ã€ŠKingdom of the Weakã€‹


 1 Death

    When Remian Vin died and faced his Creator, he wept. "God, not like this!"

    One of the nearby celestial beings spoke. "It is given for man to live and to die. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It is the natural order."

    "But not now! Not like this! I haven''t done anything worthwhile with my life! I''ve been weak since I was young, always a burden to my family, and people have been kind to me yet I''ve done nothing to pay them back! God, I can''t die like this! I need to do something for them!"

    "What worth could your life have, if you remained? What would be the point of returning you to such a weak, frail body? Move on, and leave the past behind."

    "I''ll¡­ I''ll make it worth something. I don''t know how long I can last, but I want to make it worth something!"

    "When?"

    "Today!"

    Remian gasped, waking up with cold sweat. His heart thumped painfully in his chest, pain wracking his body as he sat up in bed.

    Was it real? Was it just a dream? Or had he really died and come back?

    He did not know. But it did not matter. Today; that was what mattered. Today, he lived, and started anew.

    He looked around at the ramshackle shack where he lived. He got out of bed and went to find his parents. "Mom, Dad¡­ we need to leave."

    "Leave? What do you mean? Where will you go?"

    "To the Frontier." The idea had stuck on him and refused to let go. "If we stay here, nothing will change. Jobs will always be scarce. Money and food will always be scarce. Costs will always be high. Nothing comes for free. Here, our lives will always be dismal. We need to move."

    "But our friends are here. To move now, in our old age, and lose everything¡­"

    "What is there to lose? The house? Our lives? What is any of it worth?"

    They stared at him as if he was crazy.

    So he began to read, and to study. Two weeks later, he packed a bag and went to the Frontier alone.

    Or at least, that was what it looked like.

    ***

    Boarding the airship to the Frontier with about a dozen others, Remian turned behind him and asked, "Why are you here?"

    The figure behind him was ethereal, semi-opaque. It was like a projection of shadow that he could see through, a winged humanoid at least seven feet tall. On its back was a giant scythe.

    "I am here to watch what you do." The figure said.

    "For how long?"

    "Until you fail, and falter, and then I will do my job."

    "Your job? What is your job?"

    "To care for the fallen souls. Some call me the angel of death. You can just call me Death."

    "I see." Remian frowned. It was odd that he could see Death, but it didn''t really seem to make a difference, so he just shrugged it off and turned his thoughts to the matter at hand.

    The Frontier was the border between civilization and the terrors of the Wilds, magical beasts with the power to rip apart this puny airship and this miserable city below without breaking a sweat. According to the Iron Legion, only man''s scientific capabilities separate man from beast and saved him from being eaten. According to the Ascending Dragon Empire, only the protection of the dragons really kept them safe from threats known and as yet unknown from the beyond. According to the Church of Celestial Light, only God''s divine protection upon the lands of the Seven Kingdoms protected them. The Sea People said it was the power of nature''s storms that kept them safe. The Sand people said that the great heat and cold of mankind''s territory was what kept the Wilds at bay.

    Regardless of which nation, kingdom, empire or race you were from, everybody agreed on one thing; mankind needed protection from the Wilds.

    Looking around, Remian saw people from all those places represented on deck. Three men in uniform iron armor stood at the fore, staring straight ahead as if to the future. They had short swords at their sides, short spears and long shields among the luggage at their feet. Fair of skin and dark of eye, the men of the Iron Legion protected the Grand Highway that ran all the way from the Eastern Sea, through the Empire, the Seven Kingdoms, all the way through to the Endless Desert. It finally stopped at the Fal''Herim, the city of the Desert King, the largest oasis known to man in the Endless Desert, and the richest source of Fire Crystal in all the world. The Iron Legion pledged protection and allegiance only to the Grand Highway, receiving their support from merchants as often as kingdoms, and appeared as a peacekeeping neutral party on the road.

    Yet that road could not take them to the Frontier. This airship could. Dragons could. Magic carpets could. But the Highway ran no farther than Fal''Herim. The Frontier was beyond that, proof that the ''Endless Desert'' was not Endless after all. So why were they here?

    Opposite from the men of the Iron Legion, at the rear of the airship''s deck, six half-filled, half-empty carts, a few camels, and a family had gathered. Covered and turbaned from head to toe, these Sand People looked like they were going home after a successful caravan from Fal''Herim. Half-empty carts were somewhat unusual; but their business was their own. Remian did not poke his nose into it.

    There were three others on board. One wore furs and leather, carried a bow, with an axe strapped to his back. A small serpent, snake-like but with claws and ridges along its spine, slithered out from his coat and spat tiny bursts of fire at everything that moved. It resembled one of the towering protectors of the Ascending Dragon Empire, and was supposedly a lesser cousin of the species, lacking their size, strength, and intellect. Many considered serpents to be to dragons what monkeys were to men. Dragons did not consider it rude for people to keep serpents as pets any more than men considered it rude for dragons to eat monkeys for lunch. Anyway, the presence of that serpent practically announced to the world that this man was from the Ascending Dragon Empire.

    The second of the three in between was currently throwing up into a bucket. This was a rounded man, very tanned, wearing a loose short-sleeved shirt and short khaki pants. The necklace of beads and Aqua Stones on his neck suggested that he was one of the Sea People, very far from home and going even farther. He was very obviously not having a good time. The airship had only barely begun to move and he was already heaving his guts out. Weren''t the Sea People accustomed to the sea and immune to sea-sickness? Or was air-sickness different?

    Finally, there was the priest. Black-robed, with a tab clergy collar, there was a wooden rosary hanging down the side of his robe. He had a bald spot on his head, and wore a monocle as he tried to read a heavy black book in his hand, fighting the wind to keep the page every few seconds.

    "Thirty hours to the Frontier." Remian stretched. "I wonder how many of the others here will be going that far?"

    With a final glance at Death, he took out the bedroll tied above his backpack, spread it out on the deck and went to sleep.

    ***

    He woke up hungry. The first thing he saw was a shy pair of eyes under a thin veil and a modest hood. The rest of her was completely covered, but the general shape of her form indicated that this was indeed a ''she''.

    Thinking he had awoken due to her intrusion, the owner of those eyes said, "Salem, salem. My father asks if you wished to join us for dinner."

    "Salem. I heard much of the Sand People''s hospitality, but we are on a Deutero Company airship."

    "The airship might be of the Seven Kingdoms, but we fly over the Endless Desert. To us, we are already home. Come." She invited. "Eat."

    Remian packed up his bedroll, and glanced about slowly. The others, even the Iron Legionnaires, were making their way, following the Sand People who invited them to the rear for dinner.

    Death was still there, hovering around behind Remian. "Still here? Why haven''t you left yet?"

    "You are still here, are you not? I am here to give you an easy way out." Death offered. "At any time."

    "No, thank you." Remian said politely. "You may as well go home."

    "Not today, perhaps. But there may come a day." Death shrugged. "Meanwhile, if anyone is going to give me some work today, it is more likely to be that guy."

    ''That guy'' turned out to be the fatty from the Sea People. He had taken one bite of the Sand People''s food and immediately returned to throwing up into a bucket. He was also sweating profusely, and looked like he was about to start melting on the spot.

    "Be warned; our food is a bit spicy." The girl who invited him whispered.

    "Please, just let me DIE!" the fatty wailed.

    Death calmly went over and swept past him, like a sudden black wind.

    The fatty collapsed on the ground, almost knocking the bucket over.

    "Fatty? Hey, fatty? Hello? Mr. Sea Man?" one of the children of the Sand People went over to poke him. "Helloooooo¡­?"

    "Come here, son. Don''t bother him." His mother called him, turning away uneasily. She did not look back at the fat man. Carefully, deliberately, the entire Sand People family ate without looking there.

    The Iron Legionnaires spared a frown and exchanged glances. One of them went over to inspect the fatty. "He''s dead."

    There was a short silence. Then, the priest got up. "He was here with us but for a short while. May he rest in peace." He gestured with his rosary.

    "May he rest in peace." The Iron Legionnaires agreed.

    What else could they do? They were not of the Sea People. They did not know his culture, and the priest had no right to perform last rites over a non-believer of his religion. All they could do was leave him alone. Remian himself knew something of that man''s culture. He knew a bit about their burial rites. Their dead were normally given to the water, sunk. Unfortunately, they were nowhere near the sea.

    As for a man suddenly dying in the Endless Desert, well¡­ there was really nothing unusual about that. In the skies above, or on the sands below, people died in the desert all too often.

    ***

    Dinner was mutton stew. It was beyond ''spicy'', it was extreme! Remian was dripping with sweat, half-gasping for air and water. They gave him milk and that soothed his tongue and throat a little, but helped only a little. Remian swore off Sand People food forever more.

    The next morning, when he awoke, the dead body and the Sand People were gone. The airship had reached Fel''Herim. They hovered there for a half-hour, taking on supplies, and then continued on their way over a veritable sea of dunes.

    "Almost there." The priest commented. "From here, we turn south."

    "South? I thought we were headed farther west." Remian mentioned.

    "No, farther west, there is only more desert and then the dark sea. There is nothing farther west. That is why they call this the Endless Desert. Even if you went past it, you would face only another kind of desert, one where the sands are below water that you cannot drink."

    "Have you been there before? The Frontier?" Remian asked.

    "Not I. Members of my brotherhood, yes." The priest said. "No less than half have given their lives to bring the light to the ends of Terra."

    "Tell me about the Frontier." Remian requested. "What awaits us there?"

    "Danger. Warlords filled with greed. Wilds hungry for human meat. Sandstorms and drought the likes of which you have never seen. Plagues of locusts that cover the skies. In short, death." The priest said, smiling a smile without mirth. "Death awaits us."

    Remian glanced at the dark figure behind them. Under his breath, he muttered. "Or¡­ he''s already here."

 2 Agent of the Iron Legion

    Fort Spoas was a town overlooking a steep cliff over a river. With a steep hill on the west side and the desert to the north, all it really needed was a good wall to the south to form a formidably defensible position.

    As they were coming in for a landing on the desert side of the fort, the passengers gathered near the exit ramp, and one Iron Legionnaire spoke. "Tan, are you a settler?"

    The archer from the Empire spoke. "No. I am an adventurer."

    "But you are planning to stay here, on the Frontier, are you not?"

    Tan coughed. "I have nowhere else to go. I cannot return."

    "Whatever the reasons for you to be here, the Iron Legion would like to hire you as an informant. We need agents to be our eyes and ears here on the Frontier."

    "What interest does the Iron Legion have in this place?" Tan asked.

    "Opportunity. Just like you."

    "I''ll do it." Remian offered. "I''ll be your informant. It is a paid job, isn''t it?"

    "It is." The legionnaire confirmed. "But looking at you¡­ you''re not likely to survive longer than a day or two. We need someone tough, someone who can last at least a year to write us regular reports."

    "Give him the job. I can''t write." Tan said.

    "I can write. I can read too. No problem." Remian spoke up.

    "You can''t even leave town, or you''d be squashed underfoot by the first Wild you come across!" the legionnaire snorted. "We need strong agents."

    "How about this. He can be your agent, and I can assist him." Remia offered. "He can tell me what to write, and I''ll write the reports for him."

    "Adjutant to an agent, eh?" the legionnaire considered for a bit, then nodded. "Very well. We can use an extra pair of eyes. But Tan, you have to replace your secretary as soon as he dies."

    "Whatever." Tan rolled his eyes and marched off as soon as the exit ramp connected. He didn''t even say a word to Remian or anything.

    The legionnaire quietly handed Remian an iron token. "Stamp it onto every communiqu¨¦, so we know you are an official agent. We will establish a small camp here; bring all reports to the camp quartermaster, whoever he may be. He will handle the rest."

    "That will be me, to begin with." One of the other legionnaires spoke up. He turned to Remia, sharp blue eyes under curly black hair framing a square face. "I am Maximus Flavius, legionnaire of the Fifth Legion, Third Century. Black sheep of the family. Just call me ''Max''."

    "Black sheep?" Remian blinked.

    "My family doesn''t like me because my hair isn''t golden." Max laughed, but it was a forced laugh. "I am seen as a disgrace to the family name. That is why I am in the Legion."

    "You could always dye your hair color. Or use magic." His colleague snorted.

    "Then that would be a disgrace to my true self. I would rather disgrace others than myself."

    "For Jupiter''s sake, it''s just hair color!" his colleague turned to their leader. "Markus, tell him!"

    "He makes his own decisions, as does every man." Markus said without turning.

    With that, the three legionnaires also disembarked. Alone now on deck, Remian gave the airship that brought him to the Frontier one last look, then hefted his backpack and stepped down the ramp.

    Meanwhile, the crew of the airship were busy unloading the airship''s real cargo, crate after crate being slid down a lower exit ramp and collected from the desert sand bordering the town. Remia eyed the symbols on the boxes. Most of it came from the Seven Kingdoms, like the airship. They seemed to be luxury goods and weapons.

    For a captain to fly an airship all the way here with as few as six passengers at the end¡­ the profit made by that cargo had to be formidable. Either that, or the cargo he was taking back from here was worth all the cost and effort.

    Coming from the opposite direction, people from the town were bringing crates to load onto the airship. Piled up and guarded by three different groups on the sparse grass growth between the sands and the town, they bore symbols that Remia couldn''t recognize. One looked like a bird. One looked like a claw. The third one looked like weird squiggly lines.

    Meanwhile, two other groups gathered nearby almost casually. They did not make a move, but the fact that they were there in numbers made Remian worried. All of them were armed, some of them with weapons no better than sticks with nails stuck into them.

    Five different armed groups? Who were they? Why were they all standing around the airship ramp looking at each other menacingly?

    The airship crews arrived and met with the groups. Trading commenced, crates and money exchanging hands. The entire time, the non-trading members of each group fingered their weapons nervously, prepared to draw weapons and spill blood at the drop of a hat. The whole thing was a tense, volatile affair.

    Thankfully, nobody dropped any hats. The airship crews took their coin and their new crates, loaded up on the airship, and left.

    Like an idiot, Remian stood there watching the whole thing.

    A sandy haired boy came up to him from one of the groups. "You! Who are you?"

    Who, indeed? Lacking any other sort of identification, Remian wordlessly held out the token in his hand.

    "Iron Legion?" the sandy haired boy looked back to his leader, who shook his head dismissively and gestured for his return. They left Remian alone.

    Not so the others. As the groups left, nervously, one by one, the last one hesitated, then sent one blocky guy over. "Hey. You wanna join our gang?"

    "Your gang?" Remian blinked.

    "The Blood Claw!" he said, a bit proudly. "We do right by each other, and we bring back good hauls from our hunts. We just happen to have a bit of room for new hands right now."

    "Really? What happened to your old members?" Remian asked.

    At that, the blocky guy''s face soured. Saying no more, he turned away and marched off with his friends.

    Remian grimaced. Whatever happened to their friends for these guys to come back with ''good hauls'' to sell today, it couldn''t have been good.

    He walked into town proper, made it past the first street into the town square and promptly collapsed.

    ***

    When he opened his eyes, he found himself looking up at a high ceiling of thick wooden beams.

    "Where am I?" Remian tried to sit up, only to find his muscles aching, his head spinning, and his lungs burning. "What happened?"

    "I have no idea. We found you in the town square, completely naked." The person who came over to greet him was the priest he met on the airship. "It looks like you''ve been mugged."

    "Mugged?" Remian closed his eyes. "No. I may have been robbed, but I was not attacked. I think I might have passed out from exhaustion."

    He should have expected it, after such a long flight. Even though he managed to get some sleep, he had been a lot more tired than he realized. His body had always been weak. To get this far on his own was already difficult enough. Trying to explore the town after a long flight like that without any food or rest¡­

    Speaking of food. "I''m hungry. I don''t suppose¡­?"

    "Here." The priest handed him a bowl of hot soup. "It''s not much, but it''s what we have."

    "Thank you." Remian took a deep gulp, feeling the heat and the soup fill him. "Ahhh¡­"

    "I have a spare shirt¡­" the priest went on.

    "Stop. Why are you giving him everything? We already have so little to begin with!" a thin, sharp-nosed nun appeared beside the priest, a hand on his arm.

    "It is the way of our Lord to help those in need."

    "But that''s your dinner, and your last shirt!" she gasped.

    Remian froze. He looked at the bowl in his hands and the shirt in the priest''s. "Really?"

    "I''m already wearing a shirt. I need only wash it." The priest said, opening his robe a little. He was indeed wearing a shirt under it. "The sacred text is clear. He who has two shirts, give to him who has none."

    "You won''t survive for long here with that mindset." Remian grimaced.

    Beside them, the nun nodded furiously.

    "But I''ll take it." Remian accepted the shirt. "One day, I will repay this kindness tenfold. One day soon. Until then, you must survive. I have few friends here as it is. I don''t want to lose one."

    "You have friends here?" the nun perked up, suddenly brightening.

    "I am an agent of the Iron Legion." Remian grimaced. "Or rather, a clerk for an agent. I would show you my token, but¡­"

    "You mean this token?" the priest held it up. "We found it beside you. Whoever robbed you didn''t think to keep it."

    "Perhaps even robbers have a sliver of kindness." Remian suggested.

    "Or they simply dared not take it." The nun added with a sniff.

    Remian had to admit, the nun was most likely right. Robbing an unconscious man of his gear and clothes was one thing. Stealing a token of the Iron Legion and impersonating an officer, or even a clerk, was a whole different story.

    "So¡­ being a secretary to an agent of a Legion that has hardly any presence here¡­ how do you plan to pay us back tenfold?" the nun asked pointedly.

    "By starting a business." The idea had taken root two weeks back, but the details of it remained a bit fuzzy. "But at the very least, I hope to return this shirt by tomorrow."

    "A business, you say? What sort of business? How will you start it?" the priest asked.

    Remian hesitated. "The basis of a good business is to profit by fulfilling needs. The more needs, the better fulfilled, the more easily one can turn a profit and the less trouble one would face. At first, I thought to go into trading, but it seems the airship captain has already gotten to that directly. Security would fulfill the most needs, but I couldn''t provide that to save my own life. At this point, I''m thinking either an inn, a tavern, or a board."

    "A board?" the nun blinked. "How can anybody run a business by opening a board?"

    "That depends on the board." Remian grinned. "And the people here."

    "And then what?" she asked.

    "Then I take over the town." Remian shrugged. "And start to build my own kingdom."

    The nun took off her slipper and threw it at him. "Nonsense!"

    She stalked off with a sniff, muttering under her breath about little boys making fun of her.

    Then she came back to retrieve her slipper.

 3 Dangerous Encounter

    "You''re in luck." Max grunted as Remian arrived at the Iron Legion camp at the north side of town bordering the desert with only the token and the shirt on his back. "We just happen to have some extra clothes you could use."

    He brought out an oddly familiar looking package. Some leathers and furs, a worn-out bow and a quiver half-filled with arrows, and a broken axe¡­

    "That¡­ isn''t that Tan''s¡­?" Remian pointed.

    "It was." Max nodded agreeably. "He''s dead. Got into a fight with a local gang boss in the first tavern he came across. We got there in time to get him away, but he died of his injuries. Didn''t last an hour." Max eyed him. "What happened to you?"

    "Got robbed." Remian grimaced.

    "At least you survived. There''s something to be said for being weak." Max grunted. "How did you get the shirt?"

    "Made a new friend." Remian shrugged.

    "Even made friends? Huh. You might last quite a while yet." Max scratched his head. "So¡­ you still want to be our agent?"

    "I thought I already am." Remian blinked. "I carry the token, don''t I?"

    "That you do!" Max nodded to himself in satisfaction. "But how do you plan to dig up information without Tan?"

    "I let the information come to me." Remian told him. "I want to open an inn, and make it the most popular inn around town."

    "The most popular, you say? And how do you propose to do that?" Max asked.

    "By making it a place where the customers can earn money." Remian explained.

    Max stared at him, dumbfounded. "What kind of inn gives away money?"

    "The kind of inn that gives away jobs." Remian told him. "From other people. We''ll just use a board in the common room and sell them dinner while we''re at it. We''ll get money from the guests, we''ll get money from the customers who come to eat, we''ll get money from the people who post jobs on our board, and we''ll take a cut from the people who do the jobs and win the rewards."

    "And why would anyone come to our inn and our board for those jobs?" Max asked. "Rather than do it themselves?"

    "Because we''re a neutral party. That means anyone can post on that board, and anyone can do a job and earn from it, regardless of which gang they''re in." Remian explained. "Correct me if I''m wrong, but this town is pretty much run by five gangs who really don''t like each other."

    "That does seem to be the case." Max agreed.

    "So the Iron Legion seems to be a neutral party that has no enemies, but that nobody wants to fight." Remian pointed out. "That means we can potentially do business with everybody and become a bridge, a nexus, for the local gangs."

    Max thought it over a little. Then, "What do you need?"

    That night, Remian returned the priest his shirt.

    The next day, Max moved the Iron Legion camp to just outside the fort''s southern gate. There was a barbecue pit and some small beasts caught by the legionnaires; Remian wanted a beer stand, but they simply didn''t have beer. All they had was what they could find in the wilderness, which meant meat. Thus, the barbecue.

    Other than the barbecue pit and the food stand, there were also benches made of newly hewn logs around a large board that seemed to have been the top of somebody''s table a long time ago.

    On that board were notices of a new road being built; requests for information and maps, bounties on criminals, and the offered prices for selected goods that the Iron Legion wanted. All of them had rewards posted.

    Remian himself mainly just manned the barbecue pit and sold skewered rabbit and boar chunks. While the legionnaires were busy about their work and Max was having to set up a supposed ''training camp'' behind the stall, Remian simply barbecued chunks and sold them to whichever hungry traveler happened to stop by.

    There weren''t many. Remian had a dozen skewers laid out on the barbecue pit by lunch time and only five were sold by that time. Those five weren''t even for different customers. Two men had bought them all.

    "Why isn''t anyone going out into the Frontier?" Remian had to ask. "Isn''t that why we''re all here? There''s so much riches and opportunity out there! Why is everyone just staying in town fighting each other for scraps?"

    "Because everyone wants to protect their own scraps and they''re afraid of other gangs stealing it, so they keep their people in town guarding their scraps." Max yawned. "It was a nice idea, Remian, but don''t expect too much from these people; most of them don''t actually want to be here, much less do anything especially dangerous like hunt Wilds and such."

    Remian turned back to his ten skewers on the pit, and fanned them slowly. He sighed. "Maybe I should actually go and talk to the gangs. We might get more information that way."

    "Maybe." Max nodded. "Pass me a skewer, will you?"

    Remian passed him two, and turned back to tend to the seven remaining¡­

    Wait a minute. What?

    Remian''s eyes narrowed. He glanced back at Max, then at the pit, and frowned. Then, he took one skewer for himself and went over to sit on the bench next to Max. "Think you could lend me some armor?"

    Max barked a laugh. "Not without sending you through legionnaire training camp. I''m afraid you simply won''t survive it. Sorry, Remian. No Iron Legion armor for you."

    Remian shook his head, finished his skewer and went back to the barbecue pit to tend the last one¡­ "HEY! Who''s stealing all our skewers?!"

    One or two disappearing behind his back was one thing, but this time the thief took FIVE!

    Max inspected the ground near the pit. "Uhoh. We might be in trouble."

    "What trouble? Who dares to steal from the Iron Legion?!" Remian fumed, as if he himself was the legionnaire rather than Max.

    "Someone who leaves prints like that." Max pointed.

    Remian gulped. Imprinted into the softer dirt was the outline of a paw and claws. "A Wild?"

    "A small one, at least." Max mused. "A very smart, very fast one. Do you know anything about traps?"

    "Not really."

    "Then it''s time you learned."

    The next day, the barbecue pit and the camp was surrounded with snares, lures, pits, and tripwires. Some money had to be spent buying traps from the locals, but traps were plentiful in this frontier town, lots of people made them and used them. Dealing with whatever they caught in those traps, though, was a harder job.

    Designating a piece of barbecued rabbit as bait, Remian laid it out in the middle of an absolute tangle of traps right around lunch time, and almost as soon as his back was turned, was rewarded with the sounds of snapping springs and tightened ropes. There was a high-pitched yelp, then a sudden, nervous silence.

    With a grim smile, he turned, ready to pronounce judgment on whatever thieving critter had taken his lunch yesterday.

    There, hanging by a foot upside down in mid-air was a little black wolf cub¡­

    No, wait. Not a wolf. A wolfcat. That little critter had cat-claws, meaning it could climb trees.

    "You need to be more careful, more vigilant." Remian lectured the little furball. "Like me! See? I¡­"

    A deep, low growl behind him suddenly made Remian''s blood freeze. That did NOT come from a small little cub. That growl¡­

    "Back off!" He held up his skewer against the throat of the cub hanging in mid-air. "Back off, or he gets it!"

    How did Remian know the cub was a ''he''? Well, swinging upside down like that, certain secrets were made publicly known in short order¡­

    The cub let out a small, insulted growl.

    Then from the bushes nearby, a much, much louder growl made the air shake. Remian gulped, but held his ground and held the skewer up relentlessly. "I''m serious! Back off!"

    Two large, furry ears pricked up from the bushes. The head that rose slowly was canine, wolfish, and big enough to take Remian''s entire head off in one bite. Heck, it could take the whole top half of Remian right off his waist at that size. The paw that emerged next was bigger than his head, very likely quite capable of squishing said head underfoot.

    "Is that your mom?" Remian asked the little cub suspiciously.

    The little critter gave him a wide wolfish grin.

    Remian gave him an annoyed poke in the tummy with his finger. Feeling something prod him where he expected the skewer''s sharp sting, the wolfcat cub let out a panicked yelp.

    The huge mother wolfcat lunged forward a full foot worriedly, then stopped and backed away, eyes fixed on every inch of the puny human just feet from her very large teeth.

    They stood there for a while, neither of them moving an inch. Remian was hoping Max would come out and see him in trouble and then do something, rescue him somehow, but Max remained elsewhere, completely oblivious.

    Meanwhile, the little black cub was getting restless and twisted and turned a bit. Bored, he took the liberties to use Remian''s finger as a massager, rubbing its own belly against it selfishly.

    Letting out a small snort, Remian tickled the little fellow in the tummy, making it squirm playfully a bit more. The cub let out a playful bark.

    Seeing it, the mother wolfcat relaxed a little. Just a little.

    Seeing her relax, Remian paused, trying to think of a way out.

    Seeing him pause, the little wolfcat gave him a small, demanding bark, wanting him to keep up the tummy rub.

    "Quiet." Remian pulled the cable off the cub, held it under one arm, then pulled a chunk of barbecued meat off the skewer in his hand and to the cub''s delight, stuffed that in the cub''s mouth.

    The little black furball gobbled it down in no time, then let out a happy yip, tail starting to wag.

    The big mother wolfcat eyed him again, then slowly started to withdraw. She was skinny, he realized, and seemed to favor her right leg. Starving and injured, how had she managed to feed her cub all this time¡­? Or maybe she didn''t. Maybe that was why the little critter had gone for the barbecue.

    Either that, or the cub simply liked his dinner cooked and warm.

    Seeing how thin the mother wolfcat was, Remian hesitated, then grabbed the entire uncooked rabbit and put it on the ground, then backed away slowly. The mother wolfcat sniffed at it, watched him back off, then slowly, cautiously emerged and sniffed at the rabbit. Then, in a lightning fast lunge, she gobbled it down in no time flat.

    Remian gulped. That could have been him getting chewed up.

    With that, the mother wolfcat paused, considered him for a bit more. Hesitantly, warily, her tail waved to one side, then the other. Then before Remian could wonder about what it all meant, she turned away and bounded into the brush, leaving him with the little wolfcat cub still under his arm.

 4 Terrifying

    "Remian¡­ is that... a Wild on your shoulder?" Max rubbed his eyes as if doubting them.

    "Uh¡­ long story." Remian said sheepishly.

    Max and the cub exchanged glances. The cub grinned cheekily.

    "Is that¡­ the barbecue thief?!" Max guessed.

    "Yeah. Animals would die for food." Remian shrugged.

    "Well, you''re not giving it any of my food." Max grouched. "You can do your own trapping from now on, I''ll loan you some traps and you can feed it whatever you catch on your own."

    Remian sighed, turned to the cub that was sitting on his left shoulder. "Now look what you''ve done. I officially have to become a trapper."

    The cub let out a small, apologetic whine.

    "Also, you better explain to Markus before he kills your little furball." Max went on. "We''re actually preparing to kill a lot of Wilds tonight."

    "What? Where? Why?" Remian asked.

    "It is a Beast Wave. Dozens of random Wilds all coming to kill us at the same time. They have an odd sense of unity, and they''ll slow down to match the speed of the slowest Wild in their group, or else we''d all be dead by now. At the rate they''re going, they''ll be here, at the southern gate, just after sunset tonight."

    Remian frowned. "Are Wilds really hostile to us? I mean¡­ the ones I just met didn''t seem so bad."

    "That fellow on your shoulder is half wolf. That''s not too far off from your household dog. There''s a reason why people can peacefully keep dogs as pets, and I''m guessing your little friend there shares some of that canine temperament. But the creatures coming at us are coming to kill us. Don''t you forget that."

    An odd idea occurred to Remian at that point. If some Wilds could be friendly with people, then¡­

    Possibility after possibility began to slip through Remian''s mind while Max began to explain the military outlook on tonight''s battle. "The so-called warlords who run this town have agreed to set aside their differences and join hands against the Beast Wave for tonight. Each of them has pledged ten of their crew and at least one Slayer to the fight."

    "One what?" Remian blinked.

    "A Slayer. Basically, a very strong warrior, but perhaps better described as a hit-man. In this town, Slayers are legends." Max explained. "From what we have learned so far, it seems that all six gangs have at least two Slayers each. Tonight, each of them will be sending us one."

    "Sending ''us''? You mean¡­"

    "Yeah. Since we''re the most neutral party here, they''ve given us the responsibility of coordinating the defense. You might say we''re in command, but when push comes to shove, my guess is they''re all just going to do whatever they want and leave us holding the bag." Max grunted. "I won''t lie to you, it''s going to be a very tough battle with unreliable allies and the darkness of night."

    "We might not be able to do much about those allies, but maybe we can do something about the darkness, like place torches¡­"

    "Who''s going to pay for those torches? You?"

    Remian grimaced. Even if he wanted to, he had nothing to pay for them with. "Is there something out here we can use to make light at no cost? Some plant or mineral we could scrounge up from the wilderness¡­?"

    "By tonight? Enough to really help?" Max shook his head. "You may as well try to convince that Priest in the Church of Celestial Light to cast Light Spells for us."

    "I could try that." Remian said, thinking. "We''re not that close, but he''s helped me before. Maybe there''s something I can do for him so that he''ll help me again."

    ***

    The day passed with the scrambling about of man, busy as he always was. This day, the people of Frontier Town were especially busy, running about digging pits filled with sharpened stakes, felling trees and raising barricades, piling mounds of dirt in rows.

    Time was of the essence, and the impromptu minutemen of Frontier Town were as short on it as they were on resources. Most of the minutemen from the five gangs only arrived as the sun was beginning to set. Some of the Slayers weren''t even there after the sun went down.

    As it did, Remian arrived at the Iron Legion camp with the Priest, the nun, and his new wolfcat friend on his shoulder. "Max! I got them!"

    Max waved at him. "How did you do it?"

    "Suffice to say I''m going to need to send them food every day from now on." Remian rolled his eyes toward the nun. It was her, more than the Priest, that had to be convinced to help. "This is Priest Kairos, the nun''s name is Rhema, she''s willing to help with medical duties if you have the supplies."

    "We actually do have a little, but it''s not much. Most of it are wild herbs we managed to gather while out in the field." Max pointed. "Also, Remian, you might want to stash that furball away in your tent. We don''t want anyone to kill him by accident thinking he''s part of the Beast Wave."

    "Got it." Remian''s tent was something Tan left behind in his backpack when he died. It was in bad shape, but Max had helped him patch it up with leaves and twigs and whatnot.

    Afterward, he came back to Max and asked, "Anything else I can do?"

    "There''s no time. The Beast Wave is here already." Max pointed.

    Remian squinted, but he couldn''t see anything in the dark. "Where?"

    "See those glinting red lights?" Max asked.

    "Sort-of. Are those reflections from our torches?"

    "Probably. But what do you think are reflecting them?"

    Remian winced. He got it. Those were eyes. Dozens of eyes, some as high as three meters tall. "Uhoh."

    "Priest Kairos, if you will?" Max requested, as the minutemen gathered to form a very long single line behind makeshift barricades of sharpened stakes.

    Kairos drew a sigil in the air, something that seemed almost similar to a ''1'' or an ''I'', a sigil formed by glowing yellow traces from his finger. Speaking in the tongue used by the Iron Legion, he pushed at it and shouted, "Light!"

    A head-sized ball flew up into the night sky, lighting it up like a flare. In that dim magical light, the defenders of Frontier Town saw the massed Wilds that were coming at them hungrily, madness in their eyes and drool dripping from their fangs.

    "Anyone invite some guests for dinner?" Markus asked softly.

    "Not when we''re the dishes, no." Max replied.

    They charged. Sixty, maybe seventy Wilds, each thrice the size of a man or more, came barreling down the plain at the southern gate regardless of what minor obstacles and traps the minutemen had managed to put in their way. They broke past the logs that were set to direct their traffic into bottlenecks, rampaged over the snares and lures and distractions. The only things that really stopped them were the pits with sharpened stakes. There, one after the other Wild fell to their deaths, piling on top of each other until the pits were filled and the next Wild behind the dead could pass over them on their carcasses.

    "Next time, we just stick to pits." Max grunted. "Waste of a lot of traps¡­"

    "Fire at will!" someone yelled, and crossbows sounded in the shadows. Others were slinging stones. The legionnaires themselves picked up short javelins and threw those at the incoming wave.

    "Pole-arms!" Markus shouted.

    All across the line, people raised spears, halberds, pikes, pitchforks, even a broomstick in one case. They stood roughly ten feet behind the barricades of sharpened stakes¡­

    "Light!" Kairos cast another glowing ball as the first one began to fade.

    With a resounding crash, the wave of Wilds hammered against the sharpened stakes, impaling many of their fastest runners without hesitation, without mercy. The barriers broke under the pressure, and then the Beast Wave was upon the defenders, slowed down by half after all those obstacles, but nevertheless hitting them with enough force to shatter most of the pole-arms pointed at them.

    "Melee!" Markus roared, and lunged at the nearest Wild, another one of those short javelins in his hand. Max and the other legionnaire was on either side of him, each with a short sword in his hand.

    The Wild coming at him was an oversized boar with a mane, tusks, and hooves that looked like metallic. It tried to gore Markus, but he leapt high, a full six-feet jump, and landed on its back, lancing his spear directly into the boar''s back.

    The oversized boar went mad. It swung from side to side, goring Max and the other legionnaire in moments. Max scrambled to get out of the way, but the other legionnaire went down, leaving Markus alone on the bucking boar, trying to maintain his balance at the risk of getting trampled under the two-ton monstrosity.

    "Light!" Kairos cast, and started coughing.

    "Are you all right?" Remian stood there, not taking part in the battle, quite aware than anything he did would more likely be a hindrance than help. He had Tan''s bow, but to be honest¡­ he wasn''t strong enough to draw it. Maybe he could have lent it out but everyone else had their own weapons already.

    "I¡­ don''t normally have to cast¡­ using this much power¡­" Kairos wheezed. "I need a break."

    "But if you take a break¡­ and the light fades¡­" Remian gulped. "If they have to fight the Wilds in the dark, we''re all going to die."

    "One more." Kairos coughed again. "I can manage one more. After that, we must sound the retreat and fight within the gate."

    "That''s not going to work. The town walls on this side wouldn''t last more than a few seconds against a charge by even one of these Wilds." Remian eyed the boar that Markus and Max were struggling with. That thing alone could have rammed a sizeable hole right through the town wall. There were at least twenty Wilds out here as big or bigger.

    "If you want light¡­ you''re going to have to help me." Kairos said then. "You need to learn the spell."

    "You can teach me?" Remian stared. "I thought the Church only taught light magic to priests!"

    "What is a priest? It is merely a title. I therefore ordain you as a priest as a field emergency!" Kairos turned to Remian. "The power of light is the power of hope and kindness, and I have seen both in you. Do you believe in God?"

    Believe in Him? I MET him. Even argued. "Sure thing."

    "Do you promise to serve Him?"

    "If it benefits me. If you want me to work for you, then you''re going to have to pay me."

    "Do you promise to obey the church, and follow the leadership?"

    "No way. Nuh-uh. I have things to do."

    "Do you promise to worship Him all your life?"

    "What does that even mean?"

    "Would you pledge yourself to the cause of spreading the Light in His name¡­?" Kairos coughed some more.

    "No. Freaking. Way. Absolutely not!" Remian said stoutly.

    "How honest." Kairos smiled a dry, mirthless smile. "Only one answer is satisfactory. But I don''t have much of a choice, this is an emergency. Remian Vin, I hereby ordain you in this emergency field commission as a Priest in the Order of Light! Congratulations!"

    "Great. Now can you teach me that spell already?!" Remian eyed the magic glowing ball fearing it would weaken before he could replace it.

    So Kairos taught. "This is what you do¡­"

    ***The following secrets are classified by The Order of Light. No exposition of them may be revealed without authorization, all rights reserved.***

    "As for the word you speak at the end," Kairos cleared his throat. "It does not really matter. I like to keep it simple and just call for what I want, like ''light''."

    "Here goes¡­" Remian tried it. "Sense the mana¡­ everything has Life Force¡­ this place has plenty of life¡­ focus the patterns¡­ come on, sigil! Come on!"

    Faint outlines shimmered in the air, but the sigil did not take form.

    "I will show you one last time." Kairos drew a deep breath.

    Kairos watched him, burning his movements, the ebb and flow of mana that he only now learned to sense. He saw the patterns, the flows of magic that formed a bridge between man and nature, telling nature what Kairos wanted. "Light!"

    A fourth glowing orb flew up into the sky, illuminating it one last time.

    Kairos fell. He collapsed almost on top of Remian. "Kairos? Kairos?! Hey!"

    But there was no response. Priest Kairos had completely lost consciousness.

    "Medic!" Remian called for the nun/nurse. "We need a medic!"

    Rhema took Kairos in to the medical area, leaving Remian alone in the dark as Kairos'' last light began to fade, and the onslaught of the beasts came ever closer to the gates of Frontier Town.

    "Sigil¡­ mana flows¡­ flow¡­" Remian closed his eyes, feeling doom creep up on him as the defenders fell back, screams sounding on all sides. Sweat beaded on his forehead "Please, please, please¡­ sigil¡­ form¡­ I don''t wanna die¡­ please, God, I don''t wanna die¡­ I''ve come this far, and only just gotten started¡­ everyone here is trying so hard¡­ I can''t leave them, I have to help them¡­ please, sigil, take FORM!"

    There was a burst of power from the air and from the ground, and Remian felt energy surge through, and then from him, going out into a newly formed sigil right in front of his fingers. The shimmering traces that were hardly visible before now suddenly seemed rock solid, almost like polished gold.

    At last! Remian placed his hand on it, straining with all his heart. "Kindness¡­ hope¡­ life¡­ for everything that is good¡­ for even a chance at happiness¡­"

    Emotions surged in his soul. The desperation of struggling for his life every day under an endless curse of weakness. The faces of his parents, and the grief he always brought them. The squalor of his family. The blood that was spilled on the ground tonight. The screams of the defenders. The shattered armor of the fallen legionnaire.

    A deep, heartfelt plea rose up from his innermost being, a cry and an outcry that burst out in silence and thundered in stillness. Remian''s hand grasped the sigil, turning into a fist. He screamed and all the world screamed with him. "LIGHT!"

    There was an explosion and everything went white.

    Screams sounded on all sides. "Aargh! My eyes! My eyes!!"

    "It''s too bright! I can''t see! I can''t see!"

    "Defense! Fall back! Anyone! Can anyone hear me? Can anyone see?!" Markus shouted. "What is happening?!"

    Howls rose up on all sides and for a moment, Remian feared the worst, but quickly, the howls faded going farther and farther away.

    "They are retreating! The Wilds are running away! We''ve done it!" Max roared. "We''ve won!"

    Cheers rang out as sight slowly returned, but by that time, the white was fading to black, and Remian was only aware of falling, and landing hard on the ground before passing out.

    ***

    The next thing he knew, he was back at the church. Sitting over him was Priest Kairos, and all around him were the wounded, the entire main hall having been turned into an infirmary.

    "Did it work?" Remian asked.

    "Work? You just cast the most powerful spell I''ve ever seen outside of a Holy City." Kairos said wanly. "Remian, I tell you the truth, your body may be weak but your magic is terrifying."

 5 Opposite magics

    Remian turned to the dark figure laying down on the ''empty'' bed next to him as Kairos went off to find him some food. "What are you doing here?"

    "Taking a break." Death answered. "I''ve was rather busy last night."

    Remian''s face fell. "How many? How many died because of me?"

    Death paused, counting. "Three."

    "Three? Who were they?" Remian regretted losing control to such an extent.

    "Irontusk, Third Boar Alpha of the Iron Bristle Boar tribe. He was fighting Markus and Max when you burned a foot-wide hole in him with your light bolt." Death began. "Ssi-ruuvi,two-headed Acid/Venom Serpent of Forktwig Marsh. They were trying to provide Irontusk some support. A bit more and they could have killed Markus."

    "Wait. They were Wilds? Are you saying my Light spell killed Wilds?!" Remian stared. "Not humans?"

    "No humans were harmed by your magic." Death said. "Although a lot of them couldn''t see for a few minutes. Some of them were injured while trampling around blindly, but for the most part, your Light Spell saved them by scaring away all the Wilds."

    "Scaring away¡­ I did that?" Remian gulped. "What happened to my Light Spell?"

    "I think you overdid it." Death surmised. "By several magnitudes of power. As if I didn''t have enough work already."

    Kairos came back with hot soup. Remian filled his stomach while Kairos reminisced. "You know, power like that doesn''t come by often. The only ones I know who can do something like what you did are those guys who have seen God and lived."

    Remian supped quietly. He did sort of fit the description himself. If the Church of Celestial Light knew about it, how many priests would attempt to see God that way? Probably not many. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. "Can you teach me more? Other than that Light spell?"

    "Not really. Light and healing is all Priests are really good for, and Rhema can teach you healing spells better than I can. My forte lies in studying the sacred texts. I''m more a historian than a warrior priest."

    "What''s a warrior priest?"

    "Oh, some of our Order support the Iron Legion and take up arms at their side. There is a famous group of warrior priests called ''Paladins''. Some call them holy knights or some such. But me, if I joined the Legion, I''d be more of a chaplain instead of a Paladin, staying back at camp rather than fighting in front."

    "I see." Remian ate in silence for a minute, taking it all in. "This power I have¡­ is it just for Light magic?"

    "I have no idea." Kairos admitted. "You''ll have to try and see for yourself."

    "And how would I do that?"

    "You''ll have to learn other types and test it out."

    "Where would I learn other types?"

    "Around here?" Kairos paused. "I don''t think anyone here teaches magic. Other than myself, Rhema and the airship crews, I don''t think anyone even knows magic."

    Death snorted. "Try telling that to that Kage guy from last night."

    "Who''s Kage?" Remian asked Kairos.

    "Kage? The Shadow Slayer of the Circling Raven Gang?" Kairos turned and pointed. "He''s THAT guy."

    Across the hall was a figure completely covered in black, showing only an eye-slit. He was sitting in a chair talking to one of the patients in bed.

    "Based on what I saw last night, that guy uses Shadow magic." Death mentioned. "Could be a good compliment to Light."

    "If I learned Shadow magic from Kage¡­ won''t it mess with my Light magic?"

    "No." Kairos said.

    At the same time, unseen and unheard by anyone else, Death said, "Actually, they would complete each other, but don''t let anyone know I told you so."

    Remian didn''t wait. He walked right over. "Kage?"

    Kage turned to him and observed him. He recognized Remian. "The light-caster?"

    Remian nodded. "Yes. Could you teach me Shadow magic?"

    Kage frowned. "The darkness is not revealed. It is only experienced."

    With that, Kage disappeared. Literally just faded into a shadow that vanished in the morning light.

    "Don''t take it personally." The girl he was visiting advised Remian. She was young, in her early teens, with messy red-hair. "He''s always like that."

    "Ah." Remian held out his hand in greeting. "I''m Remian, agent of the Iron Legion."

    "Mindy, barmaid at the Raven Tavern." She shook his hand. "You''re welcome to come by for drinks sometime. Bring your Legion friends and spend some coin at our place!"

    "I don''t have coin to spend." Remian shook his head. "But I can get you some meat, if you don''t mind buying from a trapper."

    "We can do that. We can even buy some old items off your hands." Mindy offered. "There''s plenty of stuff left behind by dead people in the wilderness. We''re not picky and we offer good coin. Of course, we also expect you to spend some of that coin buying our drinks."

    Remian stared. "That was the smoothest recruitment offer I''ve ever heard from any of the gangs."

    Mindy grimaced. "It was that obvious?"

    "No, and that''s why it was so smooth. I almost joined your gang by accident." Remian marveled.

    "Why don''t you?" she asked.

    "Because I want you to join MY gang!" Remian said.

    "You have a gang?"

    "No. But we can start one."

    Mindy burst out laughing, then held her side. "Ouch, too soon¡­ my wounds are going to reopen at this rate. Ow¡­"

    "Uh¡­ I guess I better not bother you any more¡­?" Remian scratched his head. "I can still come by to sell meat, right?"

    "Tomorrow." Mindy leaned back, breathing heavily. "Just give me the day to recover."

    "Didn''t the nun use healing magic on you?" he asked.

    "She did, but there were so many injuries, and only one of her, so¡­"

    Remian got the idea at once. "Hold on. I''ll go find the nun and then I''ll be right back."

    Very predictably, Rhema did not entertain his requests to help Mindy out. She was, however, willing to teach him a basic healing spell, as long as he used it to treat the injured for the rest of the week.

    "Fine! I''ll work for it!" Remian rolled his eyes, and set down to learn.

    Two hours later, he was back in bed, collapsed from over-exhaustion. Even after two hours, he still hadn''t quite gotten the hang of any of three basic healing spells.

    Death laughed at him. "It''s not so easy to steal people from my hands, you know. You basically have to fight me for them."

    "Couldn''t you¡­ go easy¡­ on me?" Remian heaved for breath.

    "Not really, no. I have standards to keep."

    "Not even for my own case?" Remian groaned.

    "ESPECIALLY for your case. Why do you think I''m always hanging around you?"

    Remian sighed. "So much for using healing magic on myself."

    "Healing magic of this level? That nun couldn''t save a drowning bunny if her life depended on it." Death snorted. "The most she can do is make people feel better, ease exhaustion, recover faster, maybe ease a headache or two. Everyone who came in here with a critical injury is dead already. Why do you think I''m hanging around here?"

    "I thought you needed a break!"

    "And why was that break necessary, do you think?" Death shook his head. "That nun needs to go back to school and apologize to her teachers profusely. Yours was the only life she saved all night, and only because it was exhaustion that nearly killed you."

    "For her saving my life, I am immensely grateful." Remian looked at him sideways. "I don''t suppose you have anything to do with that?"

    "Me? Why would I go easy on her just to let you off?" Death snorted. He did not meet Remian''s gaze. "Besides, what have you done for me?"

    "For you? I thought I was easing your workload?" Remian mentioned. "Unless you want more work?"

    There was a short pause.

    "Is that it?" Remian''s eyes widened. "All this time you were complaining about having work to do, but what you really want is more work?"

    "It''s¡­ complicated."

    "What''s complicated about it? Does more work mean more pay? That''s why you want more work even though you keep complaining about it?"

    "Something like that."

    Remian shook his head. "So what do you want me to do, run around killing everything I see?"

    Death chuckled. "As if you could! With your capabilities, it would be you I''d be working on before anyone else. It''s not like you''re an expert in death magic."

    At that, Remian froze. He slowly turned to look at Death, not daring to voice the idea that just popped into his head.

    Death saw the look on his face and froze. "No way. Nuh-uh. Not going to do it."

    "But it''s what you want, right? More work, more pay." Remian pointed out.

    "Teaching you death magic is going to be a hassle in itself, more work than simply reaping lives! What ''pay'' would I get from such an effort?"

    "You get more work in the end?"

    "No way! Forget it! I''m not going to teach you how to order me around!"

    Remian hesitated. "It''s too late. I think I already know how."

    "Oh, really?"

    "Yes, really." Remian said. "It''s because of what you told me earlier."

    "Which is?"

    "Healing magic means fighting with you for lives. So the opposite of that¡­"

    There was a sudden, chilling silence.

    "Well, too bad. You still can''t use healing magic to save your life." Death mentioned.

    "Not yet, no. And besides, who''s to say?" Remian shook his head. "I might do better with the opposite of healing magic."

 6 Dissen

    "It is ridiculous!" Markus roared at someone in the Iron Legion command tent the next day. "The town wall is in no shape to defend the town! How many lives could have been saved if we could have relied on it? How many more lives will be sacrificed before somebody does something about that useless wall?"

    "The town wall is not our responsibility." Someone replied defensively. "Neither is the protection of the town! We were good enough to offer manpower to help out last night and what happened? Half our crew were killed, the other half were all injured! Yet you want us to pay for a new wall, now?"

    "Or at least spare the manpower to help us build it ourselves!"

    "We can''t spare any more manpower!"

    "You mean, you''re too afraid of the other gangs to spare anyone!"

    "Exactly! The moment we let down our guard, the moment our defenses weaken, we are done for!"

    Remian scratched his head as he approached Max. "That sounds like a big argument."

    "It''s the fifth he''s had today." Max said. "They''re all basically the same. All five gangs want someone else to pay the cost, and they''ll happily take advantage and raid their base while they''re away."

    "So who''s going to build the wall? Us?"

    "With what? It''s just you, me, and Markus out here." Max shook his head. "Even if we had help, where would we get the materials? We have already cut down all the trees nearby. There have been recent reports of people killed by Wilds two hundred meters out. See the current tree-line? That''s four hundred meters out. Two of the casualties we had yesterday happened before the battle even started; from Wilds attacking our woodcutters!"

    "What about stone? The current wall is made of stone, right?" Remian squinted. "Sort-of?"

    It looked more like a combination of stone and mud, rather.

    "That stone came from the western hill. Quarry any more out of that hill and the hill would probably collapse, and then we''d have TWO fronts to defend the next time we get a Beast Wave." Max gave him a sideways glance. "And next time, we might not be able to chase them away with a super-powered Light Bolt."

    The shouting ceased. Some infuriated gang members stalked out from Markus'' command tent. Markus was left scowling at their backs, empty-handed despite all his efforts.

    "Hey, Remian. Good to see you back on your feet." Markus noticed him there. "Is the barbecue open today? I could use a bite."

    "Coming right up." Remian said.

    While he was preparing the barbecue, Max and Markus talked. "We might have to build the wall ourselves, call for reinforcements early and hope the Prefect is kind."

    "What about the road? Isn''t that why we''re here?" Max asked.

    "How can we build the road in peace with the Wilds at our backs? Given the size of last night''s Beast Wave, we would need to post at least fifty Legionnaires on security detail at all times, and you and I both know that the Legion can''t spare fifty."

    "Weren''t we supposed to set up a training camp and set the trainees on road-building? As part of their training?"

    "With the Wilds at our back? Just keeping them from running away and deserting is going to be a challenge. How many trainees do you expect would arrive? How many do you expect we would need to guard the others? How many would be left to build?"

    "Less than a hundred might arrive, we''d need a lot more than fifty on guard, leaving maybe a dozen to build." Max figured. "At least for a few months, if we''re lucky."

    Remian listened while he worked, preparing the pit, fanning the flames, then looking about. "Do we have any meat?"

    Max laughed. "Wait a minute. I''ll get it."

    He came back with five huge slabs of meat.

    "Wow! Where did we get so much meat?" Remian stared.

    "From you, actually. This came from the boar you killed with that light spell last night." Max scratched his head. "There was this two-headed snake too, but I''m not eating that."

    Remian put the meat on, and the smells of barbecue began to waft around the camp.

    "Yip!" the wolfcat cub poked its head out of Remian''s tent when he smelled the food. He wagged his tail. "Yiyip!"

    "Well, somebody seems vigilant." Markus commented wryly. "We should have him watch our backs for us."

    "I wish." Remian rolled his eyes. "How about it, furry? Want to be vigilant?"

    "Yip!" the cub wagged his tail happily.

    "Fine! From now on that''s your name!" Remian pronounced grandly. "Vigilant! I shall call you Vigil, for short!"

    Vigil looked at him sideways, then shook his head. But he didn''t seem particularly upset about it, so Remian decided the name would stick.

    As congratulations, Remian gave Vigil the blackest, most burnt parts of the meat he so hastily cooked. "You can have the bones later too."

    Vigil growled at him a little, but then took a few bites of hot barbecued meat, and let out a delighted bark. "YIYIP!"

    "Au!" From the bushes, a low but powerful voice replied. Remian froze for a moment, then turned slowly to see Vigil''s mom appear right behind him.

    "Whoa!" Max grabbed his sword.

    Markus grabbed his spear. "Steady! Steady! Do not engage! Something seems¡­ odd."

    "What? That it wants to eat us for breakfast?"

    "No. That is hasn''t already done so by now." Markus mentioned. "It seems to already have something in its mouth."

    Max and Remian stared. "Is that¡­ a sword?"

    Sword, scabbard and sword-belt, to be precise. Vigil''s mom carried the whole set in her teeth. She came forward, and put them on the ground, then backed away. Her ears pulled back against her head and the looked at Remian expectantly.

    "Huh¡­" Remian hesitated, then shrugged. "Okay. I''ll trade for it."

    He gave her the biggest, chunkiest piece of barbecued meat on his grill. Her tail wagged as she chowed down on it.

    "Well, what do you know. Our little agent here is taming the Wilds." Markus remarked, amazed.

    "Is that legal?" Max scratched his head.

    "He killed the boar. It''s his meat. He can do whatever he wants with it." Markus mentioned.

    "But isn''t that our breakfast?"

    "Uh¡­" Markus paused.

    "Of course! This is for you, and you¡­" Remian distributed slabs of meat quickly. There were five to begin with. One went to Vigil''s mom, one to Markus, one to Max. Of the remaining two, Remian considered for a bit, then tossed both to Vigil''s mom.

    "Hey! What about you?" Max asked, concerned.

    "Awuu!" Vigil spoke up for himself as well.

    "We still have more, don''t we?" Remian asked. "Bring out five more, please. She''s a big wolfcat, I''m afraid three won''t be enough."

    "Ruu." Vigil''s mom murmured appreciatively.

    After breakfast, the big wolfcat slipped away almost without a sound, and the little wolfcat began to snooze in the warm morning. Markus and Max went about their business, and Remian was left on his own.

    "So¡­ I might not be able to pull off healing spells¡­ but maybe the opposite¡­" Remian looked around and found a nice little bush to practice with.

    "Not going to work." A dark figure appeared behind him suddenly.

    "You''re back? I thought you were on vacation." Remian scowled.

    Death ignored it. "You may as well forget about death magic. I''m not going to cooperate."

    "Why not?" Remian protested.

    "Healing magic either. You just aren''t cut out for it." Death snorted. "For a guy like you, using Elemental magic like light or fire is one thing. Using Concept magic like healing and death¡­ that''s beyond your grasp. You could do some serious damage to yourself and everyone around you by trying."

    "So you won''t let me try it because you''re concerned for me?" Remian summarized.

    "Whatever. Just don''t try it." Death warned him. "Magic requires a basis; for Elemental magic, natural mana will do. This place is rich with natural mana. But Concept magic requires a different sort of basis and you won''t be able to succeed or survive if you try it the way the nun taught you."

    "Meaning that I could do it if I had learned a different way?" Remian suggested.

    Death gave him a scowl. "Forget it. Just¡­ forget it."

    "Why don''t you teach me Elemental magic, then?"

    "Since when did I become your teacher? Go find some human elemental mage somewhere."

    "Where in the Frontier would I find one?" Remian snorted.

    "Try the airship that comes by every week. All of them need Wind Mages, don''t they?"

    Remian paused. "That they do. They do, indeed."

    It was a sound idea. The problem was convincing the Wind Mage to teach him.

    Maybe he could offer some sort of payment? Remian looked around. Other than the meat, all he really had to trade were the sword Vigil''s mom brought and Tan''s bow and arrows.

    Maybe he could sell those off to Max, or even Mindy. Then he could use the money to pay the Wind Mage. What else could a Wind Mage want other than money? Magic items? Crystals? Remian didn''t have any of those.

    But how much money would be required? For all Remian knew, paying the Wind Mage might require more money than building the wall!

    Speaking of which¡­ Remian glanced at the wall, considering.

    "Yip?" Vigil stirred, woke up, then looked at him curiously.

    "I should really do something about this wall." Remian told him. "It really is useless as it is. Maybe I can hire workers¡­ but of course, that will also cost money. It all comes down to coin, in the end."

    Saying that, he looked at the board again, then thought for a bit.

    "Markus?" Remian called some minutes later. "I need to talk to the gang leaders! Can you tell me where to find them?"

    He went to see them that very hour.

 7 Frontier Townâ€™s Weakest Gangs

    There were five gangs in Frontier Town; Burning Steel, Cruel Rose, Blood Claw, Circling Raven and Secret Waves. Cruel Rose and Circling Raven were based in the north, Secret Waves to the East, with Burning Steel and Blood Claw to the west.

    It was generally agreed that of the five, Burning Steel was the strongest, simply because they had four Slayers. Cruel Rose and Blood Claw had three each; Circling Raven and Secret Waves only had two. In the minds of many, this meant that Circling Raven and Secret Waves were the weakest gangs, even though Circling Raven supposedly had the largest numbers.

    As for Secret Waves¡­ they had the least numbers, and the least Slayers. Remian was curious as to how they survived the hostility of the other gangs for so long. That was why, when he set out to meet the bosses, he started on the East side.

    The East Side of Frontier Town was a jagged row of houses and shoplots on a sheer cliff extending over a river. It could be pretty, if it didn''t look like the whole thing was on the verge of falling into the river at any given moment. At the extreme edges, the cliff was so thin, it wasn''t hard to imagine walking out on the cliff one minute and the entire thing collapsing into the chasm far below, a terrible sixty foot fall. Looking at the way some of it seemed uneven, Remian suspected that some of it had, in fact, fallen away and somebody somewhere had very much regretted taking that walk on the cliff''s edge.

    According to Max, the Secret Waves headquarters was a wide villa named Storefront Pavilion. It really was its name, as the words were writing on the gatepost of the villa. Remian ignored the strange naming sense and called out, "Hello? Anyone here?"

    "Benji? Is that you? Get in here!" someone called.

    "I''m not Benji." Remian yelled back. "Hello? Hello??"

    There was no answer. With a grimace, Remian stepped in to the headquarters of the oddest gang in Frontier Town.

    The villa was empty. Remian didn''t see anyone around at all. He went straight in, through a main hall, and then a corridor, and out into the open courtyard surrounded by the wings of the villa. There was only one old man there, and he was fishing in what looked like a large well. Two buckets of water filled with fish and a half-filled one nearby suggested that he''d been at it for quite a while.

    "Hello?" Remian asked.

    The old man didn''t respond, simply sitting there with his fishing line.

    Remian waited.

    Nothing happened.

    At last, the line jerked, and the old man responded in a flash. The rod was tugged, the line rose up, and then he was pulling in his catch, hand over hand. The line kept jerking but try as it may, the fish was eventually hauled up to the courtyard and unceremoniously dumped into the half-filled bucket.

    Then the old man saw Remian and fell backwards with a yell.

    Remian likewise, fell backwards with a yell.

    The old man flailed for balance, and somehow got his hands tangled in fishing line. Then he tried to get away, and his feet got tangled in the fishing line. He tried to break free, and his own fishing rod fell right on top of him¡­

    In no time, Remian found himself staring at a very sorry figure wrapped in tackle and trying very hard to keep a menacing hook away from his own face.

    "Hi. I was hoping I could meet the leader of the Secret Waves gang?" Remian winced.

    "That''s me." The old man said, gingerly trying to untangle himself without letting go of the hook or losing track of it.

    "I want to offer you some space on my board, so you can post jobs you want done, or bounties on people you want dead or alive¡­"

    "We have one of those already." The old man grunted.

    "But mine is up in front of the south gate and everybody can see it and take jobs from it and post bounties on it. No matter which gang they''re from. That means, more people would be able to do what you want." Remian summarized.

    "Ah. Okay." The old man grunted, tugging at fishing line caught in his beard.

    "Um¡­ that''s it?" Remian blinked. "Just like that? Okay?"

    "Yeah, okay." He shrugged, then frowned at his tangled beard.

    "What about building the wall? Can you spare us some crew to do that?"

    "Sure." The old man sighed, then reluctantly picked up a knife to cut his way out of the tangle. "Anything else?"

    "Uh¡­ no, I think that''s it. Thank you!" Remian bobbed his head in a polite greeting to the elder, then ran away.

    Was that really the gang leader he just met? Or just some random wacko fishing in his own well? Remian didn''t know, but the place was indeed the Storefront Pavilion, so it had to be right.

    "Five days." Death mused, as they left the villa.

    Remian didn''t ask him what that meant, but the possibilities sent a chill up his spine.

    The Circling Raven gang''s headquarters was the Raven Tavern, where Mindy worked. She was still recovering at the church, so she wasn''t there when Remian knocked on the door and asked to see the gang leader.

    Inside, there were a mob of kids.

    No, seriously. Twenty human juveniles between the ages of 10-18 years of age were milling around in a tavern right next to some very grown-up drinks. One or two of them serving to earn a living like Mindy was not too far-fetched, but this tavern was teeming with them. They were everywhere! Playing cards, playing darts, playing bowling, even eating and drinking, though Remian sincerely hoped that the contents of their cups were not the kind that hard-bitten thugs would prefer.

    If these kids were the average gang member of the Circling Raven, it stood to reason why this gang was considered the second weakest of the lot despite them having the most numbers.

    What kind of gangs did this town have? A gang of an old fisherman and so few people that they probably mainly survive because they were based in a place that nobody wants to walk around¡­ and a gang of children? Remian himself wasn''t very old, almost twenty, but to find so many younger people in one place? Did he walk into a school by mistake?

    Speaking of which, Frontier Town didn''t have a school. Maybe he should fix that¡­

    But no. The wall came first. Education, economy and industry developments¡­ all of these could wait until security and more immediate needs were met.

    "You." A shadow appeared behind him suddenly.

    Remian almost jumped out of his skin. "Kage! Are you the gang leader of the Circling Ravens?"

    "No." Kage summarized in one word.

    He said no more, but looking around, nobody else responded to Remian''s request. "Some sort of sub-leader, then?"

    "Sort of." Kage said shortly.

    "Kage!" two little girls squealed when they saw him standing there. They pounced on him and started tugging at him to follow them. "Come play! Play, play!"

    Kage stood there, the stoic and silent shadow, wordlessly looking from Remian on one side to the two girls all but climbing over him on the other.

    An older girl came to his rescue. "Come now, girls, don''t disturb the Slayer, he''s busy keeping us safe! Otherwise, the Cruel Rose will come and catch you and turn you into a slave!"

    "Nooooo¡­!" the two smaller girls ran away.

    "Sorry about that." The older girl came up to face Remian then. She had long red hair, inquisitive blue eyes, and a bandage around the right side of her face. "Are you new here? We can offer you food and shelter, but you''ll have to work for it¡­"

    "No, no, I am an agent of the Iron Legion." Remian said hastily before she could rope him in. "I came to talk about a public board we are setting up. It''s for bounties and jobs people want done. Anyone can post on it, no matter which gang. Your people can post your jobs and bounties too. It''s outside the South Gate, at the Iron Legion camp, so that''s neutral territory that anyone can access. We only ask for a small fee for posting on it, and a small cut of the rewards of the jobs done."

    "Huh." She eyed Remian up and down. "You''re a Legionnaire?"

    "No, no, just an agent. An informant, or a secretary. Actually, mostly my job this days is to barbecue¡­" Remian realized his was rambling and shut up suddenly. "Ahem."

    She let out a low chuckle, and Remian felt his face burn. He had to admit, she was good-looking, even with the bandage on her face. In fact, she looked familiar¡­

    "Are you related to Mindy?" Remian took a shot in the dark in a desperate bid for dignity.

    "Mindy is my sister." She confirmed it. "I''m Mandy."

    "I see. I hope she gets well soon." Remian said politely. "Actually, I''m certain of it. I just met her this morning and she should be fine by tomorrow."

    Mandy breathed. "That is good to hear. Thank you, Mr¡­?"

    "Remian. Remian Vin." He introduced herself. "I hope to see your notices on the board soon. The jobs and bounties on it are available for anyone to fulfill."

    "And how will the payments be made?" she asked.

    "Whoever posted them will pay the reward, of course." Remian blinked. "You can''t be expecting us to pay for someone else''s requests?"

    "And what if they don''t pay after the job is completed?"

    There was a short, awkward silence. "Uh¡­ I guess then people won''t do their jobs anymore? And I won''t let them post on the board in the future."

    "You won''t? What if they force you to let them? At knife-point?" she asked, keenly.

    "Errr¡­" Remian hesitated. "I''ll have my wolfcat bite their heads off."

    "You have a wolfcat?" she stared. "You can command the Wilds?!"

    "No, there''s just this mother and child pair¡­" Remian bit his lip. "I shouldn''t say too much."

    "You really shouldn''t." Mandy agreed with a smile that was very distracting.

    "Um¡­ bye." Remian fled before he could make a bigger fool out of himself.

 8 North Side Issues

    "Remian! Are you all right?"

    Max found him panting on the road in the middle of the north side, wheezing for breath with his face completely red.

    "Just¡­ tired¡­" Remian managed. "And stupid."

    "What do you mean, ''stupid''?" Max was baffled.

    "I went and¡­ implicated a Wild¡­ without asking it." Remian huffed. "She was just¡­ too pretty."

    "Huh. Well, you won''t be the first guy around town who had is brains scrambled by a girl. Just tell me that she wasn''t Cruel Rose."

    "What?" Remian blinked.

    "That girl. Her name wasn''t Rose, was it?"

    "No, it was Mandy."

    "Good." Max sighed with relief. "If it was Rose, we''d all be done for, one way or the other.

    "Who''s Rose and why is she so dangerous?" Remian asked.

    "Rose is the boss of the Cruel Rose gang. They deal with¡­ people." Max said vaguely.

    "Doesn''t everyone?" Riku frowned. "That''s what trade is, right?"

    "Not if the goods are the people themselves." Max hesitated. "How old are you, exactly?"

    "Nineteen plus." Remian answered shortly. "Why?"

    "Well, then¡­" Max took a deep breath. "The Cruel Rose gang runs all the brothels in town."

    Well, that was straightforward!

    "I also suspect they sell people in a different way." Max added. "So do not let your guard down, or you might find yourself sold into slavery overnight."

    That sounded like the warning Mandy gave the little girls. Apparently, it was meant literally.

    Remian eyed Max sideways. "I take it the Iron Legion disapproves of slavery?"

    Max paused. "We believe in opportunity and reward. A lot of our officers were slaves who earned promotion through service."

    "So¡­ what are you doing here on the North side?" Remian asked.

    He half expected to hear Max make an excuse about lunch or some such, but instead, Max fell silent.

    "It''s not even noon, yet!" Remian protested.

    "Rates are lower in the slower hours."

    Remian shook his head. "If you''re so intent on keeping me away from them, why don''t you talk to them about the board instead, then?"

    "Very well." Max straightened. "Take care of yourself, Remian."

    "You too, Max." Remian didn''t know what else he could say.

    He watched Max go, wondering if he''d just done something particularly evil, but Max really seemed to want to keep Remian away from the Cruel Rose gang altogether.

    Well, if Max could handle dealing with them, all the better, right? Remian wasn''t confident he could face someone like Rose or her girls when Mandy alone had him completely flustered. He simply didn''t dare.

    With the east side and the north side gangs done with, Max turned his attention to the most violent gangs in town; the Blood Claw and the Burning Steel gangs on the west side. He wondered about it as he crossed the central area, the town square where a few vegetable carts sold their goods¡­

    "Psst. Remian! Hey!" Mindy poked her head out from the side.

    "Mindy? I thought you were at church, recovering." Remian said, breathing heavily after all that exertion.

    "I couldn''t take it anymore! All they wanted me to do was sit still all day! I was bored to death! I had to get out of there!" Mindy complained. "I''m better already! Really!"

    "Really¡­?" Remian shook his head but what could he do about it? He could barely stay on his feet as it was.

    "What about you? You look like you''re the one who should be in bed." Mindy pointed out.

    "I''m just¡­ tired. But I can''t go to bed now. I need to find the Blood Claw and the Burning Steel gang leaders¡­" Remian wavered. "I''ll just sit down for a minute¡­"

    "Don''t go to the west side!" Mindy said worriedly. "They''ll kill you. The only thing they respect is strength, and you look¡­ well¡­"

    "Weak." Remian finished for her.

    "Hey, don''t get me wrong, I know you''re actually very powerful." Mindy tried to comfort him. "That light spell you used last night was incredible! You could hunt all sorts of Wilds with that kind of power! Imagine bringing in a Tier 2 or Tier 3 carcass to process at Burning Steel''s forges! Everyone would respect you at once!"

    "Really?" Remian lit up. "What''s a Tier 2 or 3 carcass?"

    "It''s the dead body of stronger Wilds. That Iron Bristle Boar you killed last night was a Tier 3 Wild." Mindy explained. "You can sell the tusks and the bones to the Burning Steel forges. You could have sold them the leather if it weren''t in such bad shape after all the fighting. As for the meat¡­ you can sell that anywhere. You should sell it to us! Bring it to the Raven Tavern! We''ll even share some of it with you!"

    "Wouldn''t it be easier and more profitable to sell it along with the rest of the carcass to the Burning Steel gang?" Remian questioned.

    "Aww." Mindy''s head lowered in disappointment. She kicked the curb. "We never get the good stuff."

    "Why not? Isn''t Kage a really strong fighter?" Remian asked.

    "Kage is too busy protecting us. One time he went hunting and half the gang got captured by Rose''s Slayers and sold into slavery." Mindy said darkly.

    "If it''s so dangerous, why do you stay around the north side?" Remian questioned.

    "Because everywhere else is worse. At least there we have space to run a tavern and a garden and a small workshop. Everywhere else, we''d just be extorted and tortured and bullied." Mindy sniffed. "At least Rose wants to catch us healthy and pretty, even if it''s just to sell us back."

    "Isn''t that just kidnap and ransom?" Remian shook his head.

    "They hire us too." Mindy said, shuffling her feet. "Laundry, cooking, cleaning¡­ we do all of that for them. Once in a while, they''ll even let us have some of the good food."

    "You work for them, and they kidnap you?" Remian gaped.

    "Only if Kage and Donny aren''t around. As long as they''re there, we''ll be okay." Mindy protested.

    "You run a tavern, yet they get the good food?" Remian questioned.

    "We save the best stuff to sell." Mindy muttered. "Selling away a good steak can get us the money to buy a whole basket of vegetables."

    "So they get the good food from you¡­"

    "No, no, the meat is theirs. We just cook for them." Mindy clarified hastily. "They have three Slayers. They can afford to send one to hunt."

    That was it. The great divide. A single Slayer made all the difference in this town.

    With a groan, Remian squatted down right there in the town square.

    "Hey, you really look like you need a break. Maybe hunting isn''t such a good idea right now." Mindy said dubiously. "We should get you home, or to the church."

    "Back to camp." Remian decided. "I don''t want to be forced to sit around doing nothing all day either."

 9 Resource issues

    Mindy screamed with excitement the moment she met Vigil. "SO CUTE!!"

    Vigil perked up, beamed at Mindy with bright eyes, and wagged his tail a bit.

    Mindy pounced. She grabbed him up and squeezed him, squealing. "So cute, so cute, so cute!!"

    Ten feet away, Markus gave Remian a flat look.

    "Sorry about the noise." Remian ducked his head apologetically.

    Markus shook his head and went on writing his reports.

    "Can I feed him? Can I, can I, can I?" Mindy gushed.

    "Uh¡­" Remian looked about. "I thought we were going hunting. If we catch something¡­"

    "Let''s go! I know where to find lots of Blood Rabbits." Mindy exclaimed. "They''re just Tier 1 Wilds. Even the easiest traps can get them! But you can''t just leave your traps there and go away, you have to watch the traps. Otherwise, their friends will find them and destroy your traps!"

    "That explains a lot." Remian said. "Half my traps are broken and I never found out why."

    Those weren''t actually his traps. The ownership of those traps was ambiguous, they belonged to Max, Markus and Remian together, ''their'' traps.

    While Mindy played with Vigil, Remian discussed the boar meat being smoked over the fire with Markus. In a sense, like the traps, the ownership of the meat, too, was ambiguous. Remian scored the killing blow, but it had been Max and Markus together who had engaged it in combat and held it in position.

    A quick deal was settled. They would share the meat too, and the labor; one cleaning, one curing and smoking and the third cooking it. Markus had already done the dirty job cleaning the carcass himself and Max had smoked the meat. Some of it was cooked to be eaten now, some smoked for later, and the last of it dried for long-term storage. Tier 3 meat didn''t spoil very easily, but they would still be eating dried jerky rather than steak at the end of the month (not even Tier 3 smoked meat could keep that long without some sort of cold storage box or building).

    As for the cub¡­ it could have the scraps and small bones. The bigger bones and strips of hide could be sold or traded, and the revenue from those deals could go into buying grains and vegetables, maybe even cutlery.

    Today''s hunt, however, was just between Remian, Mindy and the wolfcat cub Vigil. Mindy volunteered to clean, so it was up to Remian to cook, sell, or smoke the meat later.

    They went around to the west side of town, past the quarry and the steep hills to some gentler slopes. Thick bushes and thorns impeded their way, but already they could see ears pricking up among the bushes and flickers of movement in the undergrowth.

    It was Vigil, in the end, who proved the best hunter in the trio. Remian and Mindy set down the traps, but keeping an eye on them was easier said than done, especially when they had to keep themselves hidden at the same time. Vigil had an uncanny sense of knowing when a trap had snared something, and was quick to reach the place and secure the kill before anything could interfere.

    They returned to camp that evening with six and a half Blood Rabbit carcasses. Why half? Because Vigil decided to have a little snack¡­

    Blood Rabbits were reddish brown, roughly two feet in length, with paralyzing venom in their fangs and claws. They completely ruined Remian''s fond memories of cute, harmless bunnies back home. These mutated beasts were generally considered the least dangerous Wilds around town, except for the occasional Tier 2 Blood Rabbit Chieftain which was twice the size and thrice as strong. It was a near encounter with one of those that abruptly ended their hunting trip and had them abandon the last trap and its oversized occupant.

    "You could have taken it." Mindy grouched. "Just hit it with a super light spell like the Boar."

    "But then there would be nothing left." Remian protested. He did not tell her the real reason behind his reluctance, or his doubts about his own abilities.

    Still. She seemed happy with their haul. "I want more furs. You can have the extra half."

    "I think Vigil pretty much took all of that." Remian eyed it and shook his head.

    "The bones can be used for soup stock, or sold. Even Tier 1 Bone Marrow has some value." Mindy mentioned. "If you can sell it to Blood Claw without getting robbed."

    "Why is it valuable?" Remian had to ask.

    "Something about mana." Mindy shrugged. "You''ll have to ask them."

    But he didn''t, in the end. After a dinner with Mindy in which Vigil probably had more than his fair share, Remian took the bones to the church and asked Kairos about it.

    "It''s true." Kairos said. "The highest concentration of mana in the Wilds are in their bone marrow. Grind the bones to powder, and they''ll be an ingredient for magic ink."

    "Magic ink?" Remian blinked.

    "Right. That''s how I planned to raise funds for the church. Priests have different specialties; mine happens to be Inscription." Kairos explained. "I''m not much good in a fight, but I can Inscribe light magic scrolls up to Tier 3."

    "What are those scrolls for?" Remian queried.

    "It''s basically a ready-made Sigil. Remember how casting a spell requires forming a sigil before releasing it? If you had a scroll, all you''d need to do is empower it and cast right away. It saves time and effort." Kairos paused. "They can also be used to control your output. If you had one of my Tier 1 Light Orb scrolls, and used that to cast the light spell during that battle, you wouldn''t have exhausted yourself all at once, and the result would have been similar to what I casted earlier."

    "So why didn''t you do that yourself? You could have casted more spells if you had a scroll." Remian pointed out.

    "Exactly! That''s why they''re valuable!" Kairos nodded. "That''s why I need to Inscribe some as soon as I can get the other materials for the ink! I wish I could show you a sample, but I had to sell all of mine to pay for the airship ticket here¡­"

    "I probably wrote that ticket. I had to do some work for the Deutero Company to buy mine." Remian mentioned. "They didn''t seem to cost that much."

    "But I came all the way from Ecclesia City. Furthermore, that airship took a few stops around the Rising Dragon Empire before stopping by the Seven Kingdoms and picking you up." Kairos explained. "My trip was a lot longer than yours."

    Remian paused. "Just how much is a magic scroll worth, then?"

    "Out here? Probably not very much." Kairos admitted. "It takes some magical ability to use Scrolls and Fire Scrolls are generally a lot more popular than Light Scrolls. We would probably end up selling most of them to the Deutero Company the next time the airship drops by. Unless¡­"

    "Unless what?"

    "Unless you can Inscribe a super-powered Light Bolt scroll instead of a Light Orb scroll." Kairos turned to him. "The sigils are very similar, but yours turned out to be a fearsome weapon. If you can sell a scroll Inscribed with THAT sigil¡­"

    "Can it really be done?" Remian wondered.

    "No." Kairos shook his head. "Not with Tier 1 magic ink. I think it would need at least Tier 3 magic ink, for that kind of power, and even then it won''t last more than one or two casts. The average expectancy for scrolls is 5 casts before the sigil loses power. Some really good ones can last more than 20 casts. But of course, those scrolls used higher Tier ink for lower Tier spells."

    "So I would need Tier 4 ink?" Remian guessed.

    "That sounds about right." Kairos sighed. "Never mind. Trying to hunt a Tier 4 Wild is suicide, not to mention finding the other ingredients for ink of that level."

    "What sort of other ingredients?" Remian had to ask.

    "A trigger, a catalyst, and a stabilizer, at least. There are many different kinds of materials to accomplish these things, some of which enhance each other, some of which interfere or contradict each other, so the combinations are really complicated. But I''ll make it simple for you; get some Glass Dandelion root from the western hills, fluid from the river''s Rainbow Jellyfish and the sap of Purple Beating Heart Wood from the forest to the south, with an earthenware pot that has never been used, and we can make our Tier 1 magic ink."

    "That simple, huh?" Remian said sarcastically.

    "Yep. I''ve already pored over dozens of possible materials that could be found nearby, and that was the best combination I could come up with." Kairos rolled his eyes. "If you don''t believe me, feel free to try it yourself."

    "No, thanks, I''ll take your word for it." Remian cleared his throat. "But I also want something else from you."

    "You want to learn how to Inscribe Scrolls, right?" Kairos guessed. "Of course. I''ll even help you sell yours to the Deutero Company, or my old friends back at Ecclesia."

    "That, and whatever other spells you know."

    "Deal."

    ***

    "Mindy?"

    "Yes, Remian?"

    "I need your help finding some ingredients for me. In return, I''ll teach you something good."

    "What''s that?"

    "I''ll teach you magic!"

 10 Remianâ€™s Crew

    Two weeks later, Remian led a five-man team to hunt a Finned Frost Frog.

    "Vigil?" Remian whispered.

    "Yip." Vigil nodded softly. His voice was reassuring.

    They spread out, Mindy and her two friends to the left, Remian and Vigil going straight, with Max creeping around to the right.

    Up ahead warming itself on a riverside rock in the afternoon sun was a five foot frog. This was a Tier 3 Wild, and the strongest Wild Remian had ever deliberately hunted yet.

    "Yip!" Vigil signaled with a fierce bark.

    Hearing a wolfcat''s bark, the frog didn''t even stir, but Mindy and her two friends took action at once. They each raised a magic scroll, pressed a palm against the Sigil in it, and cried out, "Light!"

    Three brilliant orbs flashed out simultaneously, white light flooding the vicinity. The frog, blinded by the light, spun towards the noise¡­

    Max lunged, slamming a heavy spear into its back. It roared, convulsing, jets of cold frost spewing indiscriminately¡­

    Remian leapt up and threw a net over it. Max grabbed the other end and the two of them held it down as it thrashed for a bare second or two before finally laying still and silent forever.

    "Got it!" he waved to where Mindy and her friends crouched down behind wooden shields.

    They hauled their prey back to camp, where Markus looked it over and nodded. "Good job. That''s two hundred Lir for the lot of you. I''ll take the carcass to the Burning Steel Forge."

    "We did it!" Mindy exclaimed exuberantly. "One hundred Lir for an hour''s work!!"

    "Fifty for me." Max seemed pleased too.

    Remian went over to the job board and decisively crossed out one particular wanted poster for a Finned Frost Frog, killed with minimal damage to its skin, posted by the Burning Steel Gang. Markus forwarded them the reward, but Remian wasn''t afraid they would renege. He had fulfilled several of their job posts already, usually for materials that could make weapons or armor, and according to Markus, they always paid up on the spot.

    Right next to the board-and-barbecue, ten legionnaire trainees were practicing with wooden weapons onwooden dummies. Pacing around them was their drill sergeant, a man named Brutus Junius. He, the trainees and a cartload of supplies and equipment had arrived just two days ago by airship. As part of their training, they also gathered a lot of stones, preparing material for the new road to be buit.

    "How''s it going, Tim?" Remian greeted the boy tending the barbecue in his place. Remian didn''t do the cooking these days; ever since Tim came over from the Raven Tavern, this ten year-old had been handling it.

    "I dropped a few." Tim said, sneaking a glance at the hulking black figure behind him.

    "I''m sure." Remian said drily. He would bet his left shoe that Tim dropped at least one of those chunks of meat on purpose, just so he would have an excuse to feed the big black wolfcat snoozing five feet away.

    Speaking of Vigil''s mom, she opened her eyes briefly when they got back, glanced at Vigil happily playing with Mindy, Jane and Kavitha, and went back to snoozing contentedly.

    Remian glanced over the job board that was now filled with posts. The Blood Claw gang wanted some people captured, and somebody dead. The Cruel Rose gang actually advertised warm beds and entertainment. The Circling Ravens wanted an academic teacher (unharmed, alive, treated with respect), Tier 2 meat (fresh, or cured and smoked), and roof repairs (wooden, not thatched). The Burning Steel gang posted the most, wanting any meat or bones from Wilds Tier 2 and above, soft leather of Tier 3 and above, scaled skins of Tier 3 and above,with especially high offers for Iron Wolf skins (Tier 4), Burning Bull bones and horns (Tier 5), Ghost Hawk Claws and feathers (Tier 4), and until recently, Finned Frost Frog skin (Tier 3).

    Having fulfilled that last post, sometime soon, Remian expected to see somebody walking around wearing Frost Frog Armor. It might look creepy, but looks mattered less than how well that skin would protect the wearer from ice and cold attacks.

    It was working. The board was bringing in jobs and money. Remian fulfilled more of those jobs than anyone else, often with help, but now that people saw the system functioning properly, others were beginning to fulfill jobs and requests too.

    To be fair, most of those others were members of the Circling Raven Gang. The majority of them were about half of Remian''s age, namely Mindy, Jane, Kavitha, and Tim. Every morning, Remian went to the Raven Tavern to pick up whoever wanted to help him out for the day. Usually it would be these four and George who came to camp, learned magic, and went hunting with him and Max.

    Speaking of George, he had planted a garden around Remian''s tent, which was on the edge of the Iron Legion Camp. Remian wasn''t sure what was in those plots, but George said he was going to make a beer that even children could drink so that they wouldn''t feel left out at the Tavern during celebrations any more. According to Max, who saw him do it, most of it was ginger.

    "But why are you planting it around my tent?" Remian asked, when he first discovered it.

    "Because it''s safest here." George said back then, and that was the end of it.

    As for why it was safe, well¡­ they seemed to think Remian was a powerful mage. Certainly the power of his Light Spell back then had left the people of the town with an impression. Only Kairos and Rhema knew that Remian was practically a beginner at magic, and learning from them, to boot.

    But two days ago, Remian bought something off the airship, something that had cost him almost all the revenue he''d earned from selling the scrolls he had Inscribed. Hundreds of Lir was spent on this single item that was easily hidden in the pockets of old Tan''s patchwork armor.

    It was a small booklet, not very thick, and very well worn. Five different owners names had been written on the front cover and crossed out as the book was passed from one to the next over generations. It was one of many, many copies of a well-known book, Kairos said, but Remian believed it was worth the price.

    The book was titled, ''Basic Fire Magic''. The first time Remian tried to practice what he learned in it, he burned the Iron Legions'' dinner. That very evening, Max hired Tim to do the cooking. Until now, the barbecue pit was still charred and blackened from that incident.

    It was just a matter of time and practice, Remian thought. The day might come when Tier 3 Wilds like the Finned Frost Frog could be taken down in a single spell from him.

    On the other hand, keeping its skin undamaged would be much harder. On top of that, the meat from the prey of such a spell might end up way overcooked¡­

    But nevertheless, the investment would definitely pay off once he started Inscribing fire scrolls. 5-cast Tier 1 Fire Bolt scrolls could be sold to the airship for 50 Lir each. If they were anything like Light scrolls, Remian should be able to finish four of those in an hour. That was as much as his entire hunting team had risked their lives to earn hunting the Frog today.

    Remian hadn''t wanted to do it, honestly speaking. But Mindy had begged him for a job they could help him out with. She wanted to earn a lot of money quickly. As to why¡­ apparently it would soon be Mandy''s birthday.

    "It''s tomorrow." Mindy told Remian very pointedly. "At sunrise! You have to be there at the Raven Tavern! We''re expecting you, okay? Okay?!"

    "I''ll take that as an invitation." Remian managed.

    "It''s not an invitation! It''s a summoning! I''m summoning you! You have to come!" Mindy insisted. "Also, you have to take us shopping."

    "What?" Remian blinked. "Why?"

    "Because otherwise we''ll get kidnapped and sold as slaves." Mindy said stoutly. "Mandy always says so."

    "I bet she does." Remian said wryly.

    Nevertheless, there was enough basis in what she said that Remian went along with them.

    Frontier Town didn''t have much of a market. The central area of town had a few stands, a clothing shop on one side, a tool shop on another, a church on the third, and an inn on the fourth. None of the four buildings were particularly large, and all four were shaded by trees twice their height in their immediate vicinities. In a town where the total population was below 300 and most of them were gangsters, having this much was already impressive.

    "There''s an accessory shop run by the Burning Steel." Mindy pointed. "Right next to the Tool Shop."

    It was as close as they were going to get to jewelry. Mostly the bangles and bracelets and necklaces were brass, copper and steel, and some of them appear to have runic Inscriptions. Similar to scrolls, Inscriptions forged into metal had a limited casting capability. Unlike inked Inscriptions, runic Inscriptions that were depleted did not disappear, although they did need recharging. As for whether recharging runes required materials, Remian was unsure. He was somewhat sure of one thing; Inscribed accessories were very, very expensive. A pearl ring Inscribed with a faint Light glow spell already cost 900 Lir. Frankly speaking, any inscribed accessory at this stall was completely beyond all of their budgets combined.

    "I''ve only ever seen Slayers having any of those." Mindy confided, sneaking envious glances at that particular area of the stall. It was under a heavy glass casing kept locked with a key, and happened to be right next to the guard outside the Tool Shop (also owned and run by Burning Steel).

    Mindy picked out a hard leather bracer reinforced with steel and a little emblem of wings.

    Remian meanwhile picked up a pair of earrings, jade set in brass.

    How much did it cost? That''s a secret.

    "Remember! Sunrise! You have to be there!" Mindy bugged him again before they separated that evening.

    "Yes, yes, I''ll be there." Remian assured her.

    But the next morning, when he arrived at the Raven Tavern, he found that they had other guests too, and these other guests were rather unexpected at the birthday party¡­

    Cruel Rose had come.

 11 Magic Contrac

    "What are you doing here?!" Mindy barked at the door of the Raven Tavern.

    Remian arrived in time to see her block the door with Kage at her side, the shadow-magic user standing there silently with his arms folded. Mindy looked frightened, but she still barked at Rose like a cornered puppy.

    "Relax. I''m just here to pick up someone." Cruel Rose was perhaps named for her shape rather than her face. The general form of the woman in front of the tavern was indeed ''blooming''. Her height and her width had a lot more in common than most humans could dream of. Her hair was piled high in a bun above her head, which was very, very heavily covered in make-up.

    Next to her was a man who deliberately looked like a skeleton. He wore a black suit painted to look like the form of human bones, and had likely borrowed some of Fa- AHEM! ''Cruel'' Rose''s make-up to paint his face like a skull.

    Ye''Tuo ''the Undead''. Ye''Tuo the Slayer. Rose had come with one of her strongest.

    "You can''t kidnap us! Kage is right here!" Mindy drew up her courage, especially when she saw Remian arrive. Her eyes lit up a little and a wave of daring bade her speak her mind. "You fa-umpfh?"

    That last bit was muffled by a hand covering her mouth from behind. Mandy appeared, a full head taller than Mindy and looking pale. "You''re here?"

    "Of course! My newest employee is finally eighteen today! How many years have I waited? How long have I been patient with you, and the brats slinking around this miserable hole?" Rose exclaimed. "How generous and kind I have been!"

    "No!" Mindy managed to pull her sister''s hand off her mouth. "You can''t!"

    "Can''t I?" Rose took out a complicated magic scroll, tapped it daintily, and a sigil lit up.

    From that scroll came a voice.

    "I, Mandy Summers, do pledge my lifelong service to Cruel Rose upon reaching adulthood in exchange for sum of 3000 Lir. I swear to obey her every order from my eighteenth birthday onwards¡­"

    "No!" Mindy gasped. "It can''t be! It''s a lie!"

    "It is a legal contract, and I am here to collect her debt!" Rose announced. "Isn''t that right, Mandy, darling?"

    Mandy did not deny it. "You didn''t have to come here so early. I was going to meet you tonight."

    "Ah, but why wait? The day has come, and I am eager to see the fruits of my patience!"

    "But¡­ but¡­!" Mindy stared. "We''ll pay you back! We''ll pay back the money!"

    "With what, darling?" Rose eyed her. "All you have to offer me, your sister can do better, and even if you wanted to replace her pledge with yours, I''m afraid I simply haven''t any interest in waiting until you yourself reach maturity."

    "We have money! We''ve been doing jobs for the Burning Steel!" Mandy gritted her teeth. "I have sixty Lir right here! I''ll give it to you now, and more every week until the debt is paid! In less than one year, you will have your 3000 Lir!"

    "Ah, but the debt happened so long ago, I''m afraid it has grown with compound interest! It is now 5000 Lir!" Rose said. "In another year, it will be 6000! When you finally pay that amount, two years would have passed, and the debt would have risen to 7500! At the rate the debt rises and the amount you pay, it would be three years and 9000 Lir before we are done! But I am a generous woman, so I am actually willing to release Mandy from her pledge¡­ AFTER you finish paying the full amount!"

    "That¡­ that''s not fair!" Mindy gasped.

    "The contract is in my hands, darling. You don''t get to complain." Rose said smoothly. "Don''t worry. If you really miss your sister so much, you can join her in my company once you yourself come of age."

    "How did this happen?" Mindy turned to her sister. "When did you sell yourself? Why did you need that 3000 Lir?!"

    Mandy didn''t answer, but her gaze slipped sideways, and fell upon a pair of little girls playing with new sewn-fur toys.

    "No way." Mindy''s eyes were wide. "That day when half of us went missing¡­ you said you found them!"

    "Of course she did, darling. She certainly found them." Rose nodded agreeably.

    "You kidnapped them!" Mindy shouted furiously. "And then you sold them back¡­ for three thousand Lir¡­ which we couldn''t have¡­ and made Mandy swear a contract to pay it with her life?!"

    "Enough, Mindy!" Mandy grabbed her sister, holding her tightly, whether to protect her or to stop her from charging at Rose, Remian wasn''t too sure. Maybe both. "That''s enough."

    "No! It''s not! We can''t let her get away with this! We have to fight her!" Mindy turned to Remian. "Help us!"

    Rose turned and casually made a gesture with one hand. There was movement in three different streets surrounding the tavern. Sunlight glinted off weapons that were raised on all sides. But nobody charged in yet.

    It seemed Cruel Rose had come fully prepared for a fight. Her gang might have fewer members, but they were mainly full-grown adults, violent, hard-bitten thugs more often than not. As for the Circling Ravens, a good many of them were children.

    The only way they could win this fight was if Remian could turn the tables entirely on his own.

    "Wait." Remian held out his hand. "What if I could pay off that debt?"

    "You?" Rose eyed him. "You do have some looks¡­ but I''m afraid you simply won''t last very long doing the kind of work my employees specialize in."

    Remian coughed awkwardly. "That''s not what I meant. It''s just¡­ perhaps I could offer something valuable to pay it off all at once? An immediate profit could surely justify a discount."

    "Something valuable, you say?" Rose''s eyes narrowed.

    Cautiously, Remian took out his most valuable possession, the one thing which could possibly measure up to the value of that debt. Reluctantly, he held up the book.

    "Fire magic." Rose breathed. "Is it real?"

    "It is real." Ye''Tuo spoke for the first time, in a rattling, hoarse voice that made Remian''s bones shiver.

    Such a book in Remian''s hands was worth all the scrolls he''d Inscribed early on. But such a book in Rose''s hands? She herself was capable of using magic scrolls, which meant that she had some magical ability, maybe enough to actually use that fire magic. On top of that, she ran a gang, which might have other members capable of learning¡­

    But who would sell such a book, even a second-hand (or sixth-hand!) book, to a woman of her reputation? Even Remian had trouble getting it with his status as an agent of the Iron Legion and an Emergency Field Priest of the Order of Celestial Light. It was his abilities at Inscribing Scrolls and his future potential as a trading partner that finally brought the deal through.

    In other words, this was an item that Rose could not have bought no matter how much money she offered.

    "It''s a trap." Rose said suddenly. "I don''t believe you. It''s either fake, or¡­ or¡­"

    "Really?" Remian twitched a finger, and fire lit up on it. Deliberately, he pressed that tiny flame to the corner of the book. It, too, caught fire¡­

    "Stop! STOP!" Rose leapt at him in a frenzy. "I''ll take it! If it''s real, it''s a deal! Just STOP!"

    Remian extinguished the flame. "The contract. Now."

    "The book first!" Rose insisted. "Show me the contents!"

    Remian hesitated, then glanced at Mandy. "Can you read?"

    "I can read." Mandy nodded. "Sort of."

    "Then come here and read it aloud."

    She did exactly that. "The basis of fire magic is desire. Upon¡­ sorry, I''m not sure how to read this word¡­ and this diagram¡­"

    "Just show them the first page." Remian sighed.

    Ye''Tuo and Rose lit up upon seeing it. Rose grinned. "It is real."

    "The contract!" Remian reminded her.

    Quickly, Rose put her hand on the sigil of her contract scroll and said, "I, Rose Ackers, do hereby transfer the ownership of one Mandy Summers to Remian as part of our trade deal."

    The sigil lit up. Lines of inscriptions suddenly appeared floating in the air around Mandy, like written light around her head. She screamed, clutching her head in pain.

    "What are you doing?" Mindy shouted. "You had a deal!"

    "And I have kept it!" Rose pursed her lips. "I don''t have the power to release a slave, dear. Transferring her ownership was the best I could do."

    Remian''s jaw dropped. "Wait¡­ are you saying¡­?"

    "Yes, of course." Rose smiled at him and Remian felt both goosebumps and a chill down the back of his spine at the same time. "Congratulations, darling boy.

    "Enjoy your new slave."

 12 Overnigh

    "You''re fired." Markus told Remian straight out.

    "But it''s not my fault!" Remian protested. "I can''t get rid of the slave-bonding even if I tried!"

    "It doesn''t matter whose fault it is!" Markus said. "The Iron Legion does not keep slaves! That is an ironclad rule!"

    "Then¡­ what can I do?" Remian spluttered.

    "Pack up your bags, strike your tent, and leave camp. You need to be gone by nightfall!"

    "But¡­ but what about the board-and-barbecue?" Remian asked.

    "It''s over." Markus said sharply. "Take it with you if you like, but from now on it will have no connection to the Iron Legion."

    That was as good as rendering it worthless. Without that strict neutrality and the protection of the Legion behind it, there could be no assurances, no reliability...

    "This is the reward I get for trying to help someone out of kindness?" Remian grouched as he started to pack. "I lost everything. My job, my shelter, my security, my board, all the progress on my ambitions¡­"

    "Sorry¡­" Mandy said weakly. "This is all my fault."

    Remian didn''t say anything, careful not to blurt something he might regret later. Instead, after a minute, al he said was, "Help me carry the board."

    "Where are we going?" Mandy asked.

    "The church. I still have a field commission in the priesthood." Remian said at last. "And even if I didn''t, they might at least offer a pair of homeless teenagers shelter for the night."

    "The Circling Ravens¡­" Mandy began.

    "No. Not now. Not yet." Remian rubbed his forehead. "Let me figure this out first. I need to think things through."

    "What''s there to think through?" Mandy asked.

    "There will be consequences. If I join a gang¡­"

    "Then don''t join. Just take a room at the inn as a guest." Mandy pointed out. "The Open Frontier Inn at the central zone, not the Raven Tavern."

    Remian paused. That did seem like a viable option. "I''ll think about it. But where would the board go?"

    Mandy glanced back at him. "You''re still set on using it?"

    "Yes. Perhaps not the same way it was used before, but I still believe in bringing everyone together at a central information terminal."

    "A what?"

    "Something everyone would look at together every day." Remian explained. "A way to provide jobs and spread important information. Maybe not the high-paying work like before, but if I could set it up at the church and take down Rose''s advertisements¡­ the requests from Burning Steel for materials and the Circling Ravens'' request for food and such should still be valid."

    "And how will you guarantee payment from the Burning Steel without Markus or the Legion behind you?"

    "I''ll have to figure that out too." Remian grunted. "Give me some time, will you? I just got fired a few minutes ago. I need time to adjust."

    He sat down on a bench.

    Mandy sat down right next to him. "Me too."

    "What?"

    "I need time to adjust too. I just became a slave this morning."

    Remian shook his head. "That''s¡­"

    "That''s the plain truth. I''m a bonded slave. The owner of that bond is you, my master. I have to obey your every order." Mandy said simply. "No matter what."

    "Huh." Remian glanced at her sideways. "You say that so freely. But you do realize that while I might technically be a priest, I am not a saint."

    There was a short silence. Then, "I know."

    "And you''re still not running?"

    "Not running."

    Again, another long, ambiguous silence.

    Finally, Remian figured something out. When he spoke, his tone was softer. "Book us a room at the inn. I don''t think we want to stay at the church tonight."

    Mandy agreed. "No, we don''t. We really don''t."

    ***

    If he wasn''t sure before, Remian became very certain that he liked Mandy that night.

    The way she placed her arms around his neck. The warmth of her lips. The sound of her breath and her soft, low voice. That redness in her face, and neck, and¡­

    She was obedient in every way. However, she did ask him for something.

    "Promise me." The look in her eye was serious at the time. "Promise me you''ll never leave me."

    "I promise." He meant it.

    Things escalated rather rapidly from there.

    Later that night, listening to her breathing softly as she slept by his side, Remian took the time to think. Hours passed as he figured out issue after issue throughout the night.

    At last, he took out the contract scroll once more and triggered the sigil. Unknown to Mandy, he added a new recording.

    "I, Remian Vin, do take Mandy Summers as my lawfully wedded wife¡­"

    It went on for a bit, and he finished it with, "By the authority vested in me as a field priest of the Church of Celestial Light, upon this day the first of October, 2779. May heaven bear witness."

    There was a flicker of darkness, and Death appeared. "Since I''m here, you can safely say that heaven bears witness. Congratulations on your marriage. As a wedding gift, I''ll do you two a favor and leave you both alone for a long time... unless you do something stupid."

    With that, he vanished in another flicker, and the night was silent.

    Remian slept.

    ***

    He woke up very late the next day. Going down for breakfast, he overheard a conversation.

    "Did he¡­ do anything to you?" the voice belonged to an older woman.

    "Nothing that I didn''t want him to." That was Mandy''s voice.

    "Are you really all right?"

    "I am, Aunt Sara. I really am." There was a pause. "And I''m happy. Nobody wants to be a slave, but¡­ if it''s him¡­"

    "You''ve only known him for two weeks!"

    "But in that two weeks, he has brought more hope and more joy to us than the past two years combined! His ideas of a better tomorrow may be far-fetched, even silly, but it means the world to Mindy, and the others, and¡­ to me. At least he cares. At least he tries."

    "Even so, a slave-bond is¡­"

    "It was bound to happen in its time. Already, this outcome is more than I dared to dream of. More like a daydream."

    Remian cleared his throat and stepped into the common room of the Open Frontier Inn.

    He should have expected this, he guessed. The inn was run by the Ravens, just like the Tavern, so of course word would get around her old gang very quickly. Mandy was seated at a table across from the balding innkeeper, an older woman with streaks of gray in her hair, and two steel-masked men in black leather armor.

    "Remian!" Mandy held out hand to call him over. He went to her and held that hand. With a growing blush, she turned to the older woman. "This is Aunt Sara, matriarch of the Circling Ravens."

    "Good morning." Remian held out his other hand in greeting.

    "Good morning." She shook it. "Now that you''ve got one of our ravens as a slave, what do you intend to do with her?"

    She wasn''t referring to night-time activities, Remian was certain. Fortunately, he already thought it through.

    "I intend to teach her magic. Then, I''m going to make her queen."

 13 Den wanted

    Aunt Sara burst out laughing. "Queen of what, exactly? This boy is crazy."

    "Aunt Sara!" Mandy protested.

    "Oh, fine, fine. If the most powerful mage in town wants to teach you magic, I won''t get in your way." Aunt Sara waved it away with a sniff. "Even if he is something of a dreamer. Queen, now? Wouldn''t that make him a king? A king dowager?"

    "I think it''s the other way around." Mandy whispered.

    "And how do you intend to reign over this place unless you can make the warlords kneel?" Aunt Sara snorted. "You don''t have that kind of power."

    "The¡­ warlords¡­?" Remian frowned.

    "The gang bosses." Mandy translated for him.

    Right. "I will just have to become that powerful."

    Aunt Sara barked a laugh. "Good luck with that. Jon, get these kids some breakfast. Good day, Mandy, Remian."

    With that as farewell, Aunt Sara left with her escorts. Jon the innkeeper went about to get some food for his guests.

    Mandy glanced at Remian, her face red. "You know, you don''t have to talk big for my sake."

    "Sorry. I guess I was a bit provoked." Remian admitted. "Either that, or I''m just being grouchy due to hunger."

    "We have to fix that." Mandy laughed as Jon came out with oatmeal porridge. "Let''s eat."

    Eating with Mandy, just the two of them, was new to Remian. Certainly it was new to her. In the past, they had eaten together with a large group of other Circling Ravens, but having breakfast together in the inn the morning after¡­ well¡­

    It all felt very new indeed. Despite his best efforts, Remian couldn''t help feeling a bit shy.

    "Some king!" Death remarked, flickering into sight at the next table. "Can''t even eat breakfast without blushing!"

    "Remian!" a familiar voice yelled from outside. "REMIAN! Your wolfcat''s looking for you!"

    Wolfcat. Right. Vigil had gone off with his mom somewhere yesterday and Remian hadn''t seen him since.

    Max was there, Vigil on his shoulder. Both of them were scowling at Remian when he showed up. "Where did you go? What happened to you?"

    That took some explaining.

    "So what are you going to do now?" Max asked directly.

    "What I''ve always been doing. Take the children to school, teach them magic, then go hunting." Remian said. "Same as always."

    "You do realize that what you teach them isn''t actually magic? It''s just practice in how to use magic scrolls. They simply learn how to use items. That''s all."

    "Isn''t that the same as your Legion trainees learning how to use swords and spears and shields? They merely learn how to use items."

    "They also train their muscles and learn tactics and join together in formations. They can fight without weapons if necessary. Without scrolls, your students couldn''t cast even the simplest spells."

    That much was true. "Perhaps I can fix that, one day. But right now, I just want them to be able to use scrolls properly. Half the time they can''t even get them to work."

    That was an exaggeration. The actual success rate was more like 70%. Taking three of them to hunt, when they casted the Light Orb spells to blind their prey, most of the time two of them would succeed.

    So far, that method worked well enough on Tier 1 and 2 Wilds. One Light Orb casted high above was good for brief night-time lighting, but two or three casted directly into one''s face would blind just about anything that relied on sight, at least for a while. Generally speaking, one or two seconds of blinding and distraction was enough for Max to sneak up and stab them in the back. That simple tactic worked even with that Tier 3 Finned Frost Frog.

    According to Remian''s plans, nothing would change. They''d simply add Mandy to the group.

    But first¡­ "Help me put the board up at the town center?"

    "Can we actually do that?" Max queried, hesitating.

    "I''ll talk to the priest. I think he''d let us set it up in front of the church."

    Of course he would. Doing so would draw more attention to the church, which Kairos surely appreciated.

    Remian looked around the town center. With the board and the inn and the church here, it could become a convenient base for him. It limited his options, but given his current operations, it suited his needs.

    The only problem was they couldn''t bring Vigil''s mom into town. That, added to the lack of friendly Iron Legionnaires nearby meant that this place wasn''t safe. Any gang could come storming in and causing all sorts of havoc and Remian didn''t have anything other than empty threats about magic to stop them.

    No. They couldn''t stay here. One night was one thing, but for a long-term base, this place simply wasn''t secure. His greatest protection right now was Vigil''s mom, and that meant he would need to set up a place outside of town.

    Setting up camp across the road from the Iron Legion was the first idea that came to mind, but that would be awkward, plus there would be more and more legionnaires arriving in days to come, some of whom may not be as friendly as Max and Markus. Eventually, somebody somewhere was likely to cause trouble with either the wolfcats, the children, or Mandy herself. That would destroy any chance of cooperating with them in the future. They might have fired him, but Remian still maintained some hope of getting along with them for mutual benefit in the long term.

    The second idea was to set up a base north of town, on the edge of the desert, where the airship landed. Access to the airship and being near the Circling Ravens were both attractive notions, but that area would be visited by every single gang every time the airship landed. Going there to trade was a nervous affair. Staying there long-term where everybody frequented was going to be a very tense affair. Plus, Remian didn''t want to be anywhere nearer to Cruel Rose than he had to be. That went double for Mandy.

    Setting up on the east side was impossible. The chasm and the river were much too dangerous.

    That left only the west side. They had to set up on the other side of the sheer hill and the old quarry. Maybe they could use one of the old elevator platforms. Those platforms could become a direct route to the Burning Steel forges, which was where they sold the prey they hunted. Despite their fierce reputation, the Burning Steel gang had treated Remian fairly enough so far. The Blood Claw gang hadn''t troubled him before either.

    But would Mandy be okay with that? It would take time to construct a shelter of some sort, even if Max were willing to help him out. Until then, they''d be living in tents or a cave if they were lucky. She was fine staying at the inn, but camping out with the Wilds¡­?

    She probably wouldn''t complain. As far as she could tell, she was still a slave. She had no idea about what Remian did while she was sleeping. Even so¡­

    Remian groaned. He did not want to have to deal with this. He just wanted to research magic and gain enough power and money to totally dominate town and take it over. But now that he''d paid off Cruel Rose for Mandy''s sake, he had essentially rewarded her for kidnapping and taking a hostage. Given that such behavior was previously rewarded, others were likely already planning to do more of the same in the future.

    Mandy, Mindy, and the other four of his ''students'' were very likely already being targeted. Yet how many people could he effectively protect, in the end?

    Zero, to be honest. Without the Iron Legion, he couldn''t even protect himself. Losing his job was a very severe setback. At this point, his priority was to seek out and obtain security.

    "Vigil?" Remian looked at the cub seriously. "I need to talk to your mom."

    ***

    But first, a short stop at the Raven Tavern.

    "No way." Mandy spoke to him coldly for the first time. She''d never spoken to him like that since the day they met. "I''m not leaving you."

    "I''m going to be out there." Remian tried to explain. "It''s going to be dangerous. It should be safer here, with your gang¡­"

    "From the minute I turned eighteen, I¡­" Mandy broke off, biting her lip. "Anyway. I''m not leaving you."

    "We want to come too." Mindy added. "You can''t just come by and leave us here saying you''re going somewhere dangerous. We can help. We''ve hunted together, haven''t we?"

    "Besides, I need to go to work." Tim added. "I still need to cook for the Iron Legion."

    "And I have a garden." George said stoutly.

    Surrounded on all sides, bereft of allies, Remian could only surrender. "Fine. I''ll take you guys to the Iron Legion camp. But that''s as far as you go."

    It should be safe there as well, maybe even safer. Markus wouldn''t let anyone harm them.

    At least Jane and Kavitha had more sense. They stayed behind at the tavern.

    ***

    Vigil''s mom seemed more interested in Mandy than anything Remian had to say. The Tier 4 wolfcat sniffed her, cautiously circling her, sniffed Vigil, then Remian, then Mandy, then Mindy, and then Remian one more time. At last, she greeted Mandy with a gentle "Whuff!" and her tail waved from side to side.

    "She likes you!" Mindy exclaimed happily.

    Mandy, on her part, looked rather amazed at the carriage-sized Wild. "Such big teeth¡­!"

    "It''s okay. She won''t eat us. I think." Remian paused. "At least, so long as we feed her. That way, she won''t be hungry."

    "Then we better feed her, quick!" Mandy scurried to help Tim out with the barbecue.

    Meanwhile, Remian patted Vigil''s mom on the left shoulder. "I was hoping I could talk to you. Can you understand me?"

    "Whuff." Vigil''s mom snorted.

    "Heh. You do seem a lot more intelligent than most of the other Wilds around here." Remian granted. "Do you have a name?"

    Death clued him in. "Her name is a bunch of concepts related to smell. But generally it''s someone nurturing and caring. Call her ''Carrie'', if you must."

    "Carrie?" Remian stroked her thick, soft fur. "I need a new den. Do you know someplace I can find one? Preferably on the west side?"

    Carrie seemed a bit confused, but then Death rolled his eyes, threw up his hands, then tapped Remian on the forehead. He advised. "Try again."

    [Need Den. Around west.] The directions fell into place in his mind, the concepts flooded his head, and somehow ''echoed'' toward Carrie. There was a stunned silence for a bit as her mind and his shared an instant of connection, of understanding¡­ and then the connection faded into nothing, and his mind was his own again.

    [Tree?] Carrie''s thoughts suddenly lit up, pulsing like a beacon on an airship landing pad. [Cave? Pond?]

    [Cave, to start with. Then I need a place to build a man-shelter.] Remian replied back. [A place near water would be nice.]

    [Spring. Cave. Come.] Mixed concepts floated around Carrie''s mind, and then merged into a single image. [Hunt Bear.]

    Remian winced. "We''re going to have to fight a bear for that cave?"

    "Whuff!" Carrie laughed.

    "Just how strong is that bear?"

    Carrie''s thoughts answered. The bear was actually stronger than her. It was bigger, tougher, stronger, and with sharper claws¡­ but it was slower.

    In other words, it was a strength-type Tier 4 Wild. A speed-type like Carrie usually kept their distance, preferring to run rather than fight such Wilds, but if they worked together, if Remian could blast the bear with a super-powered Light Bolt¡­

    That Light Bolt again! Remian groaned. For some reason, when they thought of Remian, that Light Bolt was all everyone could think about.

    "We''re not going to be using light so much this time." Remian decided.

    "What do you mean?" Max asked.

    "We''re going to be using fire."

    The thing about Remian was that he was a bookworm. Having a weak body hadn''t left him much choice. Years of practice had driven his reading speed and reading comprehension high enough that he easily understood even the advanced books in the provincial library back home.

    One had to remember that Remian had had the book of basic fire magic for more than one day already. It was not very thick, nor overly complicated, at least to him. He only needed a few hours to read it from cover to cover.

    In other words, by the time he''d given the book to Rose, he had already learned fire magic from it. His memory wasn''t perfect, but Remian could probably duplicate most of it in writing if he tried. It would take a lot of time, and it would cost him greatly because magic books, like magic scrolls, contained Inscriptions. A lot of magic was best taught by demonstration, so books like the fire magic book usually had Inscribed Spells to show the reader just how they worked. This was one of the main reasons why magic books were so expensive; the ink alone was more than Remian could afford at the moment.

    There were, in fact, mages who went around carrying personalized spell-books filled with their favorite Inscriptions, and habitually casted spells straight out from their books rather than taking the time to draw the Sigils by hand. The ease of casting was a boon both in peaceful and combat situations.

    One day, when he could afford it, Remian would love to have his own spell book.

    Until then, he would just have to use scrolls.

    "I need a few hours to prepare." Remian calculated.

    "Why?" Max asked.

    "I need to Inscribe some scrolls."

 14 Fire

    Back at the north side of Frontier Town, Cruel Rose was tearing her hair out.

    "Somebody! Anybody!" She shrieked, holding up the book of Basic Fire Magic. "Tell me what this word means!!"

    Her wisest gang members were trying to make sense of it. Most of them couldn''t read, but the few who could did their best to figure out the overly long word. "In¡­ inside something¡­? Invincible¡­? In syllable? In scribble?"

    "It''s a something ''tion''." A younger ''reader'' gangster exclaimed.

    "I think it has something to do with the magic Sigil¡­" somebody else said.

    "Forget it!" Rose roared. "Give it here!"

    Ignoring the words on the page entirely, she pressed her hand against the magic sigil and activated it the way she activated the magic scrolls used for slave-bonds¡­

    BOOM! An explosion lit up the Cruel Rose Headquarters.

    One youngster gangster ran around screaming. "My hair is on fire! My hair is on fire! My hair is on fire!!"

    "Put it out! Put it out!" someone else yelled.

    A third person tried to blow on it, only to get bowled over by the panicked burning man as he dashed for the kitchens. More shrieks erupted and there were a lot of crashes.

    Meanwhile, everyone else tried to put out the flames in the main hall.

    "Quick! Stamp it out!"

    "Aargh! My foot! MY FOOT!!!"

    "Water! We need water!"

    "In the kitchen!"

    "Where''s the water! Where''s the water barrels?"

    "He broke them! He rushed straight into them with his hair on fire, and broke them both!"

    "Water! We need water! Somebody get some water!"

    "Oww! Hot, hot, hot¡­!"

    "It''s getting bigger! What do we do? What do we DO?!"

    "Run! Every man for himself!"

    Screaming, yelling, fighting each other, the members of the glorious Cruel Rose gang fled from their headquarters as it began to burn.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Remian had ten new scrolls Inscribed before he ran out of Tier 1 magic ink.

    Six were basic Fire Bolt spells. Each would shoot out a fist size ball of fire at the speeds one might use to throw a rock. Two were Smoke spells, which didn''t really burn much, but provided a lot of dense, choking smoke. One was a Torch spell, which stuck a fist-sized flame onto a certain point of an object, typically wooden sticks.

    The last one was a Bonfire spell. While it, too, was learned from the book of Basic Fire Magic, this was not actually one of the ''basic'' spells. It was actually there just to show off to new students how powerful fire magic can be. Someone had put an Inscription of it right at the front of the book filled with warnings and cautions on how to use it and to keep anything flammable away from the direction you were facing.

    When Remian tried it, he had carefully directed it against the barbecue pit, and had thought to conveniently roast some raw meat while he was at it.

    As for the result¡­ both the barbecue pit and the meat were so badly burned, Markus hired Tim to do the cooking from then on.

    Remian idly smiled to himself as he pictured Cruel Rose reading the book of fire magic and testing out the first Inscription in the secrecy and privacy of her treasure vault¡­

    That would be the end of her treasures!

    Back where the book came from, at a high level city like Ecclesia or Black Dragon city or Ceres, mages would be everywhere and a small wild fire bursting out unexpectedly at a kitchen stove or a sand pit would be little more than a child''s prank. There should easily be enough high-level mages around to deal with it promptly and effortlessly. Any random person on the street should have a scroll or two in hand that could do as much damage or more. Heck, any random carriage driver could do more damage driving his carriage recklessly.

    But out here in the Frontier, there weren''t all that many people capable of dealing with magical slips and spills. Maybe Ye''Tuo or one of the other Slayers, but certainly not the average gang thug. In fact, those guys were more likely to set themselves on fire.

    Sure enough, Remian thought he could hear screaming in the distance. Over from the north side of town, there appeared a sudden column of black smoke.

    "I''m gonna have to get that book back soon, before they burn the whole town down." Remian sighed. "Charlie''s going to be so mad."

    Right. Charlie was the airship mage who sold the book to Remian in the first place. He was very insistent that he not let the book fall into wrong hands. He was totally going to yell at Remian for losing the book, even for a good cause.

    Still. They had to get that book back sooner or later. It was likely going to cost him, but Remian relished the idea of barging into Rose''s place with an angry Senior Mage at his back.

    As for how much of their own homes and possessions they burned down in the meantime¡­ well, there wasn''t much Remian could do about it until Charlie got here.

    "Everyone ready?" Remian called to his crew.

    "We''ve been ready for hours! We were only waiting for you!" Mindy retorted.

    ***

    They marched over the Blood Rabbit burrows, passed the quarry on the other side of the hill, and then followed the stream to its source.

    There it was; one big yawning opening large enough for even Carrie to walk in upright.

    "I''m not sure I can do this." Mandy confessed. "I''ve only had a couple hours of practice using Scrolls. I don''t know much about magic."

    "It''s just using magical items." Remian stole a line from Max. "It''s like using a knife in the kitchen. Nobody is asking you to forge the knife itself. Just use the finished product."

    "It''s easy." Mindy encouraged her.

    Each of the Summers sisters had a Smoke Scroll, and a Fire Bolt scroll, the ones which had the most Casts stored in them. Remian himself had a Fire Bolt scroll and the Bonfire scroll. The remaining Fire Bolt scrolls and the Torch scroll had been given to Kairos as payment for the ink.

    Along with Mandy and Mindy, there was Max in his full gear complete with shield and three short spears. On the other side, Carrie and Vigil approached the cave entrance cautiously.

    As for Tim and George, they were left behind back at the Iron Legion camp with the barbecue and garden respectively.

    "Let''s not go in there blind." Remian decided, looking at the cave. "Smoke it out."

    Mandy and Mindy raised their Smoke scrolls and triggered the Inscriptions. Mindy''s scroll lit up and a smoking chunk of what looked like embers went sizzling into the cave. Thick black smoke billowed everywhere in moments and there was an angry roar.

    "Steer clear!" Max warned, raising his shield. "Get back!"

    Carrie crouched, baring her fangs. Sharp claws extended into the ground.

    But nothing happened. Whatever was in that cave did not come running out.

    "More smoke!" Remian called.

    This time, Mandy''s scroll lit up while Mindy''s fizzled. Another smoke bomb went hurtling into the cave, doubling the spewing gas.

    Still, no response.

    "Is it still inside?" Max asked dubiously. "I mean, I''m sure we heard something earlier, so¡­"

    "Fire Bolts!" Remian raised his own scroll.

    All three lit up and blasted into the cave randomly.

    At last, there was a furious roar. An echo of thought pulsed out from within. [Fire?! You send fire against me?!]

    "Everyone, get back!" Remian yelped. "Something''s wrong! Something is very, very wrong!"

    "Cover!" Max raised his shield and braced.

    "What does that mean?!" Mindy asked.

    "Go hide behind a tree or something!" Remian barked. He himself ducked behind a large rock.

    The angry roar sounded again. [You like fire so much? Have some!]

    Out from the cave came a Fire Ball the size of Remian''s head.

    "WHOA!" Remian leapt away from the rock as the Fire Ball exploded. The ground and the air shook; dirt and flame scattered. The rock itself was generally unharmed, merely seared, but the outburst of heat that had surrounded it was no joke. "Since when did bears use fire magic?!"

    [Since now!] from the cave charged a large brown bear with a strange polished black stick in its jaws. It twisted its head to one side so that the stick pointed toward Remian and¡­ [Fire Ball!]

    Remian ran for his life.

 15 For a Cave

    [Fireball!]

    "RUN!!"

    Another fireball streaked across the battlefield, slamming into a tree behind Remian. Fire splashed around the area, charring the tree bark in moments before disappearing.

    "Fire!" Mindy had her Fire Bolt scroll out, and was trying to counter, but her little fist-sized Fire Bolt was just no comparison to the Bear''s head-sized Fire Balls. Her little Fire Bolt barely scorched the bear.

    "Do something!" Remian yelped. Max was angling for a shot, trying to get behind the bear, but it turned and shot out another Fire Ball right at him. "Someone¡­? Carrie!"

    He looked for the biggest member of their group, the only one which stood a chance at physically stopping the bear¡­

    Only to find her rolling around on her back, all four paws in the air, laughing.

    "What''s gotten into her?!" Remian spluttered.

    The bear saw the wolfcat rolling around on the ground roaring with laughter. [It was YOU!]

    She laughed even harder.

    Vigil looked from his mom to the bear, completely baffled.

    "For goodness'' sake¡­" Remian took out the Bonfire scroll and triggered the Sigil. "Fire!"

    An outburst comparable to the Fire Ball''s explosion flared out right under the bear''s feet. The bear stumbled back, roaring. The polished stick dropped from its mouth.

    "Fire!" Remian triggered the Bonfire scroll again.

    "Fire!" Mindy shot the polished stick with a Fire Bolt, knocking it away from the bear a little. She kept aiming for it. "Fire! Fire!"

    "Smoke!" Mandy lobbed a smoke bomb right into the bear''s face.

    [No fair!] The bear roared, stumbling back.

    Remian grabbed the opportunity and made a run for the polished stick. He grabbed it¡­

    "Whoa! Hot!" He dropped it immediately, then kicked it farther away from the bear as he looked around for something to wrap his hand with.

    Max was nearly in position. He raised his spear¡­

    Carrie bowled him over.

    "Wha¡­?" Max didn''t even have time to protest before the gigantic wolfcat had him off and away.

    At this point, Remian began to have some private suspicions about that wolfcat. Wrapping the stick in nearby leaves, he pointed it at the bear and shouted, "Hold! Nobody move or I''ll shoot!"

    "Huh?" Mandy and Mindy both stopped, then wondered why Remian included them in his demand.

    The bear, meanwhile, finally got clear from the smoke only to see Remian pointing the polished stick at him. He growled. [No fair! No fair!]

    Remian bit his lip. [Sorry. We just wanted the cave. Do you surrender?]

    The bear looked at him with that polished stick, then at the other two with their scrolls, sat down on its rump, and grouched. [No fair.]

    Carrie came back then, with Max gently held in her mouth like a cub. Her actual cub, Vigil, looked at him with his tail wagging, as if wondering if Max had become his brother suddenly.

    "Remian, can you call your wolfcat off? She''s going to leave teeth-marks on my armor!" Max complained.

    The bear, likewise, turned to the wolfcat and roared his own complain. [You! Why?!]

    Carrie put Max down and snorted. [You weren''t supposed to be here, remember?]

    The bear scowled. He just sat there on his rump, one disappointed grouch.

    "Can we count on you to watch him? You know, so he doesn''t claw us from the back?" Remian asked Carrie.

    "Whuff." Carrie nodded affirmatively.

    Well. They''d come this far on her word. They may as well go all the way. "Let''s check out this cave."

    It was quite a large cave. If they needed to, they could have stuck twenty Tier 4 Wilds the size of Carrie or the bear inside without crowding. The stream ran through right in the middle, seemingly gushing from the cave floor and that was as close as anyone was going to get to its source.

    Remian sniffed the air. "It smells of wet bear in here. When Charlie gets back, I''m going to have to ask him for a wind spell that could help with ventilation."

    "Also, there''s a lot of junk." Mindy noted. "What is all this? Do bears like to hoard stuff?"

    "I can understand hoarding food, but this¡­?" Mandy went over to the heaps of junk piled up. "Broken furniture, random planks, a rusty bar of iron, half a bale of hay, somebody''s cutlery¡­ is that a bathrobe?!"

    "What is all this?" Remian shook his head. "We may as well clear it out."

    The bear eyed them uneasily as they cleared out his stash. When they started moving their bags in, though, he growled. [What are you doing?]

    "We''re moving in. This is our den, now." Remian explained.

    The bear roared. [This is MY den!]

    Carrie rapped him on the head with her paw. [You''re not supposed to be here! Shadowflash said¡­]

    [Shadowflash is gone! You have no right!] the bear roared.

    "Stand down!" Remian raised the Fire Ball wand again.

    [Give it back!] the bear roared furiously. [Give back my stick! Give back my den!]

    "No." Remian said shortly.

    The bear roared.

    "Fire!" Remian triggered the Sigil in the wand. It was a runic Inscription, and it still had a few charges left. About one fifth of the power came from the Sigil, the rest of it had to come from Remian himself. A head-sized Fire Ball shot out at the bear and exploded on his shoulder.

    The bear sat there, his face and shoulder blackened from the blast, and coughed. Smoke leaked out from its mouth.

    Carrie snorted. [See what you get?]

    There was a short rumble of complaint, and then the bear didn''t say anything more.

    Some of the junk, they kept, particularly the hay and the mismatched planks. The rest, they cleared out, along with whatever loose rubble and stones they could remove. Max knocked down some stalactites and stalagmites with his shield, but it was going to take a lot more work to make this hole in the hill a comfortable place.

    To make things worse, the sky began to darken in the afternoon. Heavy clouds and a deep rumble promised rain.

    "Do we have time to return to town?" Mandy asked, eyeing the storm clouds above. "This looks serious."

    "Probably not." Remian guessed, going by feeling more than any actual knowledge.

    Speaking of feelings, he had a rather odd one when he looked outside the cave.

    There in front of them was its previous occupant. Helplessly, thrown out of his home, the bear sat there outside the entrance like a lump, sad and lonely.

    It was going to rain, soon. Even Carrie was scurrying into the cave for shelter as more thunder rumbled¡­ but the bear didn''t move.

    "What am I doing?" Remian sighed, shaking his head. "Hey, bear! Get in here, before you get wet!"

    The bear turned to him and blinked.

    "It''s going to happen anyway." Remian figured. "We may as well get you in safe and warm rather than have to deal with wet bear later. Now, hurry up and come in before it rains!"

    Behind him, Mandy''s soft voice asked, "Are you sure? Is it safe?"

    "Nothing about the Frontier is safe." Remian replied her. "But we''re already relying on one Wild for protection. Maybe we can rely on two."

    "Can we?"

    Remian paused. "There''s something strange about this bear. The wand, the junk¡­ something is different. Vigil is different and Carrie is different too. Maybe¡­ maybe we don''t have to fight."

    "But we just threw its'' stuff out!" Mandy pointed out.

    "We can discuss that with him."

    "We can?" Mandy blinked. "How?"

    "Leave it to me."

    "You can talk to Wilds?"

    Mindy, overhearing, burst out laughing. "Of course he can! He''s a Mage!"

    Remian hesitated, but didn''t try to correct her misconception. After all, what could he say? Perhaps it was best not to have to clarify the matter further.

 16 Dreams and Ambitions

    His name was Buff. Or Buffy. Remian wasn''t quite decided, but it was a concept about having lots of strong muscles.

    Buff was a Tier 4 Amber Eyes Bear. They had the reputation of being able to spot honey a mile away. Actually the reputation was false. It was their noses that could smell the honey, not their eyes.

    But Buff had an existential problem. He did not want to be an Amber Eyes Bear. He was jealous of humans and the way they used tools. He was jealous of Wilds who were of higher Tier than himself. He was jealous of birds that could fly and fish that swam so well. In short, he was jealous of a lot of things.

    The stash of junk in the cave was his result of his jealousy of humans. He had a bad habit of stealing stuff from them, especially from their unguarded treasure-piles! (Mandy: Silly bear, that''s the rubbish heap). One day, he even acquired his greatest prize and treasure from it; the Fire Stick! (Remian: Which poor idiot couldn''t recognize an Inscription and threw away a perfectly good Fire Ball Wand?)

    Despite his jealousy toward humans, he was also fascinated by them and often tried to emulate them. Remian was quite astonished to find him sitting on half a couch wearing a broken monocle and staring at an upside-down stolen signboard. It had taken the bear just a minute to retrieve the items from the stash outside and he now sat there proudly as if he was showing off.

    "What are you doing?" The question boggled Remian''s mind.

    [Reading.] The bear grunted in reply. [Good for the mind.]

    "Uh¡­" Remian scratched his head but ultimately left the bear alone.

    They went on clearing the cave and leveling the ground as the rain began to fall heavily. An hour later, they found the bear sitting with legs folded in the lotus position, eyes closed and both hands spread.

    "What is it doing?" Mandy whispered in a low voice.

    "I have no clue." Remian went over to the bear. "What ARE you doing?"

    [Meditating. I will cultivate Inner Force!] the bear yowled.

    Remian frowned. "Meditating means you have to focus your thoughts on something."

    The bear perked up, very interested. [Like what?]

    "Like uh¡­" Remian scratched his head. "Energy? Or elements in nature. Or nature itself. Or combat techniques. Or weapons. Or even something you want, in order to motivate yourself."

    [Motivate¡­ myself? What is that?] The bear seemed even more interested.

    "It is a form of self-help. A way of increasing mental and emotional strength, I guess?" Remian was having some difficulty trying to explain self-motivation to a bear.

    [Soul cultivation! I understand!] The bear exclaimed and settled back down to meditate. [What I want¡­ what I want¡­]

    "You have to be honest with yourself." Remian gave him one last hint before shaking his head and walking away.

    Ten minutes later, he heard the bear''s thoughts resonating all around the cave.

    [Honey¡­ honey¡­ honey¡­ honey¡­ honey¡­]

    ***

    At that point, both Carrie and Vigil were rolling around the floor laughing.

    "What happened to them?!" Mandy asked Remian.

    "It''s¡­ a joke." Remian trailed off. "It''s a Wilds thing."

    But despite their laughter, the bear went on faithfully meditating. Remian felt a wave of sympathy and empathy for the bear. He knew something of what it was like when others laughed at his dreams.

    "This bear wants to learn human ways." Remian tried to explain to Mandy. "I actually want to help him."

    "That''s nice. Shall we teach him how to use a fork and spoon?" Mandy queried.

    "Uh¡­ maybe?" Remian wasn''t sure. "Something like that."

    Mandy looked about and picked up a dirty spoon from the remaining junk scattered around the floor.

    "Wait. You''re serious?" Remian stared.

    "Well¡­ I don''t see a fork, but¡­ that''s the idea, isn''t it?" Mandy questioned.

    "And you don''t think it''s weird?"

    "Of course it is. But so what? It''s his dreams." Mandy answered. "I will never laugh at anyone for their dreams." She glanced at him sideways. "Anyone."

    It was true. Remian thought back. There was a time when Mindy, George and the others were talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. George wanted to be a farmer; nobody laughed at that. But Mindy wanted to own an airship and fly all over the world. Everyone who heard it burst into laughter. Buying a passenger ticket to board an airship was one thing. Owning the airship itself was an entirely different matter. It was the difference between walking into a city and being the mayor of that city.

    But Mandy never laughed at her. She had gone on to ask others of their dreams. Eventually she had come to Remian.

    Dazed by the look of the sunlight over her hair, Remian had blurted out his actual intentions. He couldn''t remember what it was he said exactly, but even Tim and Jane were laughing. Mindy had defended him, and Mandy¡­

    Mandy simply smiled. She didn''t say a word.

    But she never laughed.

    "It is good to have dreams." She said softly, now. "To be able to have a hope in the future."

    "Do you have one?" Remian asked.

    "Me? Until today, all I had to look forward to in the future was slavery and working as one of Rose''s ''employees''." Mandy closed her eyes. "Even now, I¡­"

    "You should have one." Remian encouraged. "Even if it seems silly. Tell me. Anything at all. What is it? To travel the world and see the big cities? Vacation on the islands of the Sea People?"

    Mandy drew a deep breath. "I just want to live in peace. Take care of the kids so they never go hungry. Maybe run my own inn. Never lack the money to take care of Mindy. And never, ever have to be afraid of Cruel Rose."

    Most of those were basic needs; security, food, resources¡­ except for the inn part. "Why an Inn? The Ravens already have both an inn and a tavern."

    "That''s just it. Most of the customers at both the inn and the tavern are adventurers, explorers, prospectors and airship crewmen. I''ve spoken to many of them and all of them generally want to get out of town as fast as they could. There''s always gang trouble brewing in town, and nobody wants to get caught up in it." She glanced about. "Maybe we can build one right here. There are quite a few people who live in the wilderness outside town, and who would rather not enter town if they could help it. They mainly come back only to trade. If we could offer them a safe place to rest outside of town, someplace without fear of the Wilds¡­"

    "An inn that''s protected by Tier 4 Wilds?" Remian thought about it. "There are a lot of possibilities. Just how many adventurers and such are out there?"

    "Hundreds have passed through town." Mandy told him quietly. "As to how many survive¡­ I don''t know."

    Max barked a laugh. "We could do it better. An inn protected by the Iron Legion on the south side right next to the main road would surely be more trusted than a cave protected by Wilds on the west that needs a long trip around the town walls just to reach."

    "Then why don''t you do it?" Remian asked.

