time, and thought
back to the cheers of the crowd. I knew, then, that I was truly home,
and I would fight to my last breath to protect it.

TO BE CONTINUED IN AIDEN’S NEXT

ADVENTURE
 AUTHOR’S NOTE
Aiden and his team have finally made it home, uncovering,
and preventing, new crisis while gaining power and prestige. Join us
next time as Aiden discovers how Craesti has changed, how to be a
leader, returns to school, and truly learns what it means to hold
political and martial power in Zemia.
Thanks for sticking with me and following on Aiden’s journey!
Please let me know how this book was by leaving a review. Reviews
are incredibly important for self-published authors, and help other
readers find the series. Reviews on Reddit or Goodreads are also
really helpful. I’ll see you again when Aiden returns in Elemental
Gatherers Book Seven!
If you want to know the progress on the next book, or others I
am working on, join me on my Facebook page
at https://www.facebook.com/authorchrisvines/. I’d love to hear
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could even give suggestions on Beasts or techniques! To read
ahead, join me at my Patreon at
https://www.patreon.com/authorchrisvines! Also check out the first
book in my new Post-Apocalyptic LitRGP series, Mana Daemons, on
Amazon!
If you liked the magic system, it was based somewhat on
modern Wuxia and Xianxia books, also known as Progression
Fantasy nowadays. To find more novels like this, check out the
Western Cultivation Facebook group
at https://www.facebook.com/groups/WesternWuxia/, and
definitely read Ryan Debrun’s Starred Tower or Nathan Thompson’s
Soul Ship. Especially check out Beware of Chicken for an amazing
deconstruction of the tropes of this genre and a fun story. For a more
eastern flare, check
out https://www.facebook.com/groups/cultivationnovels/ and
read Reborn by D.I. Freed.
If the application of levels to the magic system tickled your
fancy, but you wish there were more hard numbers and math, look
no further than the GameLit Society group on Facebook
at https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety/. One of my
favorite series in this genre is Challenger’s Call by Nathan
Thompson. Check it out! Another LitRPG group is
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books/ . Yet another (I
like LitRPG, what can I say?) is
https://www.facebook.com/groups/litrpgforum
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFantasyNation/ is
another great place to find new authors in the fantasy genre.
Find all the new releases for LitRPG (and Progression
Fantasy in general) at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGReleases, where I may
be found obsessively looking for new books to read.
 DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Craesti Students
Kupiec Aiden – The Main Character and Chosen of Darkness
Noptep Jonathan – Aiden’s best friend
Lo Xiao – Younger son of the Lo clan Head
Lo Ming – Elder son of the Lo clan Head, heir to Lo clan
Volkov Vaya – younger daughter of Volkov clan Head
Naanva Jamila – daughter of a baker, very high talent
Weber Lea – minor noble
Falconer Bridget – daughter of a Beast hunter clan
Princess Craesti Aleksandra (Aleks) - Daughter of King Craesti, heir
of the throne
Posel Milenna - Teammate of Aleks, daughter of Posel Szymon
Wyslannik Hanna - Teammate of Aleks, daughter of Wyslannik
Alexander, healer of their team
Kourier Lilianna - teammate of Aleks, daughter of Kourier Ania
Craesti Adults
Librarian Narwan Casmir – mentor for Condensation and Core Tier
teams, Soul Tier gatherer
Knight Kaminski Zofia - mentor of Condensation Tier teams, Perfect
Core gatherer
King Craesti Markus - King of the Craesti Kingdom, Aleks’s father
Champion Krigare Per - Champion of the King, head of the King’s
Guard
Captain Menghao - A captain in the Craesti City Guard
Baron Zuguo - Baron of Woodfell, neighbor town to Aiden’s Barony
and Bridget’s hometown
Naanva Liam - Jamila’s father
Baroness Volkov Amalia - Vaya’s mother
Lindsay - Head servant of the Murih Khamara
Samantha - another chosen from Earth, captured by Illyrians and
freed by Aiden
Bonds
Siarczysty (Sia) - Aiden’s Soul Bond, an Elemental Zarorzel
Sowa Zimnodlot (Zim) – Jon’s Soul Bond, a Snowy Owl
Las Lampart – Vaya’s Soul Bond, a Skog Jaguar
Kami – Bridget’s Soul Bond, a Brud Lusckowiec (pangolin)
Fluffy - Jamila’s Soul Bond, a Woodland Flying Squirrel
Ashkhas
Sultah Aleahil Qaq - head of the Ashkha army, Soul Tier gatherer
Shirin – apprentice Alchemist
Alchemist Michal – owner of The Alchemist’s Treasures
Caretaker Zana – member of Sayaad Guild
Ashtaq Qaq - head of top Ashkhas Condensation Tier team
Head Sayaad Jumana - leader of the Sayaad Guild
Proprietor Klara – owner of The Dungeoneer’s Delight
Kamran - head of the Blue Dolphin trading family, candidate for
Merchant Council’s Summit
Mansour - the oldest son of the head of the Alchemist Cartel,
candidate for Merchant Council’s Summit
Matvei - Condensation Tier competitor
Sezhade Iswat – heir to Sultah Aleahil
Counselor Darius - advisor to Sultah Aleahil, different faction
Volk
Prince Gunther - heir to the Weltreich throne, Condensation Tier
competitor
Ritter Felix - Perfect Body-level gatherer, mentor to Weltreich
Condensation Tier competitors
Baldwin Meyer (Baldy) - Condensation Tier competitor
Mathilda – Condensation Tier competitor, betrothed of Prince
Gunther
Topraki
Bayartsetseg (Baya) - Condensation Tier competitor
Yatback – Condensation Tier competitor
Emperor Futuh - emperor of Topraki Empire
Shehzada Maayari - Heir to the Topraki Empire
Altan - Soul Strengthening, guardian to Maayari
Primordials
Ezekiel - a gryphon Primordial
Behemoth - a manticore Primordial
Other
Spirit – spirit of the Tower of Trials
Bruno - spirit of the Jungle Arena Dungeon

[A1]Echo.