    "Not interested. No time. No manpower to spare. It''s not our role." Max ticked off fingers. "The worst of it is that the south side is where the Wilds attack. Our camp can be moved, but an inn would likely be destroyed the next time a Beast Wave comes through."

    Right. The Beast Wave. The way into town was the south side; they would always attack there. They almost broke the town''s defenses last time. That was why Markus was hot mad and yelling for a wall. But the gang leaders wouldn''t help, and his bosses only wanted their crew to build a road, not a wall, so¡­

    "They won''t attack us here." Remian realized. "They can''t get into town from this side. If we built an inn here¡­"

    "Guarded by Wilds? If the Wilds are friendly towards you, it would probably last longer than the town itself." Max figured. "So long as you don''t go bankrupt."

    "Even if we did, we can just farm or hunt our own food." Remian thought aloud. "We can keep fish. Dig a pond in the stream and keep them there with nets¡­"

    "Assuming that the bear doesn''t eat them all up." Max rolled his eyes. "Or your wolfcats."

    "Then we''ll just make it a big pond, let them eat all the fish they want." Remian shrugged. "Although I''m afraid these particular wolfcats have a taste for cooked food."

    "Great! Let''s name the inn!" Mindy exulted.

    Mandy coughed. "You''re getting ahead of yourself. We haven''t even decided if we''re really going to do it yet!"

    "I vote for ''the Bear and Wolfcat'' Inn!" Mindy exclaimed.

    "The Wild Side Inn!" Max suggested.

    "West Hillside Bed and Breakfast?" Mandy tossed in.

    Remian shook his head. "I was thinking something different. Something that would change the very nature of what the inn would be about."

    "What?" Mandy asked.

    "The Adventurers Guild."

 17 Founding a Guild

    Joshu Tarim thought of himself as a true Frontiersman. He was a professional explorer, one of the earliest adventurers around the Frontier who helped draw the very first maps. He was there when Frontier Town was first founded. He had traded furs and ivory with the first airship that landed at its edge. He wasn''t around when the gangs began to form, however; he had been trapped for almost a year in a labyrinth of cave tunnels far, far to the south at the time.

    Younger adventurers had asked for the secrets of his survival. How did he last so long in the Frontier? Most adventurers quit or died within one or two years. Some dozen or two switched to becoming Hunters and stayed in town when they weren''t out there looking for prey. Yet there was Joshu, still exploring, still venturing into unmapped territories and coming back with just a few more smudges on the map he''d been drawing for nine years.

    Caution and patience, he''d replied. Alertness and awareness, and familiarity, he''d added. The best way to survive danger is to avoid it entirely, and knowing it was coming was key to getting away from it.

    Of course, he seldom told them how, exactly, he knew danger was around the corner. Only a few knew his true secret, and none of them were able to duplicate it.

    "Squeak." Two beady eyes peered at him from his coat pocket. "Squeak, squeak."

    "Yeah, I''m hungry too." Joshu told the critter hiding there.

    There it was. His true secret in a single, furry package. Her name was Teeny, and she was a Lynxmouse, a Tier 1 Wild who grew no larger than his fist. The pure truth of the matter was that it was Teeny who warned him when something dangerous was nearby; stronger Wilds, bad weather, poisonous plants and trees, even the occasional trap. She was his early warning system and without her, he''d have died long, long ago.

    Thanks to her, he lived long enough to see the little hamlet grow into a 300-strong town, a place where the weary adventurer could find a warm bed, and a cold drink and a forge where he could buy better weapons and armor to face the dangers of the wilderness beyond. It was a good thing too, because most of the Tier 1 and 2 gear that Joshu had over the years simply didn''t last very long. Tier 3 and 4 Wilds were everywhere out there, and just about any of them could snap his weapons in two with a single bite. Joshu had long given up using short-ranged weapons years ago and had decided upon a trusty bow and arrows, but even his bow was beginning to show signs of wear and tear.

    He was going to have to get a new one from the Burning Steel forge, preferably a Tier 3 type this time, if he could just persuade them to give him a discount.

    But first, he needed some food and drink, and a good night''s rest. He could get both at the Open Frontier Inn, but he preferred the Raven Tavern; it was just more homey, with the kids running around and the food roasted crispy and the beer chilled to perfection and Mandy''s warm smile to welcome him back¡­

    Okay, fine, so that last bit might have been the deciding factor.

    But when he got there, Mandy was nowhere to be found. He had his ginger chicken and some hot rice, and a cold beer, but there was no Mandy, just younger children running around and serving drinks.

    "Where''s Mandy?" he asked, trying not to sound too concerned.

    "She''s at the Adventurer''s Guild." One of the younger girls said.

    "The what?" Joshu blinked.

    "The Adventurer''s Guild. It''s like an Inn on the west side, but they offer jobs and rewards for Adventurers." The girl paused. "They sell scrolls and rations and stuff too."

    "Scrolls?"

    "Magic scrolls. Inscribed with basic spells like fire bolt."

    That was a new one. "Are they still open at this time?" The sun was already setting.

    "Uh¡­" the girl scratched her head. "I don''t know. I think so?"

    "Since when did this Adventurers Guild appear?"

    "About two, three days?? It''s still being built."

    "Where is it?" Joshu had to admit, he was curious, if nothing else.

    He found the place easily enough. Walking around the west side, he found a trail leading up to a bonfire. Someone had literally burned a broad line into the ground leading straight there.

    At the bonfire was¡­ well¡­ most of it looked like a campsite. There was a wooden building on one side, and a sort of kitchen under a canvas tarp. It looked like they were trying to build a restaurant around a board. Right now, that ''building'' had three walls and a roof, leaving the front side completely open except for four supporting pillars. Four ''tents'' around it held building material, mainly logs.

    Joshu wasn''t sure he was at the right place, but a large sign stuck into the road in front of the campsite said ''Adventurers Guild''. "Hello? Anyone there?"

    "Here!" the voice came from the side of the open-air kitchen. Some boy was there smoking meat. "Is that¡­ Joshu?"

    "It''s me." Joshu admitted. That boy looked familiar. "Have we met?"

    "I''m Tim! From the Raven Tavern!" he greeted Joshu excitedly. "Did you come to join the Adventurers Guild?"

    "Uh¡­"

    Before Joshu could say a word, Tim was already yelling. "Mandy! Remian! Everyone! We have a new member! It''s Joshu! He''s come to join us!"

    Mandy? So she really was here?!

    There she was, hair like honey and a smile like sunshine, holding hands with¡­

    Wait. What?!

    She was holding hands with some boy who looked half Joshu''s age. He looked like he was an older teenager or something. More to the point, he looked like easy meat. Joshu felt that any random Tier 3 Wild in the neighborhood could easily have him for breakfast.

    Like that beast emerging from the shadows behind him. That ferocious creature was twice his height and five times his girth. It had claws that could tear through the whole wooden structure in moments, and teeth that could snap that thin boy in two with just one bite¡­

    Joshu opened his mouth to yell, only to see Mindy, Mandy''s little sister, sitting ON TOP of that huge wolfcat. For goodness'' sake, girl, that''s a Tier 4 Wild you''re sitting on, not your daddy''s donkey! That thing could kill us all in moments¡­

    But she sat on it like nothing, and the boy in front of her casually talked to Mandy right in front of the gigantic wolfcat as if it were perfectly normal. Also, a little wolfcat cub was running around their feet. They didn''t seem particularly surprised to see it there.

    "You can see it, right?" Joshu asked Tim, nervously.

    "See what?" Tim asked.

    "That giant wolfcat?"

    Tim barked a laugh. "Oh, right. I forgot. Three of our Adventurers Guild members are Wilds. That wolfcat is Carrie, currently the highest ranking Wild in the group and third highest ranking in the whole Guild."

    "There''s a ranking?" Joshu asked blankly. "And a Wild is ranked Third?"

    "Yes. Exactly." Tim said excitedly. "You get points from doing missions or contributing materials or items to the Guild. You even get points for surviving in the Frontier. The points can be spent to buy stuff like rations and scrolls, but the total amount of points you''ve ever gathered would decide your ranking Tier."

    "You get points for surviving?" Joshu stared.

    "Right! You''ve been here for nine years, right? That''s a lot of points straight off!" Tim nodded. "See that chart on the wall inside the building? Surviving your first day on the Frontier gives you ten points. Surviving the first week gets you one point per day. The first year gives you one point per week. From then on, you get one point per month. Putting them all together, you should have over a hundred and seventy points easily. That should qualify you as a Tier 1 Adventurer straight away!"

    "I can do that?" Joshu asked.

    "That''s what I did. A newcomer to the Frontier would start at zero points, and would need 10 points to qualify for Tier 0. In other words, if he can''t even survive one day in the Frontier, he won''t qualify for membership. That''s why the minimum requirement to join the Guild is to survive that first day, and then you''d have the points to join as a Tier 0 member. Tier 1 would need 100 points. It''s all on that other chart over there." Tim pointed to another poster inside the structure. "The Guild just started, so most of us are Tier 1 Adventurers, just like you. Most of my points come from surviving and preparing rations, although I did do some Tier 1 missions to help build the main hall. At least now that I have Tier 3 meat on hand, I can prepare Tier 3 rations, which would earn me a lot more points than Tier 1 or 2 stuff."

    "You have Tier 3 meat¡­? Doesn''t that mean someone here managed to hunt a Tier 3 Wild?"

    "Exactly!"

    Joshu shouldn''t be surprised, seeing they had a Tier 4 Wild as a member. Of course the wolfcat wouldn''t have a problem hunting Tier 3 Wilds. The only surprise was that it turned the carcass in for points rather than eating the whole thing. In other words¡­ "That''s one smart wolfcat."

    "Yeah. But I think the bear is smarter." Tim mentioned. "That bear can cast spells!"

    "There''s a bear?!" Joshu gulped.

    "Yeah, I think it''s out hunting right now."

    "How did you get a bear to join?" Joshu began to wonder if he was dreaming.

    "Oh, it''s because it wants the Fire Ball Wand. That''s going to cost it 10,000 points." Tim explained.

    The bear wanted a Fire Ball Wand? And they were just going to let it?! "Isn''t that dangerous?"

    "Probably. But don''t worry. I''m sure Remian will reach 10,000 points long before the bear does. He''s already gone past 4000." Tim mentioned. "He and Max each turned in 300 kg of Tier 3 meat today. At 10 points per kilo, that''s 3000 points right there. Carrie only turned in 200 kg. She must have eaten the rest."

    "Who''s Remian?"

    "He is." Tim pointed to the young guy holding Mandy''s hand. "He''s ranked First. He''s the one who started the whole Guild."

    "And who''s Max?"

    "Max is the Second Ranking Adventurer. He isn''t here right now. He''s gone back to the Iron Legion camp. He''s the Quartermaster there."

    Right. That made sense. An Iron Legion quartermaster was the Second-ranked Adventurer. Sure, why not? Compared to a bear working for a Fire Ball Wand, that made a whole lot more sense.

    "You guys are crazy." Joshu concluded. Then, he grinned.

    "Sign me up!"

 18 A Map for Missions

    Remian and Vigil discovered Joshu''s secret in three seconds, flat.

    "Yip!" Vigil barked.

    "Squeak!" Teeny shrieked back. "Squeak, squeak!"

    "Vigil! Play nice!" Remian warned him.

    "Yip, yip." Vigil nodded, tail wagging.

    Remian eyed that cub which was a mix of wolf and cat, then at the creature with Joshu that was a mix of cat and mouse, and shook his head. Hopefully nothing bad would accidentally happen.

    Actually, the bigger danger was if Carrie got hungry¡­

    "Registration is done!" Mindy said. "Well, mostly, except I''m not sure we should classify a nine-year explorer as a ''Novice''."

    Tim coughed. "What, then? He''s not a warrior like Max, or a mage like Remian. Definitely not ''wolfcat'' or ''bear'' like Carrie and Buff."

    "Ranger. Like the Ceres Forest Rangers." Max supplied helpfully. "A recon-type bowman with a little pet for company? It fits."

    Mindy wrote it down. "Okay, so if you''ve read the charter and agree to the terms and conditions, just sign here¡­"

    "What charter?" Joshu asked.

    "That one." Mindy pointed to another wall in the hall.

    Joshu glanced at it. Betterment of life on the Frontier, mutual protection among adventurers, professional behavior toward missions, keeping guild secrets, honesty in reports and in regards to points, no stealing from the guild or guild members, respect for Wilds who had joined the Guild, cleaning up after one''s self on Guild premises, not making too much noise late at night or in the early mornings¡­

    From there, the charter turned into a list of domestic rules more suited to a household than to a Guild.

    "Uh¡­ we might want to fix the charter as we go along." Max winced, seeing the bemused look on Joshu''s face.

    "We''ll split it." Remian suggested. "Everything after ''respect for Wilds who joined the Guild'' gets put into a separate list called ''household rules''."

    "Sounds good to me." Joshu signed.

    "Congratulations and welcome aboard!" Tim announced, accompanied by a round of cheers, a few high-pitched barks from Vigil, and a deeper wolfcat snort from Carrie.

    There were introductions and general chatter to follow. Mandy had Tim bring out a welcome dinner for their first new Adventurer. Until that point, the Adventurers Guild were mainly Remian and his friends. This was the first time a bone fide adventurer/frontier explorer had officially joined their ranks.

    Halfway through dinner, Remian made it a point to ask Joshu a very important question. "Joshu, do you have any idea how many others like you are out there?"

    "Actual explorers? Five, maybe ten. The folks living outside of town are mainly hunters and farmers." Joshu grunted. "Assuming they haven''t been eaten by Wilds already."

    He looked a bit disgruntled. Remian frowned. Joshu had seemed perfectly happy to chat with everyone over dinner before. Why did his mood suddenly drop when Remian spoke to him? "Is something the matter?"

    "No, no¡­ I''ve just¡­ lost a lot of friends out there." Joshu looked away.

    Carrie barked a laugh. [He smells jealous.]

    [What?] Remian glanced at her. [Why?]

    Carrie shrugged.

    Maybe it was because Remian was the highest ranking when Joshu was actually the most senior in terms of years of experience. "Don''t worry about the rankings. As long as you work hard, you, too, could rank First one day."

    "Hmm." Joshu grunted without saying anything much.

    It would depend on his capabilities. For contributions and most missions, every increase of Tier represented a ten-fold increase in points. For example, meat contributions; the current rates were, 10kg of Tier 1 meat for 1 point, 1kg of Tier 2 meat for 1 point, and 1kg of Tier 3 meat for 10 points. On top of that, higher Tier Wilds had a lot more edible meat (non-edible meat wasn''t counted). Most Tier 1 Blood Rabbits barely had 9kg of edible meat after they were cleaned out. Compared to that, a Tier 2 Blood Rabbit Chief could easily reach 90kg. That Tier 3 Brush Bristle Boar that Max, Carrie and Remian had teamed up to hunt yesterday actually brought in near 900kg. Divided between the three of them, Remian and Max had both gained 3000 points for 300 kg. Carrie would have had the same if she hadn''t kept one third of it for herself and Vigil.

    In other words, the points system favored the capable. Whoever could do higher Tier missions or hunted higher Tier Wilds would be able to earn a lot more points. Of course, the dangers likewise were far greater, so one had to be careful not to overreach. Even Vigil could hunt Tier 1 Blood Rabbits all on his own. But if he had to face a Tier 2 Chief Blood Rabbit, all he could do was run for his life. Among the human Adventurers here, only Max could take down that Tier 2 rabbit head-on all by himself. Even Remian wouldn''t succeed unless he took it by surprise. The same went for Joshu, most likely. Bows and magic did favor ambushes and ranged attacks over hand-to-hand combat.

    But back to the important topic¡­ Remian had more questions for Joshu. "Can you ask them to join us? All the explorers, and the hunters too."

    Joshu paused. "I was thinking the same thing. Is that a mission?"

    "Of course."

    "What Tier?" Joshu asked directly.

    "Well¡­ where are they, exactly?" Remian asked.

    "I have a map. It''s based on an airship survey, and I''ve been jotting down locations, inhabitants, and resources on it for nine years. Would that be a worthwhile contribution?"

    Remian felt like his eyes were gleaming. "Definitely! Something like that has to be worth thousands of points! We could base a lot of future missions on that information!"

    The discussion around dinner turned to the points value of his map. Joshu took it out and two hours later, he received 5000 points and became the Second ranked Adventurer on the spot.

    Remian set the missions. "Mindy, note these down; there are nineteen Hunter homes on this map, in which twenty-five Hunters live. All of them need to be contacted, and the survival and status of the hunters need to be confirmed. First Contact with every home north of the Three Forks River and east of the Amber Gorge is worth 300 points on a mission, plus 100 points for every living inhabitant you invite to the Guild for the first time. Successfully recruiting them to join us is worth 500 points per inhabitant. For those west of the Amber Gorge and south of the Three Forks River, the mission for First Contact with them is worth 3000 points; the points for First Invite per inhabitant and Successfully Recruiting them is quadrupled. This particular home here, the one belonging to the Crazy Fisher¡­ First Contact for this one''s 30,000 points, plus 1600 points for First Invite and 8000 points for a successful Recruitment."

    It was a fair offer. The Crazy Fisher was on a little peninsula right in the middle of Dragon Lake. Even Carrie would have to sneak her way through. The average Pale Dragon in that lake was Tier 4. The Crazy Fisher wasn''t called ''crazy'' for nothing.

    "Our first Tier 4 mission!" Mindy exclaimed.

    Missions were likewise divided into Tiers based on expected danger and risk, usually related to the Tier of Wilds they were probably going to encounter. Tier 0 missions popular among the kids were usually delivery, gathering or fetching tasks in safer places within or around town, like the area around the Guild, the town''s central area and the Iron Legion camp. Tier 1 missions included hunting Blood Rabbits for meat, or deliveries/fetching where Tier 1 Wilds were expected or slightly dangerous areas like the north side of town (dangerous because Rose was there, but safer because the Ravens were there too) and the areas around the Iron Legion camp or a little farther out from the Guild.

    While most Tier 0 missions could earn an average of 3 points, Tier 1 missions easily averaged 30 points straight off.

    Tier 2 missions, averaging 300 points, were those at the east or west side of town, or on the north side outside town, or anywhere in the area outside town and farther out from the Iron Legion camp or the Guild, or likely to encounter Tier 2 Wilds. So far, only Max, Remian and Carrie had done one of those.

    Now Joshu''s map had officially placed Tier 3 missions on the list. The Amber Gorge to the west and the Three Forks river to the south marked clear boundaries. Anything beyond them was a Tier 3 mission, and anyone going on them should be prepared to encounter Tier 3 Wilds all over the place, and even find the rare Tier 4. The only Tier 3 mission ever done in the Guild was the one in which they''d won the cave and the Guild site from a certain bear who used a Fire Ball Wand. The 3000 points had been divided evenly between the participating members.

    "So¡­ we get points for Recruitment?" Tim asked brightly. "Do I get the points for Recruiting Joshu?"

    "I guess¡­?" Remian paused. "Joshu, how did you find us in the first place?"

    "It was that girl in the tavern. The one with the braids."

    "That would be Jane." Mindy supplied.

    "Aww. 500 points¡­" Tim mourned.

    "25 points to Jane having First Invited to the Guild an explorer in a safe zone. 125 points to Tim for successfully Recruiting him." Mandy suggested.

    "Just 125 points?" Joshu''s face fell.

    "I think Recruiting him should be worth 500 points, like the hunters." Mindy pointed out.

    "I think in terms of ability, he already goes beyond the Amber Gorge and the Three Forks River. That''s 400 for the Invite and 2000 for the Recruitment." Remian put in. "A person''s value to the Guild shouldn''t be decided by how far away he was. It should be according to his abilities."

    "Maybe recruitment should have a flat rate reward?" Tim wondered.

    "Maybe there should be no reward." Mindy countered.

    "Or maybe the Recruiters get a percentage of whatever the Adventurers earn." Mandy suggested.

    "I like that idea. I really do. But it''s going to be a lot of trouble once we have more people." Remian rubbed his forehead. "Let''s just go by Wilds equivalents. Joshu should be a match for a Tier 2."

    "That sounds about right." Joshu nodded.

    Remian didn''t tell him the other reason for estimating Tiers for Adventurers that way. It was so that in the event of a Beast Wave, he''d know exactly how much combat power the Guild really had to contribute to the defense of Frontier Town.

    Thinking in terms of combat strength Mandy, Mindy, George, Tim, Jane and Kavitha would all be considered Tier 1. Max and Remian themselves could easily take down Tier 1 Wilds, and they could handle Tier 2''s by themselves (Remian might need to ambush one, or use traps but he could do it alone), while they would need help against Tier 3''s. Joshu was like that too.

    Back when they fought Buff for the cave, the main reason they won was because the bear didn''t attack them directly. Buff kept trying to hit them with Fire Balls and aiming those with the wand shooting out sideways from his mouth was a really difficult thing to do. Had the bear attacked with his teeth and claws, they would have stood no chance without Carrie''s help. In other words, without Carrie, Remian wouldn''t have any confidence against a Tier 4 Wild.

    But the Guild was beginning to accumulate funds by fulfilling Burning Steel requests and selling them skins. Most of the bones ended up going to the church and converted to Bone Dust for Magic Ink. A share of that ink came back to the Guild, which Remian ''bought'' with points used to Inscribe Scrolls. For the sake of his ranking (which was based on total points earned), Remian preferred to contribute the bones and buy the ink from the Guild rather than send the bones to Kairos and receive the ink directly.

    With more funds, Remian intended the Guild to buy weapons and armor. These could be sold to the Guild members for points and thus increase their combat power. Max could offer martial training and Remian could offer magic training for points too. Given time, the total combat strength of the Adventurers Guild would grow. It would be only a matter of time before they would be a significant force in the defense of Frontier Town.

 19 Ways to Suppor

    For now, though, the most they could do was offer some light if the battle took place at night. If it happened in the day time, the most they could offer was some fire (and smoke) support. Remian was not about to ask Carrie or Buff to fight on the side of Frontier Town in the event of a Beast Wave. He''d worry about them getting attacked by the human defenders or worse, joining the other side.

    Why did the Wilds attack Frontier Town anyway? There had to be a reason for Beast Waves and the like.

    Ten years ago, there had been three towns on the Frontier, but one day there was an event referred to as a ''Beast Tide'', a large scale version of the Beast Wave. As a result¡­ only Frontier Town was left. There were many dead, and many more fled the Frontier, never to return. Many of the Circling Ravens were babies who were orphaned at that time.

    If a Beast Tide rose again, the way it was now, Frontier Town would be finished. Already it could barely hang on against a Beast Wave. The gangs weren''t going to be much help. The next wave would mainly be up to the Iron Legion. Remian wanted to provide whatever support he could.

    If the worst happened, if the Beast Wave broke through the defenses¡­ the first thing place they''d destroy would be the town center. That included the church, the tool shop, and the inn. Sweeping straight onward, they''d hit the north side and that would be the end of the Circling Ravens. Rose wouldn''t last much longer, but she might just last longer than the east side. Remian wasn''t too confident that the Secret Waves Gang would be able to hold off a Beast Wave either. If it turned out to be a strong wave, even the Blood Claw might get wiped out, leaving Burning Steel the sole survivors in the ruins.

    That likely outcome was probably why they, who had the most assets to lose and the most strength to offer, were not all that eager to help defend the town. The reverse was also true; the Circling Ravens, who had the least assets, were also the most likely to lose out if the worst happened and therefore the most willing to aid the defense of the town.

    Actually, before even them, the church was the definite goner if the defenses were overrun. Thus Kairos and Rhema went all-out to help however they could. Even the Iron Legion could move their camp to the north desert edge where they were supposed to build the road. But the church couldn''t just pack up and move.

    As to why Markus hadn''t moved the camp¡­ it was because he intended to protect the town. Otherwise, what was the road even for? In order for his objective to have meaning, there had to be a place the road would lead to.

    Very soon, his determination would be tested. From what Mandy said, Beast Waves would hit the town every other week. It had already been two weeks since the last Beast Wave. In other words, the next Wave was going to hit town any day now.

    There were many things on the map which intrigued Remian, many places and resources that he itched to set missions for. There were ancient ruins and caves and unexplored areas, there were odd anomalies that Joshu hadn''t dared to investigate, and there were resources like Amaranth trees, metal ore deposits, sulfur and clay deposits, crystal lodes, precious medicinal herbs¡­

    But there was no time for that. In view of the imminent Beast Wave, Remian had to prioritize.

    Obviously, the highest priority went to Recruitment. The real Frontiersmen, the hunters and explorers, were his best bet. They were not with the gangs, they were brave, and they were capable; exactly the kind of people he needed. Whether it was for recon, or to gather resources at dangerous places, or to help protect the town, they needed more of such people.

    The second highest would be nearby resources. Interestingly enough, the nearest special resources to town marked on Joshu''s map were at the Secret Chasm River, something about the fish. Considering the chasm, however, getting to them would be difficult to say the least. They would need to travel at least ten kilometers to the south to reach a point where the cliffs were less steep and they could climb down to the river. Tier 2 Wilds were all over that area.

    Fish aside, they needed resources they could sell for good money, building materials, and materials for magic ink. While finding Glass Dandelion roots nearby was a Tier 1 mission, Kairos had had to buy Rainbow Jellyfish fluid from the Secret Waves Gang and hire a Blood Claw Slayer to collect Purple Beating Heart Wood sap last time. This difficulty in getting ingredients put a severe limit on Remian''s Inscribing, which meant less scrolls to sell and less they could use in any upcoming battles.

    On top of that, Tier 2 magic ink was even harder to make. Other than Tier 2 Bone Powder, Glass Dandelions and Rainbow Jellyfish ink, they also had to collect Blue Ringed Mushrooms that grew on top of trees (Vigil''s specialty) and Blood Moss (at the mangrove far south-east of town where the forest met the river). The Blood Moss alone counted as a Tier 3 mission. Because of the price Kairos had to pay the gang Slayers for the harder materials, the Guild was only able to acquire a little ink for the Tier 2 bone marrow they''d been giving Kairos all this time. Already that ink had run out.

    Now they had Tier 3 bones, and Remian was worried that the ingredients for Tier 3 magic ink was going to be even tougher to get.

    What else could they gather that could help improve their combat strength? Coal and iron ore? They could sell those to Burning Steel, but it was easier and more profitable to hunt Wilds and sell the skins and meat. Soft Blood Rabbit fur fetched a good price. Remian was actually saving up the furs for when the airship arrived rather than sell them to the Burning Steel. He believed the airship would offer better prices. The airship should next stop by in two days. Charlie would arrive then, and it would be time to settle scores with Rose.

    But would the Beast Wave wait until the airship arrived? There was no telling when it would hit.

    "Joshu? I have a priority mission for you." Remian told him.

    "What''s that?" Joshu asked, a bit warily.

    "Archery classes." Remian spelled out. "Teach everyone who wants to learn."

    "We''re going to need more bows and a lot more arrows." Joshu didn''t even blink. "The Burning Steel forge sells Tier 1 short bows at 50 Lir each. A bundle of twenty cheap arrows would cost 10 Lir."

    Remian winced. "Fine. Let''s get three bows and five bundles of those."

    They really didn''t have much money at the moment. Remian could offer rewards for missions simply because they had created a new currency out of Guild points; the Fire Ball wand, the half-built Guild Hall, even the Cave had become prizes on offer for points exchange.

    But when it came to Lir¡­ well¡­ "Max? Could I borrow some money?"

    But Max refused. "No need. I''ll buy some Tier 3 meat for the Legion and have the reimburse me later. They could use some fresh meat for dinner."

    "And I''m gonna be cooking it anyway!" Tim threw in from the side.

    ***

    Archery classes started the next morning. Mindy gave up by lunch time, Remian and Mandy likewise didn''t seem to do very well, but Jane and Kavitha loved it.

    "Wouldn''t you rather be learning magic?" Remian asked.

    Jane shook her head. "No way. It''s too hard."

    Remian''s face fell.

    Tim and George had an altogether different idea.

    "You want to join the Legion?" Remian blinked.

    "For training, yes." Tim nodded. "I would rather use swords and spears than bows or magic."

    "Same." George raised a hand in support.

    From then on, Remian''s magic class only had Mandy and Mindy for students.

    ***

    Joshu came back with bad news that evening.

    "Three nearby Hunters'' homes are destroyed." He said grimly. "One more was abandoned in a hurry. Koma and Ruth were packing to leave when I found them. They''re at the Frontier Inn for now, but they''ll come by tomorrow."

    "Is that all?" Remian joked half-heartedly.

    Unfortunately, Joshu shook his head. "Actually, no. There''s bad news too."

    Wait. That wasn''t ''bad news'' enough?! "What is it?"

    "The Beast Wave is coming." Joshu told him. "They''ll be here tonight."

    That started a scramble. "Everybody! Priority Mission! We need to help the Legion prepare defenses!"

    This time, the defense doubled down on sharpened stakes. Rows upon rows of them were stuck into the ground facing outward, then sharpened on the other end. Bear-traps were scattered around in plain sight. During the day, they would be easy to see and avoid, but chances were that a horde of maddened Wilds in a headlong charge at night might very well run right into them.

    Once again, ten ''fighters'' from every gang was sent to aid the defense force, including one Slayer from each gang. Kage arrived with nine adults from the Circling Ravens, all garbed in black and masked. Ye''Tuo arrived with the Cruel Rose gangsters, armored in hard leather. A tall man wearing blue Finned Frost Frog armor appeared with nine men in light scale armor from the Secret Wave gang. Nine muscular warriors in chainmail armor arrived from the Burning Steel Gang, led by a Slayer wielding an oversized two-handed Red Steel greatsword. As for the Blood Claw gang, they only showed up at the last minute, garbed in heavy furs, armed with spears and axes, and all their faces painted.

    Tonight, the Iron Legion matched their numbers and more. Markus, Max and the ten trainees were equipped in standard Legion splint mail armor, all bearing heavy shields, sets of short spears, and short swords.

    Joshu acted as an advanced scout. While he was away keeping an eye on the Wave to give them all early warning, the Adventurers Guild were represented only by Remian, Mandy and five children. Their strongest fighters, being Wilds themselves, were left behind to ''guard the home base''.

    Kairos and Rhema arrived as the sun was setting. They took one look around, spoke briefly with Markus, who was again coordinating the defense, and very quickly went over to join Remian.

    "Are you sure you should be bringing children to the fight?" Kairos asked, frowning.

    "They''re just casting Light Orb spells from scrolls. They can do that much." Remian explained. They were learning other ways of combat as well, but none of them were anywhere near ready just yet. "They also have Fire Bolt and Smoke scrolls just in case."

    "Wow. In that case¡­ do you even need me here?" Kairos wondered. "I may as well go back and sleep."

    "We can focus on healing and tending the wounded." Rhema poked him. "Don''t run away!"

    A horn sounded in the distance.

    "There''s Joshu''s signal. The Beast Wave is almost here." Remian straightened. "Everyone ready?"

    "NO!" chorused eight voices. (Remian: Kairos and Rhema too?!)

    "Here they come!" Markus shouted. "Archers, fire at will!"

    The battle began.

 20 Breakthrough

    The wave of Wilds in front of them were three- or four-thick. There must have been at least sixty, maybe seventy of them. There seemed to be more of them this time than the last.

    A spread of arrows arched high in the fading sunset light.

    "What do you think Joshu is doing right now?" George asked Tim, seeing the maddened Wilds in front of them charge in spite of the arrows.

    "I think Joshu''s sitting in a tree." Tim said in a sing-song chant. "S-H-O-O-TI-N-G!"

    The beasts roared. They crashed headlong into the sharpened stakes, ran right into the bear traps. Some of them faltered only to get bowled over and trampled by the beasts behind them.

    "Something''s wrong with these Wilds." Remian observed to Mandy quietly. "I can''t imagine Carrie or Buff going berserk like that."

    "And Vigil?"

    "Only if you took away a steaming hot barbecue skewer from in front of his nose."

    The Wilds neared 200 meters. They ran into the stakes, and some of them were impaled directly, but they barely even slowed.

    "Double Line Formation!" Markus commanded. The Legionnaires formed up in two neat rows.

    The Wilds neared 100 meters. Every Wild that slowed down or staggered instantly got trampled underfoot. The Beast Wave didn''t stop for anything.

    "Javelins! Staggered sequence!"

    The first line threw out their spears. Some of them stuck onto Wilds, but didn''t seem to make much of a difference.

    The second line threw their spears out. The archers fired more arrows. Again, not much changed.

    "Brace!" Markus yelled. "Shields up!"

    With a concerted action, they linked shields to form a wall. There was no time for anything else. The foremost Wilds arrived and slammed into that shield wall with a resounding crash. Screams echoed all across the defenders. The charge of the Beast Wave tore right into them without slowing.

    Remian gave his orders. "Team Mandy, light it up! Everyone stay back from the front lines, the beasts are going to spread out and¡­ wait. What?"

    They didn''t slow down. They didn''t spread out. Unlike the previous Wave, this batch seemed intent on plowing through and completely ignoring everyone. The defenders tried to stop them, to slow them down, but for the most part, there was no use. The Legionnaire formation was the only thing that managed to stop the Beast Wave. Everywhere else, the Wilds broke through the defense lines and charged straight on towards the walls unhindered.

    "What the-?!" Kairos gaped. Standing behind the Legion as they were, the Adventurers Guild remained clear from the charge, but only just. "Since when did they¡­?!"

    But there was no point asking any more. It was too late, far too late for questions or regrets.

    The Wilds slammed into the measly wall of Frontier Town, also known as Fort Spoas, and broke through in a matter of seconds.

    The defenses were breached.

    With the sound of thunder, the Beast Wave broke through the town walls. A dozen or so were held back, and as many had been killed or disabled along the way, but roughly forty maddened Tier 3 Wilds tore through and charged straight into town.

    Remian''s heart sank. The earlier light-heartedness and humor evaporated into nothing. Forty Tier 3 Wilds in an unprepared town¡­

    There were roars, there were screams, and then everyone was rushing into town chasing after the Wilds that had gotten through. Only the Iron Legion remained outside, still holding off their dozen Wilds.

    "Go! I''ll be with the Legion!" Kairos offered.

    Remian nodded and went after everyone else. Mandy, Mindy, and the others were already running after the rampaging Wilds. They had scrolls out and Fire Bolts were flying fast and furious, but against Tier 3 Wilds, they may as well have been throwing stones.

    "George! Find Joshu and get him back here, fast!" Remian ordered. "Everyone else, use Light and Smoke to distract the Wilds!"

    At least that way they might hinder the rampaging Wilds a bit. Those Fire Bolts did little more than annoy them.

    "Remian!" Max shouted. "Do your thing!"

    "What thing?!" Remian choked.

    "Your super-spell! Use it!"

    They were counting on him, Remian realized. They didn''t know it was a fluke, and everyone seemed to think he could do it again any time he wanted¡­

    But it was a fluke! To do it again, on purpose¡­

    Could he?

    Heart thundering, Remian drew a sigil in desperation. "LIGHT!!"

    Out came a brilliant Light Orb, bright enough to turn twilight into early evening, but not quite able to burn through anything. It was a very nice, very big Light Orb, but merely a Light Orb nonetheless. The super-powered Light Bolt did not reappear.

    "Oh, scrap." Remian winced. Again, he tried to super-cast, tried to summon that previous desperation and emotion, because the situation really was desperate now¡­

    Come ON, magic! I need this!! WORK!! "LIGHT!"

    A second big fat Light Orb went sailing into the night sky turning early evening into near-morning light.

    "Not THAT! I mean¡­ Kill the Wilds!" Max shouted, as if he needed to clarify himself.

    "I know!" Remian was at his wits end, flooded with too much frustration to summon that previous fear and desperation. "I¡­ I¡­"

    "DO something!" Max yelled.

    "FINE!" Remian tried again, one last time. Draw the sigil, and¡­ "LIGHT!"

    But what emerged was fire.

    It wasn''t even a bolt or an orb or anything Remian had cast before. In fact, what emerged was best described as a stream of flame.

    "WHOA!" Tim almost got scorched as the stream raged past him to fry a hissing three-headed snake trying to break into the Frontier Inn. The hissing turned into shrieks as the snake writhed in fire, then into silence as the snake stopped moving and remained still forever.

    "Yes! THAT!" Max exulted.

    Remian turned to a green ape creature trying to batter the front doors of the church. "FIRE!"

    This time the stream surged out like it was a certain impatient wolfcat wanting dinner. It fell onto the ape with relish and consumed it in moments.

    "Faster! They''re getting away!" Mandy urged him, lobbing a smoke bomb into the face of the biggest Wild in sight, a Tier 4 sized six-tusked elephant.

    "Fire!" Remian gasped, his throat sore from all the yelling. The Fire Stream slammed into the elephant which was already stumbling around blindly. A black patch appeared on its skin as it staggered, and it let out a scream of rage, turning around, blindly charging towards where the stream was coming from.

    Remian ran for his life. He barely managed to get out of the way before the Tier 4 Wild bulled through where he''d stood, running right out the way they had earlier come in.

    "Scatter!" Markus saw it coming and barked an immediate order. The Legionnaires formation spread apart as the elephant stormed through, trampling a pair of unsuspecting Tier 3 Wilds on the way.

    "Melee!" Markus barked next, and drew his sword. The Iron Legion engaged the Wilds outside.

    Screams and shouts and crashing sounds were erupting all over town. The gangs had completely scattered, each running straight to their own territory to defend their own assets and people. Mandy, Mindy, Tim, George, Jane and Kavitha had gone straight for the Frontier Inn, all trying their best to distract or burn an oversized Meerkat attempting to climb through the windows. The inn staff were fighting it off from the other side and appeared to be having a lot more effect.

    One area of town had fallen silent, Remian realized. The entire west side had gone quiet. There were no more shouts or screams to be heard. Turning towards it, he saw various armored men patrolling in squads. The Burning Steel and the Blood Claw gangs were out in full force and had already cleared out their territory.

    But they did not leave it. Two Burning Steel patrols and one group of Blood Claw gangsters were right there on the other side of the town center, looking straight at the Open Frontier Inn where Mandy and the others were struggling to help the inn staff fight off the Wild, and not a single one of them stepped out to help.

    The message was clear; from here on out, it was every gang for their own.

    "Move!" Remian drew a sigil in the air, the same one he''d been using, except that it kept changing shapes on him. "Fire!"

    He roasted the Meerkat. The effort drained him even more. Remian found himself stumbling, his legs gone completely numb. It was hard to breathe, and everything seemed to be growing dark.

    At that point, a shrieking porcupine three times bigger than Remian came dashing around the corner to attack the group trying to help the inn.

    "Use it!" Remian gasped. "Mandy! Use it!"

    Mandy hesitated for one moment. Then, she drew a certain wooden stick and pointed it at the porcupine. "Fire!"

    Don''t tell Buff, but she was actually using his beloved Fire Ball Wand. Remian had her rent it as a last resort to protect herself, and she had to pay 400 points per month for ''rental fees'', but he also said not to use up its power unless she really, really needed to.

    Mandy''s Fire Ball blew up in the porcupine''s face. The porcupine swung its tail even as it collapsed with a charred face. Spikes flew out at Mandy.

    "Move!" Mindy dragged her sister to the side, avoiding the spikes.

    Never again, Remian swore. Never again will I allow them to be in such danger! Next time a Beast Wave comes, we''re going to be fighting it from a fortified building!

    "Fall back!" Remian panted. "Help¡­ the Iron Legion."

    "But¡­" Mandy turned to the north, where the Circling Raven gang fought.

    "They have buildings, and slayers. They can handle it." Remian drew himself up. "Our role is best suited to support and distraction. That works best with a strong front line. I don''t want us to get killed for nothing. Go help the Legion."

    "Well¡­ I think we can still help the others a bit¡­ Remian? Remian are you okay?" Mandy''s voice was fading. The world was fading. Blackness was closing in on all sides.

    Hands were lowering him down, then carrying him up. Remian''s head swam as he was moved to a place that smelled of smoke and beer and overcooked food. Then, they were in a room, and he was laid down on a bed.

    "Defend the inn." Mandy''s voice. Mandy''s sweet voice had turned hoarse. Why was it hoarse?

    "Over here!" Mindy was shouting. "Here!"

    Markus'' voice, coming from the window. "Guard the inn! Double line formation!"

    Markus? The Legion was here, in town? Why guard the inn¡­?

    Right. It was because this was where they could get the most support. Outside town, they''d have their backs to an untold number of Wilds rampaging around. Inside town, fighting at the town center, with their backs to a building full of friendly scroll casters, they had protection and support from behind. They really should have thought of that earlier.

    "We need to build an inn outside." Remian murmured, as the world drifted in a lazy circle around him and shouts and smoke filled the air. "Where we can safely cast spells from and support the Legion¡­"

    Except they wouldn''t need beds or beer or anything else the inn offered, just the building¡­ Remian''s thoughts swam hazily, making no sense and perfect sense at the same time.

    All to suddenly, there was silence. Still muddle-headed, Remian looked up and asked, "What happened?"

    "We did it." Mandy told him in relief. "It''s over. The Beast Wave is done. We''ve won."

    "Really? Did we really¡­?" Remian murmured some more. "Then why does it feel¡­ like we''ve lost?"

    Consciousness faded.

 21 Next Morning

    Markus had his head in his hands. "Eighty dead."

    That was the sum total of casualties when Kairos counted all the funerals requested by the five gangs. The Burning Steel gang, with the best equipment in town, suffered only eight losses. The Secret Waves and the Circling Ravens suffered much worse, each losing two dozen. Either of their losses were as much as the Cruel Rose''s and Blood Claw''s combined.

    "It could have been worse." Max mentioned. "At least our trainees survived. They might have lost a few limbs, but they''re all alive."

    "They''re saying it''s our fault." Markus said grimly. "Since I was the coordinator."

    "Hey, I remember you giving orders. The only ones who followed them were us, the Legion. Everybody else didn''t, and the Wilds broke through their stations, not ours."

    Remian groaned and shifted on the bed.

    They were sitting at his bedside, in one of the rooms of the Open Frontier Inn. For lack of a better place to be, the Iron Legion had ended up staying the night at the inn along with the Adventurers Guild. They had all fought to protect this place; the innkeeper thought it only fair to accommodate them for no charge for a couple of days. They didn''t have many rooms to offer, and they were roughing it out four to a room, but the food was warm and the beds were dry and the Legionnaires did not complain.

    "They want us to pay compensation." Markus went on. "Damages to buildings, condolence money to the families¡­ it totals well over 200,000 Lir."

    "Forget it." Max threw up his hands. "I have half a mind to move our camp to join Remian on the west side. Let them face the next wave without us in between! Let''s see how well they handle it without us!"

    Markus grunted. "They''ll probably all die."

    "Are they even worth saving?" Max scowled.

    Markus sighed. "It''s a nice idea, but you know we can''t do that."

    "For the honor of the Iron Legion." Max made a face. "We''ll all die protecting ingrates for the sake of the Legion''s reputation!"

    "Don''t we always?"

    "Not always." Max muttered, but he did not meet Markus'' gaze.

    "We''ll help you." A hoarse voice said.

    It was Remian. He was awake.

    "Are you all right?!" Max asked at once.

    Markus asked something else. "You heard?"

    Remian nodded to Max, and then again to Markus. "I heard everything. We''ll help you. The Adventurers Guild will give you support in battle against every Beast Wave that comes."

    Max cleared his throat. "That''s great and all, Remian, but if these Beast Waves keep getting stronger, we''re going to need a bit more than lights at night to deal with future Waves. Also, I don''t want to risk the children¡­"

    "Guard towers." Remian summarized in two words. "We might not have the time, manpower or resources to build walls, but we might be able to manage at least one guard tower. If the walls are strong enough, given scrolls and bows¡­ they can help without being in danger."

    "They''re going to be in danger anyway. The whole Frontier is in danger. That''s why it''s the Frontier." Max muttered.

    "We''ll do it." Markus said. "The Legion will build, own, maintain, and run the guard tower on a permanent basis."

    "We will?" Max blinked.

    "During Beast Waves, anyone on long-range support duty will be welcome to make use of the tower." Markus went on. "I will give priority to the especially vulnerable."

    Remian drew a deep breath. "Any chance of a defense wall?"

    Max burst out laughing on the spot. Markus only let out a snort, and shook his head wordlessly. A tower was really all they could manage at this point.

    They were going to need to build a really tough one if it were to survive a charge from a creature like last night''s Tier 4 elephant. That thing had led the Wave and broken right through the town wall in a single charge all by itself. Whatever tower they built was going to have to be tougher than the previous wall. A lot tougher.

    Markus and Max left the room. Mandy came in next with a bowl of hot soup. Mindy came too, and she had some bread¡­ but¡­ "Mindy? What''s wrong? Why are you crying?"

    Mindy didn''t answer. She just dropped the bread into the soup and ran out the door.

    Remian''s heart was in his throat. "Is everyone all right?"

    "We are." Mandy assured him. "But¡­ we''ve lost friends, back at the Raven Tavern. Kage alone couldn''t protect everyone all the time." Her voice was heavy.

    "How bad?" Remian asked quietly.

    "Half the tavern is destroyed. More than twenty Ravens died in the fighting." Mandy closed her eyes. "Ten of them were not much older than Mindy. They died to knives."

    "Knives?" Remian stared. "Wait. That''s not possible. Wilds don''t use knives."

    "Wilds don''t. Gangsters do." Mandy said, in a voice like ice.

    Remian felt his blood run cold. "Is that why the gangs don''t really mind Beast Waves? So they could use them as an excuse to murder?!"

    "They''re not like that!" Mandy protested. "The Ravens¡­ we¡­ they¡­ they''re not like that!"

    No longer ''we'' but ''they''. Remian appreciated Mandy making the distinction. "We need to ramp up the training. Everyone needs to be able to defend themselves in a fight. Even the kids."

    "Especially the kids." Mandy agreed tightly. "They were safer on the battlefield with the Iron Legion than they were on the north side with the Cruel Rose Gang."

    "Bring them out." Remian suggested. "Bring the Ravens to the south side with the Legion, or all the way out to the western hills with our Guild. They''ll be safer there."

    "It''s not up to me." Mandy shook her head. "It''s up to Aunt Sara."

    "But you can talk to her."

    "I can try." Mandy bit her lip. "But it will be hard to persuade her. It''s not just about safety, it''s about business and profits and cost, and being able to access the airship¡­"

    "We''ll find a way around town to reach the airship when it lands. We''ll just have to trek across the hills and a little patch of desert."

    "It''s a lot harder to move crates across hills and deserts than town roads." Mandy pointed out. "Also, a lot of the goods in production can''t be moved so easily."

    "What goods? What do the Ravens produce?" Remian asked.

    "What do you think? Beer, mainly. Some wines too. Ever tried to move a barrel of beer over a few hills?"

    Remian''s face fell. "That would definitely be troublesome."

    It also explains why George was so hard up about making a beer that children could drink.

    "Can we recruit them?" Remian wondered. "Just¡­ swoop in and take all the children with us to the Guild and turn them all into Adventurers?"

    "Not everybody wants to explore the unknown, or hunt Wilds or poke around old ruins." Mandy pointed out. "Some of us just want to stay home and brew beer."

    "Maybe if we started our own brewery?"

    "Then we''d be directly competing with the Ravens and turn into their enemies. Joining the Guild would amount to betrayal. Just leave them be, Remian. I know you want to protect everybody but starting a brewery is just asking for trouble."

    "But it''s okay to start an inn?"

    "The Ravens main income is from the drinks. That is true for both the inn and the tavern. For us to open an inn is adding another customer to the beer sales, since they''d be our suppliers. For us to open a brewery is to steal customers away from it."

    "Still. Opening an inn sounds like gambling with the Ravens."

    "No, gambling is what the Blood Claw does. Ravens only do alcohol."

    "I was just kidding." Remian let out a deep breath. "So the Burning Steel Gang are arms dealers, the Cruel Rose are slave-traders, the Blood Claw runs gambling dens, the Ravens sell alcohol, and the Secret Waves¡­?"

    "They refine and sell Wonder Oil. It''s a kind of chemical that gives you very nice dreams." Mandy supplied.

    "Drugs." Remian summarized. "Why am I not surprised?"

    "It has good uses too." Mandy mentioned. "That nun Rhema uses it to treat badly injured people sometimes."

    "Yeah, well, we need to become more powerful than them. Stronger, richer, and more influential." Remian paused. "We need to corner the market on all goods from the Wilds and the wilderness. That''s why we need to get the hunters and the explorers on board."

    "But the airship¡­"

    "Once we have enough volume in goods to entice them, we should be able to get the airship to come to us at the western hills." Remian thought about it. "At that point, we should build an airport."

    "Won''t we have to defend it from Beast Waves?" Mandy queried.

    "Maybe. Or maybe not. I mean¡­ we''re not worried about the Guild over on the western hills, right?"

    "Of course not. Carrie and Buff are there. Why would Wilds attack it when we have Wilds guarding it? At least, I hope they''re guarding it."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean, we left a lot of meat in storage, and I''m not sure how much of it would be left by the time we get back."

    Remian barked a laugh. "There is that. But I won''t begrudge those two a good meal. We can always hunt more meat, but how often do we have a chance to befriend Tier 4 Wilds? We''ll just count it as payment, or if they really ate a lot, we can take it out from their points."

    "Let''s go see, shall we?" Mandy suggested.

    "Let''s." Remian got up to leave.

    But when they finally did get back to the Guild, they found Carrie and Buff had caught someone and had the prisoner cornered between them.

    "Save me!" the man pleaded, eyeing the fangs and claws most casually displayed by his captors.

    Mandy was astonished to see him. "Uncle Simmons?"

    "You know this man?" Remian queried.

    "Yeah. He''s Aunt Sara''s biggest advisor." Mandy replied. "What is he doing here?"

    "Looking for you!" Simmons blurted. "I was worried!"

    Carrie snarled, showing her fangs some more.

    "Carrie¡­? What''s the matter?" Mandy was perplexed.

    [Danger!] Carrie''s instincts formed very voluble thoughts. Remian could hear it in his own head very sharply. [Bad man!]

    "Carrie, back off!" Mandy scolded.

    [No!] Carrie growled.

    "Remian! Do something!" Mandy tugged at his arm.

    "Wait. Just¡­ hold on a minute. Something''s wrong here." Remian told her. "Something is very, very wrong."

 22 Under Blinding Ligh

    Around sunset yesterday, while the defenders were preparing to fend off the Beast Wave, an elderly skinny man crept into the new headquarters of the Cruel Rose gang.

    "Mr. Simmons!" Cruel Rose greeted him as a guest. "You came at last!"

    "Yes, I have been waiting for this day for a long time!" Mr. Simmons smiled, a creepy, toothy grin. "I wanted to come earlier, but I had to wait until everyone was busy with the Beast Wave. I certainly don''t want Kage to barge in on me when I take Mandy''s first time! You have kept her for me, haven''t you?"

    "Um¡­ about that¡­" Rose flinched.

    "You HAVE kept her for me, haven''t you?!" Simmons glared. "We had a deal! How could you offer her to someone else?! You¡­"

    "Watch your tongue, Simmons!" Rose snarled. "I offered her to no one!"

    "She gave herself away before you could get to her?" Simmons stared. "I can''t believe it."

    "That''s¡­ I don''t know either." Rose hesitated.

    "What are you talking about? You just said¡­"

    "She''s not here! She never was!" Rose let it out at last. "Someone else bought her before I could bring her to work!"

    "What?" Simmons stared. "But the contract¡­ the slave bond¡­"

    "It triggered correctly." Rose said. "But then someone else offered me a deal I couldn''t refuse. You know how it is. Business is business."

    Simmons stared at her blankly for a moment, then roared. "Who? Who took her?"

    "Remian Vin." Rose answered. "She is his slave now."

    Simmons choked. "Who? I don''t even know who that is!"

    "He''s a powerful mage, an agent of the Iron Legion." Rose shook her head. "I want no trouble with the Legion! If you have an issue with that, take it up with them."

    "But¡­ but that''s impossible!" Simmons protested. "The Legion doesn''t take slaves!"

    "Tell them that." Rose snorted. "I hear they put her to work building some sort of Adventurers Guild."

    "Manual labor?!" Simmons gasped. "A pretty thing like Mandy, roughening her hands and burning her smooth, sweet skin under the burning sun to do construction work?! What a waste! She should be here, for me, and¡­ and¡­!"

    "They''re over the hills on the west side of the city. There''s a trail burned into the ground leading all the way there from the south side gate." Rose told him.

    "West, eh¡­?" Simmons frowned. "There''s a Beast Wave going on at the south side right now. But perhaps my old friends in the Burning Steel could put one of those old quarry elevators to good use¡­"

    "Well, you better hurry. There''s no telling how long this Beast Wave will last." Rose snorted.

    Simmons departed.

    ***

    Upon arrival, he found the place seemingly deserted. There was only a little Tier 1 wolfcat cub playing around the unmanned construction site. Simmons took the liberty of examining Mandy''s workplace, trying to figure out the easiest way to bully her new owner into giving her to him.

    He did not seem like the ''powerful mage'' Rose implied. Most of the construction done here look to have been done with muscles and sweat, not magic. The food stored up were smoked meats or dried rations that anyone could cook up, no different from what you could get at the market, or from any of a dozen hunters around the Frontier. They did not seem particularly wealthy either.

    That was good. Simmons rubbed his hands, ignoring the furious barking of that silly wolfcat cub. Even if this ''agent'' proved to be too important to the Legion to bully, Simmons could simply offer more money. Dealing with poor people was very simple that way. Put up enough coin and every problem was easily solved.

    In fact, the poorer he was, the better that tactic would work. Simmons mused as he considered the half-built Hall, and the stores of meat. This was a kitchen, and a little carelessness could easily cause an accidental fire¡­ if a fire so happened to burn everything down, this agent would be destitute¡­ a destitute, desperate man would be a lot easier to bargain with.

    A little kitchen fire burning down everything could make that agent desperate enough to accept a far lower price, even half of what he''d normally settle for. For the sake of his own purse, Simmons decided to teach that agent a lesson in fire safety by demonstrating what happened when a kitchen fire ran out of control¡­

    "Shut up!" Simmons kicked at the Tier 1 wolfcat cub who, at this point, was barking and growling at him frenziedly.

    The crazy critter wouldn''t let up! It snarled and growled, and even snapped at him when he tried to set a half-bale of straw on fire. Meanwhile, Simmons looked around to see if they had any alcohol stored away. Was that a beer cask? That would be useful for a fire¡­

    The wolfcat cub bit him on the leg.

    "Aargh!" Simmons kicked it furiously.

    "YIYIYI!" the cub yelped in pain.

    "You filthy little¡­!" Simmons roared, advancing on it.

    That was when a much deeper, much louder, much more fearsome growl sounded from behind him. Simmons turned to see an absolute monster of a wolfcat baring her fangs at him.

    At that point, Simmons began to have a very bad day.

    The huge wolfcat snarled and lunged, taking a bite at him. Simmons screamed and dropped everything, running into the Guild Hall and scrambling to build some sort of barricade.

    The wolfcat kept coming. Simmons kept running. He fled out the side, and ran a whole circle around the Hall, the wolfcat snapping at his ankles the entire time.

    "Uwaaaaah!" the shriek that resounded around the Adventurers Guild was remarkably high pitch and more suited to a four year old girl than a forty year old man.

    They went a second round, the wolfcat''s teeth so close, they began to shred his clothes just centimeters from his skin. "MOMMYYYYYYY!!!"

    At the third round, a bear emerged, roaring angrily, holding its nose. Apparently there was a really bad smell coming from a certain fleeing individual, specifically from the middle portion of his trousers¡­

    A fourth round went by and words had completely failed the unsuspecting arsonist-wannabe. The sounds coming from his throat now resembled the squealing of an immature pig¡­

    At the fifth round, not even fear could supply the gasping fellow with energy any more. Completely spent, he collapsed at the entrance of the hall. It was hours before he could so much as raise his head and the first thing he saw was the giant wolfcat just waiting and watching him outside the hall.

    That was when he crawled into a corner with both the big wolfcat and the big bear creeping closer and closer to him, fangs and claws all on display¡­

    Once backed into the corner, he huddled there, staying very, very still, not even daring to clean himself or his soiled pants.

    Such was the situation in which Remian and the others found him in when they got back.

    ***

    "What are you doing here?" Remian asked, glancing at Carrie.

    "I just wanted to see how Mandy was doing! I was concerned¡­"

    Carrie snarled. [He tried to set the kitchen and the Hall on fire! And he kicked Vigil!]

    "Guys, take a look around. Is anything amiss?" Remian sent the others out searching.

    "Remian? What¡­?" Mandy stared, confused.

    "This¡­ BEAST!" Simmons pointed to Carrie, trembling. "This horrible beast! It chased me for hours! It''s violent and evil and¡­ and¡­! I demand you put it down! Kill it! Sell the skins or whatever, I don''t care, but KILL it!"

    "Carrie? What is going on?" Mandy asked, stroking the wolfcat gently. "You''re not normally so¡­ fierce."

    "Buff? What say you?" Remian questioned.

    [What she said.] Buff answered shortly.

    Vigil crept up to Remian. [He wouldn''t listen to me! I told him not to steal stuff! I told him not to burn the kitchen! I warned him and warned him¡­ and then I tried to stop him¡­ and he kicked me!]

    "There must be some sort of misunderstanding." Mandy tried to broker some peace.

    Vigil''s brows furrowed, and then a sudden flash of memory floated into Remian''s mind.

    Remian viewed Vigil''s memories in a split second and paused. [That does seem rather hard to misunderstand.]

    "They attacked me! They''re beasts! The Beast Wave¡­ why aren''t you killing them already?!" Simmons shouted.

    "Because they are our friends and you tried to steal and destroy our base." Remian said softy.

    "R-Remian¡­?" Mandy hesitated.

    Remian raised a hand. In the air, he drew a sigil. "Truth!"

    Light blazed. It was blinding. Everyone except Remian stumbled, closing their eyes. Mandy herself fell back, gasping.

    "I¡­ I just¡­" Simmons stared, struggling. "I¡­"

    "Confess!" Remian seized the sigil in his hand. The sigil blazed even brighter until everyone had to turn away.

    "I came to destroy you!" He howled. "I will destroy everything you have! And when you have nothing left, I will take her away, and she will finally be mine!"

    "What¡­?!" Mandy gasped. "Why? I don''t understand!"

    "Confess!" Remian ordered.

    "Because I want her! Therefore she must belong to me! She will never get away!" He shrieked. "She is always teasing me, with her looks, and her sweet, sweet body¡­ but it''s all a lie! All of it! They are all false promises! She never accepted my advances! Year after year, she rejects me, and then taunts me with a smile! No more! I did everything, betrayed everyone, sold everyone, to make her submit to me!"

    Mandy''s face was pale. "Simmons¡­ what have you done? What have you DONE?!"

    "Confess!" Remian roared, and the light blazed.

    Simmons screamed. "I made a deal! She promised! She promised me Mandy would be mine! And so I told her¡­ While Kage was guarding Sara, I brought Donny away from the Tavern and then I told her¡­!"

    "You! It was you!" Mandy gasped. "That is why the Rose Gang attacked! The children¡­ they were defenseless! Because YOU¡­!"

    "Because I kept the peace!" Simmons shouted. "Because I am there, the Cruel Rose does not attack! I give them what they want, just a little, and in return, we have peace! I am what keeps the children safe! I am what keeps the beer flowing! I am the reason for the Ravens'' survival! Because of me we can prosper! We only need to give her a little bit from time to time¡­"

    "You''re giving her our children!" Mandy screamed. "They trusted us! They trusted you! And YOU¡­!"

    "Guahh!" Simmons suddenly choked, spluttered. Then, there was a soft groan, and the sound of something collapsing.

    Hearing that, Remian stopped pouring power into the Light of Truth spell. It was a small spell, by rights, a little something the priests used in confessionals. It wasn''t usually able to make people do anything they didn''t already want to, but this one had been super-powered by a very stressed, very angry Remian. At least it came out as light rather than fire. The light had been blinding, and nobody could see what happened at the very end.

    But when they did, they stared. "Mindy?"

    Mindy was standing there, sobbing, tears dripping down her face uncontrollably, her hands white-knuckled on a knife driven straight into Simmons'' chest.

 23 No, its me!

    "Mindy¡­!" Mandy gasped. "No¡­ this¡­"

    "It''s fine. I''ll take full responsibility for it." Remian told her, stepping forward. He crouched down and put both arms around Mindy. He hugged her tightly. "Let go, Mindy. Let it go."

    "Isabelle¡­ Jamie¡­ Siti¡­ Juni¡­ Loh¡­ Karen¡­" Mindy didn''t let go of the knife. She shivered uncontrollably. "Gary¡­ Tamera¡­ everyone¡­ everyone¡­!"

    "Let go." Remian pulled at her hands, trying to wrest them from the knife.

    Then, Mindy froze. Her shaking stopped. She stared at her hands, at the knife. "I¡­ I killed¡­"

    "Let go." Remian tugged her away. Her hands were still stuck on the knife; the knife came away from the body; Simmons'' corpse tilted over and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

    "I killed him¡­!" Mindy whispered, her voice suddenly turning to horror. She dropped the knife. "I killed him!"

    "No! He''s still alive!" George was there suddenly. He grabbed the knife, and stabbed it into Simmons'' body viciously. "There! NOW he''s dead! See? You didn''t kill him! It was me! I did it!"

    Again and again, he stabbed the corpse. "Mindy didn''t kill anyone! I did it! I''m the one who killed Simmons! Mindy is innocent! It was me!!"

    Tim pounced. He laid his hands on the knife and rammed it in deep. "You didn''t stab deep enough. He was still alive. I''M the one who killed Simmons!"

    Jane and Kavitha piled on. "No! I did it!" "No, it''s me!"

    "What are you all talking about?" Remian barked. "When we came back, we found the Guild Hall and the kitchen burned to the ground, with this body already burned inside it¡­ He set the fire, and the Wilds cornered him inside, and so¡­ he¡­"

    "No need for that." Mandy said, pulling the four of them off the body one by one. "There was no fire, and children couldn''t possibly have killed Simmons. It was me. He wanted to **** me, and it was self-defense¡­"

    CHOMP! The moment Mandy got the children clear of the body, Carrie went ahead and took a bite. [Bleurgh! It tastes bad!]

    But she went on chomping. She even crunched the skull in between her teeth and swallowed.

    Then, she sat down, waved her tail and innocently asked, [Did something happen?]

    Remian sighed. [You could have done that earlier, saved Mindy some trauma.]

    [I wasn''t sure if he was a friend or foe. Even bad people might be friends, you never know.] Carrie pointed out. [Like Buff.]

    [I''m not bad!] Buff protested. [Wait! No! I mean¡­ I''m not your friend! But I''m bad! I''m totally badass!]

    [Whatever.] Carrie sniffed. With both her nose and her tail high in the air, she daintily marched out of the Guild Hall looking proud of herself. [If anyone asks, there was a Beast Wave last night. Simmons was eaten by a Wild.]

    That¡­ was actually true.

    But as the others slowly cleared out, three figures remained; Remian, Mandy and Mindy. Remian stayed where he was, with Mindy. She had started shaking again.

    At length, he spoke softly. "This is the Frontier. It''s kill, or be killed. You do what you have to in order to protect those who are important to you. That''s all it is."

    But Mindy shook her head. "That''s¡­ not¡­ I was angry¡­ so sad and so angry¡­"

    "You wanted to avenge your friends. What would have happened if Simmons was allowed to go free?" Remian asked. "He would have sold more and more of your friends into slavery. And your sister¡­"

    Mindy stiffened. She stopped shaking completely.

    "You have to be strong. You can''t just rely on the Ravens gang to protect you. You have to become strong enough to stand on your own. This is the Frontier. You understand?" Remian said softly. "It is the same for me, and Mandy, and everyone else. We must become stronger to survive."

    "Why did you come here?" Mindy asked, out of the blue. "If this is such a terrible place, why did you come here? Why did you leave your nice safe home and come all the way to this crazy dangerous Frontier?"

    "Because I needed room to grow." Remian told her. "This place is dangerous, but it is also rich with opportunities¡­ if we only had the strength to grasp them."

    "But it''s full of bad people! Cruel Rose, and Simmons, and¡­ and me¡­"

    "You''re nowhere near as bad as Rose and Simmons." Remian snorted. "If everyone here were like you, Frontier Town would be a much nicer place. You and your friends are some of the best people in town and that''s the truth."

    "Better than you?"

    "I''m not IN town." Remian rubbed her head. "Nobody is better than me. I''m the bestest there is!"

    "Liar! There''s no bestest anywhere!" Mindy pouted.

    "Really? Why don''t you ask your sister?" Remian turned to her.

    "Mandy? Is Remian the bestest there is?" Mindy asked cheekily.

    "What are you saying?" Mandy snorted. "I''M the bestest there is!"

    That began a whole new argument in a much lighter mood. There was no more talk of killing that day.

    ***

    But that night, after a day of skinning, cleaning, and smoking carcasses from the Beast Wave, George found Mindy shivering by herself in that same corner of the Guild Hall.

    Quietly, he sat down next to her. He didn''t say anything for a long time.

    "What?" Mindy asked, at last.

    Slowly, George replied. "The first time I killed a man, it was in the Raven Tavern kitchen. He had slipped in when Kage was out front dealing with a fight between two Masked Ravens. I don''t know who he was or where he was from, but he saw me and he rushed at me with a knife. I ducked, and tried to ward him off¡­ and I was actually also holding a knife at the time. He ran right into it. When Mandy found me, I was still there with him, my hand and the knife all stuck in his guts. I couldn''t eat or sleep for days."

    Mindy blinked. "When was that?"

    "Last year." George answered. "That was the time when I shifted to gardening and never went back to kitchen duty."

    Mindy was astounded. "I never knew."

    "Mandy said she was the one who did it." George shook his head. "It wasn''t."

    There was another long silence.

    Then, "She''s always been protecting us." Mindy said softly. "But who''s going to protect her?"

    "Remian." George answered very shortly.

    "Well, I''m going to do it anyway." Mindy said, drawing herself together. "I''ll protect her too."

    "Count me in." George added simply.

    They spoke no more.

    ***

    That night, a gang war broke out in Frontier Town.

    Closing their establishments early, the Blood Claw gang made an all-out attack on the Secret Waves Gang. They first demanded surrender, then sought to drive the Secret Waves gang from the East side, intending to claim that entire area as their own territory.

    The fighting went on for hours.

    As a result¡­ by morning, the few straggling survivors of the Blood Claw gang ran away from the east side with their tails between their legs. They tried to run home, only to find that their gambling den had already been taken over by the Burning Steel. Wounded and weak, they stood no chance of taking it back.

    That was the end of the Blood Claw gang. In a single night, they sought to take down the ''weakest'' gang''s territory for their own and found their own demise.

    With that, the balance of power shifted, and the Burning Steel became more powerful than ever. At the same time, people began to look at the Secret Waves Gang with a great deal more respect.

    That was when the Cruel Rose Gang once again turned their eyes upon the Circling Ravens taking up half the north side. They were going to make a drastic move, soon.

    This time, Simmons would not be there to talk them out of it.

 24 Inflood

    Joshu came back with his first successful Recruitment at breakfast the next day.

    "This is Xia." He introduced a tanned, tall, round-faced huntress.

    "Hi." Xia said one word. That was all.

    "She''s agreed to join up." Joshu added on her behalf.

    Xia bobbed her head once. That was all.

    "Welcome aboard, Xia!" Mandy greeted her. "Please read the charter, and the registration form, and if everything checks out, you can sign here¡­"

    Xia signed the form immediately. She didn''t even glance at the charter or the form itself.

    "Uh¡­ okay¡­" Mandy cleared her throat. "Come have breakfast before you start doing any jobs."

    Xia straightaway took up a bowl of oat porridge and started gobbling as if she hadn''t eaten for days. Remian began to wonder if that was really the main reason why she signed on so urgently¡­

    "Can we count on her?" he asked Joshu.

    "I believe so. She doesn''t speak much, but she''s a serious girl." Joshu said. "I have two other hunters coming later today who aren''t so serious. Now, THEM, I''d be worried about."

    With a quick report, Joshu was credited with three more successful Tier 2 Exploration Missions to contact the hunters'' homes. This, added to his previous missions, three successful First Invites and one successful Recruitment (so far) very quickly earned him over 11,000 points. This not only had him ranked First, Joshu was officially the first Tier 3 Adventurer in the guild.

    "Congratulations!" Remian made the announcement to scattered applause. "I''m going to make you a special gift for being the first to reach Tier 3!"

    "Really? You''re not going to make me the leader of the Guild, are you? Because I''m really not good with that sort of thing." Joshu squinted.

    "No, no, the Guild Leader is still going to be me." Remian said straight off. "But I''m going to make you a magic bow."

    "You can do that?" Joshu gaped.

    "I think so. If it doesn''t work, I''ll give you a set of Tier 2 scrolls as a prize instead." Remian offered.

    Joshu''s face fell. "I''m not too good with magic either. Even using scrolls is hard."

    "You can sell them. The airship is due today or tomorrow." Remian pointed out.

    "Right! Of course!" Joshu grinned. He might not know how to use Tier 2 scrolls, but he most certainly knew how to use money.

    "Wuff." Carrie suddenly got up, ears twitching. [People are coming.]

    "They''re here already?" Remian turned to Joshu. "I thought you said those two hunters weren''t coming until later today."

    "They''re not¡­" Joshu frowned. "They shouldn''t be here until after lunch at the least."

    [Many people.] Carrie added. [At least ten.]

    "Ten?!" Remian leapt to his feet. "Everyone, prepare for combat!"

    There was a flurry of activity. People grabbed weapons, or whatever they could find to use as weapons, including a broom, two mugs, and a stool.

    But then they heard a yell, "Help! Mandy sis! Help us!"

    "Amy!" Mandy dropped the stool and ran out the door at once. Remian was right behind her. Outside, they found a lot of familiar faces. "Kage! Everyone!"

    Kage stumbled forward, supported by no less than five children, followed by six more. He looked hurt, and half the children were crying. Most of them weren''t even as old as Mindy. The youngest one was only six or seven.

    "What happened?" Mandy gasped, running forward to help Kage.

    "The Cruel Rose gang." Amy cried. "They¡­ they¡­"

    "Shelter¡­" Kage suddenly turned to Remian. "Please¡­"

    "Of course!" Remian waved them in. "Come in! Tim! We need more food! And lots of hot soup!"

    "I''ll help!" Mindy dashed to the kitchens. George went with her.

    "I''ll go keep watch." Joshu stood up.

    "Everyone, sit down¡­" Mandy ushered them to benches.

    [Here.] Carrie lay down. [Bring them over to me.]

    "Over here." Remian sat down with his back to Carrie, patting the floor beside him. "Bring everyone over."

    They weren''t afraid of the big wolfcat. Mindy and the others had told so many stories¡­ They huddled there while Mandy tended to Kage''s wounds. Mindy brought them food while George and Tim bustled in the kitchen. Jane and Kavitha were trying to comfort them. Remian got up and waved Buff over. "Guard the door."

    With a bear guarding the door, and their backs up against a gentle giant wolfcat, the children lost their fear very quickly, but the tears did not subside so easily. Vigil joined them and the wolfcat cub volunteered himself to get stroked and patted while they ate.

    Mandy and the others went about soothing the children until the crying stopped and they ate or slept or talked or played with the cub in an uneasy peace. Remian, meanwhile sat with Kage.

    "How bad?" That was all he asked.

    "Everything." Kage answered shortly. "It''s all over."

    Remian hesitated. "Any other survivors?"

    "Maybe."

    There was a short silence.

    "You''re welcome to join us." Remian said then.

    "And the children?" Kage asked.

    "You''re all welcome to join us." Remian clarified. "Especially the children."

    "Really?" Mandy perked up. "I mean¡­ that''s a lot of mouths to feed. Can we really afford it¡­? Won''t we be really, really poor if we had to feed and clothe so many children? Won''t they be a huge burden to us?"

    "Is that the way the Circling Ravens thought?" Remian stared. "That the children were a burden?! Mandy, I''d give every scroll I have to recruit even just one of these kids into the Guild. To have them all would be awesome!"

    "Really? But won''t it be too much trouble to babysit everyone? Would we even have time for anything else like that?" Mandy questioned.

    Remian snorted. "Babysit? Whatever for?"

    Mandy stared. "Remian, you can''t just take on a dozen children and let them run around wild! You have to take responsibility for them, and their needs, and raise them up right! Otherwise, in the future¡­"

    "What? What do you expect in the future?" Remian asked.

    Mandy bit her lip. "Beggars and slaves, and more employees for Rose."

    Remian shook his head. "That only happens if we kick them out."

    "Then what do you expect will happen if we take them in?"

    Remian thought for a moment. "Five years. In five years, the Adventurers Guild will become the most powerful force in Frontier Town, and all the gangs would be wiped out."

    "Wiped out?!" Mandy stared.

    "Completely. Without a trace." Remian said.

    "You sound so certain¡­" Mandy shook her head. "But I don''t see how. They''re just children, and the Cruel Rose Gang won''t just let them grow up in peace."

    At that, Remian actually burst out laughing. "That won''t even matter. The Cruel Rose Gang won''t even last one year, let alone five."

    Mandy stared at him, astonished. "What makes you so sure?"

    "Because," Remian''s smile turned cold. "I''m going to make sure they won''t."

    He only took two minutes to explain. There was a Plan A, and there was a Plan B¡­

    Kage and all the children with him heard it and joined the Adventurers Guild on the spot.

 25 Downfall and Rise

    It began with fire.

    Cruel Rose was enjoying herself at the time. Her closest enemies were destroyed. The north side was hers, at last. Madam Sara, the leader of the Ravens, was bound to a pillar in the middle of the dining hall, gagged with both legs broken. Wrapped around her broken legs was the dead body of the Ravens'' Slayer, Donny. Unable to fight, unable to flee, unable even to curse, taunted by Rose and her lieutenants on every side, all Madam Sara could do was glare at them through reddened eyes.

    But all of a sudden, shouts interrupted the revelry. "Fire! We''re on fire!!"

    Who dared disturb the festivities?! The boss and her top lackeys were in the middle of celebrating the destruction of the Circling Ravens and the complete domination of the north side!

    A man burst in. "Boss! We''re on fire!"

    "Did someone mess around with the book again?!" Rose demanded crossly, irked at being disturbed in her moment of gloat-worthy triumph. "Where is it?"

    "Everywhere!" he said, eyes wild. "It came from the sky! There was a strong wind, and then there was fire everywhere!"

    "Everywhere?" Rose leapt to her feet. This was not the doing of some prankster playing around with that rubbish basic fire book.

    "Everywhere! Half the north side is burning, and it''s too strong! We can''t put it out!"

    More screams erupted. "Stop him! Stop- aargh!!"

    "It''s Kage. It has to be." Ye''Tuo licked his lips. "He is already injured. This won''t take long."

    Sure enough, a glint of silver struck at his neck. Ye''Tuo caught it with his dinner fork before it could slice his neck; a small throwing star dropped to the floor. He turned his cold gaze to the doorway; there, with three companions, was the black garbed figure they expected to see.

    The three behind him, though, were not figures they expected.

    Madam Sara''s eyes lit up. Her gaze gloried in this unexpected vengeance.

    "Remian¡­ and Markus?" Rose stared in disbelief. "And who is that?!"

    Instead of Kage, Remian answered. "I''m not sure if you''ve noticed, Rose¡­ but the airship just arrived."

    "When? And what does that have to do with anything?" Rose demanded.

    "About two minutes ago." Remian figured. "And its arrival spells your doom."

    "T-two minutes?" Rose stared. "What did you do?! How did all this¡­?!"

    "I just talked to a few of my friends and they agreed you had to be removed." Remian paused. "Come on, Rose, you had to know this was going to happen. The Legion doesn''t tolerate slavery, and there are a lot of mages concerned about magic books falling into the wrong hands."

    "But that was YOUR doing! You sold me the Fire Book!" Rose screamed.

    "I traded it to save Mandy''s life. It was a hostage situation. All I had to do was explain that." Remian said, sounding very patient. "And thank you for taking the time to talk to me."

    "W-what do you mean?" Rose stammered.

    "You''ve just given Charlie the time he needed to draw his Sigils." Remian explained. Then, he tapped his wrist and said, "Light!"

    There was a burst of power, and white light flooded the room.

    "Slicing Wind!" An unfamiliar voice said.

    There was the sound of whistling. As the blinding light faded, sprays of blood fountained all across the room.

    "As promised." The unfamiliar man said shortly. "The fat one is yours."

    "Thanks." Kage stepped forward, drawing his dagger.

    "Ye''Tuo¡­" Rose began, then froze.

    Ye''Tuo''s body slumped down in his seat, eyes wide, blood dripping from his slashed throat. There were three slashes on it, all of them lethal. On the throats of the other dead people around her, there were five. In a single move, within mere seconds, everyone was dead.

    "A Wind Mage¡­?" Rose remembered the voice had commanded ''wind''. Sudden understanding flooded her. "The airship!"

    "How many times must I tell you guys? Don''t compare me to those weak little wind mages!" The unfamiliar man grouched. "I am a Storm Mage! See those cuts? That''s made by sharp, solid blades, not moving air! Wind can''t do that! But ice can! They just need wind to move them around some¡­"

    But Cruel Rose wasn''t listening any more. She was jerking and twitching uncontrollably in her seat with Kage''s knife driven right through her back. The sharp point of it stuck out from the middle of her chest. He stabbed a couple more times on both the left and right sides of her chest just to make sure, then decided to take her head off completely just in case.

    By that time, Markus already had the gag off Madam Sara and was cutting her loose.

    "Thank you." She whispered. "You will always be welcome in the north side."

    Remian cleared his throat. "About that¡­ actually¡­ it''s more like the other way around."

    "What do you mean?" Sara asked, unsteadily.

    "The Ravens are gone, and the Rose Gang is done for. Everything is burning down. Afterwards, the Iron Legion will be moving their camp to the north side and building a new airport here." Remian explained.

    "But¡­ but¡­!" Sara turned. "Kage?"

    "I''m with them." Kage answered shortly.

    Madam Sara fainted.

    ***

    They looted the buildings and set them on fire. Twenty Legionnaire Trainees and a Storm Mage burned a fire-break in between the town center and the north side, a border of ash thirty feet wide preventing the fire from spreading to the rest of town. Charlie easily made sure it wouldn''t.

    Oh, right. The Iron Legion had twenty trainees there now, not just ten. The airship had brought ten more trainees and a couple more veterans this week. With the Cruel Rose gang severely weakened after their fight with the Circling Ravens, and then distracted and burned by a wind-assisted fire spread, twenty trainees taking them by surprise were more than enough to finish them off.

    Along with the Legion trainees, the airship had also brought a couple more priests and most importantly, the Storm Mage Charlie. He was NOT happy with Remian using the book to buy Mandy, but he agreed that before he poured out his wrath on Remian, they first needed to deal with Rose.

    Now Rose was dealt with and there was not much to do other than watch the fire burn everything to a crisp, Charlie had a great many things to say in a very loud, wind-assisted voice that resembled thunder, and Remain was not spared any of it¡­

    They probably heard him scold Remian all the way back at the Adventurers Guild. Carrie and Buff were there with Joshu and Xia and the children. It was best they did not get involved with all this.

    As for the other denizens of the north side, namely the surviving members of the Cruel Rose Gang, well¡­ frankly speaking, the only survivors were the employees of the brothel. They and Madam Sara were staring at the flames with all sorts of changing expressions on their faces. Nobody, not even they, were entirely sure whether they were happy or sad about the whole deal.

    It didn''t matter. This area was Legion territory now, except for the airport. According to their deal, Charlie would own 24% of it. Also, in return for help in building the airport, the Adventurers Guild would own another 24%.

    The fires burned all night and long into the next morning.

    ***

    The next day, the Job board was swamped with missions related to building the airport. There were gathering material missions ranked at Tier 2 and Tier 3; there were delivery missions that involved moving materials from the Guild to the north side, ranked Tier 1 in difficulty, but offering rewards to match Tier 2 missions; there were escort missions for the material gatherers¡­

    But first, there were classes. Remian and Mandy divided the children into five groups following each of the older kids, and the older kids became leaders of their own little squads. Tim Squad and George Squad learned swords and spears with Max at the Iron Legion; Jane Squad and Kavitha Squad took up archery training with Joshu and Xia; Mindy Squad stayed with Mandy and Remian and trained to use magic scrolls.

    Afterwards, all five Squads went to the riverside and loaded up cart after cart of clay under the protection of a giant wolfcat and a bear. Joshu, Xia and the two new hunters went hunting some Tier 3 Wild farther out; Max was busy with Legion business; Mandy was going about setting up bedding in the cave and piling straw around for warmth. Remian stayed with the children, keeping an eye on them and jotting down notes in a scroll.

    They had lunch by the river side. Mandy brought the smoked Tier 2 meat all the way from the Guild, and noticed Remian''s writing. "Are you inscribing a new kind of scroll?"

    "No, I''m just taking notes." Remian explained.

    "On what?"

    "On them." Remian nodded to the kids. "I think we might want to let them switch squads sometimes."

    "Why? We arranged them according to how well they got along with the leaders." Mandy reminded.

    "That''s the thing. One of Jane''s friends kept trying to swing her bow around like a sword. And one of Tim''s friends kept drawing in the sand instead of paying attention to combat class."

    "Which means¡­?"

    "I think we can move Jane''s friend to Tim''s squad and Tim''s friend to Mindy''s. Things like that."

    "But their behavior might change tomorrow depending on their mood. I think it''s still better for them just to be with those they''re closer to." Mandy went on.

    Remian considered it, balancing relations against activities. "Why don''t we let them choose for themselves, next time?"

    "Does that mean you''re disbanding the squads? Everyone on their own?"

    "No way. This is a great chance for Mindy and the older ones to learn leadership for real. It''s a priceless opportunity. We should let them make as much of it as they can." Remian eyed the children playing and eating. "Although we might want to give them some advice. Like¡­ every day."

    "What do you mean?" Mandy asked.

    Remian cleared his throat. "Mindy! Hey, Mindy, can I talk to you for a minute?"

    "Sure. What''s up?" Mindy came over.

    "You might want to be a bit more patient with Amy." Remian said then. "I think she has things she wants to tell you, but you need to give her time to say it. Try not to interrupt her so much? At least let her finish what she wants to say."

    "Uh¡­ okay¡­" Mindy went off.

    Mandy exchanged glances with Remian. "I get it."

    "You do?" Remian gestured. "Your turn."

    Mandy glanced about. "George? Come over here for a sec."

    George arrived. "Hmm?"

    "Can you talk to Brian a bit more? He seems really quiet."

    "I think he''s just shy." George said.

    "I know. But everyone needs someone to talk to. Just¡­ try and be good friends with him, okay?"

    "Okay." George left.

    Mandy turned back to Remian expectantly. "Something like that?"

    "Uh¡­ something like that." Remian left it at that. "I guess social skills would help too."

    "Isn''t that what you were talking about?" Mandy asked.

    "Um¡­ something like that." Remian said evasively.

    Mandy scowled. "Now you''re making fun of me."

    "No, I''m not. Really! I''m¡­ uwaah!" Remian jumped up, with Mandy''s finger dug into his lower ribs.

    ***

    Watching them, Amy whispered to Mindy. "Is she really his slave?"

    "Uh¡­ yeah?" Mindy whispered back.

    "She doesn''t act like it." Amy observed seriously.

    Mindy nodded. "Neither does he."

 26 Boyss Ambitions

    Remian called him aside the next morning. "George, I was rather impressed with the way you stepped up for Mindy back then. Tell me, what do you plan to do in the long-term?"

    "You mean, what I want to be when I grow up?" George shook his head. "Nothing much. I just want to have my own farm and haveenough food for everybody."

    Remian nodded. "So why wait? You don''t have to wait until you grow up for that. Let''s do it."

    "Really?" George blinked. "When?"

    He expected Remian to talk about five years or ten years ahead, but what he said was, "Today."

    "Seriously?"

    "Right now."

    Remian marked out a huge (or at least, it seemed huge to George) plot of land with fire. "From here to here, plant food crops. On this side, you can raise Glass Dandelions. Further out, we need Purple Heartbeat Trees and Blue Ring Mushrooms. Also, we should dig a large pond to raise Rainbow Jellyfish."

    "You want to farm the ingredients for Tier 1 and Tier 2 magic ink." George understood. "But this¡­ it''s too big for me to handle. I mean¡­ you''re talking about a farm that covers the whole side of the hill!"

    "Yes, that''s it, exactly." Remian agreed. "That''s why you won''t be able to manage it all by yourself. You need a crew."

    "I need an army." George''s head swam. "Can I ask my squad to help me out?"

    "Of course. You should ask the wolfcats for help. They can dig and guard your crops against Blood Rabbits. I''ve actually seen some of those rabbits eat the Glass Dandelions, so you''re going to need to guard against them, or trap and hunt them."

    "I can''t manage all that!" George protested.

    "Oh, and a couple more things. There''s a spell you should learn called the Gathering of Light. It''s an easy Tier 1 spell, and I have a few scrolls for it, but you should learn to cast it without scrolls. I''m also learning a new water spell from Charlie; I''ll teach it to you once I''ve learned it properly. it should be useful to help tend your crops in the future."

    "Wait, wait¡­ now you want me to learn magic too?? On top of Legion training and the farm¡­"

    "You can combine those. Just specialize in using halberds and then adjust your shovel and hoe abit."

    "It''s still too much for me to handle! I''m just a kid!"

    Remian finally frowned. "That''s no excuse. It''s not an excuse for behaving badly, or being lazy, or anything. If all you want to be is some helpless kid, then get out of the Adventurers Guild. I''ll ask Charlie to take you away from the Frontier. This is no place for excuses like that."

    "W¡­ wait¡­!" George gasped. "That''s not¡­"

    "Then fight!" Remian pressed. "Stand up on your own feet and make the impossible possible! So you can''t do it alone; nobody can! One person can''t really do anything much. That''s why we ask for help! That''s why we form groups! That''s why people work together!"

    "So you''re saying¡­"

    "I already told you. Put together a crew. Ask the wolfcats for help. If that''s not enough, get a bigger crew, get more help. Quit trying to make excuses and just start! It might take you a year before it''s running smoothly. It might take you ten years. But if you keep excuses, your dreams will forever be only daydreams. You have hands and legs; you have friends, and you have time, and you have energy. You have everything you need to start and start now. Trust me; I know, because I don''t!"

    "You don''t?" George blinked.

    "I can''t do it." Remian said intently. "But you can."

    "Me¡­?" George still wasn''t sure.

    "You can." Remian spoke with absolute certainty. "I''ll help you. I''ll even guide you step-by-step."

    "Really?" George felt a huge load lift from his shoulders. "Why?"

    "Because I will benefit a lot from it later." Remian pointed out. "I''m going to need those ingredients. In three months, I want to collect 20 portions worth of magic ink ingredients from this farm."

    "Three months?!" George stared. "The Purple Heartbeat Trees alone¡­"

    "That''s why you need to learn those spells. I''ll try to get you some better spells and even some Earth magic later." Remian frowned. "Along with better equipment. But there''s no reason why you can''t start now."

    "W-what do I do?" George asked.

    "First, you bribe Carrie and Buff to help you clear some land. Then, you bribe Joshu to get you some Purple Heartbeat seedlings. Those will take the longest time to grow and the objective is to harvest 20 portions'' supply daily in three months." Remian paused. "Remember, they have to be paid. Don''t let them do it for free even if they offer. Think about what their time and efforts are worth. Ask me or Mandy if you need advice and information.

    "If you can clear enough space for fifty trees by next week, the land is yours."

    ***

    In his own opinion, Tim had a much harder job.

    "Your job is to build the Guard Tower." Remian explained. "The Legionnaires will be busy building the airport, but that Tower needs to be ready for the next Beast Wave. That means you have roughly two weeks to build a structure strong enough to withstand Tier 3 and 4 Wilds. It doesn''t have to be very tall, just out of reach of the biggest Tier 4 Wilds; and it needs to be able to protect all of you at the same time. I suggest at least three floors. Remember, there are sixteen of you now, and you might need space for siege weapons and twice as many defenders someday."

    "So¡­ how big should it be?" Tim asked, half-dazed.

    "Think about three Guild Halls stacked on top of each other." Remian advised. "With stairs inside. The walls need to be at least two logs thick."

    "Thin logs or fat logs?"

    "As thick as you can wrap your arms around." Remian paused. "Also, you need to guard your crew. There are Tier 2 Wilds about."

    "I can''t manage all that!" Tim finally blurted.

    "Then ask for help."

    "From who? George already got Carrie and Buff to help him clear land for the plantation!"

    "So ask Kage and Joshu and Xia. Ask the girls for help."

    "The girls? Would they really help me? I mean¡­ wouldn''t they rather just sit around gossiping or practicing archery?"

    "They should, if they want you to help them back with their tasks later."

    ***

    Mandy watched George and Tim scrambling around trying to do their respective ''tasks'' and asked, "Is this really a good idea?"

    Remian sighed. "Well, what do you want them to learn? How to make excuses, or how to figure things out for themselves?"

    "But¡­ isn''t this a bit much? You didn''t have to give them jobs this hard." Mandy protested.

    "Actually, I did." Remian said. "I didn''t have a choice."

    "What do you mean?"

    "The jobs might be hard, but we need them done."

    "Then why don''t you do it yourself?" Mandy flared.

    "Stop trying to do everything for them." Remian shook his head. "They''ll have our full support, but in terms of their own growth, this is best handled by them as much as possible."

    "And what kind of support do you mean to give, exactly?"

    Remian paused, then said, "Come with me."

    He went over to see Carrie who was digging up stumps at the plantation land-to-be. "Hey, Carrie."

    Carrie glanced up and waved her tail a little as she kept digging. [Hey.]

    "We need more wolfcats." Remian said then. "Do you have any friends?"

    She did. Remian sent her out like Joshu, with the same mission conditions and rewards for recruitment. Just an hour later, she came back with a wolfcat family.

    The father was a Tier 3 Scarlet Fur Wolfcat about half the size of Carrie. His name had to do with different kinds of reds all being red in the end. Remian considered calling him ''Unified Reds'' or ''Reddish Hues'' before finally settling on just calling him ''Red''.

    The mother was white with gray patches, also Tier 3. Her name had something to do with looking at the moon and howling together with friends every full moon¡­ he just called her ''Lunar''.

    They brought four cubs. The cubs were barely able to walk, and slept a lot. Two were red, one was gray with white patches, and the last was white with red patches. Remian figured he''d call them by how they looked; Ember, Scarlet, Moonlight and Flare. These four landed up snoozing in the cave with Mandy while their mother Lunar went to help George and their father Red went to help Tim. Carrie herself went looking for more wolfcats.

    "Looks like we have a Carrie Squad." Remian squinted. "And once they grow a bit more, a Vigil Squad."

    And then she brought back a whole pack.

 27 Girlsâ€™ Ambitions

    Carrie arrived with no less than twenty wolfcats; Eight Tier 3 adults, five Tier 2 half-grown wolfcats, and seven Tier 1 cubs. To be clear, these wolfcats were not joining the Guild; they were willing to dig and guard in exchange for cooked food, but they were not willing to join forces with humans or help defend the town when the Beast Wave came. They were there to watch Carrie or something. Remian wasn''t too clear on that, and Carrie didn''t elaborate, but basically they would be willing to work for her, but not for him. Also, they wanted a territory where they could live in peace.

    "Fine! We''ll take whatever we can get." Remian looked about. "Maybe we can build them some kennels or something on George''s Farm."

    [Or we can hunt the nearby Chief Blood Rabbit and take his burrow.] Carrie added.

    "Or that." Remian agreed. "That sounds like a better idea. I''m actually quite impressed that so many of them are willing to follow you. I thought Wilds hated humans in general, what with the Beast Waves and such."

    Carrie shook her head. [They come from beyond the Rainbow Falls. This area belongs to Shadowflash.]

    There! What a golden opportunity! Remian leapt at it. [Who, or what is Shadowflash?]

    Carrie fell silent for a moment. Then, she answered directly. [Shadowflash is the Lord of the Desert Edge territory. This area, and all the Wilds here, hail him as their ruler.] She sounded proud. [He is my mate, and Vigil''s father.]

    Remian nodded. He had the sense that most wolfcats did not grow as big and strong as Carrie did. [So that pack¡­]

    [Shadowflash is their Alpha of Alphas. The leader of their leader.] Carrie explained. [Actually, their Alpha is also a son of Shadowflash.]

    [Their pack leader is your son?]

    [Not mine. Shadowflash has other mates.]

    Remian thought for a moment, then, [Carrie, why do Beast Waves attack us?]

    Carrie looked at him directly. [It is because all the Wilds hate you. Except for the followers of Shadowflash and a few odd Wilds like Buff, all other Wilds hate and fear the destroyers of the world.]

    [Destroyers¡­?] Remian felt like he understood, even as he asked for their meaning.

    [Your kind kill and destroy everything and everyone they come across. Left unchecked, every hill will be crushed, every river sucked dry, every living thing consumed without a second thought.] There was a stark coldness and a darkness as Carrie answered.

    [But¡­ you''re not afraid of us?]

    [Shadowflash believes that there may be humans who are different, that there may be a way to communicate and reason with the Destroyers.] Carrie glanced at him. [That is why of all the ten thousand territories, only this one tolerates a human town. Every Frenzied Wave that strikes here comes from another Lord''s territory.]

    Remian froze. Ten thousand territories¡­ and only one was willing to so much as ''tolerate'' humans?!

    There wasn''t much history recorded of the Frontier, but Remian recalled reading of previous attempts by large powers to colonize the Frontier. They had sent hundreds of airships, built city after city, forts and fortresses, brought tens of thousands of colonists¡­

    Today, there were only the ruins that explorers like Joshu investigated and looted.

    [Shadowflash protects us¡­?]

    [Not exactly. He simply left you alone because he had more important matters to deal with. His instructions were, except for the natives of this area like the Blood Rabbits and the sentinels watching you, everyone else was to steer clear of town.]

    [There are sentinels watching us?] Remian shivered. [What are they like?]

    Carrie glanced down. [Uh¡­ four paws, sharp snouts with whiskers, long tails, and fully covered with fur.]

    Well, that was obvious. [You?]

    [And my children.] Carrie said softly.

    [How many children do you have?] Remian wondered.

    [One.] Carrie turned away. [One that still lives.]

    Remian gulped. [The others¡­]

    [Some lost to Wilds. Some lost to weather, or hunger, or heights. Some lost to humans.] Carrie glanced back at him. [Those humans no longer live.]

    The image of Carrie chomping down Simmons came to mind. Remian let out an involuntary shudder. That had very nearly happened to him.

    Another question popped up in his head. [Buff mentioned back then that Shadowflash was gone. What happened?]

    [We don'' know.] Carrie said simply. [He goes where he will. He returns when he will. Sometimes he goes farther, returns later. That is all.]

    [How long has he been gone?]

    [I have not seen him since¡­] Carrie paused. [Six moons. Vigil has never met his father.]

    [If he came back¡­ would he be able to stop the Beast Waves?]

    Carrie shook her head. [The way you are now, he probably wouldn''t bother.]

    Right. In spite of more Legionnaires arriving, the overall population had actually dropped a lot. Three out of five gangs were completely wiped out. There simply weren''t many people left here, so the trouble they could cause was similarly small.

    If the Legion grew stronger, however, and kept order in Frontier Town, there was a chance the Town would finally flourish. That had actually been Remian''s general intent. With enough local support and a reliable supply line, the Legion could pretty much take over the whole town. Having the Adventurers Guild support them and turning the whole north side into an airport¡­ it was all to strengthen and encourage the Legion.

    But now it seemed that a prosperous town might incur greater wrath from the Wilds. Already, a population this small had dozens of Wilds coming after them every other week. What if their town grew to a thousand people? Ten thousand? What would happen when heavy industries covered this whole area and black smoke began to pollute the sky?

    Would even Shadowflash be so tolerant of humans then? Remian suspected he would not.

    But Carrie and Vigil offered him other options, possibilities he had only glimpsed during their brief time together. Now he had to look at them fully and consider how they might best work.

    In short¡­ [If we ever want Frontier Town to prosper, we must find a way to get along with the Wilds.]

    ***

    "The third generation Wandering Egret airships were built for cheap and easy maintenance." Charlie explained to Mindy, tapping a chart and a drawing. "The Deutero company likes to use them because most of the time the patch job would be enough for repairs. It is held up by sixteen separate air sacs. Half of them could be damaged and the airship would still be able to cross the continent in a single flight. The crew would simply pull in the damaged sac, patch it up, have the resident Wind Mage fill it up with super-light gas, and they''re good to go. They wouldn''t even need to stop.

    "Damage to the lower hull is a bigger problem. Newer airship models these days like to use heavier materials for greater durability, but the Egret III series were built with lightweight, low-cost materials for cheap replacement. The problem is that less and less airports around the world today have these cheap replacement materials on hand. As newer, faster, tougher models become more popular, this trend only increases. Eventually, I fear there will be a day when the Egret III will be obsolete simply because nobody will stock the materials to patch them up any more."

    "Aww." Mindy paused. "What are you going to do then?"

    "Me? I''ll just be assigned to another airship." Charlie snorted. "Maybe one of the new Egret V''s. That thing uses Cloud Steel plating for the hull. Replacing them is a cinch. Just toss the old one and fasten the new one in. You really have to watch out for thunderstorms with that sort of hull, though."

    Remian finally stepped in. "I thought you were teaching her wind magic."

    "We''re taking a break. Have some patience." Charlie frowned. "This isn''t scroll-casting we''re talking about here, this is the authentic draw-a-sigil-with-your-own-hands wind magic. It will take time for her to learn."

    "I thought you were going to leave soon." Remian pointed out.

    "I am. She will just have to practice without me." Charlie nodded. "I''ll be back again next week. I can check on her progress and teach her some more then."

    "So¡­ what do you think of Charlie?" Remian asked.

    "He''s awesome!" Mindy jumped up and down excitedly. Charlie actually turned a bit red. "I wanna fly an airship already!"

    "We''ll have to build one first." Remian told her. "Can you do it?"

    "What? Build an airship? Me?" Mindy stared.

    "Just a basic one. Hot air in a balloon, driven by wind magic." Remian outlined. "It just has to be able to move stones from the new quarry farther west to the airport building site."

    "But¡­ but I don''t know how!" Mindy protested.

    Remian wordlessly pointed to Charlie.

    "Why are you pointing to me?" Charlie asked suspiciously.

    "Uncle Charlie!" Mindy pounced. "Help me!!!"

    Remian grinned and left them to it.

    ***

    "Jane? Do you have any dreams or ambitions? What you want to be or do when you grow up?" he asked her.

    Jane lit up. "Of course! I want to marry a prince!"

    Remian almost face-palmed. "Whatever for?"

    "Because princes are rich, aren''t they? We''ll never need to worry about money." Jane explained patiently.

    Remian stared. "So it''s about the money, then?"

    "Well¡­ yes. I mean, a handsome prince and a white horse is great and all, but at the end of the day, there''s no point if you''re left cold and hungry." Jane faltered. "Maybe it''s mean to him, but I¡­ I just¡­"

    "If you could have the money without the prince, would you want it?" Remian queried.

    "Yes!" Jane exclaimed at once.

    "Then why not just run a business? That way you can get plenty of money all by yourself."

    Jane hesitated. "How? I mean¡­ I don''t know anything about businesses. Don''t you already need money to start a business first? You need money to make money¡­ right?"

    "You can make money from doing a job and use it to start your business." Remian pointed out. "Starting one is easy. The hard part is actually succeeding in the business."

    "¡­right." Jane''s face fell.

    "You''ll need to learn to sell. That''s probably the hardest part." Remian continued thoughtfully. "How about we start a vending stall at the town center? We can sell our goods there for Lir. You can get a commission for every sale you make."

    "What''s a commission?"

    "A small percentage of the price. If we sell a six-pack of Tier 2 rations for 10 Lir, 1 Lir is yours. How about that?"

    "That''s¡­ so little."

    "Then you''ll just have to sell more, won''t you? Better yet, sell the more expensive items."

    "But we don''t make any expensive items. We only have that one Fire Ball Wand."

    "Then we''ll just have to improve the Guild until we can make and sell some really good stuff, right?"

    Jane thought about it for a full minute, then finally nodded her head decisively. "Right!"

    ***

    "Kavitha?"

    "Me, I just want to eat good food¡­" Kavitha yawned.

    "Can you cook?"

    "Not a chance." Kavitha sighed. "Tim can cook it for me. I''ll just¡­ go hunt stuff for him to cook."

    "¡­"

 28 Armaments

    In the hottest place of Frontier Town, iron melted like wax. Sparks and flames spontaneously burst into being and lived out brief existences in momentary glory. The roars of man and machine competed to overwhelm any hapless passerby''s ears.

    There at the heart of the heat, was a man.

    Truly, there was no other way to describe him. He was a man''s man. Burnished muscles, a towering figure, a six pack middle and shoulders that could bear a cow¡­ women saw him pass by on the streets and murmured with admiration "Now THERE''S a man!"

    Do you not believe it? Just ask The Man himself! Surely such a manly man would not lie. Even if he did, your eyes would certainly tell you the truth¡­

    Anyone could see, very obviously, how manly this man was, compared to, for example, that runt of a boy who just walked in with the pretty, long-legged girl with hair like red honey. She was holding his hand as if they were on a date.

    A date? What a mockery! To enter the domain of this Manly Man and hold the hand of that runt in front of him when The Man himself still, STILL didn''t have a girlfriend¡­! What a tragedy! What a farce!

    On top of that¡­ why would they come here for a date? Did they have a thing for fire? If that were so, nobody handled fire more than The Man¡­

    "Do you customize inscription runes?" the Runt asked suddenly. "I wanted a bow with magic spells inscribed into it¡­"

    "Shop is out front." The Man said sourly. "Don''t bother me."

    "They don''t have a bow I want." The Runt said fussily. "I wanted a bow that can shoot Fire Balls. I was thinking, if you could Inscribe a Fire Ball rune into a bow¡­"

    "It would be a waste." The Man snorted. "Better to simply use a wand."

    "But a wand can''t cast a spell very far. A bow can easily shoot three hundred meters away."

    "That''s not the fault of the wand, it''s the fault of the rune." The Man grouched. "Whoever forged that rune simply did not give it the power for the range you want."

    The Runt exchanged glances with the girl. "So¡­ is there a way for a weapon to shoot something far away and cause an explosion like a Fire Ball?"

    "You want to Inscribe a Conflagration Rune into an arrow?" The Man eyed him sideways. "There''s nobody on the Frontier with that kind of power in Fire Magic."

    The Runt hesitated. "What about a Bonfire Rune? I can inscribe one into a scroll¡­"

    Finally, The Man looked at the Runt seriously. "500 Lir, and I''ll forge the rune for you. I guarantee it can contain your Tier 2 Bonfire spell, but you''ll have to charge it with your own power."

    "500 Lir?!" the Runt spluttered. "For one arrow?!"

    "Exactly." The Man nodded, satisfied that the Runt finally learned how expensive and difficult rune-work was.

    The Runt sighed. "What about a Fire Ball Wand, then?"

    "A Tier 3 Runic Inscription? Even I can''t make that." The Man shook his head. "And you better believe nobody else here can either. We''re blacksmiths, not mages! It is already rare to find such a talented man as I, who can do both!"

    "Well¡­ what Runes can you make?" the Runt queried.

    "Mostly Sharpness and Durability Runes. I can even do a Heavy Rune, though most people prefer a Lightness Rune." The Man boasted.

    "You can do a Lightness Rune?" the girl perked up immediately.

    "No, just the opposite." The Man grimaced. "For some reason, Lightness eludes me."

    "Wonder why?" the Runt asked the girl snidely.

    "Get out!" The Man roared. He''d had enough of this rude Runt¡­

    "Wait, wait! I''m sorry! Actually, I was wondering if you could teach me Rune-crafting!" the Runt said hurriedly.

    "NOW!" The Man threw them out, both the Runt and his girl.

    Then, once they had left and he was alone again, he raged at the unfairness of it all in the privacy of his sweltering forge.

    ***

    The prize was awarded at dinner.

    Joshu stared at the bow placed in his hands. "Wow!"

    "Sorry, this was the best I could do." Remian apologized. "I wanted something better, but this¡­"

    "It''s a Tier 3 Runic Bow, Inscribed with Durability and Lightness. It must have cost a fortune!" Joshu gasped. "Genuine Ironwood, with some Wilds Tendon bowstring¡­ how much did it cost?!"

    "It won''t cost you any points. It''s a prize." Remian assured him.

    "1000 Lir, after discounts." Mandy whispered from the side. "I haggled for an hour."

    Remian shot her a flat look. Then, he turned back to Joshu. "Would you have preferred the scrolls?"

    "I would only have sold them for money. Most of that money would probably have gone to a new Tier 2 bow. I''ve been trying and trying to save up for a Tier 3, but the Tier 2 ones keep breaking and need replacing, so¡­" Joshu grinned. "A Tier 3 inscribed with Durability¡­ This is awesome! The Lightness Rune also helps, especially when I have to lug it around on long journeys."

    Reassured that the money was well spent, Remian left him to it.

    Was it worth the spending just to award Joshu a prize he could really appreciate? That sort of price tag pretty much wiped out the savings of the Adventurers Guild and needed him to sell part of their remaining scroll stockpile for cheap besides. Would it have been better simply to give Joshu Tier 2 scrolls and let them sell those instead?

    In the eyes of an accountant, most certainly. But Remian wanted more than just a cheap gesture. He wanted to send a message.

    The message was this; capability was valued. Having greater ability, being able to do higher Tier missions and fight higher Tier Wilds was all-important. Joshu had the ability to do higher Tier missions and the survival skills to roam farther away from town; that was why he accumulated so many points so quickly and thus ranked up fastest¡­

    It was Remian''s hope that this prize would indirectly motivate everyone''s training. Increased efforts could very well mean lower casualty rates overall, and that would be priceless.

    What if the next casualty was Mandy? Or Mindy? Remian would buy a hundred bows, sell a thousand scrolls if it could save their lives.

    But to do that, he first needed to Inscribe those scrolls to sell. Oddly enough, the Burning Steel forge seemed to like the Bonfire scrolls a lot. Most of the staff at the forge were able to cast spells from Tier 2 scrolls, and being able to heat up the forges very quickly seemed very appealing to them.

    As for a Tier 3 Conflagration Scroll, if Remian ever managed to Inscribe one¡­ very few of their staff could use such a thing. Heck, not even Mindy could use something like that. Mandy, maybe; she could use the Fire Ball wand, after all. A scroll couldn''t be THAT much more demanding than the wand.

    Would Buff be able to use a scroll? He could most definitely use the wand¡­ but then again, Buff was a Tier 4 Wild. Mandy might qualify only as a Tier 2 novice.

    Thirteen days. The number nagged at Remian like doomsday. Roughly thirteen days before the next expected Beast Wave. What could raise everyone''s combat power in thirteen days? The guard tower would certainly boost their defense. As for offense, the quickest way to raise that was to get better equipment. That, and Recruitment, but there was no guarantees for that one.

    What sort of equipment? A dozen more Fire Ball wands would have been sweet. Short of that, Remian could only try to get Tier 3 weapons. Tier 2 weapons would hardly bother Tier 3 and 4 Wilds. Tier 1 and 2 spells were minor annoyances at best; the only real contributions they''d made in the last Beast Wave were providing light, the occasional distraction, Mandy''s Fire Balls and Remian''s super-powered Fire Streams. As for the dozens of Fire Bolts the kids cast from scrolls¡­ they may as well have been throwing stones.

    "Remian?" Tim came up to him with some papers in hand. "The Iron Legion had a few blueprints to choose from¡­"

    Remian glanced at the papers in his hand. "Pick one. Consider the time and resources you have, and weigh that with the benefits and combat potential."

    Tim hesitated, shifted through the papers, then picked out one. "This one."

    He showed it to Remian. It was a four-phase project, the first of which was basically just a hole in the ground. The second was a filled-in hole as a foundation, four walls and a roof over that. The third would be a first floor and a roof above the ground floor. The fourth''s phase would be a second floor with a crenellated roof.

    There were siege weapons intended for each floor. The ground floor''s would be a Scorpion, which was a crossbow-like javelin thrower with a kill-range of 100 meters (maximum range was 400 meters but the power would decrease over distance). The first floor should have a Ballista, which was bigger, heavier, slower, and launched full-sized spears. The Ballista had an estimated kill-range of 200 meters (maximum 800). The roof could have a small catapult, suitable for launching sprays of stones, darts or fire-bombs at 50-200 meter distances, but Tim very decisively crossed it out. "The catapult would have to be dismantled and taken in quickly every time it rains. We could also put a cover on top of it, but that would take at least four or five strong men to be stationed all the time standing by for immediate action, which we really can''t manage. Also, stones, darts and fire-bombs won''t help much against Tier 3 Wilds, so¡­ the catapult really isn''t worth the trouble. We should just skip it."

    "That makes sense." Remian agreed. "What''s your plan for the next Beast Wave?"

    "My plan is to build up to the Second Phase in two weeks, which means a solid foundation, four thick walls and a roof. The scorpion would be nice if we can manage it." Tim hesitated. "It''s supposed to be made of stone, preferably cut to fit, but it won''t be easy to get such materials. Given our time limits, I vote for thick logs. Eight to ten good trees should be enough to for the ground floor''s walls. The roof will need level planks, but there''s a sawmill in town that could do it for a good price. There''s also supposed to be a reinforcement of steel mesh in between the layers. Later on, if we can get the stone for it, we can add another mesh and build up a third layer of stone outside the log walls. If we can do a fourth layer, we can clear the log layers away and add more space to the interior."

    "Is there enough space for twenty people and a Scorpion in the bunker?" Remian questioned.

    Tim froze. "Uh¡­ twenty people could fit. But then it would be troublesome to move and aim the Scorpion. Or we could just squeeze everyone to the walls¡­"

    "Do you need some time to re-think the plan?"

    "Yeah." Tim grimaced.

    He came back half an hour later. "Let''s use the double-size option. That means two pillars in addition to everything else. If the Scorpion only fires forward, we can leave the sides to everybody else."

    "Just how big are the windows?" Remian questioned.

    "Two feet tall, and four feet wide, four on each side except the back, which has two and a door." Tim pointed. "There''s supposed to be grills built in as part of the reinforcing steel mesh. The Scorpion crew will have to be careful not to hit them when they fire."

    "Do we have time to build it?" Remian asked next.

    Tim grimaced. "We probably won''t have time to finish the Scorpion if we do."

    "Then leave the Scorpion alone first. The most important thing is to have everyone fit into it safely. The next is for the people inside to be able to help the people outside. If it can have roof access with a closeable hatch, that would be even better. Joshu and the archers can shoot from the roof until the Wilds get closer, and then retreat downstairs and close the hatch behind them."

    "That would be easier than building a Scorpion." Tim agreed. "I''m actually not very confident in being able to put together a Siege Engine. Max said the Trainees would handle it, but there''s a reason why they''re called Trainees."

    "Good thinking. Go for it." Remian straightened. "Meanwhile, I''ll see if I can get the people inside that bunker some better weapons to use."

 29 The Construction Race

    "Legionnaires!" Markus barked at the assembled trainees the next day after a morning of training and a quick lunch. "The Adventurers Guild say they are going to build a size 4 Evemont Guard Tower to Phase 2 by the next Beast Wave! What does that tell you?"

    Twenty trainees, a quartermaster, a drill sergeant and a new agent all stood there in assembly without saying a word. A few of them exchanged puzzled glances. What was that supposed to tell them?

    "It tells me that they don''t believe in us! They don''t believe that the Legion can protect the town on our own, and that we will not be able to keep them safe!" Markus roared.

    Again, the exchange of glances. It was obvious that the Legion really couldn''t¡­

    "Well, I say we prove them wrong!" Markus exclaimed. "I say we challenge them stroke for stroke! They want to build a Guard Tower? We will build one too! We''ll match them size for size¡­ and we''ll do it better!"

    Fortifications! Everyone lit up. Now that, they understood.

    "They''re just a bunch of children and wanderers! What can they do?!" Markus snorted. "Let''s show them the true strength of the Legion! We''ll show them how to build that tower! What say you?"

    "Yeah!" the general reply sounded. Regardless of the reasons for it, having stout walls around themselves the next time the Beast Wave hit could only be a good thing in their minds.

    "You five, you''re with the quartermaster. Max, your squad is to gather materials. That means good lumber!"

    "Sir!" Max saluted in acknowledgement.

    "You five, with the drill sergeant. Brutus, your squad is to use those materials to build the Tower!"

    "Sir!"

    "You five, with the agent! Septimus, your squad is to transport the materials from the lumber camp to the construction site!"

    "Sir, yes, sir!"

    "The rest of you, with me! We''ll ensure their safety!"

    "Yes, sir!"

    "Now, let''s show those kids how it''s done!"

    Proudly, the Iron Legion set out to show a good example to the poor children unsuspectingly thrown into a race to build fortifications against fully grown men¡­

    Max Squad had a tree down in thirty minutes flat. They sheared the branches off and then divided the tree into lengths of fourteen feet. Septimus Squad helped them a bit, then began to drag those logs back to Brutus Squad. Brutus Squad had already marked out borders on the land and started digging straight away.

    At that time, during the hottest part of the day, Tim was the only one at the Adventurers Guild construction site. He was still marking out borders. He didn''t even have a shovel with him.

    As Septimus squad started to pile up logs at the construction site, Markus Squad was on patrol, clearing out the random Tier 2 Wild in the vicinity, ensuring that none of them would endanger the workers or the children. Max Squad took down a second tree.

    Still, Tim was alone. He sat there waiting all by himself, but none of the other Adventurers were in sight.

    "Dig!" Brutus ordered, taking up a shovel himself. Three of his crew dug, the other three carted the dug soil away with hand-carts, heaping it up just in front of their construction zone. After the log walls were built, these mounds would form obstacles three feet high in front of the walls. Sharpened stakes added to them would only help the tower''s defenses.

    As the heat of the day faded and the early evening began, Tim started waving at something or someone in the distance. Markus didn''t pay him too much attention, more concerned about his people getting ambushed while they were at work.

    "Wilds!" one of his patrol exclaimed. Markus jumped, turning to where the man pointed¡­

    But he did not order a charge to the rescue. He recognized those Wilds. More to the point, Remian himself was there sitting on top of the one in the lead. Coming from the west side were no less than ten wolfcats, mostly around Tier 3.

    "What are they doing?" Markus asked.

    Max felled a third tree.

    At that time, Remian and Carrie had reached Tim. All at once, ten wolfcats started digging.

    "That''s¡­" Markus gaped.

    Soil went flying, fountains of dirt spraying into the air five or six feet high. The wolfcats dug with gusto, going down one foot, two feet deep within seconds.

    At this point, Brutus and his Squad barely broke two feet deep by two feet long on their three evenly divided lengths.

    The digging spread, intensifying. Three feet¡­ four¡­

    Five feet deep, and ten wolfcats without a clear division of areas of responsibility kept tearing through the land with Tier 2, 3 and 4 claws. Six feet, and they were still going down¡­

    "That''s¡­" Markus shook his head. The plans for the tower only went down to six feet. Brutus Squad hadn''t even gotten two feet deep across the entire plot yet. Heck they hadn''t even covered the entire plot yet¡­

    Max Squad felled a fourth tree.

    By that time, the wolfcats had gone down eight feet deep. Brutus'' Squad still hadn''t gone two feet deep across the plot yet.

    "Enough! Even it out!" Tim shouted loudly enough for Max to hear.

    At that, the wolfcats started to even out the soil, digging the less-dug places to fill in the over-dug places. Markus could tell with just one look that they would even most of it out at six feet, with perhaps just a little to spare.

    Septimus Squad brought the logs of the fourth tree to the construction site as Brutus Squad finally managed two feet depth across the plot. They started on going three feet deep¡­

    Meanwhile, Mandy arrived with a Tier 4 Bear dragging four 14-feet lengths of log all by itself. Goodness, that was a whole tree¡­

    "To the farm!" Remian ordered. Ten wolfcats, eight Tier 3, a Tier 4 and a Tier 2 all made their way west. The digging was already completed.

    By dinner time the first day, the Adventurers Guild had completed their digging when the Legion wasn''t even half done with the First Phase.

    So they went their merry ways, and the next morning, went on training together.

    After lunch, the race began anew.

    Once more, the Legion toiled under the hot sun with the Adventurers Guild nowhere to be seen.

    But as the heat of the day passed and early evening fell, a handful of children and Tier 2 wolfcats arrived pulling a caravan of hand-carts loaded with stone. The bear brought another load of logs.

    Markus scowled as Remian came over to find Max.

    "Max!" Remian called. "Is the mortar ready?"

    "It''s still at the airport site." Max replied. "We haven''t had time to cart it over."

    The Iron Legion employed a hydraulic mortar made of crushed burnt clay, quartz, and alu- ahem! That''s actually a secret¡­

    The point was, they had made a lot of it for the airport, and had decided to use some of it for the Guard Towers first. Markus and Remian together had agreed on that.

    "Go." Markus sighed. Race or no race, he could not in good conscience hold Max back at this point.

    By the time Brutus reached five feet, Max and Remian were back with a crew of adult adventurers and three priests all helping to cart barrels of mortar to the site.

    Priest Kairos was familiar, but two of those priests were new. Together with the latest trainees and agent, they had arrived on the most recent airship. Their names were¡­ Diakonia and Koinonia, or something like that. Markus'' early impressions were that Diakonia had some built some serious bulk and muscle; Koinonia looked like he knew how to handle that staff in his hands. Both of them were far fitter for the Frontier than the gangly Kairos and the skinny Remian.

    They proved it. The evening of the Third day, as Brutus finally reached six feet and evened out the depth across the plot, the two of them alone proved to be as useful in mixing and pouring stone and mortar as all the Adventurers combined.

    At the same time, Brutus Squad and the Adventurers (and priests) set the logs into the ground, with steel mesh in between. With the foundation filled in, those fourteen feet logs would have six feet buried, and eight feet above ground.

    That should be enough to hold off Tier 3 and 4 Wilds. Probably.

    Filling in that foundation took another day. This, the Adventurers and the Legionnaires and the Priests all did together.

    Dinner time arrived on the Fourth Day, and construction ended. Everyone went about their business, eating, then whatever it was they usually did at night.

    The Fifth Day, again they trained together. After lunch, once more the Legion set about building their Tower. Max paid the sawmill for the planks with coin and supplies. All four Squads hauled the planks over to the construction site.

    Then, Markus called a break. At that point, the trainees were already drained. They had been rushing the past few days and many of them were badly overstrained. It was one thing to ask veterans to keep up this sordid pace day after day. The trainees simply couldn''t manage. Also, some of them had gotten hurt in the last Beast Wave and weren''t able to do much. Markus, Max and Brutus ended up being the only ones working on the roof while Septimus kept watch and the trainees were given a much-needed day off.

    Again, at roughly four in the evening, the Adventurers arrived to continue their work. They set up the stairs leading to the roof. Then, they set plank after plank for the roof with the help of a Tier 4 Wolfcat and a Tier 4 Bear. Mainly they just sat on the Wilds as they maneuvered the planks in place. That way, the Wilds did the heavy lifting.

    They had half their roof in place by sunset, Markus finally admitted it. "I give up. There''s no way we''re winning this race."

    "Great! Do we get a prize?" Remian asked.

    Markus snorted. "How about the honor of helping us fix our roof? It would take our trainees days to haul planks up to that height and put them in place. Having Wilds that can help you reach that height simply by standing in place is an incomparable advantage. And those wolfcats digging¡­!"

    But of course, they had to finish up their own roof first. This, they did by dinner time on the Sixth Day.

    At that point, Markus and his crew were still trying to build the stairs. At the rate they were going, it would take them another five days to set the roof in place. They would then have three more days to either put together a Scorpion, or heap the soil from the digging around the walls to further strengthen the walls, or stick sharpened stakes into the ground, or some such.

    It was already remarkably fast for a 24-man crew to put together a bunker of this size in their spare time within two weeks. They had pushed themselves and rushed to do it. But compared to their 11-day result, Remian''s crew finishing it in six days was just¡­

    "It wasn''t fair." Markus concluded in the end. "Having wolfcats and bears help you out like that¡­ its just not fair."

    To that, Remian could only grin in reply.

 30 Growth

    Don''t tell Markus, but having the Wilds help them was only half the reason why the Adventurers Guild managed to build the bunker form of the Guard Tower in six days. The other half had to do with a new scroll that Remian was Inscribing these days.

    It was a Lightening Scroll. There were nine different Tiers of the same spell; the Tier 1 version reduced an object''s weight by a few kilograms, up to half its original weight, whichever was lesser. Therefore, if a stone weighed 100kg, the Tier 1 version would reduce it to 95-99 kg, depending on the scroll Inscriber''s and the scroll caster''s power. If used on a 2kg bag of flour, it would reduce the weight by half to 1kg.

    The Tier 2 version would reduce weight by roughly 30kg (give or take up to 10kg) or half, whichever was lesser. While not entirely helpful with tons of logs, it enabled even children to cart level planks around by hand. Even considering how weak the scroll casters'' powers were, anything below 50 kg would lose half its weight.

    This was wind magic, like Charlie was trying to teach Remian and Mindy. He''d left behind a book for the basics, which Remian was of course likewise permitted to read. Still, the book itself only had a sample Inscribed Sigil of the Tier 1 version. It wasn''t until Remian studied the Lightening Rune on Joshu''s bow that he finally managed the Tier 2 version.

    These days, Remian often Inscribed Lightening spells. The kids loved running around slapping these scrolls on just about anything and then lifting them up. Currently, their most popular target for testing these scrolls was Vigil¡­

    But of course, they paid for the scrolls with points, and points had to be worked for. Consequently, most of them played around with only the Tier 1 versions. The Tier 2 versions were far too expensive. How expensive? Generally, the Guild treated the prices and prizes of different Tiers with a 10-times multiplication per difference. Buying the Tier 1 scroll cost 50 points; the Tier 2 version cost 500.

    Actually, for the kids, 50 points was already a lot. 1 point could be traded for 3 meals worth of Tier 1 rations, which were mainly made from forage; shreds of Tier 1 meat, edible weeds and wild berries. 3 points could be traded for a meal''s worth of Tier 2 rations, which were cakes made out of cooked grain, Tier 2 meat, vegetables and fruit. 30 points could buy a whole Tier 3 meal, succulent meat cuts from Tier 3 Wilds marinated with honey, flavored with choice herbs, grilled to a nose-twitching deliciousness and served with garlic bread and wild mushroom soup¡­

    It wasn''t too much to ask. 30 points was the average earnings of a single Tier 1 mission. Doing three of those in a day was relatively safe and easy. If they wanted, they could eat Tier 3 meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner just like that. Goodness knows, with all the dead Wilds from the last Beast Wave, they had more than enough Tier 3 meat¡­

    But kids being kids, many of them would rather buy something they could play with for 50 points than a luxury meal for 30. The scroll would at least last several uses. The meal disappeared once you ate it.

    Regardless of who bought them or what they were used for, Remian was making a fortune in points by Inscribing and contributing those scrolls. Actually, Mindy Inscribed most of the Tier 1 version scrolls. She could already cast the actual spell without scrolls, along with the Tier 1 Wind Blessing spell favored by archers.

    Speaking of Wind Blessing, that was the other Scroll that Remian had been Inscribing these days. Joshu practically wiped out the entire stock at every given opportunity. Remian wondered if he should tell the guy that at next Beast Wave, he was planning to have the kids support the archers with those for free. Nah¡­ better not. Besides, there were plenty of other things he could shoot at.

    Remian wished he could learn and better yet, Inscribe the Tier 2 version. Charlie offered to buy that book for him (yes, a whole book for just one Tier 2 spell!) for 10,000 Lir. Charlie was such an opportunist!

    At this point, he could do all sorts of Tier 1 Light, Fire and Wind magic. Most of them were near-useless, like forming rainbows in a basin or making candle flames dance and form shapes or literally just puffing wind about¡­ but there were occasional useful spells like Light Orb, Smoke, Lightening, and Wind Blessing. These included the Tiny Flame which was good for candles, Gathering Light which magnified light, and Breeze, which they liked to use to cool themselves.

    But Tier 2? Remian could do the Bonfire, the Light of Truth, and the Tier 2 Lightening. That was all. Did the Light Bolt and the Fire Stream count as spells? Or were they just modifications¡­? Remian wasn''t sure how he did those or how they worked, only that they did, before. He wasn''t even sure if he could do them again.

    Charlie promised ''something good'' the next time he came by, for the price of 2000 Lir. He promised Remian it was worth the price, but it felt like he was really putting the squeeze on¡­

    He was going to have to sell Tier 2 scrolls for Lir, now. A single Bonfire or Tier 2 Lightening Scroll took him a couple of hours to Inscribe, plus it was a lot more difficult. Remian could at most Inscribe three of those in a single day. This past week, all the Lightening Scrolls he''d made had already been contributed to the Guild and used for construction. Most of them had at least three casts, some even five, but all their power had been used up quickly. The cost made Remian grit his teeth, but in order for everyone to have time to train and rush both the tower and the farm with their limited manpower, he had gone all-out.

    Now he was regretting the losses. Given that the airship would likely be back in a day or two, he''d only have a handful of Tier 2 scrolls ready for sale when it arrived. That would barely cover the cost of Charlie''s ''something good''. They''d also need farming equipment and weapons, but that should be bought by the Guild, not by himself. The Guild had a good chunk of funds from the sales of the Wilds parts, but their 25% of the airport construction costs drained their funds rapidly.

    Buying Tier 3 weapons for everyone would cost thousands of Lir. Joshu''s bow alone cost 1000 with discounts. Sixteen kids and three ex-hunters still needed weapons. Where were they going to get 19,000 Lir?! Maybe they could opt for some non-runic versions of Tier 3 weapons. That should be cheaper, right? Did the Burning Steel Forge even make Tier 3 weapons without runes?

    Otherwise, the majority of the Adventurers Guild would be near-useless by the next Beast Wave. Again.

    "Maybe it''s not too late to build that Scorpion." Remian rubbed his forehead. "Or even the first floor and the Ballista."

    They still had seven, maybe eight days before the next Beast Wave. The timing wasn''t too certain, but the attacks had been occurring roughly every two weeks for the last year, now. It had been that way since Shadowflash disappeared.

    Maybe they could make a deal with the Burning Steel smiths? Maybe even steal a rune smith? That big bulky boss of theirs wasn''t the only smith in the forge. The bulky boss-man couldn''t do Lightening Runes. There was at least one other rune smith in there, the one who forged the Lightening Rune on Joshu''s bow. If he joined the Guild¡­

    The possibilities were very alluring. Remian fantasized about having a whole bunch of people learn rune-crafting, about building a wall featuring ten Guard Towers filled with Ballistas and Scorpions Inscribed with Runes, selling heaps of runic weapons¡­

    Except that was exactly what the Burning Steel forge already did. Would they tolerate somebody stealing a rune smith out from under their noses? Would they tolerate another seller taking away their customers and income?

    Better not try. The Adventurers Guild was doing well so far, but the Burning Steel had been the strongest gang in Frontier Town Spoas for a long time now. Remian rolled back his ambitions all the way to simply making deals with Burning Steel. If he really wanted to gamble with them, he wouldn''t gamble with everyone''s lives; he''d just go to one of the gambling dens they''d taken over from the Blood Claw gang and gamble with lir.

    Besides, it was fine to let them supply everyone''s weapons. They didn''t go overboard with their pricing, they held their own, and they didn''t cause any trouble. They weren''t like the Rose gang that attacked, killed and enslaved the Ravens, or like the Blood Claw that tried to do the same with Secret Waves and failed miserably. It was weird but come to think of it, they were fair. Their weapons might be a bit expensive, but they wouldn''t go around mugging people just for a few more coins.

    With the Burning Steel on one side, the terribly weakened Secret Waves on the other, and the Iron Legion building an airport in between, Frontier Town found itself smack dab in an unprecedented era of peace. So long as they could keep Aunt Sara from raising another gang and starting another gang war, this peace might actually last.

    Speaking of Aunt Sara¡­ she had taken the brothel workers under her wing. Remian wondered how they were doing. Kage should know. He''d been watching out for them these days.

    Meanwhile, George was making marvelous progress at the farm. For the price of all the barbecued meat they could eat every day, over the past week, the wolfcats had cleared enough space for 100 trees, dragged hand-plows to completely prepare the crop-land, and were currently digging a large pond for Rainbow Jellyfish. Pretty soon, it would be time to bring over more of the Legion''s hydraulic mortar to finish the pond. After that, they simply had to make channels for water in from and out to the spring, fix up some fine steel mesh to prevent jellyfish from escaping and voila, they would be jellyfish-farmers.

    Actually, come to think of it, they could very well do actual fish-farming. Most of the town''s fish supply came from the Secret Waves gang. Remian himself had seen how that old man caught fish in his open ''well''. Considering that the entire East Side was basically a jutting cliff, that ''well'' would lead straight down to the river below. While it was a pleasant way to just fish in the river from the comfort of one''s courtyard, the fish supply in town tended to be limited and thus, costly. But where else would they get fish? They would either need to brave the cliff and risk the ire of the Secret Waves gang, or travel 10km to the south through the wilderness. The dangers weren''t worth saving the price of buying a fish.

    But they were going to need to raise their own fish now, if only to feed the jellyfish. They could either split the pond down the middle with steel mesh, or dig a second pond¡­ they should discuss that.

    Unlike Tim''s project, George''s project was not urgent. Nobody would die if it took longer than expected.

    Also, Mindy''s project should be just about done by now. Remian had seen her attach a man-sized basket to a canvas balloon last night. The whole thing looked too shabby to fly, but Mindy''s wind magic was improving day by day and Remian had no doubt that she would eventually get that thing flying.

    After that, they would simply need to improve on her air balloon until it could carry cargo. Moving things around could become a whole lot easier if they could manage it.

    As for Jane''s project¡­ Remian hadn''t seen anything done about it. At all. It was almost like Jane had forgotten the whole thing entirely.

 31 A Certain Nights Events

    That night the headquarters of the Adventurers Guild looked like a mix of a school canteen and a kennel. There were wolfcats and children everywhere, yipping, laughing, screaming, yowling¡­

    Red and Lunar had brought their cubs to play with the children and Vigil had gotten caught up in the fun. The lot of them were scrambling around madly and having a jolly good time while their parents and caretakers took to the side to nurse their collective headaches.

    Remian watched the Maelstrom for a while with a small smile on his face. Then, he reluctantly broke in to extract someone from it. "Jane? A minute, please?"

    Jane paused, took one look at him, and immediately ran away.

    "Huh¡­?" Remian blinked, staring at her back as she fled. "What the¡­?"

    "What did you do?" Mandy asked, seeing the girl run away.

    "I didn''t do anything¡­! I just wanted to ask her how her stall was doing."

    "Stall? What stall?" Mandy queried.

    "We wanted to set up shop at the central area and sell some of our Guild stuff locally. Right now, everything we don''t use ourselves has been going to the airship. Meat, skins, foraged herbs, the occasional curio¡­ the airship buys whatever it wants at prices it decides. Maybe we could sell some of those things for higher prices right here in town, so¡­"

    "So why don''t we?" Mandy asked.

    "That''s exactly what I wanted to do. Since Jane had ambitions to get rich, I thought she could learn business and¡­"

    "Oh dear¡­" Mandy shook her head. "So that''s what happened."

    "Why? What''s wrong?"

    "It''s¡­ a misunderstanding¡­ maybe." Mandy winced. "Jane¡­ isn''t like that. I don''t think she''s very keen on running a business."

    "But she wanted to get rich." Remian was baffled.

    "Yes, but you have to remember ''how'' she wanted to get rich." Mandy explained.

    Remian frowned. "By marrying a prince? How''s that going to work?"

    "I have no idea, but it certainly was a different plan than to open shop." Mandy cleared her throat. "Let her have her dreams, Remian. She''s still a little girl."

    "That doesn''t mean she''s not capable."

    "Nobody said she wasn''t. It''s just that she doesn''t want to do it, and pushing her won''t help."

    "But she agreed." Remian protested. "It''s not like I''m trying to force her to work. I just wanted to give her some help reaching her dreams."

    "I get that. She, however, doesn''t." Mandy glanced at where she had fled. "Remian, you must understand, to the kids, you have become something of a father-figure."

    "What? But I''m barely 20¡­!"

    "It''s not about age. It''s about provision and protection. It''s about authority." Mandy reached for words. "Like it or not, you have immense influence over their lives right now. They depend on you."

    "They work for the Guild and the Guild pays them. They depend on themselves."

    "That''s not how they see it. As far as they''re concerned, you took them in and you keep them safe, sheltered and fed." Mandy hesitated, then said firmly. " ''We'' see it that way."

    "You''re different!" Remian said. "You''re family. But they¡­ they could go their own way any time."

    "Family? I''m just a slave!" Mandy snorted. "Even if I don''t feel like one. Even if we don''t act like it. It''s the same for them¡­"

    "Um¡­ actually¡­" Remian gulped. "Mandy¡­? I¡­ added something to the contract."

    Mandy stared blankly. "What? What did you do?! The slave-bond¡­"

    Wordlessly, Remian handed her the contract.

    There was a great amount of noise in the hall, children screaming, wolfcats yelping¡­ but in the little corner where Remian and Mandy stood, there was a short playback and then a long, stunned silence.

    "It only needs your confirmation." Remian managed at last.

    That was the last thing he managed to say the rest of that night. Evidently, his lips were otherwise occupied.

    ***

    Carrie watched Mandy practically drag Remian to the cave in a dead run and shook her head. [Nobody go into that cave for at least a couple hours.]

    [Why? What are they doing in my cave?] Buff asked, still referring to it as ''his''.

    [Making cubs.] Carrie guessed.

    [They''re mating?!] Buff roared. [But the smell is going to¡­]

    [Leave it alone, Buff.] Carrie rolled her eyes. [Right now, I''d be more worried about the sounds than the smells.]

    Buff froze, then hurriedly shuffled toward the hall. [More play! More sounds! More NOISE!!]

    With an amused glance at the dark cave, Carrie wondered what they were going to do when the children''s bedtime arrived, then went over to join him.

    ***

    The next morning, Remian found the kids all still in the Guild Hall, soundly asleep curled up with the wolfcats and the bear. Buff had the three youngest ones on top of him. Seriously, did those children take him as an oversized teddy bear¡­?

    "What happened?" he asked Carrie, who slept by the door.

    [We didn''t want to disturb you and your mate.] Carrie summarized.

    His mate. What an accurate way to describe Mandy. None of that ''half-fiancee'' or ''contracted slave'' or ''proposed to but not quite accepted'' confusion. Mandy herself could have concluded the almost-there-but-not-quite marriage simply by confirming it with a couple of words at any time; but instead, she did nothing with it, and Remian was left hanging without an answer.

    As for why? Mandy only said she''d think about it.

    Meanwhile, their night-time activities had left all the children stranded in the Guild Hall. Some father-figure! Forget about putting them to bed, he''d practically kicked the kids out of their bedroom¡­

    But looking at them and the wolfcats and the bear sleeping in the hall together, they looked so comfortable, so warm, so¡­ happy¡­ he just couldn''t feel bad about it. He felt that it was amazing just how well the children and the Wilds got along together.

    He would rather face scenes like this in Frontier Town every day rather than the blood and the fury of the Beast Waves.

    "Hey." Joshu sauntered over. "Want to wake everyone up?"

    "No, let them sleep." Remian shook his head.

    "What''s up? You look like you have something important on your mind." Joshu went on.

    "I do." Remian hesitated. "There''s a side mission I need you to do, and I can''t post it on the board."

    "A secret mission?" Joshu let out a low whistle. "Now I''m interested. What is it?"

    "Find Shadowflash." Remian told him seriously. "He is our best hope for peace."

    ***

    Training commenced that morning. Once again, Remian permitted all the children to pick which training they wanted to do.

    All the boys ended up with the Legion. There were no exceptions. Nine of the sixteen children ended up swinging swords and poking spears at straw dummies or sparring partners under Max''s watchful gaze.

    Jane, Kavitha and the other girls went with the hunters to train in archery. Mindy alone stayed with him and practiced Inscriptions.

    "Am I that bad a teacher?" Remian protested.

    "No, but the subject is that hard to figure out." Mandy explained. "Actually, if you don''t mind¡­ I''m out too."

    "You, too, Mandy?" Remian gasped, clutching his chest at the pain of the betrayal.

    "Alas, Remian¡­ I am confident in using Tier 1 and 2 scrolls and neither dare nor need Inscribe them myself. Also, since you wanted to set up shop at the town center, I believe this slave should help my master fulfill his desires." She grinned wickedly.

    "You really don''t have to address yourself or me that way." Remian winced. "Really. Even if you don''t want to confirm it¡­ we''ll find a way to dissolve the bond."

    "Oh, but I do want to confirm it." Mandy tapped her lips. "But you need to have a proper house, not some cave in the hills. I want a three room building with a roof that doesn''t leak, a proper kitchen, and a garden. Also, you have to have a horse and carriage. You might want to propose to me with a gold ring¡­ some roses would be nice¡­ and it would be nice to have a full blown grand wedding first, ceremony and all!"

    "Whu¡­ uh¡­" Remian closed his eyes tight. "Oh, great."

    "Just a few suggestions." Mandy said innocently. "Master."

    Remian let out a groan.

    Mandy went to scout for a location as the rest trained, then at lunch time they all helped her set up a stall next to the Open Frontier Inn. Aunt Sara was there, and she appeared a bit grumpy when she saw Remian, but spoke to Mandy tenderly and was quite welcoming of a new shop next door.

    Remian noticed that the Inn had an extension to thrice its original size on the other side, and the bottom floor looked like a tavern. There were quite a few staff already there, all of them females who wore tight clothing and thick make-up. Also, Kage was there eating breakfast.

    That meant that the Open Frontier Inn was now Aunt Sara''s abode. Remian suddenly had a very strong suspicion on what happened to the brothel workers.

    Also, he felt an unspoken worry slip away before he even knew he had one. With Kage and Aunt Sara at their back, the church across the road, the Iron Legion airport in the north, and the training camp in the south, Mandy and whoever else ran the Adventurers Guild Shop would have the safety of friends on all sides. That thought alone brought Remian an odd sense of relief.

    Even so, he advised himself to caution.

    "We should build it big!" Mindy said, excitedly as they were gathering lumber at the site.

    "No. Keep it small for now. Make it a mobile stall." Remian cut them short. "I want to go big as well, but let''s not take the risk yet. Not until after next week. First, we need to see if we can stop the Beast Wave.

    "Until then, we better make a shop that we can pack up and take away from danger."

 32 Special Offers

    That evening, the airship arrived.

    "Is it just me, or is the airship coming more frequently, these days?" Remian asked.

    "You only say that because we left late last time." Charlie snorted.

    "Sorry. Did you get in trouble?"

    "Not really, no. The amount of goods and profit we brought back more than made up for it." Charlie cleared his throat. "The more business the Frontier gives us, the more often we can justifiably come out here."

    "Well, we don''t expect a Beast Wave for another week yet, so¡­" Remian grimaced. He really didn''t like the idea of depending on Beast Waves for the economy of Frontier Town.

    "Actually, I brought you an opportunity. It''s an old survey map, something left behind by a certain Deutero prospector¡­" Charlie slipped parchment into Remian''s hands. "Apparently, there might, just might be¡­ a mana crystal lode nearby."

    Mana crystals! Remian''s jaw dropped.

    "Long ago, with the town overrun by gangsters and Beast Waves eating up the survivors, the company wrote it off as a lost cause. But I hear that somebody out here started an Adventurers Guild and managed to recruit some of the most experienced explorers still roaming around the Frontier. They also managed to clear out three of the five gangs." Charlie mused as if to himself.

    "We only took down one with your help. The other two¡­ those weren''t¡­"

    "Come now, there''s no harm in a little exaggeration. It''s for a good cause." Charlie mentioned.

    "What, peace and the glory of mankind?"

    "Better. It''s for profit!"

    "Talk about lost causes¡­"

    Charlie barked a laugh. "You want it or not?"

    "What''s it going to cost me?" Remian asked straight out.

    Charlie grinned wickedly. "Twenty percent."

    "Holy¡­! You''re not even going to lift a finger to dig out any of the crystals! All you''re doing is providing a map! And you want twenty percent?!"

    "Eighteen! This map came at a high cost to the company! There''s a lot of blood, sweat and money involved! Don''t you think the company wants its cut?" Charlie cleared his throat. "And of course, I want a little too!"

    "Five percent! You and the company can figure out how to share it between you!"

    "Fifteen! We''ll be the ones taking it to market, after all!"

    "Seven! We''ll have to escort precious cargo all the way through Wild-infested territories!"

    There was a short pause, then Charlie sighed. "Ten."

    He held out his hand. Remian shook it.

    "Wanna know a secret?" Charlie smirked. "I''d have settled for eight."

    "And how much of a cut does Deutero actually get?" Remian asked.

    "Nothing. It''s all mine." Charlie snickered.

    "No harm in a little exaggeration, huh? Or some ''harmless'' suggestions and implications?" Remian scowled.

    Charlie chuckled. "Dude, don''t pretend you aren''t happy. We''re both going to make a killing with this! Here, I''ll throw in this little special something to sweeten the pot."

    He handed Remian a book. On the title it said¡­

    "Basic Combat Magic?" Remian stared.

    "Magic Bolts." Charlie spelled out. "The raw, non-elemental, pure mana bolts that make up the basis of basic every elemental attack¡­ and how to add those elements in effectively. That Fire Bolt your kids use? That''s just one of the modifications of the Mana Bolt. Ice Shards, Stones, Wind Darts, Sonic Bolts¡­ they''re all just variants of the same thing. This here brings it all."

    "All?" Remian''s eyes widened. "Every variant?"

    "No. Just the root. But from there, figuring out how to add in the rest is simply a matter of contemplation." Charlie hesitated. "And experimentation. It''s not hard. You''ll have to open the door yourself, but this here is the key. I even have another key for you, though this one will cost."

    "What is it?" Remian asked.

    Charlie took out another book. "Basic Earth Magic."

    "Earth? Not water?" Remian was surprised. "I mean¡­ coming from a Storm Mage¡­"

    "I¡­ don''t want to sell you my old books." Charlie scowled. "There''s¡­ stuff scribbled in them from my student days. People won''t ask many questions if a Storm Mage buys an earth elemental book, because maybe he wants to learn more and all¡­ but to buy a basic water book? Of an element that I have already supposedly mastered? There will be questions. For wind and water, I''d rather just teach you myself."

    "That works." Remian agreed. "Mindy''s doing well enough. You should go check on her. Also, I think George might want to buy farming supplies¡­"

    "Have him talk to Sandy. She''s our new marketing agent." Charlie cleared his throat. "You want the book or not? 2000 Lir."

    He did.

    ***

    Ten more trainees of the Iron Legion got off the airship, but at the same time, six got on. The six who boarded were missing limbs or were badly injured previously. This left the Iron Legion with twenty-four trainees and four officers on the Frontier. Hopefully, with the Guard Towers in place, they''d do better next Beast Wave.

    Remian followed Mandy to look over the airship''s wares as Charlie checked on Mindy''s progress. They spent a lot of time at the clothes section, bought shoes instead, and were passing by the sparse furniture corner when Remian suddenly saw something that lit a lightbulb in his head.

    It was a lightbulb. An actual, two foot sphere equipped with a Light Orb Rune on the inside, and then kept it where it lit up in a magically treated glass orb. Remian suddenly had a strange notion.

    What if, instead of hanging that sphere from a ceiling, they hung it from an air balloon the night of the Beast Wave¡­?

    Remian also thought of buying a set of ten Tier 3 knives using Guild funds. These were made of high quality steel and probably meant for some high quality kitchen, but he thought it shouldn''t be too hard to stick them to strong poles and turn them into spears¡­

    Max threw the idea out immediately. "No matter how hard you tie them, they won''t be able to hold up against Tier 3 Wilds. You''re going to get a lot of broken spears and a lot of hurt people. Forget it. Either fork out the money for proper weapons or stick to support-type scrolls!"

    But the airship only had four Tier 3 spears for sale. Each cost 450 lir. Remian bought them all, winced at the costs, and then decided to go over to the Burning Steel Forge to see if he could get some other spears.

    They only had two Tier 3 spears without runes. Those cost 400 lir each. There were two more, but one had Durability and Lightening Runes on it and cost 1000 lir with discounts, the other one had Sharpness and Heavy Runes on it, offered no discount, and would cost 1200 lir.

    The Burning Steel actually sold Tier 3 spears cheaper than the airship, though they had less in stock. Remian actually liked the runic spears too. The discounted one was clearly meant for ease of use and travel; the full-priced one was designed for power though it would be a lot harder to use. Neither Tim nor George would be able to handle that last one, but Markus could totally wreak havoc with it.

    "If you need more, you can just order them ahead." The sales guy said. He was a short, stubby chap with more hair in his beard than on his head. He was oddly fair; most of the other guys in the forge looked half-burned to deep brown.

    "I need three more." Remian requested. "How soon can you have them ready?"

    He scratched his head. "Come by next week?"

    "That''s too late! The next Beast Wave would have hit by then!" Remian objected.

    "It''s not that we don''t want you guys armed for the Beast Wave, but it''s not easy to get the materials out here! The airship only comes by once a week!" he explained. "There''s nowhere else for us to get Tier 3 wood! Unless¡­"

    "Unless we get it for you." Remian concluded flatly. "Fine. Where do we get it, and how much would the spears cost if we got it for you? Better yet, how much are you willing to pay for the extra wood that isn''t used in the spears?"

    "We''ll need Ironwood. You''ll have to check the forest to the south." The stubby guy said. He stroked his chin. "Unless you''re willing to try something crazy."

    "How crazy?" Remian asked.

    "A spear without wood."

    There was a short, baffled silence. Then, "You mean¡­ pure metal?"

    "Pure high-quality steel. A single sharp haft, no head." He whispered in a low voice. "You don''t need it for some fancy martial arts moves, right? You just want to stab Wilds with it. A solid steel haft with a sharp point instead of a head might be best¡­ so long as you don''t mind the weight."

    Remian thought about it. Fighting from inside a bunker, no distance to travel, Tier 3 Wilds charging at them at full speed¡­ a heavy steel spear like that might actually be brilliant.

    "I''ll take three of those."

 33 Records

    Tim was fascinated with the new headless spears. "They''re too heavy to throw or move around much¡­ but if we''re just going to hold them in place and let the wilds run straight into them¡­ I think they''re going to work! If we can just build them some frames¡­"

    "Frames?" Remian blinked.

    "Barricades that use these metal stakes instead of sharpened sticks." Tim explained. "Actually, can we ask them to make completely metal barricades, with sharp stakes pointing outwards? I think the Iron Legion would actually pay for those."

    It was a good idea. The Legion was experienced in fending off human bandits, so wooden stakes were good enough, but when it came to Tier 3 Wilds, they were going to need stronger, heavier fortifications.

    "Can you talk to Markus about it?" Remian asked.

    "Yeah. Last I checked, he was trying to buy out all the bear traps in town." Tim remembered. "The hunters were complaining that there weren''t any left for them."

    "Surely the forges can make more." Remian commented.

    "They did. Markus bought those up too."

    Remian laughed softly. "At this rate, we''re going to have a shortage of iron ore. No wonder the airship came back so fast. They definitely have business here."

    It was fair to assume that the Burning Steel had received a shipment of iron with the airship''s arrival. That was why they were able to forge these steel ''spears''. Frontier Town didn''t have a source of iron of its own.

    At least at the moment. Maybe Charlie could find some other prospector''s map and point out where they could get some¡­ for ten percent of the profits.

    Speaking of Markus, there he was, coming right over. "Remian! I''d like to offer the Adventurers Guild a job!"

    "What''s the job?" Remian asked.

    "Finish phase 1 of our Guard Tower for us." Markus said with a straight face.

    Remian burst out laughing. But Markus didn''''t laugh. "Wait¡­ you''re serious?"

    "Yes. It is clearly a lot easier for you to do it with the help of those big Wilds you have." Markus said. "In the meantime, we will focus on the new quarry. As payment, we will give you the stone you need for phase 2 of your Guard Tower."

    Remian lit up. The lack of stone was exactly why the Adventurers Guild wasn''t trying to build Phase 2 of their tower now, even though they had time. There were missions on the board for it, but even at double the average reward for Tier 2 missions, the children couldn''t manage the heavy lifting, and the hunters didn''t want to. Short of Max doing all the work or the children wasting a lot of Tier 2 scrolls on every single block of stone, Remian couldn''t imagine how they might manage¡­

    But for the Legion, cutting stone and hauling weights was just another way of strength training.

    "Gladly." Remian answered at once. "We''ll even keep the Wilds off your back so your men can focus on stonework."

    "Very good." Markus smiled, and left with a lighter step.

    ***

    The next day, Remian, Carrie and Buff followed Markus, Brutus and thirty trainees to the new quarry. Just being there, Carrie and Buff scared away every Wild they came across, and they reached the place without incident.

    At that point, the three ''escorts'' of the stoneworkers simply lounged about in plain sight. None of the Wilds dared come near with Carrie and Buff snoozing around in the sun.

    Remian meanwhile, read through Basic Earth Magic. Several basic spells in there were going to be very useful for George; loosening soil, compacting soil, soil enrichment, earth magnetization, earth repulsion¡­ and the crown of Tier 1 basic Earth magic; Stone Throw! That last was supposedly done with a projectile formed from compacted earth and a shot powered by a focused Earth Repulsion, but most modern practitioners preferred to pick up a stone (sometimes from afar with earth magnetization) and throw it (with earth repulsion boosting the throw).

    This was different from what he read in the other book. Basic Combat Magic said that Stone Throw was simply adding strong Earth Magnetization to Magic Bolt, which would thus gather soil particles into itself, turning a mana projectile into a solid projectile. Depending on the power of that magnetization, that gathered soil or sand could very well become as hard as stone.

    Remian felt that the Basic Earth Magic version would be more powerful. Shooting out a stone with Earth Repulsion, if properly focused, could be far more damaging than simply tagging compacted soil to a mana bolt. The power of the former came from the force of kinetic impact, which the hardness of the rock would enhance. The latter''s power came from the mana bolt, whereby the soil was simply a modifier.

    Even so¡­ there was something to be said about the mana bolt method. Remian couldn''t put his finger on it right now, but he felt there was a powerful lesson to be learned there, somewhere. It''s just¡­ not for Stone Throw.

    To be honest, the Mana Bolt without any modification was probably the best spell he could learn from Basic Combat Magic. By itself, it was a purely magical attack that could be fired off quickly. Without any tangible matter, it would be unaffected by wind, or gravity, and was directed by the mind, not with hands, so accuracy was a cinch. A single Mana Burn from such a bolt might not kill a Tier 3 or even a Tier 2 Wild outright, but it should be good for hunting critters like Tier 1 Blood Rabbits. So long as there were no elemental add-ons, casting speed should be near-instant, and mana costs were just 4 MP¡­

    Remian wasn''t entirely sure what MP was. According to the books, it was someone''s internal mana power, their personal magical energy supply. Remian himself wasn''t sure how much he had, or how it was calculated or any such thing, but he hadn''t had any problems with mana so far. So far, he had only cast Tier 1 or 2 spells, except for the accidental super-powered one on occasion. What did a shortage feel like? Would he even know, or would his spells just sputter out without enough power all of a sudden?

    Basic Combat Magic provided hints where Basic Earth Magic and Basic Fire Magic failed to explain. Apparently a standard low quality Yellow Mana Crystal the size of a finger contained 10 MP. That much mana could empower a simple runic flashlight for 10 hours. A medium quality Green Mana Crystal should have 100 MP. A high quality Blue Mana Crystal should have 1000. Those rare Purple Mana Crystals were rumored to contain 10,000 but only aristocrats and high level military officers could say for sure. As for the legendary Red Mana Crystal in the scepter of the Dragon Emperor¡­ the legends said it contained 100,000 MP to start with.

    Oddly enough, Basic Combat Magic seemed to think someone''s maximum MP determined a Mage''s Tier. Apparently, it grew with a Mage''s mental and spiritual strength. Anyone below 10 MP couldn''t even be called a Mage. Someone with at least 10 MP was a Tier 1 Mage until 100 MP. A Tier 2 Mage would have 100-1000 MP, a Tier 3 above 1000.

    That was it. There was no Tier 4. The highest maximum MP count on record for a single person was 6320 MP. That was why higher level spells required the assistance of crystals, tools, formations, enhancers, and other magicians. Generally speaking, any spell above Tier 4 would require a group of Magi using crystals and other aids. Even Tier 3 spells were often cast with aids. One such popular aid was the wand¡­ like a Fire Ball wand. Modern Mages preferred the rechargeable type, the kind powered by crystals so that when it ran out of power, you could just change the crystal.

    Remian grimaced. The Fire Ball wand they had wasn''t a ''modern'' one. That thing was almost out of power, and he still hadn''t figured out how to recharge the rune manually.

    Until today, the most powerful spell on record ever cast was the Tier 9 Lightening Spell. This was done by over 100,000 people together with a city-wide magic circle with 1000 nodes, 10,000 mana crystals and various other aids trying to save the ill-fated Sinking Island of Atlant.

    Unfortunately, not even a Lightening spell could save the island from sinking. It turned out, the entire island had simply been the back of a giant turtle and while it appreciated the lighter back, it was hungry and so dove beneath the waves looking for a bite¡­

    That was also the first time the human race ''discovered'' a Tier 10 Wild. The last anyone saw of it, the big fellow was chomping on a blue whale.

    Remian spied Death watching him, hovering at his back as always. Turning a little, he asked Death directly, "So, how much MP do you have?"

    "MP? Why would I need something like that?" Death asked, snorting.

    "You have something better?" Remian guessed. "Say¡­ why don''t you teach me magic? You must be bored out of your skull following me around everywhere."

    Death gave him a flat look. "You want me to teach you? All right. For the first lesson; everything in that book, and all the magic books you''ve ever read, is rubbish. Second lesson; don''t bother learning magic. Class dismissed."

    "Magic isn''t worth learning?" Remian raised an eyebrow. "Then what is worth learning?"

    Death considered, then answered. "Learn about Mandy. Learn about Mindy, and Tim, and George. Learn about Carrie, and Buff, and Vigil. Learn about people."

    "Easy for you to say. You don''t have to worry about a lack of power. You don''t need to worry about hunger, or cold, or a lack of money." Remian shook his head. "I happen to be human, with human concerns."

    "I''ve taught you my lessons. It''s up to you whether or not you want to learn." Death shrugged.

 34 Searching for Mana

    Not all of their plans went the way Remian hoped.

    For one thing, Tier 3 bows appeared to be a very, very bad idea. The reason for that was the difficulty in drawing them. It turned out, only Joshu and Xia could draw Joshu''s Tier 3 bow. None of their students and neither of the other hunters could properly draw it to its full length. Most of them couldn''t even manage to pull it halfway.

    "So¡­ crossbows?" Remian eyed the weapons used by the other two hunters.

    They were twins, both girls, and both tanned brown like Xia. Neither of them were older than Mandy. Unlike Mandy, they had the advantage of living parents in town. It turned out, their father was the innkeeper of the Open Frontier Inn¡­

    The hunter twins Candice and Denise used different kinds of crossbows. Candice used a heavier arbalest designed for power. Denise preferred a light crossbow that was quicker to aim, reload and fire. Denise''s dream weapon was the mechanical repeating crossbow famous in the Dragon Empire. Candice, on the other hand, called dibs on the Ballista once it was built in the Guard Tower.

    Remian was entirely willing to let her handle it. Maybe Denise would be willing to settle for the Scorpion during Beast Waves? Perhaps there was a way to modify it into a Repeating Scorpion¡­

    He didn''t understand why Joshu thought the two were troublesome. Certainly, they took their time washing up in the mornings, but they didn''t seem very problematic. They were friendly, if a bit shy, and they had nice smiles¡­

    Maybe Mandy could understand it. She always seemed to get a bit defensive whenever one of them came near him. She, at least, seemed to think Joshu was right about them being troublesome.

    Anyway. Crossbows seemed logical. They were easy to use; crank, load, aim, and fire. But they were going to be costly. Tier 3 versions were likely high quality steel constructs; rather than the materials, it was the skill needed for the workmanship that would burn a hole in Remian''s pocket. All told, the biggest problem would be paying for them and for Tier 3 crossbow bolts.

    Until recently, that cost would have been more than Remian was willing to bear. But now¡­

    "If we can find that mana lode, we might just be able to afford it, and then some." Remian had to admit, he was counting on it very heavily. Even if it was of low quality yellow mana crystals, even if there were only a surface layer barely enough to supply a thousand crystals¡­ that could easily mean 100,000 Lir. But to be honest, Remian''s expectations were higher. Much, much higher. The map mentioned a detection radius of several dozen meters, with six cave openings marked as potential entrances to a mine. They still weren''t entirely sure where it was, or whether it really was a mana crystal lode, but the detection instruments indicated that there was a high chance of a good deposit.

    Whatever the case, having crystals to sell and coin to spend meant a lot. Finding that mana lode was Joshu''s new priority mission. Remian hoped to hear good news from him by the time they got back.

    But alas, when they did get back, the news was not good.

    "We couldn''t get to that hill." Joshu tapped on the map. "This entire area here is Rage Boar territory. Over on this side is a weird foggy poisonous bog. Here, there''s a lake full of crocodiles, and over here, there''s this big Tier 5 Screaming Mammoth. There''s simply no safe way to reach it."

    "There is one." Remian said. "But we''d need an airship. The air balloon we have right now isn''t big enough. It''s fine for hanging small cargoes underneath, but we need to send people in there."

    "If it''s just a single scout, maybe I can just hang on to it and float over the boars¡­" Joshu suggested.

    "You would need Mindy there to direct the winds and raise or lower the balloon. That means space for at least two people, and Mindy would need both hands free. The balloon would need to be at least four times its current size. Ten times would be better." Remian grunted. "No, we''re going to have to do this the violent way."

    "You''re going to fight through the Wilds?" Joshu asked doubtfully.

    "If we have to. But I think if we brought in a pack of wolfcats, the boars might stay away without causing any fuss."

    "Or they might charge right at us." Joshu predicted gloomily.

    ***

    The next day, Joshu wished he''d kept his mouth shut.

    The biggest Rage Boar they''d ever seen took one whiff of them and immediately charged headlong at Joshu with its head lowered and its tusks ready.

    "Run!!" Remian dodged one way, Joshu dodged the other, as the leader of the Rage Boars stampeded right through where they''d stood a moment ago. It was a hulking Tier 4 beast, the chief of its own kind, and it brooked neither nonsense nor intruders of any sort.

    Around them, pandemonium erupted. The rest of the Rage Boars charged; Carrie and the pack of wolfcats following her scattered and surrounded the boars. The field turned into a massive melee where wolfcats and boars turned tusk and fang on each other.

    [Now we hunt for real!] Carrie bared her fangs with a low growl. [Get out of the way, humans!]

    "C-Carrie?!" Joshu spluttered.

    "Humans, with me!" Remian yelled. "We have to get out of here! NOW!"

    The wolfcats lunged. Carrie feinted a direct bite against the lead Rage Boar; it turned and began a new charge at her. The moment it did, she leapt out of the way, and from behind it, two other wolfcats pounced, teeth closing in on the muscles of its back legs. Hamstrung, the boar stumbled as all around it the maneuver was repeated on three of its fellows.

    Tier for Tier, matching a Tier 4 leader for a Tier 4 leader, Tier 3 adults against Tier 3 adults and so forth, the Boars were actually stronger, being more numerous, but these were their natural predators. Their tactics and instincts were completely in a different league. As Carrie said; they weren''t their match in battle. They were merely their prey in the hunt.

    Nevertheless it was dangerous, especially for five clueless humans trying to get clear of the whole mess. Unable to make sense of what the wolfcats were about to do, unable to predict safe paths to Remian, Joshu, Xia, Candice and Denise all scattered in different directions in spite of their best efforts to reach him.

    "Never mind!" Remian gave up. "Just¡­ stay safe and search! We''ll meet back at the hall!"

    They knew the plan. They had copies of the map, and the possible entrances. They knew what to do. Remian left them to it and went to huddle with his back to a large tree. He wasn''t much of a prospector or a scout, himself. His role here was mainly as a communicator with the wolfcats; their job was to get the scouts through. Having sort-of accomplished that, Remian basically just had to keep his own skin safe and keep out of the way.

    Carrie and the wolfcats seemed to have things well in hand, anyway. The biggest five Rage Boars were separated from the rest of the herd; the other boars had run off in a mad stampede towards who-knows-where, abandoning their wounded to the hunting pack. Remian suspected that if they really wanted, the wolfcats could have wiped out the entire herd, but instead, they only took as much as they could eat in a week. None of them seemed to even consider bringing back more to sell or trade¡­

    Remian wasn''t about to complain. Somebody was going to have to drag those carcasses back, and somebody was going to have to skin, clean and cook them. That was the deal they made with the pack; cooked meat and shelter for guards and assistance. You serve us, and we''ll serve you.

    Or at least, they''d serve Carrie. Carrie herself settled down near Remian as the last of the ''fighting'' dwindled. Remian actually felt a bit bad for the boars thrashing on the ground trying to avoid that last kill-strike, but this was nature, and they did what they had to do for the sakes of their people.

    It took roughly half an hour before the last boar laid still. Carrie barked instructions; the wolfcats began to drag their prey back to their new ''den'', as far away as it might be. They had to work together, three or four to a boar, and Carrie herself was of a mind to escort and assist them when necessary.

    "Can they manage without you?" Remian asked. "I was hoping you and I could snoop around the hillside a bit, see if we could find something."

    Carrie hesitated, then nodded and sent the pack ahead. [We will catch up on the way.]

    That was less time than he''d hoped, but Remian felt it was reasonable; Carrie wouldn''t just leave all the work to the pack and run off on her own. That just wasn''t her style. He would have to go with her, of course; he didn''t fancy his chances of survival out here on his own, nor that of being able to walk back on foot.

    [Which way?] Carrie asked, taking Remian up onto her back with the whisk of her long tail.

    Remian lay low, hugging her neck and considered. "Straight ahead and a bit to the left. Up the hill."

    [Up? Not down¡­?] Carrie was slightly puzzled. She, too, had seen the map. All the possible entrances marked were on different sides at or near the bottom of the hill.

    "Up." Remian nodded. "I want to get a good look at the area, and I have this odd feeling."

    [An odd feeling like you want to throw up, or an odd feeling like you can sense mana?]

    "Both, actually." Remian admitted. "At least I''m hoping I can sense mana. Mages are supposed to be able to do that sort of thing, right?"

    [Right.]

    He really did feel something, maybe. It was faint, and unclear¡­ and the churning of his stomach at the sight of the blood and gore of the hunt was definitely interfering¡­ but it just might be the mana lode.

 35 Finding Mana

    But, no, it turned out to be a pot.

    "This is¡­?" Remian stared.

    They were in a very clich¨¦ secret cave, located behind a waterfall which fed the lake where the Steel Scale Crocodiles lived. On the left was a bookcase; on the right, a bed, and right in front of them was a pot big enough to fit an entire Blood Rabbit Chief, one that Tim would probably love to use¡­

    But it was filled with some thick blue liquid.

    Oh, the mana crystals were there too. Remian could see them glowing right off the walls at the back of the cave. It''s just that he hadn''t sensed them. What he''d sensed was the blue liquid in the pot.

    Carrie sniffed the pot, then turned away and sneezed.

    [Alchemist cauldron. Tier 3.] Death inspected. [At least 200 years old. Someone left a batch of mana potion to cool after brewing and never came back for it.]

    Mana potion?! Remian twitched. This was like he''d gone prospecting for gold and found diamonds. Mana crystals were external power sources; mana potions worked internally. Crystals would power your equipment, your airship, and your rituals, but if you were tired after a long day and your MP was running low, what you really wanted was some mana potion.

    Sadly, mana potions were expensive, so most people made do with mana recovery potions. Mana potions would give you a burst of MP within seconds and took about a minute before its power was fully absorbed; mana recover potions would help you recover your MP faster over the next hour or two. One had actual mana crystals as a necessary ingredient; the other only used herbs.

    Clearly, this was the former. "Do you think he''s ever coming back? How long has he been gone?"

    Carrie sniffed the ground. [No one has been here for at least ten years.]

    Long gone, and gone for good, then. Leaving something this valuable behind for a decade¡­ he was probably dead. This was a dangerous region.

    Well. There was an open crate of empty vials right over there, cork stoppers and all. Remian took one up, tugged to cork off, and went over to the cauldron to fill it up¡­

    [Stop. Not like that.] Death growled. [Use the tap.]

    [The what?] Remian blinked.

    [That thing. Wash it and dry it thoroughly. Use wind magic if you must.] Death grimaced. [Screw it on to that slot over there, then pull the switch under the left handle of the cauldron. After that, use the tap to fill the vials. Never, never dip the vials into the solution itself. As it is, the top layer of potion is already spoiled. Anyone drinking it will definitely be poisoned.

    Remian shuddered. That was dangerous¡­ [Is the poison lethal?]

    [That depends on who drinks it. If it''s you, most definitely. If it''s Max¡­ he''ll probably be in bed for a week.]

    [And if it''s Markus or Kage?]

    [They''d be in bed for two or three weeks. They don''t have the kind of poison resistance that Max has.]

    Remian suddenly had an odd thought. [What if someone laced a spearhead with that top layer? Would that poison affect a Tier 3 Wild?]

    [Probably won''t kill it, but it should cause a lot of pain.]

    [How much pain?]

    [Like a Mana Burn in your blood.]

    That could be dangerous. Any Wild affected by it could go berserk. Yet it was also a way for a small weapon to cause some serious damage. They just had to be very, very careful with it.

    So thinking, Remian filled in about 100 vials of good bottom-layer mana potion before Death warned him to stop. Any more than that would be risky, already approaching the contaminated layers. Remian grimaced; he''d only taken about half the cauldron, but it was better to be safe.

    Afterward, he went and did exactly what Death warned him not to; he took the top layer by dipping in a ladle and filled 10 specially marked vials.

    [You might want to burn that ladle.] Death advised afterward. [No matter how hard you wash and scrub it, things could go very badly if someone later used it for food.]

    Remian burned it on the spot.

    ***

    Carrie brought Remian and his precious haul back to the Cave. He had no qualms stashing the entire lot in the trunk Mandy used to store their clothes.

    The rule of adventures (Adventurers Guild missions) was that you get to keep whatever you found out there as long as it wasn''t something demanded of the mission. If the job was to pick up a red flower, for example, and you found a thousand blue flowers in the same field, you only needed to hand in the red one. Of course, you could hand in the blue ones for contribution points as well¡­

    Remian actually intended to contribute some of those potions to the Guild for points, but before that, he''d need to know exactly what they were worth; the only one he trusted with appraising it was Charlie. Naturally, the storm mage was a shoo-in for the sales of the potions.

    How much were these potions worth? The crystals in the waterfall cave were blue. That meant high quality crystals, each supposedly bearing 10 times as much as the green ones, which were 10 times again as much as the yellow ones. Doesn''t that mean the cost would likewise be 100 times more? That is, 10,000 Lir per crystal? Assuming the mana potions followed that same pricing¡­

    100 blue mana potions might very well be worth 1,000,000 lir. Unless potions were worth less than crystals? How many crystals did it take to make one potion? Or did one crystal supply enough material for 10 or 100 potions? Remian had no idea. Now he wished he''d taken back some of those books.

    Maybe they weren''t really worth as much as crystals. Potions were single-use items and their effects vanished very quickly, after all. Perhaps they were worth just a tenth the price of crystals, or less. More likely this batch of potions were worth about 100,000 Lir. Not enough to build a palace, but enough to equip everyone with Tier 3 weaponry.

    The important thing was, they''d found the crystal lode. Even better, it was a high quality crystal lode. There didn''t seem to be many in the wall, but each was worth 100 times the mana of the yellow ones.

    In other words, the worth of the crystals stuck in that cave wall were worth far, far more than the potions in his clothes box.

    Still. Best to keep it quiet. Except for Mandy, who would be getting her own clothes from the same chest, there was no reason to tell anyone else about it. In days to come, 100,000 lir would be loose change, but right now it was the most money anyone in the Guild had ever seen.

    What would happen if Jane, for example, got her hands on it? Remian''s head furrowed with worry. From what Mandy explained, Jane simply wanted to marry someone for riches.

    How then should he keep the potions safe¡­?

    Remian began to regret. Life was simpler when he didn''t have anything to lose. Now that he had some sort of treasure, he worried about theft even from those close to him. What were the odds of Jane one day deciding to steal whatever valuables she could find in everyone''s stuff, like clothes, and run away on an airship? If she then opened this chest looking to steal clothes, she''d find much more valuable items¡­

    Could he trust her not to do that one day? Would Jane really steal things? She was, come to think of it, a gang member not too long ago. An orphan and a gang member who wanted quick and easy wealth¡­

    Remian let out a deep sigh. It wasn''t just Jane. The hunters, the other ex-Ravens¡­ even Mandy might steal it if it weren''t already sort-of hers. They were just that poor and the value of the potions were just that high. Like it or not, he was going to have to put up some sort of protection.

    "Carrie? I need some help from the wolfcats." Remian said at last.

    [What do you need?]

    "I need to turn this cave into a storehouse for all our goods and valuables¡­ and I need the wolfcats to guard it." Remian said. "They can live here from now on. You and Vigil too."

    [Oh?] Carrie''s ears twitched. [What about you and the children?]

    "We''re going to build something next to the Open Frontier Inn." It had to come to that, in the end. As much as Remian liked them camping out and all¡­ living in a proper building at the town center was much more suitable for young children than living in a cave outside town. Now that the Cruel Rose gang was gone, there wasn''t much reason to keep them away.

    It was fun while it lasted. Remian actually felt sad and regretful that it had to end like this, but it really did have to come to an end. Roughing it out for a few weeks in a cave was like an extended camping trip. Living like that forever¡­ that was just too much.

    Besides, even he knew that the girls had been following Mandy into town to bathe and such. The Open Frontier Inn had been very accommodating so far, but how long would their patience last?

    It was time to return them to civilization. Remian regretted not doing it sooner, because now it really seemed like he was chasing them out to protect his treasures rather than out of consideration for their needs.

    But nobody said anything! Nobody even raised a word of complaint or said anything about indoor plumbing or a proper house or anything. Everyone just went along like nobody even noticed anything wrong!

    Come to think of it, it wasn''t actually his responsibility to provide them a place to live. The Adventurers Guild was a place where people came to work. Like Max and Kage, anyone could live wherever they liked; neither the Guild nor the Guild Master was in any way responsible for their housing or living conditions.

    But if he really was a father figure to these children like Mandy said, then he had failed dismally. Although it wasn''t his responsibility, somehow these children had come to depend on him. He had done no wrong, but in failing to meet their expectations, if nothing else, he felt guilty.

    "I''m going to have to provide housing for everyone." Remian concluded glumly. "Not just the kids. The adults too, just to be fair. But it doesn''t have to be at my expense. They can jolly well pay for it¡­ with Guild Points. The Guild can provide rooms to members in an upper floor of the shophouse, but there should be a fee paid in Points, like a monthly rental. That''s fair."

    Having decided, Remian turned his attention to the most urgent matter at hand.

    They were going to have to build a big shop house after all.

 36 Mandys Projec

    "Three floors and roof access." Max rubbed his chin as he and Mandy met Remian to discuss the shop house. "Walls strong enough to fend off Tier 3 Wilds. Possible accommodation for wolfcats. A basement for storage, and the ground floor should be a shop open to customers. That''s¡­"

    "Can it be done?" Remian asked.

    "It could take some figuring out." Max said at last. "Maybe a couple days."

    "We need the design ready by tomorrow morning." Remian told him. "We''ll do it like the Guard Tower. The first phase should be dug and built by tomorrow. I want at least the basement and two floors ready by the time the Beast Wave arrives."

    "That''s going to put a hold on all the other projects." Max winced. "Also, given the size you want and the plot of land you have, I''m afraid you''ll have to bid goodbye to the yard."

    "We don''t need a whole yard. We could use pots and put them on the roof. Or just make gardening beds on the roof. Would that work?" Mandy asked.

    "It should work. We''ll need stronger materials, but you were planning to make the roof sturdy enough to run around on anyway." Max nodded.

    "I actually wanted to use it for laundry." Mandy admitted. "But we should put up guard rails at the side to prevent children falling off."

    "Right. So if we put the garden beds lining the sides, the roof would be surrounded by hedges of green in the future." Max made a note in the already messy design plans. "That should also keep people away from the edges."

    Mandy grinned. She seemed to like that idea. "So why build it in town? Why not outside town, near the Legion camp? We can have all the space we want. The building is designed to fend off Tier 3 Wilds, right?"

    "Tier 3 Wilds, yes. But what would you do when a Tier 4 shows up?" Remian asked. "Beast Waves usually have a few of those."

    Mandy grimaced.

    "Plus, they seem to be getting stronger." Max added. "The first wave I faced here had only one Tier 4. The second one had three. Whatever''s coming next¡­ I''m guessing there''ll be more."

    "Can the Guard Towers survive a Tier 4 Wild?" Mandy had to ask.

    "If a bear like Buff attacked our Tower in its current state¡­ it would hold for a while, but not forever. Eventually, the walls would be torn to pieces and then everyone inside would have to run for their lives." Remian answered. "That''s also why we''re trying to reinforce the walls and build a stone layer for the second phase early. To really fend off a Tier 4, simply building thicker, stronger walls won''t be enough. The towers will need some serious firepower, something stronger than those ground floor Scorpions. We''ll need the Ballistae."

    "We have a man on it." Max grunted. "He''s a petty criminal who used to be a siege engineer for the Ashdale Kingdom. He tried to steal something, was caught, then opted to join the Iron Legion instead of rotting in prison for five years."

    "And you guys are okay with him joining the Legion and handling siege weapons?"

    "Yeah. More than half the Legion have some sort of criminal record. Their kingdoms chuck them at us in the name of supporting the noble cause of the Legion. As long as they''re not too shady, nobody makes a fuss about it. Their lives might be at risk, but at least they get to work for redemption that way."

    Mandy had a queer look on her face.

    "What''s the matter?" Remian had to ask.

    "Can we¡­ import stuff? From the airship?" Mandy asked. "Furniture and such?"

    "Of course. Just take a look at whatever''s in their hold the next time they come by." Remian shrugged.

    "Not those. I mean¡­ special orders. The kind where we ask them specifically for things." Mandy explained. "Matching sets of rosewood furniture from Ashdale, for example."

    Remian hesitated. "That would be expensive. I''m not sure we can afford that sort of thing¡­"

    Mandy looked at him in disbelief. Remian tried his utmost to keep a straight face despite his sudden gnawing worries.

    She knew, of course, about the mana potions. While she seemed to understand the part about being suddenly rich, she did not seem to really understand the part about keeping it quiet. In her mind, they were wealthy, and thus spending a big amount in public was just natural, and never mind that they lived smack dab in a settlement of gangsters and criminals.

    Then again, perhaps she thought she could speak freely in front of Max, because it was Max, after all. As for buying stuff on order, if they asked Charlie, they might actually manage to do it discreetly. Images of fluffy beds and rosewood furniture flickered in Remian''s mind. A truly comfortable, beautiful home might be worth the risk¡­

    Except that anyone visiting would immediately spot it all.

    "One month." Remian decided with a sigh. "If you want to order luxury furniture, do it after one month, after the mine is up and running and everyone who works in the Guild is richer."

    One year would have been safer, but the look on Mandy''s face was strained enough already. But above all else, safety was Remian''s concern.

    Pointing out a tree on an open field was easy. It was not so easy pointing one out from a forest. If everyone was barely able to afford a few Lir for meals every day, spending thousands on furniture was just begging for trouble. But if anyone could do it themselves with a little budgeting, such spending might incite little more than a few comments.

    "Phase by phase." Remian advised at last. "First, we use the cheap stuff, asking the airship only for what we need that we can''t get around here, and we ask for cheap versions. We can improve everything else bit by bit over time. More importantly, we need to build the place first, and we need to build it strong."

    "If you want our help, we need logistic assistance." Max spelled out, then. "We''ll help you design and build your shop house, and you help us transport the stones for the Towers from the quarry."

    "We''ll have to put the farm on hold." Remian decided. "While the hunters and the wolfcats cart stone and the bear helps the boys with the roof. We need everyone in on this first. The towers and the shop house take priority. Max, can your engineer build a ballista in our tower too?"

    "Take care of all our meals this week, and we''ll handle that too."

    "Can the girls manage?" Remian asked Mandy.

    "We''ll even take care of your laundry if it''ll help us get our home faster." Mandy offered.

    "They''ll have to manage without you. I need you on the shop house project." Remian pointed out. "Design, amendments, furniture and everything."

    "What about you? Where will you be?" Mandy asked.

    "I''ll be out with Carrie looking for mana crystals and books."

    "Books?" Mandy blinked.

    "They might be valuable¡­" Remian paused. "Or truly invaluable."

    ***

    It took them four days to finish the ground floor, and even then they had to borrow the wolfcats to dig out the basement and foundation. This delayed the transportation of the stones for a bit, but when Carrie and Remian got back, they turned their focus to the stones and managed to haul enough for the towers'' Second Phase by the time the Shop House''s basement First Phase was done.

    The Second Phase of the shop house, that is, the ground floor, was built by the Legion while the Adventurers built the towers outside. It was odd that they would exchange places like that, but the shop house had complex issues like indoor plumbing and ventilation and insulation that were over the kids'' heads. Sticking stones around already built walls was much simpler, though possibly more tiring. With the help of over twenty wolfcats and a bear, however, they managed.

    After the Guard Towers were reinforced, and the shop house was completed to the Second Phase, they held a day of celebration. Everyone was in attendance except for the poor engineer building the Ballistae¡­ and, oddly enough, Remian Vin.

 37 Beast Wave 3

    His name was Arnold. Back at Ashdale Kingdom, he had been framed for the theft of military supplies and thus he was deemed a petty criminal and sentenced to ten years imprisonment minimum. His only out was to join the Legion and waltz off to the Frontier. Many saw this as a suicide option; but Arnold straightened his back, proclaimed his innocence, and rejected jail outright.

    A week later, he was at the Legion camp of Frontier Town, building two ballistae.

    "So now you know my background." He grunted, testing the crank of the one on the left. "Why do you ask?"

    "Because, well¡­" Remian scratched his head. "You''re good. Very good."

    The ballistae were easily three meters long, and just as wide. Each was like a crossbow, only much bigger. They used the ''headless spears'', that is, the simply steel shafts with sharp points for ammunition; Arnold said something about the consistent strength and weight distribution of the spears that made them more suitable and more powerful than arrow-shapes for direct fire.

    What impressed Remian about the Ballistae were their loading mechanisms. Each had a pair of wheels similar to ship steering wheels on either side of the Ballista''s tail, and the spokes of those wheels carried sandbag weights. This was less to aid the grip of the operator than to help the turning of the wheel by allowing the momentum of moving weights to do most of the work. A single pull could therefore crank the bowstring back one third of the way given enough time. Or at least, one of Arnold''s pulls could do it. One of Remian''s pulls only brought it back one quarter of the way before it ran out of momentum.

    The point was, using weights on the wheels meant even children could pull back the bowstring of the Arnold-style Ballista. Remian truly appreciated that.

    "Join the Adventurers Guild." Remian blurted out loud. "Like Max. You don''t have to leave the Legion or anything. It''ll be like having a side job."

    "And why would I do that?" Arnold asked.

    "Because we need you?" Remian winced. "Because we really appreciate your innovation and inventiveness? Because we can pay you with Points that can be used to redeem useful stuff¡­ plus you''ll be friends with some really big wolfcats."

    "Wolfcats, huh?" Arnold raised an eyebrow.

    "And a bear." Remian added hopefully.

    "I''m actually more interested in girls." Arnold said after a moment.

    "Ah¡­ there are hunter girls. They love crossbows." Remian spilled out. He felt like he was babbling, and this likely wasn''t the smartest speech he''d ever made, and he was flailing, but he had to try no matter how silly he made himself sound. "Come on. It''s a nice way to get lots of extra supplies and good food. Just ask Max."

    Arnold snorted. "You just want me to work for you. Out with it. What do you REALLY want?"

    Remian hesitated. Then, he took out some drawings. "Repeating Scorpions. In the guard towers and on armored carts. Plus, on armored towers that can move."

    Arnold lit up when he saw the drawings. "Now I am interested. Anything else?"

    "Just these." Remian took out a vial of Mana Poison, and a Scroll of Wind Blessing.

    ***

    The celebrations began at lunch-time at the Open Frontier Inn. It ran throughout the afternoon and half the Legion was drunk before dinner. Some of them were singing loudly and off-key, a few of them were weeping and bemoaning their fates, and somebody was even trying to dance on a table with only his pants on. The rest just seemed happy to have a break and to be able to take it easy.

    Meanwhile, the ones really having the most fun seemed to be the kids and the wolfcats. They were running around screaming and playing and having a riot of a time. Then again, they were always like that. The difference was that today, they were doing so in the tavern area of the Open Frontier Inn, which was right in the town center, and half the pack of Carrie''s wolfcats were here.

    There weren''t many other people about when they first brought the wolfcats into town, but those who saw them apparently didn''t see Tier 3 wolfcats as a threat when the Legion accompanied teams of them harnessed to cartloads of building materials and children. The whole set-up was just too similar to Frostwind Kingdom''s dog-sledding teams, plus, the children seemed completely unafraid of them.

    Some of the townsfolk even joined the celebration, particularly the Burning Steel guys from the tool shop nearby. They all relaxed, chatting and hanging out and snacking together in a peaceful scene until something happened at sunset that completely destroyed their cheerful mood.

    Someone blew the horn.

    Markus'' face fell. He looked at the drunk trainees messing around the tavern hall and grimaced. "This is rotten timing. Why did they have to come today? Why couldn''t they come tomorrow like we expected?!"

    "Who? Who''s coming?" a tool shop guy asked. "What is that sound?"

    "That''s the alarm." Markus got to his feet and roared. "Battle Stations! The Beast Wave is coming!"

    ***

    Arnold and Remian were wrestling with a Ballista, trying to load it onto a cart when the sober half of the Legion arrived back at camp to gear up.

    "Any fire?" Markus asked Remian, as he arrived, putting on his armor as he talked.

    "Nothing from the Guard Towers." Remian answered. "I sent the hunters out to keep watch farther today, because of the celebration and all. That''s why we have a bit more time."

    "Good." Markus nodded. He glanced at the Guard Towers. Still no fire.

    They had stationed guards on the current roofs of those towers, along with tinder stacks. They were two unlucky Legionnaires who drew the short straws and therefore missed out on the celebrations. Once those guards saw red-eyed Wilds incoming, they were to light those signal fires.

    Septimus dashed up, the fastest Legionnaire to put on his armor, and took over from Remian. More and more Legionnaires arrived fully geared up to help. They loaded the Ballista into the cart and towed it toward the towers.

    "House it in the ground floor for now. We want a good roof over that thing." Markus ordered. "What of the second Ballista?"

    "It''s not ready." Arnold shook his head. "You said I had more time! You said the Third Phase of the Towers would be when we needed them."

    "I did. That''s right. So why are you loading the Ballista on the cart now?"

    "Because it''s ready now, and there''s a Beast Wave on the way." Arnold scratched his head.

    "Because I asked him to." Remian clarified then. "Think of this as some field-testing."

    "I see fire." Septimus pointed. First one, then both of the Guard Towers had their signal fires lit. "They''re close enough for the guards on the towers to see."

    "I see our hunter girls." Remian glanced once at Arnold, then back to two little figures in the distance running toward them. "They''re the ones who sounded the alarm early."

    "We''re ready." Markus glanced about then grunted. "At least, as ready as we''re ever going to be, tonight. We''re only at half-strength, but it will have to do."

    "What happened to the other half?" Remian asked, baffled.

    "Inebriated." Markus said shortly.

    Remian groaned. "That''s just¡­ really bad timing."

    "Yeah."

    They had maneuvered the Ballista sideways in through the back door of the Legion''s tower by the time Candice and Denise arrived.

    "Three Waves!" Denise gasped. "There are three Waves!"

    "Three Waves?!" Remian stared. "How many Wilds?!"

    "About¡­ thirty." Denise panted. "Different¡­ speeds."

    That was new. Usually, the faster Wilds waited for the slower Wilds and so the entire Wave moved slower. For the faster ones to rush ahead this time¡­ they were deliberately hurrying.

    "Did they know? That we were having a celebration? Is that why they rushed it?" Remian suddenly thought the unthinkable. "They''re trying to catch us off-guard!"

    The first ''Wave'' were already getting close enough for Remian to make out individual figures. Two Blood Rabbit Chiefs, three Spiked Cheetahs, and a Tier 4 Darkbok (an antelope Wild that was various shades of black with big sharp horns). All of them had gleaming red eyes visible even from this distance, like someone lit fire in them.

    "Candice, Denise, to the Ballista." Remian pointed. "Where''s Joshu and Xia?"

    "No idea." Denise threw over her shoulder as the twins hurried into the Legion''s Tower. "How many shots do we have?"

    "I ordered thirty of those headless spears from the forge, but they''re not here yet." Markus told them. "Right now, all we have are the three from the Adventurers Guild!"

    "That''s three boys without their Tier 3 spears tonight." Remian winced. "We need to get those spears from the forge."

    "I''ll come with you, but I won''t be able to carry thirty spears back by myself." Max offered.

    "The kids can help." Remian told him. "Tell them that''s their priority."

    "You''re not coming?"

    "I''ll be here." Remian scrambled to the Adventurers Tower.

    The unfortunate guy on guard duty there was Brutus. He stood on the roof with a torch in one hand, a javelin in the other, grimacing at the Beast Waves coming at them. As Remian arrived on the roof, he said, "Second Wave in sight. Thirteen Wilds, two of them at Tier 4."

    "Three Tier 4 Wilds. Three Ballista shots." Remian drew in a sharp breath between his teeth. "Every shot is going to count. Then there''s a Third Wave coming later. No telling how many Tier 4''s are with it."

    "Can we manage?" Brutus asked grimly.

    "We have more ammunition on the way." Remian assured him. "I just don''t know if they''ll get here in time, or what we''re going to do if they don''t."

    "In other words¡­ we''ll just have to hold them off longer." Brutus grunted.

    "Yeah." Remian opened a chest on the side of the roof and carefully took out the contents.

    "What is that?" Brutus asked.

    "This? It''s a balloon. And a runic light sphere." Remian told him, then drew a sigil.

    Filling the balloon was a simple task for wind magic, but the sigils were a bit complicated. The more complex a spell, the more sigils it would use. That basic Light Orb spell that Kairos first taught Remian, for example, only used one. The ice shard + wind vortex combination that Charlie used on the Cruel Rose back then had required entire sentences. Filling the balloon was somewhere in between, a six-sigil sequence that took Remian a few seconds to draw.

    "Wind!" Remian casted the spell, and the balloon filled up with lighter-than-air gas. It began to float. Remian palmed the Runic Light Sphere and triggered its Inscription. "Light!"

    The glow lit up the evening as the sun began to set.

    There was a chugging sound. A silver streak lashed out. A five foot steel stake slammed into the Tier 4 Darkbok, inciting a screech that made Remian''s bones shiver. It stumbled; it fell, spasmed a while on the ground¡­ and then it slowly got up again. It shrieked at the Legion Tower in pain and anger.

    "Not good." Remian gulped as the balloon, anchored to the tower, took to the sky, and the Legion began to throw javelins.

 38 How?!

    How?

    That was the question on Remian''s mind more than anything else.

    How to fend off the Beast Wave, for sure, but even before that¡­

    How did the Wilds know that this was the time the town was vulnerable? That the Legion was full-swing in celebrations today? How did they know to rush the Beast Wave a day early, and to hurry over even at the expense of their slower fighters? How did they know now was the time to strike?

    The fact that they struck now, like this, told Remian two things.

    First, somebody, somewhere, had told them. There was a traitor in town, probably one of the Wilds, possibly one of the wolfcats in Carrie''s pack.

    Second, somebody, somewhere, was controlling them. Somebody decided to rush the Wave so that they would attack during this one vulnerable day. It had been a deliberate decision.

    Similar to Shadowflash, there was another lord of the Wilds out there commanding the Beast Waves.

    And if the Waves could be commanded, there might, just might be a way to talk to that commander.

    But that was a consideration for another time. Right now the more urgent question was how they might survive this early Beast Wave.

    The Darkbok stumbled into the Legion''s Tower with a pained screech. For the third time, the Ballista chugged; that was it. All three spears shot into the same Tier 4 Wild and it still managed to scramble about¡­ given the pained sound in its voice, Remian felt reasonably sure that this much damage was done with the help of the mana poison, likely with the Wind Blessing added on. Candice wouldn''t skimp out on adding even that bit more firepower no matter how close her target was. Not when it was a Tier 4 she was shooting at.

    Meanwhile, the Tier 3 Wilds had reached both Towers. All of them had javelins stuck on at some point or the other, but none of them had been stopped outright. The Legionnaires had taken up formation right next to their Tower, so that they had one flank protected while the other was under the cover of the Adventurers Tower.

    If they only had more time, if the Beast Wave had come after the next airship trip, if Remian had the money to buy the crossbows and such¡­ this Tower could have supported them with a fully armed Ballista and a squad''s worth of Tier 3 crossbows. But right here, right now, all the Adventurers Tower had to support them was one Brutus who already spent all his javelins, and Remian himself, without any Tier 3 weapons whatsoever. He didn''t even have the Fire Ball Wand.

    All he had was desperation. "Fire!"

    This time, what emerged was just a short stream of flame, like a spear, or one of those Legionnaire javelins. It struck a Spiked Cheetah, and the creature fell, wildly clawing at the wall of shields presented by the Legion''s formation for a couple of seconds before it lay still for good.

    That was it? That was the best his overpowered Fire Bolt could do now? Just a Fire Spear? Not even a continuous stream like last time? After all his learning and study in magic, that was the best he could manage?

    Perhaps it had something to do with his emotional state. Although the current situation was bad, it didn''t feel as scary as the first time he''d ever faced a Beast Wave. Maybe he was just getting used to it¡­

    "Scatter formation! Full melee!" Markus shouted. "Don''t let anything through!"

    Markus was getting used to this too. The Legion engaged the Wilds three to a Rabbit or a Cheetah as Markus himself took on the Darkbok.

    "Fire!" Remian sent a fire spear hurtling into the Darkbok as it tried to gore Markus. He glanced at the incoming Second Wave. They were picking their way through the traps, avoiding them in ways Remian had never seen before. The traps were largely ineffective this time around, succeeding only in slowing the Wilds down a bit.

    They were rapidly running out of time. Remian targeted another Cheetah, hoping to free up three Legionnaires. "Fire!"

    Crossbows twanged. Candice and Denise, having no more ammunition for the Ballista, had taken to their trusty crossbows again. They shot true, and they shot fast; sadly, their old Tier 2 crossbows just didn''t pack much stopping power, not even Candice''s heavier arbalest.

    Blast it, where were the gangs? The Burning Steel and the Secret Waves should have sent someone by now! Didn''t they have an agreement to help?

    "Everyone, hurry!" Markus clobbered the Darkbok, making it stumble even more. It was on its last legs, but it still kept trying to break into the Tower.

    "Aargh!" one of the Legionnaires went down, a Cheetah''s teeth embedded firmly in his thigh. The others fighting it charged; they practically took its head off in retaliation, but that head still bit into the man''s leg; even in death, the Wild''s jaws did not let go.

    "Medic! To the church!" his partners cried.

    "No time! Put him up in the Tower!" Markus barked. "Finish off the Blood Rabbits, quick!"

    "Fire!" Remian speared the nearer one through with flame.

    Time ran out. The second Wave arrived before they could clear the first wave or regroup the formation.

    "On guard!" Markus yelped, still dodging and stabbing the Darkbok.

    Too slow. The second Wave crashed into the scattered Legionnaires and broke through the defense line in seconds. Both Tier 4''s split up to either side of the Towers and dashed past before anyone could stop or engage them. One of them was an oversized snake, half a meter wide and at least twenty meters long. The other one was a burning bull about the size of a house. Neither of them so much as slowed down at the defense line.

    "Fire!" Remian and the Legion Trainees tried their best to stop the Second Wave, but only managed to hinder or halt six of the Tier 3''s. The other two got through. Two Tier 4''s and two Tier 3''s dashed straight into town and nobody could do anything to stop them.

    Meanwhile, the third Wave was coming in, ten of the heaviest, toughest Wilds on tonight''s menu. As for the defenders side, none of their reinforcements were anywhere to be seen. The gangs just weren''t showing up at all!

    "The shop house¡­ the supplies¡­ the kids¡­!" Remian gasped.

    "Go!" Brutus gritted his teeth. "I''ll manage!"

    No, he wouldn''t. This had already gone beyond any of their managing. But Remian didn''t spare any time for debate. He scrambled down and out of the Tower, threw one last Fire Spear into the nearest Wild, then bolted for town.

    There was a tumult of shouts and screams at the town center and then a terrible cracking sound. Remian arrived in time to see the church collapse on top of the burning bull. Meanwhile, the gigantic snake was wrapped around the Open Frontier Inn. Kage and Mandy were trying to fight it off, and it was lunging at them through the windows.

    "Mandy!" Remian went for the inn. He targeted the snake''s body. "Fire!"

    The fire spear splashed against the snake leaving a blackened spot.

    That was it. No blood, no pierced Wild, no instant kill, nothing. Just a charred patch of scales. "Mandy, get out of there! Run!"

    "No! We won''t give up!" Mandy shouted back. "Keep fighting!"

    "We can''t stop them!" Remian panted. He aimed at the snake''s head, hoping to hit an eye. "Fire!"

    The snake dodged. The fire spear left a streak of black over its skull, but did not manage to hit its soft target.

    "This is our home!" Mandy shouted. "Our shelter! This is the place we come back to! I''m not giving it up! I won''t!"

    "What?" Remian was completely baffled and panting for breath from all the running. Still, he attacked the snake. He didn''t waste any more time or effort arguing. Pressed by urgency, he started drawing sigils with both hands. "Fire! Fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire!"

    That seemed to draw the snake''s attention. One burn was small annoyance; ten was a big ordeal. It hissed, then lunged at Remian.

    Remian stumbled, trying to get out of the way. He suddenly realized that he was standing out in the open, with no shelter, no shield, no protectors, and no armor whatsoever¡­

    "Light!" He yelped, flinging his hand out.

    Only then did he realize something important. He''d neglected to draw a sigil.

    Oh scrap. I''m dead¡­

    In fact, he didn''t even know what he was doing. He was so panicked, he''d acted more on instinct than anything else.

    But in that instant, light bloomed. A gleaming barrier lit up the night, three meters high and even wider than it was tall, practically dividing the town center into two. There was a heavy THUD on the other side, but the barrier didn''t even twitch. The Tier 4 Wild trying to kill him could not get through.

    How?! Remian stood there, too stunned to feel his exhaustion for a bare moment. He was very clear on the matter; he had NOT drawn any sigil whatsoever. Yet there it was, a barrier of light so strong, even Tier 4''s couldn''t break it.

    On top of that, the snake seemed to be running away. Remian saw it uncoil from the Inn, heading farther out to the east side.

    He gulped. The Secret Waves were in for it now. He didn''t mean to send it to them, but it looked like the Tier 4 snake was going to be their problem from here on out. Even without sending any troops to the defenses earlier, it seemed, the Secret Waves gang still had to take part in the fighting in the end.

    For a moment there, Remian toyed with the idea of chasing the fiery bull toward the west in the same manner and letting the Burning Steel deal with it.

    But no, an accident was one thing. Deliberately setting Tier 4 Wilds on them was just too much. Especially since the kids were out there somewhere trying to haul spears to the Towers as Ballista ammunition. A rampaging Tier 4 Bull on the west side could very well end up trampling them.

    No. If he were to drive the Wilds anywhere, it could only be to the place without people. That is¡­ he had to drive them north, through the town, and through the airport construction site.

    Hopefully, they wouldn''t destroy too much of the construction site in the process.

    "Light!" Remian called. He drew no sigil. He just raised his hand, fixated the barrier in his head, and called it into being.

    The bull slammed into it and sat down in shock. It stared at the Light Barrier in front of itself, stupefied by its sudden appearance. Remian likewise, found himself stunned. That Barrier had risen on the other side of the town center, far from himself. It took shape exactly where he wanted, when he wanted, without him drawing a single sigil, or even being near it.

    How¡­? Remian didn''t know. But he most certainly wasn''t going to stop now.

    "Light!"

 39 A Long Nigh

    Tim and Silas were in trouble. They were the vanguard of the ammunition convoy, and they had just entered the town center when an immense bull on fire came charging straight at them.

    "Tier 4!" Silas gasped.

    "Brace!" Tim crouched, holding out his precious Tier 3 spear, praying against all odds that at least one of them might survive, at least one of the eight young boys behind him who went to get the spears might come out of this alive and finish the mission, because most certainly, he himself wasn''t going to make it¡­

    But a miracle occurred.

    Remian shouted, "Light!"

    Before Tim could exclaim anything, a wall of light twice his height and much wider rose up in between him and the charging bull. There was a terrible, jarring impact; Tim could feel the ground sake under his boots from the crash.

    But the Bull was stopped cold. It could not get even an inch past Remian''s light.

    Silas let out all his breath in relief. "It''s so good to have the most powerful mage in the Frontier on our side."

    The bull turned and charged at Remian.

    "Light!" Another wall formed up, and again, the poor bull slammed head-first into it.

    "Fire!" Mandy was there with the Fire Ball wand.

    Wait. Was that even going to work? The bull was already on fire¡­

    The Fire Ball exploded on its rump; the noise and impact seemed to have added to its scare, enough to send it running at least. The bull went running toward Tim''s left.

    "Leave it! Let it go!" Remian pointed. "Focus fire on the spider!"

    Right. Also at the town center, Kage and the priests were fighting off an oversized Tier 3 lizard and a gigantic spider.

    "Fire!" Mandy shot off another Fire Ball at the spider, engulfing it in a satisfying explosion. It stumbled to one side while Kage stabbed his slightly-curved blade into its back. The priest fellow slammed his shovel into its face. Between the three of them, the spider went down.

    "Yes!" Mandy exulted, turning as the oversized lizard leapt for her. She pointed the wand at it. "Fire!"

    But this time, only a sputter of sparks emerged.

    "Light!" Remian raised a barrier between the lizard and Mandy before it could reach her. Behind it, Kairos and the other priest were whacking at it with a broom and a staff, but they weren''t doing much good.

    "Charge!" Tim roared, lunging forward, his spear aimed at the lizard. Silas didn''t ask questions; he ran alongside Tim, matching speed and pace, their joint momentum arriving at the lizard in perfect sync.

    There was a brief resistance, a brief moment when Tim feared the skin of the lizard was too tough, that they might just be bounced back¡­ but then there was the sensation of piercing through that thickness, and then there was blood spraying, and Tim leapt back to avoid getting it all over his face, but Silas wasn''t so lucky¡­

    "Eww!" Silas protested, half-covered with lizard goo.

    "Incoming!" George was behind them, and Satsu, and Manoharan. The three of them had been hauling the carts, but now they had leapt forward to join the battle, leaving the cart to the other four. Tim and Silas separated, getting clear before those three rammed their own spears into the lizard to finish it off.

    The lizard perished.

    "Nice!" Remian exclaimed. "Well done!"

    Tim smiled. Silas just wiped goo from his face and grimaced.

    "We have the ammo!" George told Remian, signaling the four guys still guarding the cart. Three of them were using spears from the cart in this battle. This left twenty-seven newly forged headless but sharp steel stakes ready for the Ballista.

    "Go!" Remian didn''t bemoan their lateness or anything. He just pointed to the right; southward, where the Towers were waiting. "Get them to the Legion!"

    ''To the Legion'', not ''to the Ballista''. Right. At this point, it might be too late to use the Ballista. But the Legion could definitely use these spears in direct combat.

    "We''ll cover you!" Remian added, with agreeing nods from the priests and even Kage.

    Having them for protection, Tim''s confidence soared.

    "All-out run!" Tim grabbed onto the cart. "Everyone, rush it!"

    The nine boys ran, every one of them with whatever hand-hold they could manage, tugging or pushing the cart at a flat-out run toward the south.

    "To the Legion''s Guard Tower!" Remian directed, as they exited the town perimeter and dashed past the Legion camp.

    The Legion was busy with a handful of Tier 3 Wilds as a third Wave of slow Tier 3''s and Tier 4''s approached. Goodness, three of that group were Tier 4''s!

    "To the tower!" Tim guided the cart, then took his hand off. "Vanguard, to the battle front!"

    The cart would slow down, of course, with less boys pushing and pulling it. But they were already moving at a dead run, and Tim wasn''t sure that ramming a cart full of Tier 3 spears into the back door of the Tower was going to be much help. They were going too fast. Now that they were within earshot, it was best to slow it down a bit.

    Tim and Silas turned their spears and their momentum towards the melee between the Legion and the Second Wave in front.

    "Rear guard, to the battle front!" Fifty meters from the Tower, George called off the two boys previously guarding the rear. They, like Tim and Silas, backed off the cart and headed for the melee. "Mid-guard, to the flanks! Haulers, it''s all you from here!"

    Three boys more separated but ran on beside the cart, leaving only the original two haulers pulling and pushing it. The cart slowed down immensely as it arrived at the tower.

    Meanwhile, Tim and Silas had joined the melee. Their charge tore into a Jumpy Jackal which had been in a weird sort of tug-of-war with a Legionnaire''s spear in between its teeth¡­

    The jackal howled, turning on them, but then the rear guard boys arrived and finished it off.

    "We have the spears!" Tim shouted as Kage leapt onto another giant spider and stabbed that one through the back too. The Legion finished off the last of the Second Wave Wilds in the meantime.

    They were clear. The Third Wave was almost on them, but they were clear!

    "Re-arm!" Markus called. "Fresh spears for everyone!"

    Even the priests took up the new spears. Meanwhile, George had rushed a handful of them to the Ballista before anything else. The twin huntresses had dipped some weird blue liquid on them and were firing them off with Wind Blessing support even as the Legion re-armed.

    "Light!" Remian brought out another Light Barrier and stopped another Tier 4 cold.

    One of the Tier 4''s went down under the Ballista''s fire, and then the Third Wave hit. Up against the likes of giant beetles with super-thick armor, Trinocerouses, and Violet Hippos, the defense line held for perhaps three seconds before they were breached.

    "Light!" Remian actually managed to stop the third Tier 4 at the defense line.

    But that was the best that anyone could do. Seven heavy Tier 3 Wilds trampled their way to town.

    "Open the back door!" Candice and Denise turned the Ballista around, shooting out the back now, instead of the front.

    "Target their legs! Hamstring them!" Markus ordered. These heavy Wilds were tough and heavily armored, but they were slow. They still had time before they arrived in town.

    Kage dashed forward. He darted in and out and Wilds fell roaring in pain.

    Behind them, Remian was gasping and yelling, holding off both remaining Tier 4''s all by himself. "Light! Light! Light!"

    The Ballista fired. The Legion tore at the legs of the Tier 3 Wilds. Kage darted everywhere. Markus pounced, lancing spear after spear into the backs of the Wilds breaking past them.

    It was a long, grueling battle. Even after the Tier 3 Wilds were stopped, they had to finish them off, and then turn their attention back to the Tier 4''s held back by Remian. If it weren''t for the Ballista, Tim strongly suspected that they would have lost the battle entirely, because by that time, nobody had any strength left to contend with the likes of those Tier 4''s.

    But the Ballista did its work, and Remian held them with Light Barriers, and eventually, the last of the Beast Wave floundered and fell.

    By that time, Tim and most of the Legion were so tired, they pretty much floundered and fell too.

 40 Choosing Runes

    "What happened here?" Charlie was astounded when he arrived on the airship the next day.

    "The Beast Wave hit last night." Remian summarized.

    They met at the half-built airport. There was a high deck for mooring airships, currently accessible either via a long ramp or a manually operated lift. At present, four Legion trainees were pushing at the wheel powering the lift which had two injured trainees on stretchers aboard. Next to the lift were eight more injured trainees in a row. Down below were four more and other people queued up with their crates for export, still waiting for their turn to use the lift.

    "We need more lifts." Charlie observed.

    "We need a secure warehouse, so people with goods for export can bring them up here early." Remian countered. "This airport currently only had three people on staff, and two of them work at the air traffic control lighthouse."

    All three were hired by Deutero, so Remian had little say over whether more could be hired or what jobs they were to do.

    "Before that¡­" Charlie glanced back to the wounded. "We brought ten more Legion trainees, but at this rate, we''ll be bringing more casualties out of the Frontier than fresh recruits in. Also, what happened there?" he pointed.

    Remian winced. "That¡­ I had to divert a burning bull through here. I think it''s halfway to Fal''Herim by now. We couldn''t stop the Beast Wave entirely. In order to avoid casualties, I had to chase the biggest one through an uninhabited area."

    "Is that your plan for future Beast Waves? Simply let them through?" Charlie eyed the charred remains of what used to be their construction materials mixing site. "You do know the Iron Legion is planning a road north from here, right? What are you going to do, send them on their way and let Fal''Herim deal with them?"

    "I wish!" Remian sighed. "But I don''t want to wake up one morning and find an angry Desert King on my doorstep demanding an explanation. Plus, there are going to be a whole lot of casualties in town if we simply let the Wilds run through unhindered. Also, it seems most of our town''s economy actually relies on the Beast Waves. Almost all those boxes down there are pieces of Wilds killed by the Iron Legion."

    "You said ''almost''. Does that mean there''s something more¡­?" Charlie lit up.

    Wordlessly, Remian handed him a small leaf packet. Charlie put one hand on it and grinned. "You found it!"

    "I found something. I''m not sure it''s what we were looking for."

    Charlie carefully opened the packet. His eyes went wide. "No way! This is blue!"

    "Yeah. I could tell." Remian said drily. "I''m guessing it''s worth a bit more than yellow ones."

    "Are you kidding me?!" Charlie jumped up excitedly. "Remian! This crystal here¡­ its worth at least 400 times as much as a yellow mana crystal! Even a green one would be worth at least 20 times as much!"

    "Really? I thought the energy difference was just ten times." Remian gulped, feeling light-headed all of a sudden.

    "In terms of energy, yes, but in terms of monetary value, considering convenience, rarity, supply and demand¡­ if this crystal were properly refined, we could sell this for forty thousand Lir easily. Fifty thousand, if the buyer was really desperate." Charlie gulped. "Is there¡­ more? Or is it just this?"

    "There''s more." Remian said in a low voice. "Not very much, but I think we''re both going to be millionaires."

    Considering that Charlie only got a tenth of the profits, that was practically a promise of at least ten million Lir worth of crystals. Thinking about the crystals embedded in the cave wall, Remian estimated that they could overshoot the required 250 standard sized crystals'' worth easily enough.

    "The problem is I''m not sure how to cut or prepare them." Remian went on. "I mean¡­ do we just use knives or what?"

    "Don''t cut them yourself. Just dig them out carefully and bring them here raw. I''ll send them on to specialized refineries for processing." Charlie assured him. "The price of raw crystals is lower than the processed standardized ones, but¡­ I think I can give you 25,000 Lir for a single raw piece like this."

    Remian had a gut feeling that the price at the refinery was closer to 30,000, but since Charlie had to transport it over to the refinery and guard it the entire way, he didn''t argue. At least, for now. There weren''t many ways to get money out here, and time was a factor.

    "There''s something else." Remian handed him a vial.

    Charlie froze. "This is¡­ high quality mana potion."

    "How much can you give me for it?" Remian asked directly.

    Charlie hesitated, then made an offer. "10,000 Lir."

    Remian froze. "Wow."

    "Where did you get it?" Charlie asked.

    "Dead alchemist." Remian answered slowly.

    "Is there more?"

    "How much more do you want?"

    "Everything you''ve got!" Charlie exclaimed. "I might not have enough coin with me now, but I''ll set you up with a Deutero Company account."

    Remian hesitated. Deutero was reputable, but there were places in which it didn''t operate. A Templar Bank account, on the other hand¡­

    Forget it. Out here on the Frontier, they''re the only ones who operated. Remian expected he was going to be buying a lot from Deutero for a long time to come. "Fine."

    He brought twenty vials to start with. Putting aside coin, Charlie didn''t even have enough cash to cover 200,000 lir. The most cash he brought was a handful of 10,000 lir bank notes. The airship did (the Deutero company had plenty of cash on hand for trading on the Frontier) but Charlie wanted all the vials for himself, personally, along with the crystals.

    A Deutero Company account could take a direct transfer from Charlie, but when Remian asked for Tier 4 weaponry, Charlie had to admit they only had one such weapon in stock; it was known as a Pale Dragon Glaive. Supposedly, an enemy of the Dragon Empire built it to kill Pale Dragons.

    "Supposedly, there were only 100 of these ever made in the whole world." Charlie commented. "I think whoever made them was destroyed by the Dragon Empire long ago. They''re made with materials from dragons, Titan Steel, and stuff our appraisers can''t even figure out."

    "How much?" That was basically the biggest question in Remian''s mind.

    "15,000 lir." Charlie reported after a brief check.

    Runic Tier 3 spears already cost 1000 to 1200 lir. Non-runic mass-produced Tier 3 spears had cost 400 lir. This glaive¡­ "That''s really too expensive."

    "It has three Runes." Charlie explained. "Tier 4 Sharpness and Durability, and Tier 3 Strength. That last one''s a fully charged active Rune with 20 charges, by the way."

    "Only 20?" Remian wasn''t faking his disappointment.

    "Hey, do you know what kind of power it takes for a weapon to enhance the strength of its user? Tier 3 Strength means even one of your kid Adventurers should have a shot at killing a Tier 4 Wild with that glaive! Power like that is neither cheap nor easy to come by!"

    "Just how much strength are we talking about here?"

    "100 kilograms or until you reach triple your original strength, whichever is lower."

    There it was. The limiting factor. That limit meant that while Markus might be able to go from bench-pressing 200kg to 300kg with that Rune, Remian would be lucky to manage half of that.

    "10,000." Remian tried to bargain.

    "Sorry. Can''t discount this one." Charlie winced. "15,000 is actually the staff price."

    He and Charlie ended up going to Burning Steel. "Do you have Tier 4 weapons on sale?"

    "We do, actually. We have a Titan Steel spear, and a four-arm crossbow." The bulky salesman reported. "However, we''re not supposed to sell them until after we''ve put Runes on them. The problem is, our main rune smiths can''t decide on what Runes to affix."

    "Since I''m the customer, don''t I get to choose?" Remian asked.

    The guy brightened. "Give me a minute. Let''s see what they say."

    "Actually, I need some time too." Remian mentioned. "I think we need Candice to decide."

    ***

    Candice, to be frank, was over the moon. "I get to choose?!"

    "Three Runes." Remian inspected the four-arm crossbow in question.

    It didn''t look all that strange. From most angles, it looked just like a normal crossbow with unusually thick arms. The whole basis of four-arms was that each end of the bowstring was attached to two parallel arms. It was a bulky solution for a smith who simply didn''t have better materials, but Remian didn''t really mind as long as it could do the job.

    "This bowstring¡­ what is it made of?" Charlie asked.

    "It''s the tendons of some Wild or the other, I''m not too sure. But it''s really strong. Master Andros tried to forge it with just two arms, and both arms snapped when we tried to fire it."

    "Can I try it?" Candice requested.

    The four-armed crossbow used a crank to reload. Candice had some trouble pulling it, but managed it while the sales guy readied an armored practice target dummy, and then¡­

    "WHOA!" There was a slight jerk, in Candice''s hand, and a heavy thud in the air and ground as the entire dummy was blown away. Armored pieces went flying in five different vectors toward the far end of the forge. "Durability! Definitely durability! Lightness would help too! Do you have any runes for bolt speed or stability?"

    "Uh¡­ no. Our forge has only two rune smiths and they only know a few low-tier runes. How about an active rune? Something that could enhance the user''s abilities?"

    "Such as?"

    "Eagle Eye? It would help you see further. How about Speed? or Recovery?"

    Remian cut in. "She''s basically going to be shooting at Tier 4 Wilds from inside a bunker or a tower. There''s no need to lug it around or run or scout. She just needs to kill."

    "Speed won''t help me shoot faster." Candice added. "The biggest cause for slow shooting is the trouble I have turning the crank. Maybe a Strength Rune?"

    "We can do that. Andros is especially good with Tier 2 Strength Runes. That''s another 10 kg of strength, unless that would more than double your strength, which obviously isn''t the case. Andros has been known to achieve as many as 25 charges in a single Rune."

    "Great! What about the spear, then?" the sales guy asked.

    "Durability, strength, and speed." Remian requested.

 41 Increasing Forces

    In the end, it was Arnold who really blew Remian''s budget. The things he asked for were estimated to wipe out half of Remian''s earnings all by themselves. "You want that Repeating Scorpion quickly or in a few years? And a moving tower, no less¡­ do you have any idea what it takes to build a decent Siege Tower?"

    "Not really, no." Remian confessed.

    "Neither do I." Arnold handed Charlie with a list of ordered parts, gears and tools. "Count it as research costs!"

    "How long do you expect this ''research'' to go on?" Remian asked, concerned for his wallet.

    "Without these supplies? A Repeating Scorpion could take me all year. With them? I could have one ready in a week or so." Arnold clarified. "Putting it on a moving platform would need more work; we''ll have to do a lot of testing and adjustments to fire a Scorpion while the platform is moving. Building an actual siege tower capable of withstanding Tier 3 and 4 Wilds¡­ that''s going to take at least another two weeks considering how few Legionnaires we have."

    "We don''t actually need a Siege Tower that can shoot while it moves." Remian grimaced. "It would be nice, but what I meant was a Guard Tower that could be moved. If the town expanded, for example, and the defense line were to shift another kilometer southward, we could simply pack it up and go. The current Guard Towers can''t do that."

    There were other reasons for a defense station that they could move, other places that could use some defense, while being dangerous enough that Remian didn''t want long supply lines carrying materials or tired workers laboring on site to build fortifications.

    "A pre-fabricated tower that can be packed up and deployed?" Arnold shook his head. "Remian, you''re thinking about this all wrong. You''re trying to use thick walls and the height of the shooters for protection. Think about it the other way; the best protection you could have against a Wild attack is to not be there. In other words, what you really want is a vehicle that can stay far away from the Wilds and attack from a long distance. That''s the whole point of heavy weapons like Scorpions and Ballistae. In fact, what you really, really want is an airship with magic cannons or a whole lot of Mage Cavalry. But I assume you can''t afford that."

    Remian said nothing, letting him continue.

    "I suggest an armored carriage. Trust to range and firepower to keep the carriage safe. A Repeating Scorpion could very well clear out an entire Blood Rabbit burrow all by itself. It would take a bigger Wild, perhaps a heavy Tier 3 or a Tier 4 to get past that kind of firepower to threaten the carriage. You''d want another carriage with a Ballista mounted for those. If you''re really concerned about keeping the Wilds off, just build some movable barricades, steel frames with sharpened stakes and all that. You could load those up on a horse cart."

    "Or you could just bring guards." Charlie tossed in. "You really have to think about getting private security. I''ll try to keep low key, but sooner or later, someone''s going to figure out we''ve got things worth protecting out here. I can try to put you in contact with some mercenaries if you want."

    "Please do." Remian requested. "The sooner we can get reinforcements, the better."

    "I could have a few here by next week if you''ll trust me to do the hiring." Charlie mentioned.

    "Next week would be awesome. We don''t know when the next Beast Wave will hit." Remian hesitated for a moment, then, "What sort of mercenaries are we talking about?"

    "Nobody too shady, I''m sure. The easiest folks to bring would be the lower level fighters from the Crescent Saber mercenaries at Fal''Herim. They''re hardy survivors, accustomed to the desert, well known as merchant guards. These days, they''re mostly fighting vermin in the Desert King''s city."

    "Vermin need to be fought?" Remian blinked.

    "Sand Wyrms, mainly. One brood can spawn over a hundred of them. When they''re young, they''re about a couple of feet in length. I''ve seen older ones six feet long. Legend has it there''s a ten foot Sand Wyrm out there in the desert somewhere."

    "Are they that dangerous?"

    "Only if you''re made of sandstone. Which, incidentally, means most of the buildings in Fal''Herim. If you''re a human, they''re not much more dangerous than giant rats."

    "And how dangerous are giant rats?"

    "Hardly any threat. They''re basically Tier 1 Wilds, except that they''re city-dwellers."

    "So¡­ the mercenaries are Tier 1 fighters?"

    "No, they kill Tier 1''s for money. One on one, however, they should be a match for Tier 2 Wilds, especially if they have decent gear. I''d rather think of them as ''Tier 2 fighters''." Charlie thought for a bit. "I think if we offered them 100 Lir a week, we could get at least a dozen of them to sign up on the spot."

    "That cheap?" Remian was amazed.

    "100 Lir, food and shelter and all the water they could drink? Yeah, there are quite a few dirt poor desert folks dying of thirst that would jump for that job." Charlie coughed. "Double the money, promise good meat every meal and warm, clean beds every night, and we should be able to triple that number."

    "And what if we could offer them 1000 lir a week and treat them like kings?"

    "Then we''d empty half of Fal''Herim. Heck, for that kind of offer, we''d probably take half the people from all the mercenary guilds I can think of. That''s tens of thousands of mercenaries, by the way. Not even you can afford that." Charlie shook his head. "But then again, my idea of treating people like kings might not be the same as what you have in mind."

    "We can promise them 100 Lir, decent meals and shelter for now. We''ll need time to build some structures before we can promise warm, clean beds." Remian cleared his throat.

    "Who''s hiring them? The Adventurers Guild? Or you, Remian Vin, personally?"

    "Me, personally."

    "Excellent. That keeps things simple." Charlie nodded. "I''ll be hiring people on behalf of a business partner of the Deutero Company, then, a part-owner of the Frontier Airport and several shared businesses in the region, also the Guild Master of the Adventurers Guild. That should be enough for credibility. What should I tell them as a job description?"

    "Guard duty. Mainly the town, sometimes convoys. Might have to help some fortification and construction work." Remian hesitated, but didn''t mention the mines. Best not to tempt anyone with thieving opportunities. "Definitely going to fight Wilds. Might have to fight some gangs."

    "Leave the mercenaries to fighting. If you want a construction workforce, just hire workers separately. It''s cheaper." Charlie advised. "20 Lir a day plus food and shelter could get you a dozen of those. 40 Lir a day could get you a hundred, and that number would double the following week."

    "Here." Arnold handed Charlie a revised list of needed materials, now intending to build armored carriages instead of mobile Siege Towers. "Can we get those?"

    Charlie sighed. "These tools and equipment¡­ precision machinery is going to be costly no matter what. This is enough to set up your own engineering workshop."

    "Exactly!" Arnold brightened.

    "How much?" Remian asked tightly.

    "At least 60,000 Lir. Maybe 70,000." Charlie warned him.

    "Do it." Remian said grimly. "I get the feeling that siege weapons are going to become extremely important in the coming weeks. Also, I want those hundred workers by next week and at least fifty mercenaries. 40 Lir a day for workers and 200 Lir for mercenaries is fine with me. All of them will have shelter and decent meals. We have a whole river here, and a spring at the Guild Hall; they can drink all the water they want. Just remember; the mercenaries are going to be fighting off Tier 3 Wilds. Hopefully, it will be from fortifications, but I can''t make any long-term promises."

    ***

    Meanwhile, he had to ask Carrie, [Who is it commanding the Beast Waves?]

    Carrie blinked at him sleepily. It was the morning after the airship''s visit, and they were still in the Cave. Mandy and Remian stayed there with the wolfcats and all the goods that the Guild owned; no human was allowed inside without permission and supervision.

    As for Buff, who was neither a wolfcat nor a human¡­ he usually just hung out around the mouth of the cave. Remian noticed him shifting his stuff into the cave bit by bit, mainly assorted junk and such. Buff''s piles were outside the cave at first, then they were just inside the entrance, and now they seemed to be several inches farther in¡­

    Maybe Buff was more suitable to be the cave''s guardian, after all? The wolfcats were always busy every day. The bear wasn''t very keen on running around and doing jobs or digging or helping construction or anything. He mainly just wanted his cave and his wand back. Remian wondered if he could just give them back and still retain the bear''s services afterward.

    [Why do you want to know?] Carrie asked.

    [Maybe I could reason with him? So that the Beast Waves stop attacking?]

    Carrie snorted. [There are five possible Lords who could be doing it, and none of them would listen to a single word you say before they bite your head off.]

    [Who are those five and why would they send Beast Waves at us?]

    [Three of them have lost relatives to human hunters. One more was driven out of his home and had to drive humans off their homes in order to get it back. The last one¡­] Carrie shifted uneasily. [The last one is the lord of this territory and might have finally gotten sick and tired of humans on it.]

    [Shadowflash? It''s possible that Shadowflash himself is commanding the Beast Waves?!] Remian stared.

    [Anything is possible. This is his territory, after all, and I have not seen him in a while.] Carrie hesitated. [If he, too, has been taken by the Frenzy, then yes, he might be the one attacking you.]

    [The what?] Remian paused. [What is the ''Frenzy''?]

    [It is¡­ hard to describe. But to put it simply, that''s when our eyes turn red and fire burns in our blood You should have noticed it by now. All the Wilds in the Beast Wave have red eyes. That''s not normal.]

    [I''ve noticed. What does it mean?]

    [To put it in simple terms, when that happens¡­ a Frenzied Wild would do anything to kill every human we come across.] Carrie summarized. [Anything.]

 42 Looking for Answers

    Atop Three Pines Peak, the Sun Eagle Lord sought to ensure the future of the Wildlands by cleansing all the Destroyers (humans) from it. From deep beneath the Black Depths Lake, the Deepsilver Lord sought vengeance for his fallen kin. The High Crown Stag Lord of the Speckled Highlands believed destroying humans would save the entire world from eventual destruction. The Golden Lion Lord wished to challenge mankind as a matter of pride.

    Then, there was the last, mysterious possibility, that the enigmatic Shadowflash himself wanted to rid his territories of these pesky humans.

    As to why these five were the suspects rather than one of the many other Lords of the Wilds? It was because these five were the five nearest Lords directly south of Frontier Town; the direction the Beast Waves were coming from. Shadowflash''s last known whereabouts was also in that direction.

    The most suspicious one? Sun Eagle, because up until now, none of the Wilds in the Beast Waves were birds. It was possible that the Sun Eagle Lord was sending along the ''lower'' Wilds, while sparing his own favorites. The least suspicious was the Deepsilver Lord, seeing as most of his Wilds were water creatures, except that he was the nearest of the lot after Shadowflash. Still, he didn''t seem to be the type to send in random Wilds; he was more likely to attack in person. The Lion Lord was likely to do that too, except he would bring both his pride and his pride with him. If anything, this random scattering of Wilds in each Beast Wave was more like the Stag Lord''s style; he was the sort to prefer borrowing someone else''s claws and teeth to fight his enemies.

    Then again, knowing Shadowflash, this just might turn out to be one of his weird games. He sometimes had the oddest ideas, such as the one where he simply left humans alone on his land without bothering them.

    "We should try and find out." Remian figured. "Just track where the Beast Waves come from. That many oversized Wilds had to have left plenty of tracks. It''s going to be a serious expedition."

    They packed supplies for a week. Remian, Carrie, Joshu and Xia set out due south.

    In a single day, they crossed Shadowflash off their list.

    [This is the edge of Shadowflash''s territory.] Carrie explained to Remian as they stopped by the river mouth leading into an immense, dark lake. [That lake is Deepsilver''s territory. But the tracks do not come from the lake. They merely crossed the river here.]

    It was a very wide ford, full of rocks and footholds. Remian could see why they''d pick this crossing. The river, while shallow here, was as wide as the entire town. Crossing it was a physical ordeal only managed by riding on Carrie''s back. Actually, to be honest, Remian only made it this far because Carrie carried him most of the time.

    "Shall we push on?" Joshu asked, uncertainly.

    "Yes. We have yet to find where the Beast Waves come from." Remian grimaced.

    "You don''t look too well. Are you sure you can manage?" Joshu hesitated.

    "I have to." Remian grunted.

    They crossed the river. Another day passed as they followed the tracks through a savannah, straight through some sparse woods, through a rocky chasm, and then on the third day¡­

    On the third day, their expedition came to an abrupt stop as Remian keeled over and collapsed.

    ***

    Feverish, he tossed and turned. Completely unaware of where he was or how he got there, Remian found himself aching all over, burning and shivering at the same time, in bed without rhyme or reason with no clue how he got there or how long it had been since they started the Expedition.

    Death sat at his side, in a chair, whistling and fishing in mid-air. For some reason, Remian had the impression that he was at a beach, and enjoying a hobby. But why was he fishing? What sort of fishing rod was that anyway¡­?

    "Go away." Remian said grumpily. "I don''t want death. I don''t want to die. Go away."

    "That''s really not up to you to decide. But if it''s any consolation, you''re not going to die today." Death informed him. "I''d end it all here and now if I could, but that''s not up to me either. I''ve got nothing to do here. Why do you think I''m fishing?"

    "But you''re still haunting me all day, every day." Remian grumbled. "That''s why I''m weak, isn''t it? Because I''ve got death hounding me ever since I slipped your grasp a few weeks ago."

    "I like to say that you''re close to death." He shrugged. "Besides, I''ve been around you a lot longer than two weeks. It''s been¡­ what? Nineteen, almost twenty years now? You just didn''t notice me until recently."

    That''s right. Remian had been weak, ''close to death'' all his life. Death was no newcomer. It really was a case of simply not knowing until recently.

    "Why? Why me?" Remian asked suddenly.

    "Oh, don''t worry. It''s not just you." Death explained patiently. "It''s your entire bloodline."

    With that, Remian woke up gasping and dripping with sweat.

    ***

    The first thing he asked for was to be able to send a message back to his family. With his hands being shaky and weak from hunger, he had to rely on Mandy to write the message for him. She also added in a couple paragraphs explaining the situation, introducing herself as ''Remian''s girl''.

    That brought a blush to Remian''s face, weak state or no.

    Mandy brought him some food and explained a few things to him.

    He was actually back at the Open Frontier Inn, and it had been four days since he collapsed. The airship was due to arrive sometime this afternoon. Xia and Carrie had rushed him back while Joshu continued the expedition. Without needing to track anyone, they had made it back in one day, and Remian had been asleep in that room ever since.

    "One week." Remian breathed. "How''s the fortifications?"

    Arnold had already assembled a functional Repeating Scorpion in the ground floor of the Legion Tower. There were now a Ballista on the first floor of each of the guard towers, and both of them had temporary roofing over their first floors.

    "That''s it? I thought the first floor should be fully fortified by now, reinforced walls and a solid ceiling¡­" Remian protested.

    "Everyone''s been busy." Mandy glanced around. "We''ve been building the shop and training. George wants to claim the glaive all for himself; apparently there was a contest on who could use it best, and George won. It''s rather like a shovel or a hoe, don''t you think?"

    "What does Tim say about that?"

    "Tim wants the Tier 4 spear."

    Remian nodded. "That''s fine. But they''re going to have to pay for those weapons with Points. They can use them now, but they''ll have to keep paying a certain amount every week until they''ve paid off the full prices of those weapons. That glaive is going to cost 7500 Points. The spear will cost 5000."

    "And what about the Fire Ball wand? Shouldn''t I have to pay for that too?" Mandy hesitated. "Even though it doesn''t work anymore."

    "I''ll pay for that. There were only a few charges left, so it shouldn''t be that expensive." Remian pondered. "I think we can give it back to Buff now. That is, if he still wants it without any power. We can drop the price all the way down for a drained wand."

    "And what if he''s not happy we used up all its power?"

    "Then I''ll just have to find a way to get him a new one." Remian paused. "I''m actually more worried about George and Tim affording their weapons than Buff."

    "Doesn''t George earn Points from the farm?" Mandy questioned.

    "He should. He definitely should. He should earn a percentage of the total revenue until or unless he decides to buy the farm outright, at which point, he should own all the revenue. I''ll have to ask him about it, but I think he actually wants the farm for himself."

    "Well, Tim should have no problem. Every 10 portions of Tier 3 rations or meals he cooks up, he earns 100 Points. After all those Tier 3 Wilds in the Beast Waves, if he hadn''t bought other things, by now he would already be able to afford that spear. Candice should have no problems with that crossbow either, since she got so many points from Beast Waves and scouting missions. Besides, they''re all Tier 2 Adventurers with more than 1000 points earned in total; that means they should all get 10% discounts."

    "That''s true." Remian glanced at her. "What would we ever do without you? I don''t know how the Guild could run if you weren''t playing the role of the manager."

    "It couldn''t." Mandy agreed without skipping a beat. "Therefore, I want a salary."

    "50 Points a day." Remian offered.

    "Tim could get twice as much cooking rations!" Mandy protested.

    "100 Points?" Remian winced. The Guild would eventually have to pay for all those Points when people came looking to exchange them for stuff. Remian was going to have to fill up its stores so it would have goods for redemption when the time came, otherwise those Points would be a joke. "That''s practically 200 Lir a day."

    Mandy froze, blinked, then ran a few quick calculations. "Goodness. I think you''re right! We''re actually very well paid!"

    "Considering the risks to life and limb on higher Tier missions, I figure it''s worth it. Your job would ensure that everything is even able to run. I think it''s fair." Remian said.

    Besides, 200 Lir a day was the same salary he offered the mercenaries. Remian felt that it was expensive, but they really needed the help, and Mandy''s work was an absolute necessity.

    "Now, if only I had that much to spend earlier¡­ I could sell to the airship and buy all sorts of stuff from them." Mandy sighed.

    "I thought you already did that. With my money." Remian pointed out.

    "It''s not the same! I have to be responsible with yours. But I can really cut loose if it were mine!"

    "Speaking of the airship, it should be in sight by now. Where is it?" Remian frowned, searching the horizon to the north. "I don''t see it."

    "It''s late." Mandy agreed. "Maybe it''s just heavily loaded this time."

    That was true. They really had ordered quite a bit for this shipment.

 43 Considerations

    They ended up shopping at Burning Steel rather than the airship. Remian ordered Tier 3 weapons and armor in bulk, which he would later donate to the Guild for Points. After all, as Guild Master, he should strive to remain as one of the top Adventurers in his own Guild.

    They finally spotted the airship in the horizon by lunch time. As Mandy said; they were simply late.

    The reason for that became apparent as they docked at the still-unfinished airport. The airship had dozens of people on deck, and many crates of cargo to unload.

    "Workers!!" Remian roared to the sky, exultant.

    One hundred workers. Forty mercenaries. There weren''t as many mercenaries as Charlie estimated, but for Remian, who had sweated over a lack of manpower until now, forty tier 2 fighters was a godsend.

    On top of that, there were not ten, but twenty Iron Legion trainees this time around, led by another drill sergeant named Julius.

    "Orders!" Julius saluted Markus and handed over a scroll.

    Markus opened it and his face grew grim.

    "What?" Max asked.

    Markus handed him the scroll. "They want us to hurry up and build the road already. Also, they''re not happy about the casualties we''ve been sending back while the locals haven''t even lifted a finger to help. If we don''t improve our performance, this Frontier endeavor might be scrapped entirely."

    Max turned to Remian gloomily. "Looks like we won''t be able to help you much from now on."

    "I understand." Remian looked over the new workers and the mercenaries in his employ. "I think we''ll manage."

    "Remian!" Charlie was there, and the discussions began in earnest.

    Their contracts were for two weeks. Charlie set up a payment scheduled with the Deutero Company, so that as long as he confirmed they did their jobs right, the workers and mercenaries would be able to go home and collect their pay. If they didn''t survive the two weeks for whatever reason, and they had responsibly done their jobs, their families would be able to collect it in their stead. All the money was, of course, coming out of Remian''s private account.

    That wasn''t too much of a concern. Remian sold Charlie another 20 mana potions, taking 50,000 Lir in coin now, and buffing up his account balance with the rest.

    "What about¡­" Charlie lowered his voice, and whispered, "The crystals?"

    "Been busy and sick lately, Charlie. Right now, we''re just trying to survive, which means we have to concentrate on shelter and defenses." Remian explained. "Give me another week for those."

    Charlie glanced at the mana potions in his hands and nodded without complaint.

    The first order of business was for the workers to set up a dormitory for themselves and a barracks for the mercenaries. Since those structures were of personal importance to them, they put their full efforts into building them. The mercenaries, knowing that the workers were gathering materials and building the structure would house them, took every precaution to ensure their safety.

    "These are good men." Remian observed.

    "They''re professionals. I only approached the clans I thought were reliable." Charlie explained. "Everyone here came from just two clans; the Desert Moon, and the High Rock clans. So, yes, they know each other. The workers here are building shelters for their clansmen; the mercenaries here are guarding their clansmen. I think it works better that way."

    "Is it possible?" Remian asked, his fingers crossed. "Would they be able to build the wall in a week?"

    Charlie coughed. "A wooden wall, sure. The one you want, probably not."

    Would a wooden wall stop Tier 3 Wilds? Maybe. But Tier 4 Wilds would likely be able to tear through them. Still, they might provide some sort of deterrent¡­

    Remian planned to raise walls three hundred meters south of the Legion Camp, roughly two hundred meters from the Guard Towers. It would stretch all the way to the river on the east, and to the new quarry to the west. With a bit of work on the hillside of the new quarry, it could be made into an impassable barrier the way the old quarry''s was.

    Again, it wouldn''t stop Tier 4 Wilds. Therefore, Remian did not intend it to. He planned for a gap directly south of the Guard Towers, straight in the path of the Beast Wave¡­ and in the sights of all the siege weapons and archers on the Towers. This was not meant to stop the Beast Wave but to guard their flanks and channel the Wave into a choke point, allowing perhaps five or six Tier 3 Wilds to pass at a predictable route at the same time rather than ten or twenty swarming around chaotically.

    This would also provide a huge sense of security to everyone north of that wall. There would be less fear of random Wilds attacks if the only way they could get in the area was right past the Towers'' line of fire.

    As for the west side¡­ most of the Wilds there were Tier 1 or 2. If they had time later, they could put up another wall on that side too, and then random attacks from low Tier Wilds would become a thing of the past. The problem, however, weren''t the low-Tier Wildsbut the higher-Tier ones. What would it take to stop random Tier 4 Wilds? Stone walls ten meters high, at least a meter thick, with Guard Towers and Ballistae to boot?

    But Remian had never heard of random Tier 4 Wilds attacking this close to town. Out there, days away from town, sure. But here in Shadowflash''s area, there didn''t seem to be that any hostile Tier 4''s. In fact, the only ones he''d seen were Carrie and Buff and they didn''t randomly attack anybody.

    Therefore, it should be possible to wall off the town with a simple stockade and clear out the smaller critters inside, creating a Wilds-free zone.

    They just needed time and manpower.

    As for this coming week''s Beast Wave¡­

    Hmm. Those Guard Towers worked splendidly last time. What if they added two more, with the same 50 meters distance between them?

    If they faced the same mix of Tier 3''s and 4''s, in three separate waves, even if they were a bit early¡­

    Remian paused. Something didn''t feel right about that last assumption. The questions from last time still hounded him.

    Who actually commanded the Beast Waves? There was no question in Remian''s mind now that there was in fact, someone calling the shots. That they knew just when to strike, and to rush the Wave early to hit them at the worst possible time¡­ someone somewhere was leaking information to the Beast Wave commander. What would happen now that they had much more manpower? Would they be able to stop the spy from telling the Beast commander? If not, what would happen?

    What would the commander of a Beast Wave do if he knew the defenders had fortifications and reinforcements on this level? Forty mercenaries and nearly as many Iron Legionnaires¡­ what would he do to defeat such a defense if he could command Wilds¡­?

    Well, that depended on what they had on hand to throw at the defenders. Since Remian didn''t know what they were capable of, he couldn''t guess.

    What was the worst that could happen?

    Remian grimaced. The worst that could happen was a flood of Tier 4''s in numbers well beyond their ability to fend off or even slow down. A hundred Tier 4''s rampaging through town would completely flatten them, no questions asked. Heck, fifty Tier 4''s would do the job, no problem. Remian wasn''t confident that they could even handle twenty.

    But if the Beast Wave commander could manage that, surely, Frontier Town would have been completely trampled by now. Odd as it seemed, there appeared to be some sort of limitation on the Beast Waves. Something kept the numbers down so far. Was it because they had to sneak past Shadowflash? Was it because they relied on some sort of resources that could only be acquired in limited supply each week? Or was it all just a lack of alarm on the Wilds'' part and once they found out that the defenders were increasing in number, they would likewise increase the scale of their attacks?

    That made even less sense. If they really would do anything to kill humans, surely, the scale of their attacks would be as great as they could manage. Whatever it was, their problem certainly wasn''t a lack of alarm.

    First things first; they had to prevent an information leak. They had to stop the spies from reporting about their increased numbers. Doing so meant keeping an eye on everyone, nobody permitted to go south. Remian put the hunters on perimeter patrol on top of that; if anyone, Wild or human, tried to stray to the south for whatever reason, the hunters would know about it. Who it was and who they reported to would then come to light, and a lot more questions could be answered.

    Assuming that they managed to stop information from going out, the next Beast Wave would be designed toward defeating the defenses the way they were in the past. Assuming the limits were still in place¡­

    Assuming, assuming, assuming. Remian was not comfortable with the thought that all of these were based on assumptions. What else could he do? He had to prepare something, somehow.

    But how could he prepare, knowing so little? All he knew for certain was that whatever was coming next, it was bound to be stronger than the last attack. Therefore, he could only make assumptions.

    Maybe he needn''t worry. By then, their defenses should be more than double what it was last week; four Guard Towers instead of two; two Ballistae instead of one, along with two Repeating Scorpions for good measure; plus a whole lot more defenders.

    So why? Why did he have this bad feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong?

    "What''s with that doomsday face?" Charlie had to ask. "Aren''t these workers enough for you?"

    "Not really, no. But I can only afford so much." Remian shook his head. "I have a really bad feeling about the next Beast Wave. Can you rush the next shipment?"

    "Talking about the next shipment already?" Charlie let out a low whistle. "Tell you what. Bring me raw blue mana crystals, and I''ll have the airship come over a few hours earlier. How does that sound?"

    "It''s better than nothing." Remian grimaced. "So long as you bring a full fifty mercenaries with you this time. Preferably already armed with weapons they''re familiar with. Half the ''mercenaries'' you brought me this time didn''t seem to know how to handle the weapons they''re carrying."

    "Nobody said they needed to be experienced or armed." Charlie shrugged. "And I wanted to keep the hiring within those two clans. But if you want experienced mercs, you''ll need to offer better conditions and more pay. Mercenaries around here will be expensive. The Desert King already offers a juicy package; you''ll have to compete with him for them."

    "What''s he offering?"

    "Individual rooms, 300 Lir a day, three square meals, basic armor, weapons, and ammunition." Charlie shook his head. "The only advantage your offer has is free water. For everything else, his offer wins."

    "We can do individual rooms, given enough time." Remian figured. "Heck, for the really good ones, if we want them to stay long-term, we might as well give them apartments suitable for families. But if they''re completely inexperienced and still haven''t quite figured out how to use their own weapons, an offer like that is really too much."

    "So rank them." Charlie shrugged.

    It took some discussion, but by the end of it, they''d rank the mercenaries by Tier, like the Wilds. Tier 2 fighters (which was any fully grown adult, really) got the basic package the current bunch had. Tier 3 veterans could get packages similar to what the Desert King offered. Tier 4 elites, who should be Slayer-level fighters, would be offered apartments, regular Tier 3 meals, 500 Lir a day, and their pick of Tier 3 armaments.

    It would be costly, but the mana crystals should be able to pay for them at least for now, until proper defenses were ready.

    "What about workers?" Charlie asked.

    "How do we even rank workers?" Remian wondered. "Was there any lack of people signing up?"

    "No. We could have had two hundred if we wanted." Charlie shook his head.

    "Then bring in up to 400 next time." Remian requested. "And 100 mercenaries, with at least two Slayer-class."

    "That''s impossible." Charlie said flat out. "The airship can''t manage more than what we brought today. There''s only so much space. They already had to squeeze this time around."

    Oh. Right.

    "Also, how long can you afford that kind of workforce?" Charlie asked directly. "How much crystal did you find in that mine?"

    Remian grimaced. "I''m actually not so sure."

    Charlie mouth twisted. "Well, you might want to consider cheaper alternatives for the long run."

    "Such as?"

    "Such as buying slaves." Charlie pointed out directly. "You''ve already been fired from the Iron Legion. What''s stopping you from using slaves?"

    "Mandy." Remian summarized in one word. "And my own conscience. But perhaps there is something to that idea."

    "There is?" Charlie blinked.

    "What if we freed them? Bought them, freed them, and provided them jobs, salaries and shelter?"

    "Freed slaves¡­?" Charlie scratched his head. "I''m not sure about that."

    "Why not?" Remian thought of Mandy. "I think it''s a good idea."

    Markus came knocking then. "Remian, I need help. Headquarters is demanding results, and we''ve diverted a lot of time and effort to helping you secure the town. I''m calling it in."

    "What do you need?" Remian asked directly.

    "Stone." Markus said frankly. "We need to start the road-building, and we need stone. I hear that the High Rock clan is especially skilled with stone work."

    Remian nodded. It was a fair request. "After their own shelters are set up, they will be assigned to the quarry."

    Charlie turned to him. "Are you sure? That''s about half your manpower."

    "I owe the Legion." Remian said frankly.

    "You don''t owe anyone anything. In fact, the safety of this town isn''t your responsibility in the first place. You don''t even need to be here. You could just take whatever you can get, and fly off to some magic academy and live a rich life someplace safer and far away from here."

    "Ah, but I want the job that I''m trying to do." Remian admitted then. "I want the responsibility to take care of this town. I want it all."

    "You''re crazy." Charlie said, then grinned. "But I like crazy."

    Markus threw up his hands and marched out. "I don''t care if you''re both crazy, just get me stone!"

 44 Smoke

    This time, Remian thought, they were going to be ready. This time, for sure, they would stop the Beast Wave entirely.

    Things had gone well over the week. The dorm and the barracks were built; the Legion got their stone, and Remian got his wall. Four Guard Towers were raised, two to completion with Ballistae and Repeating Scorpions, and two just at Phase 1, but able to shelter archers and crossbowmen.

    When the day came for the Beast Wave to strike, Remian had a prepared force of forty mercenaries, a dozen Adventurers, and over thirty Legionnaires on guard while he himself went to greet another shipment of reinforcements coming in with the airship at lunch-time. As Charlie promised, they came early.

    "Any word from the scouts?" he asked Mandy, who stood at his side.

    "No sign of a signal fire. It seems the scouts haven''t spotted anything coming." Mandy said. "I thought you said they usually didn''t attack until sunset. It''s high noon out here."

    "Best to be wary. You never know, with these Waves." Remian grimaced. Then he frowned. "Does the airship seem a bit¡­ light?"

    "What do you mean? There''s a hundred people on it." Mandy said.

    "That''s exactly the problem. There''s only a hundred." Remian grunted.

    He asked the same thing of Charlie.

    "I''m sorry, Remian. I don''t know what happened." Charlie sighed. "The Desert King got wind of your offer and took steps to retain all the mercenaries. He made his own ranking system which beats out your offer on every level. We couldn''t get a single mercenary to join up this time around. All I could get were workers, and the offer had already been limited to a hundred a week, so¡­ these were all I could get."

    "Any magic books?" Remian asked next.

    "Those would take more time. You asked us to rush." Charlie pointed out. "What about the Wave? Is it here yet?"

    "Not yet. Would you be able to help us out when it arrives?"

    "I''ll see what I can do. I can help as a personal favor, just to keep you alive, but if you want the airship to turn cannons on the Wilds, you''ll have to pay for it."

    "How much?"

    "To hire an airship for a battle? Even a commercial cargo hauler? Ten thousand Lir."

    Remian let out a low whistle and shook his head. "That is way too expensive."

    Twenty more mana potions found their way into Charlie''s hands, along with a small wooden box¡­

    "How much do you think this is worth?" Remian asked, as Charlie inspected the crystals inside.

    "I''ll bring them to the refinery and find out. But I''m guessing easily a million Lir." Charlie said in a low voice. "Goodness, Remian, how many people know about this?"

    "Very few. Unless the Wilds count?" Remian chuckled. "Don''t worry, the secret is safe."

    "Talking about secrets¡­ how''s the search for the spies going? Any Wilds headed south?"

    "Not in the past week." Remian assured him. "Nobody was allowed to go south of the new wall, human or Wilds, except for the four scouts, and they only went south an hour ago. Wherever the Beast Waves come from, they were more than three days south of us; by now the Beast Wave would have had to be on the march for days. Even if one of the scouts was a traitor and leaked the information, it would be too late for whatever''s commanding them to make any changes."

    "No Wilds? Are you sure?"

    "Very sure. If a Wild had leaked the information, it wasn''t one of ours. All the rest of the Wilds north of the new wall are below Tier 3; they don''t have the kind of intelligence it would take to be spies. And even they weren''t allowed to go south. We''ve shot them all down."

    "All?"

    "All."

    "Then why do you still have that look on your face?"

    Remian let out a deep breath. "Because I still have a bad feeling about this Wave. It''s actually getting worse."

    "Then we better change the subject before you kill yourself with a heart attack. Worrying too much could be bad for your health." Charlie advised. "How is Mindy? How is her magic progressing?"

    "She''s working very hard." Remian said. "I''m not sure why she''s having so much trouble, but at least there is progress."

    "Difficulty with magic is normal." Charlie shot him a dark look. "You''re the one who''s not. Who the heck learns fire magic from reading through a basics book in one day?! Who the heck learns light magic within minutes from an old priest right in the middle of a pitch battle at night?!"

    "Uh¡­ I did¡­?"

    "Exactly!" Charlie barked. "You''re the one who''s abnormal! What are you, a Draconian Sorcerer?"

    "A what?" Remian blinked.

    "There are different kinds of magic. What I use is the orthodox, scientific-approach, learn-from-a-school type elemental magic. This is orthodox wizardry. But there are other kinds out there that are completely out of logic or reasoning. Magic that can''t be learned or even studied. Sorcery is one of those kinds. Those Draconians I was talking about? They can use fire magic without even learning. There''s some kind of bond between them and dragons. We''re not exactly sure what or how, and they''re not telling us. As far as I can tell, draconians are all related to the Imperial bloodline of the Rising Dragon Empire. That means, somewhere up their ancestry was a Dragon Emperor. Given the amount of wives and concubines and children each one of them had, after so many generations and emperors, Draconians are not exactly rare, but most of them stay comfortably in the Dragon Empire where they''re treated with veneration. A lot of them become Dragon Knights. Some become Sorcerers."

    Bloodlines. Remian felt a chill when he heard that word, like an echo of Death''s voice. "What other kinds of non-orthodox magic are there?"

    "Spirit magic? Those involve summoning spirits and such. There''s necromancy¡­ ugh, don''t even get me started on that. There''s Theurgy, or so they claim, but I''m not sure it''s even real. There''s illusion magic, but from what I''ve seen, a lot of it is light magic and clever usage of magic tools. There''s even psionics, though some people don''t think it qualifies as magic, since it''s related to one''s innate mental abilities."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean it''s about mind-reading, and talking in thoughts, and moving things with your thoughts. Some people suggest that it''s just a sort of mutated ability in people, like having six fingers on a hand."

    "Or like being able to talk to animals with your mind?" Remian suggested.

    Charlie froze.

    Remian wasn''t sure if he was a Draconian or a Sorcerer, but he was most definitely a Psionic.

    "Can you read minds?" Charlie whispered.

    Remian shook his head. "I can only ''hear'' the thoughts that the Wilds want to send to me. If they don''t ''send'' me anything, I don''t ''hear'' anything. It seems that talking to animals is all I can do."

    "What do they say?" Charlie asked.

    "Usually? They ask for food. They ask for food all the time." Remian said seriously. "Even the bear keeps on chanting ''honey'' non-stop."

    Charlie burst out laughing.

    "I''m serious! He does that, literally!"

    Charlie only laughed harder.

    Then the laughter stilled. "Is that¡­ smoke?"

    "It is." Remian said grimly. "It''s a signal fire. The Beast Wave is coming."

    Another column rose up as they watched. And then, another.

    "Is there any point to lighting more than one?" Charlie asked.

    "Yes. I asked them to gauge the severity of the attack." Remian said. "Three fires means they''re serious. We might not be able to keep them out of the town."

    Then a fourth column appeared.

    "What the¡­?" Remian stared. "This is bad. We might be in for a rough night. Better call the priests for medical support. We''re likely to take heavy casualties."

    And then a fifth column rose up.

    "Oh, scrap¡­" Remian''s bad feeling suddenly came back in a rush and this time he understood it fully. "Charlie?"

    "Hmm?" Charlie asked, looking at the rising smoke dubiously.

    "Tell your airship to prepare their cannons. We''re going to need them for this battle."

 45 Unstoppable

    The first indication they had that something was coming was when the ground started to shake.

    The birds began to scatter. Most of them took to the air and fled in every direction, getting away from the scene. But the ravens gathered. They began to stalk a certain figure in the distance.

    Trees began to fall. A visible column of floral victims trailed all the way from the far horizon. It headed directly toward the Frontier Town known as Fort Spoas.

    "What is that¡­?" Kairos asked.

    He stood on Remian''s left, while Charlie was on Remian''s right. They were atop the rooftop of the Adventurer Guard Tower, behind a fully prepared Ballista with a Steel Stake loaded and ready to fire.

    "We''ll find out soon. The scouts are almost here." Remian pointed.

    There was Carrie, with Candice and Denise on her back. She had gone ahead with them especially to bring these two back quickly. Upon arriving, the twins went straight to Remian to report.

    "It''s a walking fortress!" Denise said.

    "It''s a spiked turtle!" Candice told them.

    "What¡­?" Remian blinked at them blankly. "What''s coming? How many Wilds, at what Tier?"

    The twins exchanged glances, and both of them said simultaneously. "One!"

    "One Wild? You lit five columns for one Wild?" Remian blinked.

    "Yes."

    That walking fortress, and the spiked turtle they referred to, he realized, was one and the same creature. That bad feeling rose up in his guts again. "What Tier is it?"

    "Tier 5!" Both of them answered at the same time, in exactly the same voice, in exactly the same tone.

    The column was getting nearer. Remian could barely make out the creature causing it; all he could see was a shell full of spikes.

    Remian turned to Candice. "Man the ballista. Denise, to the Scorpion."

    "I think we can bring in the airship right now. We don''t have to wait." Charlie observed. "There''s just that one Tier 5, and it has no support, and nothing that can hit an airship at high altitude. I''m going."

    "Be careful!" Remian warned. "We have no idea what it''s capable of! Don''t get too close!"

    "Got it." Charlie nodded.

    He climbed up a rope ladder leading to the airship waiting for him overhead. Once he was on board, the ladder was retracted and the airship headed for the shell. A cheer went up from the assembled fighters as they saw the airship making a move.

    "Be careful, Charlie." Remian muttered, as the airship sped up. "I have a really, really bad feeling."

    The airship closed in on the target, then turned and aimed its broadside cannons at the figure. There were multiple cracking sounds in the distance, and then explosions erupted on the front of the shell. The barrage rained down for a straight ten seconds before there was a sudden ripple in the air from the front of the shell, like an expanding wave. It shot up and into the airship hundreds of meters above it, tearing through the wooden hull, breaking the belly of the ship into two, and then puncturing the metal gas tank above. The airship shuddered; the shooting stopped¡­ and then it began to keel over in mid-air, leaking gas, pieces falling from its broken belly.

    "Scrap." Remian bit his lip. "Blast it, Charlie, I told you to stay away¡­"

    But to be fair, not even he had suspected that big shell was capable of something like that ripple in the air. Nobody suspected that the lumbering hulk had powers that could strike a target so far away, so high above. What was that? Some sort of sonic attack? What did the Wild do, roar at it?

    One roar was enough to sink it. So much for the great technological advances of man. Remian had a good example why all previous attempts at colonizing the Wildlands failed no matter how grand in scale.

    And this¡­ this seemed to be it for the current town too.

    "Mindy." Remian called to the girl behind him. "Send word to Mandy. Get everyone out of town."

    "What? But we haven''t even fought yet!" Mindy protested. "I have all my scrolls ready¡­"

    "Go! Evacuate the shop and the inn! Get as many people out of town as you can!" Remian ordered. "We can''t stop that Tier 5! Get everyone out! Now!"

    Joshu and Xia were visible, running for their lives. Carrie darted forward to give them a lift. Upon arrival, they made their reports.

    "It''s a giant tortoise with a spiked tail!" Joshu gasped. "Or maybe an elephant with a spiked shell, but no trunk?"

    "Bad! Very bad!" Xia summarized much more succinctly.

    "Fire Ballista!" Markus'' order could be heard all the way from the other Tower.

    "Candice!" Remian nodded tightly.

    The giant crossbows fired. One after the other, the Legion''s Tower and the Adventurers'' Tower Ballistae launched spears of pure steel into the far distance.

    Did they hit their target? Probably. It was hard to miss a target that large. But there was no indication of damage, the shell-thing didn''t even slow down.

    There were another pair of cracks. The falling airship still struck out, throwing whatever little firepower it had left still functional at the looming figure. There were a pair of explosions like little sprays of fire on the front of the shell¡­ but that too, made no difference to the approaching hulk. It did not slow down. It did not turn around. It didn''t even speed up. It completely ignored everything they threw at it.

    Candice had some help from the guys on the roof. The Ballista was reloaded and fired again in short order. A third time. A fourth.

    No response. The shell-figure was close enough for Remian to see a head. It was short, relative to the size of the shell, and there were spikes on that head too. It looked like thick, thick leather. It had short stumpy legs, or at least, they looked short and stumpy, but next to them, the fallen airship looked only half the size of the shell. That meant that each of those legs were likely the size of a Guard Tower.

    How big were Tier 5 Wilds? Remian had imagined them to be three, maybe four times the size of Carrie, or Buff. But like other Tiers, there were larger Wilds and smaller Wilds within the same Tier. This thing appeared to be one of the bigger ones, even among Tier 5''s. It was easily nine times Carrie''s size, seven times Buffs, a true Tier 5 Heavy.

    "It''s a dragon-turtle¡­" One of the children below shouted, using a figure straight from the fairy tales.

    Were they fairy tales, really? Or did such creatures really exist somewhere out there in the Wildlands? Obviously, this one seemed to match such a description.

    "Break formation!" Markus'' roar sounded across the defense line. "Flank it!"

    That was a wise decision, Remian realized. The best way to fight it would be to outmaneuver it, strike from the sides or the back¡­ because they most certainly wouldn''t be able to stop it up front.

    "Keep firing! Everyone, out of the Tower, now! Skirmish mode! Engage from a safe distance! Do not attack from the front, and whatever you do, DON''T get in its way!" Remian ordered. "Candice, be careful with your shots, don''t hit our own people! Carrie! I need a lift!"

    The evacuations had only just begun. Remian saw only a trickle of people leaving town. They needed more time, but the Tier 5 Wild was coming in too fast. They may not be able to stop that gigantic thing, but maybe they could slow it down, buy the evacuation a little more time.

    Carrie brought Remian in a wide arc, quickly outpacing the other defenders who were making a move to outflank the Tier 5. [What IS this?]

    [It is the Spike-Back Lizard of Craggy Falls.] Carrie answered with unease. [He stands independent of any Lord, but was too lazy to establish his own domain. He only wanted to stay in his nice warm waterfall. Why is he even out of the water? I don''t understand.]

    [Where is the Craggy Falls?] Remian asked. [How many days away?]

    [At the speed we were moving the last time? Maybe five.]

    In other words, wherever the Beast Waves came from, Deepsilver''s lake was only halfway there.

    [Any ideas?] Remian asked.

    [Hamstring him, then lunge for the throat!] Carrie advised. [But my teeth and claws aren''t sharp enough, strong enough, or big enough.]

    [I can try that.] Remian decided. [We need to get close quickly, then get away even faster. Our target is the back left leg!]

    [Understood! We''ll stay away from the head, and the club-tail!] Carrie acknowledged, and charged in at the head of the skirmishers.

    "Fire!" Remian threw in as much desperation as he could, but once more all he got from his efforts was that fire-spear. Unwilling to give up, he made up for size with numbers. "Fire, fire, fire, fire, fire!"

    No joy. The fire spears barely blackened the skin, and the Spike-Back didn''t even seem to notice.

    "For crying out loud!" Remian gasped, reeling mentally, emotionally and physically. He threw an angry air-punch at it. "BURN!"

    Abruptly, a flood of fire burst out, a veritable river of flame as wide and tall as a house slamming into the rear left leg of the Spike-Back. The Spike-Back roared, flinching. It turned his head shockingly fast toward Carrie who was trying to get away and roared a different Roar directly at her. A Sonic Wave blasted into Carrie at short range.

    Everything went white. Remian saw the sky, and the ground chasing each other in circles. He was aware, dimly, of flying through the air.

    Who knew? Remian felt regret vaguely as senses failed and the ground came rushing up to meet him face to face. Who knew that the Spike-Back could actually move so fast?

    Certainly not him. There was certainly basis for regret, there.

    At least he wouldn''t feel it when the ground hit¡­ Remian lost his grasp on consciousness before he even hit the ground.

 46 The Fall of Frontier Town

    Charlie wiped sweat from his brow as he brought Remian safely down to the ground in a thick cushion of air. For the moment there, he was afraid he was about to lose his business partner (and therefore, the blue mana crystals) for good.

    Already he had lost the airship, of which he was a partial owner and working partner. Just one million Lir wasn''t going to be enough to compensate him for THAT loss! Five million would barely cover the initial cost of his buying in as a partner, not to mention the loss of potential business and his time! Those blue mana crystals were the only comfort Charlie had as to his efforts on this disastrous night.

    Who could compensate him for the losses? Who was to blame? Was it the captain, for piloting the airship so close to the Wild? But how was he to know it had such powers? And besides, the captain was dead. The dead could not owe.

    Which, of course, was another reason to save Remian. If the guy felt guilty enough, Charlie could stand to make more profit off him¡­

    Up ahead, there was roaring, and screams. People were trying to stop the Tier 5 Wild and nobody was faring any better than Charlie or Remian themselves.

    "Javelins!" Markus called. But as far as the Tier 5 monster was concerned, nothing happened. It probably didn''t even feel any of it. Markus'' voice rose again. "Tim! Lend me your spear!"

    "George! Your glaive!" Max requested roughly at the same time.

    There was a short, awkward silence where the only sounds were the sounds of the ground shaking to the Tier 5''s footsteps. They didn''t even slow.

    Charlie followed behind them quietly, magically towing along the unconscious Remian on that cushion of air. Pretty soon there were a couple more roars, and then a terrible crashing sound.

    "There go the Guard Towers." Charlie mourned their loss on Remian''s behalf. They had been set up well against Tier 3''s, even Tier 4''s, but this beast was just too much.

    They passed by the wreckage of the Towers. Incidentally, Charlie met Arnold on the other side of what used to be the Legion Tower, grimly salvaging what useful pieces he could from the shattered siege weapons he had so painstakingly crafted. He looked like he was about to cry.

    "See, this is why we should have built them on moving platforms. This is why¡­" he trailed off, then wordlessly went back to saving whatever pieces he could from his ruined work.

    Well¡­ at least the Iron Legion had plenty of crushed stone for their road, now.

    The Tier 5 was rampaging around town. The entire central area was practically flattened already. It began to wander around, turning left. Burning Steel Slayers were trying to kill it, two of them on its back, hacking and stabbing at its neck. One of them tried to throw explosives into its mouth.

    SNAP! The explosives weren''t the only things that went into its mouth. That was the end of one of the Burning Steel Slayers. There was a small thud, and then smoke emerged from the Spike-Back''s nose, but the beast itself only snorted and puffed out a smoke ring. Then it proceeded to trample around the west, making a full circle of ruin, then another circle, leaving rubble and wreckage in its wake.

    "Charlie?" Remian came to at that point. He sat up just in time to see the Spike-Back smash through the Burning Steel Forge. Broken weapons and pieces of armor went flying halfway across the West Side. "Oh, scrap."

    "Yeah." Charlie grimaced, not knowing what else to say.

    "Remian! Charlie!" Mindy found them, and ran up to them crying. "Help!"

    "Mindy? What''s wrong?" Remian got to his feet so fast, he tilted dangerously to one side and almost fell over again. "Ugh¡­"

    "Slowly, take it easy." Charlie advised.

    But Remian wasn''t paying attention to him. "Mindy! What''s wrong?"

    "It''s my sister¡­" Mindy sobbed. "Mandy refused to leave the shop."

    ***

    "What?!" Remian stared at the central area of town.

    Nothing remained standing. The shops, the inn, the church¡­ everything had been reduced to rubble.

    "Mandy!" Remian gasped, and ran to find her¡­

    Only to stumble as the world spun crazily.

    "Take it easy, I said!" Charlie snapped. "Where''s that wolfcat of yours?"

    "Carrie¡­" Remian muttered. [Carrie! Help!]

    [Remian!] Carrie was at the front, but hearing his call, she came looking for him. [What happened?]

    [Ask me later! We need to find Mandy¡­] Remian caught his breath and stood very still as the dizziness subsided. Carrie arrived and promptly took him up on her shoulder like a father picking up his child. Then, she picked up Mindy. [She was at the shop house!]

    [Hold on.] Carrie instructed, and loped for the town center.

    It was bad. Not only were there no structure that remained standing, not even the furniture had survived the trampling. Everything was broken, every wall, every table, and every person.

    "That was Jon." Remian heard Mindy say in a low sob.

    "Why?" Remian asked in frustration. "Why didn''t she evacuate? I told them! I told her to leave!"

    "She couldn''t. She wouldn''t. She finally had her dream¡­" Mindy said, between sobs. "A place to shelter everybody, that we could all come home to¡­ a place she could call her own."

    "We could build her another one! She didn''t have to¡­ to¡­!" Remian grit his teeth.

    Was it his fault that she stayed, trying to fight off a Tier 5 Wild? Waiting for some miracle that never happened? Because until now, there had always been a miracle, something amazing had always happened to save the town, Remian always had some unexpected breakthrough¡­

    But not even that could save them this time. Remian''s surprise power had hurt the Wild enough to make it angry, but not enough to stop it. This time, Remian''s best efforts weren''t enough.

    "She wouldn''t give it up." Mindy summarized.

    Carrie sniffed, sniffed again, then scampered along the rubble, her nose to the ground. [I smell her. She''s bleeding.]

    "She''s alive?" Remian clutched Carrie''s fur tightly. "Let''s move!"

    Mindy stopped crying just like that. She began to shout. "Mandy! Mandy!!"

    "Here!" Mandy''s voice called back weakly.

    Carrie dashed forward. There was Mandy, indeed, lying in a heap of roof tiles. She was bleeding, battered, bruised¡­ but alive. "My leg¡­ my arm¡­"

    "Hold still." Remian said, gushing with relief. He slid down off Carrie''s back. "Mindy, Carrie¡­ get Rhema."

    He crouched down with her, clearing rubble away, inspecting her injuries. Mandy''s entire left side looked to be in very bad shape. Remian winced to see it.

    "You look like hell." Mandy advised him drily.

    Remian snorted. "Talk about the pot calling the kettle black."

    Charlie arrived before Rhema did. "What happened here?"

    "Somebody wouldn''t leave when I told her to, and¡­" Remian gestured with a growl.

    "Dragon-turtle came running into the shop house and sent it flying in pieces." Mandy coughed.

    "Really? But I wasn''t asking about the shop house¡­ what happened to you?" Charlie specified.

    "I was IN it!"

    "What were you doing in it?" Charlie asked, eyebrow raised. He held a hand over her. Soft white light shimmered as he passed it over her body, scanning.

    Remian wanted to know that too.

    "Trying to get that blasted Fire Ball wand to work, just one more time¡­" Mandy grimaced.

    "I TOLD you¡­" Remian groaned out loud. "And I also told you that the power was spent already! Why wouldn''t you listen to me?!"

    He should have given that wand back to Buff! He should have¡­ if he''d just taken the time¡­

    But that wand gave Mandy a sense of security, even if it didn''t work anymore.

    "We need to get you a new wand. Something that works." Remian grunted, guilt weighing down on him.

    "We need to get me a wheelchair, first." Mandy grimaced.

    "Or a stretcher." Charlie said mildly. He glanced at Remian. "Her back isn''t broken. We can put her on it and bring her to safety. It''ll take both of us to get one over."

    "Can''t you just magic it here?" Remian asked.

    "Can''t." Charlie shook his head. "I''ve spent most of my mana already, and I don''t want to waste mana potions. We''re going to need to sell it for money to rebuild."

    "Why do you need money to rebuild? This isn''t your town." Remian shook his head.

    "No, but that airport was partially mine. Plus, I need a new airship." Charlie pointed out. "My last one broke trying to help you."

    Remian''s face fell. "Sorry. That wasn''t¡­ I mean¡­ sorry."

    "Chill, man. It was a battle. We''ll buy or build another one. Just chill." Charlie advised. "And come help me grab a stretcher."

    The rampage went on as they brought Mandy to the relief site at the workers and mercenaries quarters. Abruptly, as they were settling her down, the crashing and shaking stopped.

    "What happened?" Remian asked, but everyone was asking the same question.

    And then, a baffled thought-wave arrived from the Tier 5 Spike-Back Lizard.

    [What happened? Where am I? Can someone tell me what is going on?]

 47 Men and Wilds

    [Can someone please tell me what is going on?] The Spike-Back Lizard asked.

    [You great goof!!] Carrie barked at him. [You''ve destroyed the human nest! What are you doing all the way over here?!]

    [I¡­ I don''t know¡­] the great big fellow looked around, blinking. [Where am I? What happened to that horrible shrieking¡­?]

    [You''re at the far north end of Shadowflash''s territory.] Carrie advised. [Shadowflash is going to be so mad at you.]

    [Shadowflash is dead.] Spike-back grouched.

    [That''s what they say. But nobody has proof.] Carrie insisted.

    [I''m here. He isn''t. That''s proof enough.] Spike grumped. [If he were alive, he would never have let me get this far.]

    Carrie fell silent. She did not retort to that. [So¡­ what now? You''ve passed through his entire territory unchallenged. You''ve proven yourself to be the strongest Wild here. Do you intend to claim this territory as your own?]

    [What? No way! I don''t want that sort of responsibility!] Spike turned and started running south. [You guys handle your own problems and leave me OUT of it! I''m going home!]

    There was screaming from those measly humans as Spike ran for his freedom. The ground shook so hard, they practically bounced around as he fled at full speed.

    "So fast!" one particular small female human exclaimed, as Spike ran past.

    It seemed they underestimated him. Spike decided to show them how fast he could REALLY run, and left the whole mess far, far behind him.

    ***

    Remian crouched down on all fours as the shaking subsided. He turned to Carrie. [Did he say¡­ something about ''shrieking''?]

    [The only shrieking I heard was Jane.] Carrie scratched at her ears with a back leg. [She was loud enough to cover everybody else''s screaming. I don''t think that''s what caused Spike to go mad.]

    In two sentences, both Remian and Carrie had summarized their conclusions.

    First, Spike hadn''t done any of this intentionally. He certainly had no interest in Shadowflash''s territory.

    Second, Spike mentioned there was some sort of ''horrible shrieking''. If he had heard it back at his home, and lost all reason until it ended, then it stood to reason that the cause of his madness had something to do with that shrieking.

    [So¡­ it''s not that they hate us?] Remian perked up. The realizations were starting to dawn on him. [Which means¡­ it doesn''t matter what we build, or how much we build¡­ the only one who have any rights or reason to stop us would be Shadowflash himself, and he obviously hasn''t done anything to anyone for a long time¡­]

    [That also means that no matter how little you build, you will still be targeted and destroyed.] Carrie pointed out. [Whatever is causing this, it can still strike you even if you move, or even if you build only a scarcely.]

    [Whatever¡­ or ''whoever''.] Remian concluded grimly. [Someone is doing this on purpose.]

    Carrie did not refute that either. Someone who knew about their defenses, and their abilities, and their growth, had deliberately changed the tactics and form of the Beast Waves to destroy them.

    Yet there had been no Wilds straying south this week. They had tightened security so much, even if they couldn''t stop word from getting out, someone would have seen something.

    Remian glanced once at where Mandy was being treated, and his fist clenched. He turned and looked at the remains of Frontier Town. His eyes fell on the only remaining structures of Frontier Town. Slowly, his face turned dark.

    There was only one gang that remained untouched after all the mayhem the town went through. The Legion was trampled, the Burning Steel lost all their forges, nothing remained of the church or the inn or the airport¡­ but the East Side stood relatively untouched.

    Who could have known what sort of defenses the town had raised? Who stood to benefit from such Beast Wave attacks?

    But there was no evidence. Remian had only suspicions.

    [Carrie¡­ we''re going to need spies.]

    ***

    In the dark of the night, furtive shadows slipped into the East Side of Frontier Town.

    "Mip." One shadow said to another.

    "Mik, miik." The other replied.

    Ears perked up, angular, and oddly large for their heads. Pointed noses sniffed the air.

    Then, as if on some hidden signal, they scattered. Into the drains, into the alleys, and attics, two dozen small, furtive Tier 1 Wilds spread throughout the entire East Side and began to spy on the unsuspecting humans.

    ***

    [This is Miik.] Carrie introduced. [He is a chief of the local Lynxmice.]

    Remian inspected the Tier 3 Wild in front of him. Lynx ears and claws and tail, mouse nose and whiskers¡­ the Lynxmouse was a mix of cat and mouse about as big as Mindy. [Isn''t he a bit big to be a spy?]

    [Miik is one of the largest of his kind.] Carrie explained. [Most Lynxmice are Tier 1, about the size of your shoe. They report to family heads and leaders who are Tier 2, who are wiser and smarter and able to make more sense of what they see and hear. Those leaders in turn report to their chiefs, who are again, far wiser and smarter. The chief of the Lynxmice in Shadowflash''s region is Miik.]

    [And Miik would serve you willingly?]

    [In return for something that we cannot get by ourselves, something that is in very short supply, lately.] Carrie advised.

    [What is that?]

    [Cheese.]

    Remian froze. He coughed uncomfortably. [Uh¡­ cheese¡­?]

    [Yes. You can purchase some, can''t you?]

    Remian hesitated for a while. [Yes. I can buy some.]

    For a moment there, he had a thought; what if they made their own cheese? They had a farm, right? They could rear cows for milk, plant citric fruit trees, allow Caper or Malva to grow around just for vegetable rennet¡­

    But starting a dairy production line could get extremely awkward in the long run. In fact, the very idea of using common methods to acquire milk might very well cause a war with the Wilds for real¡­ Remian wondered if, early on, mankind received such bad appraisals from the Wilds simply because of their farming methods. What would the Wilds think if they saw what happened to cows in dairy farms?

    Or chickens, for that matter? Heck, even the wool industry might embarrass the local sheep¡­

    Then again, Carrie had no problems eating barbecued Wilds. She herself ate Wilds all the time, cooked or otherwise. She was a wolfcat. If Remian didn''t provide meat for her, she''d hunt for it herself. Perhaps she might be understanding when it came to milk and eggs and wool.

    But while a wolfcat might understand, a Fire Bull, for example, likely wouldn''t take human dairy farming kindly.

    Then Remian realized something. Somewhere along the way, the presence of Wilds had become an expected part of his vision for the Frontier. Carrie and Vigil and all the wolfcats, and now the addition of the Lynxmice told him something; that Wilds could actually live with humans, working together. It was a vague concept for now, but compared to the blood and death of Beast Waves attacking human towns and the ''Destroyers'' killing all the Wilds they see, Remian would rather have the kind of warmth and friendship the children of the Adventurers Guild currently had with the wolfcats.

    Even if it could ultimately only happen in limited form. They might one day befriend only some Wilds and subjugate the others¡­ or wolfcats and lynxmice and the occasional grumpy bear might really be the limit¡­ but what if it were possible for people to really live in harmony with the Wilds on the Frontier? What would it take for that kind of co-existence to happen?

    Remian didn''t know, but it was an enticing idea. Maybe an impossible one, but wasn''t it worth at least thinking about?

    But first, he''d need to ensure their survival. Since the Adventurers Guild and the mercenaries and workers'' quarters were all outside town, most of Remian''s base was intact. They had lost the airport, and the shop, but everything else was fine. He still had the potions, and the crystals. If they could re-establish contact with civilization, with Charlie''s help, they could easily have the funds and resources to rebuild bigger and better than ever.

    Re-establish contact, however, could be tricky. The airship was done for.

    [Remian?] Carrie looked at him concernedly. [Hello? The cheese?]

    [Yes, well¡­ we''d have to import that. We will need to get a new airship for Charlie, and then he can go fetch it for us.]

    [Very good.] Miik nodded approvingly. [We will keep an eye on those people for you, in exchange for 100 tons of cheese every day.]

    [100 tons?!] Remian burst out. [That''s impossible!]

    [10 tons, then?] Miik offered.

    [A day, you say? Try 1 kilogram.] Remian grimaced.

    [That''s not enough for even my own clan, much less all twelve!] Miik snorted. [We need more!]

    [12 kilograms?] Remian winced. Again, he thought about making their own cheese.

    [1 ton!] Miik exclaimed.

    [18 kilograms.] Remian shook his head. [That''s a lot already. Cheese isn''t cheap!]

    Miik sighed. [120 kilograms.]

    [For goodness'' sake, Miik!] Carrie snorted. [How many clans do you need to keep an eye on a measly forty humans? Your clan alone will do.]

    [Just forty? But what about all these others here?] Miik glanced about. [What about the Desert City to the Far North? What about the explorers and gold-diggers and all the wandering humans spread out across Shadowflash''s and Razorbeak''s and Seven''s and Highcrown''s territories? Or even that nutcase in the Dragon''s turf?]

    [You can keep tabs on them?] Remian asked, stunned. [Even that far away?]

    [Please.] Miik snorted. [We Lynxmice are everywhere. Our numbers are unfathomable!]

    [That''s true enough.] Carrie barked a laugh. [Not even you can count how many children your clan alone has every year.]

    [That''s great¡­ but we can''t afford that much right now. We only need one clan. 20 kilograms of cheese a day, just for your clan alone, how does that sound?]

    [50 kg!] Miik stamped his foot. [We''ll keep an eye on all the humans on the Frontier, not just that East Side!]

    [But I''m only interested in watching the East Side. At least, for now. 25 kg, and that''s my final offer. If I want you guys to do more later, and I probably will, we can discuss it when the time comes. But first, I need a small sample to see if it will be worth the cost.]

    Miik fell silent, then nodded. [Very well. A small sample, for now. You won''t be disappointed.]

 48 Unexpected Aid

    "There''s an airship coming."

    "Really? Where?"

    "There!"

    Remian overheard the conversation while he was tending to Mandy the next morning. He glanced at where a raised finger pointed; there was indeed, a little blimp in the distance that looked very much like an airship.

    "Could it be?" Remian perked up.

    He glanced around; they were in the Guild Hall along with half the injured; the other half had had to be placed in medical tents in between the Guild Hall and the workers'' quarters along with other temporary shelters set up for the survivors of Frontier Town.

    To put it simply, they were in bad shape. There wasn''t enough medicine, clothing, or proper shelter. They had plenty of beast meat, so food was no concern, and they had water to spare, but there were many injured who needed better treatment or suffer permanent disabilities.

    They needed medicine and bandages. Actually, just clean fabrics would help a lot. Better yet; the injured could be brought to someplace safe to recuperate. A lot of people here seemed to have trouble relaxing or resting properly in these conditions, after such danger.

    "Signal lights." Charlie got up. He had been testing Mindy nearby, but at the sight of the airship coming in, he jumped into action. "We need to signal the airship! Do you have any more Light scrolls?"

    "Here!" Mindy held out two of hers.

    "Take as many as you need." Remian offered three of his own. All of them still had five charges.

    "That would do." Charlie took the scrolls and dashed out.

    An hour later, not one but two airships dropped anchors from above the temporary shelters in between the workers quarters and the Guild Hall. Remian set his hired hands to tugging the airships down for a landing, an effort that usually wasn''t required in a proper airport, but was needed in a rough landing like this one.

    They were from Fal''Herim, which was a surprise. A bigger surprise was that they brought relief supplies; blankets, tools, quality tents, and yes, medicine and bandages.

    "Can they evacuate the injured?" Remian dared hope.

    "Yes. I''ve already asked." Charlie said, frowning.

    "So why don''t you seem happy about it? What are they asking for?" Remian queried.

    "That''s exactly the problem. They''re not asking anything." Charlie shifted uneasily. "On top of that, they arrived too quickly, and they brought exactly the kind of things we needed. Doesn''t that tell you something?"

    "Either someone got word out to the Desert King and he happens to have an extra pair of relief airships on standby, or¡­" Remian bit his lip. "He''s got agents here."

    That would explain a lot. It would explain how he was able to pre-empt the mercenaries offer, and why Fal''Herim didn''t seem overly concerned about Wilds coming up from the south to attack them. Surely the king of the nearest city would want to keep an eye on this dangerous Frontier.

    In fact, numerous kingdoms and nations had interest in the Frontier before. Many had sent colonization fleets. All had been badly mauled in the end, but perhaps they still kept an eye out?

    In which case, perhaps help wasn''t as far away as Remian feared. Maybe some of these interested nations would be willing to send other kinds of aid in return for long-term benefits. He just needed to find them. Before yesterday, that would have been a monumental task, but now there was an army of Lynxmice keeping tabs on the people in town¡­

    "Also, the airships are not giving us supplies for free." Charlie added. "Their prices are average, comparable to Deutero''s, but right now everyone is in dire straits. Some of them barely got out with the clothes on their back.Unless they find some kind sponsors quickly, a good many of the survivors are going to end up indebted into serving the Desert King."

    "Can we step in between?" Remian asked in a low voice. "Pay for their medicine, and retain their services ourselves?"

    Charlie hesitated, then shook his head. "Maybe for a few, but from the sounds of it, a lot of people actually want to leave. Either they''ve lost people or whatever it was that held them back here, but now¡­ they''ve given up on the Frontier."

    Remian fell silent. He turned toward the airships and watched them wordlessly as their upper decks began to fill with people. The more badly injured ones received priority. Two airships easily took on over two hundred people, and then Charlie tossed in one more piece of bad news. "I''m going with them."

    "What?" Remian stared.

    "And¡­ I think you should too." Charlie glanced at Mandy.

    Right. Mandy needed treatment and a place to recover as well. Out here, she wouldn''t really be able to rest, and knowing her, she''d push herself to get to work and be helpful as fast as she could, even when she wasn''t fully recovered yet¡­ the idea of sending her to safety while she recovered had a lot of merit.

    "I can''t leave." Remian said softly. "But you and Mandy should go. Can I count on you to look after her?"

    "Look after her? Remian, if you gave her access to your Deutero account, she would be able to look after herself!" Charlie snorted. "She might spend all your money shopping, but she herself should be fine."

    Remian glanced at Mandy, who was still asleep, not stirring despite all the fuss. He looked over her injuries, her pale face, and nodded. "Half. Give her access to half of what I currently have in my account. I''ll need the rest of it to rebuild, but half should be enough not only to survive, but to spend."

    "You want to give her an allowance?" Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Deutero doesn''t do ''half''. You can specify a round number, like ten thousand Lir, or a hundred thousand Lir, but that''s it."

    How long would Mandy take to recover? A month? Six months? Broken arm, broken leg, broken ribs¡­ maybe even a year? Or maybe Charlie could find her some powerful medicine, which, of course would be expensive. "One hundred thousand Lir. Also, I will need more money for the workers and mercenaries, especially their medical bills. I''ll sell you more of those potions."

    "Aren''t you afraid I''ll run off with the potions and cheat you?" Charlie teased.

    "And lose the crystal mine? You''re not the sort to drop a diamond to pick up a pebble. Besides you need the money to buy an airship too."

    "I hate to tell you this, Remian, but a few hundred thousand Lir isn''t going to cover an airship. We''ll need to take millions in loans for that."

    "It''s fine. We have a crystal mine, and an airship should eventually pay for itself."

    Charlie nodded slowly. "That could be arranged."

    An hour later, the airships from Fal''Herim lifted off again taking with them the majority of the town survivors, the injured half of Remian''s crew, his trading partner, and his wife.

    ***

    There wasn''t much left of the Frontier folk after the airships departed. The Iron Legion was down to ten trainees and their officers, all of whom bore light injuries. The Priests of the church and the nun stayed. The Circling Raven and ex-brothel survivors left with Aunt Sara, including Kage who did not seem particularly injured at first glance. The Burning Steel had pretty much left town except for a handful of criminals who simply could not return to civilization¡­ including, oddly enough, Master Smith Andros and the bulky salesperson.

    Many of the children in the Adventurers Guild also left with Mandy and Charlie. Only three were left with Remian; Mindy, Tim and George. At least the four hunters stayed, and obviously the Wilds weren''t going anywhere, but the Guild Hall still looked a lot emptier after the children left.

    As for the mercenaries hired by Remian, fully half were heavily injured and were shipped back with their medical fees billed to his account. Most of the other half bore significant injuries but could still function in sentry and patrol duties. Three of them even got away with just a few bruises.

    Oddly enough, out of two hundred construction workers hired by Remian, only ten were injured. Most of them weren''t even hurt at all.

    At lunch time, Remian brought the leaders of the Desert Moon and High Rock clans aside with Markus, Arnold and Andros.

    "Gentlemen, I think it''s time we planned out Frontier Town properly." Remian told them. "I''m not willing to give up on the town, even if there''s almost nothing left of it, and since you''re here, I''m guessing the Iron Legion and the Burning Steel aren''t going anywhere either. So here we are.

    "The six of us are going to redesign and rebuild Frontier Town from scratch."

 49 Choked

    "The road." Markus said the first word. "We need to build the town around the road. If we have a road, supplies, reinforcements, trade and even new colonists will get here more easily and more cheaply."

    "We need to develop industry." Arnold glanced at the Andros. "Weapons and armor aside, tool-making is the heart of any development. Without a strong industry supporting it, the kind of defenses you want will be difficult, expensive and slow to prepare."

    "We need to develop commerce." Andros shook his head. "People won''t work for free, especially not my crew. You''re going to have to pay us properly, and whatever we earn had better be worth our time and effort! The other side of that is that there''s nothing left in town to spend on. Shops, entertainment, good food¡­ we need lots of businesses."

    Remian cleared his throat. "We''ll need something to draw those businesses here. Fresh air and clean water won''t be enough to draw people and businesses to the Frontier, especially not with the Beast Waves causing havoc. We need to stop the Beast Waves, but also, we''ll need to develop natural resources. Mining, hunting, fishing¡­ there are rare creatures and minerals to be found out here. What does the Frontier have that people would want to buy? We need to find those things and develop our economy around them."

    "Airships!" Mindy yelled from across the Guild Hall, just so they''d know that she, too, had a vested interest in the matter.

    "Joshu? We need a map of the natural resources in the area!" Remian called.

    There wasn''t one. There were five different maps of their area showing different kinds of natural resources, one showing woods and plant-types, one showing ores and minerals, another one showing rare animals and so forth, but no single map showing them all. At least not for Shadowflash''s territory.

    But Shadowflash''s territory was as far as Remian dared to look. There was still some form of protection from his benevolence, although Shadowflash himself appeared to be missing, maybe even dead. Still, until or unless a new Lord of the Wilds claimed this territory, it was clearly a lot safer than the rest of the Wildlands.

    "How long will it take to extend the Road from Fal''Herim to here, given the manpower and resources we currently have?" Remian dared ask.

    "No more than ten years!" Markus said confidently.

    Andros choked. Arnold patted him on the back. "There, there."

    "Airships!" Mindy''s voice floated over again, not quite accidentally.

    "But it won''t be ten years." Markus assured them. "As long as more and more Legionnaires arrive, that time will shorten by the week. So long as we don''t lose any, we could have a hundred Legionnaires in nine weeks, and five times that in a year. That would definitely speed up progress. Depending on the conditions in the desert, with the help of the Desert Moon and High Rock clans, we could very well finish in that one year."

    "Or there could be freak sand storms and disasters all year around and we''d never make any progress." The leader of the Desert Moon clansmen said gloomily.

    "That, too." Markus admitted. "Can''t argue with the desert."

    "Aye." Both the Desert Moon leader and the High Rock leader agreed solemnly.

    "Other than manpower¡­ Arnold is right. We need materials, processed materials. If we can''t get them here in Frontier Town, we would have to import everything. Considering my weekly budget, that''s going to take an extremely long time for otherwise common goods."

    "Airships!" Mindy''s voice floated over again.

    "So, basically, the road is a long-term project, not a quick solution." Remian cleared his throat. "In order to build it, we would need a great deal more manpower and industry, both of which would need to be secured from Beast Waves. Am I right?"

    Markus and the clan chiefs nodded.

    "Defense is still our top priority. So far, the most effective weapons we''ve had against the Beast Wave have been the Ballistae. Can we build something even bigger and stronger?"

    "Given the parts I''ve salvaged, and some help, I think I could have something twice as big and strong by next Wave." Arnold said, with a grunt. "But again, we''ll need to import some expensive parts and supplies. Also I''ll need skilled hands to help me out, bears and wolves won''t cut it."

    "Twice the size?" Remian shook his head. "Facing a Tier 5 Wild, I think we need something ten times bigger!"

    Arnold choked.

    "There, there." Markus patted him on the back.

    "But¡­ parts¡­ materials¡­" Arnold spluttered.

    "We''ll have to see what we can get." Remian frowned.

    "Airships!" Mindy''s voice haunted them.

    "This is all going to take a lot of work. Just my boys and I won''t be enough to keep up. We will need more people, and yes, equipment and quality construction materials. All this means money. A lot of money, and a lot of time." Andros grunted. "Of course, we expect to be paid for all our efforts. We are here for our lives to be free, not our work."

    "That, and you also want something worth spending your pay on." Remian remembered.

    "Of course. But before we even talk about that, we need to discuss how the quality of your needs and demands have skyrocketed, so how we put together a runic forge, a precision workshop and a mass production factory?"

    "Just how much money would those facilities cost, roughly?" Markus asked.

    "If we have to rush and import the equipment, maybe¡­ twenty million Lir?"

    Remian choked.

    The Desert Moon chief patted him on the back. "There, there."

    "It would be cheaper if we bought some stuff elsewhere and brought them back ourselves." Andros mentioned. "But my boys and I are safer staying far away from large cities. Incidentally, large cities are exactly where we can buy the equipment we need."

    "What about Arnold? You have some protection being in the Iron Legion, right? You''re not going to get arrested outright if you went shopping in Fal''Herim or somewhere."

    "True, but I''d like Markus or some other officer to come with me, just in case." Arnold said. "Some of the trainees for protection and to do the heavy lifting would be nice too. Maybe¡­ ten of them, for two or three weeks?"

    Markus choked.

    Remian patted him on the back. "There, there."

    "We¡­ only... HAVE¡­ ten¡­"

    "But you''ll get more next week." Arnold pointed out. "Assuming Deutero assigns us another airship."

    Markus barked. "We can''t have them gallivanting off on a shopping trip when they come here for training! They need to TRAIN! Just carrying your stuff around a city simply won''t do! They need to be in an environment of constant danger, where they have to trust each other for their backs¡­"

    "If all you need are guards and haulers, my clan has those." High Rock chief mentioned.

    "Ah, but sand people mercenaries won''t keep bounty hunters from trying to take my head. I need Iron Legion officers for that."

    "Fine! I''ll come with you myself! But the trainees stay!" Markus growled. "We shouldn''t take too long on that trip either. We should get there and back as fast as we can."

    "Airships!" Mindy half-sang as she walked past them for no apparent reason.

    "We''ll need to clear a lot of land." Remian said then, studying the map. "In order to pay for everything we want, we''re going to need to exploit natural resources in a hurry. Everything nearby has already been depleted and then some. We need to make a mining expedition to these two spots half a day to the south."

    "Is there anything dangerous there?" the clan chiefs looked over the spot.

    "Mainly Tier 3 Wilds. Hundreds of them, everywhere."

    The High Rock chief choked.

    "There, there." Markus patted him on the back. "I''ll bring the trainees out on that trip."

    "It won''t be as dangerous as a Beast Wave." Remian comforted him. "We have Tier 3 and Tier 4 Wilds right here with us, and they''re actually our friends. The Beast Waves come from a territory several days to the south; the nearby Wilds aren''t so hostile. If our wolfcats accompany us, the locals may very well just leave us alone."

    "Ah." The High Rock chief subsided.

    "There''s something else we can export, something closer by, but perhaps not so easily picked up." Remian observed.

    "Which is?" Markus glanced over the map.

    Remian pointed to the river. "Water."

    The Desert Moon chief choked.

    "There, there." The High Rock chief patted him on the back.

    "I like water and Fal''Herim would surely buy any, but we would need to send back a lot, or we would consume more on the way than we actually sell." The Desert Moon chief managed at last. "You''re not planning to have us cart barrels across a road-less desert, are you?"

    "Airships¡­" Mindy sighed, passing by coincidentally again.

    Remian cleared his throat. "Mindy!"

    Mindy half-jumped in fright. "Y-yes?"

    "Sit down. We need to talk." Remian said grimly.

    Mindy saw the dark look on his face and shivered. "Uh¡­ what about?"

    Remian''s mouth twisted as he told her in all seriousness. "Airships."

 50 Airships

    Airships were generally one of five different types. The first time was the no-drive airship; basically just balloons and baskets (or whatever carriage vessel you prefer), they were held up by lighter-than-air gasses, and had no propulsion system of their own. These kinds were usually stationary or towed around by other vehicles or creatures. Even the Storm Cloud Chariot was classified as a no-drive airship.

    The second kind were the fan/propeller drive airships. These used some sort of turbine propulsion, whether horizontal or vertical. Even turbofan jet engines were classified as fan drives.

    The third kind were rocket drive airships. Rather than relying on airflow, these relied on the explosive power of combustion to move the airships around.

    The fourth kind were magic drive airships. These were especially popular because they were generally cheaper to maintain and operate, especially if you yourself were capable of wind magic. While most of the ships had hulls and carriages made of any normal materials, their mobility method relied upon magic and mana to move. The methods to do so were varied and often customized to the mage controlling the ship.

    The fifth kind were runic airships. Rather than just the engine channeling magic, in this case the entire airship was a magicked tool, very much like a flying sword. Matching, customized runic formations were Inscribed into the hull and carriage. While it still needed a mage to fly the ship, it did not require any specific kind of mage, as long as that mage could trigger the runes and feed the ship enough crystals. Obviously, this was the most expensive kind of ship there was, easily ten to twenty times the price of other types in their own size range.

    The classifications were made by airport crews who needed to differentiate the needs each type demanded of them. Accordingly, airports around the world had to be equipped to handle at least the first and fourth types, which were the most frequently (and most cheaply) employed.

    Charlie and Remian had already arranged to acquire their own airship; something similar to what Charlie flew before. In other words, a fourth type, a magic-drive engine.

    The kind of airship that Mindy was able to handle, however, was the first kind; the no-drive airship. In other words, hot air balloons. Remian wondered if he should try his hand at it himself, but then decided it was better not to. Considering the sudden super-boosts his spells had, he might accidentally destroy the whole airship in a moment of distraction.

    "Let''s build airships." Remian told Mindy seriously.

    "Really? Can we build one?" Mindy asked, eagerly.

    "I want to build five of them." He answered. "Each one big enough to hold 100 people."

    "Wow!" Mindy gaped. "That''s¡­ I''m not sure I can handle that!"

    "You don''t need to move them. You just need to keep them in the air." Remian explained. "We need them high enough to avoid even a Tier 5 Wild in the next Beast Wave."

    "Battle fortresses?!" Mindy gaped, eyes shining.

    "More like shelters." Remian clarified. "They''re not supposed to be on the battlefield. They''re supposed to keep people safe while the battle is going on. They''re for the workers and the survivors. For the battle, we want smaller airships carrying much more powerful weapons than we have now."

    "But¡­ but I can only fly one¡­" Mindy protested.

    "You don''t need to fly any. Just maintain them so they can stay in the air by themselves." Remian clarified. "You won''t need to be on them yourself."

    Mindy raised both hands. "That''s too much all at once! Can we do this step by step, please?"

    The first step, therefore, was a single small gunship. This was a skiff held up by a balloon armed with that ''twice as big'' Ballista that Arnold promised could be made in a week. It was about the size of three Guard Towers standing side by side and could probably carry a handful of archers along with the Ballista and its'' crew.

    The second step would be a single large personnel carrier. This was to be modeled after the popular Sky Galleon passenger transports Deutero often used. Basically, it was a whole lot of space, a few facilities, and redundant buoyancy systems. In a pinch, the passengers could probably shoot bows or crossbows from the deck, but Remian planned to have this ship and all its valuable passengers and cargo stay far, far away from the fighting.

    The larger airship could also be towed around. Mindy herself could probably move it a little with wind magic. Charlie''s airship could probably tow it around and use the extra cargo space. But the key point was that the third step would be to build a towing-kind of airship, a small-but-powerful Sky Tug like the kinds larger airports use to help slower aircraft and facilities get around.

    The reason for this was that they only had one Mindy. By then, Remian hoped she would be able to handle a magic-drive airship, even if only for short bursts at a time. That way, she would only need to control the Tug and fetch the bigger ships as and when they needed to move. Most of the time, those big airships would simply be floating around the mines loading cargo or serving as shelters for the workers. They would only need to move on occasion. With a single tug and a bit of scheduling, Mindy alone might be able to handle the logistics for the entire territory.

    How else were they to lug tons and tons of ores back from the mines? Were they to cart it through Wilds-infested territory, fighting every other step of the way? The casualties and costs would be immense. Could they rely on the wolfcats to help either dragging carts or guarding convoys? It would be a very troublesome, very nervous affair, all told.

    No, no. Much better to just stash away all the ores and all the crews safely on board an airship at night. Then when the holds were full, they could just tow it back to town, unload, tow it out again for the next load. It could serve as a mobile base and a cargo carrier at the same time.

    At that point, the biggest problem they''d have to worry about would be the weather. Having a wind mage to forecast could really help them steer clear of storms and the likes, but lacking one, Mindy would have to do.

    Getting to that point could take years, in Mindy''s estimation. So far, all she had handled was a small air balloon that carried a lantern. She had made it herself out of Blood Rabbit skins. The lightweight yet strong material was hard to stitch together, and harder still to thoroughly glue to become airtight.

    "If you want something bigger, I''m going to need bigger materials to work with." Mindy warned him. "If I use Blood Rabbit furs for the bigger airship, or even the gunship, it''s going to take forever. The bigger a patch of unbroken skin you can get me, the easier and quicker it will be."

    "I''ll give you the pelt of the Rage Boar Chief to start with. That''s a Tier 4 piece." Remian offered. "The other Rage Boar pelts are Tier 3. We should have five of those"

    "Fifty of those should be enough for the first stage." Mindy glanced aside. "So that''s it for the envelope. What material do you want to use for the gondola?"

    "The what and the what?" Remian blinked.

    "Sorry. It''s airship slang. The gondola is the carriage where people and cargo go, the ''ship'' part." Mindy explained. "The envelope is the top part that contains the gas holding the ship up, the gasbag or ''balloon'' part."

    Remian thought. "Wood? Wilds bones? Storm steel? Cloud stone?"

    That last was popular, but not easy to find. Storm steel was more common, since Charlie and other storm mages could make them given enough time and materials, but it would be costly and heavier. Bones from Tier 3 or 4 Wilds were much more easily found in the Wildlands, but these would be heavier yet. Compared to that, some types of wood were much lighter, though nowhere near as strong.

    "How about a hull of pure Titan Steel?" Mindy''s eyes gleamed.

    "I was thinking about just a half-cage of steel wire mesh." Remian admitted. "Something light, cheap, and quick to put together."

    Mindy''s face fell. "A wooden floor held up by rope, then?"

    "That sounds even better." Remian saw the look on her face and hastily added. "At least for now. We can upgrade it later."

    They settled for a rectangular half-crate design. There were going to be important and valuable weaponry on board and they didn''t want sudden strong winds blowing people or equipment overboard at the worst of times. The walls would be four feet high at least, with the Ballista in the center mounted on a platform so it could shoot just over the walls.

    Mindy drew it out with coal, and then sighed as she looked at it. "There it is. Our first armed airship, a Tier 4.3 Gunship type; a half-crate held up by gas-filled animal skins."

    "With a Ballista on board. Never forget the Ballista." Remian reminded her.

    "You might want to make it a bit larger to carry more ammunition." Arnold advised. "Also, this would fit a Ballista twice the size, but what about the five-times Ballista you wanted?"

    "We''ll have to build a Tier 4.6 gunship for that one." Mindy suggested.

    "What does that even mean?" Remian had to ask.

    "It means six times the size of a minimum Tier 4. Once it reaches ten times the size, it becomes a Tier 5." Mindy explained. "A minimum Tier 4 is roughly as big as Carrie. A Tier 4.1 is the size of a Guard Tower, something big enough to contain one Carrie or Buff. If it can contain two, that''s a Tier 4.2."

    "So a 4.6 is enough for Carrie, Buff and four others their size?" Remian understood. "That''s more than twice the size of a 4.3?"

    "Exactly. We need the space for the ammunition as well as the Ballista." Arnold reminded him. "Which would, of course, need to be bigger and tougher by several times as well. Building a Ballista that can threaten a Tier 5 is at least ten times harder than building one against a Tier 4."

    As for the bigger carriers, they''d be at least Tier 5, as big as Spike. That was a bit bigger than the old Deutero airship that Charlie used to fly. That old airship was more like a 4.8.

    That old airship and the likes were really the smallest kind of airships that Deutero employed. They were called ''frigate-class'', and were especially used for small jobs. The bulk of Deutero''s shipping used ''galleon-class'' airships, which were at least Tier 5.3, four times bigger. The really big ships, those in the ''cruiser-class'' were over Tier 6.

    For comparison sake, an average well-to-do house was considered a Tier 5, inclusive of a yard. That would be a bit smaller than Spike (Spike was considered a Tier 5 heavy; a Tier 5 average would be roughly as big as a Tier 5 house, or a Tier 5 airship; a Tier 5 light would be smaller).

    In terms of housing, a Tier 6, ten times the size, would be a grand mansion. Going by that same Tier system, a Tier 1 would be a small doghouse. Tier 7 would be a residential block, Tier 8 would be an entire housing estate, Tier 9 would be a district, and Tier 10 would be a whole town. A city should be somewhere in Tier 11, and Tier 12 should suit a nation''s capital. Tier 13 probably meant a whole kingdom. Tier 14 would be an Empire and all the kingdoms in it. Tier 15 should cover a continent. Tier 16 likely meant the entire world.

    According to Charlie, the largest airship in the Deutero company was Cloud Nine, a mothership-class Tier 7 fleet carrier. With such enormous capacity, it had once evacuated the population of an entire island nation country from a disaster. Then, it helped them rebuild and resettle on another island in a week (this included the deployment of the aircraft and similar support craft on board the carrier).

    If they had cargo carrying capacity like that¡­ Remian sighed. For now, he could only dream. But one day¡­ one day¡­

    Mindy wasn''t the only one present who wanted a fleet of airships.

 51 Espionage

    The first Lynx Mice reports started trickling in that evening.

    Remian summarized it in his head, then glumly sat down at the far corner of the Guild Hall mumbling to himself for ten minutes straight. Mindy, George and Tim tried to give him privacy and space to think at first, but after a bit, Mindy''s concern and curiosity got the better of her and she went over to ask, "What happened?"

    "It''s like this." Remian squared off and spoke to her frankly. "The Lynxmice have thoroughly covered the entire East Side and divided it into four regions. The first region is the safest, where they need only worry about cats. There''s not much there, they say, just a lot of flour and old rations."

    "Uhuh." Mindy nodded, still a bit blur.

    "The second region is a little farther in to the East Side. There, they say that the humans drink more burning water than eat. There are a lot of humans in that area, and they like to chase Lynxmice around for no reason, or sometimes try to feed them with burning water. It is a funny and weird region."

    "Huh¡­" Mindy frowned, confused.

    "The third region, farther out, has less people, and they seem to like dream powder. Dream powder is some sort of fishy smelling powder that makes people snooze around all day. People there take dream powder all the time, hardly eating or sleeping or drinking, and sometimes, they never wake up, and nobody seems to mind."

    "Uh¡­?" Mindy blinked.

    "Finally, the last and most dangerous region!" Remian exclaimed. "Half the Lynxmice there have fallen, completely lost very suddenly. It is where the fish are kept, and the cats there are many and fierce! There are only a few people, and they eat very good food, and drink very sweet burning water, and they have a different kind of powder that makes them stronger, faster, and quicker at catching Lynxmice. Ten brave heroes have been killed trying to steal cheese from them! The other forty were lost to the tunnels when they went down the wrong hole and fell right through the bottom of the ledge."

    "Wait. Cheese? You sent mice to the East Side to steal cheese?" Mindy gaped.

    "No. I sent them there to gather information." Remian growled. "But this is the result I get! Reports of food and cats!"

    Mindy burst out laughing. "You should send Vigil. He''s smarter than that."

    "Vigil¡­?" Remian frowned. "It''s one thing to send mice to gather information. A wolfcat is a whole different matter."

    "He''ll be fine. Just put him in a whole group of Lynxmice. I doubt the Secret Waves will even notice." Mindy''s face sobered. "They''re too drugged to care anyway."

    Ten minutes later, Remian and Mindy and Vigil colluded and conspired together in a corner.

    "You''ll be in charge!" Mindy told Vigil.

    Remian translated.

    [Do I have to eat cheese?] Vigil''s nose wrinkled. Remian translated it back.

    "No, no, you can have as much barbecued meat as you want." Mindy replied. Remian translated that too.

    [Even the honey-marinated special?]

    "Not the special. Those, you get if you learn something good."

    [What about the clay-baked version?]

    They negotiated while Remian translated. In the end, Vigil became a special agent of the espionage department and promised clearer and more useful intel in exchange for better food.

    Miik wasn''t very comfortable with that. [Am I fired? Is he replacing me?!]

    "No, no, we just need a smarter agent in the field. You''re still the chief of your clan. Also, he might not be there forever, just for this season."

    Miik stared at Vigil challengingly. [My clan will become smarter! One day, we''ll be better than him!]

    "Yeah, let''s hope that day comes soon." Remian grunted. "Until then, let Vigil hang out with them. We need them to cover him."

    The next morning, Vigil came back with his first bit of truly valuable intel.

    The Secret Waves were sending reports to someone else through a magic crystal.

    What were they saying? Vigil wasn''t entirely sure and the Lynxmice understood even less.

    They tried sending in the hunters. Joshu, Xia, Denise and Candice went in under the guise of trade or just taking a walk, or trying to have a good time.

    They were watched every step of the way. They couldn''t even get past the first section. Try as they might, there were too many eyes on them, too much suspicion, to gather any proper intel.

    Finally, Mindy, Tim and George snuck into the East Side over the next few nights. Vigil led them in, picking their routes while the Lynxmice scouted ahead and ran diversions. They were relentless in their mischief! They tripped up guards, jumped onto hair, stole underwear, and even ran a two-hour nine-mouse chorus of yuletide carols in perfect squeak-ish¡­

    But at last, toward the end of the week, the three young spies returned with grim news.

    "It was them." Mindy''s face was pale, her fists clenched. "I can''t believe it, but it was them all along."

    "What? What did they do?" Remian asked.

    "Ultrasonic emitters." George explained. "They use crystals to create dissonance fields that¡­"

    "They''ve been calling the Beast Waves! That''s the ''secret'' of the ''waves''!" Tim summarized. "Someone''s been sending them special crystals by airship, and they''ve been using the Beast Waves to keep everyone in town and in bad moods. The more upset people are, the more others die and the more suffering everyone is in, the more their drugs sell."

    "Also, their sponsor on the other side of the crystal wants people to steer clear of the Frontier." George added.

    "They make the drugs with some special fish." Mindy added. "They catch the fish from the river; their wells are located right above the nesting grounds of those Red Keral Fish."

    "Also, they''re actually very rich. Like¡­ unbelievably rich." Tim added enviously. "There''s a couple there who likes to literally swim in money."

    George clutched his eyes. "You can''t imagine¡­ the things we''ve seen¡­"

    Tim shuddered. "I feel unclean."

    "We ARE unclean. I need a bath!" Mindy declared. "We had to skulk around dusty basements, moldy attics and more cramped store rooms than I ever want to see again!"

    "Actually, I don''t think we needed to skulk around that much." Tim mentioned. "A lot of those gangsters were too stoned to care. But the Lynxmice were just having so much fun¡­"

    "We need to teach those mice some human language." Mindy grumped. She glanced around. "I suppose I''ll have to do it mysef."

    "Not you." Remian cut in. "I need you with the airships and improving your wind magic."

    "Then who''s going to do it?" Mindy asked.

    "Tim? Can you handle it?" Remian turned to him.

    "Me? But I have to cook¡­"

    "Forget cooking! There''s dozens of people around who can cook. But I need someone I can trust with the Wilds on this one." And someone they could trust with secrets too, even though Remian didn''t say that out loud.

    "Uh¡­" Tim thought about it. "I could give it a shot, I guess?"

    "Please do." Remian requested. "I''ll make it a Tier 3 Priority Mission. That means double rewards."

    "I have become a mouse-trainer¡­" Tim said out loud, stunned.

    "Spymaster!" Mindy corrected.

    "Mouse master?" George tried.

    "Mouse Master!" Mindy cheered. "Mouse Master!!"

    Remian patted Tim on the back consolingly. "Who knows? The Lynxmice seem willing to obey in return for food. You might find your cooking skills handy after all."

    "Most cooks try to get rid of mice, not feed them."

    "Well, we do things different. Train and feed those mice well, Tim." Remian advised. "I have a feeling we''re going to need them a lot in the future."

 52 The Roving Albatross

    Meanwhile, Charlie brought Mandy and the kids home.

    After the relief airships dropped them and the casualties of Remian''s crew off at Fal''Herim, Charlie brought these few farther north, across the Midlands Sea, past the peninsula where the Iron Legion first rose up, to a particular city in the southern regions of Ashdale Kingdom. With the help of Deutero services, they were bundled into carriages and delivered safely to his family''s front door.

    "Charlie¡­ this is the fifth girl you''ve brought home, but I''ve never seen one so badly beaten up before¡­" his mom noted as the servants wheeled Mandy in. "What did you do to her?"

    "It wasn''t me!" Charlie protested. "The town was attacked by Wilds. These are just some of the survivors."

    Charlie''s family lived in a hilltop villa. Among their neighbors, theirs was the very highest on the hill. It wasn''t overly large, or anything; it was simply where Charlie, his parents, siblings, grandfather, and his brother''s wife and children stayed, with just a few servants and a nanny. The structures of the villa formed a square around an inner courtyard which was half a rock-garden, half a mini-waterfall. The outer courtyard had flowering trees, elegant plants, and in the case of the front yard, a whole bunch of vehicles. Two white dogs ran around the yard, kept away from the front yard by a waist-high fence; their names were Snow and Frost, and Charlie had spent many hours in his younger days in their loyal company roaming his own back yard and enjoying the dazzling view of the town and the airport from there with them at his side.

    They put Mandy and the kids up at the guest wing, which was the right side of the villa from the front entrance. Charlie''s own room was at the far back, overlooking the back yard, along with his parents, grandfather and sisters. His brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephews stayed in the front house. The servants and nanny stayed in the left wing.

    Having ensured the care of his wards, Charlie went about looking for a new airship, or rather, an old, second-hand one he could buy over for cheap.

    It would be different, this time. The Deutero company wouldn''t own this new airship; all the profits, and all the cost and responsibility was going to be solely on Charlie''s shoulders. Remian would own a share, of course, but he wouldn''t be the one plotting its course, or directing its operations or powering its engines. He just put in some money and took a cut of the profits.

    Charlie approached his father about it. "Dad? I think it''s time I bought my own ship."

    "Finally!" Dad rolled his eyes. "Aurora Shipyards just released their new Wind Voyager series. They currently have a special discount offer. I''ll put in half the amount."

    "Dad, no, I can''t afford that." Charlie grimaced. He''d seen advertisements for the Wind Voyager before. The price range was around 40 million. It was a hybrid airship, a combination of turbine-drive and magic-drive, capable of either or both at the same time. Roughly the size of a Sky Galleon, the Tier 5.2 airship was more of a luxury yacht for holiday cruises rather than a cargo hauler. It was the kind of airship that served kings and high level businesses with grace and dignity, not the kind you''d bring to the Frontier to tangle with Wilds. "I was actually thinking of something hardier, something that could stand up in a fight."

    Dad glanced about furtively, then lowered his voice. "Libertaria has this new spy-ship out. They''re calling it the Raven. It''s a stealth-ship made of pure black Titan-steel, runic-drive and equipped with an Invisibility Runic Formation. It''s a single-plane airship, no gondola, and it''s crazy fast. Rumor has it, the Raven is the fastest airship ever built."

    "No, Dad, I need a cargo-hauler capable of ground support." Charlie grimaced. "And I need it cheap. I was thinking of some old second-hand junker."

    Dad stared at him for a moment. "Why? We could easily afford something much better. If you just want any old cargo hauler, you can take one of mine¡­"

    "No, Dad, I want to do this on my own, using my own money, partnering with my own friend." Charlie tried to explain. "It''s not the same if you''re giving it to me."

    "You want to buy it from me? What''s the point of me paying half, then?"

    "I don''t want you to pay half! And I don''t want to buy it from you at super-discounts. I want to do it on my own for real."

    Dad shook his head with a sigh. "How stubborn."

    "Sorry." Charlie shrugged. "It''s just¡­ call it a quirk of mine."

    "So why come to me, then?" Dad asked.

    "Just wanted to know if you had some suggestions, or could point me out to a good dealer."

    Dad thought about that. "Damien''s scrap yard. There''s been a few new additions there. Last I heard, he was feeling reluctant about scrapping some of the old airships because they could still fly and function. It would be a shame to scuttle them, he said."

    "Perfect!" Charlie lit up. "Where is it?"

    "It''s the junk pile over there." Dad pointed at a spot beside the airport.

    Charlie was there an hour later, looking through the list and descriptions Damien showed him.

    Dad''s advice was spot-on. Damien really hadn''t the heart to scrap any of the old classics, as he called them. He was actually selling them off whole, at discounted prices.

    20 million Lir bought him a bulk freighter in good shape. It was small, smaller than the Deutero frigate-class airships Charlie had flown for so long. This was a Tier 4.4 corvette that had been refitted with a new magic-drive engine not that long ago. It only had two old magic cannons on board, and the firepower of those two were so dismal, Charlie would do better using a Fire Ball wand. The cargo space was good, though; they could stuff in four industry-standard (20 ft) containers easily, and fit two more externally onto the specially prepared frame. Heck, they might even be able to double up the frames to fit four externally; the engine was overpowered for a corvette this small.

    Or they could mount more cannons on board, preferably new, powerful ones. Even if they used the old stuff like the old Deutero frigate used, they could fit six, maybe eight of them on board the corvette and rain down just as much firepower. Come to think of it, that old airship could have carried a good deal more firepower if they had wanted¡­

    Charlie fantasized for a moment of mounting a quad of brand new Storm God Thunderbolt Cannons on board this little corvette. Firepower like that could have killed Spike before he could have retaliated.

    Of course, for the price of that kind of weaponry, he could have bought a much, much bigger ship.

    The name of the airship was the Roving Albatross. Charlie took out a loan from the bank to pay for the airship first, then over the next couple days, he patched up and painted the ship, then loaded the four crates with cargo; tools, cloth, steel and seed. He went around looking for old friends and old colleagues to put together a new crew. Speaking of crews, forty new workers had signed up for construction work; those boarded the ship the morning they set out. Also, he managed to pull the Iron Legion transport duty from Deutero, so that it would be him who delivered their trainees to the Frontier Training Camp from one of three different pick-up locations.

    Having acquired a whole lot of debt, a new (old) airship loaded with cargo and passengers, a new crew, and ten Legionnaire trainees picked up from the Iron Legion HQ, Charlie headed back to the Frontier.

    ***

    The journey took two days from Ashdale, starting with a pick-up of the Iron Legion trainees at their HQ. The service was a well-paid one; 500 Lir for each person and their luggage, 5 for every additional kilogram of cargo. They brought a whole ton of supplies; including the passenger fees, that was 10,000 Lir right there. Charlie felt it was well worth the pick-up.

    Aside from them and Remian''s workers, there was one passenger headed for the Frontier. Deutero still sold tickets for the Frontier, simply replacing the old airship with Charlie''s ''new'' one on the register, and someone actually bought one. He, too, boarded the ship at the Iron Legion HQ. Strangely enough, he appeared to be one of the Sea People.

    Upon coming aboard, he asked, "Have you seen my brother?" he pointed to a figure in what looked like a family portrait.

    "I''m not sure, but I think I saw one of the sea people headed for the Frontier some weeks ago." Charlie thought back. There had been one in the same batch as Remian and Markus and Kairos, wasn''t there? Whatever happened to that guy. "You can ask around the Frontier. Try the captain of the Iron Legion, or the Priest named Kairos."

    "Thank you, captain." The guy said appreciatively.

    Captain. Right. Charlie was the captain now, and this ship was entirely his own. It wasn''t given to him by his father, or assigned by a company he worked for. This ship was HIS. He was now truly the Captain.

    Captain Charlie. He liked the sound of it.

    Whistling, Charlie went about his work plotting a course through the winds and the forecasted clouds with the help of air traffic control towers all the way to the Frontier.

 53 The Mines of Kara-Goth

    "Heave!" Markus called.

    "HO!" Ten trainees and forty workers chorused and tugged at several long ropes.

    With a crashing sound, boulders were dragged away from the mine entrance and two trainees with prospecting experience clambered into the re-opened tunnel.

    Remian watched them from where he sat atop Carrie. She and the wolfcats were running guard duty around the site of the nearer mine they had targeted earlier. Early scouts had reported that both mines had been sealed up, but could easily be re-opened. One mine was a Fire Copper lode; the other contained small deposits of jade. Both had previously been mined by the Kara-Goth family, who then sealed them up upon leaving the Frontier. They never came back.

    More than five years (more like fifty!) had passed since they left, thus all claims to these mines had long been forfeited.

    There were other mines, other claims, all over the Wildlands. Many of those mines had been claimed by different nations, different sets of pioneers and colonists¡­ in one case, a diamond mine had been claimed by no less than six different names in five different nations during different colonization efforts; three of those claims were still apparently ''legally valid'' in the countries that they were made in, even though all of them had long ago abandoned the Wildlands.

    These two in particular were under much simpler claims. Only one family claimed them, and they were made in the Ashdale nation with the Deutero company. According to Charlie, with those expiry dates long over, they only needed to work the mines to make a claim of their own.

    To be honest, most of the world probably wouldn''t care. These mines had long ago been abandoned, and the settlers of every nation had long since given up. Only the criminals and those born at Frontier Town stayed around the Wildlands, these days. There had been many adventurers here about a century ago, but since the New World (continent, really) was discovered, and the rich resources it held, hordes of them had sailed west, leaving this messy frontier to the beasts.

    Afterward, the wars over the New World and all its resources raged, and the adventurers and pioneers who failed at this Frontier decided to build their own nation there. Libertaria rose up as an independent country and war after war was fought by those very adventurers who made the New World their home.

    They never left. Most of those wars faded away half a hundred years ago, and Libertaria thrived. Now the turmoil was all in the region of the Seven Kingdoms and their neighbors. The world went on with its quarrels, all but forgetting this out-of-the-way corner where the beasts had challenged and defeated man and almost driven him out of their backyard.

    No, the adventures were all out west and this land¡­ this land was ruled by the Lords of the Wilds.

    Unfortunately, it was a little hard to register a claim with any of them. The only one seeming to even give humans a chance on this land was Shadowflash and until now, Remian still had no idea where to find him or how to contact him.

    Still. With his mate and son (Carrie and Vigil) being so friendly with them and helping them set up the mines and all, surely Shadowflash wouldn''t be too opposed to Remian''s crew mining these two lodes.

    After all, the Wilds had no use for the likes of these minerals and the mines were going to be small from beginning to end. These lodes weren''t particularly large and someone else had already mined the bulk of their resources ages ago. Remian''s crew were practically scraping the bottom of the barrel here, for goods that the Wilds wouldn''t even want. Shadowflash might not even care.

    But even if Shadowflash didn''t care, other local Wilds might. Never mind the resources; just having humans nearby was reason enough to attack. Remian saw quite a few staring at his crew as they passed by. If not for Carrie and the other wolfcats, they would certainly have been attacked by now.

    If the Wilds attacked, if the people were injured and he had to pay more medical bills, if their productivity was lowered by continued raids¡­ Remian feared that the profits from these mines would drop so low, they''d earn less than Charlie''s airship would by trading on its own elsewhere. At that point, they might lose the last airship still willing to drop by to do business with them. Right now all Remian had to offer Charlie were the last forty mana potions and the blue mana crystals on that cave wall. The minute those two were done, Remian feared that even Charlie would seek better business elsewhere and the Frontier would be abandoned completely.

    The road could offer some security, if it were built. But that wasn''t likely to happen for at least one year yet. Remian could do some trading with the rest of the world himself, if he had an airship or ten¡­ but for now, he had only these mines, so he''d best make the most of them.

    "Structures are good!" the early scouts reported as they scoped out the Fire Copper mine. "Faint signs of ore around the top layer, but the mine goes six layers down at least. We''ll need transportation for the lower layers."

    "Logistics, move in!" Markus called. Arnold and his crew went in to set up rail-carts and elevators. One of the scouts came over to whisper something in Markus'' ear. Markus grimaced, then turn to Remian. "We have a problem."

    "What?" Remian asked.

    "The Kara-Goths¡­ they used magic for the machinery in the mine. The lifts and the mining carts all run on mana." Markus growled. "We brought coal and parts for steam engines, but this¡­!"

    "It''s a magic-drive mine?" Remian winced. For a family with a dozen mages or so, supplying mana to a small mine''s machinery might just be a minor inconvenience, but Remian only had Mindy. He himself had unstable powers; a sudden super spike in his mana output could prove disastrous.

    "What are our options?" Remian asked. "Do we really need to pull Mindy away from the airships?"

    "Unless you''ve got mana crystals to spare, it''s either Mindy or we have to rebuild the entire system to use steam."

    Remian hesitated. "How much would rebuilding the system cost?"

    "Considering the mine has seven layers, at this size¡­" Markus squinted. "At least a million Lir. Maybe three million. Also, Arnold, Andros and the crews skilled with machinery would be busy for a month."

    "We can''t afford that." Remian decided. "Even if we could afford to buy the parts, we can''t afford to have Arnold, Andros and the smiths on this for that long. We need those siege weapons."

    He took out a blue mana crystal. He had a few on hand intending to sell them to Charlie upon his next visit, which was due tonight or tomorrow, but in this situation¡­ "Try this."

    "Blue?" Markus let out a low whistle. "Let''s try it."

    It was only the size of a finger, but a single blue crystal was worth a hundred yellow ones. It proved to be enough. Minutes later, the chugging of machinery started up and the first scouts were descending to the lower layers.

    "Second layer, depleted!"

    "Third layer, hardly anything left!"

    "Fourth layer, everything nearby''s been taken, but there''s signs of a vein farther in."

    "Fifth layer, minimal surface ores, but there should be more if we can dig for it."

    "Sixth layer, we seem to have some good nodes nearby. We''ll just need to dig."

    "Seventh layer, veins are good and ready to mine right now!"

    "Two good layers." Markus summarized. "Two in question, and three useless."

    "Worth mining?" Remian queried.

    "Worth trying." Markus nodded shortly. "Focus all efforts on the sixth and seventh layers! Let''s take what we can grab easily first. Also, we should run some tests and see if we should open up an eighth layer."

    "Can we take the top off? Mine it Libertaria-style?" Arnold asked. "It would go a lot faster if we can bring some serious machinery to bear."

    "We can''t afford serious machinery." Remian shook his head. "Or a big operation. We also need you to focus on weapons. I''m afraid this little operation will have to do."

    "We can light up the first layer and make it more comfortable." Markus said suddenly. "I''m thinking that if we fortify this location, it might turn out to be a good underground base."

    Remian looked around, thinking. "If we dig out both the mines, turn them into strongholds¡­ the Beast Waves would have to pass right through here to reach the town. We don''t need to fight them at the town gates. We could stop them here."

    "Exactly. Except I''m not sure we can actually stop them at all." Markus said. "But if we raised a few guard towers here, and keep the twin strongholds supplied, they could do some serious damage to the Beast Wave as it passes by. It could make things a lot easier for us who need to stop them at the town."

    "That depends on what''s coming next." Remian observed. "If Spike comes by again, this isn''t going to slow him down."

    What would the Secret Waves do if they found out about the strongholds? What kind of Wave were they going to send this week? It was about time for them to call it. Seeing the success that Spike alone achieved last time, they might very well call Spike again.

    Unless they found out about the twice-as-strong Ballista. That thing could at least hurt Spike. If they attacked in advance from maximum range, they could injure Spike and slow him down long enough that whatever crystal they used to call him would run out of power before he reached the town and they''d win some peace for the next couple of weeks.

    Except that if they found out about the Ballista and that it was mounted on an airship, they might change tactics and send in a flood of fast Tier 3 and Tier 4 light Wilds and one slow firing Ballista wouldn''t be able to stop them. They''d decimate the semi-settlement Remian''s crew had built west of the town ruins.

    Maybe they should just risk it all and attack the Secret Waves directly. But the Blood Claw gang tried that earlier, they got wiped out. Tim wasn''t too clear on the actual strength of the Secret Waves, even now, but the fact that they''d beaten the Blood Claw so thoroughly indicated that they were a lot stronger than anyone suspected.

    No. It wasn''t time to make such a big gamble. Remian needed to build his strength first and fend off the Beast Waves while he was at it. If only there was a way to know for sure what they''d send¡­

    Oh wait. There was. The Secret Waves seemed to have arranged the Beast Waves to counter whatever Remian and the Iron Legion set up to stop them, right?

    So all they had to do was use that.

    "Markus? How do you feel about putting on a show?" Remian let out a smile.

 54 The Foresigh

    "For your own safety, nobody is permitted south of the Mines of Kara-Goth!" a poster read in front of the Iron Legion camp. Below it was another poster; "Workers wanted, good pay, food and shelter provided, please contact Quarter-master Max at the Iron Legion camp."

    A third poster next to that said, "Defense demonstration; the invincible airship gunboat ''Foresight'' debuts Starday evening! Wilds cannot bite what they cannot reach!" followed by a few bullet points saying; ''High-powered XL-ballista'', ''Ammunition for 100 rounds'', ''Tier 3-4 Wilds leather envelope'', ''Ironwood deck'', ''Frontier Town''s first custom-made ground-support battle airship!''.

    Remian considered that third poster which also sported a rough sketch of a ballista on it. One hundred rounds of ammunition was a bit of an exaggeration; that much ammo was only possible if they were leaving out all the other shooters and their weapons. If they wanted to put a squad of crossbowmen on the airship along with their weapons and ammunition, the Ballista would have less than half as much ammunition to work with.

    It gave them three days to prepare the gunboat. Today was Thirstday, and it was morning, so they should have today, tomorrow (Fryday) and the day after (Starday) to finish up whatever they needed on the ''Foresight''. Would they make it in time? Arnold promised that the Ballista would be ready by then, and Andros assured Remian that his crew could have at least twenty spears would be prepared on time. They could have made a hundred, had they the kind of facilities and equipment they used to have, but as it was¡­

    Arnold was right. They definitely needed to build up their tool-making abilities. That would have to be their first order from Charlie''s new airship.

    Speaking of which, they should be here sometime today. Then they''d have seven days to load up on ore before he next came by with their forge equipment and buy whatever they''d have to ship. Supposedly, the day after that, the next Beast Wave would arrive.

    ''Supposedly'' usually didn''t work out, in Remian''s experience. The Beast Wave could very well arrive a day early again. The question was; what was going to be in it?

    Markus approached. "We got them."

    "We did?" Remian blinked. "The Secret Waves actually promised to send help on the next Beast Wave?"

    "Same terms as before; Ten fighters, at least one of them being a Slayer." Markus cleared his throat. "They will be posted on defense at the town wall ruins all day next Starday."

    "Town wall ruins? Next Starday?" Remian stared. "So if the Beast Wave happens to hit us on Fryday¡­"

    Markus spread his hands. "I actually asked them about that. They said we could call them if that happens."

    Remian grimaced. That was as good as telling him that the next Wave was going to be a bunch of light Tier 3''s and/or 4''s. They were going to blitz the defenses, try to catch them unprepared, almost definitely a day early. So long as the Secret Waves didn''t know that Remian already knew the secret of the Waves, this might actually go right.

    In fact, now that they knew what was coming and even when, they might very well be able to stop them cold at the mines.

    But at what cost? Remian considered. Succeeding too well in this defense would be practically announcing to the enemy that they knew who their agents were, and that the information leak was a trap.

    Besides, he wanted the Secret Waves to bleed. Odd as it might sound, the only way to do that was to let at least enough of the next Wave reach the town that the Secret Wave defenders would take casualties. That might risk their own fighters¡­

    Or not. Not if their own fighters were all inside the two half-built Guard Towers. The original two were in pieces, now, but the third and fourth had completed Phase One. They even had regular Ballistae mounted. They''d have Scorpions too, if not for Remian insisting that Arnold focus his efforts on the Foresight''s XL Ballista.

    Remian thought of it as he inspected the site where they were going to run the demonstration, a spot between the Iron Legion camp and the workers'' settlement. Mindy and five crossbowmen on the Foresight, the mercenaries in one Tower, the Iron Legion in the other¡­would they be able to post troops at the mines without proper fortifications? Not yet, not the way the mines were now. But by next week, perhaps they could modify the mines with arrow slits so that people could shoot from inside them. Otherwise, they could simply be used as bolt-holes for the scouts. That could be the scouts'' job description; simply keep an eye out, send up the signal when the Wave appears, duck into a mine, then barricade the door behind you¡­

    Those mines could be really useful. Already they were large enough for both the Desert Moon and the High Rock clan workers and mercenaries to live in. They only needed to be renovated and dug out.

    They also needed some sort of docking station for airships at least up to Tier 5.5, preferably up to Tier 6. That Large Personnel Carrier they planned in the airships Step 2, the ones designed after the Sky Galleons that was meant for the workers to stay in for their safety¡­ Deutero Sky Galleons were Tier 5.3. These carriers were likely going to be bigger, less aerodynamic, fitted for more cargo space. In order to house nearly two hundred people for a night, they should be at least twice the size of a Sky Galleon, that is, Tier 5.6, as big as six houses put together. If Remian had his way, they could easily reach Tier 6.

    While they were meant to be transports, not permanent living quarters, it was possible that people might have to live there for weeks on end. This was especially true if they ever needed so much cargo space that Charlie ended up towing one of these large carriers back to civilization for trade. On top of that, who knew how big the airships around here were going to get in the future? But that was the future. They could expand their facilities later.

    Tier 6, Remian decided, at least for now. In the end, they would be relying more on the mines themselves for shelter and safety. The airships were meant for carrying cargo; people who boarded them did so only temporarily, whether for a night, a week, or an hour. Sky Galleons were a nice comparison to start with but in the end, Remian didn''t actually have plans to transport a lot of people around much. They would be in the mines most of the time. The stuff that would most usually occupy the airships would be cargo, raw ores to start with.

    In other words, these larger carriers wouldn''t be personnel carriers like he first thought. They would be cargo carriers. Towed carriers. With flat tops loaded with industry-standard container crates, because who the heck carried rocks around in sheltered holds these days? They''d fill containers with ores (from the mines to town) or smelted bars (from town to elsewhere), so yeah, no need for complex structures. Simple flat top decks, like barges¡­

    "Sky barge?" Remian mused to himself softly. That sounded better than ''flying crate''. They needed some sort of railings at the side, or perhaps use a similar half-crate design. It seemed suitable enough for the gunboat. It should suit the barge too.

    At least, for now. Everything they did now had to be cheap and easy to build.

    Meanwhile, the first Frontier Gunboat named ''Foresight'' had taken shape under Mindy''s care and instruction. It wasn''t much to look at; she''d basically built a half-crate and hung it on an air balloon from fishing nets. The design was laughably simple, but it could fly and it could carry a Ballista. That was all Remian asked for.

    "Why couldn''t we just hang the ballista by the nets?" Mindy asked Remian as they inspected the ''Foresight'' together.

    "To carry ammunition. Also we needed a stable surface to load, to crank, to maneuver and aim¡­"

    "Never mind. Forget I asked." Mindy sighed.

    There was a central platform mounted four feet high so that the Ballista would shoot over the sides, not into them. Remian personally felt that raising the side walls a few inches higher, maybe even a foot more would be better, but time was short. This would do. The mines had priority.

    They needed to work out the balancing so that the whole gunboat flew on a level plane rather than tilting over one way or the other. Right now they relied on a frame to keep the envelope in shape and the balance just right. As long as the frame was intact, the Gunboat shouldn''t capsize.

    This also meant that the ''Foresight'' was precariously fragile, but again¡­ it would have to do. For now.

    Remian was beginning to hate having to say that phrase. Everything was ''for now''.

    "Airship spotted!" Mindy pointed to a signal coming from their temporary airport between the Guild Hall and the workers'' settlement.

    "That''s probably Charlie." Remian got up. "It''s time to meet him."

    This would be it, Remian decided. This would be the day he sold Charlie the last of the mana potions. From today onward, he would have no more personal treasures to offer. Everything else was co-owned by Charlie himself and would need to be dug out, whether mana crystals, fire copper or jade.

    And even those were limited.

    "We''re going to need to find more sources of money." Remian grunted to himself. "There''s a whole continent out there. These mines are just the start."

 55 First Trade

    Charlie brought the Roving Albatross in for a landing at the Frontier Town temporary airport. Ropes were dropped; workers began to tug his airship down from the sky and maneuvered down next to a long platform. Boarding ramps were extended and attached as the ship was tied down.

    "Nice ship!" Remian complimented, looking over it.

    Charlie grimaced. "Not as nice as I would have liked, but it''s all ours. You have a 40% share."

    Now Remian grimaced. "How much do I owe?"

    "Eight million." Charlie didn''t pull any punches. He showed Remian the bill and the loan receipt. "Bank interest rates are 10% per year."

    Remian felt the blood drain from his face. 800,000 Lir in interest payments every year¡­! He suddenly felt like throwing up.

    "Relax. You''ve already made hundreds of thousands in a couple of weeks. At the rate we''ve been going¡­"

    Remian handed him a wooden box. Charlie sneaked a glance inside. "More mana potions? How many of these things do you have?"

    "That''s the last of it. There should be forty in there." Remian told him frankly.

    "400,000 Lir." Charlie whistled. "That''s 5% of your total debt right there. Twenty more weeks like this and you could have your share fully paid off."

    "I hope so. I hate being in debt. Especially with a 10% interest rate."

    Charlie shrugged helplessly. "What could I do? We''re not exactly a proven entity. The bank wants the loan paid back fast. I think they''ll cut the rates if we pay back quicker."

    "Well, we have something to sell now." Remian gestured. Desert Moon workers brought six crates. "This is jade from the early prospecting of the second mine, and these five are Fire Copper ores. This should be the only time I''m willing to ship raw Fire Copper ores. You did bring the smelter equipment, didn''t you?"

    "Yes, I did." Charlie nodded to his workers and they started unloading. "Where are we going to set up the smelter?"

    "Right there." Remian pointed a little farther to the west.

    "Not at the mines? It could save you the trouble of shipping ores back to town."

    "There''s not that much ore left in the Kara-Goth mines. We''re also going to be bringing ores from other mines, farther away, and changing sites every so often. Meanwhile, the airport will be here, the road will be built from here, the Iron Legion is stationed here, and all my workers. This is where the town will be re-built. This is and always has been the gateway to the Wildlands."

    "Even if spies are calling Beast Waves down on it?"

    "They''ll be calling Waves on us no matter where we go. Best to keep them under our noses."

    "We''ll have to deal with them eventually. We really can''t let them stay here like this forever."

    "Agreed. On that point, there''s no use moving around. This place is as good a spot for a gateway town as it gets." Remian glanced around. "We may as well build up this airport properly."

    "The foundations here aren''t good." Charlie shook his head. "The north side of the town ruins is still the best. There''s already a lot of ground work done there. Let''s just use it."

    50,000 Lir for the crate of jade. 100,000 for the five crates of Fire Copper ore. 50,000 more for two chunks of raw blue mana crystal. 90% of all that belonged to Remian. 360,000 Lir from the mines, 400,000 from the potions¡­ Remian''s total revenue for this trip was 760,000 Lir. Not bad for a first week.

    But of course, it would only get harder from now on. More than half that amount came from the potions and the potions had all been sold.

    Mindy came up next and started selling her scrolls. She had become George''s biggest customer since Kairos was busy building a new church at the workers'' settlement with the other priests these days. Light, fire and wind scrolls exchanged hands; thousands of Lir went into hers.

    Then George started selling stuff. Apparently, the Rainbow Jellyfish, freed from the terror of natural predators and fed with painstaking efforts, were doing much, much, much better than expected. They weren''t hard to milk either; just pulling them out of the water was enough to incite a flood of defensive fluids. Some good gloves made of Tier 4 leather was enough for George to harvest a bounty every day. He didn''t even have to kill them.

    Remian wondered what George would do if the Rainbow Jellyfish one day realized it was not in danger when taken out of the water and stopped dripping defensive fluids. But that was a problem for George to figure out.

    Tim actually brought coin to buy cheese.

    "Where did you get so much money?" Remian stared.

    "Do you really want to know?" Tim asked furtively.

    Remian hesitated. "On second thoughts, no. I don''t want to know."

    Suffice to say, he was satisfied that the espionage department had managed to secure its own funding. Remian considered keeping an eye on what and how much they stole, then try to control them, but what would he say if someone asked him about it? Best to be able to truthfully say he didn''t know.

    Markus loaded up Wild meat and skins. For some reason, he kept the bones.

    Even people from the Secret Waves came by, loading up mysterious boxes and receiving crates in return.

    Also, ten new trainees from the Iron Legion arrived, and forty more workers¡­

    It was then that Remian noticed something odd. The forty workers in question all seemed to be women and children. "Charlie¡­? What¡­"

    "Dad!" one of the older children shouted, and ran to where the Desert Moon workers were waiting anxiously. "Uncle!"

    Suddenly, it was like an outbreak of voices happened all around him. People were calling names, greeting fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters¡­

    "More from the Desert Moon and High Rock clans." Charlie summarized with a shrug. "They can work too."

    Remian hesitated, looking around at all the new yet almost familiar faces. "Just how many more of those two clans are out there?"

    "About half. That''s including the injured that you''ve sent back and their families. And the children of those people here who are too young to work."

    Remian eyed the youngest of the new bunch and asked, "Just how young is ''too young''?"

    "Six, according to the Desert King''s laws. Below thirteen, according to Ashdale''s."

    "I like Ashdale''s laws better."

    "Didn''t you also have children working for you at one point?"

    "That''s different."

    "No, it''s not."

    Remian hesitated, but this wasn''t the time or place to debate or to reflect. "I need to talk to the chiefs of the two clans."

    Taj, chief of the Desert Moon Clan, and Aren, chief of the High Rock, brought two women with them.

    "This is Nadia, my wife." Taj introduced.

    "Zane." Aren introduced his. "They have come to work."

    "Are you really okay with that?" Remian gestured to the newcomers. "To have your children working in the mines?"

    "It is safer here, and there is water for everyone." Taj said. "Speaking for the Desert Moon, we would bring more of our people here if only there were no age limits."

    "I would bring all of the High Rock clan over if I could." Aren agreed.

    Remian rubbed his forehead, then made a decision on the spot. "Bring them. Bring everybody. We might not hire them for mining purposes, but they should be with their fathers. They can be citizens here. They can help dig out the mines and turn them into your homes. We''ll also need to build underground pipes and water systems¡­ hey, why are you kneeling? Get up! You''re embarrassing me!"

    "You would be willing?" Nadia half-cried. "You would free us from the Desert King? Risk war with Fal''Herim for our sakes?"

    "Wha¡­?" Remian stared. "What are you talking about?"

    "Technically, he owns all the sand people." Charlie explained to Remian. "Their ancestors sold themselves to him as slaves and servants and he''s somewhat possessive of them. To hire some workers temporarily is easy. To have them emigrate and become citizens of another kingdom, even a non-existent kingdom¡­ that''s a whole different story. She''s right. You''re risking war."

    Remian wanted to slap his own big mouth. This was a lot more trouble than he''d intended to step into.

    But how could he tell them it was a mistake? Looking at the wives of the clan chiefs weep, even the hope-filled faces of the chiefs themselves¡­ how could he tell them¡­?

    "Fine. Let''s just say I''m hiring the entire clan as a whole. We''re in no position for a war with Fal''Herim right now." Remian shook his head. "Bring them over under the pretext of hiring. We can sort out citizenship or whatever when we actually have a country to be citizens of. If we''re going to do this, we have to be careful."

    "Yes! Careful! Very careful!" Taj agreed immediately. "Nobody will know what we discussed here today! We will only be here to work. Yes, yes¡­ to work. As for how old the workers are¡­ our employer need not find out."

    Remian scratched his head, wondering how he should feel about them technically trying to cheat him. "Just as long as don''t expect me to pay those who don''t actually work."

    Taj froze. Then, "We will pay for their passage fees from our earnings."

    "No, that won''t be necessary. I do have SOME stakes here, after all, and worker efficiency should increase with your families to support and take care of your needs." Charlie cleared his throat. "I won''t charge my own workers when I''m bringing them to the workplace. That is, if my partner agrees¡­"

    "Sounds good to me." Remian threw up his hands. "Just don''t start a war with Fal''Herim!"

 56 Brother from the Sea

    They ended up agreeing to bring the families of the workers over as worker perks. They would not be paid, but they could live together. That ''family'' would extend to the entire clan was an issue everybody was simply going to overlook.

    This also set a precedent for future workers, but Remian was fine with that. Frontier Town was severely underpopulated at the moment.

    Before the dust could settle, however, there was yet another surprise on the airship. This was the last passenger who got off the ship, a man dressed like one of the sea-people in a colorful short sleeve shirt sporting pictures of tropical fruit and khaki cargo shorts¡­

    "Kekoa! Who has seen Kekoa? Has anyone seen my brother?" the Sea Nation person went around asking everyone, showing them a picture.

    Remian frowned. He recognized that picture. That was the Sea Nation guy who didn''t quite make it here.

    "Have you seen Kekoa?!" this new Sea Nation person asked, shoving the picture at him.

    "Uh¡­" Remian trailed off, not sure how to tell him his brother had died of spicy food.

    "Have you seen Kekoa?" the new guy asked Taj and Aren.

    "Who?" came the general response.

    "What about Markus? Or Kairos? Have you seen them?"

    "I have seen Markus. I have seen Kairos." Taj answered solemnly.

    Aren just pointed. "That is Markus. Kairos is building the church."

    "Markus!!" the new guy pounced. "Where is Kekoa? KEKOA!!"

    "Wha¡­" Markus was completely baffled as this newcomer all but bowled him over. He was a tough, well-built warrior, but this new fellow was twice his size and thrice his girth, so¡­ "He died already, okay? He didn''t make it over the desert!"

    "The desert¡­! Kekoa!" the new guy fell to his knees and wailed. "My brave brother! Sea people shouldn''t be in the desert!!"

    "I actually agree with that." Charlie said solemnly.

    "How?" the guy suddenly turned on Markus again. "How did he die? Fighting giant scorpions? Eaten by a ravenous hundred-foot Sand Wyrm? Was it a terrible sandstorm?!"

    Markus coughed. "Uh¡­ I think he ate something that he couldn''t bear."

    The new guy froze. "He¡­ he was poisoned?!"

    "No, I don''t think so. It was authentic sand people goat stew. I ate the same thing myself. It''s just¡­ spicy. Very spicy."

    The new guy stared at him blankly. "Huh."

    He sat down very suddenly and just stared into empty space as people around him hurried and flurried and cleared the platform. Crates were unloaded. Crates were unloaded. People left and before long the platform was emptied. Charlie and Remian were among the few still remaining on the otherwise emptied platform.

    At last, the man said to the floor, "Oh, brother¡­ Mother always did say that the way you eat would be the death of you someday¡­"

    Remian didn''t know whether it was okay to laugh.

    ***

    His name was Kaleo. He was the elder brother of Kekoa. His family were traders, and his brother had traveled far and wide looking for better markets, better trade routes¡­

    "I''m so sorry." Remian said as they left the airport together. "There really isn''t much here to trade. Besides, getting goods to and from here is difficult enough as it is."

    "Not really." Kaleo said briefly. "Have you ever seen the other side of the river? The sea is the sea forever, and it is not that far away from here. A good bridge, a nice road¡­ and you could get to the coast and ship your ores across the world at a much lower cost than airships."

    "Just like that, huh?" Remian folded his arms.

    Charlie cut in. "No. There are pirates. There are monsters in the depths. There are storms. The time you will take is much longer, and the markets you can seek over the seas are poorer. It could take a year before you even see your ship again."

    "True. But it would be cheap." He tried to grin, but his smile slipped lopsidedly.

    "Maybe one day, if we ever need to move super-high volumes of heavy materials." Remian shook his head. "Right now, the only water transport we need are river boats, to ship cargo up and down river¡­ and even that is far, far too dangerous out here."

    "Why?" Keloa asked, puzzled.

    "It is because the Wilds in the water are generally bigger than the ones on land." Remian explained. "It seems that Tier 4 Wilds are common in this very river. Fishing from a cliff is one thing. Sailing or swimming¡­ not even Buff dares to swim in the river for long."

    Especially since the local bully around this bend of the river was Cracked Tooth, a very nasty Tier 4 heavy known as a Tyrant Crocodile. Carrie mentioned that he was one of the closest Wilds in Shadowflash''s territory to reaching Tier 5 and challenging Shadowflash for the lordship of this region. The entire river up to the Deepsilver lake was in terror of him. Everyone going to the river had to be warned; if you see a giant log sunbathing in the water, do not, DO NOT approach!

    Actually, if you saw any log in the water, it was best to steer clear. Cracked Tooth wasn''t the only crocodile-type Wild in the river, just the biggest. He had quite a lot of kids and none of them were friendly to humans. His three sons alone were already in the lower levels of Tier 4. If Cracked Tooth was at Tier 4.9, they would easily be around Tier 4.5 at least. All three of them were bigger, fiercer and tougher than Buff and Carrie put together.

    "There''s nothing more here for me, then¡­" Keloa said, shaking his head.

    "Well, maybe there is something." Charlie paused. "Just how many markets have you and your brother scoped out?

    That started a very, very long conversation indeed.

    ***

    The conversation went on until the next day. By sunrise, Keloa had become their third partner.

    His buy-in was a 30% share in the airship trading fleet, starting with the Roving Albatross. Six million Lir would be transferred from his family''s account. With this, Remian''s share would shrink back to 20% while Charlie retained the majority at 50%. This would effectively halve Remian''s debt and take a huge bite out of the loans Charlie took from the banks.

    On top of that, he was throwing in another two million Lir in cash for trading funds. He and Charlie were going to make a tour of the kingdoms around the Midlands Sea and verify his information. Once they confirmed prices all around and set up some trade routes, the shipping business could begin in earnest.

    One of the products they were most concerned with would be Fire Copper. Smelted bars were supposed to be priced around 60 Lir per (one kilogram) bar at Fal''Herim. Ashdale had them roughly around 80 Lir per kilogram. Prices at Ecclesia or Ceres would likely overshoot 100 Lir per kg. It was like that for fire-elemental materials. They were most commonly found around the desert or volcanic areas, so Fal''Herim actually held the record for the cheapest Fire Copper ever sold.

    Oddly enough for a place thick with water-element, Kaleo''s home island had them at 90 Lir per kg, lower than Ecclesia or Ceres. Apparently there was a volcanic island farther out, so Fire Copper would sometimes be found by divers who braved the waters near it.

    As for the place with the best prices¡­ probably the Frozen North? But the travel distance was farther than Charlie was willing to go. He wanted to operate around Ashdale; the Frontier was as far as he went.

    Kaleo didn''t seem to mind very much. He highly approved of the safety and security of the air routes around these parts. As for more profitable, more dangerous routes¡­ there were other fleets for that.

    At that point, Remian began to wonder just how wealthy this Kaleo, or rather, his family, was.

    "We''re comfortable." He said, with a shrug, making Remian feel like he was definitely downplaying his family''s wealth. "Shipping has always been a profitable business and prices usually vary nicely from island to island. Trading between the islands of the Sea Nations is quite generous, if limited in volume. So long as you know the routes, you play it safe and play it small, you''ll never make a loss. But like I said, the volume is small, so while it''s good and stable income in the long run, there won''t ever be a large quick payday. My family has been at it for twelve generations now, so we''ve accumulated quite a bit of wealth. We believe it''s time we looked at bigger markets, and larger volumes of trade. That is why my cousins, siblings and I have all spread out across the world looking at other markets."

    "What family is that, by the way? I never did get your surname." Charlie mentioned.

    "Kiki." Kaleo said shortly.

    Charlie choked, trying very hard to hold in a sudden burst of laughter.

    "Yeah. It''s not something I like to announce everywhere." Kaleo cleared his throat.

    So Kaleo bought a share in Charlie''s trading fleet as a third partner¡­ but he did not buy any share in the mines or Remian''s fleet of transport barges and gunboats.

    He made no investments in the Frontier at all.

 57 Beast Blitz

    The demonstration went well, with an abundance of cheers and applause. Mindy, Candice and Denise showed off the performance of the Foresight in motion, the XL Ballista, and the height advantages of a crossbowman on an airship.

    The important thing was, the Foresight could fly and could shoot. There were a few unexpected wobbles, but the XL Ballista proved capable of accurately spearing wooden targets from 300 meters away. The shots not only hit the targets, they struck with enough force to tear right through them. At 400, the accuracy dropped and the targets were hit off-center, but still tore through the wood like nothing. At 500, half the shots were glancing blows, but even they managed to knock the targets over sideways. At 600, Candice began to miss, hitting three out of five, and there the demonstration shifted over to Denise.

    Shooting one of Candice''s high-powered crossbows from 100 meters in the air, Denise actually managed to hit a target 500 meters away. She missed four out of five, but the one time she did hit the target, the bolt struck solidly and stuck.

    "I could do better." She grumbled to Remian later. "I just need more practice."

    Candice held the same opinion of her performance with the Ballista. Even Mindy thought the same of her performance with piloting the Foresight.

    But everyone else thought they did great.

    ***

    In the following week, the Iron Legion moved their camp to the North Side, as they had planned to long, long ago. It was a sign of confidence now that they moved camp into the town area, a sign that rather than being prepared to flee the town, they expected to be able to stop the Beast Wave outside it

    They began to gather materials for the airport and the road. Heavy foundations were being laid in all directions. The new airport was going to make the old one look like a child''s playhouse.

    The Burning Steel Forge suddenly re-appeared in the ruins of the West Side overnight, except this time they appeared to be working with the High Rock Clan to set up a large smelter beside it.

    Two wood-built churches appeared, one in the central area of the town ruins, another at the workers'' quarters west of town. The Adventurers Guild and the Burning Steel forge both opened shop from cart-stalls at the town center.

    Housed at the workers'' settlement temporarily, the families and children of the workers roamed the town and west of town area freely. The sound of children laughing and playing was heard in the Frontier once again.

    Oddly enough, those children never, ever entered the East Side. No matter what, rain or shine, even in the middle of a heavy downpour and there was no shelter nearby¡­ they would never enter the East Side.

    That suited the Secret Waves gang just fine. They had their fish, their drugs, their source of income, they could trade with the airship¡­ they didn''t need anything else. They eyed the progress of the town with dark looks and low whispers, but beyond that, they made no move against the newcomers. Not openly, at least.

    According to Tim, six separate attempts had been made for some sort of mischief or the other. The Lynxmice and Vigil got word to him very quickly, and he had Markus or Max or some officers of the Legion over at the trouble spots in short order. It was nice to have the Iron Legion camp near by. None of those six attempts ever managed to accomplish anything more than a brief sense of unease.

    Speaking of unease, the Secret Waves didn''t say it, but it was them who felt more unease than the others. All of a sudden, everyone else except them seemed to get along just fine, and they seemed to be on the outside and in the dark about what was going on.

    It might even seem like they were being left out on purpose. That was no small cause for anger. But they gritted their teeth and waited, counting the days until the next Fryday, when the airship was due, and everybody was gathering at the temporary airport when they spotted it from afar¡­

    The timing was astounding. Just after the airship was spotted, and people were running all over the place gathering their trade goods, a column of smoke went up in the far south, and then a second, and a third.

    The next Beast Wave was upon them.

    ***

    "That''s the signal! Everyone into the mines!" Aren ordered as the alarm drums were beaten. They had kept a dozen scouts taking three-man (or child) shifts to watch the horizon for that very signal since sunrise, and they were not at all surprised to see the smoke just before lunch. Their response time was superb; they were beating on the alam drums within a minute of the third column of smoke rising up. "Call the scouts back!"

    They lit counter-signals, twin columns of smoke in close proximity. This not only signaled the scouts that they received the message, but also guided them home.

    But the scouts did not rush back. Instead, a weird green column of smoke rose up.

    "The Wave has passed the scouts! They''re moving fast!" Aren shouted. "Shut the doors! Full barricades! Now!"

    "They''re here!" lookouts from the arrowslits facing south announced.

    "Shut the doors!" Aren roared, but there was no need. With a loud BOOM, the double doors slammed shut. Heavy bars were laid in place immediately, wood reinforced with steel and then more steel frames bracing the doors.

    "Fire at will!" Aren told the crossbowmen at the arrowslits. There were just a handful of arrowslits and just a handful of crossbowmen, but they fired steadily, and with gusto.

    There were snarls, and howls, and something crashed into the door, and then again, and a third time, but afterward, the sounds of yowling and snapping faded, and there was no more impacts upon the door. The whole thing passed in mere minutes and then there was a cautious, uncertain silence.

    "Is it over?" Zane asked Aren carefully.

    "I guess it is, kind-of?" Aren eyed the arrowslits. "At least, it is for us. The rest is up to the others."

    ***

    Mindy was already on the airship when the alarms sounded. "We''re lifting off!"

    Candice and Denise were already with her. Two High Rock clansmen were actually there with them, loading up the steel spears that served as the XL Ballista''s ammunition. These were bigger, thicker and heavier than the ones the Guard Tower Ballistae used; each of them handled the spears with care and caution, but when the alarms sounded, they exchanged glances and started scrambling to load up more.

    "Enough! Everyone aboard!" Mindy called. "Remian said there won''t be much time!"

    There were supposed to be archers or crossbowmen on board to provide support fire, but like Mindy said, there wasn''t much time. The ammo loaders both jumped on board the airship and started loading the XL Ballista.

    Back during the demonstration that work had been done by the three girls and they had taken their time. Now, Candice would have two guys helping her reload and crank the Ballista. That would make a huge improvement on the Ballista''s rate of fire.

    "Airship lifting off!" Mindy barked, as she cast off the lines and heated the gas overhead just a little to speed things up.

    ***

    At that time, George was at the farm. Lunar''s howling warned him that the signal had been spotted.

    "That''s the signal! The Beast Wave is coming! Gather all the families!" George shouted. "Call out the wolfcats!"

    There were a few screams, but generally the families of the workers gathered slowly, often with yells of ''wait'' or expressions of unhurried complacency. They knew that the Wilds attacked the town; this settlement to the west of it had never been targeted. All their preparation here was just in case something unexpected happened.

    In minutes, green smoke rose up in the distance long before they got into position. People were still running about yelling for children, scolding, looking for a weapon, asking if anyone had seen someone¡­

    The wolfcats (Red and Lunar''s family and all those under Carrie''s command) began to form a line facing te south. The families gathered behind them, bringing makeshift pole-arms to bear, usually farming tools like hoes, shovels, and rakes, several mere pole without any sort of head, or in one inspired case, a mop¡­

    George scratched his head, wondering if these folks were anywhere near taking this seriously.

    Then yellow smoke rose up. "The Guard Towers have engaged! Everyone ready?"

    There was no response, just a few chickens squawking (where did these people get chickens?!), a wolfcat yelping when some kid grabbed its tail, and a mother scolding her child.

    ***

    "Beast Wave in sight! 1000 meters!" Candice announced.

    "Ready!" The loaders announced, letting go of the cranks.

    "Wind blessing!" Mindy cast it on both the XL Ballista and Denise''s crossbow.

    Candice aimed and fired without skipping a beat. One loader picked up another spear; the other started turning the crank already. They reloaded in mere seconds, and Candice fired off the second shot.

    "They''re coming in fast!" Denise noted. "Mix of Tier 3 and 4 light Wilds! 900 meters!"

    Remarkably, out of Candice''s first four shots, one of them actually hit something in the oncoming Beast Wave. At that time, people were still making their way to the Guard Towers. Only one of the Guard Tower Ballistae sent out a shot. The other one seemed to be waiting or something.

    "800 meters¡­ 700¡­ 600¡­"

    Only then did the second Guard Tower start shooting. Yellow smoke began to rise from a signal fire. By that time at least six of the Wilds in the Beast Wave had been nailed by the Foresight''s XL Ballista. The first Guard Tower''s Ballista¡­ hadn''t quite done so well.

    Denise started shooting. They were farther back from the Guard Towers by about a hundred meters, but she and the crossbowmen at the Towers began firing at the same time. It was hard to figure out who hit what, but across the Beast Wave, Wilds staggered and fell.

    400 meters. The Wilds at the very front of the incoming Beast Wave were led by a cheetah with a mix of stars and dots on its fur. The Starry Rain Cheetah was one of the fastest wildcats in these lands, especially known for its speedy burst of power. Candice fired off a shot straight for its face; it lunged, ducking under it as it charged ever forward, but then another spear lanced out from the guard towers, catching it in the shoulder, and a trio of crossbow bolts struck its legs and chest. Slowed down by its woulds, it stumbled; Candice''s next shot nailed it and ended its charge completely.

    By that time, four other Tier 4 light Wilds had caught up and very quickly passed the cheetah. Two antelope-types, an oversized mongoose and a lion with a scorpion''s tail rapidly approached the Guard Towers.

    "300 meters!"

    "Target the lion!" Candice told Denise.

    Denise shot it in the paw, then the tail, and a third time in the left shoulder. It slowed, a little. It was not much, but as it roared back in anger, Candice managed to sent an XL spear ramming down its throat.

    "Eat that!" Candice barked.

    "200!"

    The antelope-types and the mongoose went down under constant fire.

    "100!"

    Five other Tier 4 Wilds and about a dozen Tier 3''s neared the Towers. The other tower let out a different colored signal as soldiers with handheld spears sprung into action, turning each tower into a prickly target for anything that wanted to barge in.

    Orange smoke went up as the spears and the Wilds clashed.

    ***

    Orange smoke rose. George felt a chill run down his back. "They''ve reached the Guard Towers!"

    "Ready!" Nadia called. Taj''s wife was the one all but running the show here while the chiefs were at the mines. "Everyone accounted for and in position!"

    "Finally!" George heaved a sigh. "Send up the yellow signal!"

    Yellow smoke rose up from the settlement, showing that they were in position, but unthreatened.

    ***

    That was when Tim turned the Secret Waves'' own weapon against them.

 58 Tims Day Off

    First of all, one had to know that Tim was already at the East Side when the alarm drums sounded.

    No, wait, before that, it should be made known that Tim actually wasn''t supposed to be on the East Side. Remian had quite specifically told him that this would be his day off and to take it easy and go someplace safe or join the defenses as he liked.

    But to Tim, the safest place there was from an enemy attack would be the enemy''s own base; he wouldn''t attack himself, right?

    More importantly, there was still a lot of money in the money pool that he hadn''t stole- ahem! Appropriated for the Espionage Department yet. Since these gangsters were really their enemies, taking their resources and using them for your own side was simply sound military strategy; like Markus taught all the trainees, strategy was an important part of war that they had to learn.

    The amount of coins in the pool could flood the Lynxmice with cheese for generations to come. Already, Tim had them siphon off too many coins to count and hid them in new tunnels all over the town area, especially the airport. Some of those tunnels were even under the church. Someday, a hungry priest might try his hand at gardening the church lot and suddenly dig up a pot of Lir¡­

    But in any case, this was his day off, so Tim could pretty much do whatever he wanted to do; including plundering the enemy while the enemy was on the offensive.

    However, his pleasant day off was interrupted rudely when the enemy decided to hold a meeting in his own secret den. Imagine that! The spies'' leisurely looting had to come to an unfortunate end when those guys decided to have a secret chat in their own base.

    Fuming, Tim decided to wait and see what was so important that his looting had to be interrupted.

    "Has the crystal been placed?" the boss of the Secret Waves asked. He was a fisherman who usually spent most of his time at his home fishing or enjoying the highest quality drugs his crew could refine.

    "Yes, boss! We placed it in the western settlement." The gangsters there chuckled. "Are you sure you don''t want to put it in the church or the airport?"

    "Those are just fronts. There''s almost nobody there." The SW boss waved a hand dismissively. "No, I want those sand people to bleed. They think they can come and live on my territory without my permission, without paying me tribute? I''ll have them learn the consequences of their foolishness!"

    "Your territory? But they never set foot on the East Side." The poor gangster was confused.

    "East Side? Do you see any other warlord standing other than I? No! The other gangs have been wiped out! Frontier Town- yes, the entire Frontier, in fact- belongs to me! I am the last warlord standing! I am the king of the Wildlands!"

    Tim exchanged glances with the three Tier 3 Lynxmice next to him, then all four of them shook their heads at that self-proclaimed ''king'' wordlessly.

    "Great! So, since our job is done¡­"

    "Done? When has your job been done? The settlement is still standing! It has not yet been destroyed!" the SW chief ''king of the wildlands'' exclaimed. "Until it is overrun and the sand people are torn to pieces by the Beast Wave, your job is not done! Go keep an eye on the crystal! Only leave it at the last minute!"

    "But boss, the Beast Wave is already on the way! We don''t know if there''ll be time¡­"

    "GO!"

    Grumbling, they went. The ''king of the wildlands'' meanwhile, took a dip in his coin pool, never quite realizing that half of it had been taken away already.

    Tim snuck out after the gangster sent to safeguard the crystal.

    That was how he found out exactly where the gangster put the crystal. He stayed there at the crystal while the gangster eyed the orange smoke from the Guard Towers and took off running for safety, leaving the crystal completely unguarded.

    Tim watched him go, and before he''d made even ten steps away from the site, lunged forward and grabbed the crystal himself.

    "Put this in the Fishing House kitchen!" Tim gave it to the fastest Lynxmouse in the Espionage Department.

    Away the Lynxmouse darted.

    The Fishing House, incidentally, was the home of the Secret Waves chief, the fisherman who called himself the ''king of the wildlands''. It was where he loved to sit and fish from the river below through a hole in his backyard. The kitchen was roughly ten feet away from his favorite fishing spot.

    ***

    At that time, the Beast Wave had reached the spot where Mindy''s airship was anchored. This was practically the border of the town ruins, where the Iron Legion had previously made their stands. This was also where the Secret Wave reinforcements were promised to be posted, except that Mindy didn''t see a single one of their people here now, Slayer or otherwise.

    It wasn''t that they weren''t called earlier. Messengers had been sent the moment the first smoke signal went up. Alarms had been drumming the entire time. There was no way they could not know the Beast Wave was approaching. Yet nobody showed up. Not even one.

    As for the Wilds in the Beast Wave, oddly enough, they seemed to be headed toward the west rather than directly north into town as usual. Maybe they were a little lost¡­?

    Goodness at this rate, they were going to hit the workers'' settlement! Mindy got a fright for a moment.

    But then she calmed down. There! They seemed to be correcting their course, changing directions more and more northward.

    Pretty soon they passed her anchor point.

    Mindy drew a sigil and cast a Fire Bolt spell from a scroll, targeting a specific smoke stack prepared nearby. Once lit, this fire let out a column of red smoke, letting everyone know that the Beast Wave had reached town.

    Interestingly, their change in course kept going eastwards, so that their end destination shifted¡­ past the West Side where the Burning Steel Forge was being rebuilt¡­ past the church and the central square¡­

    Goodness this time the Beast Wave was headed right into the East Side!

    "Cease fire!" Mindy yelled. "Cease fire! The Beast Wave are friendlies!"

    "Wha¡­?" Candice and Denise both looked at her with blank faces.

    "I¡­ I mean¡­ we can''t shoot at the East Side!" Mindy cleared her throat, blushing. "We might hit people! We mustn''t shoot into the East Side!"

    Denise seemed to get the idea easily enough. "Right, right¡­ that area is off-limits to us. We''ll just have to let them handle things themselves from here on out."

    Fifteen Tier 3 and four Tier 4 Wilds careened into the Secret Waves'' East Side without any organized defense to stop, slow, or even greet them.

    ***

    The self-proclaimed king of the Wildlands was luxuriously back-stroking in his pool of coins wearing only his favorite golden silk swimming trunks, wondering which girl he should call for company today when the screaming started.

    "Is Abdul torturing the girls again?!" he scowled, then yelled. "Someone tell Abdul to gag his toys!"

    The screaming went on.

    "Not Abdul?" he frowned. "Who''s making all that ruckus? Whoever it is, shut them up! One free Dream Ticket for anyone who puts an immediate and total end to that infernal noise!"

    A Dream Ticket was basically a packet of Dream Powder, the product the Secret Waves were famous for. Generally speaking, the members of the Secret Wave Gang (and a good portion of the rest of the Five Gangs, previously) would climb up walls and dig under floors to get one.

    But this time, nobody responded.

 59 Remians Left Foo

    The wise and brave self-proclaimed ''king of the Wildlands'' peeked his head out of his private den to witness a scene of absolute chaos.

    People, his people, were running around everywhere.

    "Aiiieeee!!" There in front of him was Abdul, garbed in only his underwear, running down the street yelling at the top of his lungs, being followed most earnestly by a Darkbok Antelope with its head humbly down and the pointy ends of its horns targeted most faithfully upon Abdul''s hinter areas.

    "Auuuu!!!" Beyond Abdul, the captain of today''s guard shift ran the other way, shrieking as he was similarly followed by a ''faithful'' manticore.

    One ran left; one ran right ¨C the pair of them crossed each others'' paths and did not so much as greet each other in passing. At least their pursuers were polite enough to pause and greet each other before pouncing upon their prey and¡­

    CHOMP. RIP.

    The ''king of the Wildlands'' turned away, grimacing. The following scenes of nature in action were a little too natural to be watched in the comfort of his den. The leader of the Secret Waves therefore opted to nobly abstain.

    He next poked his head out the doorway to see more of his people running about like headless chickens. Well, no some of them seemed to have a few ideas, at least. Three guys running into the same outhouse from three different directions in various states of hurry.

    A huge tawny boar-type Wild proved even more hurried, or at least, twice as fast in barging into that very same outhouse with marvelous, firework-worthy results. Pieces of that very outhouse went soaring freely, like eagles into the skies, like Phoenixes into the sunset, like the crew of the Secret Waves in the next street over, scattering in every direction in a phenomenal hurry, with no less than four guys exiting the outhouse very abruptly. Huh. He''d only seen three enter the privy earlier; the fourth guy must have been the original occupant, but even he was artfully evicted on short notice¡­

    Inspired by such art, the ''king'' royally resolved to duck back inside, shut the door behind him and grab whatever he could to barricade it.

    There were perhaps, one or two (or fourteen) instances where people came knocking on that door screaming for his attention and assistance or just an open door. But tinged with regret, the king held on steadfastly to his resolution, assuring them only that they had his full attention and he had their welfare in mind. More than one screamed simply for an open door, but all of life was an open door, filled with opportunities, if only one had the right perception and perspective, was it not?

    Oddly enough, the king''s enlightened philosophies did not seem to provide much comfort to the mundane plebians. But at least they did not linger to ponder the profoundness of his revelations much longer. Some of their screams ended quite abruptly.

    Such a pity that his subjects did not appreciate refined philosophies of that level! The ''king'' himself opted to contemplate that very sophistry in most ardent silence, scarcely daring to taint the sacredness of this meditation with sound, trying very hard even to avoid breathing loudly.

    But at last, as time passed, the screams and the screeches finally died down and an uneasy silence settled upon the land. Slowly, cautiously, the ''king'' poked his head out the door yet a third time, and there appeared to be something mystical and successful about the number ''three'', for indeed the third time was the charm and the occasion when the situation finally made progress into a new stage.

    There were no more rampaging Wilds outside, just the dead and the dying. A rather large proportion of the structures in the vicinity had been reduced to piles of rubble. Oh well; they had been rather shabbily built anyway, and perhaps it was time to give this domain a makeover, build new houses, new structures¡­ maybe even a statue as a monument to his own honor and bravery. How much money did they currently have in their urban development fund?

    Oh right. They didn''t have such a fund in the first place. But surely he could convince the people to righteously donate to such a noble cause. They could certainly donate their efforts, if not their money. Most of their money had already been spent on necessities, he knew, such as the Dream Tickets. In other words, most of their money were already in his pool.

    Maybe he should set up a new fund for charitable people to donate to? Yes, that would be best. He could even send people around town to spread word of this new charity and seek contributions from as far as the western settlement. That is, if anyone there survived¡­

    Judging from the immediate vicinity, if what happened there was anything like what happened here, survivors might very well be in short supply.

    "Boss!" one of his henchmen (he forgot which one, these guys'' names all sounded alike) came sneaking up, the sudden sound causing the ''king'' to jump three feet into the air and letting out a resounding shout in a dazzling display of athleticism.

    But at last, more and more survivors crept out of their hiding places and began looting. A few loyal henchmen, some of whom he''d never seen before today, carried out his instructions no matter how nonsensical (or at least they said they were), and order was eventually restored upon the East Side.

    ***

    Remian found himself staring dumbfoundedly at the ruins of what used to be Frontier Town''s East Side. Most of it had been leveled, and the very far edge of the ledge appeared to have, well¡­ disappeared.

    It was somewhat to be expected, perhaps, that the weight and the trampling of several Tier 4 and at least a dozen Tier 3 Wilds would prove too much for the delicate extents of the thin ledge. The far corner had broken off taking the last of the Beast Wave with it, but not before most of the East Side had been summarily demolished.

    How many survivors were left? Ten? Twenty?

    One particular survivor seemed to be staring at him balefully while yelling at everyone nearby to kneel and build him a monument out of their own money. Remian thought he recognized him; wasn''t that the fisherman guy? The leader of the Secret Waves?

    "You!" he turned to Remian, and recognized him. "Remian Vin!"

    The tones of his voice made even a few of the looters and stragglers turn and gather around.

    "I have tolerated your insolence long enough! It is time you acknowledge the rightful ruler of these lands and pay tribute! You and all your followers, and all your workers, will contribute every last Lir you have into the monument fund!"

    "And if we don''t?" Remian raised an eyebrow.

    "Then all hell will break loose on those you care about!" he sneered. "I know you! You and your child-loving ways! Most men go for women, but you¡­ you go for children! And now you''ve brought even more women and children to my territory! Funny thing about women and children; they are easy to entrap, easy to entice, easy to train using just a little bit of Dream Powder¡­"

    "Shouldn''t you be thinking of other things at a time like this? Such as, I don''t know, taking care of your own people?"

    The gazes of the survivors around them shifted from him to the leader of the Secret Waves and back.

    "A few Dream Tickets will do the trick. They won''t even complain afterward." He snorted.

    The looks turned back upon Remian; none of the survivors contradicted their boss.

    "Don''t worry, I''m going to teach those kids of your manners." He sneered. "To kneel before me and to obey like good little children¡­"

    "You''re insane." Remian''s eyes narrowed.

    "You can''t protect them forever! Not even if you just had one! A single moment, a single slip and they''ll be in the palm of my hands before you know it! All it takes is one Dream Ticket and they''ll be mine forever! And I have plenty of Tickets¡­"

    "That''s it. I''ve had it. You should leave." Remian''s voice turned cold. "Frontier Town has no place for someone like you. Pack your things, you and whoever wants to go with you. I want you out by tonight."

    "You want me out?" he screeched. "I am the king! These are my lands! My claim is supported by Fal''Herim! YOU must leave! Or pay tribute! Everything you have is mine! Your children, your goods, your very life! From now on, you are my slave! I will show you the folly of your insolence! I will¡­"

    "Get OUT!" Remian snapped and something in him snapped, as he took a step forward, his left foot coming down on the ground a lot harder than he''d intended.

    "I will make you suffer!" the ''king'' roared with laughter. "Hahahaha! I will¡­ Urghk!"

    It was therefore, that the last thing anyone ever heard that mad ''king'' say was ''Urghk''. Very abruptly, the ''king'' disappeared. His house disappeared. His people disappeared. In fact, the entire East Side disappeared.

    "UWAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa¡­" someone''s screech fading away into the distance was the only clue Remian had as to what just happened to them.

    It all happened so fast, Remian didn''t know what to think. One minute he was yelling at an idiot, the next, he was staring at the open skies, and the skies were blue, blue as far as the eye could see.

    Only then did he realize that he was standing at the edge of a sheer cliff, as if it had been cut straight down by a knife.

    Hastily, Remian backed off, his knees giving way as all the strength in his legs seemed to disappear. He steadied himself with his right foot back, then¡­

    "No! Don''t!" Markus shouted. "DO NOT put down your left foot! Crawl back slowly! Bit by bit! And whatever you do, don''t put your left foot down!"

    "What?" Remian stared. "Why?"

    "The last time you did that, the entire East Side fell off a cliff!"

    Remian shook his head. "It wasn''t me!"

    "What are you talking about? I saw it all! You stamped your left foot and cliff broke!"

    "It wasn''t me!" Remian said again, stepping away from the edge¡­

    There was a terrible CRASH! Remian froze, face pale, as the whole ground jerked with the impact. But abruptly, he realized that it was a tiny jerk compared to the sound, and it seemed to be farther away, not directly underfoot. It took a moment before he realized what it was.

    "That was the East Side crashing into the river below." Markus grimaced. He crawled toward the edge and looked down. "I don''t think there are any survivors."

    "Are you sure? I mean¡­ it''s a river below, right? And it''s supposed to be really deep¡­"

    "Pretty sure. That was a very harsh fall." Markus peered over the edge. "And besides, see those big logs down there?"

    Remian squinted. "Sort of, yeah. Why?"

    "Those aren''t logs."

    Knowing the kind of Wilds famous for dominating the River, Remian gulped audibly and asked no more.

 60 Lynxmouse Going Down

    "UWAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa¡­"

    Unknown to Remian, one of his people was still on the East Side when it fell. Or rather, one of his Lynxmice.

    Mikai was the fastest Lynxmouse in the Miik Clan. He knew it, and everyone knew it, even Tim. That was why, when Tim needed someone to send the magic crystal to the Fishing House kitchen, it was Mikai who was immediately dispatched.

    Mikai was a good Lynxmouse. He was not just fast, he was smart too. He buried his droppings and cleaned himself in a catlike manner every day like a good little Lynxmouse should.

    So, why? Why was this happening to him?

    There was a reason for it. He knew there was, and he tried very hard to think of it as all hell broke loose and everyone near Mikai screamed in his ear as they dropped hundreds of feet straight down.

    Okay, maybe there were good reasons. For instance, after leaving the crystal at the Fishing House kitchen, Mikai did not run straight back to the western settlement. See, there was this pool filled with shinies in the East Side, and there were so many nice tunnels that just happened to run through that very area on the way home.

    The deal with the shinies was that for every coin they brought him, Tim would give them a bit of cheese. Cleverly, Mikai decided to conveniently drop by the money pool and pick up a shiny or two¡­

    Or three, or four¡­

    Somewhere between ten and twenty (Mikai wasn''t too good at counting), the entire floor fell away.

    "Mikiikk!!" [I''m sorry!] Mikai screamed to the sky. Falling to his knees, he shut his eyes tight, clasped his hands together and shook them in a begging motion to heaven. [It was just a few coins!]

    But there was no response from heaven, no winged Lynxmouse with a halo over her head coming to rescue Mikai from certain doom.

    Or wait, was that angel Lynxmouse supposed to come before he died, or after¡­?

    [I''m too young to die!!!] The cliff sped past, wind howling in his cat-ears as Mikai begged to high heaven for his life. [Please, please, please, please, please¡­!]

    Something big, wet, and slimy bowled him over. Mikai went tumbling end over end sideways before he knew what was happening, and then¡­

    SPLASH! Atop a very bewildered oversized river jellyfish, Mikai crashed into a churning wave.

    With his eyes closed, the little brave Lynxmouse never saw it, but the waters of the river were particularly turbulent at the time. The poor jellyfish in question had been practically thrown about in the turbulent waves as larger, fiercer Wilds made their moves. The collision with Mikai was in no way the intention or fault of the Jellyfish. I rest my case, your honor!

    Likewise, the high wave that they both crashed into following their head-on collision was stirred up by much larger creatures than themselves.

    As for why there was such a turbulence, one had to remember that before this big piece of cliff came down, there had been a much smaller piece dropping off, crammed full of fresh meat like a Christmas present dropping from the sky. How could the crocodile-type Wilds of the river resist? Cracked Tooth himself churned many such waves in competing with his sons for a juicy bite.

    The wave in question was roughly twenty feet high and had resulted directly from Cracked Tooth''s thrashing; once immersed into it, the waters quite naturally rejoined the river, depositing the jellyfish and Mikai together in the middle of a river full of giant crocodiles.

    "Mikiiiik!" [It''s all over¡­!] Mikai wailed.

    BOOM! The grandfather of all giant crocodiles rose to the surface right next to Mikai, jaws already open, each tooth thrice as large as the Tier 2 Lynxmouse covering his floppy ears with his paws.

    But another miracle happened. The crocodile lay still, unmoving.

    Dead.

    [D-dead¡­?!] Mikai dared look up.

    Yes, dead. You can see for yourself, little one.

    Mikai gaped, then realized the truth. Cracked Tooth was floating in front of him lifelessly.

    "Kiiii!!!" [I LIVE!!!] Mikai exclaimed. He jumped on top of the crocodile''s dead body and danced a jig excitedly as if it was him who conquered the tyrant of the river. [Cracked Tooth is DEAD! And I live!!]

    Cracked Tooth, in protest: A cliff fell from the sky right on top of me! You try surviving something like that, I dare you!

    But Mikai had done enough death-defying feats for today, probably enough for his little lifetime.

    Pretty soon, other things began to surface. Wreckage, other unfortunate crocodiles who were rudely interrupted in the middle of their feast, a few offended fish¡­

    The land mass didn''t rise up. That sank right to the bottom, taking the East Side ruins with it.

    Mikai lowered his ears and head for a moment of condolence in memory of the dearly departed money pool which still had half its coin remaining in it as it sank to the bottom of the crocodile-famous river. [Farewell, East Side. We had fun.]

    Then began the real adventures of the Fastest Lynxmouse Alive, and his brave journeys downriver through such lands and wonders as only the Lynxmice would know.

    But alas, we are not Lynxmice.

    Suffice to say that it took Mikai an entire four hours of painstaking sneaking and swimming to get out of the river. From there, it took him another four hours to make his way north, one Lynxmouse, alone, in a land filled with Tier 3 Wids all bigger than himself. While he trusted his speed, it was his stealth and the sheer complacency of the local Wilds that truly saw him safely back home, bruised, battered and soaking wet after all his adventures in and out of the river, but finally, finally home.

    ***

    Also feeling perhaps too comfortably at home was Mandy.

    She was safe. The children were safe, except for those three adventurers who stayed by Remian''s side. Cruel Rose was no more, and the dangers their gang faced had all been left behind at the Frontier with all the monsters and the cruelties of the Wildlands.

    Mandy woke up in a soft bed, half buried in a thick comforter while cool air stirred in a magical breeze around her. There was a dim murmur, the familiar voices of the children in the hall outside where they stayed together with Charlie''s family.

    She was weak. Her bones had been healed rapidly thanks to some professional medical mages - Charlie''s parents must have paid a high price for such treatment ¨C but she was as weak as a kitten. Hobbling to her feet, she shuffled about her daily clean-up routine at a slow, lazy pace, careful not to over-exert while she recovered from the wounds and the trauma.

    Yes, trauma. Mandy had no shame admitting it; getting knocked off a building by a Tier 5 Wild and half-buried in rubble was no small matter. The pain and the shock were enough for her entire lifetime and then some. Mandy had no desire to face anything like that ever again.

    Even now, the very thought of it haunted her dreams, kept her waking up sweating and shivering at the same time in the middle of the night. Even now, overly loud sounds made her jump, made her bones ache, and she itched for a weapon at hand, the more powerful the better¡­

    The fear faded a little, day by day, with the sunlight and the happy voices of children playing. It faded with the kind smiles of Charlie''s family, and the bobbing cheer of the servants. It eased with the warm delicious food and the cool magical breeze that comforted her at night. But every day, she would go out back and see the airships landing and taking off at the airport, and her hands would clench knowing that one day, she would have to go back there, and face such terrors again.

    But not today. Please, God not today.

    Each day, she gathered her courage to put on a brave new smile. Each day, she straightened her screaming back and faced the children with admonishments to be good, to be brave, to eat healthily and always take care of each other.

    She taught them to help out around the house. To wash the dishes, and hang up the laundry, and dust the cupboards and sweep the floors. Upon her instructions, the servants took on their help as they went about their jobs, teaching the children and cleaning their messes when they slipped up.

    Also, she taught them language, and math, and how to read and write.

    Charlie''s mother watched them with a gentle light in her eye. She did not stop them, did not scold them, or make any demands. She simply smiled, a warm, kind smile.

    The days passed just like that, and Mandy grew stronger.

 61 Deals at Breakfas

    "Tim?"

    "Yes, Remian?"

    "How much tunneling did you guys do on the East Side? The whole thing broke apart¡­"

    "Quite a lot."

    "One more thing."

    "What?"

    "We need to spy on Fal''Herim."

    Remian rubbed his forehead back at the Adventurers Guild Hall, sitting with Tim, George and Mindy for breakfast. At the next table, six Lynxmice appeared to be listening to one hero Lynxmouse chitter over a stack of cheese, and at the table after that, five wolfcat cubs appeared to be minding their own business chowing down on their own food, but their ears kept twitching as the Lynxmouse told his stories.

    Fal''Herim; that was what the Secret Waves chief said. His claims were backed by Fal''Herim.

    Why of all places, did it have to be the nearest and only city for a thousand miles? Fal''Herim was practically Frontier Town''s lifeline. One look at a map could tell anyone that the Desert King''s citadel controlled Frontier Town; Remian just hadn''t realized the extent of that control until now.

    Market prices and the hiring costs were one thing. Summoning Beast Waves to keep the town oppressed¡­that was something else.

    Was it possible that the Desert King only knew about the drugs, and not about the Beast Waves? That the Fisherman had somehow concocted the lure all by himself?

    Not likely. Were that the case, he would have conquered all of the Frontier a long time ago. But something or someone had kept him in check, something or someone had been supplying him the crystals and receiving his information and giving him orders.

    Someone was behind him, and it seemed to be the Desert King himself.

    "Are you sure? I mean, it''s a long way across the desert, and the sands aren''t very conductive to tunnels¡­"

    "I was thinking to send over a few squads of Lynxmice by airship."

    "Ah¡­ right."

    "We also need to scout the entirety of Shadowflash Fief." Remian remembered how Carrie refered to Shadowflash''s territory. "To know every resource we can use, including the kind that grow."

    "That''s¡­ a very tall order." Tim managed. "Miik''s clan is going to be spread thin for a while. Even with their birth rates, covering the entire Fief and Fal''Herim¡­"

    "They don''t need to stay there, just mark the locations and move on."

    "Ah¡­ right."

    "How are your funds holding up? With the East Side gone and all¡­"

    "We should be fine for a couple of years. After that¡­ it depends on just how much the Miik Clan grows." Tim trailed off. "Properly taken care of, their numbers can really explode. I''m talking millions of them running around after two years."

    "That many?" Remian blinked.

    "Every litter can have up to twenty. At the very minimum, there should be about eight." Tim pointed out. "They can give birth three times a year. Furthermore, they mature in six months. There''s already about a hundred of them, twenty-plus of whom are females of age of bear cubs. Four months later, the next generation would mature and that number could easily double, plus those twenty could have maybe two or three hundred new cubs. Four months later, you get twice as many births, and the first generation from today would have matured, so maybe a hundred to two hundred mature birthing mothers. In one year, their numbers would be increasing by the thousands every trimester, and their growth numbers themselves would be climbing by the thousands. By the second year, we''ll be counting in tens of thousands."

    "Somebody was definitely paying attention in math class." George muttered.

    "Therefore, please understand when I say that I really can''t be sure whether we can afford to feed them all with commercial-grade cheese by then." Tim explained.

    "Why are we feeding them all? I only promised them 25 kg a day."

    "That was just to start with. Once you asked them to learn human language, I had to offer them bits as treats for everything more I asked them to do. Just one class of fifty Lynxmice could easily burn through two hundred treats in an hour. That''s easily 1 kg right there. Sending them on new missions that you never specified earlier mean offering more, especially if it''s to steal something. At this point, 5 kg a day on top of your 25 would be conservative."

    "And how much does commercial-grade cheese cost?"

    "The cheapest commercial grade cheese made and sold by Deutero itself costs 50 Lir a kilogram. And I do mean The Cheapest. The good stuff can go for up to 100 Lir a kilogram."

    "Let''s stick to the Deutero version. How much did you spent on cheese this month?"

    "This month? I think I''ve already given them a metric ton of cheese, 1000kg. That''s 50,000 Lir and there''s still half a month to go." Tim shook his head. "But most of the cheese rewards were for stealing coin from the Secret Waves. That money pit had tens of millions of Lir."

    "Tens of millions?! Goodness, Tim how much money did your Lynxmice steal from them?"

    "I''m not entirely sure, but I think¡­ at least thirty million."

    Remian choked.

    "Gimme!" Mindy jumped up at once, eyes wide.

    "Mindy, I can''t just give you all that money! We need to keep paying the Lynxmice! It already costs 100,000 Lir a month and I expect that number would increase exponentially if you want to teach all of them to learn human language, and scout all the Wildlands¡­"

    "I''ll sell you shares in our airship fleet!" Mindy said, following the example Charlie and Remian had set with Kaleo. "You give me the money now, I''ll use it to buy the airship parts, and you''ll get a share of the profits!"

    "Forty percent." Tim offered. "And the rest on loan. You''ll have to pay me back in two years."

    Goodness, children really did learn from examples quickly.

    "Five years!" Mindy tried. "Say, Remian, how much money do I get for shipping ores to town from the mines? Seeing as it''s my airship¡­"

    "Wait, I thought Remian owned the airships." George cut in, looking a bit sour.

    "The parts came from the Adventurer''s Guild. The Guild owns the airship." Remian pointed out.

    "But I made it! Don''t I get at least a share?"

    Remian glanced at the others. It was fair. George had ownership of the farm. Tim could actually claim ownership of all the money the Lynxmice collected. Shouldn''t Mindy have ownership of her work too?

    "You can choose." Remian decided. "Either you own half and the Guild owns half due to the parts used, or you own the whole airship and would need to pay for the parts with points."

    "I''ll pay the points! The airship is mine!!" Mindy pounced.

    "Then what do you need money for?" Tim asked.

    "For the third airship! The Tug!" Mindy said. "We''re going to need powerful magic-drive engines and crystal power plants, mana modulator systems and¡­ and¡­"

    "She''s right. She''s going to have to buy expensive parts. It will cost millions." Remian summarized. "And without the Tug, the Sky Barge won''t really be able to move. It would just be a floating platform inching around."

    "I could use some money too." George cut in, then. He turned to Tim. "Given enough equipment, we can actually rear cows and start a dairy farm. That means we can make our own cheese. How would you like to own half?"

    "Now, THAT sounds like something I need!" Tim jumped for it.

    Remian wondered if now was the time he should voice his reservations about human methods of dairy farming in front of the Wilds¡­

    But when he voiced them, Tim shook his head. "I don''t think they''re going to get violent over that. I mean, I don''t see you declaring war on Fal''Herim or other human countries for condoning slavery. The Desert King doesn''t treat his slaves much better than the cattle at a dairy farm sometimes, and those slaves really are our own kind. To the likes of Wolfcats and Lynxmice, cows are basically prey; animals that they eat. We''re the same in that sense."

    "I thought as much, at one time. Still¡­ just treat the cows better." Remian nudged George. He turned back to Tim. "Speaking of Fal''Herim, keep in mind that they might turn hostile on us sooner or later."

    Tim glanced out the window toward the western settlement, and all those who ''belonged'' to the Desert King living there freely. "Noted."

    "Now, let''s talk about our airship fleet."

    The conversation carried on well into lunch time.

    Deutero charged the Iron Legion 5 Lir per kilogram per day for shipping rates. But seeing as the Sky Barge wasn''t going anywhere, they could reduce that to 2 Lir a kg a day. The Sky Barge was expected to be able to carry up to 40 tons of cargo and still remain in the air (no passengers). At 2000 Lir a ton, it could make 80,000 Lir a day just carrying cargo without moving.

    Moving it would be the Tug''s job, and that one had its own price tags.

    As for shares; Mindy and Remian traded 10% of the mines out of his share for 10% of her fleet. This included not just Kara-Goth, but all the future mines of the Wildlands. Naturally, this also came with the expectation that Mindy''s fleet would one day cover all of the Wildlands to match. The tentative deal was, Mindy''s fleet grow to at least 5 Gunboats, and 10 Skybarges by the time Remian claimed all the mines in Shadowflash Fief (based on Charlie''s outdated maps). If Tim found new and unexpected resources while scouting out the Fief, they could adjust the terms accordingly.

    Of course this required a lot of trust on both sides, along with matching ideas of fairness and honor. Remian wouldn''t be so quick to deal in such a way with just anyone, but this was Mindy. She was his sister-in-law. She was family.

    Mindy herself held the largest share, at 50% of the fleets; Tim owned 40%. Even this might not be enough to fund the espionage department for long, but Remian assured him it wouldn''t be that hard; they didn''t have to ''hire'' ALL the Lynxmice, just as many as they needed, and as such, cap a limit on their spending. Plus, having a share in the cheese production of George''s farm should help a lot.

    Was it strange that his local business partners were less than twelve years old? Remian didn''t think so. This all seemed like part of his care for them, like part of their lessons, their training.

 62 Expansion

    Charlie''s next shipment brought in no less than four tons of cheese as per Tim''s earlier visionary request. With such resources made available, Tim suddenly became the most powerful figure in Frontier Town.

    In a matter of hours, twenty squads of Lynxmice were dispatched from Miik''s Clan and three other friendly clans, loaded on board Charlie''s airship bound for Fal''Herim. No less than forty squads were dispatched to help the miners at Kara-Goth. They were better diggers than the workers of High Rock and Desert Moon clans; pretty soon Remian had his workers shift over to clearing the rubble of Frontier Town. Tim set twenty more squads of Lynxmice to help the workers with the rubble.

    Remian had never seen so many Lynxmice in his life. They were everywhere, digging, salvaging, sorting, chomping up whatever they found that could (in their estimation) be eaten (even stuff everyone else honestly thought was inedible). Everywhere he went, whether it was the town ruins, the western settlement, the Guild base, or the mines, Lynxmice were scurrying around busy or at least acting busy in order to earn their little bits of cheese¡­

    Not to be outdone, the Wolfcats sprang into action. At first they competed to dig out the mines, but then Tim noticed that the Lynxmice were scared into inaction and so asked Remian to call them off. He set them on hunting lower Tier Wilds around the town area¡­

    Six hours later, the Blood Rabbits were hunted practically to extinction and the entire area from the town to the mines of Kara-Goth were cleared. Considering that George just put in a huge order for cattle and dairy farming equipment with Charlie, Remian set the wolfcats and the Desert Moon clan to expanding the farm next.

    The Desert Moon Clan was amazingly enthusiastic about preparing farmland. A good many of them spent their first five minutes just running their hands in the fertile dark soil, relishing the farmland¡­

    But once they got to work, between their enthusiasm and the wolfcats, the land clearing proceeded at at breakneck pace. Remian left them to it for a day and when he went to check on them the next morning, he found the farm had outstripped the town for size. The Desert Moon Clan and the wolfcats had completely cleared all the Blood Rabbit territory and all the Wilds nearby for good measure. They had set up stockades, leveled hills, dug up stumps, crushed and removed rocks¡­

    "Fifty acres." George reported. "The farm has grown to fifty acres, and about half of it is meant for cattle grazing. The actual crop fields would be over there, the scroll materials over that side with the jellyfish lake, and I think we better set up a bigger farmhouse over here, something that can house the equipment and the workers."

    "Workers? Where are you getting workers from?" Remian asked.

    George stared at him blankly. "Aren''t these the workers you sent to farm here?" he pointed to the Desert Moon Clan.

    "Farm? I only sent them to clear the land¡­" Remian suddenly realized why the workers had been so enthusiastic. "Uhoh."

    "So¡­ are you going to tell them it was all a misunderstanding? Because I really can''t manage this much farmland by myself."

    "Uh¡­ no. On second thoughts¡­ perhaps we should just let them farm." Remian scratched his head. "If you think they''re capable."

    "Capable? Didn''t you know? The Desert Moon Clan is famous for being able to make crops grow even in harsh desert conditions. With arable land like this¡­ it''s paradise for them." George informed him. "The day I heard you hired them, I thought that sending them to farm was your original intention."

    "Uh¡­ no. But I have to say, I like the idea." Remian admitted. "Can you manage their salaries from now on?"

    "With what? You do remember that I''ve just invested as much as I could in the dairy farm. Nobody told me I had to take care of workers so soon."

    "That''s on me." Remian admitted. "Fine. I''ll keep paying their salaries. But in return¡­"

    "Fifty percent share in the farms net profits." George offered. "At least, until I can afford to buy you out."

    "Do you think the farm would be that profitable?" Remian asked.

    "Not right now. But beef sells well, I''m told."

    "Not when compared to Wild meats." Remian pointed out.

    "Uh¡­" George thought for a bit. "Cripes. Farming really isn''t that profitable, is it?"

    "Not like this, no."

    "Can you tell me how to make it more profitable?"

    "I could, but I''d rather you figure that out yourself. I expect a clear and detailed answer in one week."

    ***

    But long before George could figure out how to make his farm more profitable, Tim already figured out a way to make scouting the Wildlands cheaper.

    The very next day, offering promises of roasted meat, Tim managed to hire wolfcats from nearby clans (not Carrie''s ¨C those were still working on the farm and guarding the cave). Remian needed only pass the message on to Carrie before Joshu, Xia, Candice and Denise had a pair of wolfcat companions each to carry gear and guard their backs. Then prospectors were assigned to each of the scouts, and an additional couple of extra hands from the High Rock clan. Thus teamed up, each of the four scouts led a team to map out the available resources and valuables in Shadowflash Fief.

    "Why didn''t you send the Lynxmice?" Remian asked Tim.

    "Because the information they could bring back would be sketchy, at best." Tim explained. "They would be very clear on the Wilds around, and how strong they are, but suffice to say they wouldn''t recognize the value of a gold mine if they saw one."

    "But you''re fine sending them to Fal''Herim without you?"

    "They''re just laying groundwork." Tim explained. "Later on, I''ll have to teach them how to use the recording crystals I ordered from Charlie."

    "Recording crystals?!" Remian stared. Goodness, this espionage department was getting serious.

    At the same time, Charlie''s most recent airship trip had been chock full of family members from both the Desert Moon and High Rock clans. Seeing the inflood of children running about, Remian thoughtfully opened up Adventurers Guild recruitment.

    Forty people signed up the very first day. The children of the workers in the settlement seemed almost desperate to find a way to earn some sort of usable currency to purchase food and tools. News of being able to learn how to use magic scrolls and use points to buy them spread like wildfire. Forty more signed up the day after, even the elders had decided to take part once they found out there was no age limit. The bulk of the elderly and children Charlie brought over on this most recent trip had all jumped in on the opportunity, and the rest seemed likely to join up soon. Overwhelmed with the number of eager students, Remian could only turn to Kairos for help.

    Discovering that he was given an opportunity to teach the young, Kairos pulled in the entire priesthood. They would teach more than just Inscription; they would have to teach language also, and all they asked in return for their services was that the language classes used some church lore. Also, that the children be permitted to attend church on Sunday if they so wished.

    Remian wasn''t going to try to control a horde of unfamiliar children and tell them what they could or couldn''t do on Sundays. So long as they didn''t cause trouble (like provoke Spike into attacking the town), whatever they did in their free time had nothing to do with him.

    That very night, twenty Light scrolls were bought with points from the Adventurers Guild and orbs of light went flying up and around the workers'' settlement like fireworks¡­

    Markus had twenty new students joining the Legion training the day after, all teenage boys. They were there not as recruits, but as Adventurers, in a similar vein as Tim and George. The deal was, they learned to fight and use weapons, and when the town was threatened, they would take up arms and fight alongside the Legion. Since the town now consisted mainly of their own families, the new Adventurers readily agreed.

    Andros'' smithing classes started two days later. He had to limit his classes to ten students; he only had four smiths with him, and they were going to be busy with actual forge-work and so could not spare that much time in training others. Still, the clans nearly fought over the ten spots, retaining peace only by insisting on five slots each.

    Candice and Denise quit scouting the day after that and a new archery training course began. Markus sent out a pair of Legionnaires to take their place in scouting, then another five more with matching squads mere hours later. The archery (and crossbow) class pretty much swallowed up everyone else Charlie brought in the airship this time around. At this point almost everybody in the two clans were either hired as Remian''s workers, recruited into the Adventurers Guild, or training with the Legion, the shooters, or the smiths. The exceptions were the eldest, the nursing mothers and the toddlers in the clans.

    Remian had to say the clansfolk deeply impressed him. "They''re¡­ really industrious¡­"

    "The lazy ones wouldn''t be here. I''m guessing those are the clansfolks who stayed behind." Markus commented. "Just how much more of their clans are back at Fal''Herim?"

    "About a quarter, I think?" Remian guessed. "We could clear them all by the next shipment."

    "I don''t think so." Markus shook his head. "We ordered a lot of gear this time around. Also, I think Charlie''s supposed to be bringing a number of cows."

    "Cows." Remian stretched. "It feels good to be expecting peaceful animals arriving next weekend instead of another Beast Wave."

    "You think the Beast Waves have ended?" Markus glanced at him sideways.

    "You think they won''t? The Secret Waves are gone. There''s nobody here left to set up those Beast Wave-caller crystals. Why would another Beast Wave attack?" Remian asked.

    "You''re forgetting that the Secret Waves had someone behind them." Markus said in a low voice, careful not to let anyone else hear. "We had best keep our guard up."

    "Agreed." Remian said at last. "There''s no telling whether or not we''ll get another Beast Wave this weekend."

    "I''m betting we will." Markus said grimly. "And I fear this one''s not going to be easy."

 63 Onto the Sky Barge

    "What to do, what to do?" In a high tower, a man paced to and fro in front of a large crystal, muttering to himself.

    "Master?" a voice came from the crystal, uncertain.

    "Just¡­ do the usual." The man waved his hand. "I don''t want to bother the king about this little¡­ hiccup. We''ll simply have to find new agents at the target point."

    "What sort of creatures should I target this time?" the voice at the other side of the crystal asked.

    "Just¡­ pick the strongest creatures you can get your sights on." The man waved dismissively.

    "The strongest creature? Are you sure?"

    There was a short silence.

    ***

    When Mindy and the twenty scroll-students helping her finished the first Sky Barge, the final results did not look like the drawing she showed Remian weeks ago.

    "We still get Guild Points for it, though, don''t we? We did everything the mission said." The scroll-students asked anxiously.

    "Of course. It flies, doesn''t it?" Mindy pointed out.

    That, it did. It had six gasbag envelopes instead of just one, and there was a stabilizing frame both on the envelopes above and the giant platform below, and the platform itself seemed to be made of six different Tier 5 half-crates tied together into one, but it flew, and when it did, it stayed in one piece.

    "Tier 5.6, just as I promised." Mindy told Remian. "They''re made of different parts joined together for the sake of maintenance and flexibility. That way, if something goes wrong, we can basically just remove the damaged segment and fix it without having to take down the whole airship. Also, if it''s all just one part and there''s a weight imbalance, the ship''s hull is going to strain, and I understand that you intend to leave cargoes here for long periods of time. I''d rather not strain the hull for long, so let''s just avoid the strain altogether by separating the weight loads. You''re not putting anything up there that a Tier 5 platform can''t handle, are you?"

    "Even if I wanted to, I obviously can''t, any more." Remian eyed the Sky Barge hesitantly. "The important thing is, will it be stable?"

    "More stable with joined parts than with a single whole. At least, as far as structural integrity goes. I can''t say it will be more comfortable, but it''s at least less likely to break." Mindy cleared her throat. "Besides, what''s the biggest thing you plan to put on an airship? A cow?"

    "A Guard Tower." Remian cleared his throat. "I was hoping we could build them in town and just drop them down where we need them later."

    "You can just hang that to the bottom of the Tug when it''s ready. The Sky Barge is not a suitable ship for deploying towers." Mindy shook her head. "Use the Tug."

    "We don''t HAVE a Tug."

    "Then I better finish up with this phase and get on that one right away, shouldn''t I?"

    Remian thought for a bit. "We still need to prepare for this week''s Beast Wave. Markus tells me it''s likely to be bad."

    "How does he know?"

    "He''s the military officer. When it comes to combat strategy, he should know best." Remian shrugged.

    "What''s the worst that could happen?" Mindy asked.

    "Another Tier 5 like Spike?" Remian guessed. "Can the XL Ballista handle that?"

    Mindy froze. She slowly shook her head. "Not as it is, no. What about the 5X?"

    "The what?"

    "The bigger, BIGGER Ballista that Arnold was going to work on? The one five times bigger than the Ballistae at the Guard Towers?"

    "Ah. So that''s why you call it 5X." Remian nodded. "I was thinking of it as the XXL Ballista."

    "Whatever. Is it ready?" Mindy eyed the Sky Barge. "I think the Sky Barge can load six of those."

    Could a Tier 5 air platform segment carry a Tier 4.5 Ballista? Certainly.

    "Unfortunately, the 5X isn''t ready." Remian admitted. "Arnold has been busy with the Jade mine''s elevators."

    "Can we get it ready today?" Mindy asked. "The Beast Wave is due today, isn''t it? That''s why I rushed the Sky Barge."

    "You were expecting it?" Remian was amazed.

    "Of course. The Beast Wave always comes during the weekend. It''s come for as long as I can remember. Why would it change now?" Mindy sounded like she stated the obvious.

    Exactly. Markus had warned him earlier too, though not in the same words. Why would it change?

    Because the people calling it were gone. Wasn''t that going to be case?

    Mindy, like Markus, clearly didn''t think so.

    Unfortunately, Arnold, like Remian, did. Thus the 5X remained in development.

    "Well, hopefully it won''t be something like Spike. Maybe it''ll just be a blitz of Tier 3 and Tier 4 light Wilds. Better yet, just a swarm of Tier 3''s." Remian said.

    Mindy shook her head. "It''s definitely going to be something like Spike. We''re going to lose the town."

    "Hey! Don''t give up before the battle even starts!" Remian protested. "We still have time to prepare."

    "Not much." Mindy glanced about. "But perhaps there is something."

    "What?"

    "About a hundred Tier 2 Blessing of the Wind Scrolls might do it." Mindy thought. "I''ll also need my crew, and Charlie''s aid. Some magic crystals could help too."

    "Where are we going to get so many Wind Blessing scrolls¡­?" Remian stared in a daze.

    "We have the materials for it, don''t we?" Mindy asked.

    "I think so, yes."

    "Then we better get to Inscribing, fast!"

    The entire celebration for the completion of the Sky Barge was shortened to a quick toast and a few cheers before the whole crew was set to help Remian and Mandy Inscribe Wind Blessing Scrolls. Over the next few hours, they were scrambling about gathering and refining materials, grinding and churning and sifting and mixing. Remian and Mindy churned out Scrolls and stack after stack of completed Wind Blessing Scrolls began to line up.

    "Roving Albatross spotted! Charlie''s coming!" reports came in from the airport.

    "Smoke columns! The scouts warn of a Beast Wave!" more reports came in.

    "How many columns?" Remian asked in between scrolls.

    "Just one!"

    That didn''t sound too bad. Just one¡­ it might really be just a few small critters¡­

    "Second column! It''s a two-column¡­ no, wait! There''s three!"

    Okay, maybe a few big critters¡­

    "Four!! It''s a four-column Wave! Prepare the town for imminent battle¡­"

    "Stop! It''s not four! It''s five! This is a Five Column Beast Wave! Everyone prepare for evacuation! We have to get out of town!"

    Remian shut his eyes. Five columns. That could only mean one thing.

    Markus and Mindy were right. Something like Spike was going to attack the town, very likely the western settlement, tonight. But where was he going? To town? There wasn''t anything much there, just cleared land, a smelter, and the foundations of an airport. No, if they were looking to target people, the only place they could hit was¡­

    Here. They were going to hit the western settlement. Therefore¡­

    Slowly, Remian took a deep breath. Slowly, he let it out. Then, he opened his eyes and pointed.

    "Everyone! Load your stuff onto the Sky Barge! You''ll be staying on the airship tonight!"

    "How much stuff?" Aren asked.

    "Everything." Remian said grimly. "Pack everything you need in half an hour. Prepare to move into the mines for good."

    "What does that mean?" Zania asked him.

    "I think this is it." Aren told his wife. "We''re moving. I don''t think we''re coming back."

    "It''s okay. The mines aren''t exactly comfortable yet, but between the two, there''s more than enough space for our entire clan. As for the rest¡­ we can handle it ourselves." Zania glanced back at the western settlement. "This place was always meant to be temporary. We knew that."

    "Yes. We did." Aren nodded. "Now, let''s hurry."

 64 Approach

    The High Rock clan boarded the Sky Barge. The Desert Moon clan, however, refused.

    They wouldn''t leave the farm. "This is our home now. At worst, we''ll just scatter and come back later."

    Maybe it was just as well. The High Rock clan seemed to have an astounding amount of stuff to evacuate. At this rate, they alone would fill up the entire Sky Barge to the brim.

    "Are you sure? There''s still time. We can make room for you on the Sky Barge." Aren offered Taj.

    "I am sure. This is it. Here is where we make our stand. Live or die, tonight is when it all changes." Taj drew a deep breath. "And should we survive this ordeal, should we be tempered by this darkness and emerge intact to greet a new day¡­ it would be a new clan who greets the sunrise tomorrow."

    "Charlie is almost here." Mindy reported.

    "What about the Sky Barge?" Remian asked.

    "The evacuation is almost done!" Zania replied.

    "You''ve been saying that for the past half hour already!" Remian grunted. "Enough! Get your people on board! Launch the Sky Barge!"

    The High Rock Clan clambered onto the Sky Barge, then untied it from the fastenings at the dock. The airship went floating up, up, high into the air, then slowly inch south as both Mindy and Remian casted wind magic at it from scrolls.

    Charlie brought the Roving Albatross in for a landing, tossing down anchors which the airport crews (who were also the militia who trained with the Iron Legion) tugged upon to drag the airship down to dock. Charlie himself beamed down as they docked. "Hie, Remian! I brought the cows¡­"

    "Charlie! We need the formation! It''s a Tier 5!" Mindy blurted, as soon as he appeared.

    "They''re known for good milk¡­ huh?" Charlie blinked at Mindy.

    "There''s no time! Hurry!" She all but dragged him to the next dock over, where the Foresight waited.

    "Green smoke! Beast Wave has reached the mines!" yelps rang out around them.

    "Legion, assemble at the towers!" Markus ordered. "Militia, secure the airships, and join us when you can!"

    "Adventurers, board the Roving Albatross!" Remian glanced at Charlie. "Can we use it to tow the Sky Barge?"

    "That should work." Charlie threw back at him distractedly, nodding as he listened to Mindy''s plan. "Just unload the cargo and the cows first!"

    "No time!" Remian grunted.

    They hooked the Sky Barge to the Roving Albatross then began to tow it south-west. Meanwhile to the south-east, yellow smoke was rising in the air. The Guard Towers already had the Beast Wave in their sights and had engaged.

    ***

    "Throw everything we''ve got at it!" Brutus roared.

    "Are you kidding me?!" Max spluttered, seeing the figure coming at them. "We have to get out of here!"

    "We''re not leaving our station!" Brutus shouted. "We must fight!"

    "We CAN''T fight it! You know it as well as I do! Trying to stop that guy by shooting at it with crossbows is a fool''s errand!"

    Max knew it. Brutus knew it. Every trainee and defender in the Guard Towers knew it. They couldn''t stop the figure that was coming at them.

    They knew it because they had already tried. This had all happened before.

    The figure coming at them was Spike. Not ''something like Spike'', it was Spike himself. The very same Spike-Back Lizard of Craggy Falls was once again sent to smash his way through Frontier Town, and once again, there was nothing in the Guard Towers that could threaten him.

    "We have to evacuate! There''s nothing we can do." Max urged Brutus. "The only weapon we have with even a chance of hurting Spike is the XL Ballista on the Foresight."

    "Where is the Foresight, anyway? Where''s Charlie''s airship? What happened to our air support?!" Brutus asked.

    "They''re still over at the airport. I think they''re up to something."

    But meanwhile, Spike was almost on top of the Guard Towers, and all the bolts and javelins they shot at him simply wasn''t doing much good.

    "Sawdust and gravel¡­!" Brutus swore. "Retreat! Everyone evacuate! Get out of here, now!"

    They scrambled, and not a moment too soon. As the two Guard Towers emptied and the defenders went scurrying out of the way, Spike stomped up to the west Tower and crashed directly into it. Pieces went flying as he trampled through, angling toward his left more and more as the whole thing went down under his feet.

    Then, he kept stomping on, angling a little more to the left¡­ then a little more¡­

    "Wait. What?" Max stared. "He''s¡­ not headed for the town?"

    No. He appeared to be heading west of town¡­ toward the western settlement.

    ***

    "Charlie, hurry! He''s coming straight for us!" Mindy spotted Spike in the distance headed their way.

    "Let me focus!" Charlie shushed her, concentrating on the formation.

    On the floor of the Foresight, a hundred Wind Blessing scrolls were laid out in three concentric rings surrounding the XL Ballista. Twenty of the best scroll-casters stood around them, ready to trigger their power. Charlie himself stood in the center with one hand on the Ballista. He was drawing Sigils in the air, entire paragraphs worth of magic that connected the casters, the scrolls, himself, and the Ballista. "Now!"

    "Wind Blessing!" Twenty voices triggered scrolls all around the Ballista. "Wind Blessing! Wind Blessing!"

    Their success rates were dismal, compared to Mindy''s own, only succeeding about half the time, but this was a formation designed for ten casters, and their numbers made up for their failure rates. Mindy herself gave them a hand, triggering six scrolls in rapid succession, helping them power up all 100 scrolls with extra time to spare.

    "Assemble!" Charlie gathered the power of all the matching scrolls and focused them. "Fusion!"

    Power melded into power and combined as Mindy watched, a hundred Tier 2 flows joining into ten Tier 3 flows, and then finally, a single, powerful, complex sigil of Tier 4.

    "Noble Wind Blessing!" Charlie ignited the Sigil, pouring its power into the XL Ballista.

    The Ballista began to glow blue. It was ready.

    "Rise!" Mindy turned her wind magic to the Foresight itself. Then, she ordered her ''crew''. "Cast off!"

    Charlie and fifteen of the casters jumped off the airship and back onto the airport dock. Five more withdrew the anchor, untied the securing lines, and freed the Foresight from the docks.

    "Remember!" Charlie shouted from the dock. "Don''t get too close!"

    With that, he took a running leap, and summoned a jet of wind that basically shot himself through the air toward his own airship.

    "Charlie can fly?" Mindy blinked, surprised to see it.

    Well, not really, it was more like a jump, and he really couldn''t alter his course once he was in the air¡­ but with a dozen such wind-bursts, Charlie could make his way back on board his own airship which was five hundred meters away from the docks. They were flying past the western settlement now¡­

    "Target in range!" one of Mindy''s crew reported.

    "Fire at will! Target his legs!" Mindy ordered.

    "Um¡­ No promises!" the guy aiming the XL Ballista gulped. "I''m not Candice! It''s all I can do just to hit it!"

    "Your target is ten times bigger than your house! How can you NOT hit it?!" Mindy spluttered.

    "Exactly! That''s why I''m confident I will! But to target a leg¡­"

    "That leg is literally as big as a Guard Tower!"

    "You want to do this yourself?!" he barked back.

    "I can''t! I need to fly the ship!"

    "Then just let me shoot!"

    He fired. There was a rushing wind; Mindy nearly fell over with the gust that followed. Three of the airship crew aiming crossbows were nearly blown right off the airship. The spear that shot out looked like a bolt of blue from the sky; it lanced into Spike''s armored back and pierced into it partway.

    There it stuck, while Spike bellowed in rage, but of course, they were so far away, the sonic power of his roars couldn''t really reach them.

    "Reload! Forget the crossbows, those things are useless in this fight! Help the Ballista!" Mindy barked.

    "We''re going to have to get closer!" The gunner requested.

    "Not too close please!" the others pleaded, sweating.

    Claps sounded in the distance. Charlie''s airship was firing cannons, but they may as well have been throwing stones. Mindy scowled. "Cheapskate. Next time, buy the better cannons!"

    It wasn''t a fair assessment. Those cannons weren''t weak or anything. Had they been fighting human troops or Tier 3 Wilds, they would have been overkill. The current cannons on the Roving Albatross would have massacred entire platoons of infantry, blown armored knights right off their horses, even maul Tier 4 Wilds. But against such a heavily armored Tier 5¡­ such a level of firepower could hardly slow him down.

    Of course, the XL Ballista wasn''t doing much better. Even with a Tier 4 Wind Blessing, while they could injure Spike, they couldn''t stop him completely.

    Spike roared back at the airship, and headed straight for the western settlement and the airship behind it.

    "We''ll try to outflank him, hit him from behind." Mindy decided, gritting her teeth. That was going to be an especially demanding task of the pilot, but what choice did she have? "Maybe if we can get him to turn his attention on us, we could buy a bit more time."

    Someone lit a column of red smoke. Spike was really coming in too fast.

    "Everybody hang tight!" Mindy said, and sped up the airship.

 65 Damage

    "We need more speed!" Remian called to Charlie across the deck of the Roving Albatross. "Spike''s headed straight for us!"

    "This is as much power as I''ve got!" Charlie panted. "The magic drive is going on full, and I''ve already exhausted most of my mana fusing that Tier 4 spell! I can''t boost it by much more! Don''t you realize how much weight we''re towing?!"

    "How can I help?" Remian asked.

    "Don''t! Your powers are too unstable! A sudden super-boost like yours could totally wreck my engine!!" Charlie gasped. "Don''t try it!"

    Remian growled. He glanced at the cannons.

    "NO!" Charlie barked at once. "You might very well blow us all up!"

    "There has to be SOMETHING I can do!" Remian grouched.

    "Use your Light Barriers." Charlie suggested. "They could protect the ship if Spike starts roaring at us."

    Remian clambered to the deck as Spike neared. The Tier 5 lizard was completely ignoring the town under reconstruction and seemed to be targeting Remian personally. He even diverted his path more and more to the left as the airship made its way south¡­

    "It really is headed straight for us." Remian realized suddenly. "It''s not going to the western settlement! It''s targeting this very airship!"

    Or was it targeting the Sky Barge? Did an agent of the Desert King somehow manage to sneak a wave-caller crystal onto the Sky Barge along with all the stuff from the western settlement?

    "Drop the tow cables!" Remian ordered.

    "What?" blank looks were the only response he got.

    "The tow cables! Cut them or release them, just STOP TOWING the Sky Barge!" Remian shouted.

    "But¡­"

    "Fire!" Remian couldn''t wait any more. He directly cast a fire lance at the tow cable. "Fire! Fire!"

    The third fire ''lance'' erupted as a blade similar in shape to an axe. It cut right through the tow cable and with a snap, the Sky Barge jerked free and was rapidly left behind while the Roving Albatross immediately sped up.

    Spike paused in mid-stride, hesitating, then very deliberately, turned left even more.

    "That''s it. It''s on board this ship." Remian concluded grimly. "There''s one of those crystals on board this very airship!"

    Charlie! What did you do? What have you brought with you? Other than cows and dairy farming equipment¡­ what did you pick up?

    There was a flash of blue. A bolt lanced out from Mindy''s airship, striking Spike. Spike roared back at them, but they were too far away. Another bolt of blue struck out, and then a third.

    Spike roared at them, but kept heading for the Roving Albatross.

    Yeah, there was definitely one of those crystals on this airship. If only they had known earlier¡­

    But now wasn''t the time to reflect. They had to move. Spike was closing in.

    "Charlie!" Remian shouted. "Spike''s after your cargo!"

    Charlie''s response? "Change course! Head directly west!"

    "What? No¡­!" Remian spluttered. "Not yet! We''re still too close to the¡­"

    Too late. Already Spike was running with an unstoppable momentum. Without slowing down, he rammed into the western settlement. His spiked back and house-sized feet smashed into the temporary shelters of the workers'' quarters, breaking apart everything in his way.

    Screams resounded from the Sky Barge, suspended hundreds of feet above the giant Spike-back Lizard rampaging over their previous shelters. For a moment there, Remian''s heart was in his throat; he feared that Spike might suddenly decided to take a shot at the workers but the oversized lizard merely looked at them, then turned back to face the Roving Albatross.

    Remian didn''t realize he''d been sweating until a sweatdrop dripped from his face.

    Spike roared.

    The roar knocked Remian off his feet. The world suddenly began to spin. There was a terrible buzzing sound in his ears; Remian couldn''t hear anything, and suddenly realized that he was actually on the floor, wondering how he got there in the first place.

    There was shaking all over. Remian felt rather than heard footsteps, being flat on the floor, but even the sense of those vibrations were half-muted. He felt numb. Everything was numb.

    Also, there was blood on the floor. Was that his blood? He couldn''t even tell.

    "I thought we were supposed to fly too high up to be attacked¡­" Remian frowned. "This can''t be right. We were¡­ we were¡­"

    Oh, right. They were fresh out of the airport and towing another airship that had just launched. They were going to fly higher, but there simply hadn''t been enough time.

    Some day, Remian figured, we''d actually just go straight up and let Spike roar and jump in futility at something way too high for him to reach.

    That could have been today. They could be doing that right now, if only they had known¡­

    But instead, Remian was crawling on the floor wondering where the blood was coming from.

    But how? How did the crystal even get on board the airship? Did the Desert King somehow anticipate all of this? If that were the case, he was a fearsome tactician indeed.

    "Higher¡­" Remian choked. He shouted as loud as he could. "We need to go higher!"

    He had no idea if anyone could hear him or anything. He had no idea if anyone could hear anything at this point.

    Remian blamed himself for it. Next time, doofus, raise the Light Barrier BEFORE Spike roars.

    Speaking of which, Spike was opening his mouth again.

    "Light!" Remian raised his hand, raised his voice, and raised all his panic in a single unheard shout.

    A shimmering wall of light appeared as Spike''s roar erupted. Did it block out the sound? Remian couldn''t hear in the first place, so he couldn''t be sure, but the wall of light rippled, and then the airship shook again.

    Was it his imagination, or was this shaking a lot gentler than the first one? Maybe the wall of light did block out some of the roar''s power, at least, if not all? Or maybe the shaking of the airship had nothing to do with Spike''s second roar¡­

    Or maybe the light barrier was completely useless against sound and the reason the second shaking was gentler was because they were getting farther away.

    No, wait. That couldn''t be true. Spike was nearer, now, not farther. In fact, he was getting frighteningly close. He roared again.

    This time, Remian saw the light barrier torn apart, and then the airship''s shaking tripled.

    Yep, no doubt about it! The light barrier DID protect the airship earlier but now it was gone and they were in serious trouble!

    "Light! Light! Light!" Remian scrambled to raise more barriers, trying three where one failed. On second thoughts, why stop at three? "Light! Light! LIGHT!!"

    But the barriers he raised now didn''t seem to have the kind of power the earlier one had. They looked flimsy, thin, and one of them even looked more like a curtain than a barrier.

    Spike roared. Five layers of Light Barrier were torn apart, the sixth barely holding. This, while Spike got even closer.

    "Light! Light! Light!" Remian shouted unheard shouts, but the barriers were becoming even weaker, and Spike was closer than ever. "Light!"

    That last barrier wasn''t even fully formed. It was full of holes.

    And Spike opened his mouth to roar one more time.

    "NO!" Remian didn''t know what he was thinking, didn''t know what he was trying to do exactly, only that he didn''t want to die because a turtle yelled at him.

    Then, there was a sudden, absolute stillness.

    Spike froze. The airship froze. All vibrations around Remian froze.

    The red faded from Spike''s eyes. He blinked at the airship then looked around in confusion. [Where am I? What am I doing here? Can somebody tell me what is going on?]

    Relief flooded Remian and he landed on the floor again. Somehow, it seemed they were going to survive today.

 66 Anti-magic

    At that point, Mindy scored a direct hit on Spike''s tail-root.

    [YEOW!] Spike spun, roaring at her airship, but of course, Mindy''s Foresight was much higher, and much farther from Spike than Charlie''s Roving Albatross.

    "Cease fire!" Remian shouted at her, waving. "Cease fire! Stop shooting!" [Mindy, STOP!]

    [R-Remian¡­?!] Mindy''s confusion floated back to Remian in an inkling of a thought before disappearing entirely.

    [Spike, calm down¡­] Remian tried.

    [It bit me in the tail!] Spike spluttered. [My poor tail!!]

    [You attacked us first. Smack the hive and you have to expect hornets to sting.]

    [Hornets? Hive? What are you talking about?] Spike groaned, shaking his head groggily. [Ugh. What happened?]

    [You got baited by a magic crystal and came rampaging again.] Remian summarized.

    [Again?! Where''s that blasted crystal, I''m gonna¡­ I''m gonna¡­] Spike hesitated. [What''s the worst thing you could do to a magic crystal?]

    [Ignore it?] Remian suggested, hopefully.

    [I''m gonna boycott it for ten years!] Spike declared righteously.

    [I only wish¡­] Remian shook his head wistfully.

    Meanwhile, a brave little Lynxmouse crept out of the ruins of the western settlement and started scolding Spike. "Mikweeeaak, swik, miikiik!"

    "Hmm?" Spike peered at it, confused. He grunted. "Hurmnh¡­"

    "Mikiik, kwiik, miiik!"

    "Hruuhmuumpfh?"

    "Kiiik!"

    Putting aside the earnest conversation between the melon-sized Mikai and the supermarket-sized Spike, Remian went to find Charlie and held a conversation entirely made out of shouts because neither of them could really hear the other over the buzzing in their ears.

    Eventually, as the buzzing faded and they regained their hearing, a search operation was begun in earnest. Every bit of cargo and every cow and passenger on board Charlie''s airship was examined in detail.

    At last, just as Remian was thinking about cutting all the cows open and figuring out what to do with all the beef later, Charlie''s crew found the crystal.

    "It was in the post." Charlie said grimly. He shook his head. "I never thought I''d see the day when I violated postal privacy rights, but it had to be done."

    "The post? You mean¡­ someone sent it to us in the mail?" Remian gaped.

    "I know, right?" Charlie exclaimed, distraught. "Who would do such a thing? How could they do that to the postal service?!"

    Remian paused. "Uh¡­ no, that''s not the problem¡­"

    But apparently, to Charlie, it was. Maybe it was an Ashdale thing, but he felt their actions to be horrible violation of a sacred institution. The crewman who had to sacrifice his cultural ethics and very respectfully investigated the postal delivery bag and discovered the crystal was shivering and shaking at the very horror of it all.

    "How did you not discover it before? How many letters does Frontier Town get in the post?" Remian asked.

    "Three, today. One for Markus, one for Kairos, and one for Epper."

    "Who is Epper?"

    "Uh¡­ it says¡­ Fishing House on the East Side."

    Epper, then, was probably the Fisherman, the leader of the Secret Waves.

    "Epper''s dead. That letter shouldn''t even be here." Remian said shortly.

    "It wasn''t a letter. It was a package."

    "I''m guessing that''s the one the crystal was in?"

    "How did you know?"

    Remian rapped Charlie on the head sharply. "Very funny. I''m serious. Next time, don''t bring it."

    "Right. Mail sent to deceased persons and destroyed addresses should be returned to sender¡­" Charlie nodded sagely.

    Remian gave him a sideways look. Charlie still seemed rather dazed after getting hit by Spike''s roars. "Dude, are you serious¡­?"

    "So what happened? How did we survive the attack? Did the crystal run out of power so quickly? Last time it lasted for much longer."

    "That¡­" Charlie scratched his head, his eyes widened and then he turned half-red. "YOU! You did this!"

    "Did what?" Remian blinked.

    "You destroyed everything!" Charlie yelled. "My engines! My cannons! The new mana flow modulator! My newly refurbished elemental channeling lines! All of it! It''s all been fried!"

    "What?" Remian blinked.

    "Even my Heat Water Wand is busted! Do you know what it cost me to have hot water showers on the airship?!"

    "Wait, what do you mean, busted?"

    "It means, everything is toast! Kaput! Destroyed utterly!" Charlie barked. "Every magic item I have on the airship is done for! And it''s your fault!"

    "Me? What did I do? It''s Spike who was roaring at us!" Remian protested.

    "Spike''s roars can''t do this kind of damage! I should know; I''ve been through them before!" Charlie shot back. "Do you see these wires? This sort of melting looks like we''ve been hit by a lightning bolt! And we CAN''T have been hit by a lightning bolt, because my storm wards would have triggered if we were! That means, the power that fried all the magic on my airship was already INSIDE the ship! There''s only two people with that kind of power on board and it certainly wasn''t me!"

    "So¡­ I did that?" Remian gaped. "I fried all the magic on the airship?"

    "What did you do?!"

    "Uh¡­ I shouted ''no''?" Remian winced.

    Charlie gave him a very cold, unfriendly look, with arms folded.

    "I''m sorry¡­ but¡­ if that''s true¡­ then didn''t I just save our lives?" Remian pointed out. "I mean¡­ that''s why the magic crystal stopped, right? Would you rather have the airship sunk like last time?"

    "That would have been cheaper. At least we could have salvaged the engines and the parts." Charlie grouched.

    "You can take it out of my share." Remian sighed with resignation. There goes his take of the profits for the next ten years or something¡­

    "Fine." Charlie subsided. "But do me a favor; next time you do anti-magic, don''t do it on my airship."

    ***

    Mindy couldn''t stop giggling when she heard about it. "If that''s what happens when you shout ''no''¡­ goodness, what would happen if you shouted ''yes''?!"

    Remian shook his head, sniffing the air as he did so. "That smell¡­ Mindy, what are you drinking?"

    "I don''t know. It''s a Desert Moon drink¡­ some cactus¡­ nectar¡­ thingie¡­" Mindy''s face was red, and she was giggling incessantly. "My crew¡­ my nice, dear crew¡­ we''re celebrating¡­ shooting Spike in the¡­ bleurgh!" she threw up.

    It was evening that very Fryday. Spike had grumpily made his way back to Craggy Falls, Charlie had grumpily brought his engine to Arnold and Andros for a fix, and Remian had grumpily reverted the entire evacuation of the High Rock clan to land-based carts and wolfcats. They thus migrated to the mines of Kara-Goth in much less style and far more effort than anticipated. The settling of the High Rock clan was going to take a lot of time and effort, and Remian was not likely to see any production from the mines for the next few days, at least.

    Still, he looked toward the mines, frowning, scratching his head, wondering, pondering, hoping.

    "Woof." Carrie stopped by and nudged him. [What''s wrong?]

    "Nothing, just¡­ this is¡­ hard." Remian admitted. "Maybe I''m going about this all wrong."

    [So what? At least you''re going about it. Nobody else is.] Carrie pointed out.

    Remian turned to her, then, and asked her straight out of the blue. "How do we stop a Tier 5 Wild?"

    [Use a leash?] Carrie didn''t skip a beat.

    Remian burst out laughing. "And who''s going to hold it?"

    Carrie glanced about. [No wolfcat is as strong as a whole pack.]

    Remian''s laughter stilled. "Can we really do that? Tie something around Spike and have the entire pack of wolfcats dragging their feet the whole way?]

    If one pack of wolfcats wasn''t enough, what about three packs? Three packs and a Tier 4 bear? That might even work.

    "Why didn''t I think of it?" Remian asked softly. "Why didn''t I think of asking the Wilds to help deal with the Beast Waves?"

    Because when they first started out, he didn''t want to reveal his ''trump card'' to the regular townsfolk¡­ but now all the gangs were gone and everyone in town was on his side and they worked with the wolfcats on a daily basis. There was no point, no need to keep cooperation with some Wilds a secret from them.

    "Put a leash on Spike¡­" Remian muttered to himself. The crazy idea had a total hold on Remian now and refused to let go.

    [Well?]

    "Well, then." Remian cleared his throat. "Where is Craggy Falls?"

 67 Mandy and Mindy

    Meanwhile, Mandy was doing what Remian really should be doing.

    She was studying magic. While her body recovered slowly, and Charlie''s household took care of the children, Mandy somehow found she had time and ended up studying Charlie''s old books. Some of them weren''t there any more; Charlie had taken most of the basic wind magic books to Mindy and sold quite a few others, but plenty of others, especially those related to water and ice magic, were still there, sitting on bookshelves in a general study area that rather resembled a library.

    This very moment, she was reading ''A treatise on mana flow adjustment for basic water magic''. Charlie, it should be noted, would never have given away, sold, or shown this particular book to anyone. There were just too many hand-written notes in its pages that had nothing to do with water magic alongside various little drawings, and the name ''Cynthia'' that kept popping up in nice handwriting¡­

    Across from her, Madam Porrin taught the children world geography. She was a tutor hired by Charlie''s family especially for the children. Perhaps they just wanted to keep them out of trouble, or perhaps they thought they''d be less embarrassing when guests came over if they at least had some general knowledge and knew how to behave. Manners and etiquette were also part of their education these days. While Charlie''s own family had no children of similar age, several of the servants'' children were likewise attending these lessons alongside the Frontier kids.

    "Learn your lessons well, and you could be an excellent butler one day!" one little boy was told, much to his delight. He was the gardener''s son.

    Mandy did not want to admit it, but half the reason she was ''studying'' here was for herself to pick up what she could from those lessons. The whole water magic thing was just an excuse for her to attend Ashdale''s children''s classes by eavesdropping and sneaking glances at them over the rim of Charlie''s old study books.

    The other half of the reason was that despite her only paying casual attention to the subject matter, she found herself actually able to practice water magic after a while. One evening while she was helping with the dishes, Mandy managed to swirl the water casting a spell using a simply water rotation Sigil. The ''excuse'' of water magic suddenly became reality overnight. The next day, she ditch dishwashing duty to help with the laundry, and there was a lot more swirling in the buckets afterward¡­

    That was several days ago. Mandy''s skills had only improved since then. Today''s laundry work was finished in record time. Maybe that was why the servants were so eager to help take care of the kids? Some form of repaying Mandy for helping them out with the laundry?

    But they would be busy before long. Next Sunday, they were going to have a party, and starting tomorrow, all the servants would be busy scurrying around making preparations.

    As for themselves? Mandy immediately volunteered her help and that of the children. Charlie''s family had been most kind to them. Helping them prepare for a party was the least they could do in return.

    After all, it wasn''t like they had to fight off ravenous Beast Waves or wrangle giant monsters. It was just decorating a house, and carrying dishes around.

    During the following week, the most amazing thing happened. While decorating the hall, Charlie''s mother suddenly turned to Mandy and asked, "What do you think?"

    Mandy looked around, somewhat taken aback, then said, "I think it looks very nice indeed, my lady."

    "Please, just call me Beth." Charlie''s mom instructed. "Now, I hear a ''but'' waiting in your tones."

    "Um¡­ it''s just¡­" Mandy scratched her head. "It''s too well-decorated. It looks crowded. There''s just so many things to look at. It kind of feels¡­ suffocating."

    "It does, doesn''t it? Less is more." Beth nodded sagely. "Let''s take some of it off."

    Later, when they were discussing the food, "Mandy, what do you think about this?"

    Again, when discussing entertainment, "Mandy, what do you think about that?"

    Furthermore, the issues of whether to invite guests in conflict with one another, "Mandy, do you have any thoughts on the matter?"

    At that point, Mandy was flabbergasted. "Uh¡­ I don''t really know either of them, so¡­"

    "Right, right." Beth nodded sagely, and then handled it herself.

    Having Charlie''s mom asking her opinion on everything felt a bit odd to Mandy, but at the same time, it felt nice to be involved, to have her ideas implemented, and to have a tangible part to play in preparations as the party took form.

    Before anyone knew it, Fryday arrived.

    The kids'' lessons were ending and Mandy put down her book. In no time, she found herself busy trying to coordinate the Frontier kids in blowing balloons and setting up streamers when suddenly an odd thought occurred to her.

    "It''s sunset." Mandy glanced out the window, and spared one moment to look south where Remian was. "There''s usually a Beast Wave attacking right about now."

    But there was no Beast Wave here, no blood and death, no screams and fear.

    Just lots of balloons and streamers and a party that needed preparing and a whole bunch of kids who needed someone to direct and organize them before they turned into an unruly mess.

    Mandy didn''t know it, but on her face for everyone else to see was the biggest smile she''d worn in years.

    ***

    Roughly around that time, Mindy also had a big grin on her face, but hers looked a lot sillier. She was stumbling around the Guild Hall, wondering what was in that cactus nectar drink her crew gave her, thinking about how she tried her hand at the Ballista and scored a direct hit on Spike''s tailroot¡­

    She made her way back to her corner of the Guild Hall and found Remian poring over her books. He was frowning and turning pages, comparing notes from one book to the next, and muttering to himself the entire time.

    "No!" Mindy stumbled up and tried to stop him, but only managed to trip over a bench and nearly fall flat on her nose. "Remian! Don''t work! Celebrate! Must drink¡­ nectar!!"

    "Not now, Mindy. I need to figure this out." Remian said, comparing three different books at different pages.

    "Stop¡­ studying! No practicing wind magic tonight!" Mindy proclaimed, one finger pointing to the sky imperiously, and then fell over backward in a swoon.

    "I''m not practicing wind magic." Remian assured her. "Quite the opposite."

    "You''re not-practicing not-wind magic?" Mindy blinked blearily.

    "Exactly. I''m thinking about anti-magic." Remian assured her. "You see? Thinking, not practicing. And anti-magic, not magic."

    "Oh." Mindy thought about that. Or at least, she tried. She really tried. But in the end, what she found herself saying was, "That''s okay then."

    After that, she tried to help him. Or at least, that was what she thought she did. She wasn''t quite sure, exactly, what happened in the end, only that when morning came, she had a throbbing headache, and she found herself lying down on the bench with her head on Remian''s lap.

    Even then, Remian was still awake, eyes puffy, but reading and frowning and muttering to himself.

    "Ugh¡­ my head. Do you have any magic for that?" Mindy groaned, squinting at Remian.

    "Actually, yes, there''s a certain potion for it. Charlie brought some on his last shipment. Want some?" Remian offered her a half-filled mug.

    "What''s this?" Mindy sniffed the contents. It was some brown liquid that smelled bitter.

    "Coffee, with milk and a bit of sugar." Remian told her. "If you''re old enough to drink liquor, you should be able to manage coffee."

    "Nobody''s old enough to drink that stuff." Mindy shuddered. "Nobody could ever be old enough!"

    But the coffee was warm, and it made her feel better, kind of. Mindy preferred cocoa, herself, but coffee seemed to help clear her head. "So what''s so important you haven''t slept all night?"

    "Yesterday, I fried all the magic devices on Charlie''s airship with an anti-magic burst. Accidentally." Remian told her.

    "That''s awesome. It takes some serious power to do even a little bit of magic negation. Dispelling magic is tough enough when you target something specific, and you need to know a lot about what you''re targeting, but to unilaterally wipe out everything in a radius¡­ universal anti-magic like that is either a talent or something done using very expensive equipment." Mindy remembered.

    "That''s what the books say." Remian agreed. "But based on what they say¡­ what I did shouldn''t be possible. My light barriers were extremely flimsy by that time; based on how they looked, I was probably running low on mana. So how did I generate so much power in a sudden accidental burst?"

    "Isn''t that what you do? Sudden, super-boosts?" Mindy pointed out.

    "Even if it''s an out-of-control overload, the power has to come from somewhere. But I didn''t have much left. I already started out with a super-boosted Light Barrier. Then, I raised another dozen barriers in less than a minute."

    "Casting at that speed, unassisted, no sigils, no tools, no helpers¡­ that must have been an immense mana drain." Mindy nodded. "I couldn''t do that even with Tier 1 magic, and your Light Barriers are probably somewhere in Tier 3. That''s an amazing amount of power. A total waste, but an amazing total waste."

    "Thanks." Remian said dryly. "The point is, I couldn''t have had much power left at that point. So where did the power for the anti-magic burst come from?"

    Mindy fell silent. "I have no idea. Maybe ask Charlie. If he doesn''t know, he might at least have an idea of where to find an answer. Either way, there''s no point digging through my books; those books don''t have the answer to that. If they did, I''d have read it by now."

    With a sigh, Remian put down the books and patted Mindy on the back. "You know, I think you''re right. I really didn''t find any answers in those books."

    "You should have gone and partied with the rest." Mindy told him, then. "You wasted a perfectly good excuse to have fun."

    "Sorry." Remian said apologetically. Then, he put down the books, left the coffee to Mindy, and made for the cave.

    "Where are you going?" Mindy asked, puzzled.

    "I''m going to sleep!" Remian declared, and did just that.

 68 Deploymen

    At the Guild Hall (very) late that morning, George took one look at Mindy''s pale face and red eyes and shook his head. "Late night?"

    "No, actually I think I slept soon after sunset." Mindy remembered. "I actually woke up just before dawn."

    At the next table, Remian looked far worse. He hadn''t much sleep but he was toughing it out as he met with Joshu. "Your mission is to find Craggy Falls and map the way to it. It is a top priority and you can choose your own companions from anyone who is willing."

    "Anyone? Anyone at all?" Joshu asked. "Even Charlie?"

    "You can ask if he''s willing." Remian nodded. "But you have to tell him that it''s roughly five days away."

    "Why not?" Charlie called over from the next table after. "Arnold''s going to take a week to repair my equipment anyway. I''m stuck until then."

    "What about the priests? The ones with healing powers? And the Legion?"

    "Like I said. You can ask."

    "This should be interesting." George mentioned, eyeing Joshu. "Who do you think he''ll call?"

    Mindy thought for a second and said, "Rhema, Max, and Buff!"

    "A hunter, a mage, a priest, a warrior and a bear?" George thought about it. "That sounds like fun."

    "That sounds like a well-balanced adventuring party." Joshu agreed, suddenly turning to them.

    "You were listening?" George gaped.

    "You were listening in on us too!" Joshu shot back.

    Amazingly, it turned out almost exactly as Mindy and George surmised. The only difference was that Xia also wanted to go along. How Joshu asked the others and what they were promised or told, George didn''t know, but Joshu had them all packing and gearing up to go within the hour.

    "You know¡­ I kinda thought he''d ask Remian and Carrie too." Mindy mentioned.

    "Nah. Remian wouldn''t survive." George guessed.

    Mindy patted Remian on the back, even though he made absolutely no signs that he had heard everything. "Don''t worry, Remian! One day, I''ll invite you on an adventuring team too! And we''ll bring an airship!"

    "Does it still count as an adventure if you''re using an airship?" George asked, half-laughing.

    "It does if we''re going to investigate ruins or explore the Wildlands or hunt a dragon!"

    "Let''s not hunt dragons just yet." Remian suggested dryly. "And preferably not with an airship that hasn''t been warded against fire."

    "I''d sooner ward my airship against sonic attacks first." Charlie yelled from the next table over. "Speaking of airships, if we''re out there longer than a week, can you come pick us up on the way back?"

    "You want me to fly the Roving Albatross?" Mindy asked, eyes shining.

    "You won''t need to pilot it, just power up the engines. Arnold will handle the hardware and reinstallation, and I have a helmsman named James who will handle the piloting and navigation. You just need to channel mana into it. I have some crystals in storage you could use." Charlie explained. "I''ll leave some large traces on the ground every so often; if you could fetch us after we''ve tracked Spike to his lair, we could come back a lot quicker. Just watch out for bird-type Wilds."

    "We''ve never had a problem with bird-type Wilds before. For some reason they never show up during Beast Waves." Mindy told him.

    "There''s a first time for everything." Charlie said. "Besides, just because they don''t come during Beast Waves, it doesn''t mean they''d let you simply sail an airship into their territory."

    After Joshu and the adventuring party left, George asked Mindy, "Wonder why the bird-Wilds don''t come during Beast Waves?"

    "Maybe the crystal doesn''t work on birds?" Mindy thought about it. "Or maybe whoever chooses the Wilds simply can''t fly."

    Remian suddenly stood up. He stared at Mindy, wide-eyed.

    "What?" Mindy asked, confused.

    "Whoever chooses the Wilds can''t fly." Remian repeated softly. "Then¡­ someone''s out there, in the Wildlands, on foot, doing something to Wilds to make them part of the Beast Wave?"

    "Remian? What''s wrong?" Mindy looked him over. "Wasn''t it you who told me that there was someone commanding the Wilds?"

    "Yes, but¡­ I thought it was the Secret Waves." Remian thought back. "Now, it seems they simply received the crystals. The crystals are coming from Fal''Herim. I thought our enemies were to the north. But how does someone in Fal''Herim choose which Wilds to send? To pick Spike of all the Tier 5''s, twice? Why wasn''t it Cracked Tooth trying to climb up the cliff walls madly trying to find the crystal? Why wasn''t it Deepsilver or one of the Tier 5''s nearer by? Why Spike?"

    "Because he''s unstoppable?" Mindy asked, gloomily. "Even with a Tier 4 Wind Blessing on an XL Ballista, it was all we could do just to sting him."

    "If they could choose any Wild they wanted, why didn''t they simply send over a dragon?" Remian pointed out. "Or some flying Wild that could fly right over our defenses and wipe out the town? I think you''re right, Mindy. They can''t just call whatever they want from far away. There has to be someone out there on foot in the Wildlands running around casting spells or whatever it is he''s doing to send Wilds into a frenzy every time the crystal calls."

    "Maybe more than one someone." Mindy agreed.

    "We better warn Joshu." Remian got up and left the Guild Hall too.

    ***

    After warning Joshu, Tim asked him for help.

    "What''s up?" Remian asked.

    "I have some very, very new students, and they''re not listening to Miik." Tim said. "They''re here asking for cheese, but they can''t understand anything I''m saying, and I don''t understand what Miik is trying to say either."

    "New students?" Remian blinked.

    It turned out, that word of the cheese had spread very far and now there were a whole new type of Lynxmice looking for a bite. They were sand-colored, they had less fur, and they looked generally larger and fiercer.

    [Remian!] Miik was relieved to finally see him. [The Desert Lynxmice are demanding cheese!]

    [Desert Lynxmice? Demanding cheese? Didn''t you tell them that they have to work for it?] Remian asked.

    [I did, but they''re demanding it anyway. They threaten to attack if we don''t hand over all our cheese.]

    Remian almost burst out laughing. [Tell them they can work for the cheese if they want it. If they try to bully or threaten us, we''ll set the wolfcats on them.]

    Miik did that, with relish, very rudely squeaking at the Desert Lynxmice. In return, they bared their fangs and squeaked rudely back.

    [They won''t listen!] Miik told Remian. [They don''t believe that I can control the wolfcats!]

    Remian shook his head and sighed. He very carefully picked Miik up, and tossed him out of the way. Ten he sat down and faced the three Desert Lynxmice directly. [I am the boss here. Which of you is the boss?]

    [The boss is not here! The boss is in the Deep Desert Den!] they snarled. [And he demands cheese of you! You will give it!]

    [Do you speak on his behalf, or is this all entirely your idea?] Remian questioned.

    They shifted uneasily, then said, [It doesn''t matter! All that matters is you do as we say!]

    Remian poked his head out. [Carrie? How would you like something different for lunch?]

    Carrie came over. [What do you have in mind?]

    Three terrified squeaks sounded in unison as the Tier 4 wolfcat sauntered by. The Desert Lynxmice scurried to hide behind Miik and his clan as Carrie sat down next to Remian.

    [Those Desert Lynxmice seem to think they can threaten us into giving them cheese.] Remian pointed. [The yellow ones.]

    [The bald ones?] Carrie eyed them. [There''s not enough of them for lunch.]

    [They have a boss at the Deep Desert Den. Ever heard of it?]

    [Sireek? He''s a Tier 3 Desert Lynxmouse. He''s not enough for lunch. Going all the way there just to eat him isn''t worth the trouble.]

    [What if you ate his whole clan?]

    Carrie considered it. [That could be good training for Vigil. Red and Lunar might want to train their children too. We could do that.]

    It turned out, the other wolfcats wanted to join the hunt. On top of that, Miik''s clan and the other Lynxmice clans wanted to take revenge for past bullying, too. Either that, or they''d all gotten bored of mining and farming. Even George, Tim and Mindy wanted to come along. Accompanied by three wolfcat clans and five lynxmice clans, Remian, Mindy, George and Tim boarded the Foresight and followed Miik''s directions to the Deep Desert Den.

 69 Swearing

    Frankly speaking, today was the worst day anyone could have picked to threaten Remian.

    Not only had he lost the western settlement (which had been built at his expense), he''d gotten a big new debt to Charlie, plus the mystery bugging him all along had led to a sleepless night and a scarce few hours of sleep this morning. Remian was feeling very grumpy. Despite having two cups of coffee and some well-cooked (overcooked?) bacon and sausages (made from Blood Rabbit meat), he still wanted to bite somebody.

    Instead, he led an army of wolfcats and lynxmice and let them do the biting.

    The ''Deep Desert Den'' was an hour north into the desert on Mindy''s airship. The Foresight flew low, barely ten feet off the ground, Miik and his clan scurrying alongside while Carrie and the wolfcats ran on ahead. The wolfcats went ahead and started early. By the time they arrived at the Deep Desert Den, Carrie''s three packs already had a pile of kills stacked up in a heap.

    By that time, the Desert Lynxmice were already huddling deep inside their den. The Den, incidentally, was a network of tunnels dug into a clay hill atop a small canyon of sorts. Remian got off the airship; with Carrie by his side, he strolled over to the very top of that hill, waited for a minute until Miik''s lynxmice had completely surrounded the area, and then crouched and laid his hand on the ground.

    "Burn!" he said, and a stream of fire as thick as his waist sliced through the hill like a hot knife through butter.

    The shrieks that erupted were deafening. Like a flood, dozens of Desert Lynxmice scurried out of the burning tunnels right into the jaws and claws of the wolfcats. They tried to run past; Miik''s clan and the clans with him cut them off, stopping every last one from escaping. Vigil and the other wolfcat cubs had a free run on the mice, easily picking them off at whim.

    At last, they began to gather, cornered between the wolfcats and the fire. They snarled, hissed, backed away, but bared their little teeth threateningly. A few of them backed toward their Den.

    "Burn!" Remian sent down another stream of fire and even more smoke erupted from the tunnels. Another round of panicked shrieks erupted, and a few more Desert Lynxmice tried to run for it, only to get clobbered, chomped on, clawed, or stopped one violent way or the other.

    "Skwiiieek!" One particularly miserable desert lynxmouse wailed. [We surrender! We surrender!]

    "Oh? And where''s your leader?" Remian asked, folding his arms.

    "Wiikeekk." [He''s dead. Burned in fire.]

    "Whoops." Remian scratched his head. "Then who can represent you?"

    There was a short pause. Then, one small Tier 1 desert lynxmouse fearfully crept out. "Kwik."

    Remian frowned. "Seriously?"

    [I am¡­ princess¡­] she shivered. [The only one left.]

    Remian glanced at Carrie. "Is this for real?"

    [She is the only noble of her kind that I see here.] Carrie nodded. [Like Vigil, like Shadowflash, she has potential far beyond the average. In the absence of a stronger noble, she will be their future leader, if she is not already.]

    Remian scratched his head for a bit, then turned to the desert lynxmouse princess and said, "You and your clan¡­ I won''t accept threats or bullying. If you want cheese, you''ll have to work for it, same as all the other lynxmice."

    At that, a bigger desert lynxmouse sprang up. [Bullying? You''re the bully! You big bully! Coming here with all your wolfcats and your fire! We''re just poor desert lynxmice! We have no food, little water¡­]

    "That doesn''t give you a right to go around threatening other lynxmice to give you whatever you want." Remian''s eyes narrowed. "You can just leave the desert. You can even live with us if you''ll work for your cheese."

    [We don''t work for strangers! We are proud sons and daughters of the desert!] the bigger desert lynxmouse proclaimed.

    "Then you can proudly starve by yourselves and don''t involve us in it." Remian said. "But you came into our hall demanding our cheese and threatening our people. Threats must be removed. Do you know what we do with Wilds that attack us?"

    There was a short pause. [No?]

    "We kill them, skin them, cook them, and EAT them!"

    There was a long, long silence. Thankfully nobody mentioned the Tier 5 exception that was being tracked across the Wildlands this very minute.

    [That was a bit too dramatic.] Carrie advised Remian.

    [Had to be done. Just had to.] Remian said apologetically. Then he turned back to them desert lynxmice. "I''m offering you the same deal as the other lynxmice. Cheese for work. That''s my bottom line."

    [If not?] the desert lynxmouse princess asked.

    [If not, you die here and now.] Remian shrugged.

    [Death before dishonor!] the bigger desert lynxmouse charged straight at Carrie, clawing at her.

    CHOMP! Carrie took a bite and that was the end of that. But other desert lynxmice were charging out too, and the other wolfcats were likewise dispatching them with ease and efficiency. In roughly twenty seconds, only a dozen desert lynxmice were left, all younger Tier 1''s, cowering behind their princess.

    [Enough.] Mikai stepped up. The fastest lynxmouse in Miik''s clan looked at the little ones with pity. [Let''s adopt them into our clan. That way they won''t be enemies, right?]

    [No.] The desert lynxmouse princess shivered, but she said, [No adoption. We''ll work for our cheese, but we won''t join your clan. We will not bully you any more.]

    [Swear it upon the desert sands with your own paw!] Mikai ordered.

    [I swear it! Never again will the desert lynxmice bully other lynxmice!] She placed her paw on the sand, leaving a clear pawprint.

    Miik''s clan cheered. The other lynxmice clans cheered. The waved paws in the air, waved tails, and squeaked their celebration all around.

    [ As long as you pay us fairly, we will work for our cheese.] She added, then twitched her nose. [But you must swear also! Upon the sands! You will treat us fairly! No sending us into the dragon''s jaws for sport!]

    [If you treat us as your own, we will treat you the same as our own.] Miik stepped forward and laid his pawprint in the sand. [I swear it upon the sands!]

    [May Khar''al-dras take us if we break our oath!] Both the desert lynxmouse princess and Miik said in chorus.

    Remian glanced at Carrie. "Who or what is Khar''al-dras?"

    [Khar''al-dras is the Dune Dragon. The great Sand Wyrm who rules all of the Endless Desert.] Carrie explained. [He is like a god to the desert Wilds.]

    [Is he real? I mean¡­ an actual dragon in the desert?] Remian asked, stunned.

    [As real as Kor''ag-dras and Mal''thor-dras.] Carrie nodded seriously.

    [Who?]

    [The twin rulers of the Wildlands. The lords of lords of the south] Carrie said patiently. [The masters of Dragon Lake and Wyvern Peak. They are the grandfather and grandmother of the Wildlands dragons. Shadowflash has met them.]

    Actual dragons. Remian gulped. That probably explained why no colonization effort of the Wildlands had ever succeeded. "So basically¡­ if a Wild swears on the sands and invokes Khar''al-dras¡­ it can be trusted?"

    [Depending on what your foot is on, upon the sands and Khar''al-dras, upon the grass and Kor''ag-dras, or upon the stones and Mal''thor-dras, yes. All Wilds fear and revere the great dragons.]

    [You''d be in shock if you ever go to the Dragon Empire, then. Some folks there actually ride dragons.]

    [The Imperial Dragon, Zor''khan-dras, is a Great Dragon also, is he not? To my eyes, it is he that the Dragon Empire is named after.]

    "Uh¡­ I don''t think it''s quite the same¡­" Remian scratched his head again, then gave up trying to figure it out and focused on the matter at hand. "The point is, if they swear to serve, we can trust them. That means¡­ it should be possible to have other clans working for us too."

    Carrie looked him over, mused a bit, then asked, [Do you seek to replace Shadowflash?]

    Remian blinked. [I thought Vigil was going to do that?]

    [Vigil is too young. He grows well, but it will be years before he is ready. Before then, there are other Tier 5''s in Shadowflash''s Fief who would seek to become the next Lord.] Carrie shifted uneasily. [Sooner or later, we will have to face them.]

    "There are other Tier 5''s¡­?" Remian grimaced. Just as he thought they were making progress, he suddenly discovered that the forces they were up against were far more than he''d anticipated.

    [Daring Drum, the Diamond Bristle Boar; Bellower, the Burning Bull; and Jujar the Ageless. If you can get THEM to swear on the grass or the stones to serve you, then you may as well be the Lord of Shadowflash Fief yourself.]

 70 Getting a handle on things

    "I thought there weren''t any other Tier 5''s in Shadowflash Fief!" Remian protested.

    [Back then, there weren''t. But now it is widely known that Spike has invaded twice and Shadowflash has not shown himself. Therefore, there are now challengers.] Carrie shifted uncomfortably. [We can no longer avoid a showdown. Unless you can subdue them yourself, one of the new challengers will be the new lord. That could be very bad for you and the other humans in this fief, very bad indeed¡­]

    "And how exactly do I challenge them? Single combat?" Remian guessed, grimacing.

    [No lord ever stands alone. It will be your pack against theirs.]

    "So I get to bring everyone?" Remian gaped. "I can bring a whole army?"

    [Anyone willing to fight at your side.] Carrie nodded. [Also be aware that there is no limit to future challengers. To be the Lord, you must not only win, you must defend your rule forevermore. Shadowflash has fought off many challengers over many years, yet even now at just a few signs that he would not return, others already pounce upon his territory.]

    "So I''m not only expected to bring the best army, I''m expected to maintain it." Remian understood. "And it''s fine if they''re of different species, or that they''re hired fighters?"

    [Not many would fight and die for one not of their kind. Not for mere rewards.] Carrie shook her head. [Digging, tracking and hunting mice is one thing. Fighting for your lordship is something else. I can''t ask the packs to do it for me, much less for you. The Lynxmice are even less likely to fight for you.]

    "But I have two clans of humans in underground fortresses and airships. Plus, I think I can get the Iron Legion to help me out." Remian hesitated. "I''m just wondering¡­ how tough are these challenger Tier 5''s compared to Spike? Would the XL Ballista be enough to affect them?"

    [We''ll see soon enough, won''t we?] Carrie sneezed.

    Remian did not feel very comfortable with that. Concerned, he went to pay Arnold a visit.

    "Kinda busy here, chief." Arnold said, tinkering around with parts from Charlie''s airship.

    "Sorry, but this is rather important." Remian said. "If we don''t have a weapon that can handle Tier 5''s when the challengers get here, all our operations in the Frontier could be at risk."

    "Tell you what." Arnold grunted. "You give me a hand with these parts, and I can spare a bit of time to spare to upgrade the Ballista."

    "How many workers do you need?" Remian was all prepared for something like that.

    "I don''t need more workers. I need a mage. I said I needed your help, and that means you, personally." Arnold told him directly.

    "Me?" Remian hesitated. "What do you need me to do?"

    "Channel some mana into this." Arnold patted a heap of equipment that Remian couldn''t even begin to make head or tail of. "Place your hands here, and send enough in to raise the needle in this meter to ''5''."

    Remian trickled in some mana, watched the needle rise, trickled in some more, then more until it rose to 5, then kept it there steadily until Arnold said, "Stop. That''s enough, thanks."

    He carefully took his hands off, and glanced at Arnold. Arnold nodded. "That would do. Thank you very much."

    "I didn''t blow anything up!" Remian heaved a sigh of relief. "For a moment there, I was wondering what I''d do if there was a power surge."

    "You don''t want to know." Arnold said wryly. "Why don''t you get a handle on your powers already? This risky business of surges is getting old."

    "I would, but I''m not sure how." Remian confessed.

    "Quit being lazy and go find out. Ask your mage friends or something." Arnold shooed him away and went back to his tinkering.

    ***

    As it happened, with Charlie gone south, Mindy was the only other mage left in camp.

    "I don''t know." Mindy shook her head. "But there''s something you should know. Mandy''s invited me to join her and the others at Ashdale."

    "What?" Remian stared.

    "She says it''s safer there, plus¡­ Charlie''s family has more books on magic. On top of that, there are libraries and Towers where mages work together and learn magic¡­" Mindy shifted. "If we go to Ashdale, we might be able to learn something. We might be able to learn a lot. Mandy says we can stay with Charlie''s family. His mom already said it was okay."

    "Mandy''s inviting us to Charlie''s home, now?" Remian thought something sounded weird about that, but he let it pass without further comment. "How long will we be gone?"

    "I don''t know. When is Charlie''s next trip home and back here again?" Mindy asked.

    "Probably next week when the repairs are done¡­ and back here again next Fryday." Remian figured. "That doesn''t sound too long. Do you think the others can manage a few days without us?"

    "They should be fine. I could go shopping for airship parts, and you could go ask the experts on how to manage your magic."

    "Right¡­ but first, we have three Tier 5 Wilds to handle." Remian glanced about. "Arnold''s going to upgrade the XL Ballista, maybe take it from a 5X to a 6X¡­ can we improve the Wind Blessing on it?"

    "Tier 4 is as good as it gets. We don''t have the materials for a Tier 5." Mindy told him. "Unless you have a hundred Tier 3 Wind Blessing Scrolls and ten mages more powerful than me that I didn''t know about?"

    "I was thinking more along the lines of a runic formation." Remian explained.

    "Great. You''ll be wanting to use the Fire Copper, then? Make it a fire elemental formation? We''ll need Andros to work on the runes¡­" Mindy thought about it. "Do you have a good blueprint we can use?"

    "Uh¡­ no." Remian admitted.

    "Maybe we can find one in Ashdale." Mindy consoled him. "We are going to Ashdale, aren''t we?"

    "Yeah, why not?" Remian said at the time.

    Meanwhile, he had to deal with a super boar, a burning bull, and this ''ageless'' Tier 5.

    "Carrie, roughly how big are these Wilds?" Remian asked.

    [Ten times my size.] Carrie summarized. [In Jujar''s case, more like twenty.]

    That was pretty much Spike''s size already.

    "How tough are their skins?"

    [How tough do you think diamond is? Burning leather is also very hard to pierce. Jujar the Ageless has even tougher defenses than the other two.]

    "How so?"

    [Jujar the Ageless is a Giant Tortoise.] Carrie shook her head. [His back is tougher than even Spike''s. I''m sorry, Remian, but while I can ask the wolfcats to dig, asking them to fight these three is more than I can manage.]

    Remian thought about it for a while, then finally said, "Well, then, we''ll just have to ask them to dig."

    ***

    As the day passed, three separate groups of large Wilds began to encroach upon Shadowflash Fief.

    Led by the Diamond Bristle Boar, Daring Drum, two strong packs of Bristle Boars charged over the plains. They stopped for nothing and were the earliest to approach the Fief''s borders. Following the traditional, well plodded route of Beast Waves, they made their way north right past a well-hidden group of adventurers who had been tracking Spike.

    The following day, a second group passed Joshu''s adventuring team. These were a herd of Firehorn Cattle, led by the Burning Bull, Bellower. They tended to stop and eat a lot, however, and they ate just about everything, sparing no tree or bush in their wake; everywhere they passed, nothing was left behind but scorched earth. They were moving much more slowly.

    As for the third group they expected to see¡­ well, they simply never showed up. Or at least, Joshu and the team did not encounter them on the way to Craggy Falls.

    ***

    The roars of the Diamond Bristle Boar, Daring Drum echoed through the hillsides as he reached Kara-Goth. [We will rip out your guts! We will trample you underfoot like the dirt you are! Ten thousand generations of your kind will remember the day you fled from us and received no mercy, no quarter given no matter how you begged¡­]

    It was, to be sure, a very eloquent speech delivered in thundering tones and lavish style, but unfortunately, the humans didn''t really understand any of it. All they heard was roaring as Daring Drum approached, and then the thundering of Bristle Boar hooves as the huge packs neared their homes. They hid in the tunnels and caverns, not putting up any resistance, declining to face the challenge of the incoming Wilds, allowing them to trample their way to their front doors unimpeded¡­

    [You will¡­ URGHK!] There was a terrible crashing sound and Daring Drum''s roars and boasts stopped quite abruptly. The thundering hooves stopped and very suddenly, there was a long, awkward silence.

    "It can''t have been this easy. Can it?" Aren asked his wife.

    "I think¡­ it really is." Zania said slowly, eyes wide. "I think we actually did it."

    "Signal Remian!" Aren ordered his clansmen. "Blue smoke!"

    As they scurried about doing just that, a small boy of perhaps five went over to Aren and tugged at his hand. "Dada? What happened?"

    "Nothing much, son." Aren patted him on the head. "We just caught a big boar in a pit."

 71 The Pi

    By the time Remian arrived on site, Daring Drum was in a very, very bad mood.

    He roared. He cursed. He swore. He used a lot of bad language that none of the humans except Remian understood. He squirmed and struggled valiantly¡­

    All to no avail. DD was, to put it mildly, stuck. The pit wasn''t very roomy in the first place. Deep, but not all that wide; the giant boar was stuck head-first in the hole, with his backside upended, legs pinned tightly in the shaft.

    "Surrender!" Remian called down. "Acknowledge my claim as the Lord of this Fief, and we''ll free you!"

    Actually, looking at how the boar was stuck, Remian had to wonder if it was even possible to get the boar out of there.

    [Never!] Daring Drum roared. [How dare you treat me as a common pig, to give in to the whims of humans! You¡­!]

    The tirade went on for quite a while, with very colorful language (for a Wild, anyway) echoing around the pit and muffled by the boar''s own bulk.

    Remian let it go on for a minute, then decided to raise the stakes. "What''s that, you say? You''re cold? Hold on, I''ll get you some fire!"

    The roaring became even louder, but still to no avail.

    "Fire!" Remian generously gifted his boar guest some. The fire lance was shot directly downwards¡­

    [YEEEEOOOOWWW!!! My butt! My butt is burning!!]

    "What''s that? Not warm enough?"

    [STOP! Stop this indignity right this¡­]

    "Fire!"

    [YOOOWWW!!]

    "Is that enough, sir boar?"

    [YOU WORTHLESS¡­!]

    "Fire!"

    [Stop! STOP! STOP!! I QUIT!!]

    An awkward peace ensued amid the sound of burning meat and the smell of roasted pork¡­

    [Get me out!!]

    "Call off your forces first!"

    [All forces withdraw! Now GET ME OUT!!]

    "Right¡­" Remian looked about, and scratched his head. "Anyone have any ideas on how to get the boar out?"

    "Bull!" a young boy suddenly shouted pointing. "Dada! There''s a bull!!"

    "It''s Bellower!" Aren jumped. "The Burning Bull is coming straight at us!"

    "We have to stop him¡­" Zania began.

    "There''s no time! Everyone run!" The fiery bull was close enough now that his flames lit up the night with a dim glow.

    They scrambled to get out of the way. Carrie grabbed Remian and dashed northwards of the pit¡­

    [HUMAN!!!] Bellower bellowed as he charged way ahead of his herd. Head lowered, he charged directly at Carrie and Remian. [YOU WILL FALL!! I shall become king, for I am the mightiest, the most glorious, the most awesome¡­ URGHK!]

    Sudden darkness fell. There was a godawful crash, and then an earth-shaking roar.

    Bellower: [GUAWAAAAHH!!]

    DD: [AAARGGGHHH!!!]

    "Ouch¡­ that''s just¡­" Remian couldn''t help wincing in spite of himself.

    Flames erupted in a maelstrom, a churning pillar of fire exploding out of the hole as Bellower struggled and roared and tried to burn his way out.

    As to the efficacy of such brave efforts, well¡­ other than providing an interesting light show, the fire didn''t help the Burning Bull escape from the hole at all. He had fallen in very much in the same manner as the boar earlier, and was likewise stuck in a most embarrassing position¡­

    Speaking of the boar earlier, he was the direct recipient of Bellower''s power, fury and horns¡­

    "Should we¡­ do something?" Mindy asked Remian, needing to shout to be heard over all the roaring and bellowing and burning going on.

    "Like what? There''s so much fire there, I don''t think we can even get close!"

    Mindy hesitated, but even she didn''t offer any feasible suggestions. The pair of them stood by Carrie''s side and exchanged awkward glances as fire, smoke, and oddly delicious smells accompanied the roars from the Frontier''s biggest pork barbecue pit.

    "Turn off your fire, and we can try to pull you out!" Remian offered.

    [I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!!!] the bull-headed Bellower bellowed.

    [YOU BRAINLESS BOVINE!!] Daring Drum howled from deeper down. He said a great deal more, but all of it was generally along the same lines. In the space of several minutes, DD verbally abused and insulted Bellower, his mother, his grandmother, his entire family and nine generations of their ancestors.

    In response, Bellower turned up the heat and the pit became a veritable furnace. The delicious roast pork smell was rapidly changing to a burnt meat smell¡­

    On top of that, the sounds were getting increasingly muffled. Remian didn''t understand why, not at this time, and was not about to discover the reason for it until the next day.

    "Should we¡­ do something?" Mindy asked again.

    "What can we do?" Remian shook his head. "There''s nothing to be done. We''ll just have to leave them be and wait it out."

    "Right. Well, then, I''m going to bed."

    "You don''t HAVE a bed."

    "Then shouldn''t you build me one?"

    "I had plenty of beds built at the western settlement, but then Spike smashed it¡­"

    "Excuses, excuses!"

    "Why don''t you go build your own house and your own bed? I''m sure you can afford it by now!"

    "What? Why? I''m waiting for you to build them for me!"

    "Handle it yourself, please!"

    They left the site just like that, while behind them, the roars coming from the pit were increasingly muffled as the fire burned on.

    ***

    When Remian and company checked on them the next morning, the pit had fallen completely silent.

    There was just a faint orange glow coming from the pit by now. Remian peeked over the edge and was startled to see what had happened to it.

    The pit was filled with lava. It was only about half as deep as it was before, and all they could see of the new bottom was a layer of orange lava, still bubbling and smoking. Of the boar and the bull, there was no sign.

    "No. NO!" Remian howled. "That was Tier 5 barbecued pork!! The furs! The bones!! What a waste!!"

    "We can still dig in to the lava after it cools. Maybe there''s something left?" Mindy asked, observing the lava. "I mean¡­ the Burning Bull wouldn''t get burned in his own fire, right? We might at least get some beef. He might even still be alive."

    "Even Burning Bulls need air to breathe. Covered in liquid lava like that¡­ he probably drowned." George observed. "But of course, we should dig out whatever we can after the lava cools. While we wait, let''s get the shovels."

    "Let''s get the Lynxmice." Tim suggested in turn.

    "And the wolfcats."

    Remian silently observed the cooling lava and shook his head. "Here lie two great Challengers. May they taste good."

    Meanwhile, there was still a giant tortoise out there somewhere, presumably on the way to challenge for the Lordship, but nobody knew how long he would take to arrive. Also, there was another Tier 5 they had to worry about; what were the chances that this Fryday, the Beast Wave would call Spike again?

    At the thought of Spike, Remian turned and looked back at the ''barbecue'' pit once more.

    And grinned.

 72 Conditions

    "They''re alive!"

    It was amazing, but somehow, when they dug through the cooling lava layers, the Burning Bull and the Diamond Bristle Boar stirred and groaned.

    They had to tie them to the Sky Barge to haul them out of the pit.

    Now they lay side by side, moaning and twitching on the ground. Bellower''s fire was practically reduced to embers, he flopped around weakly, his breathing hoarse. DD''s entire bottom half had been burned, plus he''d been gored in the bum. It was incredible that either of them even survived until now; Remian had to admit, he was impressed.

    "How did they do it?" Remian marveled. "How did they live under such conditions?"

    [Fire essence.] Carrie sniffed Bellower, then turned to DD. [Earth essence.]

    Bellower managed to open one eye and look at Remian. [Human¡­ give me fire¡­ and I will let you off for one year¡­]

    "We''re way past that now." Remian shook his head. "Either you swear fealty to me upon the grass and Kor''ag-dras, or you die. Those are your options."

    [Never. Wilds will never serve humans!!] Bellower let out one final bellow. [I will never bow to you! I will never bow to anyone! I will return and trample you into dust! I¡­]

    Remian pointed to the not-so-burning Bull and called to the Foresight hovering just overhead. "Mindy! Shoot!"

    TWANG! The XL Ballista, newly upgraded by Arnold, launched a blue streak glowing with magic enhancement. It speared Bellower through the throat. The giant bull let out one last rasping gasp, twitched and lay still ever more.

    "What about you?" Remian asked DD.

    [I''m already done for!] DD groaned. [What can you do for me? I''m a goner! GONE!!]

    "It does look bad." Remian squinted. "We can get salve and bandages, maybe use some healing magic¡­"

    [It won''t work¡­] DD moaned morosely. [It is too late for me, alas¡­]

    "If we COULD save you¡­ would you swear fealty?"

    [If you can save me, I''ll do anything you want!] DD chuckled dryly. [If I can live even until sunset, I''ll swear whatever!]

    Remian shut his mouth and didn''t tell DD that the burns didn''t seem as serious as they smelled. Diamond Bristle Boar skin was incredibly tough, even if the Boar himself seemed less than steadfast. Being stuck in that pit, most of the fire and lava only affected his rear end. Mainly the damage was all done to DD''s rump. Remian wondered if it was even life-threatening. DD might not be able to sit down for half a year, but he probably wouldn''t die today.

    Happily, that meant they''d get a Diamond Bristle Boar on their side. Sadly, that also meant that they wouldn''t be getting Tier 5 roast pork for dinner today. Maybe they could take out just a few slices of broiled ham¡­? Better not. Oh well¡­ they''d just have beef.

    The task of treating the boar fell to Zania in the end. For the salve, she set her clan out to gather some herbs and aloe vera from the desert edge, then brought out a lot of flour...

    Meanwhile, Remian had the wolfcats and the lynxmice dig out the pit some more. To his memory, Spike was quite a bit larger than Bellower; plus, even Frenzied, he might not charge in blindly like the boar and the bull. The pit would need some sort of cover, like a trapdoor, and a mechanism to open it suddenly and drop whatever was on top straight down.

    They also had a giant tortoise somewhere out there to worry about. But then again, it was taking forever to arrive.

    ***

    Contrary to his own expectations, DD did in fact survive until sunset. He grudgingly swore fealty upon the grass and Kor''ag-dras, then immediately asked for a few weeks off to recover.

    Remian''s response: "Tell you what; you''ll be on standby for a while, but if we need you in a hurry, you have to come running!"

    [So mean!] DD complained.

    He didn''t ask what Remian might need him to come running for and Remian certainly did not want to elaborate just yet.

    By that time, the Desert Moon clan (who were the experts with agriculture and livestock handling) had pretty much butchered the Burning Bull. Mindy had a new fire-proof Tier 5 hide the size of a house for the forward envelope of the new Tug in construction. They sent the bones and tendons to Arnold to see if he could use it for the new XXL Ballista. The meat was divided between the High Rock Clan, the Adventurers Guild, the wolfcats, the lynxmice and the Desert Moon clan (given a small share for doing the cutting).

    The High Rock clan busied themselves fortifying the Pit with gravel and mortar. They seemed to have the same idea that Remian had and since the walls were weakened and enlarged after being melted into lava, they were quite keen on making sure Spike wouldn''t be able to collapse the pit on himself and struggle out.

    Nevertheless, they were stockpiling ore at a healthy rate. Remian inspected the growing piles of Fire Copper ore and jade at the main entrances of each mine and wondered how they were going to load them all up onto the airships. They''d have to land the Sky Barge and cart them all in. What if they could build docks for airships on the top of the hills, modify each elevator system to take it all the way up¡­?

    But the elevator systems had a major downside; they used mana crystals for power. Remian fed them with unrefined bits from the alchemist''s cave, pieces too small to send for refining, but sooner or later they were going to run out of crystal bits and would either need to use actual refined commercial-grade crystals, or overhaul the power system.

    Either way, they were going to need a lot more crew on the engineering team. As the High Rock clans expanded into the mines and turned them into underground towns, they would also need a lot more metal and building materials. On top of that, the Desert Moon clan kept sending requests to expand the farm, build farmhouses, barns and other farming structures, import all sorts of equipment¡­

    Speaking of houses, the Adventurers needed them too. Tim and Mindy were still roughing it out in the Guild Hall with the wolfcats for pillows and warmth. Joshu, Xia and the twins already had their own huts, but for some reason, Tim and Mindy both seemed to think the Guild Hall was shelter and home enough.

    Actually, come to think of it, Tim didn''t come back to the Guild Hall last night. Did he stay here at the mines with the High Rock clan? Maybe he had friends here. After all, it wasn''t like he''d stay with the lynxmice in the tunnels, right?

    ¡­Right¡­?

    That last thought left Remian feeling uneasy and guilty at the same time. He was definitely going to have to pay attention to their housing conditions. For now, maybe he could ask George to put Tim up at his farmhouse. Mindy could actually just stay over at the cave with Remian. Mandy had asked about setting up a room for her sister there. Plagued with concerns over the mana potions and the crystals getting stolen, Remian had delayed giving her a reply until now. With the potions already gone and the crystals mainly sold, spent or left undug at the waterfall cave, Remian didn''t actually need to worry about them any more¡­

    Come to think of it, why was he even worried about them being stolen? This was Mindy, for crying out loud. She was practically his sister. If she wanted some crystals, he''d just give them to her directly. Heck, she was going to be handling crystals for the Tug once it was operational anyway. Magic drives usually used a mage''s power, but they could also be fed with crystals like runic drives.

    On that point, though, Remian would rather feed airships with yellow crystal bits than precious blue crystals. In terms of cost for power, yellow crystal bits were far cheaper.

    ***

    Mindy agreed with Remian on using yellow crystal bits for fuel, but not to living in the cave.

    "If you''re worried about our living conditions, we may as well just finish what we started." Mindy snorted. "Why don''t you have the workers simply finish the Guild Hall the way we originally designed?"

    Originally designed¡­? Remian thought back.

    Right. The Guild Hall was not complete. The completed Guild Hall should be four stories tall, with spacious rooms for thirty Adventurers complete with indoor plumbing systems, ten rooms with adjoining private baths and privies on each floor. It was supposed to be able to house all the Circling Raven kids and the potential Adventurers out there in the Wildlands right now.

    Assuming anyone else survived, that is. Remian hadn''t seen any supposed explorers and hunters and such other than Joshu, Xia and the twins. Having not returned for so long¡­ they might already be dead.

    Maybe it was time. They had been struggling and racing to deal with Beast Waves and scrape together some income until now. But with the mines up and running, and the farm blossoming, and a nice big pit ready for Spike the next time he came by, perhaps conditions were right.

    So he went to Taj and Nadia, and they actually agreed.

    "Conditions are right. It is time for change." Taj nodded. "We will hold the rituals tonight. By tomorrow, the Desert Moon clan will be no more."

    "Wait. What?" Remian blinked. "All I asked you to do was build a Guild Hall."

    "We will build your hall. We will farm your lands." Taj said thoughtfully. "We will grow food and herbs, plant fruit orchards and raise fowl and cattle. The rise of our people will be like the dawn of a new day! We will henceforth be known as the Harvest Sun clan!"

    "Uh¡­ yeah that sounds great and all, but¡­"

    "You wish to build a city here, do you not?" Taj asked directly.

    "Uh¡­ yeah¡­?"

    "A city must have people, and people must have food. We will provide that food." Taj said decisively.

    Remian scratched his head feeling like he''d lost all say in the matter. But Taj was right. They would need that food and the best guys for the job were Taj''s people.

    "We need a greater variety of foodstuff. We will need seeds and seedlings." Taj considered. "Nadia and I should accompany you during this coming trip to Ashdale."

    "How did you know about our trip to Ashdale?" Remian wondered.

    "I believe the rune smith and the engineer wish to join as well." Taj advised.

    "What?"

    They did. Arnold and Andros both wanted to recruit crews, purchase equipment and (in Andros'' case) sell products. On top of that, Max wanted to requisition supplies and equipment from the Ashdale Iron Legion division.

    That meant seven people going to Ashdale with Charlie once the airship was repaired; Remian, Mindy, Taj, Nadia, Arnold, Andros and Max.

 73 Spies everywhere

    The day arrived when Charlie''s Roving Albatross was repaired¡­ or at least, repaired enough to fly around.

    "It''s holding together with patches and jellyfish-glue, but it should get as far as Fal''Herim." Arnold pointed. "The whole fuel conversion system is gone for good, but if you power it manually, you should be able to get it to move. I wouldn''t push it, though, so go easy on the throttle. Stay below the halfway point and you should be able to avoid a breakdown."

    "Right. Let''s go pick up the adventuring team." Mindy turned to Tim. "Are you guys ready?"

    Tim glanced over his band of merry lynxmice and nodded. "Ready!"

    Remian, Mindy and Tim got on the airship with Vigil and a squad of lynxmice. Remian invited Carrie to join them, but the moment he did, she had her claws out dug deep into the ground and absolutely refused to get on board. Candice and Denise joined them, readying their crossbows in case some flying Wild out there decided to have them for lunch.

    Charlie''s crew of ten were likewise nervously handling weapons, generally crossbows with a single shortbow and a Wind Blade wand in the mix. Up until now, they had not encountered hostile Flying Wilds, but they were about to sail over all sorts of Wilds'' nests and territories, and there was no telling whether any of them would have the power and temperament to attack the airship in the sky.

    In a matter of hours, they crossed the Three Forks River, the border of Shadowflash Fief. The last time Remian had come this way, he had taken a day to reach this point, even with Carrie''s help.

    Not long after they crossed the area known as the Rocky Ford, they passed the Black Depths Lake. It had taken Remian the entirety of the second day to pass by that lake, before. Heading south on the airship with the lake on the left and broad savannah to the right, Remian wondered if all of the Wildlands was really this picturesque. It was a pleasant, peaceful few hours ride in the airship so far¡­

    There ahead of them was the rocky canyon that they had taken three days to reach and pass through. On the right (East) side of the canyon, however, was something Remian hadn''t noticed before; a large swathe of sand with absolutely nothing visible growing on it.

    "What is that?" Mindy asked Remian.

    Remian grimaced. "I actually don''t know. I''ve never seen it before. It wasn''t visible from the ground when we passed through here last time."

    "Those are the Deadly Sands." Denise told Mindy. "Nobody can cross them alive. The sands themselves would swallow anything walking upon them¡­"

    "Quicksand?" Arnold asked from behind.

    Just then, something in the sand area moved. Mindy gulped. "Did you see that?"

    "Yep. I saw it." Remian nodded.

    Mindy shivered. "There''s something alive down there."

    "Let''s not mess around with it." Remian advised.

    "Is that them?" Candice pointed. There at the near entrance of the rocky canyon was a camp.

    "They''ve made it this far back already? That''s fast!" Remian blinked.

    It was indeed Joshu and the adventuring team. They made a quick report as they boarded the airship.

    Apparently, Spike still lived at Craggy Falls. He had not been kidnapped and moved to some weird secret base. Craggy Falls was just a little over three days away for the adventuring team. Spike had left a trail wider than the road the Iron Legion was building. Following him here all the way was no problem; the biggest difficulties they had was having to fight the various Wilds who were in a bad temper after the gigantic fellow rudely barged through their homes and territories.

    But now they confirmed Spike''s location, Tim and Remian got to work; the lynxmice were deployed and the squad of little spies stealthily made their way south to keep watch on the big Spike-Back Lizard and find out how exactly he was being controlled.

    Having deployed the spies and retrieved the adventuring team, Charlie''s airship turned and headed for home.

    On the way back, of course, they stopped by at Kara-Goth and loaded up on cargo. Passengers got down; other passengers got on board. It was early the next morning before the journey home resumed.

    What did ''home'' mean? Why, Ashdale, of course. Not only was Charlie bringing those seven friends of his back to his hometown, he was also dropping off a few crates and over a hundred lynxmice spies at Fal''Herim. That, and hopefully get some quick repairs done.

    ***

    With the airship going as slowly as it did, the Roving Albatross took an entire day to limp its way to Fal''Herim. As they arrived at the Desert King''s City, however, Remian noticed something he hadn''t seen the last time he was here. "Is that¡­ an Iron Legion camp?"

    Mindy nodded. "Yep. And they''re building a road straight for us."

    It was at least 5km long already. Clearly, the plan was for the Legionnaires in Fal''Herim and Fort Spoas to build the road from both sides and meet in the middle. The Fal''Herim side was making far more progress on the project than Marcus'' trainees.

    Remian felt a strange chill when he saw it. He should be happy, he thought. The road meant access, and trade and all those nice things. But when he saw it, he thought only one thing¡­ ''Fal''Herim is coming for us. Once the road is built, there''s no stopping the Desert King''s armies from marching straight to our doorstep.''

    For a minute there, Remian contemplated sabotage¡­

    Then, he shook his head with a wry smile.

    "What? What is it?" Mindy asked.

    "I was just thinking about the time it would take for that road to be built." Remian mentioned. "I''m betting that DD''s injuries would heal before then."

    In which case, if the Desert King did decide to send his armies marching along that road and cause trouble in Frontier Town, Remian would have a Tier 5 Diamond Bristle Boar in peak condition just waiting to greet them enthusiastically¡­

    Speaking of which, Remian had to talk to everyone real quick to make sure nobody spilled the secret while they were out. Actually, not everyone knew that DD had sworn fealty. The most they knew was that the boar and the bull had been trapped in the pit. Remian simply had to have a few words with those precious few people on board who knew what happened after.

    Charlie bought a few parts while they docked at Fal''Herim. This enabled them to increase their speed to roughly 80% of what it should have been as they continued on towards Ashdale.

    They passed over the free folk of Itarim, where the Iron Legion HQ was located, then skimmed over the kilometer wide borderlands between La Vive, one of the Seven Kingdoms, and neighboring country Germat. Borderlands in this continent were neutral territory; nobody was allowed to settle in the borderlands, and it functioned as a major accessway for land and air traffic alike; so long as airships didn''t cross over somebody''s border, nobody would complain about airspace violations.

    Finaly, they docked at a large, comfortable airport in Ashdale. Charlie''s people got them into carriages and he basically brought his friends home¡­

    ***

    "Mindy!" Mandy grabbed her sister as soon as they arrived at Charlie''s house. "You''re here! You''re finally, finally here!"

    "Why do I feel like a third wheel?" Remian remarked to Charlie at the side.

    "If you''re the third wheel, aren''t I the fourth?" Charlie asked.

    "If you two are wheels then what am I? An axle?" Arnold snorted.

    "Come in, come in!" Beth urged them. "You''re just in time for tea!"

    "Do we have time for that?" Andros glanced at Remian. "How long are we going to stay?"

    "We need to be back by Fryday." Remian glanced at Charlie.

    "We can make it if we leave the day after tomorrow. Meanwhile, the airship needs repairs and we all have things to do, but we should certainly have tea."

    Tea was a polite, rushed affair, and then Charlie brought Remian to the ''experts'' to find out what exactly was going on with his powers.

    He brought Remian to the magic hospital.

    Thereafter Remian suffered hours upon hours of waiting in queues, taking test after test, getting prodded, poked, strapping on sensors, walking into weird shimmering machines, being asked to cast rudimentary spells and channel mana under the observation of more machines, and having his blood pressure taken at least two dozen times. Every other test, someone would ask him to please pay his bills first, and several posters on the walls mentioned off-hand that hospital policy was for treatment to be reserved for official patients (i.e. people who pay them for it).

    On occasion, there would be a loud argument at the reception about ensuring payment for emergency patients. All this led to a distinct nervousness as Remian eyed his rapidly dwindling cash on hand.

    At last, night fell and he was offered a ward as every other doctor advised him to stay for observation and that it was best he do so. He just had to guarantee he could afford it.

    "Sorry, I think I''m out of cash¡­" Remian mentioned.

    Just like that, he was politely ushered out of the hospital as they were closing for the night.

    With a thick folder of test results filled with big words and numbers and charts in his hands, Remian wandered back to Charlie''s house in a sort of daze.

    "What does it all mean?" he asked.

    Charlie took one look and shook his head. "I''m not sure. I think we better ask my dad. Maybe he knows someone who can help explain all this."

    Apparently, he did know someone. Several someones, in fact, one of whom could be invited over for breakfast tomorrow.

    Until then, Remian could only wait and try to get some rest in one of Charlie''s guest rooms.

 74 Mandy and Mindy

    "There''s nothing wrong with you." Dr. Marakovichi Von something-or-the-other, triple Master of Equinox Studies, Thermomagy and Meteoromagy, and retired captain of the Ashdale Royal Expeditionary Navy, made his verdict after twenty minutes of looking through all of Remian''s reports.

    "Then why all the tests?!" Remian burst out over the breakfast table.

    "Their notes indicate that you kept saying something was wrong with your magic, and it was out of control, but all their tests say there''s no problem at all." Dr. Mar pointed. "Therefore, they speculated and sent you on different tests to see if the problem lay elsewhere."

    "In other words, they have no clue what the issue is?" Remian groaned out loud. "I spent a whole day and all my cash just to find out that they don''t know?!"

    Charlie barked a laugh. "You wouldn''t even have found out that much if Dr. Mar hadn''t explained it to you."

    "These doctors are useless!!" Remian roared. All that time and money spent for nothing! NOTHING!

    "Maybe not all doctors." Charlie''s dad said, mindful that Dr. Mar was a doctor too.

    "Like he said." Charlie agreed. "Maybe it''s just that those doctors in the local hospital don''t know. Maybe there''s someone over at the Royal Hospital at the capital that might know. Otherwise, there are hospitals at Ecclesia with the best equipment and diagnosis machines¡­ or one of those top hospitals in Libertaria with cutting edge new experimental technology¡­"

    "Or you could try the Royal Navy." Dr. Mar added.

    "What? Why?" Even Charlie drew a blank at that one.

    "It''s because I''ve heard of similar cases to yours. People suddenly having outbursts of power, largely increased but out of control, during episodes of emotional extremes." Dr. Mar mentioned.

    "Really? Where?" Remian perked up.

    "Like I said. The Royal Navy." Dr. Mar yawned. "Thing is, they weren''t mages. That sort of story usually happens with martial experts, at least Slayer class or above. Something referred to as ''Soul Boost''."

    "Is there a way to control it?" Remian asked at once.

    "Isn''t it obvious? Just learn to control your emotions." Dr. Mar shrugged. "Meditation helps. Every martial expert can tell you that."

    "Magi use meditation too. We have a few books for that." Charlie said then. "They''re not secrets or anything. You could borrow one."

    "That''s it?" Remian blinked. "Just like that? I went through a whole hospital of doctors and nobody could tell me what it was?"

    Mindy, next to him, barked a laugh. "Why would they? As long as you kept looking for answers, you''d keep paying them."

    "But shouldn''t they give me what I paid for?"

    "They did." Dr. Mar handed him back his thick stack of test results. "They gave you exactly what they billed you for. Also, it''s possible they simply don''t know about Soul Boost. It''s not something one hears about outside of post-heavy combat situations and high level martialists don''t usually go around telling the whole world about the secrets of their powers."

    Remian groaned. "Still. It''s a waste. I should have just given you that money instead."

    "Yes, you should." Dr. Mar peered at Remian closely over the rim of his glasses. "You really should."

    Charlie''s dad cleared his throat. "I say, Dr. Mar, didn''t you take a fancy to that bottle of Divine Red Wine I brought back from La Vive last time? It occurs to me that your wedding anniversary is just around the corner, and you would certainly find a better use and a greater appreciation for it than I¡­"

    "Why, that would be so very thoughtful of you, Mr. Meadows! My wife and I must thank you in advance¡­"

    They marched off together, leaving Charlie and Remian exchanging wordless grimaces at the breakfast table.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mandy and Mindy were getting into a full-blown argument.

    It started as they were wrapping up their stories about each others'' lives in recent days.

    "Mandy, you have to see the new Guild Hall! It''s just about done, and once we decorate it nicely, it''s going to look awesome!" Mindy exclaimed.

    But Mandy froze, eyes wide and staring into nothing. Then, she shivered.

    "What''s wrong?" Mindy asked.

    "Mindy, I¡­ I don''t think I''m going to see it." Mandy said then. "I don''t think I''m ever going back there."

    "What are you talking about?" Mindy asked, confused. "Of course you''re coming back with us! You''re recovered already, right? You should come back with us tomorrow!"

    "No!" Mandy jumped. "I¡­ I can''t! You can''t make me!"

    "What¡­?" Mindy didn''t know what to say.

    "It''s safe here!" Mandy turned to her and grasped her shoulders. "Mindy! You should stay too!"

    "Stay here? No way!" Mindy blurted. "I have an airship now! Two airships, in fact, and I''m going to have more! I''m going to be an airship captain¡­ no, a Fleet Admiral!"

    "But it''s so dangerous! You can''t stay at the Frontier your whole life!" Mandy said decisively. "No, no, you should stay here, and go to school, and learn to become a proper lady¡­"

    "I''m not staying here!" Mindy shouted. "I''m going to lead a fleet of airships and travel all across the nations! Forget being a ''proper lady'', I want to see the world!"

    "I think I can get a job here¡­" Mandy went on, tapping her lips and looking at the ceiling. "Enough to pay for your schooling fees, at least. Think about it! You can go to class, and meet lots of friends in high society, and learn proper manners and etiquette¡­"

    "I don''t need any of that! I already own my own airships! You''re not listening to me!" Mindy barked.

    "Everyone should have a proper education. That''s how we can live in civilized society¡­" Mandy nodded to herself, thinking back on all those lessons the tutors here gave the children in front of her. "Otherwise, what qualifications could you have? You''d be completely uneducated¡­"

    For some reason, Mindy''s face turned white and she had queer thoughts of shooting an XL Ballista at Mandy¡­

    That was when the shouting started. One yell was met with another and before long people were running into the guest living hall to find out what all the ruckus was about.

    Remian and Charlie arrived on scene in time to see Mandy and Mindy storming off in two separate directions with no one in the immediate vicinity having any clue as to what was going on.

    "You get Mindy, I''ll get Mandy." Remian sighed to Charlie, and the two of them separated too.

    Ten minutes later, they met again with grim expressions on their faces.

    "She''s not listening to me." Charlie said sourly. "She keeps badmouthing my country and culture''s ''proper society''."

    "She wants me to quit everything." Remian growled. "To get a part time job here and earn a college degree."

    "She does have a point. A college degree could really help your earning potential." Charlie advised.

    "What did you tell Mindy? To go to school like a regular Ashdale girl?" Remian shot back.

    The pair of them looked at the increasing ire on each other''s faces, then sighed at the same time.

    "Switch?" Remian asked.

    "Switch." Charlie nodded, and went to find Mandy.

    Remian went to talk to Mindy instead.

    ***

    "I''m NOT staying here!" Mindy said stoutly, the moment Remian approached.

    "I''m not asking you to stay here. I need you on your airships." Remian said promptly.

    At that, Mindy relaxed visibly.

    "Having said that, there was no need to be nasty to your sister. Some of the words I heard just now were¡­" Remian trailed off.

    "Too much?" Mindy guessed.

    Remian held silent.

    "You''re not going to start harping on me about behaving all proper, now are you?" Mindy questioned.

    "There''s nothing wrong with being polite." Remian answered simply. "It doesn''t stop you from seeing the world or flying airships."

    "It does if it means I have to stay here and give up everything we''ve worked for." Mindy growled.

    "Like I said, I''m not asking you to stay here." Remian assured her. "Having said that, there''s really no harm in self-development. There''s no end to learning. Did you know, even I have a secondary school diploma?"

    "You went to school?" Mindy suddenly realized.

    "Oh, yes. Years and years of going to classes with other students and complaining about homework and essay assignments." Remian barked a laugh, remembering. "It wasn''t all bad. Some of it was fun. Some of it was horrid. It was simply¡­ life. At the time, I thought everyone went through that."

    "I didn''t. And I don''t want to!" Mindy exclaimed.

    "You have the luxury of choice. Others don''t. They live in these countries and never have a chance to leave. They own nothing, have nothing, and don''t have the opportunities you and I so casually picked up at the Frontier." Remian pointed out. "You have your own business, and your own airships. You could probably live off your earnings from what you have right now alone. But most people can''t do that. They can''t own their own airships; too many laws and prohibitions. Starting a business is a risky venture, with high costs and high interest loans and taxes and all sorts of regulations in place. Trying to do what you do right now is absolutely impossible for the average girl your age in Ashdale. She would need at least a college degree and hundreds of millions of Lir spent on a formal company and everything. The laws for flying an airship alone would land her in jail if she tried to fly an airship without certification."

    "What a terrible place this is!" Mindy remarked sourly.

    "It''s not bad. The laws are in place for people''s safety. There''s a lot of people, and a lot of dangers, so there''s a lot of laws. There are other countries out there with even more people, more laws and more prohibitions."

    "Such as?"

    "Such as the Dragon Empire. I grew up in a vassal state colony near the borders of the Empire. A lot of our economy exists only because people in the Empire couldn''t buy what they wanted in their own country. That''s why they cross the border into our colonial towns and go on a spending spree."

    "A vassal state colony? Which country''s vassal?"

    "Ashdale''s obviously." Remian chuckled. "It''s far to the east, and south of the Dragon Empire. There are a lot of Sea People island nations not far from us."

    "It sounds like a great place to do business." Mindy mentioned.

    "It does, doesn''t it? But reality disagrees. Why do you think I came to the Frontier in the first place?"

    "To hear my sister describe it, probably to commit suicide." Mindy grouched.

    Remian barked a laugh. "Come on. We have only one day here and there''s a lot of things we need to buy."

    "Right." Mindy said. "Let''s go shopping."

 75 White

    Shame.

    Mandy felt it weighing down on her like a wet blanket. Again and again, she was haunted by a memory of her reaction to Mindy''s excitement. The very idea of returning to the Frontier, of facing another Beast Wave¡­ just thinking about it made her bones hurt, as if they remembered being broken.

    She felt vulnerable. So very vulnerable. But to reveal her fear and vulnerability to Mindy, of all people! How could she face her younger sister any more?

    No! She had to regain her senses, regain control! She had to be the older sister and protect Mindy!

    And Mandy already knew the best way to protect that excitable younger sister of hers; simply take her away from danger. Didn''t she see how the other kids here thrived? Didn''t she see how safe and happy they were? They were running around without fear! They were wearing clean clothes, gaining weight, and nobody needed bandages or plasters every day! She could have that too; Mandy was willing to work for the Meadows Household in whatever capacity they''d take her, if only the pay allowed her to support her sister¡­

    But Mindy rejected her! She was completely devoid of any gratitude!

    Why? Because of her precious airships that she couldn''t leave behind?

    Mandy had seen Mindy''s ''airship''. It was a mere hot air balloon that held up a lantern! Even if she had two of them instead of just one now, how could she reject her own sister in favor of her toys?!

    She''d offer to help Mindy build a hundred such air balloons here if it would help, but unfortunately, Ashdale law wouldn''t allow it. Any aircraft in Ashdale airspace had to be from qualified shipyards, authorized by various departments, licensed and registered with a full navigation report¡­ and more. That much Mandy understood from talking with Charlie''s dad.

    What else did Mindy say about the Beast Waves? Tier 5 Wilds were attacking, now?

    Mandy began to think of ways to hold Mindy back here for her own safety.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Remian and Mindy had a blast. They started off with a stop at Deutero bank to withdraw some cash, then armed with 50,000 Lir in bank notes and coin, they stormed into the town''s main commercial center.

    Oddly enough, the first place they both wanted to go to was the library, where books were rented for reading, bought or sold. Six stories of books, scrolls and Inscription workshops for rent held them up for six hours straight. Both of them ended up spending most of it on the fifth floor, which was mainly basic magic books. They also visited the sixth floor, which was where you could rent an Inscription workshop (and pay for ingredients at just-below-retail prices), the fourth floor (skill books, including engineering and airship mechanics), and the third floor (maps, general information).

    They came away with two full backpacks of books. Not only did they buy a couple of thick technical engineering manuals that Arnold requested, a trio about farming and livestock for George, and a full set of sixty thin and illustrated basic language learning children''s books for the clans.

    Their greatest prize from the library; ''Basic Earth Magic At Home'' by Peter Fellows, Master of Geomancy. That one seemed to be mainly about domestic land use, like farming, loosening or hardening soil and leveling terrain to prepare for construction. There was even a spell for fixing broken plates and mugs.

    They had lunch at the cafeteria outside the library, then went on to a nearby smithy.

    Andros was there, trying to convince a work-gang of five burly guys to join his Burning Steel Forge.

    They asked, "Why would we want to go there? Fresh air and sunshine isn''t good enough; you have to remember we''d be in a forge most of the time!"

    Andros'' reply? Two simple words, clear and succinct; "No taxes."

    Really? The lord of the land asked nothing from him?

    In the past few weeks? Only to smelt raw ores into bars and a few customized weapons. The fun part? The demands were the same no matter how big the forge became.

    They signed up immediately. In this scenario, the work asked of one man could be shared among ten, or a hundred smiths. They would henceforth basically be free to do whatever else they wanted, and everything else they made was theirs to sell for profit (minus the cost of the production).

    "We''re going to have to talk about that, one day¡­" Remian sighed, as he and Mindy discreetly watched Andros move on to another bunch of smiths; this second batch looked much younger, probably just apprentices. Still, he spoke with enthusiasm. "We should ask more from the Burning Steel."

    "We''re already asking them for a lot of labor and parts. They practically already work for you. Just do another part-ownership thing." Mindy shrugged.

    Remian scratched his head, wondering if that really was the best idea. Was he going to end up part-owning everything? Was that even possible?

    Did he even qualify to be called the lord of the land? With Shadowflash still missing and presumed dead, Remian was the one who ended up dealing with all the challengers coming their way. Maybe the perks came with the responsibility?

    They made a stop by the industrial zone and put in an order for various airship parts to be delivered to the Roving Albatross early tomorrow. Seeds, equipment, imported materials they couldn''t find at the Frontier... there were going to be a lot of goods delivered to the Roving Albatross by tomorrow.

    But at last, evening came. Remian and Mindy returned to face Mandy at dinner.

    ***

    "How did you like Ashdale?" Mandy asked, as soon as they got back.

    "It was¡­ nice." Mindy said, guardedly.

    "We should stay here." Mandy got straight to the point. "You like it, don''t you? In terms of safety and future opportunity, this is a much better place than the Frontier. Think of it as a big upgrade!"

    "We have to go back." Mindy shook her head. "Mandy, you have to see what we''ve built! What we''ve done! We have¡­"

    The argument began anew.

    "School¡­"

    "Airships¡­"

    Remian tuned out the rest of it, sighing to himself. Best he stay out of this one¡­

    But the girls wouldn''t let him. Mandy barked, "Remian! Help me out here! Talk some sense into my sister! She listens to you!"

    "Remian!" Mindy turned to him. "We have to go back! We can''t stay here! Tell her!"

    "What exactly do you want me to do?!" Remian protested.

    "Throw away her airships and make her stay here!" Mandy demanded.

    Mindy''s face went white. Her fist clenched. "Use the slave bond to force her to come back!"

    Mandy''s face went white. She actually stepped back. The look on her face¡­

    Remian was stunned. Mindy''s reaction¡­ Mandy''s reaction¡­ both of them struck him like lightning. How¡­ how did it come to this? But it was too late. What had been said could not be forgotten. What was done could not be undone.

    That horror. That fear. Mandy was looking at him like she was facing a monster. Why? Wasn''t all that already thrown out? Didn''t she understand him by now?

    Was it because he did not immediately side with her against Mindy? Was it his fault?

    But he couldn''t force Mindy to stay. He couldn''t destroy her airships. He needed them too badly.

    "Wait. Just wait." Remian closed his eyes. This was so wrong. Everything going on was all wrong. "First things first; we need to dissolve the slave bond. I''m never going to use that to force Mandy to do anything."

    The cold, deadly silence continued. Nobody said a word for a while.

    "Mindy, get Charlie, please. We need expert help on this one." Remian requested.

    Mindy shot Mandy a suspicious look.

    "Please." Remian softened his tone.

    Mindy reluctantly left Remian facing Mandy alone. Mandy was a tumult of different expressions changing from one to the next in seconds. At length, what she said was, "Are¡­ are you sure?"

    Charlie was not in a mood for any more argument. "Watch me."

    That was all he said.

    ***

    That night, the Meadows family had another guest ''expert'' come over to help out.

    Her name was Lydia. She was a Priestess with powerful Life magic who specialized in emancipation. She had a strong face, a strong handshake, but a playful smile.

    "If you could all help me out, this could go much quicker." Lydia requested. "The Magi of House Meadows have a tall reputation. May I presume that you would not leave a poor priestess to struggle against the slave-bond all alone?"

    "What do you need?" Charlie asked.

    "Mana. I need mana support."

    Charlie''s parents, his sister, his brother, his brother''s wife, two nephews, a niece, Charlie himself, Remian and Mindy all chipped in. Standing at the center of a formation carved into the floor under the carpet of the living room, Lydia was impressed by the sheer volume of mana she was receiving from them all. "Great! This should be over quickly!"

    Getting a slave-bond out of a person was much harder than putting it in. The latter required only a specialized device. But removing it required nothing short of magical surgery. In many ways, it was like physical injuries - causing a stab wound was easy; healing it was not.

    That bond was like a thorny net over a slave''s heart. Lydia basically had to pick it apart bit by bit, extracting and dissolving it area by area until all of it was removed. This was painstaking, time-consuming and energy-intense work. Even a specialist like herself took the better part of four hours to clear it out.

    Yet finally, it was done. By that time, Charlie''s family, Remian and Mindy had rotated no less than six times, taking turns to provide support and rest. Charlie''s nephews and niece had gone to bed halfway through, on Beth''s orders. Mindy stayed through.

    Mandy thanked everybody for ten minutes non-stop. She was trying very hard not to cry, but her successes in that endeavor were less than stellar.

    As she was expressing her heartfelt gratitude, Lydia pulled Remian aside and said, "You surprise me."

    "Why?" Remian asked, frowning.

    "I saw it. Or read it or heard it, whatever. That final clause to the slave contract." Lydia nudged him. "You''re quite a romantic."

    Remian eyed her for a bit. She was pleasant enough on the eyes, but, "Uh¡­ sorry, but¡­ aren''t you a little too old for me?"

    Lydia''s eyes narrowed. She punched his shoulder, hard. "Oh? Is that how you want to play it? You know, I have a sister around your age, her name is Phoebe; she''s very popular with the boys¡­"

    Remian grimaced, rubbing his shoulder. "If she''s as violent as you, they probably worship her out of fear."

    Lydia rolled her eyes. "Anyway. Come call me again if you have any other slave you want freed, no questions asked. I''ll give you a discount. You can even send for me if you have a large group of them."

    "What if I had hundreds?" Remian asked.

    Lydia froze. She bit her lip. "I said no questions asked, but¡­ are you serious?"

    "Watch me." Remian said.

    Lydia glanced around. "I''m guessing they aren''t here."

    "They''re two days south of here by airship." Remian told her. "We''re flying there tomorrow on the Roving Albatross. Departure time is set at 11 in the morning."

    "I''ll be there." Lydia said, then flashed a quick grin. "And I''ll bring my sister."

    "Uh, that won''t be necessary."

    "Oh, it will. Mana support, remember? I think it''s very necessary." Lydia cleared her throat. "It could take a few weeks, maybe months depending on how many there are and how much support I can get. I trust you''ll be taking care of us during that time."

    "We''ll see to your needs." Remian assured her.

    ***

    "So¡­ what now?" Mandy asked him after Lydia left.

    "Now you''re free to do whatever you want, stay wherever you like. You''re free." Remian said.

    "I¡­ I want to help you. You''ve done a lot for me. But I can''t go back. I just can''t."

    "So, don''t. Help us from here." Charlie suggested. "My family actually owns Meadows General Store. My brother runs it. If you can handle the sales of the goods from the Frontier, we could get better prices selling at retail than selling the goods to dealers. That means more profit for all of us."

    Mandy glanced at Remian. "What do you think?"

    "We wanted you to do that with the Guild Shop anyway, back at Frontier Town. It''s much the same thing isn''t it?" Remian asked.

    "Yes¡­ but no." Mandy hesitated.

    "You''ll get the hang of it." Remian assured her and patted her on the back.

    Then he turned from her and walked away alone.

 76 Just a little more

    Remian got back to Frontier Town by Fryday noon, and met Tim at the airport-in-construction.

    "Tim! Any signals from the south?" Remian asked directly.

    Tim nodded. "Five columns! It''s Spike¡­" he trailed off.

    There was a sudden, strange silence. Remian blinked to realize everyone meeting the airship at the airport was staring.

    Right. He kind-of expected that. Turning, he half-smiled, half-grimaced as he said, "Everyone¡­ meet Lydia and Phoebe Kites."

    The two sisters waved in greeting. "Hello!"

    "H-hello¡­" Tim managed.

    At least he managed that much. Remian himself remembered the first time he met Phoebe. He hadn''t managed much more than that.

    Phoebe was stunning. Remian had to admit it. He had met pretty girls before; Mandy, for example, was a head-turner no matter which city she was in. But Phoebe was jaw-dropping, feet-tripping, eye-widening, heart-skipped-a-beat beautiful.

    Max and Marcus were carrying a crate together when they saw Phoebe.

    Max dropped the crate on Marcus'' foot. BAM!

    "AAAARRGH!!!" Marcus howled.

    It was a disaster for the defense forces of Frontier Town; their field commander was going to be unable to properly stand on his feet for the next couple of days¡­

    But yeah, that was the kind of effect Phoebe had on guys. Remian didn''t blame them. He wasn''t even surprised, much less angry. It had taken him the better part of the first day of their trip back to even be able to talk to her. It was a mercy that Mindy talked with her enough for the whole crew.

    "Oh, dear. I had hoped things wouldn''t go so like this." Lydia sighed. "We even took the trouble to wear armor!"

    That was true enough. Lydia had the idea that it was Phoebe''s body shape and figure that had guys tripping over themselves. She had her sister put on Iron Legion armor, which was standardized and uncomfortably NOT shaped for women''s wear.

    How could she know the kind of effect that a woman in their uniform armor would have on the real members of the Iron Legion? Plus, she wasn''t wearing a helmet; they could see her face, her hair, blowing in the wind at airship-dock height¡­

    "Lydia¡­ that might not have been the best idea." Remian groaned.

    It was already good that nobody fell off the dock. For the Iron Legion officers, it was like seeing the heart-stopping beauty wearing their own clothes¡­

    Meanwhile, Remian himself turned away quickly. The best way to avoid being blinded by the sun, he''d found, was to avoid looking directly at it¡­

    Having said that, he wouldn''t feel right interrupting any of the guys here upon their first glimpse of Phoebe. He just marched off the airship and the dock without disturbing them. Just as he left, he called over his shoulder, "Mindy, settle our guests in, will you?"

    "Sure." Mindy rolled her eyes at his back.

    Carrie was waiting for him below the docks. Together, they headed straight for Kara-Goth.

    "How far is Spike?" Remian asked Aren as he met the High Rock clan chief at the Pit.

    "Already in sight." Aren pointed to a little figure in the distance.

    "And our preparations?" Remian eyed the Pit.

    It wasn''t visible now. All he could see from where he stood was a layer of sand and some stones.

    "We''re ready." Aren allowed himself a predatory smile.

    "All right! We''ll do this just as we planned!" Remian said, daring to feel hopeful for once.

    "Everyone, take shelter! Nobody make a sound!" Aren ordered his people.

    "No, actually, we should at least shoot at him. He might get suspicious if we don''t at least look like we''re trying to stop him." Remian said. "Call Mindy, ask her to bring the Foresight up after she''s settled our guests. She is to shoot at Spike, but stay out of his range."

    Meanwhile, Remian went to look for some insurance.

    ***

    "He''s almost here!" hours later, Remian crouched in a large trench behind a man-made hillock a bit south-east of the Pit. "Mindy!"

    "Cast the spell!" Mindy called.

    "Wind Blessing!" Charlie guided the formation, and the XL Ballista glowed blue. "All yours, Mindy!"

    Charlie and the scroll-casters got off the Foresight. Mindy, Candice and three other Adventurers launched the airship gunboat. It took to the skies and started firing blue bolts at Spike even before it cleared the top of the Kara-Goth mining hills.

    In return, Spike roared back, but at this range, they only heard the sound of the roar. Even so, it was enough to make everyone scramble for shelter.

    "Everyone into the mines!" Aren called to Charlie and the casting crew.

    Remian watched them from where he waited with a few of his friends, not saying a word, not making a sound. He felt vibrations getting stronger; either the ground was beginning to shake beneath Spike''s stomping, or that was his heart thumping in his chest¡­

    Blue streaks lanced out from the Foresight, now twice the height of Kara-Goth''s peaks. Mindy was also pulling back, using Wind Magic to sail the no-drive airship away from the oncoming destroyer. She was making good time. Her magic was getting pretty strong. Was there some sort of level system to gauge mages'' power? If there were, she must have leveled up.

    Spike let out another roar, this one frighteningly close. The ground-shaking doubled, then tripled, and then they were all shaking so hard, Remian nearly bounced. He had to keep his teeth clenched or risk biting his tongue.

    Then the hulking form of the Spike-Back Lizard passed the hillock. Spike towered over the heap of dirt hiding Remian and his friends. They could see his thick, leathery shell, the huge bony spikes protruding on all sides, followed by the club-like tail also outfitted with spikes¡­

    Almost there. Almost there¡­

    Abruptly, Spike paused. He grunted.

    No. No, not now, don''t stop now¡­

    The Foresight kept firing. Blue bolts slammed into Spike from far above, but Spike wasn''t even distracted. He lowered his thick head, sniffing the odd ground in front of him.

    "Drop it!" Aren''s order sounded in the silent hills.

    What? No, it''s too early! He''s not completely over the Pit yet!

    There was a creaking sound, and the floor fell away leaving a gaping hole under Spike''s front feet. Spike tilted forward as it fell, almost slipping into the pit.

    But he did not fall in. Just a little over half of him remained dangling on the edge. His back legs dug in deep to the ground, and began to pull back out of the Pit. One step¡­ two steps¡­

    "NOW!" Remian shouted to his friends and they charged out.

    One Tier 4 wolfcat, one Tier 4 Bear, and a Tier 5 Diamond Bristle Boar gushed out from the trench behind the hillock and ran headlong into Spike.

    BAM! Carrie rammed into Spike''s tail, where the spikes did not cover, nudging him forward.

    POW! Buff hammered another spot-between-spikes from behind and to the right.

    And¡­

    BOOM!

    Daring Drums, the Tier 5 Bristle Boar, rammed directly into Spike''s rear. Tusks and spikes collided; diamond bristles met shell; the impact knocked Remian clear off his feet. He fell backward, onto the stony dirt of Kara-Goth. DD, likewise, fell back a bit.

    And Spike? Spike fell forward.

    "URGHK!" Spike went down into the pit head-first.

    He landed at the bottom with a terrible crash!

    "Close it! CLOSE IT!!" Aren shouted.

    The lid of the pit creaked, and latches sounded, four heavy thumps.

    There was a furious roar from the depths, and the ground shook. The lid shook. Remian''s whole body shook.

    Then there was a brief, stunned silence.

    "YEAH!" Aren''s son was the first to cheer. "We GOT HIM!"

    In a moment, a hundred other voices cheered along with him.

 77 Buried

    While Remian and the High Rock clan celebrated the literal downfall of Spike, Lydia and Phoebe were settling in.

    First off, it should be mentioned that Marcus ended up becoming Phoebe''s first patient.

    Phoebe was a Life Mage of the Third Circle. Like her sister Lydia, who was of the Fourth Circle, her training was in medical work. While Lydia was a surgeon who specialized in emancipation, however, Phoebe was a Paramedic. Upon seeing an accident resulting in severe blunt force trauma taking place right before her very eyes, Phoebe''s first instinct was to stabilize the injured and haul them safely to the nearest medical facility. A few quick questions to Mindy assured her that the local equivalent to a medical center was the church in town.

    In other words, after seeing Max drop the crate on Marcus'' foot, Phoebe immediately went over, bandaged up the foot, and had the guys nearby haul Marcus to the church, regardless of his protests. It was around that time that Mindy went to join Remian at Kara-Goth.

    Upon reaching the church, the local medical staff (Rhema) was imposed upon to properly treat the casualty (Marcus). During that time, the priests saw Phoebe and dropped a bible, a stack of hymn books, and a cup of hot coffee in rapid succession. The casualties resulting from those accidents were best treated in a laundry basin.

    While Mindy started shooting at Spike and Remian was anxiously waiting for the Spike-Back Lizard to walk into their trap, Lydia was explaining her mission on the Frontier to the priests at the church. Kairos generously offered the church as a venue for emancipation.

    By the time Spike sniffed at the Pit suspiciously, Lydia and Kairos were already at the Farm looking for Taj. They found Nadia instead, and explained to her about the sisters'' mission.

    Toward this, Nadia was fully supportive. They never wanted to go back to the desert. To remove the slave-bonds of the Desert King was a crucial step in ensuring their ultimate freedom.

    The first person she scheduled for surgery was her own son, Davik. He was a nine year-old who loved to plant seeds and watch them sprout. He had been slave-bonded a month after he was born. The second person would be his four year-old sister, and the third, their one year-old brother. Nadia''s plea to Lydia and Phoebe was that the children be freed first. Since she was well aware that there were risks, her own children would be sent first. The rest would follow family by family, as they signed up.

    After the children of the Harvest Sun clan, the children of the High Rock clan would follow, and only then would the adults be freed. There would be only one exception; a heavily pregnant woman, whose child was due in weeks.

    That child would be the first child of their clan born into freedom.

    ***

    A stiff, dull ache permeated Remian''s body as he met up with three lynxmice. The one in the lead was Mikai, the fastest lynxmice in Shadowflash Fief. They were spies who had been set on Spike to find out how he was being controlled. Since Spike came all this way from Craggy Falls, they had trailed along at a safe distance and only just arrived.

    [Did you see it?]

    [We saw it.] Mikai confirmed. [There was a man. He took out some crystal thing and did something for about ten minutes at Spike''s head while he was asleep. We followed him back to his lair.]

    Images and flickers of memory slipped into Remian''s mind. A big black ruin, just around the corner from Craggy Falls. Crews of figures with their heads wrapped in coverings. They were¡­ looking for something in the Black Ruins.

    [What is that?] Remian stared. [Who are they and what are they looking for¡­?]

    Mikai shifed uneasily. [I¡­ don''t actually know. Spike headed north too soon. We had to follow. But the rest of the squads are still there. They keep watch on the men.]

    [Good. Take a look inside those crates if you can. Also, if they contact anyone with magic crystals¡­ I want to know.] Remian shifted. He fished out some cheese and handed it to them. [Thank you. Go find Tim and report before going back.]

    Mikai happily munched onto the cheese and dashed off to find Tim.

    Meanwhile, roars shook the ground every few seconds. Spike was clearly not happy about getting shoved into a pit. It might be a little tight, and he fell in head-first on top of that, which means he was probably in a position similar to DD and Bellower¡­

    Actually, no, he was in EXACTLY the same position, in more ways than one.

    BAM! A particularly powerful impact shook the ground.

    Remian exchanged glances with Carrie. "I was afraid of that."

    BAM! Another powerful shake. Another roar. Spike was struggling, and was lashing out randomly with his club-like tail.

    There was a loud creak. The area around the pit cover actually sank a good foot down.

    Uhoh. Not good. Was it possible Spike could actually destroy the Pit and free himself?!

    BAM! Another heavy impact. Another roar. Another creak, and another sinking motion.

    Spike was breaking the walls of the Pit with his tail. The High Rock clan had fortified it with gravel and mortar, but what was road material to Spike?

    BAM! This time, Remian felt like even the ground beneath himself was starting to slip.

    "Everyone run!" Remian shouted, and staggered.

    Carrie grabbed him up with her own tail and dashed away. Buff and DD ran with them, adding even more to the shaking in the ground.

    BAM! The clubbing of the Pit continued. There was another loud crash, and then another loud groaning of metal, and¡­

    BAM! With a painful creak, the sinking of the Pit Cover became a full-on fall.

    The ground collapsed. There was another furious roar, and then the sound of tons and tons of dirt and stone crashing down on a badly-positioned Spike-Back Lizard.

    Finally, there was a short silence. The next roar that Remian heard was distinctly muffled. But there was no more heavy impacts. Just roars.

    Spike had well and truly buried himself this time. Apparently he couldn''t even swing his tail any more.

    Good. If that clubbing had gone on much longer, Remian feared for the miners.

    The roaring went on. Half an hour¡­ one hour¡­ Aren and Zania brought him dinner while they waited Spike out. Remian kept watch on the northern horizon, hoping to see signal smoke from the airport, but there was nothing. Charlie''s crew would send up smoke if they found the Wave Caller Crystal, but apparently today''s crystal was much better hidden.

    There! Halfway through dinner, with Spike''s muffled roars as background music, a column of smoke rose up from the north.

    Abruptly, the roars stopped. [What the¡­? Where am I? What''s happening? Can somebody tell me what is going on?!]

    [Hey, there, Spike. You got Wave-Called again.] Remian greeted him.

    [AGAIN?! Oh, come on! This is cruelty to animals! This is reptile abuse! You can''t keep doing this to me!]

    [It''s not us doing it to you.] Remian snorted. [It''s you doing it to us.]

    [No, wait, it''s not my fault!]

    [Perhaps not. Yet here you are, rampaging through my town every so often. If we hadn''t stopped you today, you''d have wrecked us all over again.]

    [It''s still not my fault! You can''t just bury me alive! It''s not fair!]

    [Actually, we didn'' bury you. You did that yourself.]

    [Come on! Get me out of here! Please?]

    Remian cleared his throat. [There were other Tier 5 Wilds in similar positions as you. I''ll offer you the same deal I offered them. Swear fealty to me upon the grass and Kor''ag-dras, or upon the stones and Mal''thor-dras. Then we''ll get you out.]

    [Fealty?! What do you want me to do?]

    [Not much. But it occurs to me that you could be very useful for breaking large rocks and such.] Remian mused. [We''d have our own living wrecking ball. Finally, if you stick with us¡­ we''d guard you from those people who keep Wave Calling you.]

    [Whatever, just get me out!]

    [Swear!]

    [I swear fealty upon the rocks and Mal''thor-dras! Now, get me OUT OF HERE!]

    "All right, Carrie. Get the wolfcats and let''s go dig our new friend out of the pit. Hopefully this would be the last time he attacks us during Beast Waves."

 78 Patien

    The dull ache all over his body developed into full on debilitating pain.

    Remian wasn''t sure what it was all about. He''d been taken to see Phoebe, who said something¡­ he wasn''t sure what. He saw the curve of her eyebrows, the wide angelic eyes, the smile like sunshine, the high, strong cheekbones¡­

    As to what she really said, he wasn''t entirely sure. He only regained his senses after she moved on to the next patient.

    [What did she say, again?] he asked Carrie, who sat beside him.

    [Internal injuries. You need lots of rest. Try not to exert yourself for a week. I didn''t quite understand the rest.] Carrie summarized. [Also there are other patients who need a place to rest for a few days.]

    [What? How? Spike didn''t hurt anyone¡­ did he?]

    [No, it was Lydia.]

    [Lydia?? What did she do?]

    [Some sort of magic surgery to free slaves, I think?]

    Ah. Right. The newly freed slaves who just went through surgery would need some downtime too.

    "So, let''s go." Mindy said. Had she been there the whole time? Remian was half-surprised to see her there.

    "Where are we going?" Remian asked.

    "Where else? The Guild Hall is just about done. We saved you the entire fourth floor." Mindy told him. "It''s supposed to be a super-deluxe suite for the Guild Master, but right now all it has is a big bed."

    Remian tried to get up, but pain flared up all over his body. His entire back and neck felt terribly stiff. "Urghk¡­"

    [Come on.] Carrie picked him up with her tail and hauled him off without asking.

    She passed him on to Max and Tim at the Guild Hall. The two of them put him on a stretcher and brought him up the new stairs.

    "Tim? Max? What are you guys doing here?" Remian asked.

    "Settling Marcus into a recovery room. Doctor''s orders." Max answered. For a moment, he got distracted and bumped into the stairway railing. "Oof!"

    "Careful!" Tim warned.

    "Recovery room? There''s one here?" Remian blinked.

    "Oh. Right. The Harvest Sun clan adventurers kind of¡­ booked all the rooms in the first and second floor for their newly freed kids to recover. They paid with Points." Tim explained. "So when Phoebe said Marcus needed a place to recuperate too, Max figured we''d just put him up here with the rest of the patients. Like you."

    "Ugh." Remian couldn''t say anything against that. But then, he tried to get back to important issues. "Tim, we need to find out what''s going on at the Craggy Falls Black Ruins. We should send human scouts, or Vigil¡­"

    "I''ll go take a look myself." Tim assured him.

    "Charlie¡­ is he still here? The exports¡­"

    "I''ll handle that. You can award me points for being the Guild quartermaster later." Max told him.

    "Arnold needs to work on the XXL Ballista. Now that Spike''s here with us, there''s no telling what they''ll send against us next¡­"

    "He''s already on it!"

    "Buff can buy the cave, but we have to move the stuff here to the Guild¡­"

    "The basement is already prepared."

    "The farming equipment we brought¡­"

    "George already has them."

    "We also got some books¡­"

    "I''ll put them to good use. Also, the Earth Magic book is in your room." Mindy chipped in.

    "The Burning Steel Forge¡­"

    "We''ll help them build up the west side and set up their workshops and stuff." Max promised. "Look, we''ll handle the new developments, you just get some rest."

    "But¡­"

    "Doctor''s Orders!" Max said, and dumped him on his new bed.

    ***

    They pretty much left Remian alone in his new room. Stuck there, barely able to lift his arms, Remian restlessly picked up the Earth Magic book and began to study.

    This study soon locked in his entire concentration. He barely noticed when they brought him food.

    Two days passed before he could sit up unaided. That day, he was already Inscribing Earth scrolls. Two days later, he was back on his feet, though not for long and wobbly in his steps. By then, the Earth scrolls he Inscribed were Tier 2.

    By the fifth day, Remian wobbled his way down the stairs to the main hall to catch up on what was happening.

    He found Marcus there munching on steak grouchily. "Remian! These wolfcats of yours won''t let me leave!"

    "Why not?" Remian asked.

    "Max told them not to. It''s that girl you brought! The really pretty one! She''s taking over everything, bossing everyone about!" Marcus complained.

    "Sorry, can''t help you there." Remian grimaced. "It seems I''m on sick leave myself."

    That, and Marcus looked healthier and better rested today than he had in weeks. Say what you will about the doctor, a few days of rest had done Marcus a great deal of good.

    Remian appreciated the downtime too. He had been able to really concentrate and study magic during these few days. He wouldn''t be down here if he weren''t restless and hankering for something other than fruit and vegetables for meals.

    There was a new regular chef, now. With Tim running around spying on stuff all the time, there was a different boy earning most of his Points from cooking. His name was Aeren, and he was a young teenager from the High Rock clan. For a chef, Aeren was incredibly skinny, and he said that he always stayed skinny no matter how much he ate. On top of that, he had a huge appetite. Remian couldn''t make any sense of it, but his charbroiled T-bone Steak Portion was delicious.

    By the sixth day, Remian felt up to taking a walk to the farm.

    ***

    The Farm had grown explosively since the Harvest Sun clan sprung into action. Looking at it now, Remian felt pretty sure it was bigger than the town already. The Tier 1 and 2 Inscription materials took up only the nearest fields and pond. Farther ahead food crops stretched as far as the eye could see. No less than six farmhouses and accompanying structures dotted the landscape, two were near the Guild, others spread out across the distance.

    Yet despite having numerous structures across the area, there was a unity and a wholeness to them all that said this was all one big Farm, not six different farms. Remian was almost stunned to see the swathes of clansmen working in the fields, the children running around, even¡­

    Yes. There she was. Phoebe and Lydia were just done with a surgery at the sheltered porch of the nearest farmhouse, and were taking a short break. The children of the Harvest Sun clan were having class taught by a clanswoman not too far off...

    No, it wasn''t like he''d come all this way here just to see her. Remian was here to inspect the farm and the progress of the Harvest Sun Clan. He was NOT here just to catch a glimpse of Phoebe! Really!

    But since he was here anyway, and she was taking a break, Remian figured it wouldn''t do any harm to go over and talk to her.

    "So¡­ how are things?" Remian asked, waving in greeting.

    "Great!" Phoebe said. "You know¡­"

    The rest of her words faded into a blur. She had this glow in her eyes, and a cute tilt to her head and shoulders when she spoke, and sometimes, she shifted her pose in an oddly alluring manner. She liked to gesture when she spoke, and if it was about something nearby, she''d turn and point¡­

    Phoebe drew a Sigil. Light flared and then right in front of her, the entire field of flowers bloomed.

    Wait. What?

    "Nice." Remian watched the entire field of Glass Dandelions grow a couple of inches right before his eyes. A rather large, oversized bee in the field buzzed about in surprise at the thriving flowers.

    With another dazzling smile, Phoebe turned and left to help Lydia with her next patient.

    [What just happened?] the bee asked.

    [I think she just casted Life Magic.] Remian wasn''t sure he had his feet firmly on the ground just yet.

    [Is that¡­ going to happen more?] the bee asked, excitedly.

    [Uh¡­ sure?] Remian scratched his head. [I think she said something about teaching Life Magic to the farm clan¡­?]

    [AWESOME!] the bee buzzed. [Say! Can we move here? Can we? Can we?!]

    [Uh¡­ sure?] Remian replied, not really thinking.

    Fifteen minutes later, a huge swarm of Feelo-Wasps came to live at the Farm.

 79 Agreements with Wilds

    "Well¡­ there go two trees." George observed as the Feelo-wasps riddled them with holes and turned them into hives. "At least we get honey."

    That was the agreement Remian reached with Bzziezuo, queen of the Feelo-wasps. BZ was newly coronated, and her swarm was actually considered small and weak; given the abundance of flowering plants in the vicinity, she felt this would be an ideal spot to settle down¡­ as long as the Fief''s Lord gave permission.

    Also, if the Fire Hornets kicked up a fuss, he was supposed to help her swarm against them. Remian wasn''t entirely sure that was a good idea, but Carrie said that was no problem. Buff alone was more than enough for that sort of mess. Apparently the fourth-tier bear had innate defenses that made him the absolute trump card against bee-type Wilds.

    The agreement made with BZ got Remian thinking. He pondered; he consulted Carrie; he discussed with Buff; he spoke with DD; he even had a word with Spike. Afterward, these four great Wilds went out and gathered their kin.

    That afternoon, the Harvest Sun clan was stunned to see a stream of wolfcats arriving with Carrie at their head. There were roughly five hundred of them, about twelve different packs from Shadowflash Fief and the neighboring Fiefs. These wolfcats would all live in the Fief from now on, under Remian''s banner and under Carrie''s command; other than them, all other speed-type land predator Wilds were driven out, especially the large cat kinds.

    Later that night, Remian and Mindy took the Foresight to meet up with DD at the alchemist''s cave. He had pretty much taken control of all the Boar-types in the region. Also, he''d found his old herd, who had followed him to this Fief when he had challenged Remian. All of them pledged to fight at his side in battle when he called. This included next week''s Beast Wave, whatever may come. Also, they agreed to look for some sort of mushroom Aeren asked about, something Boars were supposed to be good at finding, something called ''truffles''. As for dragging around carts and farming vehicles¡­ they wanted to be paid in meat.

    "Do you even eat meat?!" Remian blinked.

    Apparently they did. Boars ate all sorts of stuff, meat, fruit, nuts, plants, grubs... even snakes.

    The next day, Buff brought in a crew of six bears, two of him were really just cubs. But even the cubs were Tier 3 and about as big as Red or Lunar. Accompanied by the bears, Remian took a trip to the Gorge River.

    There, Spike was in the middle of a negotiation with the crocodiles. The negotiation did not appear to be going well. They looked like they were on the verge of declaring war outright.

    Cracktooth was dead. His eldest three sons were dead. The remaining crocodile-types were divided into six different factions all trying to claim territory in the river. The factions themselves could not come to an accord, much less make any binding agreement with Remian. Neither did any of the factions favor making an agreement. They refused to even agree to a non-aggression treaty.

    [Well, you guys can fight it out if you want. Me, I''m staying right here.] Spike declared, plopping himself down right where the gorge ended and the river became easily accessible. [And if I see any of you within a hundred of my steps from where I''m sitting, you''re going to regret it.]

    The crocodile-Wilds subsided and slunk away northwards.

    [So¡­ does that mean we can safely go fishing?] Remian guessed.

    [As long as they''re near me, yeah.] Spike assured Remian, looking a bit proud of himself.

    Not to be outdone, Miik also gathered the lynxmice. Even the desert lynxmice came along for the sheer heck of it. There were thousands and thousands of them, from this Fief and the neighboring Fiefs. Aeren saw them coming and immediately locked down the larder with the help of Red and his pack.

    Wait. Since when did Red lead a whole pack? And how come it looked like there were at least thirty of them in it?! Did it just form recently, at the wolfcat convention?

    Anyhow. The lynxmice all pledged loyalty to do anything he asked of them as long as they were made the dominant rodents of the Fief. They would handle most of it themselves, with just a bit of wolfcat support. Carrie sent them two packs and the lynxmice began a grand campaign of conquering the rodent world of the entire Fief. All other rodents, rat, rabbit, mole, or whatnot, would submit, flee, or die!

    Having established agreements with the Wilds, Remian turned to the Burning Steel Forge and started discussing a formal agreement of their own. Part-ownership, commissioned works, smelting services, the employment of Wilds¡­ the discussions promised to be long and complex, but at least they had begun.

    By the time Charlie arrived on Fryday, Frontier Town was bustling with activity and at least half of it was done by the Wilds. There were wolfcats and lynxmice everywhere! They were salvaging in the wreckage, digging and leveling terrain, fighting rats, hunting the remainder of Bellower''s herd¡­

    Yet for all the hunting they did, beef exports essentially dropped to zero. They needed all the meat they could get their hands on. DD''s herd were working in the farms now, pulling ploughs and clearing land, and goodness they could eat¡­ could they even afford Boar labor? Paying with meat was going to be very costly. Remian wasn''t sure how long they could keep it up or what would happen once they couldn''t.

    But though the beef exports halted, they began to export truffles. Plus, with the influx of honey and potential for export, the Harvest Sun farmers quadrupled their cultivation of calabash.

    Fire Copper export had risen to twenty crates, eight tons netting a full 400,000 Lir. That was quadruple of what it had been when Kaleo came around. Six crates of raw jade brought another 300,000 Lir. Chunks of blue mana crystal topped it up with another 300,000 Lir, raising this trip''s income to a full million on mining exports alone. 10% of the Fire Copper and Jade income belonged to Charlie, though, so 70,000 lir of that was his.

    Also, half the farm''s net profits were his. There wasn''t much in way of export, mainly jellyfish and truffles. Barely a few thousand lir. But Remian didn''t mind; there were a lot of things growing on the farm, palmyra, maize, shorgum, beans, dates¡­ Remian wasn''t even sure what else Taj and his clan were growing on the farm or when they would be ready for harvest, but when they were, he expected a much higher income and meals a lot more diverse in the future. Until then, they''d be eating food from hunting, fishing and foraging.

    Meanwhile, the airship had brought another large shipment of people. Remian could only gape at the numbers. They had brought in a full load. "Who are all these people?"

    "About that¡­" Marcus coughed. "I wrote to the Legion Headquarters, telling them we were doing mass emancipation, and there''s a volunteer specialist here. You know how the Legion hates slavery? Well, it turns out HQ has more slaves than they can handle, so¡­"

    "They''re shipping them here for surgery?" Remian guessed. "And what''s to become of these slaves after they''re freed?"

    "Um¡­ I thought you could handle that." Marcus scratched his head.

    Remian peered at him with narrowed eyes. "Was that why you wrote to the Legion HQ? So that we could increase our workforce?"

    "Something like that." Marcus said evasively.

    "Or was it because the more patients Lydia has, the longer Phoebe will stick around?"

    "I didn''t say that. You did." Marcus shrugged, looking up at the sky innocently.

    In any case, this meant a regular influx of new settlers. Remian began to consider basic industries like sawmills, the new quarry, brick-making and pottery. If they didn''t happened to have skilled workers for those industries in this batch, they should very well prioritize finding such specialists ASAP.

    Just as Remian thought things were taking a turn for the better, however, Mikai arrived in a hurry. "Squeeak, squiik!" [Remian! HELP!]

    "What''s wrong?" Remian asked.

    [It''s Tim! He''s been captured!]

    ***

    It started when people from the Black Ruins went around planting strange crystals in various lairs, dens, nests and holes. They set up bait with crystals in formations around them. Dozens of Wilds began roving around in bad tempers, and those tempers got worse every day.

    Tim tried to steal one of those crystals. He actually succeeded, but somehow, they found his hiding place and captured him.

    "They must have been able to trace the crystal." Charlie guessed, as they held a council of war and discussed the rescue mission.

    "What are we going to do?" Mindy asked.

    "We could get another adventuring party. A soldier, a mage, a priest, a ranger¡­" Joshu suggested.

    "No. It''s too risky." Remian shook his head. "This time, we''re going in force."

    "What?" Joshu looked at him blankly.

    "Carrie, call Buff and the bears. Bring the packs." Remian glanced at Mindy. "Is the Tug ready?"

    "Not even close." Mindy said regretfully.

    "We can use the Albatross." Charlie offered.

    "Good. Also, I''m going to ask BZ for some of her swarm." Remian glanced about. "Marcus, I''ll leave the protection of Frontier Town to you. DD and Spike will be here. If Spike shows even the smallest signs ofacting weird, drop him down the pit."

    [HEY!] Spike protested.

    "How many lynxmice can we load onto the Albatross?" Remian asked Charlie.

    "Are the bears coming aboard, or are they on foot?"

    Remian glanced at Buff.

    Buff looked at the airship apprehensively. [Uh¡­ I''d rather run.]

    "They''ll be on the ground with the wolfcats." Remian answered.

    "Along with supplies¡­ I think we can carry a thousand lynxmice. Maybe two thousand, if they squeeze."

    "It''s going to be a long trip. Best not to squeeze."

    "I''m coming too." Mindy added. "I''ll bring the Foresight. The Albatross can tow it along."

    "Mindy, the Albatross already has new cannons¡­"

    "Cheap ones, with less than half the firepower of the XL Ballista!"

    Charlie couldn''t deny that.

    "Mindy, are you sure?" Remian checked.

    "Tim''s in trouble. I''m sure."

    "Okay. Then get your stuff. We leave in half an hour."

 80 Black Ruins

    Tim had to admit, he really messed up this time.

    "Who sent you?!" they asked for the umpteenth time. Tim braced himself; what would it be this time? The fist? The boot? The whip?

    But no. This time, they were getting creative. "Talk, or the little monster dies!"

    Tim blinked, tried to blink through puffy eyelids. They were holding knives against the lynxmouse caught in the cage opposite him.

    "Squii!" the lynxmouse spoke angrily. He cursed eloquently, cursing their mothers, their fathers, their entire families, their dogs, he even cursed their cheese¡­

    But of course, while Tim had a vague idea of what the lynxmouse was saying, their captors did not. They simply started knifing the brave little critter.

    Tim stared woodenly, mutely. One more hero, fallen in service of the Frontier. It wasn''t the first. At least this one wasn''t falling right out the bottom of the ground and falling down a cliff.

    Mustn''t show any anger, any pain at the lynxmouse being killed. Must pretend it doesn''t matter. Or else they really would use more and more lynxmice to threaten him.

    But abruptly, there was an odd thud. Tim felt it in the ground under him. Somewhere in the distance, people started shouting.

    "What''s going on?" one of the three captors torturing Tim asked.

    "Ignore it! Bring out another little monster! I don''t believe he''ll keep quiet while we kill more and more of his beloved pets!"

    "They''re not my pets." Tim spoke at last. Then, he grinned, despite the pain all over his face, he grinned.

    "What''s so funny?" they asked him. "There''s no doubt these things mean something to you! We found half your pack stuffed with cheese! The little things even tried to fight to save you! Don''t pretend you don''t care about them!"

    "Maybe. But they''re just not my pets." Tim chuckled.

    He could hear it now. Shouts and screams were rising in the distance. The fools in front of him still ignored it, ignored everything, trying to get him to talk. Well, then. At this point, it wouldn''t matter any more, would it?

    "What do you mean?" one of them asked, the one playing the ''nice'' guy.

    "I mean¡­" Tim chortled. "I''m not their master. They''re not MY pets."

    The ground shook. Screams echoed all around, to their left, above them, even below. The torturers were looking around wildly now, on the verge of making a run for it themselves, and never mind the prisoner.

    "If you''re not their master¡­ then who is?" finally someone asked the important question.

    At that, Tim couldn''t hold it any longer. He burst out laughing, roaring uproariously as the whole wall behind them fell away and a hundred wolfcats charged in to tear the three torturers apart.

    Absolute chaos reigned as wolfcats and lynxmice and bears ripped through the camp. Ripples of light streaked down from the sky; explosions tore through the night. Goodness, was that the cannons of the Roving Albatross? Remian had literally brought in the big guns this time.

    A streak of blue lit up the night as if in agreement. Tim recognized it; even the Foresight was here? And what was that descending from above?! It looked like a swarm of giant bees, each the size of his fist. There were hundreds and hundreds of them, stinging, buzzing, swarming all over the defense lines.

    His friends sure weren''t kidding around. This was serious. But yet for all their seriousness, Tim just couldn''t help himself. In the midst of the screams and the storm of firepower, he laughed and laughed and laughed.

    A dozen lynxmice were on him now, gnawing away at his bonds. A dozen more pounced upon the cages keeping their friends captive; one of them had the keys. Other lynxmice scurried about the prison, looting everything they considered valuable. Fierce barks, chittering and squeaking rose up on all sides. In the midst of a flood of lynxmice and wolfcats, Tim got to his feet.

    "You guys enjoy yourselves. I''m going to meet Remian." Tim told them, and made his way toward the airships.

    Twenty wolfcats went with him. Next time, Tim swore, I''m bringing a squad of these guys with me. Lynxmice just weren''t much good in a fight. Tim had ten of them with him when he was captured. Six guys had totally trounced the lot of them, Tim included. Now if he had ten of these wolfcats with him, that fight would have gone very, very differently.

    The fighting was over by the time he got to the camp perimeter. There was no more shouts, no more screams, no more shooting. The Roving Albatross lowered rope ladders; Joshu and Denise were lowered with them. They fastened ropes around Tim and he was unceremoniously hauled up to the Albatross.

    "Tim!" Remian looked at him and his face lost color. His fist tightened. But he put on a brave smile, and said, "What did you do to your face?"

    "I thought I''d try and disguise myself. How did you recognize me?" Tim joked.

    "I almost didn''t." Remian joked back, but all too quickly, his smile slipped and a grim look replaced it. "Phoebe!"

    "Ready!" an angel descended upon Tim, her eyes filled with light as she inspected him, and touched him, and¡­

    "Ow!" Tim winced at a particularly painful swab. She was cleaning his wounds with alcohol and stung like a giant bee. On top of that, she was laying hands on him, hands glowing with magic light, and¡­ "OW!!"

    "Bear with it." She said in a voice like honey. "It''ll only take a second."

    "Is healing magic usually this painful?" Remian asked, studying it intently.

    "Emergency treatments focus on speed, not comfort." Phoebe explained. "It helps when the patients are usually unconscious during these proceedings."

    "GWUAAAH!" Tim groaned as she laid hands on his ribs and they started fusing back into place.

    "What if they''re not?" Remian asked. "What if they''re awake while you treat them?"

    "Then they''ll usually be unconscious by the time I''m done." Phoebe explained. She glanced at Tim. "In fact, I think¡­"

    She laid her hand on his forehead. Dim yellow light carried Tim away into a mellow, dreamy stupor.

    ***

    When he awoke, it was morning. He was on a bedroll on the deck of the Roving Albatross next to three lynxmice laying on towels. The smell of beef bacon drifted from somebody''s plate; it was hot, freshly cooked. That must have been what woke him up.

    "Here." Remian was there, holding out a mug. Tim took it; inspected the brown liquid inside. Hot cocoa, according to the smell. Remian left it in his hands. "Drink slowly."

    Tim sipped. "Where are we?"

    "We''re still at the Black Ruins." Remian said. "Any idea what these men wanted in here? Who they were, who they worked for?"

    "My guess? It''s the Desert King." Tim grunted. "They use the same crystal communications as the Secret Waves used. If I''m not mistaken, it''s even the same voice on the other side of the crystals."

    Remian took out one of those crystals, one of those things he''d attempted to steal and gotten captured for. "Charlie says these are Bond Crystals. They form matching pairs; whoever has one side can speak with the other side, but they need to feed the crystals mana at exactly the same time. There were no less than six of these crystals in the camp, and I have no idea who is on the other side of all six, whether it''s the same person or if we''re dealing with a consortium."

    "Careful. They can track the crystals." Tim warned him.

    "Not without personalized sigils. And the guys who owned these are dead." Remian cleared his throat. "Only their owners can track them and their sigils have faded away with their deaths already."

    "So the guys on the other sides of the crystals can''t find us, but we can''t find them either, and there''s no way to find out who they are unless we just happen to activate the crystals at the exact same time." Tim shook his head. "I don''t suppose you thought to keep anyone alive for information?"

    "Uh¡­ no." Remian grimaced. "We made a clean sweep. No survivors."

    "Great." Tim sighed. "More work for me."

    "We were mainly just concerned with getting you back alive." Remian pointed out.

    "Thanks for that, by the way." Tim stretched, testing his body. "I think I''m okay."

    "Phoebe''s good at her job." Remian couldn''t keep a slip of admiration from his voice.

    Tim grimaced. "Yeah, but¡­ I''d rather not have to go through that again."

    "That''s incentive for keeping yourself out of trouble. Otherwise people might just hurt themselves over and over again to get her attention."

    Tim let out a half-snort of laughter. "What were you thinking, bringing her around? She''s a walking beacon for man-made accidents."

    "Wasn''t my idea."

    "Just how many guys have fallen for her already?"

    "Including you and me? All of them, probably." Remian joked.

    Tim slipped him a sideways glance. Jokes aside, he wasn''t quite sure how serious Remian was, or how serious he himself was. Before yesterday, he might have allowed himself to daydream a little¡­ or a lot¡­ but then he remembered that matter-of-fact look on her face when she treated him, that completely unruffled demeanor while he was gasping in pain.

    Thinking about it now, Tim just had this oddly cold feeling, like a chill running down his back. He couldn''t explain why, only that he felt it. There was a reason, or multiple reasons, somewhere, but he couldn''t put his finger on why right now.

    But anyway. Back to the important points. "They''re looking for something in the ruins. There are some crates sorted out in the underground basement of the third cabin¡­"

    "Yes, we found it." Remian glanced downward, as if seeing the campsite through the hull of the airship. "How long do you think the dig site has been here? They actually had the time to build a sizeable village of cabins and wooden structures."

    "Years, maybe." Tim shifted.

    "Yet, we never knew there was a settlement here. There''s no indication of it on any map or any report."

    "This whole area was a no-go. Craggy Falls was Spike''s territory. None of our scouts would even come close to this place. At least, not close enough to find a settlement in the middle of the Black Ruins. I don''t know what they were after, but those crates had stuff I have never seen before."

    "Agreed. I saw them too. None of us have a clue what they are." Remian shifted. "I don''t even recognize the runes or sigils on those devices. I can sense magic in them, but that''s about it. Charlie says we should ask an expert. He wants to bring them back to Ashdale."

    "What do you think?" Tim asked.

    "I think we should bring an expert here to study them. I get the feeling that these relics are not just magical and valuable, they might be dangerous."

    "Speaking of danger¡­ did you see the underground section?" Tim asked.

    "I did. The Wilds wouldn''t set foot in that place. They all say they smelled danger."

    "I don''t know about smells, but even I get the sense that place is bad news." Tim shook his head. "I woudn''t go in there without a well-prepared adventuring team. I''m thinking at least Slayer-class warriors."

    "That can wait. Right now, we need to get back. We''re bringing the relics back with us."

    "And then?"

    "Then we cover our tracks. We''ll get Spike to come around and stomp the whole settlement into the ground."

 81 Determination

    While Spike was stomping about the Black Ruins and therefore taking all the blame for the campsite''s destruction, Remian was listening to an interesting story.

    "Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, there was a selfish, secretive but highly advanced nation that hid on this continent." Charlie said in a conspirational tone. "They had technology far beyond anything we have today, used magic that could turn the laws of nature upside down! At the center of their civilization was the Black City; and there, they sought to defy heaven."

    "I thought you said there were dozens of Black Ruins scattered all over the Wildlands." Remian objected.

    "There are. They''re all too small to be the Black City, though. They''re just outposts or something." Charlie explained. "The real Black City was supposedly immense, like a mountain."

    "Has anyone seen ruins like that? Any explorers?"

    "Nope. Not a clue. The largest of the Black Ruins are far to the south, and even they aren''t much bigger than an average town. The Black City itself seems to have completely disappeared." Charlie cleared his throat. "Anyway. According to legend, the Black City became so powerful, they grew proud and one day challenged heaven to a magical contest. No one knows exactly what happened, but in a single moment, the Black City was gone. Nothing remained, not even wreckage, as if they were simply removed from existence. Supposedly, they were thrown out of the universe. Fearful of God''s wrath, all their people fled the Wildlands. All we have left are our records, the relics, and the ruins."

    "What happened to the descendants of the people who fled?"

    "No idea. Nobody''s gone around publicizing such issues."

    "Do you think maybe they came back? That they''re the ones we just fought?"

    "It''s possible. At this point, anything is possible."

    "It makes sense. I mean, if the Desert King''s city is the nearest place anyone fleeing the Wildlands could get to. Maybe the Desert King himself is one of their descendants and simply came back looking to reclaim past glories."

    "Or maybe we''re overthinking it and he just wants to loot old ruins and steal technology."

    "Why hasn''t anyone else done so, by the way?"

    "Oh, they''ve tried. Many have even succeeded. Magic has advanced rapidly in the past few hundred years as a result. In fact, I think most of those ruins have already been stripped clean. The exceptions are the ones in places too dangerous to explore."

    "Isn''t anyone afraid that in using Black City magic, they might also go ''poof''?"

    "Of course. That''s why it''s supposedly forbidden! But every so often, you see some government-linked company use extraordinary methods with extraordinary results and you start hearing rumors¡­ it''s all very hush-hush."

    "Well, someone definitely didn''t want anyone to know about that dig site. The Desert King was calling Beast Waves onto us and suppressing Frontier Town. I thought it was just him, but seeing that there were six communication crystals in the camp, I have to wonder if he has partners."

    "If you''re really intent on declaring war on him, I''ll bet you''re going to find out the hard way."

    There was a sort silence.

    "So these relics we have here¡­" Remian looked over the pieces set on the table between them.

    "Five of them are of similar form; I have a sense of water magic involved here." Charlie said, examining grayish crystalline gourds covered with mysterious runes."These two over here seem to be a linked pair; I sense wind magic from the runes. The rest, I can''t figure out."

    "These four feel like fire magic, and these three feel like earth magic." Remian supplied. "But this last one¡­ this one doesn''t feel like anything I recognize. In fact, it feels¡­ wrong."

    "You mean, it''s broken?"

    "No. It looks intact and undamaged." Remian examined the canister-like shape. "But it just feels wrong."

    "Well, I can''t recognize any of the runes on it." Charlie said, peering at the relic. "I recognize about half the runes on the paired wind relics, and quite a few on the water magic relics, but not a single one of those on that wrongness-canister."

    "Maybe Andros might recognize some." Remian mused.

    "Aren''t you going to get an expert look over them?" Charlie prompted.

    "Not unless we have no choice. Like you said, everything about Black City magic is very hush-hush. I don''t want to invite more trouble on our heads if we can help it."

    "You say so, but I doubt we''re going to be able to figure out these relics by ourselves."

    ***

    Andros was actually having a rather good week before Black City magic came up. No less than six master smiths, twice as many journeyman smiths and thrice as many apprentices had joined the Burning Steel Forge recently. Along with the recent trip to Ashdale, the profits from sales of runic weaponry and the materials he''d bought there, the forge was expanding on all sides. At this point, they could churn out Tier 4 XL Ballista bolts (a.k.a. steel stakes) at a rate of six per day.

    But of course, they weren''t doing that, now. They were building tools, specifically workshop tools, for themselves to use for more metalworking¡­

    It was while Andros was contemplating expansion that Remian and Charlie dropped by and invited him to the Guild Hall to study some relics.

    "One thousand Lir!" Andros said immediately. "Per relic. Consultation fees."

    "What?" Charlie protested. "You''re already having it easy here and you still want to charge fees?!"

    "Charlie, relax." Remian nudged him. "After all, they''re good tax-paying citizens of Frontier Town."

    "T-taxes?!" Andros gaped. "Wait! Nobody said anything about taxes!"

    "Nobody said anything about consultation fees either." Remian mentioned smoothly.

    Andros'' face fell. "Fine. Forget I said anything about that. Let''s just go see your relics."

    "Now, now, let''s not be hasty. Taxes are only reasonable, after all." Remian mused. "What do you think? A sales tax on all exports? What about materials import taxes? And land tax?"

    "Exports, imports AND land?" Andros choked. "Come on! The main reason so many of my old friends joined up was to avoid taxes! I thought we were on the same side here!"

    "Ah, but clearly we''re not. You do still charge me for your services, so at the very least, I should charge you rent."

    "Rent? For what?"

    "For the land your forge is built on. Plus your houses. You seem to be wanting the entire west side, so maybe¡­ 50,000 lir a month?"

    Andros choked. "I may as well pay taxes!"

    "Right on!" Remian agreed sagely.

    "Wait. How high are the taxes, exactly?"

    "I''m thinking 5% sales tax, 5% import tax." Remian paused. "I guess we can waive the land tax for smelting services."

    "Why not just 10% on sales?" Charlie asked.

    "Because we should support local suppliers over foreign goods?"

    "I''m not sure 5% is enough of a deterrent for that."

    "Well, I don''t think we should raise it higher. Taxes do seem to be an issue with Andros'' friends."

    "They are!" Andros cut in at once. "Isn''t there some other way we can handle this? I thought all you wanted were ballista bolts and smelting services! If you tax my sales, I''ll have to charge for smelting just to balance¡­"

    It took about an hour of back and forth before they settled.

    All consultation would be free. Smelting and work on military equipment would be free. Remian would supply materials for the weaponry he asked for as a norm.

    There would be no taxes or rent. The Burning Steel group could have the entire west side. Remian would supply building materials for the Burning Steel to build everything. He would also send workers to help the construction so it could be finished in a single year. He would pay all their salaries meanwhile.

    Following that investment, he would also own 50% of the forge and have administrative rights second only to Andros.

    Henceforth the Burning Steel would not longer be called a ''forge'' but a company. Their first major project? To support Arnold in preparing the XXL Ballista in time for the next Beast Wave. Their second? Fully equipping the defenders of Frontier Town with Tier 4 weaponry and armor. This included the Iron Legion, the Adventurers, the clans, and even the Wilds if they wanted (except for Buff, Remian bet that most of them didn''t).

    Another new company starting up would be Vin Construction, 100% owned by Remian. Their first major project? Frontier Town''s water network. Toward this, Charlie was going to try and recruit skilled workers from Ashdale and other clans from Fal''Herim. In return, Charlie received one of the five water-type relics. He was going to consult an expert about it and promised to share his findings.

    Also, Charlie wanted to open a bank. For security''s sake he wanted to build it right across the road from the Iron Legion camp. He and Remian would also set up their shops nearby, starting a market zone. The idea was to turn that area into a new South Side. But first, Vin Construction would need to set up a good water system. That could take at least a month.

    All this was, of course, assuming that they managed to fend off the next Beast Wave. This time, Remian was determined to do so.

 82 Frontier Defense Force

    During the week, Remian and his friends brought out more firepower to bear than they ever thought possible.

    First off, with the help of practically all the factions in town, Arnold completed the XXL Ballista with parts from the Tier 5 Burning Bull. This new weapon was instantly nicknamed the ''Bellower Ballista'' and more than delivered on the 10x power request. According to Arnold, the Bellower Ballista should actually reach 12x.

    Second, all four major factions of Frontier Town dedicated 25 people to the new Frontier Defense Force. These specialized troops from the Iron Legion, the Burning Steel, the High Rock clan and the Harvest Sun clan trained together under Legion supervision, using Burning Steel gear. All of them were armored in Tier 3.5 reinforced leather armor made from pieces of Tier 3 and Tier 4 Wilds hide. For weapons, the Burning Steel actually made them Bone Spears from the skeletons of Tier 4 Wilds. They also had training in Tier 4 heavy crossbows, but there weren''t enough of those to equip more than half of them yet.

    On top of that, each major faction still offered to send out volunteers for the regular town militia as and if required. Remian took no chances; he called for full militia deployment for that crucial Fryday. Consequently, no less than three hundred people showed up Fryday morning with whatever weaponry they could get their hands on, including pitchforks and saucepans. The mines, the farms and the Iron Legion camp were practically emptied out.

    Still, Remian called on the Wilds. One team of bears, four herds of boars, twelve packs of wolfcats, thirty packs of lynxmice and a Tier 5 Spike-Back Lizard assembled for battle by lunch-time. Looking at the flood of Wilds on his side, Remian briefly wondered if these guys alone were enough to stop the incoming Beast Wave. He also wondered how the heck he was ever going to keep them fed.

    Meanwhile, Mindy and her crew launched the half-finished Tug. It was barely functioning, but it flew and it could tow the Sky Barge around. With the XXL ''Bellower'' Ballista mounted on the Sky Barge and the XL Ballista on the Foresight, Mindy''s fleet of three airships was already able to provide some serious air support.

    Even so, Charlie brought in his Roving Albatross with no less than eight new cannons, each with the power to shoot down Tier 4''s. He arrived in the late afternoon, having been delayed for the upgrades.

    Hundreds of Lynxmice and three teams of Adventurers were deployed as scouts. All four airships were in high altitude with spyglasses and magnification wind magic employed for lookouts. By sunset, the militia, the FDF and the Iron Legion were all geared up and deployed in full battle formation around the Pit of Kara-Goth. Traps and barriers were raised at either side of the Pit, ready to catch oncoming attackers in a four-way crossfire from the main battle lines blocking the north, the airships above, Kara on the left and Goth on the right.

    The forces of Frontier Town were ready and waiting¡­

    And waiting¡­

    And waiting¡­

    Night fell, and still there was no smoke signal. An hour passed, and there was no signal fire. Charlie set out in the Albatross just to make sure the scouts and lookouts were okay and that they really didn''t see any incoming Beast Wave.

    Two hours passed. Charlie reported back; all scouts were in good condition and alert, but there simply wasn''t anything to report.

    There was no Beast Wave.

    At that, four hundred people let out a cheer that almost deafened Remian. While he himself felt oddly disappointed, it seemed that taking out the campsite at the Black Ruins had stopped the persons responsible from bespelling the next victims of the Wave Call.

    Just in case, they kept their stations for a third hour, and a fourth. But by the fifth hour, DD and Spike called off their alerts. Buff grunted and left with his team. Remian likewise released the militia volunteers. The Iron Legion, the FDF, the wolfcats and the lynxmice maintained watch, but it was clear they did so in a much more relaxed state.

    The lynxmice scattered by midnight. Most of the wolfcats were dismissed around that time and the Iron Legion also called it a day.

    Just in case, though, Carrie and Red''s pack stayed up with the FDF. Nobody was expecting a Beast Wave at that point; they set up campfires around the Pit and had a nightwatch barbecue, with soft chatter and low laughter filling the air.

    Remian and Mindy joined their midnight feast without worrying.

    When the sun rose the next morning, they were still awake, and there was not a signal fire or smoke pillar to be seen.

    "We should celebrate!" Mindy said, sleepily. "Fifteen days without a Beast Wave! It''s the first time in my life¡­ that¡­ that I¡­"

    She fell asleep with her head on Remian''s shoulder and snored softly.

    Remian worried she might drool on him.

    So ended the first official deployment of the newly minted Frontier Defense Force and the largest defense operation Remian had ever joined. Not a shot was fired, not a drop of blood was spilled. The enemy simply didn''t show up.

    To that, Remian and everyone with him was more delighted than disappointed.

    ***

    "What shall we do, now that there is no Beast Wave?"

    The man asking the question was named Song Chen. He was a Slayer originally from the Dragon Empire, one of those previously employed by the Burning Steel Forge. Since Burning Steel became a company and turned toward economics rather than thug tactics for profit, Song Chen had been offered position of chief of security, but he turned it down to look for a more exciting job.

    In joining the Frontier Defense Force, Song Chen pretty much became the publicly acknowledged strongest fighter and thus, their leader. He was one who would give orders to all 99 of the others, taking orders only from Remian himself.

    "For now, protect Kara-Goth and the High Rock clan. Keep an eye out for a giant tortoise." Remian directed. "Keep training to face the next possible Beast Wave."

    "Do you think there really will be another one?" Song asked.

    "It''s best to be prepared." Remian didn''t tell him the future prospects of a Wave-less scenario; that they would soon be training to face human formations in combat, that the next field of battle was probably going to be the north rather than the south.

    Still, they should never neglect the south. Just because there was an interruption with the regular Beast Waves, it didn''t mean their troubles from Wild attacks were over. Shadowflash Fief was just the tip of the Wildlands. There were countless Wilds out there stronger than anything Remian had faced so far, including Spike. Dragon Lake alone supposedly had hundreds of Tier 5 dragons, some even Tier 6.

    Or at least, that was what the Crazy Fisher said, years ago at the Circling Ravens tavern. He might have been just telling the children a fantasy story to entertain them, but Remian wasn''t about to ignore the possibility that it was accurate, or worse, an understatement.

    A lot of people seemed to think the FDF was a fine fighting force in good standing, but to Remian, one hundred fresh troops with Tier 4 gear was barely passable. Thinking of possible hostilities with the neighboring Fiefs, he wanted ten times more troops. Thinking of an oncoming war with Fal''Herim, he wanted a hundred times more troops.

    Anyway. Kara-Goth and the Pit was currently the strongest defense point Frontier Town had. Any Beast Wave coming from the south would either have to pass between Kara and Goth (and around the Pit) or go around the hills to the east or west. Eastwards would be the shorter detour, whereby they might pass between the hills and the river zone where Spike guarded the fishermen. Westwards would either mean trekking over the highlands, or going a long way around the hills and then making a direct march due north to the quickly-expanding farms. But that was a really, really long detour.

    In other words, it made sense to fortify the bottleneck at Kara-Goth against attacks from the south. If they could cut off access to the western route and prevent trekking over the hills to the east, they could really secure the entire territory between Kara-Goth and Fort Spoas.

    Of course, there was the distinct worry of attacks from the east, and definitely, definitely, they had to consider the north. But those would be issues for tomorrow. Today, all Remian wanted to do was build a wall and carve out some hills so that nobody at the bottom of the hills on the south side could climb over to the north.

    For that, the man of the hour would be Spike. When it came to taking out chunks of hillside, Spike''s club tail was Remian''s demolisher of choice. Just commanding him to do it didn''t seem fair, however. Remian always paid his workers. Always.

    So he asked Spike directly, along with an explanation of what he wanted. "What sort of payment do you want in return?"

    Immediately, Spike replied, [I want to go home. You can call me for help when you need it, but I don''t want to stay around here any longer than I need to. I want to go back to Craggy Falls.]

 83 Movements

    "Can we build you a home here? Set up a nice cave?" Remian asked.

    [It''s not the same. Nothing''s the same. And there''s the territory to consider. If I stay away too long, I''ll lose my turf.]

    "But what if bad men make you crazy and you come attacking us again? You swore fealty on the rocks and Mal''thor-dras. What would happen if you broke your vow?"

    [Then Mal''thor-dras would strike me.] Spike shuddered. [But you stopped them, didn''t you? That''s why there''s no Beast Wave yesterday.]

    "Maybe. But I think there''s more of them out there. I don''t think the Beast Waves are going to stop for long." Remian said. "Tell you what. We can set up a clan of wolfcats to guard you and a clan of lynxmice to stand watch, but you have to come help fight every Beast Wave."

    [But it takes so long to get here and back!] Spike protested.

    "Exactly." Remian stretched. "It won''t be like that forever, though. Right now, our defense line is moving to Kara-Goth. One day, maybe a year from now, we''ll expand far enough that we''ll move the line to Three Forks River and fortify Rocky Ford. Someday, we might even expand it to the Deadly Sands and then fortify the Rocky Ravine. That''s just a day''s trek from Craggy Falls."

    [That''s all ''maybe'' and ''one day''. I need to go home now.]

    An odd thought occurred to Remian then. "Spike, just how large is your territory?"

    [Not as big as a Fief. About a tenth as large.] Spike shifted.

    That was more land area than the whole town, more than Kara and Goth put together. That was about as much as the farm was currently taking up.

    Remian considered for a bit, then said, "What if I had some of my people stay over at your place?"

    [What for?] Spike asked, suspiciously.

    "We could use a forward base for scouts and prospectors."

    [Why would you need that?] Spike grouched. [And why does it have to be at my place?]

    "Because whatever we''re up against seems to be interested in the Black Ruins." Remian explained. "And there are Black Ruins all over the Wildlands, which means there are many more of them out there. This is a mess that can''t be resolved simply by sitting in Shadowflash Fief, we need to find them and find out what they''re up to, and then we need to stop them, which means going far, far beyond this Fief. As to why we need your place, it''s because the Wildlands are dangerous, and the safest place south of this Fief is with our dear friend Spike¡­ plus we really do want to investigate those ruins."

    [Fine! Build your forward base! But after this job, I''m going home.]

    ***

    Meanwhile, Charlie returned to Ashdale, dropping off a report from Marcus on the way, and bringing a very important letter from Mindy to Mandy.

    "She wants me to go back." Mandy said, throwing the letter aside after she read it. "She says they''ve defeated the Beast Waves for good! That they''re not coming back! Can you believe it?"

    "I believe she said it, but I don''t think they''re gone." Charlie said slowly. "Still. If you want to go back¡­"

    "I don''t!" Mandy barked. "I never want to see that place again!"

    "Not even for a visit? You could come with me on the airship and never set foot on the ground. You could just see your sister, and meet old friends, and then come back with me." Charlie pointed out.

    Mandy paused, considered, then shook her head. "No. I''m sorry, but I''ve decided. I''m putting the past behind me, and I''m going to move forward."

    "Forward to where, by the way?" Charlie asked.

    "Here." Mandy said, glancing around. "Or somewhere nearby. I can find a place of my own¡­"

    "There''s no need. You and the children can stay for good." Beth called from across the living room. "Come live with us."

    "But¡­ but we can''t impose¡­" Mandy gasped.

    "Nonsense! Just do a baptism and formally join House Meadows!" Beth suggested. "You can even change your name if you like!"

    Mandy glanced at Charlie furtively.

    "I think it would be good for mother. She could use the company." Charlie nodded. "And she would miss the children. She''s also getting old, and it would ease my worries if you were here to take care of her."

    "She already has your brother and his family." Mandy pointed out.

    "And now she''ll have more. Look, my mother''s offering you an invite here. Do you want in, or not?"

    "Yes!" Mandy exclaimed immediately, grabbing Charlie''s hands as if afraid the offer would run away. Then, she stared, as if in shock.

    Charlie, likewise, was dumbfounded for a moment, then he hastily pulled back, and freed his hands. "Uh¡­ please don''t misunderstand. This is¡­ I mean¡­ you don''t have to¡­"

    At that, Mandy''s face fell. Without another word, she turned around and ran away.

    Charlie stared at her back, scratching his head.

    "If you want to chase after her, bring a gift!" Beth advised from all the way across the living room, in a voice loud enough for the entire household to hear.

    ***

    Roughly around that time, a metal gauntlet slammed into a desk hard enough to make it creak.

    "What is wrong with that Marcus!" the man who slammed the table roared. "Twenty-five legionnaires have quit the Legion to join a local defense force?! On top of that, they''ve been spending all their time and resources protecting the town, while the road is completely neglected! Has he forgotten what the Legion does?!"

    Armored in silver and red, this was a high-ranking officer in the Iron Legion. His name was Tiberius. He was Centurion of the 1st Century, 12th Cohort. While a Centurion was commander of 100 troops, being 1st Centurion also put him in oversight of the entire Cohort, all ten Centuries of it. This included the small outreach unit sent to the Frontier under Sergeant Marcus.

    The man across from him armored in silver and purple cut in smoothly. "On the plus side, he does make a point that since the Beast Waves have stopped, we can safely send in more trainees¡­"

    This cooler-headed fellow was also a high-ranking Centurion, but of an even higher rank than Tiberius; he was the Primus Pilus, the foremost and most senior of the centurions under Legate Aquila and a lot of people relied upon his advice. His name was Gaius.

    "To do what? Quit the Legion and join the local militia?!" Tiberius snorted. "I swear, if they don''t start building the road by the time I get his next report, I''m going over there and personally show him what-for!"

    Tiberius was a great warrior, full of zeal and courage, and he was a wonderful leader who proved himself a fine example in combat for his fellow Legionnaires time and again. Outside of combat however, he was often irritable, itching for action and chafed at bureaucracy and delays. Just looking at his accomplishments, it was a wonder he had not been promoted to higher ranks by now, but alas, his temper and his brash ways kept him from rising higher. Had he been even just a little more level headed, he would be 1st Centurion of the 11th Cohort by now, maybe even the 10th, instead of the 12th.

    "Why don''t you?" Gaius asked.

    "Don''t I what?"

    "Go over there yourself." He shrugged. "I''ll even join you."

    Gaius, unlike Tiberius, was much wiser in the ways of people than his hot-blooded friend. Seeing Tiberius riled up like that, he already knew that only hands-on action could relieve Tiberius of the accumulating stress. For his friend''s health and the sake of the sanity of those around him, Gaius figured a little side trip to the Frontier might be in order.

    "Fine!" Tiberius roared, and stomped off to summon an entire century of Legionnaires to join him.

    ***

    At the same time, reports and responses were going around Fal''Herim.

    There was a furor, and a lot of pale faces, then a bit of shouting, and then a bustle.

    The day after Charlie''s airship passed through their territory on his return to Ashdale, three Sky Galleon class airships took off from Fal''Herim airport. Bearing the sand-and-red-flame banners of the Desert King, they headed south.

    Fort Spoas Airport (which was still little more than a dock and a tower, at that point) spotted them coming from a day away. They even prepared for a landing, asking the three airships to please take turns.

    But all their communication signals went unanswered. Flashing lights and beacons were utterly ignored. In fact, the three airships maintained high altitude and didn''t slow down or lower themselves as they arrived in the skies above Frontier Town airport.

    Not only did they ignore the airport, they also ignored the town. They flew right over Fort Spoas, then over Kara-Goth, heading almost due south¡­

 84 The Hunt For Spike 1

    "They''re headed toward Craggy Falls." Remian and Mindy both agreed as they watched the Desert King''s three Sky Galleons soar south.

    It was a daunting show of power. Each Sky Galleon was Tier 5.3, commercial grade and respectable in any airport in the world. They could fit DD, Spike, Buff and Carrie together on the deck of any of the Sky Galleons and still have space for Remian and Mindy to join them. Any of those ships could land in between Kara and Goth and immediately become a land bridge across the Pit from one mine to the other. How many troops could the Desert King squeeze into one Sky Galleon? Two hundred plus equipment and supplies? Three hundred? Four, if they squeezed?

    In other words, three Sky Galleons could very well be carrying about a thousand of the Desert King''s troops to investigate Craggy Falls and why their little secret excavation site had fallen silent. It was a very honest show of the Desert King''s concerns for that site.

    They were going to find that place stomped into dirt, Spike''s footprints all over. They''d probably blame Spike, but what could they do against a Tier 5 Wild? He was too strong, too dangerous. Perhaps they''d just pack up and leave it alone from now on¡­

    Remian sighed. Even he felt that much wishful thinking was just too optimistic.

    It had been a good plan, he''d thought. It was just a small camp site. It shouldn''t be that important, not enough to cause a disaster, right? Surely the prospect of challenging Spike was too daunting for them to pursue revenge for that little site''s destruction, right?

    Three Sky Galleons showing up overhead tossed Remian''s hopeful ideas out the window. From their deployment, it was clear as day how important the Black Ruins were to the Desert King. There was no doubt at this point that they were definitely going to pursue the matter in force. But of course, it was too late for regrets now. They simply had to handle it to the best of their abilities.

    Having Spike discovered and attacked was going to be extremely costly to him; it meant outright war with the Desert King, and they were not ready for that. It was them who had pinned the blame of destroying the excavation site on him, and there was no way Remian was going to abandon Spike now when he was under fire for that.

    In any case, even if they wanted to take revenge on Spike, they''d have to find him first, and Spike wasn''t at Craggy Falls any more, or anywhere near it. He was here, at the hills of Kara-Goth, busting hillsides into sheer cliffs so that nobody from the south could cross over the hills. In the process of doing so, he was also supplying the Iron Legion with untold tons of gravel for their road-building. The entire Legion was scrambling about collecting and carting off gravel onto Mindy''s Sky Barge, which (with the help of the Tug) hauled the gravel to the airport and road buiding site on the north of Fort Spoas.

    What was the worst that could happen? Remian gulped just thinking about it. If those three Sky Galleons attacked, Frontier Town was done for. Just the bombardment from airship cannons would devastate everything he and his crews have worked for. All they had to send up against those three airships was the Foresight and the Sky Barge; they''d be outnumbered, outmaneuvered, outgunned and outmatched in every way. Maybe the Feelo-Wasps could help a little? But Remian didn''t expect them to make much of a difference.

    "We need more airships, and more long-range weapons capable of anti-air combat." Mindy decided. "Even if we don''t have to fight airships someday soon, there''s no telling if and when flying Wilds might show up in a Beast Wave."

    "Or we could form an alliance with Three Pines Peak. Maybe the Sun Eagle Lord would help us fight off the human Destroyers who are not as friendly with Wilds as we are." Remian speculated.

    "Or we might annoy him into killing us all." Mindy pointed out. "I''d rather count on airships."

    "How much time do we have?" Remian asked. "A day before the Sky Galleons reach Craggy Falls? Another day before they investigate and reach conclusions? A couple more days before they actually find Spike working with us? A fifth day before they start attacking Spike and our crews with him?"

    "It''s the Iron Legion working with him, would the Desert King''s forces really risk a war with the Iron Legion?" Mindy asked.

    "Maybe. Maybe they''ll attack anyway and make up some excuses." Remian shook his head. "We better hide Spike tomorrow and keep him hidden for a week."

    "Hidden where? In the Pit?" Mindy snorted.

    "Maybe not there, but somewhere. In the river, or the hills, perhaps. Maybe even squeeze him into amine. He could help clear out space from inside."

    "Have you seen the way he''s been tearing up the hillsides? More likely he''d bring the entire mine down."

    "How about the airport? We have a hangar half-built. If we rush it, we might be able to finish in time." Remian thought out loud. "It was designed to fit the Sky Barge. It could definitely house Spike."

    That turned out to be their final solution. In less than an hour, two hundred workers had been set on building the Hangar. It was basically a steel frame filled with bricks and steel sheets, with a few Runes inscribed at key points. Andros also had to set in some runic channels so that all the runes around the hangar fed off the same network, the same reservoir that had a dedicated charging point. Some of those runes gathered mana from the atmosphere, others reinforced the structure, others stored mana or transferred it to whatever airship within the hangar needed it, and most importantly, there was the mana intake Rune whereby mana could be fed into the network (because the amount that could be gathered from the atmosphere wasn''t much compared to how much an airship like the Sky Barge consumed).

    Having so many workers taken from the mines meant a lower output of Fire Copper and Jade this week, but Remian didn''t hesitate for a moment. He did, however, wonder about the efficiency of the workers and about getting better machinery to raise it.

    For example, tools made using the material that the Burning Steel was famed for. It was an alloy of Fire Copper, iron, carbon and some other stuff Andros was very secretive about, but Burning Steel as a material should make easily make Tier 3 equipment of any sort, including pickaxes, shovels, saws and axes¡­ if skillfully handled, such equipment might even reach Tier 4.

    That, or they could just use Tier 4 bones and bone powder alloys. Andros would know better which materials to use for what. Remian simply had to add this project to the list. Or, more to the point, add it to the very top of the list, right behind the Forge''s own metalwork tools and equipment.

    Andros was going to complain about that. He complained about everything. Remian shook his head. He was going to have to end up doling out more money to directly purchase some of that metalwork equipment from Charlie. In the end, all of Andros'' complaints always led down to that request; to buy and acquire high quality metalwork tools rather than to have to make lower quality versions themselves.

    Before, while worrying whether the Burning Steel would revert to being a gang and turn on him, Remian didn''t think it was a great idea. Now that he was going to own 50% of the Burning Steel Company, however, the concept seemed a great deal more appealing.

    Not so appealing was the question of what they were going to do about the Black Ruins at Craggy Falls. Remian had intended to investigate it at leisure, sending in well-prepared adventuring teams, maybe setting up a Guild branch hall at the Ruins, with an airdock and shops for the adventurers'' needs¡­

    But there had been no time, and they were already short on manpower as it was. The Adventurers Guild had been somewhat neglected by Remian even though he lived there, many of the missions and rewards unchanged for weeks. Joshu and the older ones still took missions of exploration and hunting, and the younger ones still did utility missions like hauling goods, or scroll-Inscribing, or cooking¡­ but Remian couldn''t help feeling like there was a lot of potential there going untapped.

    Soon, he felt. A lot of the new adventurers were teenagers still learning how to use scrolls and weapons. A few of the better scroll students were learning to Inscribe as well as use scrolls. One or two of the weapons trainees were starting to take low level hunting jobs. Soon, it would be time to really ramp things up at the Adventurers Guild.

    But right now, they just needed to hide Spike.

    ***

    "Find it." A flat-nosed man glared around at his men and said in a dull tone. "Find that Tier 5 monster!"

    They spread out on three sides, each airship sailing a day''s walk out from the ruins, squads of men patrolling the ground, tracking the gigantic footprints.

    "Sir! He went north!" report after report came in.

    It was an oddly well-trodden trail northward, through the rocky ravine. Even now, there was a giant tortoise, yet another Tier 5 creature making its way on that trail north slowly, so slowly toward the Deadly Sands.

    Meanwhile, the scouts were finding all sorts of tracks on that trail, everything from rabbit tracks to burning bulls. That spiked-lizard-turtle creature was the largest of the lot, and therefore the clearest, but even so, the tracks seem to go both ways in a very confusing manner.

    Still. There was only one trail and only two ways on that trail, north and south. Since they didn''t find the creature in the south, it could only be in the north.

    Three Sky Galleons and roughly 1000 rough men followed the trail of the Beast Waves.

 85 The Hunt for Spike 2

    "They''re coming here?!" Remian scratched his head until his scalp felt sore.

    Hiding a Tier 5 Spiked-Back Lizard was no easy feat. Removing his trail across three days'' march given the time they had was close to impossible.

    Now they had the forces of the Desert King on his tracks and those tracks were going to lead them straight to Frontier Town. It was only a matter of time, a couple of days maybe, before they found him.

    There was no use trying to put him in the hangar now. That might hide him from the airships above, but their ground troops would still follow his footprints. A simple search of the buildings around town would reveal the big fellow in short order. Trying to hide Spike at this point was a fool''s errand.

    What to do? What to do?

    "Spike¡­" Remian said at last, "I''m sorry. We''re going to have to make you suffer."

    [Why?!] Spike wailed.

    "Just for a while!" he told Spike his plan.

    Spike didn''t like it. He didn''t like it one bit.

    But they really had no choice.

    ***

    Two and a half days later, the forces of the Desert King came upon Kara-Goth.

    "In the name of the Desert King, comply or be destroyed!" that was the greeting that blared down from the lead Sky Galleon.

    There was a ruckus, and a scramble, and then a delegation from the High Rock clan met with the delegation from the lead airship. Aren stood, pale-faced, in front of a flat-nosed man and six burly figures in heavy scale-mail armor.

    "Good sirs, what can we do for you?" he asked. "We don''t have much in way of food and drink¡­"

    "Bring out all your valuables! You owe tribute unto the Desert King!" he intoned.

    "V-valuables? Sir, we are slaves hired out as workers, there''s nothing here of value except the ores we mine."

    "Are you deaf? I said bring out all your valuables! NOW!"

    So they brought out the ores they had at the mines today, three crates of Fire Copper ores and one of raw jade.

    "That''s all?!" the flat-nosed man growled suspiciously.

    "Sir, we deliver the ores to the smelter every evening¡­ we wouldn''t even sell you these normally¡­"

    "Sell?" the flat-nosed man roared. "This is the property of the Desert King, now! How dare you talk of selling anything! It is tribute! And it is not enough! The Desert King demands more!"

    "More? All we have left is food and water!" Aren hesitated. "If you want water¡­"

    "Water is useless! It is everywhere around here!" Flat-nose snarled. "If you cannot pay, you must work! That is the rule!"

    "B-but¡­"

    "Send out your clan! We are looking for a monster! Spread out in every direction, search every hill and valley! By tomorrow night, you will find the Tier 5 spike-lizard-turtle, or we will take payment from your women!"

    At that, Aren gave him an odd look. Flat-nose was perturbed to find that Aren didn''t seem particularly frightened, that in fact, all fear seemed to drain out of him suddenly. He glanced down at his pants awkwardly, wondering if he''d forgotten to fasten something important this morning.

    "You mean the Spike-Back Lizard of Craggy Falls?" Aren asked.

    "Yes! That loathsome creature has to pay for the destruction of our- the Desert King''s- property!"

    "Well, we don''t need to send anyone out to find him. We know exactly where he is."

    At that, Flat-nose brightened. "Speak! Tell me now, and we will spare your women! We will even waive your measly tribute of ores!"

    "Really?" Aren looked impressed. "Well, good sir, he''s right there."

    He pointed to a very large, very deep hole in between Kara and Goth.

    Flat-nose and his men went over to the edge of the Pit and peered down.

    Seeing them, Aren''s hand twitched. He had to resist a sudden urge to rush over and push them in, or kick them in the tailroots¡­

    But no. This wasn''t the time to antagonize the Desert King. Not while the High Rock clan still suffered under his slave-bond. Not until they had the strength to fend him off.

    "That''s the monster!" Flat-nose declared upon seeing Spike snoozing at the bottom of the Pit. "You captured him?"

    "We have a lid that can suddenly open." Aren told them. "We could close it now, but that creature tends to become violent if we close him in the dark. The noise becomes a distraction to the workers. Best to just keep it open and leave him down there."

    "Good! Very good!" Flat-nose straightened fiercely. "As a reward for your bravery, you may keep all the ores!"

    Aren said nothing as Flat-nose and his men proudly strutted away, but once they were gone, he muttered, "The ores are ours to begin with."

    ***

    For all their posturing and blathering, the Desert King''s troops did not actually want to get into a fight with a Tier 5 Wild. Having the ''monster'' stuck in a pit as a prisoner was good enough for them. They could safely report back that the creature had been neutralized without risking even a hair on their own heads.

    This, they accomplished most speedily, and they were proud to claim that the Black Ruins were once again safe for excavation.

    Therefore another expedition was prepared and launched the following day. It was just a single Sky Galleon this time, and like before, it completely ignored all air traffic signals from Fort Spoas Airport.

    This Sky Galleon made its way to the Black Ruins to rebuild the excavation camp site and resume the excavation of the Black Ruins.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the Roving Albatross'' latest trip to Frontier Town was accompanied by no less than three other airships.

    One was an airship of the Iron Legion under the command of Tiberius, 1st Centurion of the 12th Cohort, with Primus Pilus Gaius as his guest. He also brought the entire 12th Cohort''s 1st Century with him, all 102 men and a cat.

    The second was a Deutero Wandering Egret, similar to the airship that first brought Remian to the Frontier, the one he met Markus and Max on. It was carrying cargo and passengers.

    The third was an Aurora Shipyards Wind Voyager, currently very popular in Ashdale.

    "What''s going on?" Remian had to ask when he saw all those airships coming in.

    He glanced up; Mindy was there above the airport, waiting to greet the incoming airships with the Tug and the Sky Barge. They had managed to stick another XL Ballista onto the Tug, which was a Tier 4.4 Corvette with most of its capacity dedicated to a powerful Magic Drive. If not for that, they would have been able to stick the XXL ''Bellower'' Ballista on it, but as it was, the XL Ballista was the best they could do.

    That was why, in order to bring ''Bellower''s firepower to bear, they had to tug the whole Sky Barge along for the ride. On top of that, the FDF had clambered aboard with Tier 4 crossbows at the ready. A small squad of them were also bringing the Foresight over.

    Should they be worried? Probably not, Remian felt. This was Charlie, the Iron Legion, Deutero and Ashdale airships. As far as Remian could tell, they were friendlies. Had they been flying the flags of Fal''Herim, Remian would be a lot more tense, but despite all their precautions, he didn''t think they were here as hostiles.

    He really wasn''t expecting trouble.

    Unfortunately, he was wrong.

    Kaleo on the Deutero airship was no trouble, but on the Iron Legion airship was Tiberius. And more troublesome still¡­ Charlie''s family had come to visit on the Wind Voyager.

    Mandy had come with them.

 86 Return to Frontier Town

    Mandy had to admit, this was a pleasant surprise.

    Frontier Town did not look half bad from where she sat. Looking down from the Wind Voyager newly bought and piloted by Lambert Meadows (Charlie''s Dad), the town-in-construction looked lively and new. The airport, for example, was freshly built, with an Iron Legion camp piled with gravel and construction materials at one side, and a brand-new hangar at another. The west side was filled with new structures, many new workers and busy chimneys. There was a bigger Iron Legion camp to the south, where dozens of recruits were training. Not to mention that the entire East Side was gone.

    Except for the church and the inn and the shops at the central square, almost no trace remained of the slums and despair of the old Frontier Town where she''d grown up. Even those central square buildings were new or newly repaired. The oldest building around still standing was probably the Adventurers Guild, and even that had more new floors on it. Everything else had been wrecked and rebuilt at least once.

    But now they say that the Beast Waves hadn''t come last week. Now they say it was safe, that they had the firepower to handle the likes of a regular Beast Wave. That they had a dedicated Frontier Defense Force¡­

    Had Mandy not seen them with her own eyes, she would have doubted the whole story.

    Yet there they were across from her, nearly a hundred of them in an airship three times the size of the Wind Voyager, and they had crossbows, and a gigantic Ballista. There were two other airships with extra large Ballistas also, a skiff that was little more than an air balloon, and a corvette that seemed to be outfitted as a Magic Drive Tug.

    Yes, Mandy knew a thing or two about airships, now. She''d been flying with Charlie''s Dad the past couple days. Of course she''d pick up some of that knowledge. Mindy would be so proud.

    Speaking of Mindy¡­ there she was on the Corvette Tug. She was piloting it.

    A sudden, shocking thought occurred to Mandy just then. The last time she saw Mindy, the girl had said something about her precious airships¡­

    Mandy had initially thought about the driveless, hot air balloon-and-basket type that they''d use to hang a lantern on before, something Mindy couldn''t even ride if she tried. But this¡­?

    This was a corvette as big as the Roving Albatross, with the power to tug along a ship twice the size of a Sky Galleon! In terms of sheer capacity, those two airships there had about double that of the four on her side put together!

    (Technical Note: Calculating the capacity of Tier 1 as 1, and therefore, Tier 2 as 10, Tier 3 as 100, etc, the capacity calculation for the Sky Barge at Tier 5.6 is 60000. The Tug at Tier 4.4 adds another 4000. In comparison, the four ships that Charlie brought were the Tier 4.4 Albatross with 4000 cap, 4.7 Assault Frigate with 7000 cap, 4.8 Wandering Egret with 8000 cap and 5.2 Wind Voyager with 20000 cap. All four put together only amounts to 39000 cap. Mindy''s Tug and Sky Barge put together amounts to 64000. The Gunboat ''Foresight'', a Tier 3.6 skiff, would add 600 which hardly counts. There is also the space taken up by equipment to consider, whereby the no-drive Sky Barge certainly uses less space for equipment than the intercontinental Wind Voyager and co., thus the Sky Barge has way more available capacity.)

    How could Mindy possibly have managed to build them? How could she currently manage them still? Mindy wasn''t even twelve yet, for her to have a job this big¡­

    Remian! What have you done? What have you DONE?!

    Mindy looked older than she was. All the Ravens had to grow up quickly on the Frontier. The way she spoke, the way she dressed, if Mandy hadn''t known better, she''d have thought Mindy to be thirteen, not eleven. But those eleven years were hard fought for and hard won. Life hadn''t been easy.

    But to put Mindy at the helm of such airships! Even if they looked rather crude, this was pampering the little girl! How would she grow, like this? When would she ever get her head on straight and learn how to get a proper job, or a proper education? She already seemed to think her dreams had come true!

    No wonder she refused Mandy! Remian was spoiling her!

    No, she wasn''t blaming him just because he was her ex. She wasn''t! Really!

    She blamed him because he had corrupted Mindy, and Tim, and George, with all his talk about dreams and ambitions and even giving them jobs in those fields. Now they all thought they were independent adults and didn''t even want to go to school! Mandy feared the worst for their futures. Mindy and her airships were bad enough, but George was already stuck on a farm, for goodness'' sake! He should be studying, not digging in the fields! That was destroying his future for sure! On top of that, Tim¡­! Mandy didn''t even know what to make of Tim running around with lynxmice and spying on people all day.

    Look at Jane, back in Ashdale! She was mastering etiquette, cosmetics, fashion, language, history, geography, and art! She scored straight A''s for all her exams, ever since she dropped math and sciences entirely. What use did a girl have for math and sciences anyway? Jane was going to be a high-class lady once she landed a nice boy. Even Mandy understood that. The girl was training to be a lady-in-waiting, primed and prepared for aristocracy from young. That was the boon of House Meadows.

    Speaking of Jane, she had asked Mandy to bring a package for Mindy. Kavitha did too, along with about six or seven of the others. Some of them had even combined to buy gifts from the money they were given when they did chores.

    Of course, Mandy did too. Hers was the biggest package of all.

    She gave hers to Mindy the minute they met at the airport, as if afraid to delay.

    "I know it''s a little early." Mandy said, placing hers in Mindy''s hands. "But I''m leaving tonight, so I won''t be able to see you tomorrow.

    "Happy birthday, Mindy."

    ***

    Not so happy was Centurion Tiberius, who oversaw the entire 12th Cohort of the Southern Legion under Legate Aquila.

    "Gathering materials? All this time you''ve just been gathering, and gathering, and gathering¡­ when are you ever going to start actually building the road?!" Tiberius roared. "Why are you even training for so many hours each day?"

    Markus snapped off a reply. "Sir, my understanding was that was what trainees were supposed to do ¨C train!"

    "Not THESE trainees!" Tiberius growled. "These trainees are the bottom of the bucket, hopeless in every way! They''re here to work, to build the road! If they get mauled by some Wilds, it''s just too bad, but no big loss. The trainees that we''re counting on, the ones worth training, are all back at Headquarters!"

    "Hopeless?" Markus stared. He pointed. "Do you see that Ballista on the Sky Barge?"

    "Yes. What of it?"

    "All our Ballistae were made by one of your ''hopeless'' trainees!" Markus barked. "He fixed the machinery in the mines! He helped build the airships, and designed the waterworks systems for the whole town! His name is Arnold and he''s a mechanical engineer the likes of which the Legion had never seen! You just called him ''hopeless'' and ''not worth training''!"

    There was a short, awkward silence after Markus'' outburst. Tiberius turned to Gaius for help only to find his friend grinning from ear to ear.

    "You''re enjoying this, aren''t you?" Tiberius accused.

    "Very much, yes." Gaius nodded, with a straight face. "It''s not every day I see the Tiger of the South stabbing himself in the foot."

    Someone snorted a half-laugh, one of the legionnaires in the 1st Century that Tiberius had brought. Tiberius spun, glaring at his men, but all of them stood at perfect attention, not a hint on their faces as to who almost burst out laughing.

    "Regardless! The road must be built! My orders stand! Start immediately!" Tiberius growled. "This is to be your top priority! Top Priority, you hear?!"

    "Yes, Centurion!" Markus snapped off a proper military salute.

    "As for the defense of the town¡­ it seems your contributions would not longer be required." Tiberius continued. "I hear that the Beast Waves have stopped, and that we have already contributed a lot to the cause, including sending twenty-five men to join this Defense Force of theirs. Enough is enough! From now onwards, you and your Century will focus on the road. Complete the link to Fal''Herim in six months, and you will officially be promoted to Centurion of the 11th Century, 12th Cohort!"

    "Six months¡­?!" Markus gaped.

    "You heard me, Sergeant! Six months!" Tiberius snapped. "No more excuses! If you require assistance, after all the aid you''ve given them, I''m sure your new friends here would be happy to help!"

 87 From the sea to the river

    The airship Kaleo hired from Deutero carried roughly forty people. They looked to be in bad shape, and gazed at everything around them with furtive eyes.

    "Who are all these people?" Remian asked.

    "They are refugees from Encles Island. The island has been hit by an earthquake and a tsunami and the has sunk almost entirely beneath the water." Kaleo said gravely. "What little land remains is not enough for even one house, much less their village. They need a new place to settle down, and I know of no better place than here."

    "Nor I." Remian agreed. "But¡­ forty people? That''s all there is?"

    "There are more." Kaleo assured him. "But getting them here is difficult. It is a long journey, and airships are costly."

    "How many more do you have?"

    "Two hundred." Kaleo cleared his throat. "I would have brought more this time around, but I needed the cargo space for trade in order to cover the cost."

    That was the Kaleo Remian knew; wouldn''t take a loss even to save people. As Kaleo would say, it was just business.

    "You want them to settle in my lands, but why would I take them?" Remian decided to take a stance as hard as Kaleo''s own. This is how you treat me? Let''s see how you like a taste of your own medicine!

    "We can work!" an old man from the crowd said suddenly. "We are an industrious and adaptable people! We can all work for you! You won''t regret it!"

    "And what guarantee do I have?" Remian asked.

    "We''ll swear it by the waves and Sel''ea-dras! Our entire generation, every grown man and woman will serve you for life! We only want to be treated as fairly as your own." The old man said, glancing at the side.

    From the airport, they could see the children of the Harvest Sun running around playing. They were well-fed, and healthy, and they were laughing, without fear of anything or anyone around them. Already, the children on board the airship were staring at them with wide, envious eyes.

    Kaleo cleared his throat again. "I¡­ might have told them a thing or two about your workers here. Charlie might also have mentioned they were being freed¡­ among other things."

    Remian sighed. "Very well. Swear it on the grass and Kor''ag-dras and you can join us. There are no waves here, so Sel''ea-dras might have some trouble smiting you if you renege on your vow."

    "We''ll swear on both, and on any other dragons you want!"

    ***

    Remian decided to settle the Encles Clan to the east of Kara-Goth, right in between the hills and the river. That was there the cliffs subsided and the river was accessible from the land. The Encles Clan were most appreciative about living near the water.

    Their first project was their own housing. Toward that, they were going to get help from the workers who just finished the hangar. After their new village was set up, they were to turn around and help the workers complete a new wall to block off access from the south.

    That wall was going to be a meter thick and three meters high to begin with. It needed to be strong enough to keep even the likes of DD and Spike out, but the first phase would have it just keep out Tier 3''s and lower. The second phase would be meant to keep out the Tier 4''s, and the wall would have to rise to six meters. The third phase should reinforce it with a frame and a second meter-thick layer on the other side, rising ten meters with enough space on top for carts. They''d build up guard towers along the wall with platforms wide and strong enough to mount heavy weapons like catapults of similar size to the XXL Ballista.

    All of that was a huge amount of work, so yeah, the workers from the High Rock clan would definitely appreciate the help from the Encles clan. Remian only meant to rush the first phase, though. Afterward, the High Rock workers would return to Kara-Goth. The second phase and onward was going to be the long-term job of the Encles clan.

    Meanwhile, Spike was going to be there to protect them as they took to the water. Fishing, aqua-farming everything from shellfish to kelp, various precious water-herbs¡­ neither they nor Remian were entirely sure what Sea people could do with fresh water, but they were definitely keen to find out.

    Spike complained about it, of course. He still wanted to go home. But with the Desert King''s men all over the Black Ruins and their Sky Galleon keeping an eye out for them, going home was a really bad idea right now.

    "Is that going to be okay with you?" Remian asked, eyeing the Encles people as he introduced Spike to them.

    "It should be fine." The Elder of the Encles said cautiously. "Our young are taught that Sel''ea-dras protects us and watches out for us. They are taught that beneath the waves, there is a great and mighty creature keeping us safe. None of us ever saw her, but still, we taught our children such." He turned to Spike. "Now this is a guardian that we can see and touch. It will be much easier to teach our children."

    [I still wanna go home.] Spike grumbled.

    "What did he say?" the Encles Elder asked, still not quite sure that Remian was able to communicate with and command the Tier 5 Spiked-Back Lizard.

    "He said, not to worry; he only eats naughty children." Remian told him, with a warning glance at Spike.

    [Can I, really?] Spike asked.

    [NO!]

    ***

    It should be said that all of the Circling Ravens children knew enough about Mindy to get her presents that she liked.

    That is, except for the formal dress than Mandy bought her sister, everybody else got Mindy books, posters and diagrams on airships. Three of them were books on airship engineering. One more was a book on currently popular and historical airships around the world. There were posters of airships at sunset, airships over scenic lakes, airships over great waterfalls¡­

    Someone even gave her a blueprint of the old Wandering Egret frigates.

    Did they even buy these things? Some of those looked like they''d been taken right off the walls and bookshelves of Charlie''s house¡­

    Speaking of Charlie, he was currently wishing he hadn''t brought his family and Mandy along. Mandy in particular was giving him an earful about talking some sense into Mindy, and Remian, maybe Tim and George too while he was at it. If that wasn''t enough, she even roped Beth in to say a ''few words'' in support. It came to a point where Charlie outright yelled, "Stop trying to get me involved in your issues!" and stomped off the Wind Voyager.

    Once out, he immediately started running before anyone could come after him.

    Meanwhile, Mindy herself was still chattering easily with her friends on board. As the chatter continued, Mandy deliberately cut in and said, "Mindy, you have to come to Ashdale. There''s so much you could learn there! It would be good for your future, trust me! It''s not too late! Look at Jane, she''s scored straight A''s¡­"

    "What does Jane''s A''s have anything to do with me?" Mindy asked, frowning. "There''s nothing wrong with my future. I like it just the way it is."

    "You''re going to end up like one of Madam Rose''s girls if you don''t go to school!" Mandy snapped.

    "Oh, and the Bad Monsters will come get me if I don''t go to bed on time as well? I''m way past your fairy tales, sis." Mindy rolled her eyes.

    "Don''t you roll your eyes at me!"

    "Or what? No supper? I''d sooner hire my own chef than rely on your cooking!"

    One of them started screaming around that point. Mandy would insist later that it wasn''t her who started it, but Mindy and every one of the Ravens children would contradict that statement in a heartbeat. As for the other people on board the airship, they would respectfully refrain from comment.

    But once started, one shout led to another on both sides and eventually Mindy stomped off the airship.

    There was an awkward silence for perhaps twenty seconds.

    Eventually, Mandy went after her, with Jane and Kavitha dragged along for company. Even with her reluctance to leave the airship, she found herself setting foot on the dock of the airport, looking for a way to save her sister from an uncertain future. Step by step, concern and distress dragged her forward until at last, her foot set down upon the soil of the Frontier once again.

    Despite her premonitions, nothing happened. The earth didn''t open up and swallow her. A million Wilds didn''t suddenly spring up from the ground to gnaw her to death. In fact, she recognized a few of the nearby Wilds; one of them was Red, the wolfcat who stayed at the Guild Hall¡­

    For a moment there, she felt an odd flash of warmth, remembering a cosy scene of comfort and safety a long time ago. How long ago was it? A few weeks? It felt like years.

    At that time, running around with the wolfcats was the safest she''d ever felt. But now, that very way of life was a threat to her sister''s future. She could not just stand back and watch it happen! Mindy had to come to Ashdale! She had to!

    As for where she was now¡­ that wolfcat gave Mandy a pretty good reminder and an easy guess.

    She made her way toward the Guild Hall.

    That''s where she saw Phoebe.

 88 The Phoebe Effec

    Phoebe had her hand on Remian''s chest. He was seated on a dining bench with his back to the entrance and they were talking in low voices. There were a lot of strangers in the hall, but nobody even gave them a second glance, as if such intimacy between them was a common occurrence. "It''s a bit low¡­ one hundred fifteen over eighty¡­"

    Mandy saw them, and her face turned red, almost purple. Still in screaming-mode, her voice was so loud, Aren could probably hear her over at Kara-Goth. "Now I see! You had a girl on the side all along! What marriage? What queen? A pretty face comes along and you throw your old flame aside like rubbish!"

    "Wha¡­ Mandy?" Remian blinked, seeing her there.

    "How dare you? It hasn''t even been a month since you walked away from me, and already you''re being intimate with the new girl in public?! After everything you said to me, you didn''t even chase after me back at Ashdale! After the bond was removed, you completely ignored me! You ignored me even before that, while I was recovering, it was as if I didn''t exist! You didn''t write, didn''t come visit until that last day¡­ were you already chasing her? Were you already stealing kisses from her behind my back?!"

    "What are you talking about?" Remian was thoroughly confused. "Which ''her''? Do you mean Phoebe?"

    "Which ''her''? Which ''HER''?!!" Mandy''s screams actually went up in volume. "There''s more than one?!"

    "There are hundreds of girls in the clans, how do I know¡­"

    "Hundreds?! So you''ve been thinking about that all along! I knew it! What a great boss, looking at all the girls under your employ, obeying your orders, like slaves¡­ like me!"

    "You two seem to have a history." Phoebe remarked dryly.

    "You think?" Remian sighed.

    "Listen, I think there''s some sort of misunderstanding. I''m just here to free the slaves¡­" Phoebe said to Mandy.

    "Free slaves? Did you know that this guy here actually kept slaves?!" Mandy flared. "I was his slave!"

    At that, Phoebe shot Remian a weird look.

    "I was actually trying to rescue her. I had the slave-bond removed when I went to Ashdale. That''s when I met Lydia." Remian summarized.

    "Hah! As if you didn''t take advantage of me while I was under the slave-bond! As if you didn''t enjoy it!"

    Remian stared. "As I recall, that was more your idea than mine."

    "How could I resist? The slave-bond had the power of life and death over me! Knowing that, who wouldn''t take steps to ensure their own safety? I had to fear for my life every day!"

    "But not from me. From the Beast Waves, perhaps, but never from me!" Remian''s mood had turned dark.

    Max, who happened to be sitting at a table in the corner of the same hall, glanced at Tim. "Is it just me or are they being especially dramatic today?"

    "It''s the Phoebe effect." Tim said mysteriously. His face was pale, even after supposedly making a full recovery from his captivity. Life magic had rushed his healing, but it still took a toll on his body. "She has a way of making people react strongly just by being around."

    "I think Mandy''s jealous." Max squinted. "She''s just trying to ruin any chances of Remian getting close to Phoebe."

    "That, too." Tim did not disagree.

    In response to that, Phoebe finally made a move.

    She placed a hand on Mandy''s head. "Huh. Slightly feverish."

    She placed a hand on her back. "Blood pressure is high."

    She pulled Mandy''s blouse up. Mandy shrieked and tried to cover, but Phoebe only raised it above her belly, and then started tapping Mandy''s tummy, listening intently. "Hmm. I don''t hear a blockage. Wait! There''s some density in the lower abdomen. Maybe a kidney stone?"

    "W-w-w-what are you doing?!" Mandy gasped.

    "Oh, dear, you are clearly unwell. Fever, plus a blockage in the lower abdomen¡­ if it is a kidney stone, we might be looking at imminent kidney failure. Without treatment, your life expectancy might be only a few weeks from now." Phoebe said, in concern. "We should get you to a hospital right away. You should have fistula surgery to prepare for dialysis."

    "W-what''s dialysis?!" Mandy''s face was white.

    "It''s when you stick two needles about THIS big in your arm for four hours a day, three times a week to clean your blood out." Phoebe explained. "Also, you''ll have to give up eating a lot of things, and you won''t be able to drink as much as you want, even when you''re thirsty, you''ll often have trouble breathing, and most of the week you''ll be weak and tired, but you''ll live at least five to ten more years. Otherwise, you''ll just die in a few weeks."

    "What?! WHY?!" Mandy wailed. "It can''t be! How can it be?!"

    "Well, you''re clearly already delusional. The fever is a big warning sign." Phoebe began.

    "I''m NOT DELUSIONAL!"

    "Or¡­ maybe you''re pregnant?" Phoebe pressed her ear against Mandy''s tummy. "I don''t hear a heartbeat, but perhaps it''s just too young¡­"

    "I''m NOT PREGNANT!" Mandy shrieked. Then, she stopped, suddenly. "A-am I?"

    Remian''s face, previously red, turned white. "Please, don''t talk nonsense. Please, please, don''t talk nonsense."

    "But, the symptoms!" Phoebe protested in a innocent voice.

    Mandy almost fainted.

    "Then again, it could be malaria¡­" Phoebe said, as if to herself. "You never know what kind of powers these Wilds would develop. Even the insects can evolve to acquire incredible new abilities. If there''s been some form of evolved malaria, this could be bad¡­"

    "What''s malaria?!" Mandy was already having trouble breathing.

    "Or even¡­" Phoebe''s voice faded into a whisper. "Something worse."

    Mandy couldn''t take it any more. She fainted outright and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

    "Or¡­ it could just be over-excitement." Phoebe tapped her lips thoughtfully, shrugged, and walked out of the Guild Hall without a glance back.

    "One, two, three! Mandy is down for the count!" Max exclaimed. "Without a single punch thrown!"

    "See?" Tim shrugged. "Phoebe Effect."

    ***

    Mandy was bundled back onto the Wind Voyager while the other Raven kids made their visits to town. They left an hour later, while the other airships were still taking turns to unload cargo in the single-dock airport.

    "We''re going to need more docks." Mindy observed to Remian as they waved farewell.

    "We''re going to need more everything." Remian agreed. "But I think our next construction priority should be the road. At least for a week. We owe Markus that much."

    "But what happens when we connect with Fal''Herim?" Mindy asked, worriedly. "I mean¡­ if the Desert King uses the road to send his armies here¡­"

    "We''ll set DD on them." Remian shrugged. "And his whole clan."

    "That is, if they''re still willing to work for us." Mindy muttered.

    "What do you mean?" Remian asked. "Is there a problem?"

    "Well¡­ they''re greedy. They keep wanting more and more food. But George has a bottom line as to how much he''s willing to offer them. They''re already pushing the limits. At this rate, they''re going to reach a point where they''re not willing to work for what he offers and he won''t be willing to offer more."

    "The boars are going to go on strike?" Remian frowned. "Are we offering too little?"

    "No, I think we''re offering too much. We''re talking about kilograms of barbecued meat for a day''s work. That''s Tier 5 Burning Bull meat, worth thousands of Lir. George could hire a professional human construction team from Fal''Herim for that kind of money. But he''s using it to hire the boars because they''re our friends and allies."

    "That''s not necessary. Tell George he may as well sell the meat and hire humans. Any Wild can dig and pull, but not everyone can do mechanical work. We need humans more than boars. If they have friends who can work in basic industries like carpentry and pottery, so much the better. Only hire the boars if it''s cheaper than human labor."

    "They''re not going to accept that." Mindy warned.

    "If they want to be lazy pigs, that''s entirely up to them." Remian shook his head. "We only really need them in battles. For regular labor, if they don''t want to, we don''t need them to work."

    "And if they decide to quit following DD and turn against us?"

    "Then we have pork for dinner."

 89 Prospects

    "Still, she does have a point." Remian said. "You could learn a lot from Ashdale."

    "You''re sending me away?!" Mindy blurted.

    "You could visit once in a while, take a weekend or so¡­ Ashdale''s airships are well-respected. Don''t you think they have good airships and engineering methods? There''s a lot to learn there, and no limit to learning." Remian pointed out. "Also, we bought a lot of good stuff last time."

    "Right. Airships." Mindy calmed down.

    "Not just Ashdale. Itarim, La Vive, Germat, Ceres, Ecclesia, even the Dragon Empire. You should travel to all of them and learn what you can." Remian went on. "You did say you wanted to see the world."

    "Yes, I did¡­" Mindy said, but she hesitated.

    "Not today, of course. Not without an airship to rival the Roving Albatross, at least." Remian mentioned. "Actually, if we could put together something like that, you''d be able to start serious trade routes. Anindustrial grade long-range corvette should be your first step to an intercontinental trading fleet. That sort of expertise can''t be learned from the Wildlands. Since we already have friends in Ashdale involved with airships, it only makes sense to start from there."

    "If that''s my first step, what''s my second step?" Mindy asked.

    "The next step up from an industrial-grade corvette¡­ probably an industrial-grade frigate? Or a commercial-grade corvette?" Remian scratched his head. "I don''t really know how expertise in airship engineering scales up, but you should be able to figure it out along the way."

    "And my long-term goal?" Mindy asked.

    "What do you feel?" Remian asked right back.

    "A military-grade mothership!" Mindy exclaimed. "No, wait! A whole fleet of epic-grade airships, better than the Golden Fleet! Or¡­ even¡­ a Grand Fleet of legendary-grade airships!"

    "Are there actually such grades¡­?" Remian blinked.

    "Maybe not yet? But there will be, once I''m done!"

    Remian had to allow her a wry smile for that. "Now you know where you''re headed. What about now? Where are you currently at?"

    Mindy''s face fell. "One junk-grade Tier 3.6 skiff Gunboat. One junk-grade Tier 5.6 galleon Sky Barge. One patchwork-grade Tier 4.4 corvette Tug. There''s a long, long way to go."

    "Don''t sell yourself short. Regardless of how bad they look, how short their range, or how they can''t stand up to strong winds, they can still fly and they can still carry heavy weaponry."

    "Talking about airships?" Tim joined them at the airport, wobbly but serious-faced.

    "Yeah. How are the lynxmice doing?" Remian asked.

    "You should know better than me. You''re the one who can really communicate with them. Half the time I have to guess until I get it right." Tim grimaced. "I don''t know why you put me in charge of them."

    "Because the cook knows best how to make cheese?" Mindy suggested right off her top of her head.

    "I''m more than just a cook!" Tim protested. "Also, I''m really not much use in spy-work. Just look at how easily I got captured! You''re the one who should be commanding the lynxmice, not me!"

    Remian fell silent for a bit. "Then, what do you want to do?"

    "I don''t know. Train with the legion? Become stronger? Be a great warrior?" Tim shuffled his feet. "Become a better adventurer? Learn rune-smithing? Construction? There''s so many things I''ve never tried, and I won''t know until I''ve actually tried them out. I might even want to try school."

    Remian paused. "You want to go to Ashdale, like Mandy said?"

    Tim grimaced. "Well¡­ yeah."

    Just like that, Mandy was going to cost him his spymaster? What had she been telling him?!

    On second thoughts, Remian didn''t want to know.

    What next? If Mandy stayed around a bit longer, would George leave too?

    Remian couldn''t help feeling down about the whole thing. On the one hand, she might be right, these kids would get more prospects, more options from studying at Ashdale. But on the other hand, they had opportunities here that no school could give them, directly taking up roles that influenced the fate of entire clans, roles that could ensure their livelihoods and that of their descendents for generations to come¡­

    But those roles would also deny them any chance of a normal childhood. Remian knew that, and thus, he was hesitant to try and hold on to them.

    Maybe he was going about this all wrong. Perhaps he should be looking for adults to work with. But Remian had a soft spot for the kids who''d been with him from the start. He felt he could trust them, really, really trust them. Sometimes, working with adults was complicated. Like Phoebe, for example. Working with her was definitely complicated.

    But those were Remian''s personal issues. There was no reason to hold the children back because of his selfish feelings. If he were truly thinking of their best interests, it was right to let them explore. He should let them go. That was what he felt.

    As for opportunities¡­ there were entire clans of other people here who would leap for them. The Harvest Sun clan, the High Rock clan, the Encles clan¡­ which of them didn''t have numerous children who would do anything for the kind of opportunities Mindy, George and Tim had?

    Maybe he should send them to Ashdale for schooling too? But if the Desert King found out about it, the war would begin at once. The clans were here to work and earn money that would be brought back to Fal''Herim once their jobs were done, right? Sending the children to Ashdale for schooling was a surefire sign that these clans were never intending to go back with their hard-earned money.

    In other words, the future generations of those clans were reliant on whatever education they could get at the Frontier. If he was going go care about their needs and prospects (and he did), he was going to have to pay attention to that first.

    But first¡­ "George? Get over here."

    George came over.

    "Tim and Mindy are going to Ashdale for weekend visits to learn stuff and go shopping. What about you?"

    "Why would they?" George was confused.

    It took some explaining, after which George nodded. "Maybe one day, but right now I need to look after the farm. Everyone''s counting on it."

    "George, is farming what you really want to be doing? We have a whole clan taking care of that now." Remian hesitated. "You don''t have to do it if you want to do something else."

    "It was my idea in the first place, remember?" George asked. "All I ever wanted to do was provide for the people I care about. Gardening was how I started out. Now almost all the other kids have gone to Ashdale, but I have even more people to feed. The Harvest Sun clan, the High Rock clan, even the new Encles¡­ they''re all my people now, too."

    Remian stared. His jaw had dropped open a couple of inches without him realizing it. "Do you really mean that?!"

    "Well¡­ yeah? They''re staying here, they''re building the town I live in, and I can count on them when things get rough¡­" George scratched his head. "If they''re not my people, who are?"

    Such a simple sentence, but Remian felt like his heart almost skipped a beat. Until this point, Mindy and Tim had all his attention, and George just happened to be there, but now¡­

    "George, try to give more of the mundane work to the Harvest Sun clan. Come meet me every day. We should talk more. We should talk a lot more." Remian found himself saying.

    "So¡­ do you still want me to go to Ashdale?"

    "If you like." Remian shrugged. "I might want to go sometimes too, but I''d rather plan my visits out more carefully. You can join me when I go."

    "Sounds good." George shrugged, not quite realizing how his future prospects had completely changed in just one conversation.

 90 Cos

    That night, Remian tossed and turned in bed. Mandy''s voice echoed in his thoughts. Most of it was sheer drivel, but when she shrieked about him not writing to her or communicate with her when she was recovering in Ashdale, or that he hadn''t chased her during the period in which he had to know he was losing her¡­ he felt a bit of sympathy then. It was true. He really hadn''t been obsessing over her. There were just too many things going on, too many important issues he had to look after.

    Speaking of which¡­ [Miik] he called with his mind.

    Miik was currenly in his cave, happily busy increasing his clan with the help of his dear, fun harem. He was NOT happy to be interrupted by a work call in the middle of the night, but he asked, [What is it?]

    Remian was actually impressed he was able to reach Miik. The chief lynxmouse seemed quite far away and very preoccupied besides. [Uh¡­ never mind. It can wait till tomorrow. Just a few small things.]

    [Tell you what. For the small things, why don''t you ask Mikai? He''d love to run around doing errands.] Miik supplied very, very helpfully. [He''s a lot faster than me, so he''s the better tail for the job.]

    [Right. Sure. Have fun.] Remian retreated and left the chief to his enjoyments.

    He considered calling Mikai for a minute, then decided not to, just in case the little guy was also trying to increase the population of his family¡­

    Going to the window, he peered out at the farm. It had stretched all along the stream from the cave, following the water to the jellyfish pond, and then farther down, almost to the New Quarry at the near end of the row of hills leading south and east. Kara-Goth was at the far end. Those were the hills that Spike was trying to help make inaccessible. The stream ran right through them.

    Beyond the farms, about half a day''s journey to the east was DD''s territory where there was another source of water that likewise streamed toward the new quarry and met the stream from Buff''s cave. That one had a very important waterfall that hid an Alchemist''s cave. Remian had stripped out all the mana potions and crystals within easy reach in that cave, but perhaps he could dig into the wall and mine a few more. Mikai could help with that.

    Farther east beyond DD''s territory were some thick woods, then another range of tall hills that had a strangely straight gorge running right through them from the south-west. The walls of this deep gorge had a rich mix of coal and amber. That amber could be a very, very long-term source of income¡­ if you could fend off the Wilds populating that gorge. Last anyone checked, most of the Wilds near the top were Tier 4, with bigger ones below.

    Maybe he could make a deal with them, somehow. Getting there was going to be a long journey, though. Better ask Mindy for a ride in an airship. The Tug would be great.

    Following the gorge south, they''d come up on Misty Heights, where most of the water that supplied Three Forks River came from. Prospectors reported decent lodes of common metals like iron, copper, magnesium, even silver in those mountains. Of special notes were discoveries of Lunar Ice on the tops of the the Misty Heights, possible yellow mana crystals in a couple of valleys, and Cloudstone at the highest peaks. Of course, getting to them also involved getting through difficult terrain, serious winds and very strong Wilds. The prospectors who made it back alive indicated Tier 4''s were rarer than Tier 5''s in those mountains, and Tier 6''s were spotted from a distance.

    Shadowflash''s Fief extended from the desert edge in the north to the Amber Gorge in the east, the Spoas River in the west, and the Three Forks River flowing from Misty Heights to the south. Apparently it was larger or smaller sometimes, but this was the extents of the territory today after Shadowflash''s long disappearance.

    Considering geographical difficulties, the easiest direction to expand in would be south. Of course, in order to do so, it was best he made friends with the Lord of Black Depths Lake. But how would he come to terms with the Deepsilver Lord, who had a vendetta against humans for the deaths of his kin?

    Maybe it could be possible to show him that not all humans were the same. But how?

    Besides, roping in more Wilds and expanding territory wasn''t the important thing right now. The important thing now was keeping the clans he already had. That meant war with the Desert King, whose city lay just on the other side of the road the Iron Legion was hell-bent on building right now.

    Could there be a diplomatic solution? But the Desert King had sworn war on anyone who tried to take his slaves from him. Otherwise, a good many of the Seven Kingdoms would have stormed down on him to take their people back.

    That''s right. Not all the Desert King''s slaves were born into the clans whose ancestors sold themselves to his ancestors for food. Some of them had been conveniently picked up from neighboring settlements. Quite possibly, one of the basic reasons why the Seven Kingdoms learned to surround their cities with walls was to fend off the slavers.

    There was a period, after hundreds of years of having their people enslaved, when factions in the Seven Kingdoms made a move to rescue their people. It was a seven year crusade that went all the way to Fal''Herim, until the allies of the Desert King made a ruckus. The crusade ended with limited success, but the slavers no longer moved in the open thereafter. Also, the Desert King and allies continuously complained about the suffering the Crusades caused them, denouncing it as unjust and cruel.

    The point was that fighting the Desert King meant offending his friends. Whole kingdoms and nations out there could do a lot worse to one little town in the Wildlands than simply costing him two clans.

    But it was too late to simply send the workers back with their paychecks. Lydia and Phoebe had already emancipated about half the Harvest Sun clan, and they were definitely not going back no matter what he said. At least they still sent their money back to a few stragglers at Fal''Herim to pay their ''taxes'' so that on paper at least, it would seem like they were merely working abroad.

    Or maybe there was a way to outright buy the slaves from the Desert King.

    That was best, Remian felt. Fal''Herim sold slaves sometimes, right? Surely he could make a deal. But he would need some outside support to keep things fair, or he''d get totally bullied in the trade. It just so happened that the Pilus Primus of the Iron Legion was in town¡­

    After that, they''d need to watch their northern border, because making a deal with the Desert King didn''t mean that some Fal''Herim entrepreneurs might decide to make a quick buck by picking up free slaves from a measly frontier town. But at least then it would just be the slavers, not Fal''Herim and all her allies blasting down their door.

    Until then, the High Rock and Harvest Sun clans were going to have to send most of their pay back to the Desert King. They''d never be able to truly prosper. Most of their belongings were self-made. The vast majority of their purchasing power would be from their children''s Adventurer Guild Points. It wasn''t until recently that Remian learned where almost all their money was going, and why the children were so desperately eager to join the Guild.

    Remian didn''t have the heart to send them back. He wanted to keep them, for good. He wanted to free them, and give them a better future than Fal''Herim ever would. But could he afford to? How much did it cost to buy a slave, these days? How much would it cost if he didn''t buy them and had to go to war for them?

    How much firepower would he need on his side to avoid a war if he freed them without buying them? How much was enough to be a deterrent so that the Desert King would feel that fighting for these freed slaves would be too costly for him?

    More than two XL Ballistae and one XXL Ballista on three junk or patchwork-grade airships.

    What sort of army did the Desert King have? Tens of thousands of armed slaves, roughly 20 clans'' worth, plus a few legions of professional armed forces, at least a dozen airships, mainly industrial and commercial-grade frigates and galleons, a few high-grade or military-grade.

    Fighting them right now would be outright slaughter at Remian''s expense. They needed modern military-grade weaponry, at the very least. The Bellower Ballista, rated at Tier 5+, would barely count as commercial-grade. While it could threaten DD or Spike, just comparing effective range, it wouldn''t be able to hit a commercial-grade airship before that airship''s weaponry blasted it to pieces.

    No. The road wasn''t the problem. The problem was air superiority.

    Maybe he would have better luck dealing with the Sun Eagle. He just had to prove that humans were not the Destroyers of the world.

    Fat chance of that ever happening!

    What about human allies? Foreign support from the Seven Kingdoms, like Ashdale?

    Again, it would be difficult. Why would they support a little frontier town with nothing in it for them?

    No. This wasn''t the time for war. They''d just have to put up with circumstances as they are and deal with the Beast Waves as they came while they grew stronger, until Beast Waves were of no consequence, until their volumes of trade made people sit up and pay attention, until they had the strength enough to deal with Fal''Herim on their own terms and foreign support became unnecessary but helpful, just icing on the cake.

    Meanwhile, paying the workers was going to cost him 112,000 lir every week. That was a huge chunk out of the mining profits. With this week''s revenue dropping due to the wall at the Encles'' settlement and helping the Encles build stuff, they were going to have to sell the rest of the Tier 5 meat just to avoid a loss.

    Sorry, piggies, but we really can''t afford to feed that meat to you any more.

    They might have to cut back on cheese for the lynxmice too. They didn''t need that many spies, and the wolfcats were actually better at digging. As it was, they already had a lot more mice around than they needed. Unless George could put them to better use than Tim, dark days might be coming for Miik''s underlings.

    They could do it, Remian thought, if they could bide their time and quietly grow, just as long as nobody told the Desert King about slaves being freed in the Frontier, so long as everyone just kept quiet¡­

    The next day, a warship from Fal''Herim arrived demanding an explanation as to why they were stealing the Desert King''s property.

 91 War with FalsHerim

    Lately, the Frontier had been attracting a lot of attention.

    First, the Secret Waves went silent.

    Spies were sent in secret. By all reports, the entire East Side of Fort Spoas had dropped down a cliff.

    Then, the excavation site went dark.

    Three Sky Galleons loaded with troops went to investigate. By all reports came, a Tier 5 Wild had stomped the excavation site into dust. That Wild had been captured by local miners, and the site was soon under reconstruction.

    But when four airships from Ashdale visited Fort Spoas at the same time, people began to ask more questions. Apparently, there were a lot of natives from Fal''Herim already there. Taskmasters were sent to those slaves'' clans to exploit that fact.

    How surprising that most of those clans were already gone. Furthermore, some friends from Ashdale indicated that Frontier Town was on the rise, with the Beast Waves stopped and slaves being freed, and they were even buying airship parts¡­

    The Desert King decided to send an agent to verify the truth of these rumors. He sent one of his flagship''s escort frigates and a squad of elite fighters from his own personal guard along with that agent.

    "Who dares to steal the property of the Desert King?" the agent demanded with loudspeakers from the airship ten feet above the airport control tower.

    Remian and Mindy boarded the Tug and went to meet them. "There has been no theft! These workers were hired legally and regularly send their paychecks home!"

    There was a short silence. "Prepare for inspection!"

    The military frigate landed at the docks.

    What followed next could have taken up a whole chapter of increasingly annoying dialogue ending with a cliffhanger, but let''s skip that and just have a summary of what everyone already knows to expect. There was an incredibly arrogant ship captain who thought the world of himself and nothing of the poor country bumpkins he had come to bully. Without even actually ''inspecting'' anything, he made demands, threatened and blustered, claimed all their valuables in the name of the exalted Desert King who was his boss and proclaimed that he would **** all their women publicly in front of them, including Mindy, who was only twelve, but really he was looking at Phoebe the whole time.

    At a certain point, he was so annoying and everyone was so mad at him that Carrie made a move. Seeing her approach, he said something about keeping her in a zoo for children to throw stones at and laugh and gawk at, promising to tame her and make her perform tricks for show¡­

    CHOMP! He never did get to explain exactly what tricks he thought he could have a Tier 4 wolfcat learn. Carrie crunched his head between her teeth with a satisfied look on her face, then kept chomping down his headless body, ultimately munching the whole arrogant captain in roughly fifteen seconds flat.

    Then, she burped, and finally looked a bit embarrassed. [Excuse me.]

    "C-captain!" the arrogant late captain''s aides were aghast.

    CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! Buff and Red''s pack all got to work finishing what Carrie started and they basically had a free meal at the Desert King''s expense. Almost the entire Fal''Herim airship crew disappeared down their gullets in rapid succession.

    By that time, everyone had had it with Fal''Herim. Remian himself was on the verge of outright violence. If Carrie hadn''t eaten the captain, Remian might have actually set him on fire.

    But no, he had more important things to do.

    "Mikai, sneak your lynxmice into that airship. Leave no survivors." Those were the first words out of Remian''s mouth ever since the Fal''Herim airship captain got chomped. Then, he turned to Tim. "We''re going to need those tunnels to Fal''Herim."

    "Really? When?" Tim asked.

    "Right now."

    Then, he called up Spike. "Big guy, I need you on the road to Fal''Herim."

    [But there is no road to Fal''Herim!]

    "Not yet, but you should be headed there over land anyway."

    [But¡­ but it''s desert! It''s dry and sandy, and there''s no water! My skin is going to itch! Why do you think I live under a waterfall?? I need to keep my face moist!]

    "Fine. We''ll send along some water. Mindy can drop water on your head from her airship."

    [How is that going to last all the way to Fal''Herim? It''s a three-day journey even if I run!]

    "We''ll load the whole Sky Barge with water and send it with you. Also, don''t run all the way there. Walk at a comfortable pace and keep your strength reserved to fight off a counter-attack."

    [A steady walk? But that''s going to take five or six days!]

    "Then five or six days it is."

    [But they''re going to attack me!]

    "Yeah. So blast them out of the sky."

    [What if they attack from land??]

    "We''ll send along some wolfcats to help." Remian turned to Markus. "I''ll need your help too."

    "Fighting Wilds is one thing. I draw the line at attacking Fal''Herim." Markus said immediately.

    "Fighting Wilds was all I was going to ask of you. I''m sending our Wilds to attack them, but we won''t be back in time to face the Beast Wave." Remian said. "I''m taking the airships and the Wilds, but I''ll leave the FDF and the human clans here with the Iron Legion. Can you manage the next Beast Wave?"

    "I believe so." Markus mused. "I guess this is ironic payback, that you''re sending your Wilds to attack them while they''re sending their Wilds to attack you. Except that it''s me who''s going to be fending their Wilds off."

    "Something like that." Remian nodded shortly.

    At that point, Phoebe approached. She had her head down and a very guilty look on her face. "I''m sorry. Because of me, you couldn''t avoid war with the Desert King."

    "No, it''s not you, and it was probably going to happen sooner or later anyway." Remian assured her.

    "But it''s too early. You''re not strong enough yet. At this rate, you''re all going to die." Phoebe said in tragic tones. "I know you''re going to put up a brave fight, but in the end, you just don''t have the kind of forces and equipment they have."

    "True. But they don''t know we''re already at war. We have the jump on them." Remian said.

    "They have weaponry powerful enough to hurt Spike and they''re definitely going to see him coming. You know that, don''t you?"

    Oddly enough, Remian grinned. "I''m counting on it."

    That very hour, Spike began a long, five-day journey across the Desert to Fal''Herim. Every few hours, the Tug few out to him and dropped bucketloads of water on his head to keep him hydrated. While the Tug sent out to wet his skin, Remian had his workers load up the Sky Barge with water.

    The following day, DD and his boars followed Spike. With them were the Tug and the Sky Barge, both filled with supplies, workers and water. They caught up with Spike on the third day and marched on toward Fal''Herim together. Also, Remian sent four packs of wolfcats to join them. They would catch up just before reaching the Desert King''s city.

    It was an army that all of Fal''Herim could see coming miles and miles away.

    In response, Fal''Herim launched one airship, the other military-grade escort Frigate.

    "Here we go." Remian cleared his throat. "Mindy?"

    Oddly enough, Mindy wasn''t out there with the Tug and the Sky Barge. No, those were currently crewed by adventurers, recently freed youths from the Harvest Sun clan fiercely proud to be fighting for their newfound freedom. They had training with the Iron Legion, they had learned to use scrolls, and they were proving capable enough to crew Junk-class and Patchwork-class airships.

    Mindy, on the other hand, had a much, much more challenging job.

    "Ready." She said tautly, unable to hide her nervousness.

    "Then let''s go." Remian said, climbing aboard the last airship left at the Fort Spoas airport.

    No, it wasn''t the Foresight. This last airship was the most advanced craft ever to grace Fort Spoas. It was armed to the teeth, and had a cutting edge magic-drive, armor plating, military-grade weaponry¡­

    The name of the airship was the Red Fang. It was the very same airship that had been sent to Fort Spoas on ''inspections''. Mikai and the lynxmice had captured it and now Mindy and Remian and a crew of adventurers were taking it up into the air to intercept its sister ship.

    Remian was using the Desert King''s own airship against him.

 92 Airships and the deser

    The blast came from above. A surge of energy like white-hot light slammed into Spike''s shell from the cloudy sky.

    [It''s here! It''s already here!] Spike roared in pain. [Remian! Where are you?!]

    [We''re coming! Fend it off!] Remian replied from the south.

    Spike roared, but the airship that had shot at him was too high, hidden among the clouds, and he couldn''t even see it, much less affect it with sonic attacks from that distance. [It''s too far! I can''t reach it!]

    [Hunker! Protect your head!]

    Spike withdrew his head just in time for another blast to narrowly miss his nose. The near-burn scorched the sands beneath his chin; it smelled like glass.

    Gulping, Spike withdrew his tail as well as his head, trying his best to act like a tortoise.

    The third shot glanced off the rear of his shell. One of the spikes on his back was burned black, and then fell away, breaking to pieces on the sand like charcoal.

    Meanwhile, DD''s herd made rude noises toward the sky. In response, the fourth blast fried the noisiest boar, a direct hit to the snout that burned his entire face off. No hogs head from that guy¡­ though one could still get oversized Tier 4 pig''s ears¡­

    DD''s herd started a stampede. Boars immediately took off running northward in a swarm.

    [That''s not going to help!] Spike groaned.

    But they didn''t listen. Of course they wouldn''t.

    The fifth blast, the sixth, the seventh¡­ the airship above seemed to be enjoying the herd''s panic, leisurely gunning them down one by one. The eighth shot, the ninth, the tenth¡­

    Spike stumbled forward through a field that smelled of burned pork and melted glass, trying his best to keep his head close to his shell and his tail low.

    But abruptly, there was a blazing beam of light and an explosion in the clouds overhead.

    Remian''s psionic voice echoed in Spike''s mind. [Direct hit!!] he crowed.

    [You''re here!] Spike never expected to be so happy to see him.

    Blue fireballs sprayed out in quick succession from the first airship. The Fal''Herim frigates had both a heavy frontal cannon and smaller side cannons. The frontal cannon fired off thick beams like the one that scorched Spike''s shell. The side cannons fired off blue fireballs at a rapid pace.

    The blue fireballs flashed through the cloud layer, but there was no response, no explosion, they just sailed through and fizzled off over the distance. The Red Fang wasn''t there any more.

    Magic ignited on that airship. Barriers rose up on every side, especially in the front. A thick layer also covered the lower hull of the frigate, shielding it from any assault from below¡­

    "Maximum power to the main cannon!" the voice was tiny among the clouds, but it carried very large consequences.

    The crew of the Fal''Herim jerked their heads upward in astonishment; that voice had sounded almost literally on top of them¡­

    That''s when the Red Fang appeared right behind and above them. It was so close, they could actually see Remian''s face at the front.

    WHAM! Another blinding beam slammed into the envelope of the Fal''Herim airship from point-blank range. The airship shuddered as the upper rear barrier broke, pierced clean through by the heavy cannon''s blast. The beam burned right through the envelope.

    Then, the airship began to fall.

    [Ready?] Remian asked Spike, mind-to-mind.

    Spike grinned as he watched the airship fall toward him. [Totally!]

    Down it came, nearer, nearer, nearer¡­

    Spike roared. Sonic energy flooded the air and tore at the falling airship. The screams of the crew were completely drowned out. Some of them died before they ever reached the ground.

    But the airship did, of course, reach the ground, and it did so in an earth-shaking crash. DD''s herd actually stumbled at the tremor, but they didn''t hesitate; they charged in at the wreck from all sides.

    "That''s it for the Red Claw." Mindy sighed, watching the Red Fang''s sister ship getting mauled by DD''s tusks. Magic armor was good, but it really needed someone powering it for it to reach its true potential. Between Spike''s sonic roar and the crash, there was no way any of the Red Claw''s crew could have survived, much less empowered the armor. "I wish we could have captured it intact."

    "We could still salvage it." Remian shrugged.

    "Really¡­?" Mindy eyed the furious boars below. "I''m not sure there''s going to be anything left to salvage at this rate."

    [DD! Enough! Call off your herd! I think we got them!]

    But not even DD could completely stop the rampaging herd from taking vengeance upon the wreckage.

    "More airships incoming!" Mindy reported. "I''m taking us back into cloud cover!"

    The Red Fang slipped into the clouds again.

    "Signal the Sky Barge and the Tug to stay farther away. Do not approach! I repeat, DO NOT APPROACH!"

    Earlier on, Remian''s orders had been for them to stay a safe distance out of the fight. Now, he was urging them to keep even farther back.

    There were three airships approaching from Fal''Herim now, two of them were Sky Galleons, the third one was a smaller, faster skiff. All three stopped halfway between the city and Spike, then hovered there uncertainly.

    They knew there was a military-grade frigate just hiding in the clouds above Spike. They didn''t dare approach.

    [Come get me!!] Spike roared. [Or I''ll come get you!]

    [Actually, no, just stay where you are.] Remian cut in.

    [What??]

    [Stay put. Just stay put.]

    [Why?] Spike wailed.

    [Because] Remian smiled a grim smile. [We''re just the distraction.]

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mikai and Tim were right under Fal''Herim with somewhere between five to six hundred lynxmice. They had tunneled all this way under the desert; one of the reasons Remian wanted Spike to take his time, four to five days instead of three, was to give them time to get there.

    [We have their attention. Go, go, go!] Remian''s thoughts flickered through both Tim''s and Mikai''s minds.

    "Go!" Tim whispered in a hoarse voice.

    "Squiik!" Mikai ordered.

    A hundred squeaks responded, and massive movements erupted beneath ground. Abruptly, they flooded out into a hangar, scrambling onto mechanics and airport crews before they could do more than yelp.

    "There!" Tim only needed a few seconds to find his target.

    It was the biggest, fiercest looking ship docked at the airport. Military-grade Galleon, almost as big as the Sky Barge but a lot more heavily armed and armored. Right now, it was being boarded by armored men carrying crystal-tipped staves. Mages in armor?!

    "Go!" Tim ran straight for it amidst chaos and yelling with Mikai and a deluge of lynxmice at his side.

 93 Assaul

    Salim Eran thought that boarding the airship early would make a good impression on his superiors. As the newest member of the Sons of Sand Mercenary Band, he was often the butt of inside jokes about his inexperience and clumsy ways. Salim wasn''t like the other mercenaries; he was basically a fresh graduate from the Italim branch of the Ceres Metro Magic Academy.

    They were supposed to be on standby. Apparently some troublesome creatures were headed toward the city and they just might be sent out to bombard them from above. Maybe. If the Desert King felt bored enough to pay them for it. But the Red Fangs and the Red Claws were cheaper, and most of the time, if he could get away with sending only the cheaper mercenaries, the Desert King wouldn''t splurge by calling out the SOS.

    But Salim figured he might score a few points with management if he made a good impression during this standby period. They probably won''t be sent out, everyone knew it. Half the guys weren''t even getting out of bed.

    Anyway. Salim put on his new mercenary armor, picked up his fireball staff and marched himself to the airship boarding ramp.

    That was when all hell broke loose.

    First, the mechanic next to the airship entrance shrieked in his ear loudly enough to make his head spin. Then, the moron threw up his can of spray paint into the air and all but shoved Salim right off the boarding ramp. Salim stumbled, almost falling off the ramp and dropping fifty feet to his untimely demise.

    There was another armored mage behind him, one of his fellow graduates from the academy, likewise trying to make a good impression; he wasn''t so lucky. The mechanic guy bowled him right over the boarding ramp and he went down, down, down, protesting his innocence in a long, wordless wail.

    Salim took a minute before he could make out why everyone was panicking so badly. There was a massive surge of colorful figures down on the ground, so many and so fast that he couldn''t even make out what they were at first.

    But then one particular figure dashed up the airship dock and onto the boarding ramp quicker than Salim could eat bread and cheese. It charged straight for Salim with a terrifying squeak.

    "Giant rats!!" Salim gasped. In the stories, giant rats were always the first enemy of new, brave adventurers, and they usually fought in a cellar someplace, but this¡­?! He''d signed up to be airship support staff, simply providing mana to airship engines and equipment. Fighting giant rats in the airport hangar wasn''t in the job description! Not to mention how many there were¡­

    For goodness'' sake, this wasn''t why he''d gone to Italim to study! He went to study there to get away from the desert, from Fal''Herim''s icky creatures and endless strife, he wanted to fly high above it all¡­

    But who knew that upon graduation, nobody would take a guy from Fal''Herim except the Desert King''s own people? A job above the clouds rather than among the sands was already the best he could get.

    Yet here he was, still on the ground, still fighting monsters like all his childhood neighbors who had to deal with sand wyrms every day.

    "It''s not fair!!" Salim howled, pointing his fireball staff at the fastest ''giant rat'' charging at him. "Fireball!"

    The critter dodged the first shot, face turning fierce as the fire almost singed its whiskers. Salim aimed again, trying not to let his hands shake, trying not to shriek as he triggered the staff. "Fireball!"

    The furry monster dodged again! It was like the giant rat-thing actually understood what Salim was going to do, like it could even understand what he said! It was on top of him before he could fire off a third shot, and leapt practically onto his face.

    "WHOA!" Salim couldn''t help shrieking then, feeling those cold, hard claws on his neck.

    "Squiikiik!" the creature squeaked at him demandingly.

    "What?" Salim blinked. "What do you want?"

    In response, the fellow picked up his fireball staff and pointed it at Salim.

    "WHOA!! Be careful with that! It''s dangerous!" Salim backed off, scrambling backwards toward the airship entrance. He was almost there. A little more, and¡­

    The ''giant rat'' dashed past Salim, into the airship, fireball staff at the ready.

    "Squiik!" a warcry sounded.

    BOOM! A fireball erupted inside the airship, and screams followed. By Khar''al-dras, did that monster just use his fireball staff?! Management was going to be so pissed at him for losing it¡­

    "Squikiik!" the critter emerged again, pointing the staff at Salim threateningly. "Squiiik!"

    "What? What do you want?!" Salim was chagrined. Why didn''t he run away? Why had he remained here, on the boarding ramp¡­

    "He demands that you get on board or he''ll fry you." A voice said from behind him.

    Salim turned to see a young boy dressed in Ashdale-style clothing with another captured fireball staff pointed at him. That must have been from the other graduate mage who fell off the boarding ramp earlier. This young boy had dozens of other giant rats at his side. He didn''t seem afraid of them. He didn''t seem like he was going to cast fireballs at them. In fact, it looked like they were guarding him.

    "You?" Salim figured it out easily enough. "You brought these giant rats upon us?!"

    "I command the lynxmice, yes." The boy grinned. "Now, get on board, slowly, and bring us to the command center!"

    ***

    Meanwhile, the two Fal''Herim Sky Galleons and the skiff had advanced toward Spike''s position¡­ at a crawl. They couldn''t say they didn''t dare approach, they couldn''t back off¡­ but they didn''t need to rush forward when there was a killer frigate in the clouds either. So they advanced; very, very slowly.

    At the rate they were going, the wolfcats would catch up to Spike before they arrived.

    ***

    Also around that time, lynxmice were pouring into key strategic locations around Fal''Herim from underground tunnels; the Fal''Herim army arsenal, the Desert King''s harem, the palace kitchens and the dairy product storage of the north bazaar.

    They stole weapons and ammunition. They caused such a ruckus and panic in the harem that the entire palace was effectively paralyzed. The Desert King himself was overrun and nearly trampled by screaming wives and concubines while dozens of lynxmice scrambled around their rooms, their tables, their wardrobes and even their baths¡­ several guards were later ordered to commit suicide for seeing the king''s wives running out of the baths naked and shrieking with their arms waving while being chased by squads of lynxmice.

    Most importantly, they raided all the cheese in both the royal kitchens and the market bazaar. Having rendered both the government and the public markets of Fal''Herim cheeseless, the raiding parties began to expand their interests to include sausage and butter.

    Each of these locations were overwhelmed by hundreds of lynxmice, in the case of the north bazaar, thousands¡­ but soon the people of Fal''Herim began to fight back, inflicting casualties upon the lynxmice horde with magic, swords, spears, axes, kitchen knives, dogs, a rolling pin and several frying pans.

    With their military''s attention stuck on Spike outside Fal''Herim and their police force embroiled in chaos within, almost nobody noticed when the Desert King died.

    Actually, that wasn''t even part of the plan. The assault upon the harem was supposed to be a distraction, something to paralyze and preoccupy the Desert King and his officers while Tim and Mikai got away with their greatest airship. That military-grade battle galleon was the trump card of Fal''Herim''s forces. With two of the three military-grade airships on their side and the third down in the dust, Remian had hoped to come to terms with the defanged Desert King.

    Nobody expected him to die under the frenzy of his own harem.

    But there it was. Strangled by his concubines, trampled by his wives, pulled at and hidden behind from all sides, the Desert King choked, gasped, spluttered, and keeled over, dead.

    Even so, his wives and concubines went on tugging at him. His top three wives had taken the opportunity in the chaos to argue and fight, each demanding that he came with them. His favorite concubine had wrapped her loving arms around his neck very, very tightly from behind while she shut her eyes and screamed into his back. Several of his women had come to blows, and in three cases, had shed blood. Five of his wives and two concubines died in the ensuing struggle.

    The lynxmice didn''t realize any of that had happened. They were just happily chasing shrieking women around their house. Tim had no idea what had happened in the palace. He was just happy to be able to fly that airship out of Fal''Herim with the help of Salim and three of the original crews, held hostage by a hundred lynxmice, a boy and two fireball staves. Remian most certainly couldn''t know; he was powering up the main cannon of a military frigate that was carefully sneaking up behind the two Fal''Herim Sky Galleons slowly edging towards Spike.

    All told, it was a very bad day for Fal''Herim¡­

 94 More Chaos

    Meanwhile, Frontier Town was likewise having to deal with an assault by Wilds, another Beast Wave.

    But who cares about that, right? The action was all taking place in Fal''Herim, and that''s where all the fun was at, so¡­

    "Fire!" Remian triggered the most powerful weapon he''d ever laid his hands on. The main cannon of the Red Fang shot out a bright beam of energy right into the rear of the left Sky Galleon.

    "Turning hard to port! Ready broadside!" Mindy announced. "Target the skiff! Fire at will!"

    The Red Fang turned to the left, hard. The adventurers manning the smaller guns fired off blue fireballs. They rained fire down on the poor skiff, blasting it to pieces before it knew what was happening.

    The third airship turned around. Magical barriers were raised. The broadside gunners fired on it, but the barriers were too strong, the smaller cannons couldn''t penetrate their shields.

    "Bring us about! Hurry!" Remian called.

    "No time!" Mindy took the airship into a steep climb, dodging into the clouds, then swinging about furtively as the Sky Galleon below retaliated, blindly firing off cannons into the clouds. "Defense!"

    Remian and five adventurers responded, pouring mana into the armor of the frigate the same way they powered up scrolls. The armor lit up, erecting barriers just as a few lucky shots splattered into the side of the airship.

    "Damage?" Remian asked.

    "Shields are holding!" one adventurer answered. "Seventy percent!"

    "Fire!" this time they unleashed a full broadside barrage on the remaining airship, pummeling its hastily erected shields, tearing through in several places and setting both the envelope and the gondola on fire.

    "Prepare another salvo¡­ wait¡­ what''s that?" Mindy peered at the Sky Galleon who was sending out rather strange signals.

    But one man on the deck was giving off signals that Remian couldn''t help recognizing. "Is he waving a white flag?"

    "It looks like it." Mindy agreed. "What do we do?"

    "Stay in cover, but don''t shoot. Let''s see if they''re really surrendering, or if this is some sort of trick." Remian said, eyes narrowed.

    "Heading?" Mindy asked, as they ducked back into the clouds.

    Remian closed his eyes, and used Spike''s eyes and location to determine his position and his enemy''s. "Hard to starboard, and ascend thirty degrees."

    Don''t tell the Desert King, but having eyes on the ground and a telepathic connection with real-time updates was practically cheating when it came to airship combat with cloud cover. Who else would dare to fly blind in the clouds, never knowing where you were or where your enemy was? But all Spike had to do was look up and Remian could see where his target was. Then he only had to use the sense of Spike''s location relative to himself to feel out his own position, and a very unfair battle would ensue.

    It worked brilliantly. Remian only wished he''d actually thought of the idea, but honestly speaking, they didn''t even realize they could do that until just now, when they flew into the clouds and didn''t have any other way of figuring out where they were or which way they were going. The sense of Spike''s location was the first thing that Remian relied on, and it was proving invaluable.

    "So¡­ we won?" Mindy asked, as they watched the Sky Galleon floating and burning, waving white flags and scrambling to put out the fires.

    "I think so?" Remian guessed.

    "We didn''t even need Tim and the battle galleon!" Mindy said in astonishment.

    "It''s not over yet. This is just the second wave from Fal''Herim. We don''t know what they''re going to send at us next." Remian cautioned her.

    "Do we have time to properly capture that Sky Galleon, at least?" Mindy asked. "And salvage the wreckage below?"

    It turned out, they did. They forced the remaining Sky Galleon to land, swapped the Galleon''s crew for adventurers, loaded up some of the wolfcats that only just arrived and sent it on its merry way to Frontier Town. As for the original crew¡­ they were locked up on board, with wolfcats for guards.

    Meanwhile, Spike, DD, the boars and most of the wolfcats continued on toward Fal''Herim. Tim and Mikai still hadn''t returned with the battle Galleon. Remian was getting concerned about them. Maybe sending in the lynxmice to do commando jobs wasn''t such a great idea¡­

    [Tim! Where are you?] Remian asked, as he and Mindy followed Spike north.

    [We''re¡­ still at Fal''Herim.] Tim replied gloomily. [We''re kind of¡­ stuck.]

    [Stuck, how? Did you release the anchor chains?] Remian asked the first thing that came to mind.

    [Yes, we did! We know how to launch an airship! But air traffic control wouldn''t let us leave the city! We told them we had an important mission to the south, but they wanted us to bomb the city!]

    [What?!] Remian stared. [They wanted you to bomb their own city?]

    [Yeah! It''s crazy out here!] Tim reported back. [I''m not even sure who''s giving us orders any more! There''s a Crown Prince saying one thing, and a Queen Mother saying something else, and a General something-or-the-other barking different orders¡­ I can''t make heads or tails of any of it! People are fighting in the streets, soldiers against slaves, soldiers against soldiers, slaves against slaves¡­ it''s chaos!]

    Remian paused, not sure what to think.

    [Mikai thinks they''ve gone mad because we stole their cheese.] Tim added helpfully. [And their butter.]

    Remian shook his head. [Any other theories?]

    [Salim thinks we triggered a civil war.] Tim offered. [He''s one of our captives.]

    [What civil war?] Remian was dazed.

    [Well, the representative barking orders in the name of the Crown Prince claims that since the Desert King died, the Crown Prince was therefore the rightful successor to the throne¡­]

    [The Desert King died?!]

    [But the Queen Mother''s representative claims foul play, that the king was murdered, and the prince was a suspect and since she is the First Queen, she took it upon herself to enforce justice¡­]

    [She''s fighting her own son?]

    [Uh¡­ no, the crown prince is the third queen''s son. The First Queen''s eldest child is a daughter.]

    [So¡­ which orders are you following? Which side did you end up on?]

    [Both of them, actually. We just shoot everything anyone tells us to shoot. That includes the general, who, according to Salim, represents the Second Queen, not the First, or the Third. He says that''s the one we should really be supporting, since we''re from Frontier Town.]

    [Why is that?]

    [Because that''s the queen who wants to free the slaves.]

    Remian hesitated. [Can we really trust that Salim?]

    [Come over and truth-spell him for yourself.] Tim invited.

    [I have a better idea. Ditch the city and bring him to me.]

    [But we''re doing so much damage here!] Tim protested. [Mikai loves it!]

    A strange idea occurred to Remian then. [Tim, don''t do too much damage. What if we could take over Fal''Herim for ourselves?]

    [Conquer Fal''Herim?] Tim hesitated. [Then¡­ it would be better not to damage it too much, right?]

    [We have air superiority, and we have Tier 5 Wilds already on the way.] Remian pointed out. [Why can''t we?]

    [Because I''m seeing thousands of high-level troops with some pretty nifty gear killing each other on every street?] Tim guessed. [I''m not sure even Spike could get away unscathed if he came up against these guys.]

    [That strong?] Remian stared.

    [Some of them, yes. Maybe we should just sit back and let them sort this out themselves?] Tim hesitated. [Or we could just add to the chaos by doing what we''ve been doing so far.]

    [Doing everybody''s bidding is simply begging to be killed. Just declare neutrality and let them sort it out without you.] Remian advised.

    [Got it.]

 95 Asda

    Tim tried to stay out of the whole mess, he really did.

    But ultimately, he failed.

    "We need you to take refugees on board!" a desperate woman pleaded. "Please! My daughter doesn''t deserve to die here! Help us!"

    "But¡­"

    "Even if you can only take one! Just one person!"

    Dear Tim hadn''t had time to wonder about how anyone managed to contact him using the airship''s own short-range communication crystals. Those things only worked for the air traffic control tower and the royal palace. But of course, Tim couldn''t know that. He only heard the voice, and the desperation.

    That was why, ten minutes later, a rope was lowered and a girl was reeled in.

    [Is that how humans pick their mates?] Mikai observed with interest. [Reeling them in with a fishing rod? Like fishing?]

    "Not exactly." Tim grimaced. "Although maybe it''s not that different from fishing. But no, the fishing rod is definitely not it. Actually, before that¡­ she''s not my mate."

    [She looks about the same age as you.] Mikai mentioned.

    Well, that much was true. She was covered up from head to toe, and wore a headscarf to boot, but based on face and figure, she was in her early teens. Very early teens.

    She arrived and saw all the lynxmice, saw Tim and Mikai facing her with fireball staves, and arrived at an immediate conclusion. "You! It''s you who raided the harem!"

    "Nice to meet you too." Tim grimaced. "I''m afraid we''re going to have to tie you up for the duration of your stay. But you''ll be fine, so long as you don''t cause us trouble."

    "No, no trouble." She raised both hands, eyeing the fierce lynxmouse pointing the fireball staff at her face. "Thank you for helping me."

    They had her tied to a chair nearby and then sat back to watch the fireworks as Fal''Herim went to war with itself.

    But the girl had other plans. "Hey¡­ you don''t work for the Queen Mother, do you?"

    "What makes you say that?" Tim asked, guardedly.

    "That was her strongest battalion that just got blasted to bits in front of us, and you didn''t lift a finger to help them." She explained.

    "Right¡­" Tim grimaced.

    "So¡­ the Crown Prince. Might he be willing to make an alliance with us?" she asked, then.

    "What?" Tim blinked. "Who''s ''us''?"

    She stared at him. "You don''t recognize me?"

    More explosions lit up the city as Tim and his refugee/prisoner/fishing prize looked deeply into each others eyes with a mix of confusion and surprise.

    No, wait, that''s not the point!

    "She''s princess Asda." Salim explained, from where he was tied to the mana input port. "The Second Queen''s daughter."

    "Second Queen? That''s the one wanting to free the slaves, right?"

    "Right." Salim nodded. "How else would she contend for power? She doesn''t have much of an army."

    "It''s not about power! It''s about humanity! The slaves deserve to be freed!" Asda exclaimed.

    "And the fact that there''s enough of them to take over Fal''Herim isn''t really an issue?" Tim asked. "If freeing the slaves were really a priority, she''d have done it ages ago, woudn''t she?"

    Salim stared at them both. "How old are you two, again?"

    "Old enough to marry." Asda shrugged. "You''re one of the sand people, yourself. You understand."

    "I studied in Itarim. Child marriage is one of the things I disagreed with. Too many old men bullying little girls."

    [You don''t seem like an old man, to me¡­] Mikai observed Tim.

    "Drop it." Tim warned Mikai, ardently rebuffing the very thought of Asda being of marriable anything. "Keep your head on straight! We have a battle going on!"

    [Are you talking to me, or trying to convince yourself?] Mikai sniffed, scorning Tim''s fa?ade.

    [Remian!] Tim called for help, mind-to-mind.

    How? He wasn''t too concerned with that, right now. Actually, it felt almost natural; Remian had been mind-talking him and the lynxmice, and they''d been mind-talking him for a while now, and he didn''t even realize it or notice when it started. After so much mind-talking, replying back just seemed like a normal thing to do.

    Remian however, jumped in shock and almost created an accident with the military frigate''s main cannon. [T-Tim!? Mikai? What''s going on?]

    [Tim has a girlfriend!] Mikai exclaimed.

    [What?]

    [He''s been picking up girls in Fal''Herim!] Mikai explained sagely.

    [NO!] Tim blurted.

    [Literally fished her off the streets.] Mikai nodded to himself. [Reeled her in with a fishing rod.]

    [That''s not what happened!] Tim protested. [Her mother begged us to take her to safety!]

    [Who? Who''s ''her''?]

    [Asda! I didn''t know she was the Second Queen''s daughter!]

    [Your girlfriend is the Second Queen''s daughter?]

    [She''s not my girlfriend!]

    [Could have fooled me¡­] Mikai whistled mentally.

    [Tim! What have you been doing with the Second Queen''s daughter?!]

    [Nothing! I just tied her to a chair!]

    A gasp. [And¡­!!?]

    [And nothing! We''ve just been talking!] Tim decided to change the subject. [She''s talking about an alliance.]

    [Really? On behalf of the Second Queen?] Remian considered it seriously. [That''s the one we like, right?]

    [You can go like whatever queen you want, but that''s the one who wants to free the slaves, yes.]

    [Now who''s fishing for girls?] Mikai asked, confused.

    [Apparently her military force is somewhat¡­ wanting.]

    [So she''d free the slaves and ask them to fight for her? I''m not sure that''s better than the other factions.]

    [Salim is. According to him, the Queen Mother''s troops are going around killing them outright¡­ just to stop them from maybe joining her.]

    [And the Crown Prince?]

    [Only kills armed slaves. Unarmed slaves are unharmed slaves.] Tim hesitated. [But I don''t think he''ll take kindly to us liberating the Harvest Sun clan.]

    [Or the High Rock clan, who''s next in line.] Remian agreed. [Bring Asda out to meet us at the south gates. We''ll talk.]

    [But the south gates are under the control of the Queen Mother''s forces!]

    [Not after we''re done with them, they''re not.]

    ***

    The south gate tried very hard to fend off Remian''s approach, but they couldn''t even slow Spike down.

    BOOM! The Red Fang''s main cannon started the siege on the gates themselves, followed by Spike''s roar, and DD''s charge.

    BANG! The south gates burst open despite the guards'' best efforts, sending the men flying and DD''s herd charged in. They trampled the guards, gored the archers, stampeded their formations and basically flattened all resistance while the wolfcats came in and cleared the weapons platforms.

    [Bring up the Sky Barge.] Remian ordered. [Land our troops.]

    Well, they weren''t really troops. The Sky Barge was loaded with water, food, and wolfcats. There were only about twenty Adventurers, teenagers from the Harvest Sun and High Rock clans.

    Or, in other words¡­ freed slaves and to-be-freed slaves.

    [We''re here.] Remian told Tim. [Ready for Asda if you are.]

    [We''re coming.] Tim said. [And then she''s all yours.]

 96 The Summit of FalsHerim

    "Mother!"

    "Asda!" an older, graying-hair version of the ''refugee'' princess greeted her daughter with a hug as a rather sad group arrived at the south gate. While technically, this was two allied forces meeting up for the first time, it looked more like a group of ragged refugees stumbling onto a zoo.

    That was really the best description that could be given as the Second Queen and her forces met Remian and his at the south gate; two messy, mismatched groups wondering what the heck each was going to do with the other.

    On one side was a widowed Second Queen with one general, a few squads of exhausted and injured soldiers, with roughly two hundred armed slaves in rags walking around in a dazed mob. On the other was Remian, with a few teenagers like Tim and Mindy, along with a whole bunch of giant boars, wolfcats, and lynxmice. Neither of them looked particularly suited to conquering the city of the Desert King.

    "So¡­ let''s withdraw and let them fight it out?" Tim suggested, seeing the ''army'' of the Second Queen.

    "I think he''s right." The general agreed, seeing the ''army'' of the Frontier forces.

    "No! We have to free the slaves! This will be a revolution the likes of which the world has never seen! There will be an uprising of the downtrodden, and freedom to the captives!" the Second Queen insisted.

    "Yay." There were a few cheers among the tired armed slaves around her, but most of them were just glad to have a safe place to sit down for a while.

    "Where is everyone?" Asda asked, in shock. "We had thousands and thousands¡­"

    "Had. We ran into both the Queen Mother''s forces and the Crown Prince''s forces trying to free more slaves several times before you called us over." The general grunted. "These are all the survivors who hadn''t dropped their weapons and run away."

    "We just need one strike." The Second Queen told her daughter. "If we can liberate the slaves in the north bazaar, our numbers could easily reach a hundred thousand."

    "General?" Asda asked.

    The general grimaced. "It''s too well guarded. We''d never make it, and even then, most of the slaves would rather run away than fight. Plus, we''d anger the merchants. We''ve already made a great deal of enemies tonight¡­"

    "Cowadice, general? I must rethink my choice for my daughter''s future husband." The Second Queen snapped.

    "Even marrying your daughter won''t give my descendants much of a future if all of Fal''Herim is reduced to ashes by tomorrow." The general grunted. He turned to Asda. "Your highness, none of the other factions know exactly how strong we are right now. Having made allies with the Wildlands is a powerful card if we can play it right. The mystery and impression of our real strength is our only true advantage. I say we use it for all it''s worth. Let us call for a summit."

    The Second Queen thought for a bit, then admitted, "Victory through bluster? I like it."

    "It could stop the bloodshed." Asda agreed slowly. "Although I don''t think it''s as easy as you make it sound."

    "Maybe not, but what choice do we have?" the general shrugged. "I''ll send messengers."

    He did. As he did so, Tim glanced toward Asda. "I don''t understand. Why doesn''t freeing the slaves work? Why do they drop their weapons and run? Wouldn''t they rather fight for their freedom?"

    "Well, those who serve cruel masters probably would, but for the most part, slaves in Fal''Herim aren''t actually that badly treated. They may be taxed into poverty, but they still keep a portion of their earnings and their masters take care of all their basic needs, and they enjoy quite a bit of freedom." The general told him. "They get to form their own clans, choose their own jobs, marry whoever they want, go wherever they like, as long as they send the bulk of the money they earn back into their masters'' coffers. It''s not much different from free people living in a high-tax country. Plus, they''ve never known any different. It''s a bit hard to explain to them how their lives would be better as freed people. For the most part, its that they keep all the money they earn from others, but they would never receive anything for free any more, including housing and food."

    "But surely their earnings would more than afford grand houses and delicious meals!" Tim pointed out.

    "Most of them don''t earn that much. Slave labor is supposed to be cheap, and even foreigners who want to hire them come here looking for a bargain. Between low wages and the cost of food and water around here, some of the better-treated slaves would actually be worse off freed."

    "Like the military slaves. Those clans who serve in the Crown Prince''s armies. They are the most well-treated slaves in the city, and they would rather kill us than let us free them." The Second Queen sighed. "My own household slaves would rather stay enslaved than risk their lives for an uncertain future. The ones most willing to take up arms are the recently captured, or the most badly treated, like importedcriminals. Once freed, many would rather take their chances running away to save their own lives than fighting for Fal''Herim."

    "Don''t they fear the consequences of being caught?" Asda asked.

    "Yesterday, sure. But now the Crown Prince''s forces simply let them run. As long as they''re not armed, they won''t stop any slave running around. How would they even check if they''ve been freed from a cage or simply running errands for their masters? Slaves in Fal''Herim normally don''t go around chained or anything."

    "The slave-bond. I''ve been meaning to ask about that. How do you free so many from it all at once?" Remian asked.

    "We don''t." the general grimaced. "All of them still bear their bonds. But we remove all physical bindings and have their masters negate their contracts, since killing the masters would trigger the slave-bonds to kill the slaves too. Actually removing the slave-bonds would require surgery later."

    "Masters can negate contracts?!" Remian facepalmed.

    ***

    The Summit of Fal''Herim, as it was called, took place in the central square of the city, inside the Temple of Khar''al-dras. The leaders of the three warring factions and several powerful neutral factions in the city all met in front of a huge gold-plated statue of a sleeping dragon in the Inner Hall of the Temple.

    On one side was the Queen Mother and her officers. She was speaking to the temple priests. By her side, she had four generals and three young boys, all sons of the Desert King, all faithfully nodding to her every word.

    On another, was the Crown Prince, who spoke in a low voice to the representatives of the Bankers Circle and the Mercenaries Union. There were three generals and a few clan representatives around him voicing their support and ideas.

    There was the Second Queen, who had one general, Remian and Asda at her side, neither of them saying a word. They also had several large wolfcats in attendance, but they didn''t say anything either.

    Then, there were the supposedly neutral parties, like the Alchemist Guild and most importantly, the Four Great Houses, signifying the four most powerful clans in the city. The truth, though, was that each warring faction already had one Great House staunchly behind them, mainly because they were relatives. There was only one truly neutral Great House, and the representative from that one was an old man who didn''t seem to be able to hear what everyone was trying to tell him and kept asking loudly about the wine taxes.

    "I don''t think the others are coming. We may as well get started." The Queen Mother said.

    The obvious response erupted. "Started? This shouldn''t even be taking place! I am the Crown Prince! Upon the death of my father, the throne is mine by right!"

    "You and that (censored) murdered your father, just like your father murdered my son in his time, just as my son murdered my husband, and I am tired of letting it happen again!" the Queen Mother hissed. Apparently, she wasn''t the previous Desert King''s mother; he was his grandmother, which means the current Crown Prince and the three boys following her were all her great-grandsons. "In my time, regicide was High Treason and punishable by death, much less patricide! It is time to return to the old ways, and uphold the law!"

    "I had nothing to do with my father''s death, and the old ways are rubbish!" The Crown Prince snapped. "Times are changing, and there is no going back! Even if we wanted to, we cannot go on as we have in the past!"

    "I agree! The slaves should be freed!" The Second Queen declared.

    Both the Queen Mother and the Crown Prince ignored her entirely.

    "Queen Mother, Crown Prince, we are here to resolve the matter peacefully." The head priest reminded them.

    "You have also invited the leaders of the various powers in Fal''Herim. Should we be ignored when deciding the fate of our fair city?" the representative of the Alchemist Guild added.

    There was a brief silence.

    "I believe each party should have a chance to state their case. Let us see how much support you really have." The man from the Mercenaries Union said plainly. "For instance, what are your future plans for Fal''Herim and how you propose to resolve the two biggest problems facing it today; the unrest caused by this civil war, and the finance problem."

    "What finance problem?" the Second Queen asked.

    The Crown Prince scoffed. "My dear father hasn''t told you? It seems our fair city is running at a steep deficit and our treasury is all but empty already."

    "That''s impossible!" The Second Queen gasped. "The Fire Crystal mine¡­"

    "Is practically exhausted." The Crown Prince snorted. "We get more revenue from the slaves than we do from the mine, these days." He glanced at the Queen Mother. "Did you even know about it?"

    "Of course. But it matters little. Khar''al-dras will bless us once we return to the old ways. We will prosper as we once did. Perhaps he will restore the fruitfulness of the mine."

    "You''re relying on a miracle to save our economy?!" the Crown Prince snorted. "I''d rather trust to economic reform!"

    "Such big words! Do you even have a plan, or do you only know how to throw empty boasts?"

    The Crown Prince growled. "My plan is to use mega-projects to completely revitalize the economy! Cheap labor is the greatest advantage we have and that is what we should use! We should rebuild the entire city in a grand new design, using the latest magitech systems for water and agriculture¡­"

    "And where would you get the money for such mega-projects?" the Queen Mother scoffed.

    "We have friends who would be willing to help out. Have you never heard of Foreign Aid?"

    "And what would you promise them in return?!" she demanded.

    "That is none of your concern!" he shot back. "At least I have a plan! You just want to pray for miracles! And you!" he turned to the Second Queen. "Why are you even here?"

    "We have an army. And we have allied with the Wildlands!" the Second Queen said, slowly mustering her courage. "If we get serious, and freed all the slaves, you''re going to be overrun by the sheer numbers of our forces!"

    "Even without the slaves, the Wilds alone can overrun the city!" Asda threw in bravely. "You have to listen to us!"

    "You want us to listen?" the Crown Prince chuckled. "Very well! Speak! What is your plan to resolve the unrest and our financial problem?"

    At that, the Second Queen was silent for a few seconds. Then, "We should free the slaves."

    "How does that help?" the Queen Mother frowned.

    "It would end the strife in a great celebration!" the Second Queen exclaimed. "And it would cut our costs! We wouldn''t have to pay for their food and housing any more!"

    "No, we''d just have to pay a professional army and professional staff." The Crown Prince snorted with laughter.

    "We don''t have to hire everyone!" Asda cut in.

    "Oh? And who''s going to work our fields and guard our walls? Or should we abandon them all?" the Crown Prince asked. "Every business, every office¡­ do you know how many people our castle alone employs? Do you know how many businesses run on slave labor? Do you know how much of our government department staff are actually slaves? Have you calculated how much it would cost to pay all those slaves wages comparable to other countries?"

    Again, a long silence.

    "And where would we get the money, hmm? I haven''t heard anything from you about a source of revenue."

    "We could raise taxes¡­" the Second Queen began.

    "And how would that bring us more income than what we''re doing now? Or didn''t you know that we were already taking the lion''s share of all the slaves'' revenue?"

    "Once freed, they can open businesses¡­"

    "Would they? Would they really? With what capital, I ask you? Doing what? How many freed slaves do you know who actually do that and succeed?"

    The Second Queen glanced at the representatives of the Bankers Circle. "Surely you fine gentlemen would know such statistics better than I do."

    "That''s true enough." Said one of the bankers. "From those I''ve seen, the number I have is zero."

    "Same here." A second banker said.

    "I think I saw one guy, a long time ago." A third banker frowned. "One of the hundreds I''ve seen. He ran a juice stall on a road corner for a month."

    The Crown Prince coughed. "Since we''re consulting with the bankers, I''d like to ask them a question also. Based on the Second Queen''s intentions, what do you forecast the economy of Fal''Herim to be like in a year? Or five?"

    "Absolute poverty." The first bankers said outright.

    "You mean, bankruptcy?" the Queen Mother poked. "Plus a steep debt?"

    "No, no, bankruptcy and a steep debt is what I''d expect from your plan." He replied. "Hers is far, far worse. I''m not sure there would be anything even resembling an economy after a year."

    "I disagree!" the Second Queen yelped. "If we all work together¡­"

    "Idealism aside, what does your staunch ally say? Is civic unity also your hope for the future?" the Crown Prince turned to Remian.

    His response? "I think I have powerful airships that you can''t hope to shoot down, Wilds that you can''t hope to stop, an army already within your city and that you''re wasting time trying to win a popularity contest when what you should be really discussing are the terms of your surrender."

 97 Power by association

    In a great hall roughly five times the size of Spike with a gold-plated statue of a dragon running two loops all around it, the leaders of Fal''Herim met to discuss the future of the city, only to have Remian politely suggest their surrender.

    "Sorry, who were you, again?" The Crown Prince looked at Remian as if puzzled.

    "This is Remian Vin, King of the Wildlands!" Asda declared.

    That''s way too exaggerated!

    "Uh, no, I just have some influence over one small piece of it¡­" Remian said, but in a voice so low that only the wolfcats next to him could hear it. Yet he cleared his throat and said, "The point is, I have overwhelming military advantage and if you don''t surrender, I may very well just destroy the city and take all its people captive. From what I hear, there''s not much else of worth in it."

    "Oh, but there is!" The Second Queen assured him. "The Imperial Palace is full of valuable treasures. The treasury might be empty, but the cutlery alone is worth its weight in gold. A lot of it IS gold."

    "That makes no sense. Shouldn''t cutlery be silver? You know, to test for poison?" Remian asked.

    "Gold is more valuable." The Second Queen shrugged.

    "It''s a wonder the Desert King hasn''t died before now." Remian shook his head.

    "The royal family is highly resistant against poisons." The Second Queen explained. "Getting stung by scorpions and surviving is a regular rite of passage to prove their bloodline."

    "And they all survive?"

    "Three out of five do."

    "That''s high! Yet you''re okay with it?!"

    "It''s a very big family, with a lot of infighting. Asda is in more danger from her siblings than she is from the scorpions."

    "Back to the point¡­" the Crown Prince interrupted. "What makes you think you deserve our surrender?"

    "Like I said. I have airships, Wilds and an army already in your city. You can''t keep my forces out and I can destroy your city right now."

    "No, you can''t." the prince shook his head. "Even if you could, you wouldn''t. Fal''Herim has many friends, and you can''t fight us all. If you destroyed our city today, our friends would come and destroy you tomorrow. The losses on your part would far outweigh your gains."

    "It makes more sense for you to support my faction as allies rather than conquer the city yourself." The Second Queen agreed. "That way, you are a friend of Fal''Herim, and thus a friend of our friends, not an enemy. At least, on the surface."

    "Actually, I was curious about that. Why are you supporting her? You should support me." The Crown Prince said. "We''re the rulers of neighboring countries, of the same age, and you seem like the reasonable sort. We could be of great help to one another. We could be good friends, you and I."

    "Ah, but you can''t marry him." The Second Queen explained. "I can."

    Remian choked. "No, thanks! I''d rather marry Asda!"

    Hidden nearby, Tim choked.

    "Can''t, sorry. Mom''s promised me to the general''s son." Asda said, somewhat regretfully.

    "And you''re okay with that?" Remian asked, surprised.

    "He''s a softie." Asda explained. "I can bully him forever."

    The general choked.

    "We can discuss the details later, but the point is, we share a common ideal! The slaves must be freed!" the Second Queen stated.

    "Do they?" the Crown Prince asked Remian. "Can''t you just drop the idealism for pragmatism? The economy of Fal''Herim will collapse if we let go of slave labor."

    "Can''t. I have close ties with the Iron Legion and Ashdale. My friends and I are really not big fans of slavery." Remian said plainly. "If you''re so keen on dropping the old ways, you should drop slavery too."

    "Like I said. It''s an economic problem. Right now that''s a bigger issue than approval ratings."

    "Only if you remain here." Remian said. "You should leave."

    "Leave?!" the Crown Prince was stunned.

    "Take your people and move to the Frontier." Remian explained. "Where there''s plenty of fertile land and water. The Fire Crystals are already depleted. There''s no reason for you to stay in the desert any more."

    The Crown Prince paused. He considered it. He really did.

    But the Queen Mother jumped like a scalded cat. "Never! We serve Khar''al-dras! My family will never leave the sands!"

    "But you can''t afford to stay." Remian tried to explain.

    "No! Khar''al-dras will bless us! We need only return to him!" she insisted. "My family, the Dunar line, will never abandon the Desert or the Sand Dragon! Before Khar''al-dras, I vow it!" she turned to the statue''s head looming at the front of the hall and bowed.

    Remian started feeling irritated. "Look, I''m going to make this really simple for you. I demand your surrender. Whether you stay or go is something that I will decide."

    "Surrender? Hah! You come in here with dogs and pigs and you expect us to surrender?" the Queen Mother scoffed.

    [Spike. Come on in.] Remian invited.

    There was a terrible roar, and the whole temple, in fact the whole central square shook. Then there was a heavy thud powerful enough to make the ground quake. And another. And another¡­

    "No! You can''t!" the Queen Mother gasped as she realized something enormous was coming. "This is the holy temple of Khar''al-dras¡­!"

    BANG! The walls of the temple came crashing down as a giant spike-back lizard poked his head in and said, [Hello.]

    He took another step, trying to enter the temple itself, but considering the size of his shell, the attempt did not go well for the temple. The entire left wall crumbled as Spike tried to nudge his way in. [You called?]

    By then, half the delegates were already screaming and calling for guards.

    "Artillery!" One of the Crown Prince''s generals was barking orders.

    [DD, take down the Crown Prince''s forces.] Remian sent. [Feel free to bring the wolfcats too.]

    More shaking occurred, this time on all sides as the boars went on stampede. There was one shot from the nearest artillery nest, just one¡­ and then the only thing coming from there were screams.

    DD crashed through the other wall, leaving a gaping hole in the murals. [Wait! How do I know which ones are the Crown Prince''s forces?]

    [Not sure. Better trample all of them just in case.] Remian advised.

    "Airships!" the Queen Mother shrieked. "Bring in the airships!"

    [Mindy, they''re bringing their airships out to play. Would you be so kind as to entertain them?]

    [''Kind'' isn''t the word I''d use.] Mindy replied. [But we can definitely meet them and have fun on our part.]

    Wait. Now even Mindy could mind-talk? But Tim could, so why not Mindy too?

    Commercial-grade and industrial-grade airships and weaponry against military-grade airships¡­ a lot of sand people crews were going to regret going to work today.

    Meanwhile the wolfcats at Remian''s side were chasing the royal guards around the temple.

    "YAHOO!!" Asda exulted.

    "Stop! Please, stop! There''ll be nothing left of the city!" the Second Queen pleaded.

    "Aww." Asda pouted.

    "ENOUGH!" the Queen Mother thundered. "Such insolence! I will show you today the reason why House Dunar is and will ever be the greatest house in all the desert! Behold, the power of Khar''al-dras!"

    "Yeah, yeah¡­" the Crown Prince glanced at the door as if contemplating a tactical retreat from the summit.

    But the Queen Mother took out a crystal, raised it in front of the gold-plated statue of the dragon that had its body running around the upper walls of the hall, and screamed, "Sior kri za''un, Khar''al-dras!"

    There was an explosion without sound, like a shaking in the fourth dimension itself, and then the worst possible thing happened.

    The ''statue'' opened its eyes.

 98 Fall of FalsHerim

    "Run away¡­!" Asda''s shriek was the most sensible thing Remian heard in the temple as the entire structure began to collapse.

    The wolfcats acted far more quickly than Remian could, grabbing him and Asda, her mother and general up in less than a second, all of them scrambling towards Spike. Spike himself was looking in astonishment as the dragon came to life, flexing and swelling as it broke through the walls and the roof, enlarging to twice its size, thrice¡­

    A huge chunk of ceiling fell almost on top of Remian. The wolfcat carrying him by the collar dodged, but pieces of ceiling and plaster sprayed all over both of them. More chunks of ceiling came falling.

    Ears flat against their heads, the wolfcats ran for their lives with Remian and his new allies hauled along by the scruffs of their shirts. But nobody complained, not even the Second Queen.

    [Everyone, get clear! The temple is going to collapse!] Remian sent out to the rampaging Wilds. [Pull back! Pull back to the South Gate!]

    But DD was enjoying himself too much to notice. [CHAOS!! Trample them all!!]

    [DD! Pull back!] Remian tried to get his attention. [Dude, there''s a DRAGON!]

    [G-wuah?!] DD choked in mid-rampage. [Is that¡­ holy bristles, that''s¡­!]

    [Khar''al-dras, unless I miss my guess.] Remian said grimly.

    The dragon, now five times the size it had been while sleeping, roared, and the entire city shook. Structures all across the horizon crumbled and fell. People were running and screaming all over the place.

    [He does not seem to be happy to be awoken.] Remian grimaced. [I think he''s the grumpy sort.]

    [D-D-D-DRAGON!!!!] DD screamed, and his entire herd turned and stampeded the other way.

    [Get the airships out of here!] Remian sent to Mindy. [Everyone, get to cover!]

    [We''re coming to get you!] Mindy''s thoughts were half-frozen with terror, but even before her own safety, her one thought was to get Remian out of there.

    [There''s no time! Mindy, he can fly! I''ll head for the tunnels! Get the airships out of there, NOW!]

    The dragon was several times the size of Spike now and lunging upward toward the sky, roaring the entire way. The sound of the roars alone were making the air shake. Every building in Fal''Herim was falling apart, and this really wasn''t the fault of the lynxmice tunnels.

    Speaking of lynxmice, they seem to be scrambling around everywhere, taking advantage of the chaos to loot everything in sight. Their little party at the harem was nothing compared to the mess the dragon''s awakening was causing, and they were going to take advantage of it, enjoying the chaos to the hilt!

    The dragon, soaring into the skies and still growing larger, finally stretched and yawned as all of Fal''Herim collapsed to rubble below. [Ahhh. That''s better. My whole body feels tight. Now, who woke me up, and why?]

    "Khar''al-dras!!" the Queen Mother exulted even as the temple came crashing down around her ears. "Smite our enemies and bless us, your servants!"

    BAM! A ton of ceiling rubble came smashing down on top of her, and that was the last any of them saw of the Queen Mother.

    But Khar''al-dras didn''t seem to actually care. He was looking around, bewildered. [My treasures¡­ where are my treasures? My gold! My fire crystals! Where''s all my stuff?!]

    "Uhoh." Remian gulped. He could easily guess and did NOT want to be the person who explained to the Dune Dragon exactly what happened to all his belongings.

    [My bed! Give me back my warm comfortable bed!] the dragon howled to the skies. [Do you know how stiff my body is after sleeping in the cold for so long?! Where are my fire crystals?!]

    Remian ducked into the lynxmice tunnels with Asda, her mother and the general but they were barely large enough for the wolfcats to fit in. They dug hurriedly, doing their best to make more space.

    [Somebody! Tell me!] the dragon roared at the city below, and every last structure on Fal''Herim crumbled to rubble.

    Tim showed up, popping out of a side tunnel. [Squad B, get Remian and Asda back to Frontier Town!]

    [Sir!] ten lynxmice squeaked, and suddenly, Remian found himself hauled away down the tunnels at express speeds.

    [Squad C, bring along the Second Queen! Squad D, you take the general!]

    "Squiik!" the lynxmice scrambled.

    [Everyone else¡­ loot the ruins for all its worth!] Tim ordered.

    [Sir, yes, SIR!]

    Ruins. That was all there was left of Fal''Herim, now. The dragon''s roars alone had wrecked the entire city.

    [KOR''AG! MAL''THOR! I know it was you!] Khar''al-dras roared toward the south. [Stop pretending to be asleep!! I know you took them! Give me back my stuff!!]

    The dragon had enlarged to roughly twenty times larger than Spike, large enough to cover all of Frontier town with his body if he''d curled up. The length of his serpentine form could reach from one end of the ruins of Fal''Herim to the other. Yet, believe it or not, he was still growing bigger, as if he hadn''t quite reached his full original size yet.

    Remian shuddered to think about it. Right now, the dragon''s size was at Tier 6, but Remian had a feeling his final size was going to be mind-blowingly large.

    [Anyone know how big Khar''al-dras really is?] Remian wondered.

    There was a short silence as he was borne through the tunnels, then, [Above the lords are the kings. Above the kings are the emperors. Above the emperors are the gods.]

    Remian froze. If the Lords of the Wilds were Tier 5, then the Kings would be Tier 6, the Emperors would be Tier 7, so Khar''al-dras, who they swore on, treated as a god, was¡­ Tier 8?!

    In other words¡­ expect a creature a thousand times bigger than Spike.

    "Blast it, old woman, what have you done?!" Remian groaned out loud.

    Nobody, not even Asda, said a word in response.

    But at last, Asda had a question. "You don''t think¡­ he''s going to wake up the other two, do you? I mean¡­ he was screaming at them to return his stuff."

    Remian gulped. For all of humanity''s sake, he really, really hoped not. "Asda, your great-grandmother knew the words to wake up the dragon¡­ do you by any chance know some words to put him back to sleep?"

    "How do you put a dragon to sleep?!" Asda asked. "Besides, didn''t he lose his bed already?"

    "Can he sleep without it?" Remian wondered.

    "Could you?" Asda asked right back. "If someone took away your bed and asked you to go back to sleep, could you?"

    Remian sighed. "I guess not. It''s just¡­ you''d think people would know better."

    "Maybe everyone just forgot, or some past Desert King thought he could get away with selling just a little bit of it¡­ and his son thought the same¡­ and somewhere along the line, after generations of having the dragon never wake up, everyone basically forgot who the fire crystals actually belonged to." Asda figured.

    "And now everything''s gone and the dragon is grumpy and nobody knows how to put him back to sleep?" Remian groaned. "Surely you must have some ideas? Anything?"

    "If triggering a magic crystal and saying some words would wake him up, then maybe it''s the same for putting him to sleep? Except the crystal is buried under the rubble and we don''t know the words to make him sleep. I don''t remember anything of that sort being taught in our family traditions."

    "You''d think that those would be the most important words to remember and pass down." Remian groaned. "Seriously? Nothing at all?"

    "Not a clue." Asda said apologetically.

    "Then again, even if we used it, I''m not sure we could put a dragon to sleep unless he wanted." Remian shook his head. "What are we going to do?"

    "I guess abandoning Fal''Herim is really the way to go." Asda mourned. "There''s nothing left there for us, now."

    [Remian! Are you all right?!] Mindy''s thoughts reached Remian.

    [We''re fine! We''re on our way to Fort Spoas through the tunnels. What about you? How are the airships? What''s the dragon doing?]

    [The dragon''s flown away somewhere to the south screaming at Kor''ag-dras and Mal''thor-dras. What do we do now?]

    [Pick up the refugees.] Remian told her. [Everyone who wants to come live with us in the Frontier is welcome.]

    [You''re taking all their people into captivity?]

    [We sided with the Second Queen, remember? Call it a liberation. We''re just bringing them to a better place and offering them a better life.] Remian thought about it. [Depending on how many survivors are left, we might have to help them build a whole new city.]

    [I wouldn''t worry too much about that.] Mindy replied grimly. [There don''t seem to be that many survivors. At most, New Fal''Herim would only need to be a town.]

 99 After FalsHerim

    [Khar''al? What are you doing? What''s going on?]

    [Kor''ag! Mal''thor! Give me back my stuff!]

    [What stuff? What are you talking about?]

    [My fire crystals! My gold! My bed! I know you took them!]

    [You''re dreaming! Quit talking nonsense and let us go back to sleep!!]

    One roar met two, bodies enlarged and collided, one gold, one gray, one grass-green, and disaster swept through the deep Wildlands. Smaller Wilds scattered screaming in every direction, entire forests toppled in moments. Dragon Lake practically emptied as the little Tier 5, Tier 6 and even Tier 7 dragons in it fled for their lives. The sheer wind of their battle caused storm and tempest and the earth quaked for a full hour just from the sound of their collisions.

    Then from afar, another roar sounded, larger and stronger than anything they had mustered between them. A fourth dragon appeared, steel colored and wearing a pair of huge eyeglasses larger than most mansions. [You guys! What are you doing?!]

    [Zor''khan!] one dragon gulped.

    [RUN!] the other one yelped.

    The three younger dragons scattered and fled in three directions, but magic flared, and all three were tied down and dragged back despite their best efforts. [Isn''t it my turn to rule and your turn to sleep?]

    Mal''thor gulped. [It wasn''t our fault!]

    [He did it!] Kor''ag agreed.

    [They stole my stuff!] Khar''al raged.

    [Quit making a ruckus! If Ra''oul or Nil''rak wakes up, we''re all going to regret it!]

    [But-!]

    [Shut up!] a howl sounded from the sea to the east. [You''re ruining my beauty sleep!]

    [Sorry, Sel''ea!] Zor''khan sent. [Now, settle down! What''s this about?]

    It took some time and a lot of grumbling before Khar''al was done, but at length, Zor''khan said, [It''s not the twins. It was your servants who took and sold away your treasures.]

    [My servants?] Khar''al stared blankly. [Where are those little twerps, by the way? I haven''t seen hide nor hair of any of them.]

    [Um¡­] Zor''khan observed the ruins of Fal''Herim. [I think you killed them. They look rather squished.]

    [Them?] Khar''al-dras barely spared the ruins a glance. [I don''t sense a lick of draconian blood in any of them. It can''t be them.]

    [I''m not entirely sure what happened either, but draconian or not, that was, in fact, the royal family of the sand people that you squished earlier. Maybe generations of harems had diluted the bloodline. Maybe with all the scheming going on, some non-draconian bloodline took over. In any case, stop blaming the twins for your servants'' greed. It wasn''t them.]

    [Thank you! We''re going back to sleep now.] Mal''thor said grumpily, shrunk himself back to hibernation size and slunk back into his volcano. By then, Wyvern Peak looked to be rather battered, but it still stood tall over Dragon Lake, and it still spewed scorching hot red lava.

    [But¡­ but¡­ what am I going to do?] Khar''al protested.

    [Grow up! Quit sleeping on fire crystals and find a proper lava bed like the rest of us!] Kor''ag scolded, shrinking back to hibernation size and going back to sleep, diving into the lake and through the hottest springs, deeper and deeper into the geothermal vents until he reached his own lava bed.

    Zor''khan sighed. [I''ll help you make a bed. Just call it another one you owe me.]

    Then there was a terrible crash, the biggest one yet, and even the lynxmice tunnels collapsed in on Remian. There was a surge, and an explosion as the dunes exploded and tons of rock were hurled wantonly across the open sands. A volcano arose in the deep desert far, far from Fal''Herim, and dark smoke covered the skies.

    [There! Now, go back to sleep!]

    Khar''al-dras glumly shrunk back to the size he''d been at in the temple before all the trouble started, then sadly slipped into the new volcano out in the desert.

    His work done, Zor''khan-dras flew back to the Dragon Empire, keeping an eye out as he made for his capital. The older dragons still slept; even Sel''ea had subsided. This world had returned to calm, at least for now. So long as nobody woke up any other dragons, his rule might just be a relatively peaceful one yet.

    [Just one hundred more years. That''s all I ask. After that, all of this will be Mal''thor''s problem.] Zor''khan-dras shrunk his form, shifted into a whole different shape, and quietly slipped through the clouds. He carefully snuck in through a window onto a grand airship the likes of which made the Red Fang look like a village child''s toy, a Legendary-grade Mothership larger than all of Fort Spoas put together. He stood for a moment in a lavish bedroom, inspected his reflection in a mirror, then cleared his throat and rang a bell.

    "Bring me breakfast!" he called to servants waiting just outside, draconians who were completely unaware of the catastrophe their master had so recently averted.

    "Yes, your imperial majesty!" they answered, and scrambled to serve the emperor.

    ***

    [Mindy? Tim? A little help?!] Remian called.

    Remian, Asda, Asda''s mom and the general were buried under untold amonts of sand and stone. The lynxmice were tunneling, trying to get them out, but they were more like swimming in sand than excavating viable channels.

    [Where are you?] Mindy couldn''t find him.

    [Directly south of my position!] Tim clued her in as he made his way there across the surface with a few squads of lynxmice. [I''m not sure how much help the lynxmice would be in this situation.]

    [Wolfcats? DD? Spike? Anyone?] Remian called.

    [We''re coming.] the wolfcats were the nearest and quickers responders.

    Remian himself was half-swimming through the sand, trying to get up and out of the collapsed tunnels, gasping for breath and finding none. Dark spots swam in front of his eyes. Somehow inches tall and sitting on his shoulder, Death hummed a merry tune as if eagerly waiting for something to happen.

    How? How did Death suddenly get so close, so fast?! He wasn''t hovering about nearby any more, he was literally on top of Remian.

    [So. You done here? Can we go back now?] Death asked.

    [Not now, Death! I still have things to do!] Remian struggled. [Not now!]

    [Come on. You knew your time here was limited. You''re living on borrowed time and you know it. You were never going to live a long, healthy life.]

    [But it can''t end here, now, like this! I still have things I need to do! My family¡­ my friends¡­ my legacy¡­]

    [All those sentiments are very nice, but can you even save yourself? It won''t be my fault if we go back early because of a freak accident.] Death mused. [So¡­ one-way ticket to heaven, coming right up¡­]

    [No! Not yet! Not YET!] Remian grasped hold of the sand with his hands and used the last of his breath for one word. "Earth!"

    Earth magic triggered. Considering his current emotional state, it was probably fair to guess that soul-boost triggered too¡­

    Whatever the case, there was another eruption in the desert, and the ground opened up like a blossom, leaving Remian, Asda, the Second Queen and her general gasping for air in the middle of a new sand crater. The lynxmice, too, were left wheezing and gasping all around them.

    Then the wolfcats arrived, and Mindy, and the airships came swooping down to take them home.

    ***

    The ground was shaking slightly all day the next day as Remian and his crew returned and rested at Fort Spoas.

    Mindy''s airships took a few trips and brought back around 3000 survivors. While that was nearly five times as many as the three clans put together, it was a dismal number considering Fal''Herim''s tens of thousands.

    "Are these really all who survived?!" Remian gaped.

    "All who wanted to come with us, yes. Many wanted to stay and rebuild with the Crown Prince, or wanted to go somewhere else, or haven''t decided yet." Mindy explained. "Most of these guys are the Second Queen''s followers, that is, slaves who want to be freed. Very few are masters who are willing to let their slaves go free."

    As for the rest, Remian felt, they were beyond his reach and none of his concern. Circumstances had provided opportunity; Mindy and Remian had provided the means. It was up to the sand people whether they wanted to take it or not.

    With the swell in numbers, Kara-Goth, Encles, Fort Spoas, and the farms were going to burst. They were going to have to rush housing and development. Also, grain and foodstuffs, clothing and basic necessities¡­

    "I''ll offer you the same deal as the rest of my workers. Come work for me. I''ll take care of your people, but you''ll all need to work for me for a few years. As for removing the slave-bonds, I''ll leave that to the experts." Remian offered the Second Queen. "They can conduct their operations at their own pace."

    "How many years?" The Second Queen asked, eyes narrowing as if he were the enemy all of a sudden.

    Remian hesitated. [Death? How long do you reckon I actually have?]

    [Five years, give or take a few months.] Death answered.

    "Five years." Remian told the Second Queen.

    "Deal." She answered.

 100 A Day at the Frontier

    The next morning, Phoebe found Remian outside the Guild Hall, throwing up into a ditch.

    "Are you pregnant?" she asked, politely.

    "You do know I''m a guy, right?" Remian asked dryly.

    "You''re also a mage. You never know, with mages." Phoebe mused.

    Remian snorted a short laugh, then gave her his hand. She placed her hand on his wrist; yellow light glowed on her fingertips for a few moments.

    "Your condition''s deteriorated since last week." Phoebe mentioned. "Have you been eating the herbs I prescribed?"

    "I think so." Remian mentioned.

    "We might want to look for something stronger, then." Phoebe thought for a bit. "We''ll have to look into the rare and restricted section. It could get expensive."

    "I''m going to have to sell an airship or two just to rush build the town, Phoebe. Isn''t there some cheaper solution?" he asked.

    "Well, I''ve heard about a few powerful herbs and fruits out in the Wildlands. The golden speckled tangerine, the purple-white vine pearl, wild spirit ginseng¡­ or maybe we could just toss patent rights out the window and farm spirit ginseng from black market specimens on the sly." Phoebe figured. "Or maybe buy the license for farming them?"

    "How long would they take to be ready if we farmed them?" Remian asked.

    "Seven years, for the quality you want. I could accelerate their growth with life magic, harvest them in half that time." Phoebe mentioned. "Given the amount of people we need to emancipate here, we''ll probably still be around. Meanwhile, I''ll give you a list of the other herbs and such. Maybe some adventurers might get lucky and find some."

    ***

    Later, George arrived for breakfast with Remian. Remian put down the earth magic book he''d been reading and sat down to some beef bacon and bread.

    "George," Remian began. "If you were in charge of Frontier Town, how would you make things better?"

    "Frontier town?" George frowned. "There''s too many things we need that we can''t get here. But you''re handling that, aren''t you? You''re looking for potters and carpenters and such."

    "Basic industries, yes. You''re still thinking about people''s needs, then?"

    "That''s important, isn''t it?" George mentioned. "I didn''t see any plans for glass-makers, though. There''s plenty of sand in the desert, you know. We could start a really huge glass industry."

    "Especially since we now have thousands of Sand People looking to settle here." Remian agreed. "I''d also like you to think about the next step, what the economy of a city here could look like, how the people here should live."

    "Eh?" George blinked. "I thought you just wanted to talk to me about the farm. I thought about it for so long, and now¡­"

    "You did? So tell me, what did you have in mind?" Remian asked.

    "We could do a lot more if we had the help of the lynxmice. Boars can do heavy work and wolfcats are good at digging, but when it comes to handling smaller jobs, smaller paws are best. Plus, they can help with wood processing. I heard Tim mention that there were too many lynxmice to hande, so¡­"

    "You''ll have them." Remian agreed easily.

    "With these many people to feed, we won''t produce enough food for export for a long, long time. We''ll even have to import for some time." George calculated. "We''ll need to quadruple the size of the farm just to keep up with the new people."

    "Just keep growing the farm. The bigger the better. No limits." Remian said. "We''re going to need more and more people as time goes by, and if we have surplus, we can store or sell it. We can never have too much food. Also, we''ll need to cultivate hardwood trees."

    "The forests aren''t enough?" George asked.

    "Not for long. In one generation, all of it could be wiped out." Remian mentioned. "A few industrious mages and an airship could clear it all in a few years."

    "But¡­ the Wilds¡­!" George hesitated. "Lydia mentioned something about finding rare, wild herbs in wilderness like ours. She warned me against expanding the farm too much and destroying irreplaceable living treasures¡­"

    "George, what''s your opinion on healthcare? For a town, or a city, or a whole country? How important is it, compared to civic order, to finance, or industry, or scientific development?"

    George had a really, really blur look on his face. "Uh¡­ it''s important, I guess? But a good country needs all of those things, right?"

    "We don''t. We have almost none of those things, yet we survive." Remian pointed out.

    "But¡­ but we''ll have those one day, right? When we grow big enough, strong enough¡­"

    "Will we? When? When Frontier Town grows to the same size as it was before I arrived? When it''s ten times bigger? Would the size matter?"

    "I think it matters, a bit." George hesitated. "But maybe¡­ someone needs to make sure it happens."

    "And who''s going to do it?"

    "You?" George guessed.

    Remian snorted. "I was thinking it should be you."

    "Me?!" George gasped. "But¡­ I''m just a kid! I don''t know anything! I can''t afford all that!"

    "You''ll grow up, and you have time to learn." Remian shrugged. "All of these could take dozens of years, whole generations, more time than I alone will have. Don''t worry about affording it now, I''ll have to explain and teach you about wealth and finance first. We''ll get to that one day. The important thing is, whether you have the heart for it. A heart for the people living here. I think you do."

    "But¡­ but why me? There''s Tim, and Mindy, and¡­ and Asda! Surely Asda is a much better choice!" George spluttered. "She''s already royalty and I''m sure she''s been learning about these things since young!"

    "I want someone I can trust. Truly, completely trust." Remian said. "Asda may come with learning, but she''s also learned things that I''d rather not spread. She''s grown up in a fiercely competitive background, full of deceit and scheming. No, I''d rather trust an honest farmboy with a big heart. Tim and Mindy would help, of course, but I think you''re the one who should be at the center of it all."

    "But¡­ but isn''t it you in charge?" George went on. "You''re practically the king around here already. Shouldn''t your children be the ones who take over after you?"

    "What children? Where?" Remian glanced around. "I don''t see them anywhere. How long would it take for me to find a good wife, to marry and have children, and then raise and teach them? Even if I rushed things now¡­"

    He trailed off. George likewise kept silent. At length, Remian shook his head. "I don''t have much time. You''re it, George. You have to tell me if you want out, because otherwise, my successor is you. If I have to find and raise someone else, it''s going to be a lot harder, so tell me now."

    "I''m really your best choice?" George asked.

    "By a very long shot." Remian said. "It was either you, Tim, or Mindy, and neither of the other two want to stay. They both want to travel everywhere and find themselves or some such. You''re the one who cares about the people here. If you were me, who would you pick to teach?"

    "I''d look for even younger children, teach them from even younger ages. After twenty years¡­"

    "Ah, but I don''t have twenty years. I have five." Remian stretched.

    "Wait. What?!" George stared. "What are you saying?"

    "Ask Phoebe." Remian waved dismissively.

    "Are you serious?! You''re dying?" George gasped. "And you''re just going to let it happen? We can''t just sit back and let you die! We have to do something!"

    "Oh, about that¡­ Phoebe mentioned some sort of powerful herbs that might help¡­ ''wild spirit ginseng'' or something. We might look into getting a license to farm those." Remian said. "Plus, there are other herbs that can be found in the Wildlands. I''ll post those on the Guild Board."

    "Well, then, you''re not dying! I''m going to farm those herbs, and you''re going to be cured!" George said decisively. "So quit talking about not having much time!"

    "That might help." Remian paused. "But we''re still in the Wildlands, and any of us can die at any time. I almost died when the tunnels collapsed on me. What would have happened here if I had? To the clans, and the town, and the farm, and everything? I think it''s best to make it clear who my lieutenants are and who''s in charge if anything ever happens to me."

    "Fine. But you can''t die. I won''t let you." George said fiercely.

    ***

    Afterward, they went to check on the FDF and see how the latest Beast Wave had fared.

    "Thirty Wilds attacked, a mix of Tier 3''s and 4''s. We stopped them at Kara-Goth." Markus said. "Shot at them from both mines and from across the Pit. There were engagements around the edges of the Pit, but casualties are light. Several injuries, two of them serious, but no deaths."

    "I''d hate to jinx it, but I have to say, it was almost too easy." Song Chen commented. "Those Wilds weren''t much of a threat to an organized, well-equipped force like ours. Between the clans, the FDF and the Legion, we had them outnumbered them ten to one, surrounded and caught in a crossfire from the very start. It was a rather sad end for the legendary Beast Waves."

    "A rather sad end¡­?" Remian repeated. "What makes you think they''re over?"

    "Well, the Wave Callers came from Fal''Herim, right? The Desert King was behind the whole thing. Now that he''s dead and Fal''Herim has fallen, they should stop, right?" Song Chen paused. "Or do you think the Crown Prince will continue the Wave Calls? Does he even know how? And why would they even do such a thing?"

    "That is an excellent question." Remian said. "Whether or not they''re indeed the ones responsible, and most important of all, why?"

 101 Georges Plan

    George walked out of the Guild Hall feeling like the world had been swept out from under his feet.

    "It can''t be! I won''t let it!" he vowed inwardly. "Remian can''t just die like that!"

    Growing up with the Circling Ravens, he had always had to stay indoors or closely under the watch of a slayer, because outside, there were slavers who kidnapped children. A lot of his friends disappeared over the years that way. The outside was a scary place, and that''s why food was scarce, and expensive. George longed to take care of his friends, to plant food in a garden and provide for everyone so that they would never have to go hungry again. But he couldn''t leave. A little herb garden in Mandy''s kitchen was the best he''d been able to manage. Going out was impossible and far too dangerous.

    Until Remian arrived. Suddenly, they weren''t afraid to go out any more. He was an agent of the Iron Legion! As long as he was there, as long as they were with him, nobody was afraid to leave the tavern, to leave the town, even. They could learn magic, they could hunt Wilds, they could even start planting vegetables, as long as he was there. The first garden George ever planted was behind Remian''s tent. It had not been on a whim, and according to his heart, there had never been a choice in the matter. It had to be safe, to provide for everyone, and safety was where Remian was.

    As time went on, George learned skills and abilities that enabled him to fight for himself. The Cruel Rose gang had been destroyed, because Remian was there, and the Wilds outside became opponents that he could fight because of the things Remian taught them, and the things taught from other people that Remian asked to teach them. Over time, more and more good things arrived at Frontier Town. His friends didn''t live in fear any more. Everyone could put in some effort to earn whatever they liked with points or money. George''s farm grew bigger and bigger, and he always had enough points and lir to buy all kinds of food. He was never afraid to go out to town to buy food. He was never afraid to go out to the wilderness to hunt. It was easy to earn income by hunting or farming, now, because of everything Remian brought in.

    All of it was because Remian was there.

    And now, Remian was going to die?

    There was no way George was going to accept it! Whatever those herbs cost, however hard it might be to farm them, he was going to do it! Remian wanted to know what his idea of the future Frontier Town looked like? It was a town in which Remian was in! A town in which they would never have to fear people dying of sickness! A town in which everyone could live safe from Wilds, and grow food without worry, and never be afraid of slavers again!

    Healthcare! The word suddenly burned like fire in George''s heart. Before, it had been food. Now a new concept seized his attention.

    He went to find the people most familiar with the concept.

    "Phoebe!" he found her first. "I need to talk to you."

    "I''m busy right now, George. There are a lot of people waiting to be freed." Phoebe said apologetically.

    "What about lunch? You need to eat, right?" George asked.

    Phoebe paused, examined him for a minute, then smiled. "I''m very flattered, George, and it''s incredibly brave of you, but you''re a little young for me to date."

    George choked. "That''s not¡­ I was just¡­ forget it! I''ll ask Lydia!"

    "She''s even older than I am, George. If you want a girlfriend, maybe try Mindy or Asda? Or one of the younger sand people girls?"

    "I need to talk about healthcare!" George managed at last. "The future of Frontier Town¡­ I want to help Remian with his disease! What do we need to do that?"

    Phoebe paused, considering. "It''s going to be expensive, George. The level of healthcare needed to keep Remian alive longer is going to be something only the biggest cities in the world can manage, and even they have limits. We''re talking about machines and magic that replace organs that fail, life support that practically breathes for him, maybe even an artificial heart."

    "But what about the wild spirit ginseng and other powerful herbs?"

    "Ah. Those can help. If you can manage a good wild spirit ginseng farm, enough to provide him high quality ginseng every day, we could easily double his expected lifespan and more." Phoebe nodded. "Otherwise, we''d need to depend on finding them in the wilderness, or in the black market. There''s no guarantee we''ll be able to find them in either place, or afford them in the market if we did."

    "What else?" George asked. "What would it take for even better healthcare than those biggest cities? What do we need to get there?"

    "I''m not entirely sure, but I can write to my teacher back in Ashdale." Phoebe offered. "Meanwhile, I have a few ideas, if you''d like to know."

    It was the longest conversation George ever had in his life. It went on even while Phoebe supported Lydia with mana for surgery. It went on through lunch, and both Mindy and Tim threw in their own ideas, both absolutely supportive of saving Remian. It went on through the afternoon, with a few added suggestions from Kairos and the priests. It would have gone on until dinner, but Phoebe hastily bade a quick retreat and George finally turned around and saw every guy in the vicinity looking at him with jealous expressions on their faces.

    "What?" he scratched his head. "I''m just a kid."

    It didn''t matter. Every guy around, no matter if they were young or old, was looking at him with that same jealous face.

    Hastily, George sought safety in Remian''s company.

    "Healthcare?" Remian blinked when he heard George''s pitch. "That''s a new one. I thought it would be something to do with the Wilds, you know, make the most of our natural advantages and all that. Like hunting, or turning the Wildlands into a pet-taming competitive paradise."

    "Can you even tame Wilds? They''re not called Wilds for nothing." George shook his head.

    "They seem fine working and living with us. They''re not tame, exactly, but they''re at least friendly."

    "That''s because we can mind-talk." George guessed.

    "You too?" Remian blinked.

    "Uh¡­" George paused. [I guess? It''s like a baby learning how to talk by hearing people talk to him.]

    [Since when did I mind-talk to you?]

    [You did, several times. But usually, it''s the wolfcats mind-talking to me.] George explained. [And I have to mind-talk back.]

    "What about something a bit more basic? Let''s talk about agriculture, industry and commerce." Remian changed the subject out loud. "For example, the things that you grow on the farm. Those won''t make much profit by themselves. Earlier, we started with materials for Scrolls. I think that went well, and we could probably scale it up since we now have dozens of new Adventurers who able to Inscribe at least Tier 1 scrolls. Now if we could add another level to that process, compile sets of those and put together whole books for basic magic¡­"

    "Basic hygiene to begin with." George countered flat out. "Advanced water and sewage systems, the kind that supplies fertilizer. Paved roads and professional cleaning crews. High fines for litter and vandalism. Health inspections on all food sources brought into the city, no exceptions. There were other ideas, but a lot of them were expensive."

    "Such as?"

    "Elite grade medical facilities, free universal healthcare, hiring armies of life mages¡­ that sort of thing." George shook his head. "I think we need at least commercial grade medical facilities, and a lot of skilled medical professionals. We''re going to need to pay high salaries so that we have a lot of high level doctors and life mages."

    Remian fell silent. "George, just what kind of average lifespan do you intend for the people living here?"

    "Five hundred would be good." George figured.

    "What?" Remian stared.

    "I heard about it from the priests. When it came to healthcare, they talked about the City of God that would come one day. According to them, in that city, infant deaths would never occur and those who live for a hundred years would be considered youths, similar to teenagers today. If a hundred years would be like a teenager, then the expected lifespan of people in such a city should be five to six hundred years. I want that."

    Remian shifted uneasily. "Uh¡­ George, I''m not sure that''s even possible."

    "Not now, maybe. But if we make medical and healthcare technology a priority and keep supporting development in that area, we''ll at least be heading towards that direction." George pointed out. "Do you know what the average life expectancy was in Frontier Town before you arrived?"

    "Not exactly."

    "Six years for new arrivals, ten for newborns. Out of a hundred babies born, less than twenty would survive to adulthood." George''s face grew sad. "Most of my friends never made it."

    "I''m sorry." Remian grimaced.

    "Do you know what the average life expectancy is today? According to Phoebe it''s sixty years." George told him. "No more gang wars. No more fear of Beast Waves. No more drug overdoses or random killings in the streets. Sixty years!" George shook his head. "Until you arrived, I never would have thought it possible."

    "What''s a kid like you doing thinking about such things as average life expectancy?" Remian had to ask.

    "Mourning my friends deaths, that''s what." George shot back. "You have no idea what it was like, losing friends to hunger and sickness and gangsters and worse¡­"

    Remian fell silent.

    "Apothecaries, pharmacies, a proper church with sponsorships for life magi¡­ I want our healthcare and medical technology to be so good, we''d be exporting medicine and medical devices." George said, his face flushed. "I want to have the best medical technology the world has ever seen!"

    "And here I thought we were going to save lives with airships and cannons." Remian mused.

    "I''ll let Mindy handle those. Me, I''m talking about what''s in the city."

    "Lynxmice. Lots of them." Remian pointed out. "Aren''t they considered a health hazard?"

    "Not if we can persuade them to keep themselves clean." George hesitated. "In fact¡­ if we can really get them to behave, they can even help clean the place up."

    Remian shook his head wordlessly. "And here I thought I was already asking too much of them."

 102 Tortoise Wisdom

    It was in the evening that the report came in; the third challenger for the lordship of Shadowflash Fief, the giant tortoise, had finally, finally arrived at Kara-Goth.

    "Where''s Spike and DD?" Remian asked.

    "Already in position." Mindy replied, with a little grin on her face.

    "Shall we?" Remian asked her, offering his arm.

    "We shall!" Mindy took it happily and together they boarded the Red Helm, the military-grade battle galleon previously owned by the Desert King.

    It was not, by any stretch of the imagination, going to be a fair fight. Following the Red Helm were the Red Fang and the Tugged Sky Barge with the Bellower Ballista primed and ready on it. Remian arrived at Kara-Goth with three combat-ready airships, a Tier 5 Boar, and a Tier 5 spike-backed Lizard, and proceeded to surround the tortoise.

    The giant tortoise blinked once, slowly as it considered the sudden arrival of Remian''s forces. DD behind and to the left, Spike behind and to the right, two military-grade airships and a heavy weapons platform in front and above¡­ surrounded on all sides, ambushed with the enemy holding the higher ground, caught in a three-way crossfire and pinned up against a gigantic trap of a pit, the tortoise did the only wise thing it could do.

    "I surrender!" he said immediately.

    "Swear fealty! Serve me or die!" Remian said, feeling oddly familiar with the phrase before suddenly reconsidering. "Actually, wait, before that, are you even capable of serving me? I have more use for tortoise soup than I do for slow workers."

    To that, the tortoise blinked, and pondered, then said, "I can advise."

    "Really¡­? Would that really be helpful?" Remian asked doubtfully.

    "They call me Jujar the wise¡­ I have lived many years. Many, many years." The giant tortoise mentioned.

    "That''s nice, but you''ll have to speed up a bit if you want to join our crew." Remian warned him.

    "Better hasty than dead." Jujar showed some of his ageless wisdom.

    "Great. Swear upon the dragons." Remian prompted.

    The tortoise swore fealty upon the grass and Kor''ag-dras.

    "So, Jujar, what advice do you have for me?" Remian asked.

    The tortoise blinked at him slowly, looked up at the sky and the airships, then to DD, then to Spike, and finally said, "Conquer."

    He was right, Remian instantly realized. They had military-grade airships, now, and three Tier 5''s with the potential to be Lords of the Wilds in their own right. With a little air support, Jujar, DD, and Spike could each very well hold territories the equivalent of Shadowflash Fief.

    Remian wanted to develop Shadowflash Fief. That much was a given. But no matter how much farming one Fief could do, the income potential of tapping the natural resources of four Fiefs would most likely outstrip a single agriculturally developed Fief by far. Remian remembered the maps that Joshu and his friends had put together of the surrounding areas; valuable mineral deposits, rare trees and flora, Wilds that could produce useful goods similar to the Feelo-Wasps¡­

    Plus, now they had an influx of population. Jujar was totally right. They had the military power, now. The days of struggling to defend one town was over. They should expand.

    "What do you think?" he asked Carrie, who was coming up to the Pit along with Buff. "Should we expand to the east and west, or just go along the Beast Wave route to Spike''s place and beyond? We might even cut a line straight through the entire Wildlands if we keep going that way." He said, jokingly.

    [You don''t want to do that.] Carrie told him, seriously.

    [Really? Why not?] Remian asked.

    [Because if you keep going in that direction, sooner or later you will come up on Dragon Lake and Wyvern Peak.] Carrie informed him. [I do not want to fight Kor''ag-dras and Mal''thor-dras for territory.]

    Remian gulped, feeling very quickly humbled. No matter how strong he thought his forces were now, they were only good compared to the Beast Waves he''d been fending off, and the local Wilds. Compared to the likes of the Dragon Twins, who were even bigger and stronger than Khar''al-dras, however¡­ he might as well be throwing stones.

    "Okay, so maybe we expand cautiously." He gulped. "Very, very quietly. East and west, then?"

    [Also not a good idea.] Carrie shook her head. [To the west, on the other side of the Amber Gorge is Misty Valley, which is the territory of the Fog Pegasus Lord. While we might be able to oust him if he was alone, he has a brother in the next fief over, the Rain Pegasus Lord, who would certainly come to his aid. More importantly, we do not want to offend his father.]

    [His father¡­?]

    [The King of Five Lakes, the Storm Pegasus King.]

    Remian remembered. Above the Lords, there were Kings. Apparently, the Fog Pegasus Lord''s dad was one such. If the Lords were Tier 5, then¡­ [Tier 6?!]

    Carrie nodded slowly.

    Remian instantly threw out any ideas of invading the east. Spike alone was already so huge, thinking of a winged horse many times his size was just¡­ mind-boggling.

    "To the east, then?" he tried.

    Carrie shook her head again. [That''s the Emerald Woods. We might be able to challenge the Rock Fist Ape Lord, but he serves the King of the Far Woods, the Great Ape King.]

    [Another Tier 6?] Remian guessed, rubbing his forehead.

    Again, Carrie nodded slowly.

    [Forget it. I don''t want to fight a monstrously gigantic ape either.] Remian groaned. "So where can we expand? We''re not going to make a move for the desert, are we?"

    [Claiming the lands as far as Craggy Falls is easy enough. Spike''s already on our side.] Carrie suggested. [Afterward, well¡­ you could challenge the Deepsilver Lord for the Black Depths Lake, or the Salamander Lord to the south-east for the Rocky Thorns territory. Farther to the south-east would be the Blood Lands, ruled by the Scarlet Viper Lord. None of them have a King backing them up.]

    "What about directly south of Craggy Falls?"

    [The Golden Savannah? We might challenge the Golden Lion Lord, but what will we do when his grandfather comes to avenge him? We''re talking about the King of the Four Savannahs, the Earth Lion King. Same for the south-west, which is the Thundering Savannah, turf of the Fierce Roar Lion Lord, the Golden Lion Lord''s brother. Either way, we''d end up facing the Earth Lion King.]

    "Another Tier 6." Remian gave up on that idea too. "South-east it is, then. Just to check, what''s farther south of the Golden Lion Lord''s lands?"

    [The Speckled Highlands, home to the High Crown Stag Lord. He has no backing of a King, but don''t underestimate the High Crown Stag Lord. There''s a reason why he''s neighbors with a Lion King and doesn''t worry about getting eaten.]

    "And south of the Blood Lands?"

    [The Striped Highlands. That''s the Fief of the Thunder Hawk Lord.] Carrie eyed the airships. [You might be able to challenge him with your airships. Maybe.]

    "And even farther south?"

    [South of the Speckled Highlands? Three Pines Peak, home of the Sun Eagle Lord. South of the Striped Highlands are the Bog Marshes, ruled by the Cyan Python Lord. They are not backed by any King, but considering their strength, they probably don''t need it.]

    Remian grunted. "So our most viable path of expansion is to fight snakes for wetlands and birds for highlands. The Thunder Hawk Lord sounds tough, but I have no qualms about bombing snakes from our airships. What if we went farther east after the Blood Lands?"

    [That would be the sea.]

    ***

    Remian called in Markus, Joshu, Song Chen, and Salim, who was sent by the Second Queen''s general to represent their interests in this ''new military campaign to the south'' Remian mentioned. Tim, Mindy and Carrie were already by his side when the arrived, but still Remian waited before starting the council of war.

    "Sorry, I''m late¡­" George panted as he made his way in. "I couldn''t get a wolfcat ride and had to run."

    "You''ll have to make sure that doesn''t happen again. Assign one to yourself." Remian frowned.

    "Yes. Sorry." George drew a deep breath. "What''s this about?"

    "This is about expanding our territories to the south, and then south-east." Remian pulled up a map. "The first stage of the campaign is to clean out the expedition campsite at Craggy Falls. As we already know, doing that would put an end to the Beast Waves, and this time, they won''t have the Desert King to avenge them or rebuild the camp. At that point, the only thing preventing us from easily settling all the lands from here to Spike''s den is the Black Depths Lake. Or, in other words, the Deepsilver Lord."

    "Are we going to bomb the lake from airships?" Mindy asked.

    "Not just yet. I was hoping we could negotiate first." Remian turned to George. "Think you can manage it?"

    George''s jaw dropped.

 103 Deepsilver

    The Black Depths Lake was a deep, dark mystery. While most lakes would seem friendly, like shimmering curtains, or clear like a mirror, the Black Depths had dark green waters that swirled ominously, as if daring a young, clueless boy to brave its depths.

    George was not that daring. All he wanted to do was stay in his nice, safe, farm and grow cabbages or some other edible foodstuffs. Diving into the Black Depths to meet with the Deepsilver Lord was not his idea of having fun.

    Given a choice, he did not want to go into those waters.

    "Um¡­ hello?" George tried. [Anyone there?]

    In the deep, something stirred and shifted. A sparkle of silver flickered.

    [Hello¡­?] George tried again, really, really not wanting to go down there.

    In the darkness, light sparked. A single, radiant flash, sending untold numbers of fish and water spawn fleeing in all directions.

    Meanwhile, George sat down at the lake glumly. "What am I even doing here? What''s the point in sending me to talk to a fish?"

    There was no certainty that the Deepsilver Lord was actually a fish, but given the location and the description, it did seem to fit.

    How was sending a farm-boy to talk to a fish going to help anyone?

    [Sorry. I didn''t mean to disturb you or anything, it''s just¡­ we just wanted to make friends with you. Or something like that.] George tried anyway, feeling like an idiot while he stared into the murky water.

    Unseen, a crackling light flared up in the depths. A thought wisped out. [Who is ''we''?]

    George almost fell over. [D-Deepsilver Lord¡­?]

    Again, a soft whisper of a thought. [I see only you. Why do you refer to yourself as ''we''?]

    [I¡­ um¡­ it''s on behalf of my friends¡­ my other friends¡­ if you don''t mind being friends with me?] George stumbled. [I mean¡­ I just wanted to make sure you didn''t attack us while we built stuff.]

    [You the one, or you the many? Do you seek to befriend, or to build? Make up your mind.]

    George scratched his head. [I am one and I am many. I seek to befriend and to build. This is my mind, and it is fully made up, thank you.]

    [How interesting. How disappointing. How arrogant. How self-depreciating.] Flickers of opposing concepts whispered through George''s mind at the same time, yet not contradicting. George had the distinct impression that the Deepsilver Lord was trying to be funny, responding to him the same way he''d spoken earlier.

    [Well, then¡­] George took a moment to compose his thoughts and sent back four separate streams at the same time. [O mighty Deepsilver Lord, please spare us your wrath as we build nearby in peace!][Dude, way to speak arrogantly!][I''m here on behalf of all the people of Frontier Town and Kara-Goth.][It''s just me, here.]

    Back and forth they went for half an hour, slowly getting to know each other while at the same time confusing each other. It was fun. It was dreadful. It was exhausting.

    After a while, there was a sudden silence from the deep. George paused, uncertain why the Deepsilver Lord had suddenly gone quiet. [Deepsilver Lord? Are you all right? Was it something I said?]

    The response? [The Deepsilver Lord is currently unavailable. Please try again tomorrow.]

    "Eh¡­?" George blinked. Feeling uncomfortable, he asked, "Can you at least assure me that you won''t kill us all as we pass by?"

    [The Deepsilver Lord is currently unavailable and not going to leave this abode for the time being. Please try again tomorrow.]

    Well, if he wasn''t leaving his abode, then he wasn''t going to attack, right? That probably counts as a non-aggression treaty, at least until tomorrow, right?

    [I''ll see you again tomorrow, then.] George got up tiredly and waved farewell.

    ***

    Caravans of men and equipment rolled south throughout that day, and camps were established along a newly laid trail. The last stop for these caravans were at Craggy Falls, not too far from the re-ruined excavation camps. Spike himself was happy to be home and promptly abandoned all his newfound friends to enjoy a nice relaxing downpour under his personal waterfall. [Nobody disturb me while I bathe! And no peeking!]

    [Nobody wants to peek!] Carrie snorted, turning away in a huff.

    Tim and Mindy watched the caravans from the Sky Barge, filled with supplies and being Tugged south. "You know, we could have moved north instead of south. Fal''Herim has never been weaker. We could have tried to conquer it."

    "For what? There''s nothing left to take." Mindy pointed out. "There''s no Fire Crystals, no treasure, nothing much of value except people, and we already have everyone who wants to come here. We certainly won''t force anyone to come if they don''t want to, we''re not slavers. Goodness knows the Iron Legion would never stand for that. All we could do is offer an open invite. That invitation is already extended to all the people of Fal''Herim. What more could we want?"

    "Territory?" Tim suggested.

    "It''s all desert land. The southern lands are more fertile. Like I said¡­ there''s nothing there we want."

    ***

    The next day, George was back at the Black Depths lake while behind him, another caravan rolled by.

    [I''m back.] George greeted the Deepsilver Lord.

    This time, there was a crackle of light somewhere in the water. He could see it from where he stood on the shore. Deepsilver was not so deep down today. Was that a good sign? George hoped so.

    Otherwise, today''s negotiation might be even shorter than yesterday''s.

    [What''s this? I hear only one voice today. No more two-faced statements?] Deepsilver''s thoughts came in a lot louder and stronger now.

    [Just one voice. Just mine.] George winced. [Sorry. Let''s try this again. Hi, I''m George.]

    [Hi.] Deepsilver responded with just one short word.

    [Who or what are you and why are you calling me?] Deepsilver asked.

    [I''m¡­ human. I''m a representative of the people in the caravans passing by.] George explained. [I''m calling you to ask you not to attack us.]

    [What makes you think you''re worthy of me sparing you? What makes you think I would bother to attack you?] Deepsilver threw out both questions.

    [Now who''s being two-faced?] George grumbled. [Just promise me you won''t hurt us, okay? Then I''ll leave you alone.]

    [And if I don''t promise?]

    [Then I''ll have to keep coming back.]

    [Then I''m not promising.]

    George gaped. "Wha¡­?"

    But there was silence. Deepsilver said no more.

    [Hey! You can''t just go quiet like that! What do you mean? Deepsilver!]

    The response? [The Deepsilver Lord is currently unavailable. Please try again tomorrow.]

    ***

    The third day, George went back to the lake while the Sky Barge floated overhead.

    [Deepsilver!] George howled.

    The water erupted, fountaining twenty feet high, splashing all over the shore and soaking him from top to toe. Lightning blazed before his eyes, near-blinding him as crackling sounds filled the air. Deepsilver''s mental voice thundered. [I am here!]

    "Red Alert!" Mindy yelped, upon seeing the eruption. "Battle stations! Ready all weapons!"

    "No, wait!" George yelled back. [Hello, Deepsilver. You seem a lot more energetic today.]

    The true form of Deepsilver showed up in front of him now. Scales like airship armor plates, deep, shimmering silver in color, lightning crackling all over her body¡­

    Her? Yes. Her. One look, and George felt it to be true. The Deepsilver Lord was female.

    She was, in short, a giant electric eel.

    [Back again, human? With more demands?] She peered at him from above, looking down on him.

    "Back with gifts, actually." George unwrapped a large packet and offered her some premium Tier 5 charbroiled sirloin steak, something she could never get from the depths of the lake.

    She munched down without any reservation, finishing it all in a few rapid gulps. [Ahh.]

    "So¡­ friends?" George asked.

    [Only if you bring me more of that meat.] she answered, with an electric grin.

 104 More Deepsilver

    [What is this?] Deepsilver inspected the item George held out curiously.

    [It''s a rubber ball.] George explained. [Here. Catch.]

    He threw it at her. Instantly, lightning blazed, even as teeth the size of a wolfcat clamped down over it. [How primitive! What is the point of this¡­ ball?]

    [You seemed to be rather bored, so I thought I''d come play with you a bit.] George shrugged. [Want to throw it back to me?]

    [Hmmpfh! As if such mundane activity should be considered enjoyable by one such as I!] she snorted, and shot the ball back at him with a blast of lightning.

    "Guwaah!" George fell over, knocked back by the impact of the ball on top of being thoroughly zapped with the lingering electrical charges from being too close to the blast.

    [George? Human? Hello?] Deepsilver inspected George. [What happened to your hair? Why is it standing on end? Is that a defensive response?]

    George coughed once, weakly. [The George Human is currently unavailable. Please try again tomorrow.]

    Then, he passed out.

    ***

    "How''s the negotiations with Deepsilver going?" Tim asked Mindy.

    "It''s going well, I think. We haven''t been attacked so far." Mindy shrugged.

    "Emergency!" Joshu rushed in, carrying a charred figure in a sorry condition. "Phoebe! Medical emergency! It''s George!"

    "You were saying?" Tim shook his head. "George! What happened to you?"

    "I played ball with Deepsilver." George coughed. "It was a shocking experience."

    "NOW, do we blast the lake?" Mindy asked.

    "No, no. It was my mistake." George managed. "I need¡­ rubber gloves. And a whole suit."

    Then he passed out again.

    ***

    The next day, it was Tim who met Deepsilver rather than George.

    [You want to play ball, too?] Deepsilver asked.

    [Uh¡­ no thanks.] Tim offered her some cooked meat. [I was wondering if you''d like this kind of cooking better.]

    [Oh? It smells different.] Deepsilver sniffed.

    [I tried a few different spices. Let me know how it tastes.] Tim said modestly.

    Deepsilver chugged the meat down in one gulp, and¡­

    [UWAAAH!] BOOM! Lightning blazed all over the place. [Too spicy! TOO SPICY! What did you do?]

    [I just¡­ tried¡­ Sand People cuisine.] Tim managed, charred all over with his hair standing on end.

    Then, he passed out too.

    ***

    "Tim''s going to bring food to Deepsilver?" George asked, from his infirmary bed.

    "Yeah. He''s cooking it himself." Mindy assured him.

    "Oh, that''s good. I can relax, then."

    Joshu burst in the door carrying a charred and sorry figure. "Emergency! Phoebe! Medical emergency!"

    "You were saying?" Mindy shook her head.

    "Tim! What happened to you?" George asked, with a gasp.

    "I tried to show off my cooking skills to Deepsilver." Tim coughed. "Then she showed off her cooking skills in return."

    "Really? What did she cook?" George asked.

    "Me." Tim said, and passed out again.

    ***

    The next day, Mindy met Deepsilver at the lake.

    [Hey, um, Deepsilver? Can you not zap me, please? I''m not as tough as the boys.] Mindy requested.

    [Hmm? There is a difference?] Deepsilver peered at her, the electrical currents dimming a little.

    [Well, I am a girl. I am female.] Mindy explained.

    [Ah. Are you a mate of George, or Tim?] Deepsilver queried.

    [No, no, neither. We are still too young for that.] Mindy answered quickly.

    [You are still a child?]

    [Yes! That''s it, exactly!]

    Deepsilver paused, lowered her head, then said, [I am also still a child.]

    Mindy gulped. [Where are your parents?]

    [My parents? Far away. Far in the great, deep sea.] Deepsilver said, with a tone of loneliness.

    [But you''re here? What happened?] Mindy asked.

    [I was born here, like all my siblings. One day, when I am fully grown, I will join them in the sea. But not now. Not yet.]

    Mindy began to understand. The Black Depths lake, as far as Deepsilver and her kin were concerned, was just a nesting pool. It was where they laid their eggs and their young hatched. [Are your siblings still there with you?]

    [No.] Deepsilver''s sad tones increased. [They are gone, now. Some of them tried to explore the river north. Others got too close to the surface at the wrong time. Only I stayed in the depths, stayed hidden, and in the depths I have remained, until now. Only I survive.]

    [That''s¡­ so sad.] Mindy mourned. The river north of the Black Depths was the territory of the giant crocodiles, at least until Mikai and the East Side had dropped on them.

    Sharing that heartfelt moment with Mindy, Deepsilver nuzzled her with some affection.

    "Guwaaah!" Mindy fell over, blackened, with her hair standing on end.

    ***

    "Do you think she''s all right?" George asked Tim, both of them lying in infirmary beds.

    "She should be. She''s smart." Tim answered.

    Janice burst in, carrying a charred and sorry-looking figure. "Medical Emergency! Phoebe! HELP!"

    "You were saying?" George grunted.

    "Mindy! What happened?" Tim gasped.

    "Oh, we had a moment." Mindy answered. "She''s really very lonely. We were becoming friends."

    "With friends like these, who needs enemies?" Tim shook his head.

    "Hah¡­" Mindy snorted a laugh, and then passed out.

    ***

    The following day, Max went to bring meat to Deepsilver.

    He was wearing rubber armor now, rushed over from Fal''Herim by military-grade airship. Rubber gloves, rubber helmet, everything had been carefully adjusted and modified by Arnold.

    "Hey, there, Lady of the Lake!" he greeted her as she rose out of the depths. "I bring you a peace offering."

    [You mean, you''re paying me tribute to prevent me from destroying you all.] Deepsilver sniffed.

    "Looking at the condition of the three who came before me, you seem to be destroying us anyway." Max pointed out.

    [Is that why you came dressed like a rubber ball?]

    "Pretty much." Max nodded.

    [Does it really protect you from my electricity?] she asked, interested.

    "It should. I think."

    [Let''s try and see.]

    ***

    "Emergency! Phoebe! Medic!!"

    "Max?! What happened to you?"

    "Equipment test. Don''t ask."

    He passed out too.

 105 More... well, just more.

    Remian came out of the infirmary after visiting George, Tim, Mindy and Max all in a row later that day and shook his head. "What are we going to do about Deepsilver?"

    Jujar wheezed. "Harness the power."

    "Harness it?" Remian pondered Jujar''s advice for a moment. "You mean, like the Ecclesia''s Lightning Rods? Hmm. If we could use their lightning-storage technology, we use it to power our airships and other machines. Or maybe we should do it like the Empire and convert it to mana. But either way, that kind of technology isn''t easy to get a hold of. They are closely guarded secrets and the devices produced are well-guarded and monitored."

    "So?" Jujar asked.

    Remian fell silent. "I guess we could send Mikai and some of his friends to Ecclesia. I don''t think we want to risk provoking Zor''khan-dras at this time. Or maybe we could try our luck at Liberteria. I heard they were experimenting with that sort of thing too."

    At that point, Asda dropped by. She looked stressed.

    "Asda? Are you all right?" Remian blinked.

    "I need... I need¡­"

    "Here." Remian grabbed a flask of water right off the Guild Hall table, picked up a clean glass and poured her a drink.

    She gulped it down, coughed twice, and said, "I need thirty kilograms of wheat or rice delivered to camp four, a large crate of clothing and three crates of bedding sent to Craggy Falls, nine crates of Fire Coppper and Jade picked up from Kara-Goth, sixty steel bars and fifteen builders sent to Encles village, and, and¡­"

    "Slow down. How did our logistics get so completely thrown out of order like this?" Remian asked, puzzled.

    "Mindy ended up in the infirmary, that''s how." Asda groaned. "Nobody else can manage the Red Helm, and even the Red Fang is operating at low efficiency. She''s the only real mage around, or haven''t you noticed that all your dear adventurers are just scroll-casters? My people have our own carts and convoys, but there''s just too much."

    Remian sighed. "I''ll ask the wolfcats to help with deliveries and pick-ups. It would be a good chance for me to inspect the camps and colonies."

    "You? You''re going to be a deliveryman?" Asda stared blankly. "Aren''t you¡­ well¡­ physically weak?"

    "I''ll have the wolfcats accompanying me, and riding one the entire time." Remian assured her.

    It wasn''t good enough for Asda. She had Andros'' people assemble an actual carriage and added a few people to Remian''s sudden entourage, including Salim, a representative from each of the three clans, four riders from the FDF, two of her own half-sisters, and Asda herself accompanied by all six of her logistics staff and four armed guards.

    Their little convoy of twenty-two people, fifty wolfcats, two carriages and ten carts went to and fro along the new trail to Kara-Goth, Encles, the four road-camps, and the new town shaping up at Craggy Falls. They picked up and delivered goods and personnel, gave orders to the people that would shape the budding settlements, established regular supply lines between them and finally, toward the end of the week, ended the convoy feeling like they had accomplished a lot of good work over the past few days.

    By that time, Remian was constantly throwing up by the roadside, barely able to eat, and had to be carried back to his room in the Guild Hall. Phoebe paid him a visit and had Asda''s two half-sisters clean out his room every day, bring him regular meals following her diet plans, and stay with him throughout the days to take care of him and whatever he needed, doctor''s orders, in spite of Remian''s protests. They even partitioned off a whole section of his suite and turned it into another room for the two.

    Were they nurses? Maids? A combination of the above? Remian wasn''t sure what to call them. When he asked, Asda told him the easiest answer.

    "Call that one Dhia, and the other one Jazaa." She shrugged.

    Remian gave her a serious look. "You do realize they''re only here temporarily, don''t you?"

    "What, you don''t like them?" Asda frowned. "Are they not pretty enough for you?"

    "There''s nothing wrong with their looks or their care." Remian shook his head. "I''m just¡­ not comfortable with having them look after me in the long term. I get that I''m in bad shape now and they''re here to nurse me back to health, but once I''m back on my feet, I can take care of myself."

    "Eh¡­ that''s¡­" Asda hesitated. "Just get better first, all right? We''ll figure out the rest as we go along."

    Dhia and Jazaa looked a bit disgruntled. Both had put in quite a lot of effort into their cosmetics this morning. But Remian, looking half-green and on the verge of throwing up at any time, didn''t seem to bethinking along the same lines as they were.

    With Remian confined to bed for the day (doctor''s orders, part 19), his entourage sat back for a relaxing day¡­

    But within the hour, he sent one out for maps, another to call in the Second Queen, Aren, Taj, Markus and Song Chen. Then he kept calling for more and more maps; mineral maps, geological surveys, weather maps, soil fertility maps¡­

    By dinner-time, all the guards and representatives in his entourage had been sent out at least five times each and every one of them were more tired with Remian in bed than they would have been had they been on the road with the carriage.

    The next day, a new plan was announced; Fort Spoas was going to explode in size. The new plan had the current town center becoming the north center. The south market was going to become the new market center, the Forge west side was going to becoming the north-west Forge district, they were going to completely quarry off all the stone of the old quarry, clearing it for a new industrial zone that reached all the way to the new Adventurer''s Guild. Also, they were planning a new hospital south of the Guild, where the old temporary workers residences used to be.

    Meanwhile, eight more districts were going to spring up, a few to the east and west of the market, and another whole row to the south of it. The Iron Legion camp was going to move to the north, the FDF''s new military base would be built at the southern end of the town, along with significant fortifications, the kinds that for years the defenders facing Beast Waves would talk and dream about.

    The airport was also going to expand to the east and west. The west end, toward the Adventurers Guild, would be a high security zone for military (Mindy, FDF and Legion) use. The central area was to be a middle security zone for storage and supplies. The east end, overlooking the cliffs, would be a low security zone where most of the airships would be landing and taking off, where cargo and passengers would be loaded.

    Construction began that very hour. Asda was scrambling around madly with her crews shifting men and materials. She was flustered and harried and entirely too busy for one person, stressed to the point of breaking pencils, half-scolding everyone as she bossed them around to get moving, on the double, right now, because all of this had to have been done yesterday¡­

    She loved it, and it went on all week.

    With all the construction going on over the weekend, not many people noticed that they were missing a Beast Wave. Most of them didn''t even know there should have been one, having come straight from Fal''Herim. Those who had been around earlier was tense when the time came, the FDF was on full alert, Spike, DD and the Wilds had been on standby, and the Adventurers had been readying the airships even without Mindy.

    Yet no Beast Wave arrived. Some people celebrated. Some people put on suspicious looks. Some said that there would be no more Beast Waves, because the Desert King was done for, and he wasn''t going to rebuild the excavation camp and send any more. Others said they were being entirely too optimistic, that there could be something worse coming next time¡­

    But next time was its own concern. This weekend, there was nothing except Charlie and another Deutero airship that arrived to trade.

    "So, what do you think?" Charlie asked the Deutero captain. "Worth coming more often?"

    "A settlement this size?" the captain squinted at the new, larger town area, the trail leading south that was rapidly becoming a dirt road, the Legion camp building the road to the north¡­. "Sure. I think we can recommend increased operations in this area."

    ***

    The new Shadowflash Fief spread out from the desert edge to Craggy Falls, establishing seven settlements. From north to south, they were; Fort Spoas (airport, Adventurers Guild, Burning Steel Forge, Iron Legion Camp, FDF Headquarters, Farms), Kara-Goth (Fire Copper/Jade mines, the Pit, Encles enclave), the four road camps (Rocky Ford, North Black Depths Lakeside, South Black Depths Lakeside, Deadly Sands), and Craggy Falls Town.

    Scouts, prospectors and surveyors were sent out to the hills and Misty Heights mountains east of the trail, to the highlands around Craggy Falls, even to the Rocky Thorns. For wealth and profit, the humans that went out didn''t even blink at the dangers they would face. Having wolfcats accompany them for added protection didn''t hurt either.

    On top of that, Arnold received a new instruction from Remian; design an airship-to-land bomb, something that could be employed in the Rocky Thorns against a giant lizard that spat fire, and quickly send dud representatives of the design to the FDF to train in its use¡­

 106 Families

    Remian sent a certain letter with Charlie during this latest visit. It was a letter he had wanted to send since the first day he arrived at the Frontier, but the time and circumstances had not been right.

    But now with the Beast Waves seemingly stopped, and having enough military force to fend them off easily even if they didn''t, with the surge of growth in the Frontier, he felt it was time.

    "It''s really important." Remian emphasized.

    "Who is it for?" Charlie asked.

    "It''s for my family." Remian told him in a low voice. "The time is ripe for them to join me here."

    ***

    A terrible storm hammered Shadowflash Fief the following week. Mindy, fresh out of the infirmary and raring to fly her airship again, was caught right in the middle of it.

    "This storm came out of nowhere!" Mindy protested. "Since when did weather like this happen here? We''ve lived here our whole lives; we''ve never had winds this strong, this sudden, before!"

    "Think maybe we cut down too many trees?" Tim asked. He had likewise just gotten out of the infirmary and had thought to take a ride to see the new developments from above. He was currently regretting it very much. "Just how far to the west did George expand the farms?"

    "I thought he was supposed to go all the way to the Amber Gorge?"

    "That''s what I was afraid of! That whole area used to be heavily forested. If we''ve cut them all down¡­"

    Mindy gulped. "This sort of weather could be the regular thing from now on?!"

    Tim nodded wordlessly.

    They were blown off-course during their southward flight. Mindy hastily brought the airship down for a landing, and they ended up near the Encles enclave.

    Several people came looking as the airship met the ground heavily. Some of them were concerned. Some of them offered help. Others thought they had come here intentionally and asked about their mission.

    There was, however, one particular exception who was simply curious. This was a girl even younger than Tim and Mindy, roughly nine or ten, who once lived surrounded by the sea and now lived by a river.

    "What''s your name?"

    "Alani! What''s yours?"

    "I''m Mindy. This is Tim."

    "Is Tim your brother?"

    "No, he''s not. Do you have a brother?"

    "Yes, I do. But he''s not here now."

    "Where is he?"

    "My brother got a new job at North Black Depths Lakeside!"

    "Really? Doing what?"

    "Feeding a fish! A big one! They say it''s the boss of the lake!"

    Tim solemnly took off his hat, held it to his chest and offered a heartfelt prayer for that brother.

    She showed them around their village. It wasn''t much, compared to the new developments around Fort Spoas, but Mindy and Tim felt impressed. Not too long ago, these people had arrived here in a bedraggled condition, refugees from a sinking island. While most of their friends and neighbors had gone on to other islands to live, these people among others had opted to travel to safer lands far from the sea and storm. While Mindy felt today''s weather was the worst she''d ever faced, to the people at the Encles clan, this was just a heavier rain, nothing compared to the downpours and near-hurricanes they faced on their old island. None of them were in any way alarmed, most of them were still going about their daily business.

    More than half of them didn''t even take a break from work. The fishermen were still fishing. Alani''s mother was still knitting. Alani''s father was still fashioning a new sort of fishscale armor for her brother. Tim discreetly whispered a recommendation to her dad; that he add some rubber lining.

    They offered lunch while they waited out the ''storm''. Mindy and Tim sat down with Alani''s family for the meal, Tier 3 Wilds meat with some sort of meltingly-soft leaves seasoned with salt.

    "What is this?" Mindy asked, picking up one such piece of leaf.

    "This is Luau stew. It''s my favorite." Alani grinned.

    "Taro leaves. It''s surprising, but we actually found some growing here already. The same plant grows both here and back on our islands." Her father mentioned. "Either that, or there were Sea People here before. And by ''here'', I mean right here at the riverside. I guess they took to the water like we did."

    After lunch, the weather had cleared, and Mindy got her airship and crew underway. Leaving the Encles behind, she turned to Tim and said, "That was¡­ interesting."

    "You were wondering too, weren''t you?" Tim mused, looking at one particular house where they''d had lunch. "What it would have been like, growing up with a family. To have a mother and father take care of you, an elder brother to worry about and be proud of at the same time. Alani has been through a lot, losing her island and then coming here as a refugee¡­ but she still retains an easy smile and a kind heart. Don''t tell me that you''re not thinking it''s because she has parents."

    Mindy just shook her head wordlessly. "Of course I wonder. But it wasn''t that bad for me. I had Mandy."

    "So did the rest of us. She might have been your sister, but she took care of all of us too."

    "Why did she leave?" Mindy asked, sadly. "What happened to her?"

    "I guess¡­ she felt we were safe." Tim scratched his head. "She was always worried about our safety. Once we were all safe, she didn''t need to worry any more."

    "You''re the last person who should be talking about safety. You''re the one constantly in the most danger." Mindy poked him. "The last time you were captured, we had to bring an army to rescue you."

    "And the next mission I went on, I brought my own army with me. I''m never going to get captured again." Tim swore. "I''m going to bring my own army everywhere I go."

    "Is that why we''re carrying fifty lynxmice below?"

    "Obviously." Tim grinned.

    "They didn''t take anything from the Encles, did they?"

    "No. They didn''t even leave the airship. I''d rather they stayed dry. You have no idea how bad they could smell when you pack fifty wet lynxmice together in a small space."

    "Ugh. I thought you were keeping them clean."

    "You wanna try?"

    "No, thanks."

    Tim sighed. "I''ll have to keep them out of the town if we want to keep the town ''healthy'' like Phoebe says. I can''t even keep them on George''s farm, or they''d raid the food stores."

    "What do you plan to do, then?" Mindy asked.

    "Bring most of them to wherever our next target is." Tim shrugged. "Meanwhile, I guess we''ll have to stay at Kara-Goth. They''re most comfortable with tunnels."

    "They might be, but what about you? You''re not a lynxmouse."

    "I''m fine at Kara-Goth. Aren and Zane gave me a nice room in Goth''s upper levels with a large window overlooking the river. The Encles weren''t there back then, but now they''re here, I could probably wave to Alani from my room."

    "That''s very nice of them. They treat you well, don''t they?" Mindy asked. "Is it because they don''t have their own kids? That might be why they''re treating you like a son."

    Tim cleared his throat. "Actually, Aren and Zane have a daughter. Her name is Talia."

    "Ooh! Is she your girlfriend?" Mindy teased.

    "No, no, she''s Izak''s girlfriend. I think."

    Mindy blinked. "Who is Izak?"

    "Taj and Nadia''s son?" Tim blinked at her. "Haven''t you met him?"

    Mindy shook her head. "I''ve been flying airships this entire time. I don''t meet many people on the ground¡­ or under it, in Talia''s case."

    "Well, just so you know, we''re not the only kids in town." Tim informed her.

    ***

    They were about to receive two more, plus a teenager¡­ and their parents.

    Charlie came back with all five of them a week later. Plus, Deutero also sent another trading ship.

    But that had nothing to do with this new family.

    "Mindy, Tim, George." Remian introduced them. "I''d like you to meet my family. These are my parents, my sisters, and my brother."

 107 Vin

    Mindy''s first question; "Are they¡­ all right?"

    "Bueeehhh!" the younger boy threw up on the spot, and the younger girl, the youngest of the lot, looked green enough to join him at any moment.

    "I need a toilet. Fast." The older girl, the teenager, added hurriedly.

    "And I need a place to rest." Remian''s mom looked pale.

    His dad, a wrinkly, kindly faced man with graying hair, smiled and said, "Don''t worry about us, we''ll manage¡­"

    "My carriage is over here." Remian pointed. "I have a suite in the Adventurers Guild."

    "I think we can give them rooms of their own." Mindy mentioned.

    Remian considered briefly. "True. But I''ll pay for their rooms with points."

    "No time. I really, really need to go, now!" his sister squirmed.

    "FDF camp. That way." George pointed.

    "Airport inn. Over here." Mindy gestured.

    "Bucket?" Tim offered.

    The second sister grabbed the bucket and used it the way her brother earlier should have, while the elder sister followed Mindy to the airport inn.

    Proper introductions took place in the carriage later, as they made their way to the Adventurers Guild.

    Remian''s Dad was named Damien Vin. He was a retired teacher, but also an ex-council member of Petal Town back at the Rain Sultanate, a vassal state of the Empire. Since Remian''s sudden miraculous resurrection, he actually joined the New Church of Light as a pastor, trying to learn and practice healing by miracles. He often went to hospitals and critical condition patients to pray for them. Sadly, despite his efforts, a lot of these patients successfully died.

    Remian''s Mom was named Lisa Vin. She was also a teacher, except that she had refused to retire despite her age. She had been many things in life, from a factory worker to a delivery girl to an office clerk to a bank teller to the firebrand speech-giver at the Maelstrom Straits International Canoe Marathon. The one field she never wanted to work in was medicine; she hated and feared needles, especially since she sometimes needed to get poked by them. One of her obsessions in life was alternative health lifestyles, including health diets, new experimental health products sold directly by friends and never in shops, sleeping and waking up early, and cultivating spiritual power in order to cut down on medical bills.

    Remian had three younger siblings. The eldest was Sabriane, a fifteen year old sister who wore heavy make-up. Other than too many pimples for her make-up to hide, she actually seemed to be the healthiest of the siblings. She had an interest in interior design.

    The next oldest was Darian, an eleven year-old brother who seemed to be trying to collect ants in a gourd. His eyes positively lit up when he saw Carrie, and Vigil running around his mother''s paws. He hesitated, caught between leaping at them joyfully and behaving politely in front of his brother''s friends.

    The youngest was Eriane, a seven year-old girl who did not in any way hesitate to jump at the wolfcats. "So CUTE!" she shrieked, grabbing up Vigil instantly. "I want one! Can I keep him? Can I? Can I?"

    "I know, right? Right?" Mindy nodded enthusiastically.

    "Not helping!" Remian groaned. "Eriane, they''re Wilds. They''re not kept by anyone. They own themselves."

    [That!] Carrie agreed firmly, but the newcomers didn''t seem to hear her.

    Remian made introductions all around as they settled in to rooms on the next highest floor of the Guild. After they all went up and the Guild Hall settled down some, Asda turned to her mom and said, "Who do you favor?"

    "Darian." Her mom said instantly. "He''s around the same age as you. You would go well together."

    "But from the looks of it, Remian isn''t going to last much longer. Darian won''t have enough time to grow and mature. I don''t think he''s suitable to take over." Asda shook her head. "I think Sabriane is the one to support. She''s the natural choice after Remian goes. She does seem like a responsible girl. If we get close to her now, we could stand to gain a lot."

    "Maybe. Or maybe we should target Eriane. She''s still young and teachable. She would be easier to advise."

    A low growl sounded from the side. Asda turned to see Carrie glowering at them in an unfriendly manner.

    "Hey, don''t be like that. We''re just¡­ talking. We don''t mean anything bad." Asda said defensively.

    Carrie snorted. She didn''t seem to believe them.

    "Yip." Vigil actually seemed to be laughing at them. But that couldn''t be the case. Could it?

    Actually it was, but within the walls of the Guild Hall, only four people and Carrie knew it for sure.

    [Such scheming people! Already trying to pick who replaces you!] Carrie sniffed from downstairs.

    Three floors above her, Tim laughed softly. [Didn''t anyone tell them? Remian already picked George.]

    [There''s no need to pick anyone. Remian''s not going anywhere for a very long time yet!] George insisted firmly.

    [I''ll second that. We''ll save him.] Mindy agreed.

    [Guys¡­] Remian sighed. [I''m bringing my family here so they could have a better life, not to replace anyone. Fresh air, healthy food, less stress¡­ I want to lighten their burdens, not increase them. Don''t give them any responsibilities for the time being. Let them settle in first, make friends, get comfortable with the environment, and play around with missions in the Adventurers Guild. No commitments, no positions, no burdens. Not yet. Got it?]

    [Yep.] Mindy, Tim and George agreed.

    [But you are intending your parents to teach, right? I''m guessing some sort of school.] Tim mentioned.

    [I think your brother is going to love the Feelo-wasps.] George added.

    [Phoebe and Lydia could probably use some help setting up the hospital. Isn''t Sabriane some sort of expert on interior design?] Mindy asked.

    Remian let out a long, long sigh.

    ***

    Three days later, Damien and Lisa Vin were negotiating the construction of a schoolhouse with Arnold and Andros. Sabriane had practically moved in with Lydia and Phoebe at the new hospital as they set it up with a crew of ten. Darian had made fast friends with the Feelo-wasps and spent all day out in the farm with them and other Wilds. He was already showing signs of being able to hear mind-talk.

    As for Eriane, she mostly followed Mindy around.

    Predictably, the first thing that Mindy did was to teach her about airships. But Eriane wasn''t too interested in those. The thing she was interested in was the control of airships, most specifically wind magic.

    It turned out, she was also interested in water magic. And earth magic. And life magic.

    "You may as well just join the Adventurers Guild. They teach all the basics of magic there, starting from scroll-casting." Mindy advised.

    But there was a snag.

    "If you want to be an Adventurer, magic alone isn''t going to be enough!" Max told her. "You also have to learn wilderness lore, tracking and trapping, how to hunt, and yes, you''re going to need to learn how to use a weapon."

    "A weapon?" Eriane was wide-eyed. Nobody ever asked the seven year-old her to handle a weapon before.

    "Yes. Like a sword, or an axe, or a spear¡­" Max trailed off, considering Eriane''s size and build. "Um¡­ maybe a slingshot? Or a crossbow. Something long-ranged, I think. At least throw darts."

    "Something long-ranged is good. I like long-ranged." Eriane said. "I want a weapon that can hit something very, very far away, with a lot of power, and without anyone knowing it''s me!"

    "That¡­" Max scratched his head, drew a deep breath, and closed his eyes for a moment. "There''s only one thing we have that can do that."

    "There''s a thing!?" Mindy gaped.

    "Come with me." Max said mysteriously.

    He brought them to his room, his personal, nobody-dares-to-disturb-him-there room. He took out a long metal box from under his bed, and opened it. Taking out its contents, he showed it to them with swagger.

    "This is the CU-T3R Sniper Rifle, the pride of the Libertaria Special Forces." Max told them. "It''s one of ten awarded to the Iron Legion as a token of support from Libertaria. This is a focused runic cannon that combines the design and functions of a musket with runes for sound-dampening, projectile blessing, speed-launching, and durability. The ammunition have both sharpness and explosive runes inscribed on every bullet. We call it the Cutter Rifle."

    "Wow." Mindy and Eriane were both suitably awed.

    "I only received it last week, a prize for personal achievement in killing my 100th Tier 4 Wild in service and defense of the Legion." Max said, posing. "I¡­ might also have exaggerated my part in dealing with a few Tier 5''s."

    "Since when did you deal with any Tier 5''s?" Mindy blinked.

    "Um¡­ like I said. It''s just stories." Max winced. "Ehh. Never mind. The point is, if Eriane trains really hard and becomes really good with projectile weapons like the crossbow, and hand-cannons and muskets, one day, maybe, MAYBE I might let you borrow the Cutter Rifle for a bit."

    "Really?!" Eriane was jubilant. It was as if she already held the rifle in her hand. "YAY!"

    Mindy had to grin. "Oh well. At least she won''t be badgering anyone about owning a wolfcat cub for herself."

 108 Visiting

    Later, Remian also brought his family to Fal''Herim, where the Crown Prince was rebuilding with the help of his foreign aid allies. They didn''t get to see the prince himself, but they managed to tour the place for at least a couple hours and had lunch at a new restaurant near the airport. Then, they came back with an airship full of new Sand People wanting freedom and to join them at the Frontier.

    Three days and lots of rest later, he brought them to Ashdale on Charlie''s airship.

    "Are you kidding me?!" Mandy half-screamed when she saw them arrive. "Remian''s bringing more kids to the Frontier?!"

    "They''re his own brother and sisters." Charlie hastily tried to pacify her. "They seem to fit in very well."

    "What is he teaching them? Weapons and magic?" Mandy demanded.

    "Uh¡­ yeah?" Charlie scratched his head.

    "And you think that''s okay? They should be here! Properly going to school!" Mandy protested. "Growing up in a proper society and learning to be good workers in proper society! How are they supposed to get into college? How are they to get a job or a husband or wife when they grow up?"

    "I''m guessing they''d live like royalty. Remian''s practically a king back there. Besides, his parents are both teachers and they''re opening a new school."

    "Remian''s parents!" Mandy rolled her eyes. "What kind of teachers could they be?"

    "His dad seems to have been a member of the city council back at Petal Town."

    "Eh¡­?" Mandy blinked. "That''s¡­ surprising. Looking at Remian, I''d never have guessed."

    Charlie gave her an odd look. "Mandy, just what kind of person do you think Remian is? Not just anyone would come all the way out to the Frontier and take charge."

    "Um¡­ wasn''t he just seeking his fortune like any old treasure hunter?"

    "If that were the case, what was he doing fighting Beast Waves with light magic he just barely learned? What''s with the missions board and starting an Adventurers'' Guild? Why even take you in and all the kids with you?"

    "I¡­ I was¡­" Mandy trailed off. "I mean¡­ any guy, given the chance¡­"

    "Would challenge the Cruel Rose gang for you? Trade his only magic book, lose his job and its protection, and risk my wrath to save you? Most regular guys would rather be clients of the Cruel Rose and pay a much cheaper price to have you that way, without all the commitments or complications he took on."

    Mandy''s face turned white. "Is that how you see me? A cheap lay in a slaver''s brothel?"

    "If not for Remian, what do you think would have happened?" Charlie asked. "It''s different now. You''re here, and free, and life is filled with opportunities. Before talking down on him, you might want to remember who it is you have to thank for getting you to this point. It''s not just my family."

    Yes, Mandy was indeed getting schooled at Charlie''s.

    Jane popped up. "Any letters for me?"

    "Here." Charlie handed her two.

    "Thanks!" Jane scurried away.

    Mandy blinked. "Letters? She''s writing to someone?"

    "Mindy and Tim, it looks like." Charlie shrugged. "Haven''t you done the same?"

    "Well, yes, but she''s my sister¡­ and Tim¡­?!" Mandy''s eyes widened. "You don''t think¡­"

    "Don''t overthink it." Charlie advised her, and went to take a shower.

    Hours later, Jane handed Charlie a pair of letters. "Can you send these back to Mindy and Tim, please?"

    "You know, if you want me to keep being your mailman, you might want to buy stamps." Charlie joked.

    "Oh? I can cook you a meal as payment." Jane offered.

    "No, no, please don''t!" Charlie fled for his life.

    With a family more sickly than not in tow, Remian went on a close inspection of Ashdale''s hospitals and medical facilities. They stayed three days at Ashdale, spending most of it resting at Charlie''s but they did get a lot of check-ups, including a full bloodwork exam, x-rays, eye tests and fluid tests.

    In conclusion, except for Remian''s dad, the rest of his family were not well. Not well indeed. His mother had a stomach ulcer and malnutrition issues, especially potassium deficiency, possibly an issue with her digestion. Sabriane had hypovolumia, hypotension, a case of mild jaundice and several allergies. Speaking of allergies, Darian had enough to fill a notebook''s page, plus there was an issue with his lungs, probably bronchitis, likely sinus, or something along those lines that even the doctors had never seen before. In contrast to Sabriane, Eriane had hypertension and abnormally high adrenaline releases when triggered. All this was merely what they could detect with a day''s worth of tests, all they could manage before the Vin family was too exhausted to go on.

    In short, Remian had a skinny mom, a sleepy sister, a snotty brother, and a jumpy youngest sister.

    Also, he had a dead elder sister. But nobody outside his family and a few prying doctors knew that.

    "How did this happen?" Charlie looked over the medical reports, shaking his head. "I thought the Rain Sultanate was one of the healthier places to live. Plenty of trees and water, good food¡­"

    "Only if you could afford it. Most of the people there can''t. The good food you''re thinking of usually ends up eaten by the Empire''s people. There''s a reason why we''re called a Vassal State."

    "What would it take for our hospital to have equipment and staff on the same level as the one we just left?" Remian asked.

    "The equipment is easy enough. Deutero can handle most of it, and my family has friends who can handle the rest. It''s going to cost you, though." Charlie paused. "The staff, on the other hand¡­"

    "They''re proud, money-minded, and nowhere near as compassionate as they proclaim themselves to be." Remian said, in distress. "The more seasoned and experienced they are, the more they seem to be completely callous towards people''s pain and suffering."

    It was the same with Phoebe. Remian felt that coldness and professional detachment all over the hospital. Some of the doctors and nurses at least tried to sound kindly, but none of them would bat an eyelash toward asking you to suffer pain in order for them to run an examination. Plus, a good many nurses seemed to be downright obsessed with testing blood pressure.

    "It''s not that they''re money-minded, I think. It''s just that they work for a boss, and he''s money minded, so they have to collect fees." Charlie tried to explain. "Companies need to profit. This hospital is owned by one such. There are government hospitals too, but they''re generally not as well-equipped."

    "Why is that?"

    "Government funding is low in comparison. The private hospitals have the good stuff, but they''re also more expensive." Charlie cleared his throat. "Naturally, my family trusts the private hospitals more."

    Remian thought for a bit. "What if¡­ what if government funding was high? High enough that the government hospitals would be better than private ones?"

    "Well, that would end private hospitals on the spot." Charlie guessed. "But it''s going to cost. Can any government really afford that?"

    "What if we built the medical equipment ourselves? That should cut costs." Remian mentioned. "Plus we can offer lots of perks for hospital staff, build them nice houses, offer them personal wolfcat security, Tier 4 food¡­"

    "I''m not sure promising them wolfcat guards will be of much help."

    "Lynxmice, then?"

    "You''re missing the point."

    They also had to go shopping. Remian''s mom and Sabriane mentioned how Phoebe and Lydia had a shopping list as long as Remian''s arm, but really, they were clearly looking at a lot more than just pharmaceuticals. Darian ended up going to-and-fro, carrying loads of goods back each time, everything from furniture to clothing to food.

    "Just how much money did you give them to spend on this trip?" Charlie asked Remian after Darian''s fourth trip. The poor boy was already panting, with a goofy grin on his face. Goodness, what did they buy for him to make him so willing to gopher all their shopping like this?

    "Fifty thousand." Remian answered shortly.

    Mandy almost dropped the book she was ''reading''.

 109 To Learn

    Fifty thousand. It was all Remian''s money anyway, but a lot of that shopping was actually meant for furniture to set up a new schoolhouse. It didn''t have to be very big; they didn''t have that many children. Most of the Fal''Herim refugees who had children to consider all preferred going to safer, more developed places.

    Roughly two hundred children were between the ages of 7-12, half of them being from the Harvest Sun and High Rock clans. Another hundred or so were below the age of seven. There were also over a hundred teenagers.

    Compared to a population of five and a half thousand, those were very low numbers indeed. It seemed most people agreed with Mandy''s opinion; the frontier was no place for children.

    At least, not yet. This new schoolhouse was a small first step. Someday soon, they were going to have to get serious about education, but they first had to be sure the Beast Waves were ended for good. If they hadn''t, well¡­ the hospital might be rather busy in the future.

    "It''s not that bad." Mindy said defensively. She, Tim, George and Max had arrived on the Red Fang bearing more goods and offering more space to bring stuff back. "We seem to be doing just fine. I mean, just look at Tim, George and I. We''re okay."

    Jane snorted. "You guys all got electrocuted and spent days in the infirmary!"

    "That''s different! I''m talking about what we have! Even if we never go to school, we''ll never have to worry about money in the future!"

    "How is that even a good thing?"

    "Did you know the gardener has a college degree? Yet for all his schooling, he''s basically just taking care of plants and he has the lowest income in the entire household, even among the servants!" George threw in.

    "How did you even know that?"

    "Um¡­ because¡­" George hesitated. "He told us."

    "Why would he tell you that?"

    "Because he wanted to come with us."

    That much was true. It was almost inevitable. As far as the gardener could tell, George was doing pretty much the same thing he was doing, but earning much, much more.

    "That doesn''t mean that an education is useless!" Jane protested.

    "It doesn''t mean that an education will solve everything either." Mindy countered.

    Remian cleared his throat. "Actually, Mindy, Tim, George¡­ I want you guys to study too."

    "What?!" Mindy spluttered.

    "Language, math, history and culture, geography, science, magic¡­ I want all three of you to pass Ashdale''s General Certificate of Education before you''re teenagers."

    "You want to send us to school?!" Mindy gasped.

    "No. I said I wanted you to pass the GCE. Nobody ever said anything about sending you to school."

    "Then, how¡­?" Jane asked.

    "How did Mindy learn magic?" Remian asked. "How did she learn to build her own airship? She never went to a school of engineering."

    "Arnold taught me. Charlie taught me. You taught me." Mindy reflected.

    "See? You had teachers. You had books. You had the freedom and space to experiment and experience. More importantly, you had the drive to learn and you did it on your own." Remian paused. "When I was in school myself, one of the things I noticed was that most of the students didn''t even want to be there. They didn''t want to learn, or to sit in class while a bored teacher droned on and on repeating the same lesson to class after class of equally bored students. Something is very wrong about the way school was done where I came from and I don''t want you guys to go through the same thing."

    Tim glanced at Jane. "Is it the same here?"

    "Well¡­ yes¡­ no¡­ maybe¡­ sometimes?" Jane scratched her head. "But there are fun times too. Maybe it''s just the teachers? I heard there were good teachers and bad teachers."

    "For the three of you, I want your experience to be different." Remian told them. "When you learned math, you learned it counting your own money, measuring your own airship parts, distributing cheese to your own subordinates. When you learned cultures, you learned it living with the Sand People, working with the Sea People, and coming to Ashdale yourself. It''s not that I don''t want you to have an education. It''s that I want your education to be meaningful and real."

    "Can that really be done for everybody?" Mindy asked. "I mean¡­ not everyone wants to build airships, or could if they tried."

    "It differs from person to person. That''s why I''m not promising it for everybody. Just you three." Remian hesitated. "And maybe Darian and Eriane."

    "Personal tutors? That''s the way I was raised. It''s not cheap, though." Charlie threw in."Public school is much cheaper. This is how the quality of education a child gets relates directly to his parent''s money. The rich get the best education and thus the best jobs, while the poor get whatever''s left. It looks like you''re already creating class differences in Shadowflash Fief."

    "That¡­" Remian scratched his head. "I would love to offer equal opportunities to all, but I only have so much time and resources."

    "You, and everyone else in the world. Bring on the class divide!" Charlie intoned.

    "Hey, poor people from public schools can do well and get good jobs in the future too!" Mandy threw in, not wanting to discourage the kids.

    "That''s the exception, not the norm." Remian knew. "Public schools are more likely to smother ambition and opportunity than nurture it."

    "They were designed to train factory workers to read and write and operate machinery. They do a good job of that, but if you want to raise scientists, or doctors, or government leaders, you''d better try to get private tutors." Beth, Charlie''s mom, advised. Somehow, she''d heard the conversation and wanted to chip in. "It would save them years of time and effort."

    For some reason, Mandy''s face went pale.

    "Or you could go the other way. Force everyone to have the same starting point, make public schooling compulsory. That''s another form of equal opportunity." Charlie pointed out. "Doesn''t the Rising Dragon Empire do something like that?"

    "Military High Schools, yes." Remian remembered. "But those are taught by Draconians with decades of experience. They''re very competitive and there''s a lot of combat involved. Students get killed all the time. There''s a whole might-is-right concept prevailing in those."

    "It''s good for a strong military. If you''re really concerned about fighting Wilds all the time, you might want to consider that sort of martial focus." Charlie commented.

    For some reason, Remian turned to look at George.

    George shook his head slowly.

    "We may not need to fight them all that much. I think we''re making good progress in befriending them." Remian told Charlie. "Deepsilver hasn''t attacked us, so far."

    "Not deliberately." Mindy piped up. "She''s just a bit clumsy."

    Charlie shook his head. "If it were that easy, we''d have colonized the Wildlands long ago. Trust me on this, Remian; keep your defenses up. Nobody has ever succeeded in colonizing the Wildlands."

    "Why? What happened?" George asked.

    "Sounds like it''s time for a history lesson." Charlie mused. "Okay. So, the last three colonization efforts happened over the past twenty years. Deutero, Itarim, and Germat all took a shot at it. I''m not entirely sure about the other two, but I know for a fact that Deutero''s effort involved thirty Sky Galleons and over a hundred Sky Frigates and Corvetes. They built five walled towns, hired thousands of guards, brought in heavy war machines like cannon wagons and armored carriages. Judging from Deutero reports, they fought off small Beast Waves like the ones we faced, at first, but then one day, a much bigger attack hit and wiped out all five towns all at once."

    "What? What happened?" Remian stared.

    Charlie sighed. "They called it a ''Beast Tide''. Imagine a hundred Beast Waves put together, dozens of Tier 5''s, even a Tier 6 or two, and more Tier 4''s the size of Carrie or Buff than you would bother to count. They said it was like the tide coming in, and all Deutero''s forces and defenses were swept away like sandcastles."

    Remian paused. "Air forces too?"

    "There were flying Wilds." Charlie confirmed with a grimace.

    "That kind of assault¡­ only a King of the Wilds could have done it. The regular Lords don''t have that kind of power." Remian drew a deep breath. "So¡­ let''s not offend any of the Kings, all right?"

    But if that was the power of a King, what would an Emperor of the Wilds be capable of? Remian shuddered just thinking about it.

    Then again, they wouldn''t have to worry about that. Their particular area didn''t have any Emperor Wilds. The reason for that was that Mal''thor and Kor''ag-dras were right there. While they might be the greatest power in other regions, in front of the Twins, they''d merely be dinner.

    Remian cleared his throat. "Mom? Dad? We need weapons and magic to be basic courses in school. Also, we have to talk about integrating the Adventurers'' Guild missions and points into the system."

    Talk about equal opportunities and class divisions could wait. First, they''d need to survive a Beast Tide.

 110 A Strange Visitor from the Iron Legion

    "Is that really a good idea?" Lambert Meadows asked Damien Vin.

    Remian''s dad looked at Charlie''s dad and queried, "What do you mean?"

    "Teaching children to use weapons and magic before they''re even teenagers? I''m not sure that''s a good idea." Lambert mentioned. "They''re not old enough for such responsibilities. Remian himself is barely old enough for any sort of responsibility."

    "Like Charlie, you mean?"

    "Even Charlie is barely ready for a bit of responsibility." Lambert snorted. "Their current generation hardly seems to grow up with age."

    "They''ll stay that way unless you let them go." Damien advised. "It has less to do with age than it has to do with experience, which will be limited to what you allow."

    "Is that what you''re doing in the Frontier? Allowing your son independence?" Lambert raised an eyebrow.

    "No, no, Remian is way past that. Now it''s his time to shine. He makes the decisions for the Frontier. I just support him in my own little ways." Damien laughed. "I still need to look out for Darian and Eriane, but my older two are more than independent, they''re dependable."

    "Sabriane, too? How''s that?" Lambert grunted. "She''s not even out of her teens."

    "She takes care of her brother and sister better than my wife and I do. She''s already managing the household like a mother. I have no doubts she''ll be able to manage her own today if she had to." Damien slid a pointed glance towards Lambert''s children.

    Lambert grunted again. "Don''t get any ideas about my kids now. Even if you were willing to let yours go, I''m not willing to let go of mine."

    "I didn''t say anything." Damien shrugged. "But while we''re on the topic of letting go¡­ my kids don''t seem to be leaving me even now. Just so you know. Letting them make their own decisions doesn''t mean abandoning or rejecting them. I''m still here for them, and they''re still here with me."

    Remian, carefully pretending not to be eavesdropping, suddenly realized that Mindy, Tim and George were all likewise carefully pretending not to overhear the two fathers'' conversation. With a rueful grin, he called their attention to himself by saying, "So, what do you think of our new schoolmaster?"

    "Almost tempts me into going to school just to see what it''ll be like." Tim mentioned. "Almost."

    "Deadly boring." Remian warned. "Dad''s a nice enough guy, but he''s not very imaginative or innovative. What he went through is what he''ll give, and that''s the factory worker training."

    ***

    On the way back from Ashdale, they stopped by the Iron Legion HQ to load more recruits. Max had a word with the officers there, with a letter in hand, and not only did they send four hundred trainees this time around, completely filling up the airships to the brink, they also sent a ''special guest''.

    "I am Wulfgar, son of Bjorn!" the beefy, bearded man proclaimed, putting on a helmet with two horns like a cow. "I challenge your greatest warriors to glorious combat!"

    "Um¡­ our greatest warriors are far to the south. The strongest guy we have here is Max." Remian pointed.

    "Are you not their leader?" Wulfgar demanded. "Are you not the strongest warrior here?"

    "Well, I guess I am the leader, but I''m not the strongest warrior¡­" Remian tried to explain.

    "Lies! How could you command the others if you were not stronger?" Wulfgar seized his axe and charged at Remian. "Defend yourself!"

    "Light!" Remian called, and a wall of photonic energy emerged right in Wulfgar''s face. He literally bounced off the Wall of Light, and tumbled back across the airship deck, sprawling.

    Sitting up, he exclaimed, "You''re a Wizard! So that''s it!"

    "Uh¡­ yeah, kind of." Remian scratched his head.

    "Forgive me, Master Wizard! It was foolish of me to challenge you!" Wulfgar bowed.

    But the minute they arrived back at Fort Spoas, he leapt out of the airship shouting, "I am Wulfgar, son of Bjorn, and I challenge your greatest warriors to glorious combat!"

    [Noisy!] Buff grouched, and slammed Wulfgar face-down onto the airport loading ramp with a single paw. [It''s too early in the morning for this.]

    That was fair enough. When Remian and the others got back this time, they arrived just after dawn.

    "Think he''s going to go around challenging people like this?" Tim asked Mikai.

    [I bet he would.] Mikai nodded. [One piece of cheese says he''ll charge at anyone bigger than him.]

    "Come on. Nobody could be that dumb." Tim shook his head.

    Still, Wulfgar asked around, and before long, he went looking for Song Chen. Arriving at the Adventurer''s Guild, he instead found Phoebe and was most pleased to pose and posture in front of her. "I am Wulfgar, son of Bjorn! I challenge your greatest warrior to¡­ oof!"

    Carrie had smacked him face-down into the dining hall floor with her tail. [Quiet down! There are patients around here!]

    Mikai held out his paw to Tim. [Pay up.]

    Tim thought about it, shrugged, and handed him a piece of cheese.

    Later, Wulfgar found out Song Chen was actually down by Kara-Goth seeing to some fortifications.

    Meeting him, he again challenged the harried and busy man, who very quickly parried his challenge and diverted the attacker. "Alas, I am not the strongest warrior here. The greatest of us are the three Tier 5 Wilds, DD, Spike and Jujar."

    "Where are they?" Wulfgar asked.

    Song Chen happily pointed them out, and Wulfgar went to challenge Spike.

    Spike, who''d been helping the miners clear the old Quarry with his club-tail, didn''t even seem to realize Wulfgar was challenging him.

    Nevertheless, Wulfgar charged bravely, hammering down on Spike''s shell with his warhammer.

    "OOF!" Wulfgar, hammer and all, bounced right off Spike''s shell and went sprawling over the dusty floor.

    Mikai held out an open paw to Tim. [Pay up.]

    Tim shook his head and handed over a piece of cheese.

    Covered with granite powder from head to toe, Wulfgar very quickly retreated and went to find some other, less spiky target to challenge.

    "I am Wulfgar, son of Bjorn and I challenge you to glorious combat!" he shouted at Jujar.

    Jujar, at the time peacefully having lunch, was still chewing his leafy greens when Wulfgar charged him from the side.

    "OOF!" Unlike before when he bounced off Spike, this time, he slammed into Jujar''s tortoise shell and just¡­ stuck there. He remained on the shell like an errant pancake on the kitchen ceiling, half-dangling, half-peeling off for a long minute before someone thoughtfully tugged him away from the tortoise before he was noticed.

    Mikai opened his paw and grinned at Tim. [Pay up.]

    Tim grimaced and handed over a piece of cheese.

    It took Wulfgar a few hours to recover, after which, he went to find DD.

    DD, unlike the other two, actually welcomed a good, hearty challenge.

    "OOF!" Going head-to-head with a Tier 5 Diamond-Bristle Boar was NOT a good idea no matter how well-polished the horns on your Viking helmet was.

    Tim and Mikai watched as Wulfgar the brave went flying in a clean arc right over two buildings and a latrine, a small herb garden and a feeding trough before landing in a painful crash half a block away from where he''d collided with DD.

    [Pay up.] Mikai already had his paw open and waiting under Tim''s nose.

    With a sigh, Tim put yet another piece of cheese into that paw. "Well, he should have learned his lesson by now."

    [Wanna bet?] Mikai asked.

    With that one encounter, Wulfgar was practically out of commission for the next two days.

    When he finally regained consciousness, he exulted. "This place is AWESOME!"

    To that, Mikai chuckled and held out his open paw to Tim again. [Pay up!]

    This time, Tim put in three pieces of cheese to Mikai''s paw. "I give up. Something tells me this guy had just too many head-to-head clashes with bigger, heavier heads."

    ***

    Surprisingly, Wulfgar became fast friends with little Darian Vin. Between taking care of the Feelo-Wasps and challenging all the Tier 4 Wilds in the vicinity, the two spent pretty much all day together.

    "Your body is weak, little one! I will teach you a secret body-strengthening technique!"

    Also, Darian learned how to make a new sort of drink that Wulfgar loved, a drink called mead. Apparently it was made out of honey¡­

 111 Grim Tidings

    It was around that time that Remian really started paying attention to him.

    "Who is this Wulfgar guy again, and why is he here?" he asked Max.

    "Even I''m not sure. He showed up at the Iron Legion HQ one day challenging all our greatest warriors. It seems he''s already fought them all, lost most of the duels and came here looking for more people to fight. I think he''s traveling for experience and training or something."

    "So he''s not actually a member of the Iron Legion?"

    "Goodness, no, he''s not even an affiliate. He''s a challenger. But he doesn''t seem to be the bad sort. Violent and rowdy, sure, but he''s very simple and doesn''t seem intent on actual harm. Actually, as much as I hate to admit it, I suspect there''s real wisdom hidden in his brash actions. Challenging everything to improve yourself¡­ the simpleness of that idea has its own appeal."

    Regardless, Wulfgar spending more and more time with Darrian led to Remian''s brother looking more and more lively as the days went by. The pair of them officially joined the Adventurers Guild and then started roaming the wilderness farther and farther away from the Farm, hunting Tier 3 Wilds and bringing back valuable herbs, very quickly amassing Points and climbing up to the 2nd Tier within a couple of days.

    At first, Remian was worried about Darrian''s safety, but then, he saw about forty Feelo-Wasps following along behind them as they left for one of their trips. With forty head-sized Wasps at his brother''s back, Remian figured Darrian would have nothing to fear so long as he remained within Shadowflash Fief.

    Eriane, meanwhile, wasn''t quite so worrisome. She still stuck with Mindy, learning scroll-casting and crossbows. Denise had given her a little hand-crossbow to practice with, and she practiced earnestly for hours. Mindy sometimes brought her around on the Tug, and she kept trying to hit low Tier Wilds on the ground from low altitudes. So far, her best record was hitting a Tier 3 Wild from two hundred paces. It was actually one of DD''s boars, and it didn''t even notice when it got shot. The bolt from the little handbow couldn''t do any damage at all, literally bouncing off the Boar''s hardened bristles.

    As for Sabriane, she poured her entire attention into the setting up of the hospital, detailing room after room, ward after ward, office after office...

    ***

    Seven new mines sprung up in Shadowflash Fief over the following days. One was near the site of the old alchemist cave. Two were at the far western end of the Fief, at the Amber Gorge. Two more were at the range of mountains which marked the Fief''s new western borders to the south of the Amber Gorge, the Misty Heights, just north and south of the source of the Three Forks River. One more was in the rocky ravine near the Deadly Sands. The last one was at Craggy Falls, tunneling in deeper from the ruins excavation site.

    Acres of hardwood tree plantations were also designated along the western end of the Fief during these days, something both Mindy and Tim insisted on together. They ferried hundreds of lynxmice to the Amber Gorge and then set them to line the entire range from the desert edge to the Misty Heights with various hardwood seedlings. George sent a few packs of wolfcats and ten workers to help, but first, he started a secret project at a cool, dry and shady sloped plot of land where the Misty Heights met the hardwood plantations.

    "Your job is to protect these seedlings." George told a certain family of wolfcats.

    That pack of twenty wolfcats stayed there from that day forward.It was two days'' journey by Air Tug from there to Fort Spoas, twice that for wolfcats on the ground and twice that again for lynxmice, but the importance of this secret project was just too great to simply leave unguarded. It was George''s utmost intention to add more and more security to that site as the secret seedlings grew.

    This security would need to be increased as the mines in the Amber Gorge and Misty Heights got into full gear. The southern Amber Gorge mine was just an hour''s wolfcat run away from the Secret Site, and the northern Misty Heights mine not much more than two hours away by wolfcat.

    The hardwood plantations project was going to take at least a month or two, maybe even three.

    It was probably a good thing they were planting new trees. The old forests around Shadowflash Fief were disappearing at an alarming rate. Not only were they building new towns, they also wanted to upgrade the Skybarge and build two more of them at the same time. The upgraded Skybarge should have at least a proper hull, with internal cabins, plumbing, and lighting. The three Skybarges were designed with cavernous lower decks for cargo, though they could still just carry passengers, albeit a bit uncomfortably. Once those three were ready, the Red Fang and the Red Helm could be freed up for exploration and long-distance trading.

    ***

    Between setting up the new hospital and medical facilities, the new industrial zone and all the factories, the new mines, and the new town areas, Remian totally ran out of money.

    "Are you sure you want to do this?" Charlie asked, as Remian played his trump card.

    "We need the money." Remian said simply.

    With that, the Red Helm was given over to Deutero to auction. Based on its estimate value, Remian was allotted ten million Lir as an advance. He never actually saw any of that money. Most of it went straight into equipment and tools.

    They focused on the construction industry first; bricks, cement, steel, glass, lumber and tiles. Most of the heavy materials were going to the airport, generally speaking, the newer town areas would be using lighter materials, half wood, half brick. As the heavy factories rose up, so too did columns of smoke and steam.

    Remian began to frown every time he saw those columns. He felt disturbed, but the town needed to be built, and they needed the materials.

    Then one day, a grim report came from the south.

    "The Wilds are massing?" Remian repeated Joshu''s report.

    "In the hundreds. There could well be a thousand Tier 3''s by now." Joshu answered.

    Remian exchanged glances with Markus and Song Chen.

    Song Chen spoke first. "This is it, isn''t it? The Beast Tide we were all worried about. A hundred Beast Waves all coming at the same time with at a King leading them."

    "Not yet. It''s too small to be a Tide yet, but it''s growing." Joshu nodded. "It''s just a matter of time."

    "What can we do?" Remian asked.

    Markus studied the maps for a bit, then said, "They''re coming up roughly the same route as the Beast Waves. The first place to be hit will be Craggy Falls. We can''t stop them there. We''ll need to evacuate everyone and everything we can, including Spike. I''m sorry, Remian, but I''m afraid we''ll have to rebuild it later if we survive."

    "Understood." Remian grimaced. "Hopefully it won''t be too badly wrecked."

    "We''ll have to evacuate Ravine, both Lakesides, and Rocky Ford too." Markus mused. "Given more time and more fortifications around Rocky Ford, we might be able to hold them there for a time, but as it is, the best we can do is trap the place, see if we can slow them down as they cross."

    "Slow them? How would that help?" Remian asked.

    "Well, obviously, we''re going to be shooting at them the entire time. Or were you planning to just leave the airships sitting around idle as the Beast Tide comes our way?" Markus pointed out. "We''re going to be shooting at them all the way from Craggy Falls. You weren''t planning to let them just trample through our territory without paying a price for it, were you?"

    "I see." Remian paused. Then, he tapped the map twice. "We''ll be fending them off at our strongest defense point, then. The same one we''ve been defending during the last few Beast Waves."

    "It''s well fortified, and structures are heavily reinforced, and with the Pit in place, it''s very defendable." Markus allowed himself a grim smile.

    Song Chen nodded agreement. "We''re already settled in Kara-Goth. Everyone''s familiar with the area. It''s definitely out most defensible location. Whether or not we can actually defend it against a King of the wilds, however¡­ that will depend on our weaponry. I have to say, I''m not sure the weapons we have will be any good against a King."

    "We have the Pit. It worked well so far." Remian mused. "I''m not sure we''ll be able to bait or force a King into it, but just in case we can¡­ we should enlarge it. Make it even bigger. Cover the entire space between Kara and Goth. Any clue as to what exactly this Tide''s Tier 6 will be?"

    "Big." Song Chen summarized. "Whatever it is, it will be roughly ten times the size of Spike or Jujar. For the Pit to hold something that size, we''re going to need to do a lot more digging. I''d like to ask for all the wolfcats we can get on it, plus airship support."

    "We have a Sky Barge in refit and two more in construction. How are they doing?" Markus asked.

    "The refit is almost done. Mindy just wanted a few more adjustments to the sides of the new hulls." Remian allowed himself a small grin thinking about the adjustments. "The new ones might take a couple more days. We''ll send them on evacuations first, then they''ll go straight to Kara-Goth to help with the Pit. Is there enough room in Kara-Goth for all the evacuees?"

    "Maybe? There could be some spill over to the Encles though."

    Remian nodded. "Then we may as well house everyone there and ask the evacuees to help with the pit too. You''ll have the bulk of the wolfcats. As for weapons¡­ we better call Arnold and Andros in."

    That conversation was a much longer, much more tiring one. Andros left to put the forges to work after an hour. Arnold didn''t leave until lunch. After that, the Red Fang was sent to Ashdale, rushing to buy parts and components.

    Meanwhile, the Beast Tide grew. Hundreds became thousands over the next few days as the people of Shadowflash Fief scrambled to prepare for its coming.

 112 Incoming Tide

    "How are those weapons coming, Arnold?" Remian asked. "And the airships?"

    "Not good." Arnold grunted. "I want to make good stuff, I really do. I want to use advanced alloys and composite materials. I want to build military-grade airships like the Red Fang and the Red Helm. But we don''t have the technology or the equipment or advanced materials of that caliber. The best I can do is use wood!"

    "Wasn''t that the material we agreed upon when designing them?" Remian blinked. "I mean¡­ advanced materials sound great, but I really can''t afford them."

    "But Andros gets to use Fire Copper and steel alloys to build the new Tier 4.7 spears and ballistae bolts." Arnold grumbled.

    "The stuff he uses need to be able to at least hurt Tier 5 Wilds. We know there''s at least one Tier 6 coming, but what does that tell us about the number of Tier 5''s to expect?"

    "At least six. Maybe ten. Maybe more." Arnold subsided. "But I have to warn you, using cheap materials for airships mean they''re going to be fragile. Not as fragile as the net-and-crate set-up you used before -the Sky Barge was a floating death-trap back then ¨C but I wouldn''t recommend taking it into battle or even into strong winds."

    "They''re not expected to take hits, Arnold. They just need to carry stuff. Weapons and people, mainly. We''ll be shooting Wilds from the air. None of them will be able to reach high enough to threaten the airships." Remian reminded him.

    "That leaves me with the problem of the weapons you want." Arnold shifted from complaining about the airship materials to complaining about the ballistae materials. "Do you know how much force it takes a ballista bolt to nail down a Tier 4 Wild from the sky?"

    "I am assuming you do."

    "It depends on the exact height and the exact Wild, but generally speaking, it all comes down to range." Arnold grunted. "Long story short, what you''re asking me to build are fast-firing, long-ranged Ballistae. Given the materials I have to work with and the strain they''re going to take, I can''t do it! It''s impossible! I can give you fast-firing crossbows, or long-ranged Ballistae, but I can''t give you a weapon that combines both! Not without more advanced materials on a level with Tier 5 bones!"

    "What about the Ironwood trees?"

    "Ironwood only matches iron. It can''t stand up to quality carbon steel!" Arnold shook his head. "You''re asking me to do a Tier 5 job with Tier 3 materials!"

    "Fine. Use your expensive composite materials." Remian sighed. "I''ll¡­ figure out a way to get the money."

    "That''s not the problem. The problem is making those materials." Arnold grimaced. "Back in college, I had a friend¡­ or a college-mate, really¡­ we had to pay him to help us with our projects. But when it came to composite materials, everyone knew the best person to call was Cerend."

    "So call him."

    "I''ve tried. He''s disappeared."

    Remian''s face fell. "So¡­ no super-weapons? No matter what?"

    "Fast-firing, or high-powered. Pick one." Arnold gave him the bottom-line.

    Of course, when it came to shooting from airships, high-powered was the only way to go. Shooters from the ground, however, especially those sheltered in Kara-Goth, could use fast-firing turrets to clean up some of the Tier 3 and 4 hordes.

    "Why can''t we stop the Beast Tide the way we stopped the Beast Waves?" Arnold grouched. "Take down whoever is calling them?"

    "You do know we found six communication crystals in the Black Ruins excavation camp the first time we raided them?" Remian pointed out. "Doesn''t that tell you something?"

    Arnold grimaced. "If the Desert King was just one of them, guessing who the other five are isn''t hard. It''s the Coalition of Six, isn''t it?"

    "You wanna try taking them down?" Remian asked.

    Arnold shook his head wordlessly. If you put Khar''al-dras aside, Fal''Herim was easily the weakest of the Coalition of Six. The other five were much, much stronger. There was a reason why the Crown Prince had such confidence in Foreign Aid.

    "High-powered, for the airships. Fast-firing types for the ground turrets."

    ***

    Over the next three days, Kara-Goth became a hotbed of activity. Packs of wolfcats dug to expand the pit day and night, with Foresight-class gunships helping to haul dirt and debris up and away.

    On the fourth day, two brand new Sky Barges arrived to take their places and all of a sudden, every Foresight-class gunship disappeared right off the map.

    By that time, the first Sky Barge and accompanying Tug had completely evacuated both the Ravine camp and the Craggy Falls settlement. A second Tug was commissioned and immediately sent to help the big dig at Kara-Goth.

    But the first Sky Barge did not join the dig. In fact, it, too, practically disappeared all day.

    The next time Remian saw it, the Sky Barge had transformed overnight.

    "You stuck some things on it. Are those¡­ Foresight gunships?" Remian asked, peering at it.

    "Six Foresight gunships and a Tug." Mindy grinned broadly. "Fully armed and loaded with ammunition. We attached those to the Sky Barge. Between the Bellower Ballista, six of the new Fire Javelin Ballistae, and a Tug locked onto the front, we have ourselves a mobile Sky Fortress that''s bigger than a Sky Galleon and could challenge the Red Fang in terms of firepower any time. It''s barely Industrial-grade in terms of technology, but the weapons use Fire Copper alloy, and they''re designed to hurt Tier 5 Wilds from nearly a kilometer away.

    It wasn''t as pretty or as tidy as the Red Helm, but its size was good for cargo and supporting the firing crews of the six gunboats attached. Having the gunships attached to the Barge like this instantly solved two of the biggest problems faced by the smaller Foresight-class; ammunition capacity and crew exhaustion. With a Barge, they could easily carry plenty of ammunition and replacement crews to relief tired firing teams.

    "How many Sky Barges can we outfit like that?" Remian asked.

    "Just that one. Plus, we need to train up the Adventurers to handle the new ballistae."

    "Adventurers¡­ you want teenagers and children to handle the airship weapons?!" Remian hesitated.

    Mindy scowled. She herself wasn''t yet a teenager. What she said, though, was, "When the Beast tide hits, would you rather have them in the air, or down on the ground?"

    Remian fell silent for a minute, then, "What about the other two Sky Barges?"

    "We don''t have that many more Foresight Gunships to stick onto them, and we only have this one Tug, so¡­ floating weapons platforms is the best we can do. I suggest we leave them over Kara-Goth and load them up with ballistae, crossbowmen and scroll-casters. What''s the latest on the Tide?"

    "Over two thousand and rising. Seven Tier 5''s. No sign of a Tier 6 yet." Remian informed her.

    Mindy shuddered. "We''re already outmatched in terms of Tier 5''s. All we can do is hope and pray the Tier 6 really does fall for the Pit."

    From the south, a red light rose up.

    "It looks like we''re about to find out." Remian told her grimly.

    "What? Already?! But there''s no tier 6, and only two thousand¡­" Mindy protested.

    "It doesn''t matter. They''re on the move." Remian said, eyeing the warning flare. "They''re coming, and they''re coming now."

    "But the Pit¡­ the evacuations¡­" Mindy protested. "We''re not ready!"

    "They''re not going to wait." Remian said grimly. "We should have expected this. They know we''re not ready. That''s why they''re rushing the Tide."

    "What? But¡­ but we defeated the Desert King!" Mindy spluttered. "How come¡­"

    "He wasn''t the only one controlling the Beast Waves." Remian summarized. "Why haven''t the evacuations of the other settlements been completed yet?"

    "We all thought we had more time! A few days, maybe even a week¡­" Mindy trailed off.

    "Well, we''re out of time. Everyone needs to get out of those camps right now."

 113 Tide 1

    At the time, Wulfgar was at the Adventurers Guild Hall teaching Darrian how to do sit-ups. "Five¡­ six¡­"

    Phoebe happened to come in just then.

    "Seventy-one!" Wulfgar exclaimed, laboriously doing another sit-up. "Seventy-two¡­"

    Alarms went off.

    "Okay, okay, so I exaggerated!" Wulfgar protested, covering his ears. "There''s no need to make that much noise about it!"

    But others weren''t so easily confused. Phoebe raised her head and raised her voice. "It''s the Beast Tide! Everyone get to safety!"

    They scrambled. The newest arrivals went to the airport. The older arrivals made for Kara-Goth.

    But one particular confused fellow and his young friend went to the place that they, personally felt safest.

    Wulfgar and Darrian actually went to the Farm.

    ***

    The airships began to move.

    The Red Fang and the Sky Fortress moved south. The Red Fang headed for Craggy Falls; the Sky Fortress pulled the last settlers out of the North and South Lakeside camps.

    The two Sky Barges at Kara-Goth continued working on the dig site. Although the Tide was coming, they were still quite a ways off; the diggers at the site wanted every minute they could grab to enlarge and deepen the already formidable Pit. Those airships were there to help them, and when the time came, to get them all out in a hurry.

    "We''re counting on this Pit!" Aren sweated as he himself shoveled dirt. "There''s no sighting of a Tier 6 yet, but if and when it appears, this is the only thing we have that can stop it!"

    "For the Pit!" someone yelled encouragingly.

    "For the Pit!" fifteen people echoed, voices reflecting urgency.

    Remian''s parents were with their students on the two Sky Barges above them, one on each. Contrary to their expectations, they found themselves examining their students how to handle a Ballista rather than math or science. Also contrary to their expectations, Darrian was not with either one of them.Had they asked each other where Darrian was, their answers would have been the same; "I thought he was with you!"

    Lydia, Phoebe and Sabriane were in Goth, between the Pit and the Encles settlement. They were preparing a huge cavern for medical treatment.

    Eriane was not with them. She was not with her parents either. Don''t tell anyone, but she was actually with Mindy, on the Red Fang, right at the forefront of the defense forces.

    Having said that, as long as the Beast Tide didn''t include flying Wilds, she should actually be quite safe¡­

    "Here they come!"

    It started with a scattering of striped greenish figures darting across the savannah. These were serpent-tailed cheetahs, streamlined and balanced for speed, evolved with boundless stamina to chase down even the antelope-types of the Wildlands. Their tails had twin ''fangs'' at the ends with a limited paralyzing venom. A single shot of that venom was lethal to the likes of Blood Rabbits. While one shot could for a time merely slow down full grown wolfcats, a dozen such shots would be bad even for Carrie. Very bad indeed.

    Like wolfcats, these predator-type Wilds were generally Tier 3 and 4 upon adulthood. They were fast, smart, and deadly to unarmored humans on the ground. Just thirty of these alone, had they come in a Beast Wave, would have easily wiped out the entire Fort Spoas before Remian''s arrival.

    Like wolfcats, the strongest and rarest of these serpent-tailed cheetahs were capable of reaching a higher Tier. It did not lead from the front, instead preferring to lope along easily aside the largest cluster of its kin, but nobody could possibly mistake it for anything else. Among the serpent-tailed cheetahs was a Tier 5 quite capable of matching Spike, or DD, or Jujar on equal terms. Actually, no, considering its predatory capabilities, it would probably trounce them.

    In short, just this one Wild alone was beyond the capabilities of any of their land Wilds to handle. The Tier 5 serpent-tailed cheetah would likely take all three of their Tier 5''s to take down, all by itself.

    But of course, this was just the start of the Beast Tide. There were many slower Wilds to follow, some of them larger, some of them deadlier, all of them just as intent on taking down the Destroyers of Nature.

    Wilds like the twin-headed vipers, led by a Tier 5 purple variant. Wilds like the Dire Bears, all of them in Tier 4 except for a handful of Tier 5 Raging Dire Bears. Wilds like the metallic lions, copper, silver and gold, each one with claws capable of tearing through iron plating. Wilds like the Tier 4 Heretic Mantis'' swarm, moving in their hundreds.

    "Whatever happened to Blood Rabbits and Springboks?" Remian never thought he''d miss the ''gentler'' types of Wilds in the former Beast Waves.

    "Fire at will! Throw everything we have at them but the kitchen sink!" Mindy yelled. "Hit them hard, and hit them fast!"

    The gunners started firing.

    ***

    Doom had come to the lost Shadowflash''s Fief.

    Atop a hill not far from Craggy Falls, a figure stood alone amidst a teeming horde. Thousands of Wilds covered the horizon to every side, but none set foot upon the hill where he waited and watched.

    He was dark skinned, a man dressed in furs, his hair long and tangled. He wore the bones of defeated foes, carried their claws as his own weapons.

    Unknown to mankind, unrecognized by his own kin, he turned to the frenzied Wilds surrounding him and said, "Go! Cleanse the destroyers from this land!"

    A thousand snarls and howls rose to the air.

    "For every tree fallen to mankind''s greed! For every living forest creature murdered for their own gain! For the blood that cries out for justice!" He spoke human words to the Wilds, yet the fury in their eyes and hearts ignited in response.

    All of a sudden, there was a single, loud sequence of sound; three thousand heartbeats, beating at the same instant, in the same rhythm. A low, terrible growl filled the air from uncounted throats.

    "To the death!" he roared, and they roared, and one man and a Beast Tide swept into Craggy Falls to wipe the Destroyers from the land.

    ***

    "Hmm?" Death turned to the south distractedly.

    "What is it?" Remian asked.

    "For a moment there, I thought I heard someone call me." Death mentioned, musing.

    Mindy''s exclaim distracted them yet once more. "Whoa! What the-?!"

    The flood of Wilds that suddenly poured through Craggy Falls completely covered the land. They came in from all sides like bad weather, all-engulfing, overwhelming. It didn''t matter how much they shot or what weapons they had; Mindy and the Adventurers shooting from the Sky Fortress felt like they were throwing pebbles into the ocean, unable even to rouse a splash.

    "Pull back! Retreat!" Remian didn''t see any flying Wilds out there, so far, but he wasn''t about to take any chances. "Tell the evacuation guys to HURRY UP!"

    The first five minutes of the battle against the Beast Tide was a total failure. They barely took down a dozen Wilds, and were completely ineffective in slowing them the tide down. Worse, they were seeing stronger and stronger Wilds types, with no telling whether or not a flying type or something capable of attacking long-ranged would suddenly show up.

    "We''re outta here!" Remian declared and the Sky Fortress headed north following the Beast Tide, shooting downwards all the way.

 114 Tide 2

    The Tide steamrolled Craggy Falls and Rocky Ravine in short order. The Sky Fortress couldn''t stop them, couldn''t even slow them.

    Less than an hour after it began, the ground was shaking at South Black Depths Lakeside as the last of the evacuations took place. People scrambled to get on board the airship as the signals from the south became increasingly urgent. Some of the less important cargo even got abandoned.

    Deepsilver watched them go, considering to herself what she should do in this situation. Should she try to help the humans? Defend her turf from the onslaught? Or should she be on the other side, helping the Wilds eradicate the Destroyers from the land?

    While she went on musing, the Beast Tide arrived and directly smashed everything man-made they encountered. They tore the settlement apart, trampled every construct into the ground, broke everything in reach, including floors, roads and wind.

    But as for Deepsilver, they did not attack her. They did not enter the lake. Except for the noise and the stench, they didn''t bother her at all.

    Wrinkling her nose at the smells and feeling a sort of queer amusement, Deepsilver watched them pass her by as they went on to trample North Lakeside Camp as well. Then she shrugged and dove back into the deep, deep waters of her lake.

    ***

    The Tide reached Rocky Ford without skipping a beat, completely disregarding the pitiful obstacles, traps and firepower they threw in its way.

    "Everybody get out of the PIT! Get to shelter, NOW!" Aren dashed around barking orders.

    They scrambled for the mines, for the airships, for the road north. The wolfcats especially took the northern road, but did not stay on it for long; they soon diverted course and headed for the farms.

    The lynxmice were the last to leave. They scurried out of the pit on their own sharp little claws, darted into the mines, then stood by inside, watching to see if any Wild would fall into their beautiful pit, several of them rubbing their paws together in eager anticipation.

    "Here they come!" someone yelled.

    The Sky Barges above Kara-Goth opened fire. They didn''t have the sort of weaponry the Sky Fortress currently had with all those gunships attached, but they carried Adventurers, and they carried heavy crossbows. Had there been more time, they could have been outfitted better, but the Beast Tide had been rushed; whoever controlled them definitely knew that the defenders were preparing for their assault.

    On board Sky Barge 2, Remian''s mother was using the opportunity to teach her students. "Now remember, children! Calculate velocity and speed¡­"

    On board Sky Barge 3, Remian''s dad had a whole different approach. "Here they come! Rain hell on them!"

    Consequently, one group of teenage adventurers were whooping into the fight and the other was frowning in tense silence, careful to double check every calculation before taking a single shot¡­

    "Open fire!" Aren shouted and the defenders at Kara-Goth streamed bolts and arrows at the incoming Wilds.

    They didn''t care. They swarmed all over the Pit, crowding the narrow ledges to the left and right of its gaping maw. Within just ten minutes, two hundred scrambled over the right side in a narrow formation, three hundred on the left, and six hundred more challenged the walls on the other side of Goth protecting the Encles settlement.

    "This is disaster¡­ disaster!" Remian''s mom said, face pale. "It''s a total failure! All our defenses couldn''t hold them off for even a minute!"

    Meanwhile, Remian''s dad was whooping. "Get them! Spare no ammo! Unleash all fury upon their heads!! For a dark sky today and a new dawn tomorrow!!"

    Six guys on Remian''s dad''s side broke into cheers. Two went berserk in firing rapidly. Three more took to physically throwing the heavy bolts down by hand, trusting to gravity to give them piercing power rather than take the time to load the slower Ballistae.

    On the other airship, two girls broke down in tears.

    They weren''t the only ones crying. Down in Kara-Goth, a lot of people were wishing they could do the same but except for the very young, they still gritted their teeth and fought on.

    Maybe it was useless. Kara-Goth was already overrun. The FDF were fighting Wilds at the two main entrances and all side entrances had been heavily barricaded. People were discussing about evacuation via rooftop access, using the cargo elevators to escape to the Sky Barges above if the main entrances were overrun.

    But the Beast Tide did not seem overly concerned with Kara-Goth. The majority of the Wilds simply pressed on, leaving just a few dozen interested stragglers to claw and snarl and bite at the FDF guarding the mine entrances. They snarled and stabbed spears right back, pouncing, dodging, screening and leaping with the Wilds in a deadly dance.

    "Don''t give up! We can still win this!" In spite of the odds, Aren tried his best to keep his chin up.

    As if in response, the ground shook, and at last, the missing piece that everyone expected to see in the Beast Tide finally showed up at the worst possible moment, in the worst possible way, and it was in the worst possible form.

    With a bone-chilling shriek, a monstrous Land Wyrm burst out into the pit.

    It was similar to the Sand Wyrms of the desert, but not the kind of pests that Salim''s people so often cleared out. It was more like the ones in the Deep Desert, towering over all men and beasts, scaled as if in Dark Iron, large enough to engulf entire airships in a single bite, large enough to squash Carrie and Buff together without skipping a beat, large enough to swallow even Jujar and Spike if it stretched its triangular mouth large enough¡­

    The Beast Tide had, indeed, brought in a Tier 6 and it was not in the least bothered about falling into the Pit. It was a tunneler, a dweller of the underground, and it tunneled right into and out of the Pit without even a pause.

    "Scrap." Aren had only one word for it. He took off his helmet and threw it into the wall in frustration.

    Whoever commanded this Tide really, really knew what defenses they had been preparing to face it. Choosing a Wild like this... rendering the Pit completely useless¡­ even Aren wanted to give up at this point.

    All their resistance, all their defenses were practically useless! How were they going to stop a Tier 6 like this?! They had no method, no weapon, no trap capable of even scratching the Land Wyrm. They had nothing!

    "This is the end of Frontier Town." Zana said sadly.

    She was right.

    The end.

    ¡­

    No, no, just kidding.

    Well, not entirely.

    Suffice to say that the town, in its current form, was indeed done for.

    The Tide shattered it like the waves upon a sandcastle. It looked almost identical to previous recordings of Beast Tides destroying previous settlements and colonies. In came the beasts; down went the structures. The only difference was this time, there was a Land Wyrm bursting out of the ground and tunneling beneath it and entire rows of buildings went crumbling down wherever it tunneled.

    Andros, clambering up to a half-built Foresight Gunship (which was missing its weaponry, but still able to fly) for dear life, threw his wrench down on the floor. "What''s the point? What is the POINT?!" he yelled at the overwhelming onslaught.

    "They stopped at the Desert Edge." Asda noted, standing next to him. "That means they won''t move into the desert."

    "So what?" Andros grumbled.

    "So, we''re going home." Asda''s mom said tightly. "At least in Fal''Herim, we could build and prosper in peace. Here¡­ there''s just no point."

    Andros gazed at the wreckage of his forge mournfully. "I think I''ll join you."

    ***

    At that time, there was perhaps only three humans who felt at east, only one who was really happy.

    "Begone, humans!" the dark figure roared in a voice that thundered. "Take to your airships and leave! Bespoil this place no more!"

    "Is that¡­ a man?" Mindy blinked. She turned to Remian. "Am I seeing things?"

    "If you''re seeing things, I must be, too." Remian rubbed his eyes. "But I think he''s real. He looks half-wild himself, but do you think, maybe¡­ it''s him?"

    "Do I think he''s the guy controlling the Beast Tide, yes, I do." Mindy said, and immediately gave an order. "Target that guy with all weapons! Fire on my mark!"

    "No, wait!" Remian yelped. "What if he could be reasoned with?"

    "Later! AFTER we shoot him!"

    "Belay that order! Hold your fire!" Remian barked. "Everybody, cease fire!"

    "Aww." Mindy scowled, lowered her head, and kicked the deck of her airship in disappointment.

    "Bring me down in the Tug." Remian requested. "I need to talk to him."

    "You realize while you''re talking, his Beast Tide is destroying everything you''ve worked to build here?" Mindy pointed out.

    "It''s all done for, already. But maybe, if we could make friends with this guy¡­" Remian nudged her. "Think about it. All the Wildlands would be open for us."

    "Wouldn''t we have that same result if we just shot him?" Mindy muttered.

    "No. If we kill him here, the Beast Tides might never end. We could lose our one chance at living in the Wildlands peacefully."

 115 Tide 3

    He would not be stopped.

    Doom stood atop another lonely hill as the Beast Tide swept all before him.

    He saw the airships of man rain down death and destruction upon the Wilds partaking of the Tide.

    So be it. The destruction would be paid back in full. He was not a protector of Wilds themselves, but of nature, and the Wildlands. Wilds died every day; save for a precious few that he cared for, he would not seek to save them all.

    "Hey, can we talk about this?!" Remian yelled at him from the Tug above.

    "NOW you want to talk? Where was this desire to talk when you felled the forests and raised smoke into our air?"

    "We can do something about that smoke, if you just gave us the chance! And we replanted that forest! Or at least, we tried!"

    "The replanting is the only reason why we are sparing your lives! Now, begone!"

    "Begone? But we live here! These are our homes!" Remian tried.

    He saw the settlements of man and the mines they tried to dig.

    After today, they would dig no more. Not even graves. Doom intended fully for them to leave these unspoiled lands.

    "Why did you think I did not bring flying Wilds, did not seek to strike down your airships? You would need those airships to leave!"

    "Surely we can come to some sort of agreement¡­?"

    He saw camp after camp trampled. He saw the Encles'' wall collapse, and the shrieking evacuees fleeing to the mines. He saw the houses and the fishing docks all wrecked in minutes.

    "Maybe now you would understand what it feels like to have your home, your entire community destroyed in a day! How many birds lost their nests? How many creatures lost their forests? They were beyond count!"

    "But we managed to live peacefully with the Wilds¡­"

    He saw the humans barricade themselves in the mines.

    "Maybe now you understand what it was like to fear to walk in the sunlight, to have to live in hiding, in dark caves because only there were they safe!" Doom retorted. "You claim to live in peace? What then of all the dead in your wake? What then of the destruction of the lands and the skies at your hand! And for what? For greed!"

    He saw the Tide flood the town. The fastest ones brought fear to the streets. The slower ones brought screams to the people in the structures. The largest and slowest ones to follow brought those very structures down. The people fled; some tried to fight, but one look told them it was hopeless. They fled, and the Sky Fortress went to work evacuating the workers of the industrial zone.

    In twenty minutes, only the church was left standing in all the town.

    "Why spare the church?" Remian had to ask.

    "It is out of respect for the priesthood." Doom told him, a wistful gaze in his eye.

    Remian''s own eyes narrowed. "You were a priest?"

    Doom did not answer. Instead, he ensured the absolute destruction of the entire town, all the way to the desert''s edge, and then turned west.

    "Please! We can do better!"

    "I don''t trust you!" Doom shot back directly.

    "Does ''you'' mean me, specifically, or all humans?"

    "Both!"

    Doom marched on westward.

    "Stop! Enough already! There''s nothing there but the Guild Hall, the hospital, and the farm! Please, stop!" Mindy yelled.

    But he would not be stopped! He would¡­ he would¡­

    He stopped.

    Ten feet from the farm, Doom''s feet and fury alike stopped cold.

    He stared. For a long minute, he stared. Then, tears filled his eyes.

    "This¡­ this is what I wanted to see. For so long¡­ this was the scene I wanted to see!" Doom cried.

    Remian blinked.

    In front of them were the wolfcats, some lynxmice, half the hive of Feelo-wasps, and a pair of humans. Some of the cubs and the wasps were playing with a little boy, yipping, laughing, heedless and without a care or fear in the world. The adult wolfcats were lounging around, fearless of the human in their midst. The adult human was playing a pipe, fearless of the wolfcats surrounding the boy. He merely sipped mead.

    Odd as it may seem, the pair of humans seemed completely oblivious to the destruction going on less than a kilometer away from them.

    "D-Darrian? And Wulfgar?" Remian trailed off wordlessly.

    "What are they even doing there?" Mindy asked, blankly.

    A Saber-Cat snarled, itching for the Tide to go forward and wreak havoc as they did in town, but Doom stretched out his hand to block it. "Stop! Nobody harms them! Nobody set one foot onto that farm!"

    Querying growls rose up on all sides.

    "Enough! We will see the humans leave on their airships. We are done here." Doom turned around and walked away. While slow, a single step of his somehow carried him ten feet ahead.

    Before anyone could do anything, he was in the farm. In a single swoop, he picked up Darrian, and then dashed away toward the south.

    "Wait!" Remian yelped, but Doom did not wait. None of Remian''s words could or would stop him. He dashed forward and vanished into the wilderness before Remian could do more than protest. "Put my brother down¡­! DUDE!!"

    But it was too late. Doom, and Darrian, were both gone.

 116 Fishing

    "What happened? Why didn''t you stop him and all the Tide with your Super Magic?!" Mindy yelled.

    "I was trying to be friends with him, not enemies!"

    "Friends?! Remian, did not see him destroy our town? He''s already an enemy!"

    "He doesn''t have to be! We need to end this amiably if we''re ever going to have a shot at living peacefully in the Wildlands!"

    "Peacefully my foot! Now Darrian''s gone, and we''re going to have to hunt all over the Wildlands for him!" Mindy threw her shoe at Remian just to show him how mad she was.

    Remian ducked and the shoe went flying overhead, over the edge of the airship, and clear into the deep blue sky.

    ***

    Darian found himself nauseaous and dizzy after all the whizzing and speeding about. He hadn''t quite learned about the concept of motion sickness, but he was quite sure he was about to throw up.

    "Ugwuu¡­" he tried to say something, but his stomach and throat clenched at the same time.

    "What?" The guy carrying him frowned, and set him down. "What is it?"

    "Ug¡­ bueeeh!" Darian threw up on him.

    Or at least, he almost did. As quick as a flicker, Doom retreated to a safe distance.

    "Here." Doom reached out to a kettle hanging over a campfire. "Drink some tea."

    "Where¡­ bueeh!" Darian threw up again.

    "You''re going to have to bury that yourself." Doom eyed the mess on his camp grounds.

    "Where am I?" Darian asked, once he''d emptied his stomach.

    He sat down on a log by the campfire, looking around. They were at a lakeside, though the lake was so huge, Darian could barely make out a shore on the far horizon. Large ripples indicated movement below the surface of the waters, and there were some water lilies not to far away with leaves large enough that Darrian felt he could quite possibly stretched out on them with space to spare¡­

    The shores themselves were sparsely wooded, but the trees around here, while few, were gigantic. The nearest one was so large, Carrie could have easily climbed up to any of the branches and slept in them without worrying about falling off.

    "You''re at my camp." Doom said, without revealing more.

    "What are we doing here?" Darian tried another question.

    "We''re going fishing." Doom informed him with a straight face.

    Fishing¡­? Darian looked at him blankly. Doom handed him a bamboo fishing rod, an extremely simple, ten foot pole with a cable that looked to be made of Dark Iron.

    It was heavy. Darian almost dropped it. "Waa¡­"

    "Careful. Don''t drop it on your toes. That''s not normal bamboo." Doom advised him.

    "Why are we fishing?" Darian had to ask.

    "For dinner. We have to eat." Doom said, as if that explained everything.

    Just then, there was a movement. Not too far away, the entire ridgeline suddenly shifted, raised its head and yawned.

    Darrian froze. "Um¡­ mister¡­?"

    "What?" Doom asked, readying a second fishing rod.

    "That''s¡­ a dragon¡­" Darian gulped, looking over on the left surreptitiously.

    "Yes, it is. That''s Har''es-dras." Doom shrugged. "Over there is his brother, those three on that side are his sisters, and that really big one up on the cliff? That''s his mom."

    "This¡­" Darian was speechless. Was this supposed to be funny? An eleven year-old armed with only a fishing rod, surrounded by dragons on all sides¡­ should he be laughing?

    Har''es was already big enough to swallow Darian whole without chewing, and he was the smallest of the dragons by far. Compared to his siblings, he was just a runt. Compared to his mom, Har''es-dras was tiny.

    "Har''es-dras is just a child, a Tier 5 juvenile dragon. His siblings over there are proper Tier 6 adults. His mom up there? She''s a Tier 7 Senior Dragon. But his dad is even bigger. Not quite an Elder Dragon, but still about half a Tier up from his mom. Don''t worry. They''re my friends."

    Either one of his parents alone could totally fry all of Frontier Town to a crisp and there would have been nothing anyone could have done to stop them. Har''es-dras himself, coiled up, was comparable in size to Spike. He could easily have munched on Carrie and Buff in the same meal and still have space in his tummy for dessert. Had Doom decided to raid Shadowflash Fief with this dragon family instead of the Beast Tide, in all probability none of them could have survived.

    But Doom didn''t seem to be trying to put on a show of power. He just hummed as he cast his fishing line and sat on the log by the lakeside idly waiting for a bite.

    Darian meanwhile, just sat there and shivered.

    "What''s wrong?" Doom asked.

    "I''m¡­ scared." Darian answered honestly.

    "Why?" Doom asked.

    "I''m out here, alone¡­ and I can''t do anything¡­" Darian shivered again.

    "Well, I''m here, so you''re not alone¡­ and if you need help with something, you could just ask me. I could help you." Doom said generously. "Do you need me to show you how to cast a line?"

    Darian shook his head and hurriedly set his fishing line into the water to catch some dinner.

    They sat in silence for a minute, then Doom''s line twitched. Instantly, he reacted, hauling his line upward in a violent heave.

    Out of the water came a towering form. Darian''s jaw dropped as a fish thrice his size flew out of the waves and onto the shores, flopping about, almost slapping him in the face with its tail.

    "Just a small one, today? Oh well. It''s enough for dinner, at least." Doom grunted. "Maybe I should get one more¡­"

    "WHOA!" Darian yelped as his line twitched next. There was a sudden, overpowering tug¡­ "HELP!"

    Doom was there in a flash, and before Darian knew it, both he and a fish six times his size went sprawling side-by-side onto the shore.

    "Nice!" Doom grinned. "Good job, boy! Now we have enough to share!"

    Har''es-dras raised his head, glanced over at them sleepily, and yawned again. Darian suddenly felt like he''d gleaned an understanding of exactly how Doom managed to make friends with the dragons.

    It was similar to the way Remian and company made friends with the wolfcats and the lynxmice and such. Very, very similar.

    "Why did you attack us?" Darian asked at last.

    "I had to save the world." Doom answered simply.

    "How does attacking us save the world?"

    "You were destroying it. Not you, personally. But your people. The forests, the land, and the air¡­ you were destroying all of it."

    "Then why attack us? There are other people out there doing far worse!"

    "Sooner or later, they will face a reckoning. But you guys were here, in the Wildlands, killing Wilds."

    "Wilds kill Wilds all the time!"

    "But they do so for food. Your people were doing so for greed."

    "We¡­" Darian scratched his head, finding himself way out of his league in this debate. How was he going to argue his case with someone so much older, and wiser, and stronger?

    Then, he said, "I give up. I can''t argue with you. Can you help me?"

    "Help you?" Doom instantly became more amicable when Darian said he gave up. "What do you need help with?"

    "I need help to argue with someone much older and smarter than me." Darian said plainly.

    "Eh¡­?" Doom blinked. "You want me to argue your case¡­ against myself?"

    "You said I could ask you for help if I needed it. Well, I need help arguing." Darian said, earnestly. His tone and expressions was similar to a wolfcat pleading for a snack, as if his ears were laid back and tail wagging, whining softly. "Can you help me?"

 117 Argumen

    That day, a rather queer scene took place at Dragon Lake where a man and a boy were fishing.

    While the boy was just sitting there fishing quietly, there was a line drawn on the shore, and the man going back and forth over it, arguing first one side, then the other as he crossed the line.

    "Why did you attack us?"

    "You were destroying everything! I was basically saving the world!"

    "You could have just TOLD us!"

    "I''ve BEEN telling you, all of you, generation after generation, and again and again, you come and exploit the land for greed! You never listen!"

    "But we never heard anything of that sort! Whoever you spoke to didn''t pass the message!"

    "That fault is on your side, not mine!"

    "But to destroy all that we''ve built! All our efforts reduced to nothing! How cruel! And you call yourself a savior? You''re the one who''s the destroyer!"

    "You are brazenly killing Wilds just to sell pieces of their bodies for money! You are destroying the homes of countless more, wiping out whole forests, and even the wood is exported! You would destroy the world for money, and if I must be a destroyer myself to stop you, then so be it!"

    "And that''s a reason to go around wrecking our town?"

    "Don''t take it personally. It''s not just your people. It''s a human thing. It''s about greed and how you treat nature, and destroy it thoughtlessly. You''ll destroy all the world, in the end. The world is already in pain, and nature cries out in anguish, but you never listen! You only understand power, and violence. Someone has to stand up and speak in a language that you all understand!"

    "Have you even tried any other way?"

    "Oh, yes, I did! I''ve tried talking! I''ve tried preaching! I''ve tried teaching in schools! Staging non-violent protests! I''ve even tried starting a company aimed toward inventing green technology! Nothing worked! Humans as a whole, mankind in general still refuses to listen!"

    "What happened to the company, by the way? Just curious."

    "Went bankrupt. Our products were too expensive, they said. But we''d make losses if we tried to make it any cheaper."

    This went on, back and forth, for the better part of an hour, until at last, Doom said, "Why do we even need to argue about this? In this world, might is right! We fought; you lost. So, your people should get out!"

    "That''s basically just bullying! If bullying is your culture, what right do you have to call yourself civilized?!"

    "Wow. That''s harsh." Darian piped up at last.

    "It''s self-criticizism. I can be as harsh as I want." Doom replied.

    "Still. Don''t you think you''re being a bit too hard on yourself?" Darian asked.

    "Who''s side are you on, again?"

    "The line''s over there, and you''re standing over here. That means, right now, you''re on my side." Darian pointed out.

    Doom sat down on top of the line, legs straddling both sides and sighed. "This debate can go on forever. It''s basically endless."

    "Actually, we won."

    "Really? How do you figure?"

    "There''s only one of you on that side, and there''s two of us on this side. You''re outvoted two-to-one. We win." Darian said with a straight face.

    Doom spluttered, half caught between a laugh, a cough and a choke. Going by that rule, wasn''t the entire argument pointless? The conclusion had been reached the moment he agreed to help the boy.

    "The argument itself changes nothing. Your people must leave and stop polluting the Wildlands." Doom said with finality.

    "But there are so many bigger, more polluting countries out there! Why pick on us? Just because we''re weak?"

    "Because you''re here. The Wildlands are different." Doom said, shaking his head. "Those other places will face their reckonings, one day. I will make sure of it."

    "So why bring me here?" Darian asked. "If you wanted to drive us out, shouldn''t I be packing my bags to leave right now?"

    "Because I can teach you. You''re not like the others. You live in harmony with the Wilds."

    "They do too. We''re friends with wolfcats and lynxmice and¡­"

    "They don''t. The smoke from the town is proof enough. But you? While everyone else fought Wilds, you were living peacefully with them. You dind''t even seem to care that a Beast Tide was headed for you. Weren''t you afraid?"

    "It''s hard to be afraid of anything when you''re surrounded by a hundred wolfcats." Darian explained.

    "But why take shelter with the Wilds? Why not in the mines and the tunnels, with the rest of your kind? Why not on the airships, or in some big heavy castle?"

    "I didn''t want to." Darian shrugged.

    "Wasn''t it because you felt safe with them?" Doom pointed out. "Everyone else would have been suspicious, maybe even afraid. Would these Wilds turn on you? You had to be wondering, facing a Beast Tide as you did. Isn''t that why the wolfcats and the lynxmice and the wasps were all in the farm, away from the town? So that they couldn''t suddenly join the Beast Tide and turn on you humans?"

    "I have no idea." Darian admitted. "But I like the farm. I like the wasps, and the wolfcats and the lynxmice. They''re my friends. I just wanted to hang out with them."

    "Why hang out with the Wilds on a tree? Why not on an airship with mages and magic? Why not in a factory or a forge, with your beloved machines?" Doom asked.

    "I just like it." Darian scratched his head.

    Doom smiled. "That is why you''re here, and they''re not."

    "So, what do you want with me?" Darian had to wonder.

    "I want you to be my disciple. I want to teach you, and in the future, I want you to carry on my work and my legacy."

    "Your legacy? You mean you want me to keep chasing people out of the Wildlands?"

    "Oh, it''s more than that. I fully intend to save the world."

    There was a short pause, while Darian grimaced.

    "Why you?" Darian asked, suddenly. "There are kings and gods out there, and people who claim to be both. There are dragons that everyone, even the Wilds, swear upon. One of them even runs the Dragon Empire, probably the most powerful country in the world."

    "If you believe them. People can claim anything, these days." Doom scoffed.

    "Again, with all these great powers out there, why are you the one shouldering the responsibility of saving the world?"

    "Actually, it''s more than that. Saving it is just the start." Doom said, sitting down to explain. "The thing is, we humans have a responsibility to this world, and we are badly messing it up."

    "I thought God, or the dragons took care of nature. Or nature itself?"

    "No, no, God put us in charge of managing the world. He owns it, but the job to manage it is ours. It''s all right there in the Bible, but nobody reads it. People only want to read it to see how they could be blessed, how they could always have more, more, more." He grumbled.

    "You''re blaming the Bible, now?" Darian stared.

    "Not blaming. Following. I was a priest." Doom explained, thinking back. "And I always wondered why God even made man and put him here on this world. Given what He told the first ancestor, it seems we have a job. Do you believe in God?"

    "I don''t know. Maybe? Remian says there''s one. He also says there are dragons, but I wasn''t sure they were real, until¡­" wordlessly, Darian gestured to the Har''es-dras. "So the Bible tells you to destroy all of us?"

    "No, no. It just says we''re responsible to take care of this world. The reason why it''s in such a mess is because we humans messed it up. It is also up to us to clean up the mess." Doom shrugged. "Destroying towns is just the way I protect the Wildlands. You have to realize that Wilds are different from most animals. If mankind messes up the Wildlands the way we''ve messed everywhere else up, then the world is truly doomed."

    "I''m not sure I want to be a part of all this." Darian said, then. "I mean, even if I agreed with your ideas, why would I follow you, the one who attacked us?"

    "It''s already a mercy that I''m the one directing the Beast Tide rather than one of the Kings or worse. At least this way, I can spare your lives and your airships so that you can leave. If it were one of the Kings or Emperors¡­ they''d have flyers and they''d be halfway to Fal''Herim by now."

    "You''re¡­ saving us, too?!" Darian stared.

    "In a sense." Doom shrugged. "So, how about it? Interested in following me?"

 118 To the south 1

    Note: This is not a poem.

    Remian dreamed.

    There were dozens around him, complaining and nagging, but he turned away and walked away from them all. He went south to look for his brother.

    Because the fear in the voice of his mother overwhelmed

    All the natter and chatter of the guys'' complaints

    Because the grief he saw in his father''s eyes

    Outweighed all the concerns of unsolicited advice

    Because the trembling query of his youngest sister

    Held to him a demand as firm as the laws of heaven

    And the trust in the urging of the oldest of his sisters

    Held so strong a faith that he would find the lost boy

    That Remian would not, could not stay

    And hearing his plans, Asda said, "Leave it to me.

    The town, and the people, and everything. Leave it to me and my mother.

    We''ll do what we can, you can go find your brother.

    So Remian went looking for Darian

    With Mindy and Tim and ten adventurer teenagers on the Red Fang

    Twenty boars and one hundred wolfcats on the ground

    Three hundred lynxmice both on the ground and in the airship combined

    And roughly five thousand Feelo-Wasps led by a new queen

    Who suddenly decided to make a new hive in the Red Fang

    And join in the search for their friend.

    ¡­actually, a lot of others wanted to come too, but Remian wouldn''t bring them along. The Wilds were enough. The humans needed to rebuild.

    But Remian told them to hold off on the forge and the industrials for now. It sounded like the pollution and the deforestation was what triggered the Beast Tide. It was different, Remian felt. The Beast Tide was not the same as the Beast Waves previously. The ones in charge were different. The objectives were different. That guy who controlled them; he didn''t seem to be from the Coalition of Six. He seemed to be almost a Wild himself¡­

    Awareness flooded in. Conscious recognition and consideration nudged aside dreams and sleep. Remian was awake before he realized it, his eyes closed, but his mind registering sounds and voices outside his cabin.

    "Remian?" a soft voice called him.

    Ah, right. That''s why he woke up. Someone was waking him up.

    He opened his eyes to see Mindy standing there with a bread on a plate. She was observing him a bit hesitantly.

    "I''m awake." He assured her. "I just had the worst dream."

    "Really?"

    "I dreamed a Beast Tide attacked and destroyed the town and kidnapped my brother." Remian told her.

    "That wasn''t a dream."

    Remian rubbed his eyes, still blurry and bleary from sleep. He blinked once, twice; but the scene before him did not change. There he was in the captain''s cabin of the Red Fang, with Mindy in front of him wearing full Frontier Defense Force combat armor, her belt hung about with tools and a rapier, but bearing a plate of ham-and-cheese sandwiches as if it were perfectly normal.

    She shouldn''t even be here. She should be in school, with teachers like Dad and Mom, and classmates like Darian¡­ he shouldn''t be out in the Wildlands either. All of them should be safely in town, far away from Beast Tides and the Frontier, like Mandy said. She had a point. Darian shouldn''t be out there, alone, captured by some half-wild man who somehow controlled a Beast Tide.

    Mindy must have seen the guilt on his face. "Hey. Don''t be so hard on yourself. It wasn''t your fault."

    "How is my brother being on the Frontier not my fault?"

    "You were just trying to give him a better life. Nobody could have predicted that between an eleven year-old and Wulfgar, they''d end up going to the farm for shelter instead of the mines." Mindy chided. "No matter how careful we were, nothing could have prepared us for Wulfgar''s idiocy."

    Wulfgar. Right. The man was somewhere on the ground drinking mead by the gallon, moaning and beating himself up. Given his condition, Remian hadn''t dared take him along, no matter how much he begged. He wasn''t sure if it was out of concern for Wulfgar''s self-destructive tendencies (an airship''s deck was an excellent starting point for a suicide jump), or the temptation of joining him in self-blame and strong drink.

    "Still. I call dibs on blame." Remian concluded, but then put aside the weight of that burden. "Now. Where are we and how are things going?"

    "We''re over the Golden Savannah, just about to reach the Speckled Highlands. The wolfcats report Darian''s scent intermittently still headed south, south-west along the Beast Wave trail, but far, far past Craggy Falls. It''s like Doom came up the same route, and just went back the way he came." Mindy shifted. "If we keep going the way we''re going, sooner or later we''re going to come up on Dragon Lake. We really might find ourselves facing Kor''ag-dras and Mal''thor-dras at this rate. But before that¡­ we''re going to reach Three Pines Peak by this time tomorrow."

    "Three Pines¡­ isn''t that the Sun Eagle Lord''s domain?" Remian remembered.

    "It is."

    "How long have I been asleep?!"

    "All morning and half the afternoon."

    "We made it this far in one day?"

    "This is the Red Fang, not the Tug. Actually, for a military-grade airship, we''ve been taking it rather slow because we kept looking for trails, traces and scents of Doom and Darian."

    "What about the rest of the Beast Tide? Any word from Song Chen?"

    "Last we heard from Song Chen, they had dispersed and went about their merry ways. He hasn''t raised any alarms, so I guess they''re okay?"

    "He mentioned a lot of them were headed west toward the mines."

    "He did. But still, no word since. No news is good news, right?"

    Remian went over to the desk and took out a crystal. He took a deep breath, meditated for a minute, calmed his emotions and then channeled mana into the communications crystal. The crystal shook and gleamed in response. A high-pitched humming came from it once, twice, a third time¡­

    He waited for roughly ten seconds before there was a reply.

    "Song Chen? You there?"

    "Yes. I am here."

    "What news of the Beast Tide remnants? Are they attacking the mines?"

    "No." Song Chen hesitated. Then, "They are nesting."

    "N¡­ nesting?"

    "They are building nests. Settling in." Song Chen confirmed. "They are making homes in the reforested zzone."

    "But¡­ but they''re Tier 3''s and 4''s! Some of them are even Tier 5!"

    "Indeed. By this time next week, Shadowflash Fief''s average local Wild would be ten times stronger than the ones I faced when I first arrived."

 119 To the south 2

    Remian''s face fell. "That''s not good. There''s no way we can say that we''ve secured the Fief any more. It sounds like they''re here to stay and we had better not."

    "Better not what?"

    "Stay."

    Another pause. "Are you giving up?"

    "No. We still have the farms and the mines¡­ but¡­ we''re going to have to dig in. Song Chen, we need to fortify our territory. Build walls and towers. We can''t claim the whole forest any more, but maybe we can still hold the mines."

    "What about the farm?"

    Remian shook his head. "That much land could be too much to defend. Leave it be for now. Doom specifically ordered his Wilds not to attack it, so maybe we can just leave it as it is."

    "We may not need walls, but I would want at least a patrol on it just in case."

    "Good idea. Two or three patrols would be good too. But more importantly, we have to fortify the hospital and the Guild. Those are the most vulnerable, and the Wilds have no orders from Doom concerning them."

    "Understood. We will be stretched thin, however. Manpower will be short."

    "See if the Iron Legion can help."

    "The Iron Legion has given up on the south. They have abandoned the Wave Trail Road." Song Chen said, then. "They are focusing on the road north, saying that we had best ease the way for reinforcements than for enemies. Also, construction on the airport has come to a halt. It is repaired only to basic functionality."

    "They''re really going all-out on the road to Fal''Herim now, aren''t they?"

    "They are, indeed. A lot of the Sand People are helping them. There is talk of returning home."

    "What does Asda say about it?"

    "She is planning the first trip back to Fal''Herim for supplies. They are taking a whole Sky Barge as soon as Arnold finishes arming the second Tug. That will be roughly the day after tomorrow."

    "I thought it would have been done by now. We did tell him to skip the frills and just build the bare necessities, planks-and-netting style."

    "Losing the forge was a major setback. The Burning Steel took all day yesterday to set up a new one inside Kara-Goth. Please hold. Aren wishes to speak with you."

    "Put him on."

    "Remian? I have good news!"

    "That''s rare. What is it?"

    "We found Flaming Silver! Or actually, it found us¡­ or rather, it''s down in the Pit''s new extension tunnel."

    "Wait. What is Flaming Silver? And what''s this about a new extension tunnel?"

    "Right. Well, you remember the Beast Tide''s Tier 6 Land Wyrm? Yes, it left a forty feet-wide tunnel passing right through the bottom of the pit, and it leads to richer deposits below Kara-Goth. There''s more Fire Copper down there, and even some Flaming Bronze. Oh, right¡­ Flaming Bronze is an even richer fire-elemental ore. It looks like metal fire, as if actual flames had hardened into metal. It''s like the colors could actually move if you didn''t watch them too closely, all wavy reds, oranges and yellows. It''s mostly orange, the lower quality ones are more reddish, like Fire Copper, while the higher quality ones are more yellowish, like Blazing Gold."

    "What''s Blazing Gold?"

    "Ah, right. That''s an even higher quality fire-elemental ore in the same series."

    "And is there an even higher one that that?"

    "Only in legends. It''s called White Fire Metal, but I''ve never seen it or heard of where a sample could be seen."

    Remian shifted. "Speaking of the new tunnel¡­ what happened to that land wyrm?"

    "No idea. After it wrecked Fort Spoas, it just went on tunneling under the river, and then water filled in the lower tunnels so that''s that. Fort Spoas is as far as the dry tunnels go. I''m half-tempted to build a railway along this tunnel and use it ourselves."

    "There''s a Tier 6 Land Wyrm tunneling around these parts and you want to build an underground railway in there?!"

    "Well¡­ it''s gone, isn''t it? I don''t think it''s coming back."

    "What are you saying? Beast Waves always come back."

    There was a short silence.

    "Maybe we can make friends with it?" Aren tried again. "That''s your plan isn''t it?"

    "Maybe." Remian shifted. "That depends on what happens with Doom when we find him."

    "Kick him in the tailroots for me?"

    "No promises."

    George came on next. "The Feelo-Wasps are complaining that Wulfgar is taking too much honey. It wasn''t much before, but now he''s drinking non-stop and beating himself up over losing Darian at the same time. Somebody''s got to do something."

    "Why not you?"

    "Me?"

    "If not you, then who? Chances are, nobody else can, or will."

    "What can I do?"

    "Send him to look for Darian! Pack his bags and assign him a team, if you have to! See if he can catch up to us. But if, and only if he can sober up."

    "I thought you didn''t want him to go with you."

    "Not while he''s drunk, I don''t!"

    "But you''ll send him into the Wildlands on foot drunk?"

    "Not without a few trusty companions. Like wolfcats. Wolfcats are good."

    "They''re not too fond of the way he smells."

    "Can you have him washed?"

    "He won''t do it."

    "Figure it out yourself. Think of something."

    ***

    Two minutes later, at the farm''s lake¡­

    "Guwaaah!"

    *Splash*

    "Does he smell better?"

    [Still smells.]

    *Splash, splash, splash*

    "Gubuwuoooh!!"

    "Now?"

    [There''s just a bit more¡­]

    "Gubwuaaaa!"

    "Hey! Don''t run away! Everyone, GET HIM!"

    "Awooooo!!"

    "Miqweeeik!"

    "Whyyyyyy¡­?!"

    ***

    Meanwhile, on the ground hundreds of feet below the Red Fang, a lion and a stag met on the open plains.

    No, it wasn''t dinner time. This was, frankly speaking, a meeting of two Lords.

    [Golden Lion Lord.]

    [High Crown Stag Lord.]

    Two Tier 5 Lords of the Wilds met, showing teeth and antlers, the air around them visibly rippling with psionic power gathered and ready to be unleashed at a moment''s notice. Roughly fifty feet behind each Lord, their friends, kin and kind waited tensely in case they were called upon in a hurry.

    Each of the lords was easily thirty feet tall, almost forty if you counted the Stag Lord''s antlers. When they walked, the ground twitched with every step. When they spoke, the echoing ripples of their psionic transmissions gave off a tangible pressure to every Wild listening close by.

    [What brings you to my doorstep?] the Stag Lord asked.

    [There are men. They have come again.] the Golden Lion Lord looked up.

    [So why did you not call your father and destroy the Defilers?]

    [They move quickly.] the Golden Lion Lord observed. [They will enter your turf before word reaches my father.]

    [Then he has slipped your grasp. What a pity.]

    [Not if you permit us to pass¡­]

    [Never. Not for man. Not for anything short of the Twin Dragons. You will not enter without a fight.]

    [Then it is up to you to handle them.] the Golden Lion snorted. [And any blood they shed from this point forward is on your head!]

    The Stag Lord said nothing as the Golden Lion Lord turned and loped away at a fierce pace.

 120 To the north

    Meanwhile, Asda held a deeply private conversation with Andros.

    Following that, Andros spoke with Arnold.

    "You''re leaving?" Arnold stared. "But¡­ things were finally looking up! We had basic industries going, we were starting to seriously expand¡­"

    "And then the Beast Tide came. I don''t know about you, Arnold, but I can''t keep on like this." Andros shook his head. "I came here to get away from trouble, not get into more, and the Beast Tides are more than I can handle. I have received a good offer from Asda. Fal''Herim will be safe for our people. We should take it."

    "But this¡­ behind Remian''s back¡­" Arnold struggled to find the words. "How could you do this to him?"

    "What? It''s the Frontier. Every man for himself. You know that. He knows that. That''s how it''s always been."

    "No, it hasn''t! Not since Remian!" Arnold protested. "It''s not like that any more! We shouldn''t be like that any more! We can be different! We can be better!"

    "There is no better. It''s the same the whole world over." Andros snorted. "You don''t know because you''re treated better than the rest of us thanks to your machines and your engineering skills. But for those of us who weren''t born into much education, we always have to look out for ourselves. That''s just the way it is."

    "It doesn''t have to be." Arnold frowned. "I don''t think that''s the kind of place that Remian is trying to build. That WE are trying to build together."

    "Well, count me out. The grass may be greener on this side, but from where I''m standing, it''s stained with blood. Better to stand on the sands, and forge our steel where its safe."

    "There is no grass on the sands, Andros. No grass at all."

    "You''re saying we should go farther north? Into the civilized countries?" Andros shook his head. "We can''t. You know the kind of background my people have. We can''t go back. Not if we want to live free."

    "Maybe Remian can put in a good word for you with the Iron Legion."

    Andros snorted. "Would you have me owe him a favor now? Weren''t you just talking about how leaving was a sort of betrayal?"

    "That¡­" Arnold trailed off. He didn''t know what else to say.

    "Come by and buy our stuff sometime." Andros waved with forced cheeriness, and went to pack.

    ***

    Throughout the night, candle light flickered as hushed conversations took place all across the ruins. From the farm to the Encles'' settlement, from Kara-Goth to the hastily repaired airport, low voices discussed matters of great import, much urgency, and utmost secrecy.

    The next morning, two hundred people gathered at the barely-functional airport and quietly slipped on board the Sky Barge preparing to head to Fal''Herim ''for supplies''.

    That afternoon, another hundred joined them.

    By nightfall, two more hundred had arrived, but the Sky Barge was too full to take them all.

    Andros and his crew worked overtime to finish weaponizing the second Tug in a hurry. Doing so had required some internal work done, so they had had to wait until it was all finished before using it to take the Sky Barge to Fal''Herim.

    "Are you totally sure about this? Once you leave, there''s no turning back." Arnold said to Andros as final preparations were being made to launch the Tug-and-Barge.

    "Pretty sure." Andros said. "You should come too. The princess is offering a sweet salary."

    "I¡­" Arnold hesitated. "I don''t know. I need to think about it some more."

    "Good. Do that. Come join us when you''ve figured it out." Andros said, snorting and marching on into the Sky Barge.

    Just like that, hundreds of people left the Frontier, never to return.

    Hundreds more awaited their turn on the next flight out.

    ***

    "Back so soon?" the Crown Prince asked Asda wryly when the Sky Barge reached Fal''Herim the next day.

    By then, Fal''Herim was in the boom of reconstruction. It was lively; it was noisy; construction was taking place everywhere, and the new roads and structures looked bigger and better than the ones before.

    "This all looks expensive. Did you really manage to get that foreign aid?" Asda asked.

    "In fact, I did. Everyone else in Coalition of Six has chipped in. Apparently, nobody''s eager to bail out a sinking economy, but when your capitol is destroyed by an Elder Dragon, it totally opens up the ''disaser relief'' budget. Saudara Nation has sent a lot of supplies and workers. Paleres actually sent troops, so our security and order is quite good. Kuasa Besar has invested over a hundred million in a new business district and a new industrial district. The Ira Caliphate is taking on construction orders for cheap. All of them sent some money. Believe it or not, the Rainforest Commonwealth sent the most money; I suspect those funds to be a form of apology from the Dragon Empire, since they''re the Empire''s vassal states and all..."

    "So¡­ we''re good?" Asda asked, hesitantly.

    "We''re going to have to pay them back over time, but basically¡­ we''re good! We''re better than ever!" the Crown Prince crowed. "Or at least, I am. You, on the other hand¡­ you''re basically rebels, you know?"

    "Sorry!" Asda bowed immediately. "I was wrong! Please be nice to your cute little sister!"

    "Of course, of course." The Crown Prince nodded generously. "But your mother¡­ that''s a different story, you know?"

    "W-what do you want from me?" Asda''s mother asked, pale.

    "Nothing. I want nothing to do with you." The Crown Prince said flat out. "At all. I want you out, and I want you gone today. Permanent exile."

    "B-but¡­ where could I go?"

    "Anywhere. I hear the weather in the Rainforest Commonwealth is especially good this time of year. It should be summer right about now."

    "They''re near the equator. The weather is always summer there."

    "Exactly. Go get a tan on a beach or something."

    ***

    Following the stop at Fal''Herim, the Sky Barge continued north, bearing cargo and some passengers bound for Ashdale.

    Jane was there to pick up the cargo at the airport.

    "So many people? Why the sudden rush to visit Ashdale?"

    "We''re not visiting." One of the Encles people told her shortly. "We''re here to stay. The luggage we brought with us? That''s all we have left."

    "To stay? Why? What happened?" Jane asked.

    So the story was told.

    Word spread soon enough, and before long, Mandy got wind of it.

    "There! You see! I knew it!" Mandy exclaimed triumphantly. "THAT''s why I brought you all here! It''s too dangerous at the Frontier! Plus, you have a lot more opportunities here! You should all thank me!"

    "Yeah, yeah." Jane rolled her eyes. "You say that all the time."

    "So, where''s Mindy? Where''s Tim, and George? Surely they''ve come too?" Mandy looked around earnestly, eager to brag and say that she''d told them so¡­

    "They''re not here." Jane shook her head. "They didn''t come."

    "What?! But¡­ but the Beast Tide! The town was destroyed! And¡­ and¡­ what is there left for them?" Mandy spluttered. "Why aren''t they coming here??"

    "No idea. Want me to go ask them?" Jane asked sarcastically.

    "Yes! That''s a brilliant idea!" Mandy suddenly got to her feet. "Jane, do be a dear and go fetch them for us, please."

    "What? Me?!" Jane protested.

    Yep. Her.

 121 To the east and south-eas

    By the way, some time ago, at Libertaria, a certain letter was received, read, and pondered over day after day by an elderly gentleman.

    At length, he called, "Jim."

    "Yes, father?"

    "I need you to go to the Wildlands."

    "The WILDLANDS?!" all posh and decorum fizzled out like vapor.

    "You''ve been chafing around at home, wanting to prove your capabilities and independence. So go prove yourself."

    "I thought I''d join one of the caravans headed westwards, maybe the Orestomp Trail¡­"

    "Bah, there''s no challenge in this frontier any more. Everything''s been tamed since the railroads were built. No, no, your frontier is in another continent entirely, my boy. You should do as I did when I was young and challenge the absolute unknown! Only then can you be called a real man!"

    "I don''t think the requirements are actually that high for that label¡­"

    "Go forth! Bring my inventions to my friend Arnold! And bring your own inventions too! And never stop inventing! Science is the key to everything!!"

    "You just want me out of the house so you can have privacy with my new young stepmom!"

    "JUST GO!"

    ***

    It was just one day''s flight from Libertaria to Ashdale on Lucky Company''s new Great Eagle Cruisers. It was rated as High-grade internationally, not quite Military-grade, but a whole grade beyond the regular Commercial-grade airships. It was fully runic-drive, and had its envelope built into the shape of a large boomerang, as if it were wings.

    He arrived there and immediately asked about his connecting flight to the Wildlands aboard something called a ''Sky Barge''.

    He was told, "Boarding begins in two hours. You''re still early."

    So Jim went looking for a bite to eat and a place to settle down and wait for his next flight. He found the cafeteria and bumped into a ditzy blonde girl who didn''t see where she was going and she spilled ice-cream all over his jeans.

    "Hey!" Jim yelped.

    "Whoa! Nice jeans!" she gasped. "Where did you buy them?"

    This, incidentally, was how Jim and Jane met, both of them due on board the Sky Barge bound for the airport of Fort Spoas.

    The conversation went downhill from there.

    "Where are you from?"

    "I''m from Libertaria. Now it seems I''m moving to the Wildlands Frontier. You?"

    "The Wildlands Frontier, actually. Then I moved here."

    "But you''re going back?"

    "It''s just for a short visit. My friends might be going through something, so I''m going to check on them."

    "That''s very nice of you."

    "Really? Thank you! By the way, what do you do? Your stuff seems¡­ expensive."

    "Me? Oh, I''m an electrical engineer."

    "A what?"

    "I''m¡­ uh¡­ I handle machines that use electricity."

    "What is electricity?"

    "It''s a sort of energy. Like mana."

    "Why not just use mana?"

    "Because mana is unfair. It''s biased toward certain places, certain creatures, to the talented and to special bloodlines. Electricity is fair to everybody, and everyone can use and control it equally if you know how, not just magi."

    "But I''ve never heard of it, though?"

    "Oh, that''s because it''s new. It''s a Libertaria thing."

    "So how do you use it? Some special sort of training?"

    "You use devices."

    "Isn''t that the same for mana? Everyone can use magic devices equally."

    "Not equally. And whoever has the bad luck to be unable to control mana or use magic is just doomed to suffering, no matter how much they train or study."

    "That sounds like me. I could never control mana as well as Mindy, no matter how much I studied."

    "Did you actually even try to study, though¡­?"

    "What''s that supposed to mean?"

    There was a short pause.

    "So¡­ you''re a sort of mage?" Jane asked, eventually.

    "No. Far from it." Jim sighed, trying not to get frustrated. "I''m just a normal human. I don''t use magic at all."

    "But isn''t electricity some sort of energy, you said? Like mana?"

    "It''s energy, yes, and mana is energy too, but they''re different kinds of energy." Jim tried to explain. "Like¡­ life force, for example. That''s energy too. But it''s not the same as mana, although people can convert life force to mana or martial energy¡­"

    After that, Jane kind of zoned out. She heard his voice as if from a distance, seeing only the movement of his lips, the quality of his strange new fashion of clothes, the accent in his voice. What he was actually saying went right over her head, in one ear and out the next, words making absolutely no sense whatsoever.

    This went on for a remarkably long time. In fact, they were called to board the airship and they''d taken off, and he was still going on about electricity and chemistry and static and lightning and all sorts of queer stuff that sounded very intellectual and very sophisticated and was completely beyond Jane''s understanding or comprehension or interest.

    She just thought; this guy seems to be really smart and well-educated. He might be rich. Handsome, too, and not much older than me¡­

    Jim was on a total roll, very excited and happy to have such a captive audience, to have a pretty girl listening to him for so long. He went on and on until he was thirsty and bought a drink at their first stop, a place in Itarim where they were joined by a bunch of Iron Legion boys, and of course, he bought her a drink too, and she smiled at him with a smile like sunshine.

    That of course, only made him talk more and more, and somewhere along the line, he fainted.

    "What happened to him?!" Jane gasped.

    The trainee field medic from the Iron Legion took one look and guessed, "Probably lack of oxygen. Self-asphyxiation."

    "What?"

    "He talked too much."

    ***

    Also joining them on their flight was a representative from Deutero. They picked him up along one of the stops on their way, but by that time, Jim was already out cold and Jane was preoccupied taking care of him, and neither of them ever knew when he got on board.

    Unknown to all of them, these two men were going to make huge changes on the Frontier... eventually.

 122 Offer from Deutero

    To be honest, the Deutero rep didn''t plan to stay very long in the Frontier. This gentleman fully planned to get on board the very next flight out. But things didn''t go as planned.

    For example, the man he was supposed to meet actually wasn''t there at Fort Spoas.

    "Greetings, good sir. I need to see your leader, Sir Remian Vin." He told the highest ranking officer at the airport.

    Markus scratched his head and said, "Sorry, but he''s out right now. Maybe I could get George to pass him a message?"

    "Ah, yes. Tell him it''s of utmost importance and urgency that we meet. Also, tell him his money is ready."

    "Money?" Jane suddenly woke up from her lecture-induced stupor and stared. "What do you mean, money?"

    "That is confidential." The Deutero man said.

    Meanwhile, Markus brightened to see Jane there. "Hey, you''re one of George''s friends, aren''t you? Can''t you send him the message? I have a bunch of new recruits to handle, here."

    "Sure! So what money are we talking about?" Jane asked, intently.

    "It is from the auction sale. He should understand the rest."

    Jane froze. The words seemed to jam her brains completely.

    Money. Auction. Sale.

    Those three words together, plus the fact that they were enough to send a representative all the way out here told her a big, BIG secret.

    The was a LOT of money involved.

    How much? Remian had been dealing in thousands and tens of thousands before but they never sent anyone over especially for that. Just how much money had he gotten his hands on this time?!

    "Maybe I shouldn''t have left¡­" Jane gulped.

    "Can you handle it?" the representative asked, then.

    "Yes! Yes, of course!" Jane gasped. "Sorry, who do I say it''s from again?"

    "Mr. Moda from the Deutero Company. Also, tell him I have a lucrative proposal for him."

    Jane practically ran to the Guild Hall, leaving behind a very bewildered Jim.

    ***

    "He wants to meet me?" Remian repeated over the communications crystal, scratching his head. "We''re almost to Three Pines Peak by now! It''s two days away from town even on this airship, maybe a week if you use a Tug! We can''t just turn back now! Can he talk over the crystal?"

    "I''ll see what I can do." George promised.

    ***

    "We have him. I''ll put him on."

    "Sir Remian? Hello, my name is Mr. Moda, I''m a representative from the Deutero Company. I''m here to talk about investment banking."

    "What? Investment banking? What does that have to do with me?"

    "Frankly speaking, sir, since the conclusion of our most recent auction, your income and current account are both large enough to warrant a VIP treatment. This means that if you open an account with our investment bank, you can get immediate preferred status. We can assure you, your money will grow safely and surely in our hands! Our track record indicates an average of 15% returns per year over the past ten years¡­ that means, whatever you entrust to us, we will double that amount in seven years! Best of all, there is no limit! Whether you wish to entrust us with ten million or thirty-two million, we can handle it all!"

    Remian snorted. "And where, good sir, would I get thirty-two million lir?"

    "Why, you already have it, sir. That''s the balance of the revenue from the sale of the airship, after deducting commission and the ten million lir advance."

    There was a crash on the other end of the line.

    George''s voice could be heard from a distance. "Jane? Jane, are you all right? Hellooo¡­?"

    Footsteps sounded. "Phoebe! Phoebe, help! Somebody call Phoebe!!"

    The discussion went on for a while during which both George and Mindy, who were present, learned;

    1. The value of money is always dropping because of inflation, which means that things will keep costing more and more money, and therefore the purchasing power of whatever money you keep lying around is going to decrease over time.

    2. It''s a really bad idea to just leave money lying around as ''savings'', because money that isn''t growing at least to match the inflation rate is in fact shrinking.

    3. Deutero is willing to grow Remian''s money for him without him ever having to work, by using it to invest, trade, and make profits, which was their expertise. While returns could not be entirely guaranteed, they had a very impressive thirty year track record for reliable and healthy returns. Or so Moda claimed.

    "I appreciate the offer, Mr. Moda, but I already have many projects here that need my investment." Remian told him at last. "I believe my assets here, properly developed, would provide me with much higher returns in the long run."

    "I admire your courage, Sir." Mody replied. "You truly are brave to put everything you have into such risky endeavors. From where I stand, a great deal of your invested projects thus far have literally ended in ruins."

    "It''s true. I can see the wreckage from here too." George put in.

    "Do you think it''s a good idea to invest with them, George?" Remian asked.

    "Well, not all of it, since we really do need money to rebuild and develop, but maybe some of it? Just in case? I mean, you''re going to find that wild man and there''s no telling what he''ll do afterward. Considering what happened last time, there might be nothing left by next week."

    "An excellent observation!" Mr. Moda exclaimed. "Indeed, our investments can be considered low-risk in comparison."

    There was a short silence. "I can put in ten million. But I have urgent matter to see to and won''t be back for a while yet."

    "That''s not a problem. Actually, I need you to come to a Deutero branch office at the very least. The nearest one is being constructed at Fal''Herim as we speak, but it only goes into operation next week. I just came here to inform you of your opportunities and options."

    "I appreciate it, but right now what I really need are men and materials to develop my assets here."

    "We can help you with that. With your VIP status, given a large enough order, we can even dedicate entire airships to deliver your goods. In fact, I myself can help you with that. Just tell me what you need."

    "George? Can you handle that?" Remian asked.

    "Me?"

    "You''re there, on site. You know what we need better than I do, right now."

    "Uh¡­ right. Okay."

    "We need to develop the mines and fortify them against Tier 4''s. Also, we need a lot more airships. Check with Arnold and find out what we need for five more Sky Barges and two more Tugs."

    "What about Gunships?"

    "Hold off on those. Mindy''s working on a new design for armed corvettes, some sort of small patrol boat. The kind that can get to where they need to go without a Tug."

    "Okay. I''ll contact you when I have the numbers ready."

    "Actually, don''t. We might be very, very busy soon. Just handle it yourself. Your budget is ten million lir. See what you can do with that."

    There was a pause.

    Mr. Moda''s voice sounded then. "George? George, are you all right? Helloooo¡­?"

 123 Trap

    When George came to, he found himself in a spacious open ward of the new hospital. Right across from him was Mr. Moda, in bed with a big dark bruise on his face.

    "What happened to him?" George stared.

    "Hit by a door." Sabriane said, from behind him. He turned to see her sitting at the nurse''s station. "Phoebe Effect. Enough said. She went out to help one patient and came back with three."

    "Speaking of the one patient¡­ how''s Jane?"

    "She''s fine. She seems a bit in a daze, might have hit her head a bit hard when she fell, but Phoebe tells me that physically, she''s fine."

    Also in bed nearby were two of the new Iron Legion recruits. "What about them?"

    "Again, Phoebe Effect."

    George shook his head. "Some day, if we go to war against anybody else, we could post a picture of Phoebe on an airship and show that to our enemies."

    Sabriane let out a laugh. "That might do more damage than the Bellower."

    George allowed himself a chuckle, then said, "Well, looks like I''m off to see to the mines'' fortifications and then try to build Mindy some new airships."

    "Mines? Airships? What about the town?" Sabriane asked.

    "Remian didn''t say anything about a town. Honestly, I''m growing tired of rebuilding it every time it gets wrecked. Maybe we''ll just do without it."

    "How? Are we supposed to live on airships?"

    "Why not?" George shrugged. "Mindy could do it. In fact, that might be exactly why he wants so many Sky Barges."

    "Maybe he just forgot¡­?"

    "Maybe. Either way, I''m not rebuilding that town." George said.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the Red Fang had reached the mountain range leading up to Three Pines Peak.

    "Are we still being followed?" Remian asked Mindy.

    Mindy turned to glance behind them. "Herd of giant stags and other weird Wilds just tailing us without making a sound? Yeah, they''re still there."

    "Are they''re trying to chase us out? If so, they can stop now." Remian grimaced. "It''s a bit creepy, how they''ve been following us over the Speckled Highlands."

    Just then, the biggest stag in the whole bunch lifted its head and bayed.

    From Three Pines Peak, a thundering shriek answered.

    "Oh, great. And here I was hoping we could sneak past the Eagle Lord." Remian grunted.

    Mindy gulped. She yelled, "All hands, battle stations!"

    "We''re already AT battle stations!" ten voices chorused.

    Far ahead, from Three Pines Peak, a towering figure took to the skies. Hundreds of smaller figures followed, forming a cloud, a veritable whirlwind of flyers.

    "Not good!" Remian glanced around. "Turn around! Full 180! We have to get out of here!"

    The airship spun, showing off the agility of a military-grade Frigate, but just as they were about to make a run for safety, a bolt of shimmering energy hammered at the hull.

    "All stop!" Remian barked.

    "What was that?!" Mindy gasped.

    "That¡­" Remian stared. "I think¡­ I mean¡­ I have this feeling that¡­ well¡­"

    [Psionic energy. A physical attack using a bolt of psionic energy.] Bzziezio supplied.

    Oh, by the way, Bzziezio is Bzziezuo''s daughter, previously crown princess of the hive at the farm, and currently new queen of the hive on the Red Fang. Apparently, she''s a closer friend to Darian than any of the other Feelo-Wasps around. Or so she claims.

    "But why are they attacking us?" Mindy asked.

    "From the looks of it¡­" Remian''s face was grim. "They weren''t following us to chase us out. They''re there to prevent us from running away."

    "Then this¡­" Mindy figured it out quickly enough. "This is a trap."

    "How much time would it take to take us above the clouds?" Remian asked, glancing up.

    "Too long. Those birds will be on us in minutes. We kept the low altitude to keep in contact with the scouts, but now¡­"

    "Take us down. Even lower. If the worst happens, at least we won''t fall from this high up." Remian frowned. "Where are the wolfcats? And the lynxmice?"

    "They''re scattered all over the place. We asked them to scout, remember?"

    Remian closed his eyes, looking for one wolfcat in particular. [Carrie? Where are you?]

    He found her soon enough and had a quick word with her in the little time they had to discuss the situation.

    Afterward, he opened his eyes and told Mindy, "We should set down."

    "Where? These are forested highlands and mountains. There''s nowhere to land." Mindy told him. "This is as low as we get without scraping the treetops."

    [Trying to hide?] the thought-message reverberated through the mountains. Remian somehow felt like he''d walked straight into a fog, or that maybe the air had thickened to vapor, except that it didn''t, and nothing had changed. The psionic strength of the Eagle Lord was just that tangible. [There''s no point. I already see you.]

    A feathery tower of an eagle landed in front of them, peering at them callously.

    "Yeah, that''s a mistake. Give us half an hour, and you won''t have to see us any more¡­" Remian offered. "We''ll just be going¡­"

    [No, no, stay. It is not every day one gets the chance to see the squatter of Shadowflash''s fief under one''s beak¡­] the Eagle Lord looked down at Remian in more ways than one.

    " ''Squatter''¡­?! What do you mean, ''Squatter''?!" Mindy bristled.

    [By that, I mean, when Shadowflash returns, you will be eaten alive.] The Eagle Lord shrugged.

    "You think he''s still alive? Do you have some idea as to where he is?" Remian asked, directly.

    [Of course. I see everything. I know everything.] The Eagle Lord said proudly.

    "So where is he?"

    [In the Forbidden Depths of the Amber Gorge.]

    Remian gaped. He turned to Mindy, eyes wide. "I got a straight answer! Just like that!"

    "I know, right?!"

    "He didn''t boast for an hour and provoke me for two and then challenge me to a fight¡­ he just told me a straight answer!"

    "I know!!"

    "He didn''t even try to tease me or ask me to guess twenty riddles! He just told me flat out!"

    "I know!!!"

    Remian turned back to the Eagle Lord. "But¡­ aren''t we enemies? You''re treating me awfully well for someone who wants to kill me."

    [Petty behavior like that¡­ is beneath me!] The Eagle Lord scoffed.

    "I get the feeling that you see a lot of things as beneath you¡­" Remian mused. "Any chance that ripping us to shreds is also beneath you?"

    [Personally, perhaps, but I have no qualms ordering my subordinates to tear you apart.]

    "So much for that¡­" Remian grimaced. "Is there any way you could spare us? Let us go?"

    [Spare you? And why would I do that?]

    "I was hoping you could offer us that answer yourself."

    [Offer an enemy an advantage over myself? Such foolishness¡­ is beneath me!]

    "But you''re okay letting your subordinates do the dirty work?"

    [They are also beneath me.]

    "Aren''t mundane things like eating and drinking also beneath you?"

    [Eating and drinking is of the High Order, mandated by Heaven! It is a superior law of nature¡­]

    "Right, why don''t you just keep on explaining your high-minded philosophies¡­"

    [While you carefully sneak away from right under my beak? I think not.]

    "Why not? Surely noticing such sneaky methods is beneath you."

    [Beneath, and a little to the left, in fact.] The Eagle Lord''s eye fell on Mindy, who had very casually put her hand on the magic cannon''s controls. [Take that shot, and I guarantee you will die before you ever see it land.]

    "But yet you''re here talking to us. Surely that means there''s some sort of deal we could work out?" Remian tried again. "I mean¡­ you must be wondering why so many Wilds cooperate with us, right? There''s a secret to it, you know?"

    [Honey marinade and barbecue sauce. Charbroiled to medium-rare. I know.] The Eagle Lord nodded. [I told you. I see everything.]

    Mindy gasped. "Wait a minute! Come to think of it, our roast meats has been around since the start of the Adventurers Guild! How did Tim ever get honey before the Feelo-Wasps?"

    "There had to be other bees in the area." Remian pointed out. "I mean, Buff had a reason for wanting to settle in that cave of all places."

    "I see!" Mindy brightened.

    "So¡­ how much do you want for our release? We can get our people bring some over in exchange for our lives¡­" Remian asked the Eagle Lord.

    [Taking hostages and demanding food? Such banditry¡­ is beneath me!]

    Remian groaned. "Look, this would go a lot faster if you would just tell us outright what it is exactly that you want¡­"

    [I would, but¡­] the Eagle Lord shifted uneasily. [That, too¡­ is beneath me¡­]

    Remian facepalmed.

 124 Broken Wing

    The impasse could have gone on for a long time while Remian and company hazarded guess after guess, but fortunately, someone arrived to speed things right along.

    [Dear? Are you finished? Can they help us?] another oversized eagle landed in front of them, this one smaller by a head and a neck, her feathers redder where his was browner. [She won''t stop crying.]

    [Um¡­ negotiations are¡­ proceeding¡­] the Eagle Lord shifted his feathers a bit uncomfortably. [At a dignified pace.]

    [You didn''t even ask them?!]

    [It is¡­ beneath me¡­] The Eagle Lord said in a harried and frustrated manner.

    [Fine! I''ll do it, since I''m also beneath you, you big feather-brain!] she scolded. Then, she turned the Remian and Mindy. [We need a splint. And bandages.]

    "For what? No, actually before that¡­" Mindy cleared her throat. "How do you even know what those are?"

    [We have superior eyesight¡­] The Eagle Lord began.

    [We spy on everybody when we get bored, and we get bored a lot.] his wife rolled her eyes. [Can you come help us? My daughter is hurt.]

    "Hurt? What happened?" Mindy gasped.

    The Eagle Lord''s wife¡­ Eagle Lord-ess? Eagle Lady? Well, the reddish giant eagle shook her head, and glared at her husband. [Somebody wanted his children to achieve independence and leave the nest, and the earlier they did, the more prestigious it would be¡­]

    "Threw her out of the nest before she was ready?" Mindy guessed. "How bad is it?"

    [Broken wing.] Lady Eagle summarized.

    Mindy glanced at Remian. "Can we help them? Should we?"

    "Do you want to?"

    "Um¡­ kinda. Yes. Actually, yes. But should we? I mean, they''re our enemies, right?"

    "Don''t you remember, Mindy? All along, I''ve been trying to make friends with the Wilds."

    "But¡­ but the town¡­ they kept destroying the town¡­ and¡­ and¡­ we had to keep rebuilding it¡­"

    "And every time we did, it came back stronger. Except I think we''re done with that."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean, I''ve been rethinking the whole need for a ''town'' in a traditional sense. I think we need to change the way we think, and the way we''re going to live in these lands." Remian shrugged. "If Doom can live in harmony with the Wilds, so can we."

    [Live in harmony? Is it not your way to subjugate everything you see? Put them all beneath you, to serve you?] the Eagle Lord harrumphed.

    "Someone strong might be able to do that, maybe. But I''m not strong." Remian pointed out. "I''m a weak guy. Always have been. And weak people need friends."

    [Friends? That¡­]

    "Don''t say it''s beneath you, because I''m pretty sure it''s not."

    [Oh? And what friends have I?]

    "The Stag Lord for example. He seemed quite keen on trapping us for you. Wouldn''t even let us go back across his lands."

    [The Stag is no friend of mine, nor yours. More likely, he hoped we would kill each other.]

    "That¡­ is possible, too¡­" Remian admitted. He sighed. "I was hoping he''d be more amenable. I mean¡­ I didn''t think stags were going to be especially unfriendly toward me. If any of the Lords would be willing to befriend humans, I thought surely it would have been a herbivore¡­"

    [You run around with wolfcats and feed them meat and you expect him to think of you in friendly terms? In his eyes, you are someone who feeds herbivores to carnivores, on top of being a destroyer of nature.]

    "You have a point." Remian glanced up. "But we''re not like that in your eyes, are we?"

    [My eyes see far more. To compare my grand vision to that of those ground-crawlers¡­]

    "¡­It''s beneath you, I know already. So, are we going to treat your daughter or what?"

    [Come!] Lady Eagle urged them.

    They followed the eagles toward the peak before them, one airship surrounded by dozens of gigantic flyers. Other than eagles, there were hawks, kites, falcons, other birds that Remian couldn''t even recognize or name. Bzziezio hissed, and then fled with her entire clan to hide in the depths of the airship, there to huddle together in dark corners afraid to let out even a single buzz. How many of these giant birds ate insects? Remian didn''t know, but if the Feelo-Wasps emerged at this point, it would probably look like Remian brought the birds some dinner¡­

    It has to be said that Three Pines Peak was a lot higher than it looked from afar. Remian''s expectations really hadn''t done it justice, since until today, he had only seen it on a map. The birds set a good pace, but half an hour into their flight, Mindy was already asking, "Are we there, yet?"

    Obviously, not. They had passed three smaller peaks by now; Remian wasn''t sure if he should call them hills or mountains, but whatever the case, they were peaks, but compared with the towering form looming over all of them, those peaks were just¡­ small.

    The ones below still had grass and some greenery on them. The peak in front of them, the one they all headed to? From where Remian stood on the bow of the airship, it was sheer gray and white. The only things green he could see on it were three distinct pines clustered together at the very top. That was probably what gave this peak its name¡­

    Wait. Pines? But¡­ to be able to see them at this distance¡­

    Goodness. How big were those pine trees?!

    Ten minutes later, they were still flying toward the top of Three Pines Peak, and those three pines looked bigger and bigger as they neared. Ten minutes afterward, they still hadn''t arrived, and Remian was half-wondering if they were moving at all or, in fact, had been hovering motionless in place for the past half-hour, because they still didn''t seem any closer to reaching the Peak, and those pines now looked absolutely humungous.

    "You know, Mindy¡­" Remian mentioned. "Earlier, when I saw the pines, I was thinking we should set down somewhere near them. Now, seeing them like this¡­ maybe we should talk about which branch of which pine we want to set the airship down."

    That really was the case. It was clear now that the pines were so large, they could safely land the whole airship on top of any of their main branches and still have plenty of room to spare.

    [You think the pines are big? You should go see a Sky Tree.] The Eagle Lord chuckled.

    "What''s a Sky Tree?" Mindy gulped.

    [Keep going south, and you''ll find out. You can''t miss them.]

    Lady Eagle cleared her throat. [There''s an old abandoned nest on the fifth branch of the center pine, just two branches down from ours. You can nestle your airship there.]

    "You guys are on the Third Branch? That''s strange. I would have thought you were at the top. Who''s living on the branches above yours?"

    [Nobody. Haven''t I told you? Everything is beneath me!] The Eagle Lord huffed. [It''s just that those branches are not capable of holding a nest worthy of my stature!]

    "So they''re too small for you? I almost thought you were going to say they were beneath you, even though they''re actually above."

    [They are beneath me! Their size is beneath me!]

    "Okay, okay, don''t get your feathers ruffled over it."

    The Eagle Lord harrumphed a bit more, but then settled down.

    [Since you''re coming, then come. My daughter awaits.]

    ***

    They heard his daughter miles before they ever laid eyes on her. She was chirping miserably, grumbling psionically, wailing and weeping over being thrown out of the nest. [Daddy doesn''t want me any more! He doesn''t love me any more! Boohoohoo¡­]

    [Dear, you need to do something.] Lady Eagle advised her mate.

    [What? What am I supposed to do?] The Eagle Lord protested.

    [Go comfort her! Tell her you love her!]

    [But that''s¡­]

    [Don''t you dare! Don''t you dare say it''s beneath you!]

    The Eagle Lord shut up.

 125 Two Days Later

    "And so here we are." Mindy concluded as she told Phoebe the situation two days later.

    There they were outside the Adventurers Guild Hall with a family of eagles, the father constantly cuddling and coddling his ''little'' daughter (who was actually a bit bigger than Remian) while she wept and chirped her sob story (though Phoebe couldn''t understand a word), one wing hastily and very crudely supported with splints, with bandages wrapped and gauze taped all over her every little bruise and scrape.

    "But what about Darian?" Phoebe had to ask.

    "The wolfcats and the lynxmice are still tracking him. The Eagle Lord''s flyers have joined the search and they will send word along to us the minute they actually see him." Mindy explained. "It''ll be sent from bird-to-bird psionically over shorter distances, an aerial chain of communications, as long as he''s not too far away, word should reach us within an hour of finding him."

    "And how far away would that be?"

    "As long as he''s on this side of Dragon Lake."

    "So why is Remian packing up the new telescope Arnold brought him?"

    "He still wants to go south as soon as the Eagle Princess is settled."

    "I see." Phoebe undid the crude bandages and applied healing magic directly onto the smaller scrapes and bruises, her treatment process closely watched by Lady Eagle, and much less closely by the Eagle Lord. Light glowed, inadvertently drawing eyes to her from people around the Guild Hall, causing three minor accidents (of the fork-and-sausage stabbing cheek at breakfast variety), two less minor accidents (of the walk-into-pillar variety) and one significant accident (of the drop-hot-pan-on-foot variety). "Aargh!" "Oof!" "Ow!"

    "Remian!" George arrived then, with Song Chen. "Could you clarify something for us? Who''s in charge of fortifying the mines? Me or Song Chen?"

    "The mines?" Remian blinked, completely distracted.

    "Yes. You asked me to do it, and then George here says you asked him to handle it." Song Chen cleared his throat.

    Remian stared. "You''re the one with experience. He''s the one with the money. I expect him to supply your efforts. You''re both supposed to do it."

    "Ah." Song Chen nodded. "Understood."

    "George. I don''t expect you to lay every stone yourself. You''re in charge of seeing it done, not actually carrying every brick in person." Remian turned to him. "Your responsibility is supplying the people doing it. That''s why I gave you the budget."

    "But he plans to cut down more of the forest!" George protested.

    Remian shook his head. "Song Chen? Don''t do that. We don''t want to provoke the Wilds any more than we already have. We''re trying to make friends with them, see?"

    Song Chen eyed the Eagle Lord''s family and Phoebe treating the ''baby'' bird. "I¡­ I don''t know about this, Remian. I mean, we''ve been fighting them off until now. What''s changed?"

    "The Beast Tide. More accurately, the fact that Doom could control them. Seeing him give them orders, even able to stop them from attacking the farm at a moment''s notice¡­ it changes everything." Remian told him. "Before now, there were only the Beast Waves, driven mad by the crystals. There was no way to communicate or negotiate. But the Beast Tide led by Doom is different. I think we can actually befriend them, have them on our side."

    "And that''s why you didn''t super-magic them all to death?"

    "I don''t think I could if I tried, but yes, the minute I saw Doom directing them, I saw them as potential allies, creatures I wanted to be friends with."

    "And that''s why you just let him take your brother?"

    "That¡­ was unexpected. Completely out of the blue." Remian admitted.

    "And how''s diplomacy been going so far?"

    "In the case of the Stag Lord, it seems hopeless. We''ve been feeding our carnivore friends too many herbivores. But befriending the Eagle Lord seems viable." Remian hesitated. "I''m afraid we might have already picked sides on the carnivore versus herbivore conflict."

    "That started the minute you fed a wolfcat cub some meat."

    "Speaking of Vigil¡­ where is he?" Remian asked. "We actually found some information on his father."

    "He should be around somewhere. I''ll spread the word, have whoever sees him to tell him to come find you."

    Song Chen left Remian and George looking down at the table glumly.

    "What''s wrong?" Remian asked.

    "Sorry. I might have gotten into a quarrel with Song Chen¡­"

    Remian cleared his throat. "Fix that, please. Go apologize and bring a cookie if you have to. He''ll understand. He''s a grown man. You''re going to have to rely on him more and more in the future. We''re going to try to make friends of the Wilds, but it''s clear we won''t be able to befriend all of them."

    Mindy chipped in. "About this whole carnivore versus herbivore thing¡­ aren''t boars herbivores?"

    "No, they''re not. They eat just about anything, including meat." George explained. "They''re omnivores."

    "So it''s the dedicated vegetarians we have a problem with? Or just the Stag Lord, specifically?"

    Remian''s eyes widened. "You''re right! The Feelo-Wasps don''t have a problem with us. It seems it''s just the Stag Lord¡­"

    George cleared his throat. "Actually, the Wasps eat smaller insects¡­"

    Mindy blinked. "I thought they are nectar and honey and plants?"

    "Those too."

    "Wait. They eat plants? And fruit? Including our fruit?" Remian asked.

    "Don''t worry about that. I have an agreement with the Wasp Queen." George assured him. "They''re generally able to avoid the plants and fruit I asked them to spare."

    The entire conversation, by the way, had been very casually held in the immediate vicinity of the Eagle Lord who had a habit of spying on others when he was bored¡­ AHEM! Sorry, we meant, ''noticing many little things about those beneath him.''

    George, trying very hard not to look at the Eagle Lord looking at them beneath him (and a little to the right), hesitated, then added, "Also, Remian, Jane''s here."

    "Jane?" Remian blinked. "What is she doing here?"

    "I think Mandy sent her to try and persuade us to go someplace safer." George paused. Well, if Remian was fine talking about this in front of the Eagle Lord, then¡­ "But these days, she''s been following Jim around."

    "Who''s Jim?" Remian blinked.

    "Arnold''s friend from Libertaria. We wanted a way to harness lightning, remember? He''s over at Deepsilver''s right now, as he always is. I don''t think we could drag him away without violence at this point."

    "Well, we need to take good care of him. Get him whatever he needs. Maybe Jane could help us out." Remian scratched his head. "Let me know if you need more resources for that."

    "Oh, the money you gave me is plenty. That is, if this Moda guy can be trusted. He says he''s from Deutero, but who knows if he really is¡­"

    "If he isn''t, it''s not going to matter. He won''t be able to do anything with my bank account unless he is exactly who he says he is. It''s not like he''s asking for cash straight up. We''ll just need to be careful when we go with him to the Branch Office." Remian explained. "I''m sure they have ways to verify his identity. Besides, I was thinking we should make the trip with Charlie. Maybe not this weekend, because I have a brother to find, but next weekend."

    "I don''t think he''ll be here that long. He''s already booked a flight out on the next airship. That''s one of Asda''s from Fal''Herim, by the way."

    "Asda''s in Fal''Herim? What is she doing there? I thought she was taking care of things here." Remian frowned.

    George stared. "You didn''t know?"

    "Know what?"

    George gulped. "You might want to sit down, Remian. I''ve got news, and I''m afraid it''s not good."

 126 Division

    That night, Remian stood alone in the cold and the dark.

    It was quiet, with the sounds of man and Wild muted and distant. The wind was chilly at the top of the Guild Hall, but he stood there without complaint, feeling the cold outside as much as he felt it inside.

    Humans. The word sounded oddly alien, as if considering a foreign kind. Strange thoughts were associated with the concept, for some reason. Destroyers. Liars. Betrayers.

    Asda.

    For a minute there, he itched to strike. Do something, anything, to cause her pain. Send the lynxmice to rob their food stores. Send the airships to bomb their homes. Something.

    But what would the result be? Vengeance in return for vengeance. Airships and armies from the Coalition of Six storming what little Remian had left in the Wildlands.

    For another minute he contemplated. Should he bemoan his lack of strength? Train himself to become an unstoppable mage, so that nobody would backstab him or bully him any more?

    Ridiculous. His lifespan wasn''t going to last that long. What would happen after he died? To his family, and friends, and everything he wanted to leave behind? Everything would fall apart if everything depended on him and his vaunted strength. What was selfish strength good for, except for bullying? Would it improve the lives of the needy? Grant a better future for the common man in the world?

    Not by itself, no. Development could. Resource investment could. Technological advances could. Between these things, perhaps someday, people could eat good food that hadn''t been cheapened to reduce costs and improve profits to the point of causing unhealthy side-effects in the long term to countless of unsuspecting people. Perhaps someday, people could actually trust that their medical and healthcare experts were entirely concerned about their well-being rather than the profits of selling them needed medication with untold side-effects. Perhaps someday, cures could be found for diseases and physical defects like the kind that would sooner or later end Remian''s life.

    That was the goal in his heart. That was the hope he held in trying to step toward a better future. It could not be done in the cultures and cities of modern, developed men. The Wilds had it right when they called men Destroyers. Man would destroy himself for money and indeed continued to do so.

    No. The answers were in working together with nature, advancing in knowledge and sciences in harmony with nature. But there was no magic, no godly artifact or divine resource or all-giving system that would miraculously provide such advancement. It had to be discovered step by step, worked upon and developed like all sciences, the slow way, the difficult way, the costly way. There were no cheats in the real world.

    Given the time he had left, and the scope of what he needed to do, Remian had a choice to make.

    He could wage war on Fal''Herim. Make Asda pay. With the Wilds at his command, they would wreak havoc and ruin upon the desert city, loot and plunder it for all it was worth, maybe even conquer it and turn it into his own capital.

    What followed would likely be a generation of war with the Coalition of Six, one they might win by fending them off indefinitely. Remian himself wouldn''t survive to see the end of it, but he would leave behind a nation of warriors, built upon a culture forged by lifetimes of war.

    He was tempted. God knew he was tempted.

    Or, he could go farther south in the Wildlands. Seek increasing connection with nature through the Wilds. Learn the secrets of these untamed regions, and seek the mysteries of the Black Ruins. Change the way they live, abandoning the industries and destructive ways of a human town. At this point, it looked like they were going to become a nation of air nomads, living in airships, taking from the ground what they needed, but building their homes in the sky¡­

    He was close. Remian could feel it. Befriending the Eagle Lord was a huge step forward. To actually be friends with a Lord of the Wilds! If he could befriend enough of them¡­

    Then all of the Wildlands would be open to him. The Coalition of Six would not dare set foot in these regions without his permission. Imagine! To raise a force the likes of a Beast Tide, the way Doom did! To this day, none of the nations of man had ever been able to withstand a Beast Tide.

    All of this might mean keeping the Wildlands for himself. Even if it meant putting himself on the other side, standing with the Wilds against the majority of mankind in his destructive ways.

    But on the other hand, that was wrong too. That was Doom''s way, and he was doing it wrong.

    It had never been Remian''s desire to reject the world or mankind, but to change it.

    That was why, ultimately, he was going to let go of Asda and her betrayal. Turn his back on them. He was making huge strides in reaching for his goals, and he simply didn''t want to waste wasting time, effort, and blood just to make her suffer in return

    But would she ever learn? Or would she simply take more advantage in the future, again and again, since he was so docile to accept her betrayal?

    What was that phrase the old queen used to wake Khar''al-dras, again? "Sior kri za''un"?

    The last time that dragon woke up, Fal''Herim was reduced to rubble¡­

    Hmm. Maybe not the dragon. Perhaps he could spare just a little effort on Asda herself, just her alone.

    ***

    George, on the other hand, was not so forgiving.

    "Maybe you can let them get away with it, but I can''t." George shook his head, upon hearing Remian''s conclusion later that night. "We fought for everything we have! Every time a Beast Wave attacked, we fought! Every time our people were threatened, we fought! And now so many of them have been stolen right from under our noses by someone we trusted, and you''re just going to let it go? No way! We have to fight for them!"

    "How?" Remian asked.

    "I don''t know how! But I''ll figure it out!" George declared. "Meanwhile, we have to go find Shadowflash."

    "Find Shadowflash?" Remian blinked. "Why?"

    "Because until we find him and defeat him, either kill him or make him swear fealty, the Wilds will never recognize you as the true Lord of this Fief!" George pointed out. "You''ll forever be ''the squatter'', just the intruder human who should be driven out!"

    "That¡­" Remian stared, stunned. He hadn''t even thought of that.

    "Making friends is all very well, but the world isn''t so kind just because you are. Sometimes, we need to use force. Out on the Frontier, every child knows that more than most. We live it, day by day. The weak die. That''s the law of the jungle. The Wildlands is that kind of place. You should understand that."

    "But it doesn''t have to be! That''s what I''m trying to tell you!"

    "That''s a maybe, in the future. Right here, right now, we have to defend ourselves today!" George insisted. "This morning, a boy from the Harvest Sun almost died to a sneak Wild attack! He was just foraging in the forest for fruit! Tomorrow, it could be his sister, or his brother. It could even be me. We can''t let down our guard out here! Not against the Wilds, not against the Sand People, not against Doom, not against Song Chen, not against anybody!"

    Remian''s face was pale at this point. "Fine. You do what you have to do. Protect our people. But me, I need to find my brother, and I''m going to try to ensure a future of lasting peace for everybody!"

    George and Mindy watched him go, then exchanged cautious glances.

    "He''s losing his edge." George shook his head. "Maybe it''s the shock of losing to the Beast Tide, maybe it''s because of concern for his brother, but Remian¡­ it feels like he''s going soft."

    "It doesn''t matter." Mindy shook her head. "I will go with him to the south. We will find whatever we will find. You can stay here and fight your fights."

    "You¡­ you could stay here." George trailed off. "Build your fleet of airships. Trade with the nations to the north. Fight the Beast Waves from the air. Take the fight to Fal''Herim eventually. We''re going to need airships, and you''re the one who legally owns them all."

    "You can have them. The Sky Barges, the Gunships, the Tugs¡­ you can have them all on rent. They''ll be mine to own but yours to command. And yours to pay for damages if you get them torn up." Mindy suggested.

    "Are you really serious?" George asked. "You''ll follow Remian to the deep south in search of some future hope and leave behind all the dreams you''ve had?"

    "I''m not leaving anything behind." Mindy protested.

    "I remember you telling me what your dreams were! A fleet of airships that can make lots of money trading around the world! Don''t tell me you''ve forgotten! It wasn''t that long ago!"

    "I haven''t forgotten. But there''s an opportunity in the south right now, with Darian and Doom and Remian the way they are, right now, there''s a chance for that future hope! I can''t just give up on it, and I can''t let Remian take it all on himself! I have to go with him." Mindy said decisively. "The airships can wait until I get back."

    "And how long will that be?" George asked.

    "I have no idea." Mindy said, and that was that.

    ***

    So Remian and Mindy and a small crew went south with the Red Fang and the Eagle Lord.

    George was left with a defenseless farm, a host of adults who all saw him as just some boy under Remian''s tutelage, and an outflow of people to Fal''Herim that was practically the lifeblood of the Fief bleeding out at a deadly pace.

    This was it. Remian had left. Mindy had gone with him. Tim had disappeared somewhere.

    It was up to him now. This was going to have to be his fight.

    And the first thing he had to do was prove himself¡­ even if it meant doing things he''d never done before.

 127 Deal

    It was a visit from a person she never thought she''d see again.

    "George?! What brings you here?" Asda gaped.

    George looked at her coldly, saying nothing for a long moment. Asda felt a chill rise up her back, but stubbornly fought off her uneasiness and said, "What? Remember this is Fal''Herim, you can''t just do anything you like here! There are security guards around, you know? Plus, this is my house!"

    How long had it been since she''d left the ruins of Fort Spoas? A week? Something like that?

    "Oh, I know." George said, glancing at the armored men on every side. Asda had ten of them around the porch of her new house alone. "Actually, I came to offer you a deal."

    "A deal?" Asda''s eyes narrowed. "I won''t be emotionally blackmailed into charity!"

    "Nobody asked you for charity." George''s lips narrowed. "I''m asking you for gunships."

    "Gunships?" Asda blinked.

    "Like the Foresight, but with their own engines. Mindy wanted to design some new corvette patrol boat, but I don''t have time to wait for her to brush up her engineering skills. I need airships that can shoot Tier 4 Wilds dead from the air and I need them now. We have thousands of them running around loose in the forests between the farm and the mines and they''re looking at my farmers hungrily."

    "I see. So it''s my manufacturing capabilities you want." Asda said in realization.

    "I''ll buy them at market price. Consider this a first commission." George still retained that cold, aloof attitude. "You do run a shipyard, don''t you?"

    "Errr¡­ yes. Yes, I do." Asda nodded. Truth be told, her ''shipyard'' wasn''t very big or very capable, but an order like this was exactly what she needed. Small gunboats were within their capabilities, and they could easily import parts from other members of the Coalition of Six.

    Yet why did she have this uneasy feeling? Every time she looked at George''s face, she felt a chill run down her spine.

    "I''ll have my people look through your proposal. We can sign once they''ve approved of it." Asda decided. Her ''people'' were legal experts previously from her father''s employ. If George planned anything nasty in the paperwork, they''d find it for sure. "I just have to ask¡­ why me?"

    "What do you mean? You''re the nearest shipyard." George pointed out.

    "Still. You can''t be happy about my taking so many people with me when I left. You could have commissioned new airships from Ashdale or Deutero. Why me?" Asda questioned.

    George smiled a mirthless smile. "Do you see me as a serious business partner?"

    "If we sign the deal, of course I would. Why?"

    "Because if I went to other shipyards, all they''d see is a little boy. They don''t know me. They don''t know anything about me. All they know is what they see, and they see that I''m young."

    There was that. Asda had to admit, she had that problem too. A lot of older business people simply wouldn''t take a little girl like her seriously, no matter her titles or capabilities. It didn''t help that her brother the Crown Prince helped her with a wink and a lenient laugh if she ever asked him to speak on her behalf.

    "Also, I need mercenaries." George added.

    "Mercenaries?" Asda stared.

    "We seem to have lost a great deal of manpower recently." George mentioned coldly.

    Asda felt her cheeks warm. She cleared her throat. "Um¡­ right. About that¡­ I think the Sons of Sands group has been rather free lately. They won''t do indirect contracts; you''ll have to meet them in person. Maybe ask Salim for an introduction?"

    George left. After he went, Asda immediately turned to the captain of her guard and asked, "Did any lynxmice come with him?"

    "Pardon, princess?"

    "Lynxmice. Small half-cat, half-rat creatures. They like to eat cheese. About this big." Asda gestured.

    "No, ma''am, he came alone."

    "Well, keep an eye out, just in case. Those little things can cause a lot more trouble than you know." Asda warned him.

    Was it just her imagination, or was there a flicker of moment there in the corner of her eye just now?

    "Just¡­ keep an eye out! And start a patrol to look for those creatures! And set an hourly patrol to inspect the treasury!" Asda said, in a harried voice, and went to find her legal advisors.

    ***

    George, meanwhile, went to find Ka''ron. Who was Ka''ron? He was a recluse and a legend among the Harvest Sun clan, previously the Desert Moon clan. The point was, this was a man that they sought when someone had an illness that all their herbalists couldn''t help.

    "You are Ka''ron?" he asked the quiet man at a little herb stall at the bazaar.

    "Who asks?" the man questioned.

    "I hear you have the herbs of life." George mentioned.

    "Says who?"

    "Says Taj and Nadia of the Desert Moon Clan."

    "Only they?"

    "They and all their clan."

    "Why have you come?" he asked next. "Do you seek one such herb? Or have you someone in need of treatment?"

    "Yes, yes, and more." George answered. "I have come¡­ to take you to a fertile land where you can grow as much herbs as you like. Whether the mountainside, or the valley, whether in forested soil or dry sand, you need only ask, and I will make sure you have what you need."

    "That sounds like a generous offer. What brings it about?"

    "Only that I have a friend whom I am concerned about. He has a disease, and he has a dream to help others with diseases."

    "I would like to meet that friend. But I have no desire to leave my home."

    "You can bring your home and your whole neighborhood if you want. I''ll send over an airship and you can put the whole thing inside. We''ll even dig up the garden and bring it along."

    "And if I refused?"

    "You can come with it, or we can leave you behind while we bring your home first, and you can come find it at your leisure." George straightened. "I am desperate, and I can be generous. Trust me when I say I will treat you with the utmost respect and care¡­ so long as you help me."

    "You really think yourself capable of such feats?" Ka''ron eyed him suspiciously.

    George turned around and walked away.

    Two hours later, Ka''ron went home to find nothing left but a patch of bare land. His entire house, his garden, and his neighbors on both sides had all disappeared entirely.

    In front of the bare patch was a sign.

    "Airport by sunset."

    ***

    "He did what?!" the Crown Prince of Fal''Herim stopped and turned around to face the attendant who made the report. "I''m getting rather tired of Remian''s high-handed ways. They are trouble-makers, providing no benefit to us, not even paying us for the slaves they take any more¡­"

    "Actually sire, they put in a commission for airships with Asda''s shipyard. Also, this is George, sire, not Remian who did it. Apparently, he''s Remian''s scion."

    "They''re customers?" the Crown Prince stopped. "How big is their order?"

    "Twenty corvette-class airships. Two million lir, sire."

    "That''s¡­ not bad¡­" he considered. "For a million-lir customer, we might be able to let a few small matters slide. Who is this fellow George is taking away?"

    The attendant cleared his throat. "A herbalist, sire. He appears to be popular among the slaves."

    "A slave herbalist?" The Crown Prince frowned. "What''s the going rate for slave herbalists these days?"

    "A direct purchase, sire? Thirty thousand on average. Fifty thousand for a highly skilled one."

    "Send George a bill for fifty thousand lir, the price for the slave and his home. With the coronation coming up, we can use the extra cash. Also, invite him to the coronation but stress that he will be a royal guest and that formal attire is expected."

    "Understood, sire."

    ***

    Meanwhile, far to the south, three figures were descending upon long-forgotten ruins.

    "This is the place?" Remian asked the Eagle Lord. "You''re sure no other humans have ever excavated these ruins?"

    [They are in my lands. I am sure.] The Eagle Lord snorted. [All part of the deal. Not even I have dug through the dead carcass of the human nest. Such behavior¡­ is beneath me!]

    "Yeah, we get that." Mindy rolled her eyes.

    Following them, dozens of wolfcats and lynxmice crept up to investigate the strange black structures in the run-down area. Ten adventurers began to set up camp at a clearing near the entrance to the ruins, some sort of town square.

    "What do you want to do, Mindy? Do you want to come look around the ruins, or wait back at the airship?" Remian asked.

    "I''m coming with you either way." Mindy shrugged. "Can''t have you falling on your nose and dying from exhaustion all by yourself. Phoebe''s orders."

    "Really? I didn''t hear her mention that." Remian glanced back at the airship.

    "She did. She said ''Take care of Remian''." Mindy pointed out.

    "I''m not sure skulking around the ruins was what she had in mind." Remian scratched his head. "But anyway. Let''s go see what an unspoiled ruin of the black cities look like."

 128 Three Pines Ruins

    Honestly speaking, the Black Ruins weren''t entirely black.

    A lot of them were. Many buildings were made of some strange smooth black material. Even after time and weather had taken their tolls on them, roughly half the town remained intact. Walking into the nearest little hut-like structure at the gate, Remian found the insides dry and almost dusty.

    In other words, the roof didn''t even leak.

    There was a good bit of broken furniture, though. Twisted metal and old wood chips hinted at a desk by the large window. Was this some sort of guard house or inspection booth?

    Meanwhile, the floor, rather than black, held broken white tiles. The roads outside were gray stone. The trees and bushes around were a mix of greens and reds. There were flowers and creepers growing wildly everywhere. Some small critters even made their homes in the ruins, and they too added color to the scene.

    Mindy touched the black wall, sniffed, and said, "You know, now that I think about it, this feels like pencil lead. It''s more solid and much stronger, but it smells and feels like that."

    "Is it a kind of metal, or a kind of stone?" Remian asked.

    "Is it obsidian?" Mindy suggested.

    Remian picked up a broken piece of black wall, and felt it. "Too smooth. Obsidian is usually very sharp when it shatters. Some people like to make weapons and cutting tools with it. But this¡­ it''s something else."

    They went through the street, peeking into the buildings to either side. Some of them still had shelves and worktops made of black stuff. Mindy observed, "These look like shoplots. This was probably their market street."

    "That makes sense." Remian glanced about. "Those poles there¡­ they look like lamp posts, similar to what Ecclesia uses. For a town this size to have lamp posts on the streets¡­ they must have been incredibly advanced compared to the rest of us now."

    "Or maybe this particular town was especially rich?" Mindy suggested.

    "Why would it be? It''s not some beachside vacation spot." Remian glanced about. "I don''t see anything nearby that would make a town in this location rich. There''s no elemental mine, no mana lode, no large factories or anything that looks like tourist attractions¡­ this just looks like some quiet hillside town."

    Mindy glanced about, thinking. "You know how there''s a few black ruins scattered across the hillside? Spread out far and wide?"

    "Yes. Why?"

    "I think maybe the people here had plantations on the hillside. Depending on what they planted, it could have been very valuable." Mindy still hadn''t given up on the ''rich town'' theory.

    "Let''s go take a look, then." Remian suggested. "See what''s growing there now. Some of those plants might have grown wild and spread around."

    "Later." Mindy retreated. "First, I want to see their magic."

    "Their magic?"

    "The black cities'' legendary forbidden magics. I want to know what was so great about it and why it was all forbidden."

    They went in farther, discovering oddities left and right. Most of the time, all they found were pieces or wreckage, but on occasion, they''d glimpse something intact, but neither of them would have any idea what it was.

    "Don''t touch touch any of them, or investigate them in depth for the moment. There''s a reason why the adventurers are setting up camp." Remian advised her.

    "How much time do we have here?" Mindy asked.

    "Not much. I was only planning a quick run-through. We still need to find Darian." Remian considered. "Ten minutes, perhaps?"

    "Well, let''s see if we can find some traces of their magic in ten minutes."

    Remian didn''t think they could, but in fact, they did. It was actually a pair of sharp devices facing each other in a shaded corner of a hall covered with white dust¡­

    Mindy sniffed. "That smells like calcium. Bone dust?"

    "Two weapons facing each other covered in bone dust." Remian said softly. "Ages ago, we might have come up upon two dead bodies, their weapons having killed each other."

    "So¡­ what happened to the black cities¡­ it might have been a civil war." Mindy guessed.

    "Maybe. All we can guess from this for now is that two people killed each other in combat."

    "That, and the bodies were never moved, their weapons never retrieved. Everyone else, therefore, must have been too preoccupied." Mindy pointed out. "Doesn''t that mean something big was going on?"

    "Something big, yes."

    The weapons in question were like short halberds, or perhaps swords with excessively long handles. The bladed parts were two feet in length, slightly curved and double-edged. The handles were almost as long, formed of a lighter version of the black material used in the walls, twisting down on itself like a sort of stiff rope, ending in a pommel.

    There were runes etched into the weapons. Different runes on the different blades, handles, and even the butts of both pommels. "Do you recognize any of them?"

    "No, but I don''t sense any magic left in them, so¡­" Mindy picked one up. "Think we should send these to a specialist to study?"

    "What for? So that they''d try to steal it for themselves, or announce to the world that there''s a fresh ruin here waiting for everybody and their uncles to come plunder? No, we better keep this site and these weapons a secret." Remian shrugged. "I''d rather study them myself."

    "Me too." Mindy said.

    "Just be careful. We don''t know what those runes do. Whatever you do, don''t point that thing at me if you want to test it out."

    Mindy snorted. "I don''t think they''re too complicated. These are personnel weapons, after all, not doomsday devices. What kind of runes would you put on a personal blade like this? Attack, defense, weapon-enhancement¡­ something like that?"

    "Pretty much." Remian agreed. "But¡­ don''t test it while there are other people around. I''d suggest at least a hundred meters of open space and either sheer rock directly in front of you after that, or miles of empty sky."

    "Either of those are easy enough on this mountain." Mindy mused.

    He took one, she took the other, and then they left the rest for the adventurers to investigate while they took the Red Fang south to search for Darian.

    ***

    Meanwhile, George returned to the farm tired after a long trip from Fal''Herim.

    "Bang!" a little girl said, pointing at him a toy rifle that looked suspiciously well-made and well-balanced.

    "Oof! I''m dead!" George smacked his chest theatrically and slumped over, leaning his head to one side and sticking out his tongue. "Blehh."

    "Eriane, come eat your dinner!" her mother called her.

    The little girl laughed and ran off.

    "Mrs. Vin." George approached Eriane''s mother.

    "George." Lisa Vin nodded to him amiably.

    "I need to talk to you and your husband about what the children are learning." George mentioned.

    "You''re one of those children too, George. You should be in school like the rest of them."

    George shook his head. "Maybe in some other life. Right now, I need to keep us all safe. The frontier is a dangerous place. On that note, you have been teaching them weapons and combat, right?"

    "Right. You''re welcome to join us if you like."

    "I¡­ would like to take a look, first." George paused. "We need to be prepared for anything."

    "That sounds ominous."

    "I don''t mean to scare anyone, but¡­ I don''t want our people to have to live in fear of the Wilds." George said. "If there was a way to make everyone strong enough that nobody needs to be afraid of the random Wilds any more¡­"

    "You want everyone to be able to fight off a random Wild?"

    "At least a Tier 3." George nodded. "I''m thinking maybe it would be fine for everyone to wear armor and carry weapons all the time."

    "That''s just encouraging violence." Lisa frowned. "Are you trying to raise bandits?"

    "Uncontrolled violence is bad. But martial arts training should begin with control. This includes discipline, and righteous conduct, doesn''t it?"

    "I don''t know. A lot of these martial artists seem to behave like bullies in the end."

    "A well-trained one shouldn''t. That shouldn''t be what martial arts is about. If it''s all just about strength in the end, our world would turn into a world of tyranny. But there is such a thing as a code of honor."

    "You mean, like knights? Some knights behave badly too."

    "Then it''s an issue of teaching, isn''t it? So teach them. That''s what teachers do."

    Lisa fell silent for a long minute. Then, "I want the support of the Adventurers Guild. If I invoke a punishment, the Guild has to back me up on it. That means, if I ground somebody, the Guild grounds them too, no missions, no bounties, nada."

    "That''s fine." George nodded.

    "And we need funding. If you want everyone armed and armored, then we can make it a standardized uniform¡­ that might even instill in them a form of patriotism¡­"

    "Uniforms are rejected. The frontier is free." George shook his head. "But we''ll make weapons and armor readily available from the Guild at reasonable prices, and offer better opportunities to earn more points at lower Tiers. Also, we can offer points as rewards for school achievements. Heck, give them a few points for finishing their homework if you have to, but one way or the other, they need to earn their own weapons and armor."

    "Points for finishing homework sounds good." Lisa nodded. "But surely you can make the armor at least look similar enough to have some sort of uniformity?"

    "I''ll talk with what''s left of the forge. It should be reasonable for items coming from the same manufacturer to sport the same overall design." George allowed. "Especially if we start seriously mass-producing Tier 4 leather armor."

    "Can the forge really manage that? I mean, I heard almost everybody left."

    "We''ll have to offer armor-making jobs through the Guild too. In fact, we should offer a lot more jobs of a lot more kinds through the Guild. Everyone can be an Adventurer. The more people join up and help out, the better off we''ll all be."

    "And what should we do when adults ask if they themselves can join in the classes, whether to learn combat skills or earn points?"

    "I say let them. Everybody needs to grow stronger."

    "They might feel rather embarrassed about it, though."

    "Isn''t that motivation for them to train harder, then? Not that anybody''s forcing them. We''ll just make it possible and very attractive and just mention publicly that there is no age limit. At all."

 129 Learning Things

    As for Darian, well¡­

    He was learning many things from Doom.

    For example, the different kinds of bait you use for catching different kinds of fish.

    For example, how long to wait for one side of a fish to cook over a campfire before turning the spit.

    For example, how to find really good spots to set up a hammock.

    Also, that afternoon naps were a priceless luxury.

    Also, that it took six hours to charbroil a Royal Snapper Redfin, which was actually five times bigger than Doom himself. Charbroiled RSR happened to be Har''es-dras'' favorite snack.

    Mikai found him first. [Darian! You''re here! And you have grilled fish!]

    "Want some?" Darian offered.

    Mikai hopped up to the campfire and nibbled. [Nice! What fish is this?]

    "This is just a Mini Snapper Redfin. You should see the Royal ones. They''re huge." Darian advised him.

    [Just a second.] Mikai turned north, and concentrated. A pulse of psionic energy flickered out, sending a message to another lynxmouse.

    Doom saw it. He saw Darian talking to a lynxmouse. He saw that lynxmouse sending a message to another lynxmouse. He didn''t seem particularly concerned or anything. He just sat there fishing as always.

    Two other lynxmice arrived in minutes. They, too, sniffed eagerly at the grilled fish. Darian shared some of it with them.

    Doom saw it, but again, didn''t interfere. He just smiled.

    But then a wolfcat arrived. It was Lunar. She sniffed at Darian, and wagged her tail upon meeting him, and then happily gulped down some of that grilled fish.

    "Hey!" Doom stood up. "We can''t give away all our food! Save some for dinner!"

    "But we''ve got lots of smoked fish stored up¡­" Darian pointed out.

    "Ten minutes with Har''es-dras and that''ll be the end of them."

    "Can''t we just magick up some more?" Darian gestured. "Use water magic and grab fish right out of the lake?"

    "The world is already running out of mana and you want to use it to catch fish?! Just catch fish the normal way!"

    "But we use magic to talk to animals all the time!"

    "That''s not magic! That''s psionics! It''s different!"

    Darian paused. "Wait. What do you mean, the world is running out of mana?"

    "Just like I said. Mana crystals get mined, and used up, and then when it''s all gone, what is everyone going to do?"

    "Uh¡­" Darian floundered. "I don''t know."

    "Neither does anyone else." Doom sniffed. "All those great mages in all those great cities are one day going to find that the only way to power their vaunted machines and magic is to do it themselves, use their own mana. I''m half tempted to move back to Ecclesia when that happens just to see what they end up doing¡­"

    "When is that?" Darian asked, hopefully. Maybe there was an easier way for him to go home¡­

    "About¡­ twenty, thirty years from now, maybe?"

    Darian''s face fell. So much for an easier way.

    Oh, well. Mikai and Lunar and the lynxmice were already here. That means, by now, Remian already knew where he was. It was just a matter of time before they arrived.

    And then what? Darian looked at Doom, then at Har''es-dras, then toward Mikai and Lunar and shook his head. He had to admit, he was rather curious to see what they were going to end up doing.

    ***

    "So, are you going to come on out, or are you going to stalk us all day?" Doom asked.

    Remian grimaced. So much for the stealthy approach. Throwing ideas of sneaking up out the window, he and Mindy openly walked out and approached the campfire.

    "Surprised to see me?" Remian asked, waving.

    "Not as surprised as you are to see me, I''d bet." Doom ventured.

    "That''s true."

    Mindy blinked. "Why is it true? We''ve been chasing him this entire time."

    "It''s not that I''m surprised to see him, exactly. Actually, I''m surprised to see him here like this." Remian gestured. "Mindy, we know him."

    "We do?" Mindy gaped.

    "Yes! That''s it, exactly!" Remian nodded. "Doom isn''t some guy that just appeared out of nowhere. We knew about him from the very start! We were talking about him months ago!"

    "Really? How come I didn''t know?" Mindy gasped.

    "But you did know! Can''t you see, Mindy?" Remian pointed. "Crazy guy. Fishing. At Dragon Lake."

    Mindy''s eyes widened. "You''re right! That does sound familiar! But that means¡­!"

    "Yes. Doom is the Crazy Fisher."

    Mindy paused. Then, she grinned and dashed over to Doom. "Hey! Crazy Fisher! Wanna join our Adventurer''s Guild?"

    Doom a.k.a. Crazy Fisher stared at her. "And here I thought you wanted to kill me or that it was your brother you wanted."

    Mindy kept trying. "You know, there''s an active reward out for Darian''s rescue on the Guild Board. If you join up and bring him back, you could earn five thousand Guild Points."

    "You seem oddly keen on having me join this guild of yours." Doom observed.

    "Of course! I want the points for recruiting the elusive Crazy Fisher!!" Mindy exclaimed.

    "And once again, it all comes down to human greed!" Doom rolled his eyes.

    "Ah, but you''re human too, right? Doesn''t that mean you''re greedy as well? Just a little?"

    Doom considered it. "Actually, yes. I do get greedy, sometimes."

    "So come join us! Teach us how not to destroy nature! We''ll even pay you for classes!" Mindy cajoled.

    "That¡­" Doom paused. "That actually sounds a bit tempting."

    "Well, join or don''t join, either way, I need to bring my brother home. Our parents are worried enough as it is."

    "Parents?" Doom stared blankly. "You have parents? That can''t be right. Out here on the Frontier, none of the kids have parents¡­"

    "We''re not from around here, originally." Remian explained.

    "So this brother of yours¡­ really is your brother?"

    "By blood." Remian confirmed.

    Doom glanced from Remian to Darian awkwardly. "But¡­ an eastern boy alone with a viking¡­ out in the open during a Beast Tide¡­"

    "He''s not some abandoned orphan. He''s very much valued and wanted back, thank you." Remian cleared his throat. "Could we have him back, please?"

    "Um¡­" Doom scratched his head, considering. "But I haven''t had time to teach him everything¡­"

    "You taught me the important stuff." Darian assured him. "I can catch my own fish now."

    Remian coughed. "I don''t think fishing was why he brought you all the way out here."

    "But that''s all he ever talks about!" Darian protested. "That, and how the world is running out of mana."

    "It''s what?!" Remian jumped.

    "That''s actually not why I brought you here either¡­" Doom winced.

    "Then why did you bring me here?"

    "It''s because the Wilds are going to totally overrun the entire world if I can''t hold them back any more." Doom explained to Darian. "It''s all I can do to let me chase humans out instead of them doing it themselves. I figured, if I had at least one more human on my side¡­"

    "Wait. The Wilds are what¡­?" Mindy stared.

    "They''re kind of¡­ meant to keep an ancient enemy sealed up, and humans are throwing off nature so much that the seals can''t do their job, so in order to protect nature¡­"

    "Wait. They''re protecting us? By destroying us? To protect nature from us, who they''re trying to protect?" Mindy asked, even more confused.

    "No, no, they''re trying to protect this world." Doom explained. "Most especially, this region you call the Wildlands. But humans have already upset the balances of nature and magic in the world, so the next time there''s a Beast Tide that goes out under a King of the Wilds, it''s not going to stop at the desert edge any more. Next time, it''s going to sweep north, freely calling on reinforcements as that King might see fit, and there is no telling, and no need, for it to stop until it''s swept through the entire world."

    "And you think a Beast Tide poses a serious threat to all humanity?" Mindy asked, blinking.

    To her left, Har''es-dras snorted in his sleep.

    Mindy took one look at him, and gulped. "Never mind."

 130 Georges Day 1

    Sweat slowly dripped down his forehead. His eyes narrowed, his hands clenched around the hilt of his sword.

    George drew in deep breaths, trying to slow his breathing, all too aware of how heavily his heart pounded. This wasn''t good. His strength was waning, while in front of him, his opponent moved easily, lifting his heavier blade like it was nothing, not missing a beat in his movements.

    Cautiously, George defended. Bracing both his legs, he tried to save some strength and went for a block instead of trying to dodge or parry the next obvious blow. If he could engage the other guy in a blade lock, throw in his weight at the right angle, so long as the other guy was caught off-guard, he could buy himself a moment or two to catch his breath, regain his balance¡­

    Fat chance. The other guy''s weight and momentum far superceded his own. There was a jarring sock and on top of that, George felt like he''d run into one of DD''s herd charging ahead at full speed. "OOF!"

    The world went black for a moment. He was slightly aware of himself falling backward, and trying to keep standing, but his legs just couldn''t hold him up any more.

    When he came to, he was on the ground, with a heavy wooden practice sword pointed at his nose.

    "What was that?" his opponent, Max, asked, one eyebrow raised. "What kind of idiot thought was running through your head when you made a mistake like that?"

    George took off his padded practice helmet, panting heavily. "Urgh. Did you have to charge forward that hard?"

    "Sorry. Old habits. I just couldn''t resist. You were just standing there, bracing for impact, knowing it was coming but just happily getting hit¡­" Max chuckled. "Besides, didn''t you say you wanted me to be serious with you? Something about becoming stronger quicker?"

    "I was an idiot." George admitted, sweat dripping down his face. "Both times."

    "Oh, I think there was some merit to practicing more seriously." Max shrugged. "Though I do think you might have picked someone around your size."

    George just sat there and let out a groan while Max laughed.

    "What''s the hurry about getting stronger anyway?" Max questioned. "I mean, I get it, but there are better fighters around you can rely on."

    "Ugh¡­ the idea was to have everyone strong enough to fight off Tier 3, maybe even Tier 4 Wilds. I''m the one who came up with the policy, so I thought, maybe I should set a good example¡­"

    "Challenging someone thrice your size and telling him to go serious on you is really not a good example." Max advised. "Someone around your size and skill, perhaps, maybe even one of the trainees, but not one of the grizzled veterans. Maybe ask Tim? I haven''t seen him on the practice grounds in ages. He could probably use some practice these days."

    "It''s been days since I''ve seen Tim anywhere, practice grounds or otherwise." George grunted. "Any idea where he''s gone?"

    "Not a clue. I thought he went south with Remian or something? Or is he skulking around the mines and the tunnels with the lynxmice again?"

    "Maybe." George wasn''t sure himself. "Anyway, thanks for the practice, but I think I''ve reached my limits for the day, and I have an appointment soon."

    "Sure. Just¡­ take it easy, all right?" Max scratched his head. "You know, we don''t actually need you on the front lines in person. We need you more at the bank and the farm, if you know what I mean."

    "Yeah, yeah. I get it. I won''t get myself killed and put your paycheck in jeopardy." George snorted, and waved as he went to prepare for his appointment.

    ***

    His appointment was with Salim.

    "So, how many mercenaries did you intend to hire? What skill levels and for how long?" Salim asked.

    "I don''t actually want to hire mercenaries. I just want to reward them." George told him.

    "What?" Salim stared at him blankly.

    "It''s like this. I don''t want to employ them full time. I just want them to get some work done, and pay them for it afterward. How long they take or what they do to do it is up to them." George explained. "Basically, I want to post bounties."

    "Ah." That was easy enough to understand.

    "The difference is the bounties aren''t just for kills. They include protection duties, like ''one week of safety for North Amber Gorge Mine, all our miners protected from Wilds while operating unhindered. Bonus for zero injuries.''"

    "And if they fail?" Salim asked. "If even one person dies to an accident?"

    "Accidents don''t count. They only fail if someone gets killed by a Wild." George said.

    "That''s still a very tall order. There''s no telling what some idiot miner might get himself into, sometimes."

    George thought about it. "Okay, then at least a 95% survival rate, and most of the time, the operations of the mine must run smoothly. You can sort out the exact wording and details, but the point is they don''t get paid unless our miners are safe."

    "Understood." Salim jotted down notes. "Are we providing anything else? Food, accommodations?"

    "Nope. They''ll have to handle all of that on their own." George answered decisively. "I''ve got enough trouble to deal with already. I don''t need any more."

    He''d learned a thing or two from Remian''s previous hires. Trying to provide amenities for everyone, especially mercenaries, was a serious pain. Given that the whole town was wiped out and that they weren''t going to rebuild it, George felt it best that they not even try.

    "Aren''t the FDF guys guarding the mines?" Salim questioned.

    "Only when we can''t get mercenaries. I want the FDF focused on Kara-Goth." George told him.

    Kara-Goth was the new heart of their operations now. Fort Spoas was history; but the mines and the tunnels of Kara-Goth were extensive, and increasingly so day by day. They already rivaled the size of the town back when Remian first arrived. Given time, the underground town could very well grow into a full-sized city. George fully intended to turn both hills into earthen fortresses. In fact, looking at the Pit, George wondered if a similar design could be implemented inside each hill¡­

    He could picture it already. Huge holes down the center of each hill, each an open space oval where one could look up at the sky, with shops and houses on floor after floor surrounding it, maybe with the occasional rope bridge across¡­

    Mindy had shown him pictures of something similar. It was from a large mall in Ashdale. It had cost her some good silver for that magic photo, but George felt it was priceless.

    One day, he decided, he was going to see that mall for himself. But later, after he''d secured Shadowflash Fief.

    On that note, they had to do something about Shadowflash himself. The only way to really make a legitimate claim to these lands was to kill him or make him swear fealty. He should make that a bounty too. Something like¡­ five thousand Lir dead, ten thousand alive?

    No, wait. Carrie and Vigil and all those wolfcats might get upset if they heard about a kill bounty on Shadowflash. More like a missing persons bounty, then? At least, they needed to find Shadowflash before anything else. 100 lir for verified whereabouts (they knew he was somewhere deep inside the Amber Gorge, but where in the Amber Gorge exactly?), and 10,000 for safe return.

    100 lir¡­ or 300 Guild Points. 30,000 GP if an Adventurer brought him in. That sounded about right.

    "Squik."

    George turned around. "Miik. What''s the word on Fal''Herim?"

    Miik''s nose twitched. [We found her stores and her vault, but Asda is wary of us. She has all her people keeping an eye out for lynxmice, especially. It is hard to make a move.]

    "That''s fine." George allowed himself a thin smile. "Steer clear and avoid them. Don''t even let them see you. We''re not in a hurry to make her pay. At least, not before we get our airships."

    [Do we move on the market?]

    "No, not yet. Take what you need if you can get away without being seen, but the time to strike is not now. We''ll just have to be patient and bide our time." George decided. "Just keep looking for weak spots and areas where we can make them hurt. When the time comes when we finally do strike, I want to hit them so hard, they''ll remember it forever."

 131 Georges Day 2

    George met with Song Chen for lunch.

    "So, you wanted to talk about how we can improve the FDF and make it stronger?" Song Chen asked.

    "Actually, before that¡­" George cleared his throat. "There''s something in the FDF accounts that I wanted to ask you about."

    "There it is." Song Chen sighed. "All right. Ask."

    "Is your pay insufficient?" George asked directly.

    "For my physical, every day needs, it is enough." Song Chen said, heavily.

    "Then why did you use FDF funds for yourself? Apparently you bought some strange herbs¡­" George frowned. "Now, I''ve bought quite a few herb seeds for the herb farm, and I don''t recognize this herb. Song Chen, are you¡­ using recreative herbs¡­?"

    "I''m not a drug addict, if that''s what you''re asking." Song Chen shook his head. "No, George, spending that money to buy the Red Yang Lotus was actually a way to improve our overall strength. I needed that herb for my cultivation. If I could break through to the Body Qi Completion stage¡­"

    "Wait. What?" George blinked. This hadn''t been something he expected. An old friend needing some miracle herb, maybe; George even hoped for something like that, thinking he''d discover another way to help Remian''s health, but this¡­? "What''s this stage completion you''re talking about?"

    Song Chen cleared his throat. "Are you aware of the stages of martial cultivation?"

    "Uh¡­ I only know about Slayers and not-Slayers." George admitted.

    "In the Dragon Empire, we have our own system." Song Chen explained. "We strive to cultivate our bodies and our martial energy, what we call Qi."

    "Key?"

    "Qi." Song Chen shook his head. "There are three levels to every major stage, basic, advanced and completion. Body Qi is the third major stage. I am currently at the Advanced stage of Body Qi cultivation. With the help of that herb, I might be able to advance my Qi cultivation to the Completion stage."

    "So, basically, you want to get stronger." George understood that much.

    "Yes. That''s it, exactly." Song Chen nodded. "Not to boast, but I am the strongest warrior in the FDF. Against most Tier 4 Wilds, we can challenge them with airships and good weapons, but for a Tier 5¡­ even a strong weapon is not much good if you can''t wield it with sufficient strength."

    "So you''re thinking that that herb could be the only way we take on Tier 5''s?" George asked. "Why not leave it to Spike, or DD, or something?"

    "Against lesser creatures, we could. But a great many of the Tier 5''s that came with the Beast Tide are carnivores. Our friends are practically their prey."

    George nodded slowly. "I understand. So this miracle herb¡­ it can make anyone stronger?"

    "Not everyone. In fact, it''s dangerous unless you''re at a level where it''s useful rather than harmful." Song Chen drew a deep breath. "I know it''s selfish, but this was the only way I could think of."

    "Tell me about these cultivation stages."

    Song Chen paused. "In this system, the stage everyone starts at is the Breathing Stage. Without training, most people are at the Uncontrolled Stage, where breathing is instinctive, and untrained. Some warriors and combat schools teach one to control your breathing, usually in tandem with some physical movements. Generally, the idea is for you to use your breath to strengthen your moves. We take it a step or two further. That''ll be the Advanced level of Breathing Stage. Then there''s the Completion level of Breathing Stage which is also known as the fish stage because of how practicioners are able to stay underwater for prolonged periods of time. These three initial levels are all considered the first stage of martial cultivation."

    "So that''s the Breathing Stage. And then?"

    "Then there''s the Body Tempering Stage. Muscle tempering, bone tempering, skin tempering. Only then do you reach Body Qi."

    "That''s the stage you''re at?"

    "Yes. I believe that just about anyone in the Body Qi stage could be considered a ''Slayer'' by your standards. In fact, I think a lot of people in the Completion level of Body Tempering would qualify."

    "All they need to do is kill a Tier 4 Wild unassisted." George shrugged. "It was harder when all we had were steel weapons, but now our weapons are much more powerful, so we might want to use your levels system to gauge strength instead. Is there something similar for magic, by any chance?"

    "You mean the circles of magic?" Song Chen asked. "As far as I understand, there are nine circles in total, and those at the top are called Grand Masters. Phoebe is of the Third Circle, and Lydia is of the Fourth. That is all I know."

    George paused. "Hmm. We should try to get a formal magic teacher here. Simply teaching the usage of magic tools in class is all very well, but if our students could graduate with formal qualifications, they might even be able to try for magic colleges overseas¡­"

    "We should."

    "We should also get a formal martial instructor."

    "We should." Song Chen agreed heartily.

    "I''m glad you agree. Why don''t you get started right away?"

    "Wha¡­?" Song Chen gaped. "Me?!"

    "Of course, you. Who else do we have?"

    "But¡­ but all I have are my clan''s¡­"

    "You''re the commander of the FDF, aren''t you? They''re basically your men, right?"

    "But¡­ if¡­ I mean¡­" Song Chen spluttered. "That''s different!"

    "Well, what CAN you teach them without posing a problem for your clan?"

    Song Chen considered. "I can teach them what the Dragon Empire teaches in their school martial arts clubs. It should be enough for them to cultivate up to Completion level in the Body Tempering stage."

    "Great. Also, is the Red Yang Lotus the only herb that can help you improve your cultivation? Are there others?"

    "Why, yes. Many others, and some of them are even used by apothecaries for herbal decoctions."

    "Which means¡­ we could buy them at herbalists?"

    "Yes, but generally speaking, they are rare and suitable only for the lower levels of cultivation."

    "Keep in mind that we''re talking about having hundreds of people in the FDF learn martial cultivation here. Would those herbs be able to speed up their cultivation?"

    "Most certainly!" Song Chen brightened.

    "Now¡­" George let out a small smile. "If we could get herbs¡­ might we be able to get seeds?"

    ***

    After lunch was a visit to the hospital. Lydia and Rhema were running things there. Rhema had also set up a hospital chapel where the priests were hanging out most days when they weren''t out teaming up with other adventurers. George honestly suspected that more people (adventurers really) went in there to recruit a priest into their adventuring team than to pray. Either that, or they were looking to learn light or life magic.

    The hospital itself was in a bit of a mess. While Sabriane was a good interior decorator, and Lydia and Phoebe had good measures of common sense, absolutely none of them had experience in architecture, water supply systems, or hospital administration. As a result, they kept shifting rooms and equipment about to meet needs as they saw fit, and sometimes their views contradicted¡­

    "I''m about ready to call this building a failure." Lydia admitted straight out when George asked her about it. "We really should have put the water tank on the roof and the garden on the ground instead of the other way around. Also, we''re going to need thicker walls, hopefully with soundproofing and mana-wave proofing."

    "I get the part about sound-proofing, but what''s mana-wave proofing?" George asked.

    "Oh! Stone will do. We could try tin foil, that shouldn''t be too expensive either." Lydia guessed. "It''s not like we can afford Nether Crystals."

    "But why would we need that?"

    "It''s because some of our scanning equipment¡­ well¡­" Lydia shook her head. "Let''s just say long-term exposure to certain kinds of mana-waves could be bad for your health."

    "But ordinary stone could block it out?"

    "It would at least absorb most of it so that the affected range would be reduced. Give me a stone wall about as thick as one of regular brick-and-cement, and that would be enough for most of our gear. Put the exceptions in rooms with walls twice as thick and we''re good to go."

    "That''s all going to take a good bit of planning." George observed.

    "It will, indeed."

    "You''re going to have to plan the whole thing out carefully this time, with Arnold, because the next hospital is going to dug out more than built." George warned her.

    "Kara-Goth. I know."

    "What about medical staff? Any luck there?"

    "Almost. But they quit when the Beast Tide overran our defenses. I don''t think they''re coming back." Lydia sighed.

    "Well, this time you''re all going to be snug underground."

    "Most of us won''t like being stuck in a dark, gloomy¡­"

    "My plans for Kara-Goth look something like this." George showed her Mindy''s picture. "Your hospital could face the central open area on one side, with reinforced windows on the other. There should be plenty of sunlight."

    "Windows facing the outside of Kara-Goth? Is that really defensible?"

    "Fifty feet above the ground? I think so. The only Wilds that reach that high are Flyers, and last I checked, the flyers are our friends."

    "If we keep making friends with the Wilds at this rate, we might not need to worry about defenses so much in the future. We might not actually have to all go live in Kara-Goth."

    "Maybe, but I''d rather not take chances. We''ve lost the town too many times already. This time, I''m putting it inside our stronghold." George stretched. "Talk to Arnold soon, okay? He''s supposed to show me the general designs today."

    "When?"

    "In about ten minutes."

    "How about I come with you?"

    "That sounds good."

 132 Georges Day 3

    Arnold, it should be noted, didn''t actually care very much about shops or houses or balconies or anything of that sort.

    "Pillars." He said straight out as soon as they met. "We need solid steel pillars reaching up from twenty feet underground all the way to the ceiling. On top of that, let''s put on these antennae."

    "Antannae? I thought they were fishing rods." George squinted at Arnold''s drawing.

    "Actually, they''re there to catch lightning, not fish."

    "Lightning? You want to catch lightning?"

    "Jim does. We can''t catch all of it, but what we can catch can be converted into either mana or electricity. He''s not good with mana conversion, but he has this way of storing electricity in these little canisters¡­"

    "What about what we can''t catch?"

    "That goes into the ground. That''s why these pillars need to go all the way down¡­ oh, and we need to wrap them in something that prevents people from getting zapped if they step too close."

    "Please do. So what''s this label here about catching rain? Why should we catch rain?"

    "Why, for water! We already want the water storage tank up top, right? Why not just collect whatever the sky dumps down on us? We can put up a glass dome when it rains, so that it all drips down into these gutters here, and then flow into the treatment tank here¡­ long story short, it would save us a lot of time and energy carrying or pumping water up all the way from the river. Plus it would be cleaner than river water. Do you know what kinds of creatures live in there?"

    "But the river water is cleaned up by the treatment plant anyway, right?"

    "Yeah, but why waste energy when we could literally just sit around and collect water as it falls?" Arnold nodded, as if to himself.

    "Just¡­ don''t make that dome too tall. I''m worried about strong winds."

    "Oh, we can plant some bushes and small trees on top of the hill to help with that. The kind that bends with the wind, and all. That should help. Actually, we could turn the whole hilltop into a water catchment area¡­"

    "Just build a lake, please." George pointed. "Have it here, near the dome. We can connect a supply pipe from there to the treatment plant."

    "A lake on top of the hill¡­ I''m worried about whether the hill can stand up to all that weight."

    "Aren''t we reinforcing it with steel beams?"

    "We are, but¡­ you want to move the forge in as well, right? That''s a lot of heavy equipment and a lot of impact vibrations."

    "We can put the forge in the basement levels. Or have it in tunnels far away from the main open area. We could have the forge in the hills next to Kara, or under what used to be the Encles settlement. Heck, we could put the forge in the Pit."

    "The hills next to Kara sound about right. That should give them room to grow. I''m thinking that the area that used to be the Encles settlement could be used for other water-related things."

    "Such as¡­?"

    "Such as a watermill. That could really help in making flour or processing lumber. Also, Jim mentioned he might be able to collect some energy from turbines like that."

    "Why not just stick a windmill on top of the hill while you''re at it?"

    Arnold grinned. "That thought occurred to me, too."

    ***

    Hours later, George slumped down to dinner with Taj, Nadia, and Izak in the center of the Guild Hall.

    "You want us to expand the farm?" Taj stared. "But the Wilds!"

    "Doom told them not to attack the farm."

    "There are occasional raids anyway. Some crops were destroyed, some food was stolen¡­"

    "But everyone''s safe, right? Nobody got hurt."

    "Yet if we expand the farm, aren''t we provoking the Wilds? They might just decide to do away with Doom''s instructions and attack us anyway. What were you thinking?"

    "I was thinking that the best way to get rid of animals was to remove their food source." George pointed out. "Right now, that''s the reforested area. If we expand the farm more, we reduce that area, and thus, starve them out¡­"

    "And they''re going to try to eat us next." Taj shook his head. "I''m sorry, George, but it''s just too risky. We have a very fragile peace right now. Let''s not endanger it."

    "Maybe you''re right." George sighed, leaning back on his chair. He rubbed his shoulder, then his eyes, tiredly. The strain of this morning''s practice was starting to show up very prominently. "What if we expanded the other way? Take over the area that used to be the town?"

    "We could do that." Taj nodded slowly. "But why? What''s the big hurry about increasing our farmlands? We seem to have less people to feed now than we did before."

    "We want to be able to store up food for a time when we need it. I want a year''s supply of grain stored up in Kara-Goth in the event of a siege. This Beast Tide could turn on us again at a single word from Doom. If that happens, we lose the farm immediately. Also, I''d rather use the land while we can, as much as we can, and farming is the only thing we can safely use it for."

    At that point, Taj and Nadia exchanged glances while Izak''s face looked gloomier and gloomier.

    "Are you all right?" George asked Izak.

    "Yeah, yeah¡­ I''m fine." Izak said, but he didn''t look up from his plate. "I think¡­ I better go check on¡­ something¡­ Sorry, I gotta go."

    George watched him go, blinking. "Is he always like that?"

    "Not usually. He''s actually a rather cheerful boy, especially now that we have our own farm." Nadia said. "It''s just that he¡­ well¡­"

    "What?"

    "He was looking forward to talking to you. He wanted to invite you to join his adventuring team and go exploring the new tunnels under Kara-Goth, and patrol the farm perimeter against Wilds, and play basketball with the rest of the kids." Nadia shook her head. "But you''re not like other kids."

    George groaned. "Sorry. It sounds like fun, it really does. But I can''t, not yet. Right now, I''m really swamped¡­"

    "That sounds more like Taj then someone his age." Nadia let out a small laugh. "It''s okay, George. I''m sure he understands."

    ***

    That night, George had a quick bath and then sat up in bed trying to read a book on Basic Earth Magic. It was one thing using magic tools like scrolls and wands, but according to Lydia, higher level mages preferred to use magic without tools. In fact, a basic requirement for a Third Circle mage was to be able to use magic without any items at all.

    A 1st Circle mage was the kind that used consumables; scrolls and talismans and items that carried its own charge that was expended after use.

    A 2nd Circle mage was a tool-user, who could channel mana into tools to empower them to do what they were designed to do.

    A 3rd Circle mage didn''t need tools to use magic. A 4th Circle mage could create magic that others could use; being able to inscribe scrolls, for example. A 5th Circle mage could modify magic items, customizing or upgrading magical tools rather than just copying designs. A 6th Circle mage was someone who had invented his own magic items and tools, something of his or her own unique design. Lydia said her teacher was like that; he had invented a sort of device that automatically handled the making of his coffee¡­

    But the most powerful mage Lydia knew was her school headmaster; he was a 7th Circle mage, who was able to affect magic outside himself and his equipment, that is, he was able to channel magic in the environment. He could make instant void zones where there was no mana and nobody could cast magic. He could make areas where mana was especially strong and you''d be able to cast magic more easily. He could make areas become stronger or weaker in a certain element, so that only magic of that element would be easier to cast, often to the detriment of all others. Something like that.

    There were legends about even higher level magi. Magi who could affect magic in other people; those were scary. Magi who could change the very rules of magic. Those were even scarier. But as far as Lydia knew, those were just legends. She had never met anyone with that sort of power. So far.

    If they had higher level magi here¡­ someone like Lydia''s headmaster¡­ fighting off the Beast Tides¡­ would be so much easier¡­

    George yawned, trying to read, to focus, as he laid there in his comfortable bed after a long, hard day.

    Getting magi to come here to the Frontier couldn''t be easy¡­ it may prove impossible. In the end, the only¡­ real reliable way to¡­ have a high level mage here¡­ was to¡­ become one¡­ himself¡­

    He fell asleep on that thought, and that was how he ended his day.

 133 The Fate of a Boy

    "So, Crazy Fisher, I have to ask¡­ did you know we were already making friends with the Wilds?"

    "Friends? You enslave them with your bribes and you call them friends?!"

    "It''s not enslavement. We''re really good friends!" Remian tried. "We treat them the same as our own people."

    "Oh, really? So where are the houses you built to accommodate them? What are the opportunities and facilities they have to increase their abilities and their pay? Do they have voting rights? How many of them have leadership roles that directly decide the welfare of humans in your administration?"

    "Uh¡­" Remian spluttered. "Is that why you attacked us? Wilds civil rights?"

    "No. The reason the Beast Tide came calling was really a number, and it''s the same for everyone who has come before, the same as it''s always been. That number is ten thousand."

    "What''s that about?"

    "Ten thousand dead." Doom told him grimly. "That is the number of Wilds you and your people have killed that we know of. This includes the Wilds of the Beast Waves, and the ones hunted in the fields for nothing more than their meat or furs, the ones killed by litter in the forests or by disease and pollution. Ten thousand dead is the number that triggers a Beast Tide; once you reach it, the Tide begins to gather. You hit that number weeks ago."

    "When¡­ when did the count begin?" Remian asked.

    "Since the town was built."

    "But¡­ but I only arrived some months back! You can''t blame me or my people for what our predecessors did!" Remian protested. "In fact, of the people who had been here before, most of them have already left!"

    "You think your people refrain from harming Wilds?" Doom eyed him. "Then why did the numbers suddenly spike in the last ten weeks? The death tolls average per day have more than tripled!"

    "That¡­" Remian trailed off. That really did sound likely. Everyone now had better weapons and better training and were much more capable of killing low Tier Wilds. "A lot of that could be self-defense! Especially against the Beast Waves! We had to defend ourselves!"

    "A lot of that is also outright murder and banditry. Your people kill Wilds for their furs, and their meat. Not just for survival either; you do it even when you don''t need to, for your own wealth and greed. Don''t even try to deny it."

    Remian didn''t. How could he? Doom was right.

    "You can talk about living in harmony with Wilds and drum up a good speech, and you might even fool some of the Lords, but the Kings don''t care about what you say. They only look at the numbers." Doom informed him. "All the Wilds are watching you. The count has been reset, but even now, the numbers are rising as they always have. The next time they reach ten thousand, the Beast Tide will form again, and this time, I''m not sure I''m going to be the one commanding it."

    "That would be bad." Darian reminded Remian.

    "But¡­ but the way it''s set up, it''s going to reach ten thousand again sooner or later anyway!" Remian protested. "Wilds still attack us randomly! Beast Waves could still strike! We still need to eat! We can''t just¡­"

    "Then prepare for another Beast Tide. When it happens is all up to you."

    "Isn''t there some way we can negotiate terms? Set a quota per year or something?" Remian tried.

    "It''s not up to me. The Council of Kings decides. I don''t even have a say in that council. I might have the psionic power of a King, but I have no kingdom. I dwell directly in the shadow and rule of Kor''ag-dras and Mal''thor-dras. That''s probably one of the reasons why they put up with me in the first place."

    "What if I could speak to them?" Remian asked. "Is there a way I could address the council?"

    "Even I can''t do that!" Doom laughed. "You? You don''t even have the qualifications to be a Noble, much less address the Kings!"

    "A Noble? You mean, a Lord of the Wilds?" Remian asked. "So¡­ it''s a birthright? Only those born into certain bloodlines have any say?"

    "It''s not a birthright. It''s about power. More specifically, psionic power." Doom told him. "Yours isn''t strong enough to even qualify as a candidate for Lordship, much less win the Lordship of the fief you think you control."

    "So¡­ I need to be powerful enough to qualify as a Noble¡­ then I need to win the Lordship¡­"

    "You, or your representative."

    Remian raised his head. "Are you making an offer? Can you represent us?"

    "Me?!" Doom laughed. "Forget it. I''m not going to risk my neck for your sakes."

    Remian''s face fell, but Darian tugged at his sleeve. "Vigil. We need Vigil."

    "Vigil?" Remian stared. "Can he really do it?"

    "Who''s Vigil?" Doom asked.

    "Shadowflash''s son." Remian answered. "Is he considered a Noble?"

    "Not yet, I think. I would have sensed it if he had that kind of power. But if he''s Shadowflash''s son, then I believe he will, once he grows up."

    "I''m not sure we can last that long." Remian grimaced. "What about the Eagle Lord? Can he do it?"

    "Yes, actually, he can." Doom said.

    But a shriek came down from the skies. [I will not! To speak for humans¡­ that¡­]

    Remian and Mindy chorused at the same time "¡­is beneath you."

    "Deepsilver?" Mindy queried.

    "Just how do you propose to get her out of the lake and all the way to the Council of Kings?"

    "What about Spike, or DD, or Jujar?" Mindy asked.

    "They can challenge for Lordship, but their powers are weak. Barely enough to qualify as Nobles." Doom shook his head.

    "Well, then." Remian grimaced. "It looks like we''ll need to make friends with another Lord or look for Shadowflash himself."

    "That seems wise." Doom agreed.

    Remian cleared his throat. "Meanwhile, I''d like my brother back, if you don''t mind."

    "I will of course, return him, yet I must ask if that''s really what''s best for him." Doom frowned.

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean that he has a great deal of potential which he will likely never reach in your care." Doom told him. "If you left him with me, given his current level of psionic strength, by the time he reaches your age¡­ qualifying as a Noble is not out of the question."

    "My parents are going to freak if I left him with you. He still has school and stuff." Remian grimaced.

    "Is school really that important?" Mindy groaned, remembering Mandy.

    "You are already learning engineering directly from Arnold. But Darian? What could he learn here other than fishing and mind-talking?"

    Doom raised a hand, and a blade of light formed in it. Light covered his body like armor. "I could teach him to become a Psi-Knight. With Noble-level powers, if he went to Ecclesia, he would be directly recruited into the Inner Sanctum if he were to join the Warriors of Light. With King-level powers, he''d likely become a Champion."

    "I was thinking more along the lines of language and math."

    "I''ll teach him to read the entire Bible and journal his reading the way acolytes of the church do. I can easily teach him math and to do accounts. I''ll even teach him to read old kryptos if he wants to learn it." Doom shrugged. "I''d be his own private tutor. You should understand how much better it is to be privately tutored than to go to a school."

    Remian hesitated. Having an ex-priest, King-level, Beast-Tide-controlling dragon-friend like Doom as a private tutor did sound like a really special opportunity. Would Darian really be better off with him, after all?

    "Not just yet. If he really wants to learn from you, he can come back later. But right now, I need to take him back to our family before my parents lose their minds." Remian decided.

    "And how would I know that he''ll be permitted to come back to me?" Doom asked. "That your protective parents would not seek to take him away from the Wildlands entirely, and hide him away the rest of his life?"

    "That¡­" Remian didn''t know how to answer. He could easily imagine that very scenario playing out exactly the way Doom described it.

    "If I send him back with you, I''m going to ensure my own sort of insurance." Doom decided.

    Remian gulped. "What do you have in mind?"

    At that, Doom grinned, and Remian almost wished he hadn''t asked.

 134 Mindy and the Wasp

    Days since last Beast Tide: 9. Current Kill Count: 209 (18 since yesterday).

    Location: Red Fang, six hours out from Dragon Lake, en route to Three Pines Peak and Kara-Goth.

    Mindy sat back, dropping her pencil in satisfaction.

    There it was. The design for the new Wasp class Patrol Boat. It was a single-gun corvette, similar to the Foresight, but unlike the Foresight, the Wasp was built for speed and maneuverability. Most especially, the ability for sideways movements; there was a reason why it had two main thrusters split between the left and right sides. They could be turned to the rear for forward propulsion, or they could be turned sideways for quick movements to either side.

    In other words, the Wasp was an airship that could dodge. Admittedly, it used quite a bit of power, but a skilled pilot should be able to go up against a flying Wild and still stand a chance of surviving.

    It was also a bit queer in that the gun could not fire forward. No; Mindy wanted nothing in front of the pilot''s face, so that he would have a wide and clear view of what he was getting into. The gun turret was a rear heavy mount; it could shoot in just about any direction in a 270 degree radius behind the airship, but not in front. Mindy thought of it like a wasp''s stinger.

    She did think of making it able to shoot in front, maybe mount it below instead of behind¡­ but that would increase the wasp''s profile, make the airship easier to hit. ''Easier to hit'' was directly against Mindy''s hope for the design; survivability was her main goal. Thus, the rear firing arc.

    On that note, the wasp did not have an envelope to contain the lighter-than-air gasses. The ''balloon'' part of the airship was directly stuffed into the structure of the cabin, from its walls to its roof, which covered most of the top of the airship, but not its ''head''.

    Now, if only she could find some sort of ultra-light armor that weighed very little but was large enough to protect a corvette-class airship¡­ maybe a giant insect shell¡­?

    Mindy shook her head. No, the closest thing she could get to that would be feathers. There were plenty of extra large feathers dropped on the ground all over Three Pines Peak. They were quite tough too. Maybe a layer of feathers¡­? But they weren''t as light as Mindy would have liked.

    Hmm. What if those feathers were part of the main body rather than just an add-on for armor? Like¡­ the actual structure¡­ Mindy began to contemplate a design that took after birds, an aerodynamic form with wings.

    She sketched out a rough picture, then set it aside for now. The bird-type could wait until tomorrow. Right here, right now, she had a Wasp-type to build.

    Mindy began to put together a checklist.

    1. Crystal to Mana Power Converter ¨C Ever-turbo Mk III (cheapest at Germat, order through Iron Legion!)

    2. Mana Capacitor ¨C anything commercial grade (ask Charlie''s scrapyard friend?)

    3. Mana Regulator - anything commercial grade (ask Charlie''s scrapyard friend?)

    4. Thrusters - Jumper Burst (Ashdale specialty)

    5. Thrust Control System ¨C Hydra (order from Dragon Empire via Deutero)

    6. Sensors¨C Seer All-In-One 5000 (order from Ecclesia via Deutero)

    7. Navigation ¨C Beacon Sight (anywhere should have one)

    8. Turret Frame ¨C Fire-elemental type (Burning Steel Forge, needs Fire Copper)

    9. Magic Cannon ¨C Fire-elemental type, something that hits hard? Maybe Fire Lancers? (Ask Arnold)

    10¡­

    Mindy paused, tapping her lips, considering. "No, I think that should do it. The Wasp is expensive enough as it is."

    Actually, looking at the list, these things alone were already going to be too expensive. Mindy was aiming for a flyer-fighter that cost less than one hundred thousand lir. The components on her list alone would go over-budget, and that wasn''t even counting the chassis and labor costs.

    With a sigh, Mindy struck off No.6, ''sensors''. Then she canceled the word ''Hydra'' and wrote ''Springboard''.

    "That''s going to make just every move jerky." Mindy mused. "Strong, but short bursts, with the longest sustained burst only at five seconds¡­"

    Worse, only one thruster could fire up at any one time. In other words, the Wasp would never fly straight; at best, it would zig-zag forwards.

    "It''s starting to feel more like a dragonfly than a wasp." Mindy rubbed her forehead. "Actually, no, even dragonflies can fly straight."

    Thinking, she crossed out ''Springboard'' and wrote ''Bullhorn''.

    "There. Straight flight, balanced dual thrust, and plenty of power. Just don''t ever ask a Wasp to move slowly." Mindy decided. "They won''t be able to do slow glides or hovers, but we can just toss ropes and pull them in for a landing."

    So. Estimated costs¡­ 25k for the power converter, 5k for the capacitor, 15k for the regulator, 20k for both thrusters, 10k for the thrust control system, 10k for the turret frame¡­ that would be 85k so far. A decent commercial grade magic cannon could go for 20-30k. Industrial grade, maybe 10k, but that would hardly threaten a tier 4 Wild, much less a Tier 5. Total costs¡­ 105 to 115k. Roughly 5-15% over budget. Assuming of course, that they counted the cost of the chassis, its materials, and labor as free, since they were doing those themselves using wood they''d cut and process here.

    "Oh, forget it!" Mindy crossed out ''Bullhorn'' again and replaced it with ''Hitcher'' (Ashdale). Then she crossed out the price estimate of 10k and replaced it with 20k. Still not as expensive as the Hydra, but at least they''d be able to slow down, hover, and land.

    Then, she added more to her checklist.

    Chassis ¨C Stubborn Bamboo. (7k, export prices)

    Misc materials ¨C adhesives, bindings, paint, etc (3k, import prices)

    Labor ¨C Admiral Mindy doing most of the work in person (10,000k)

    Seeing that last price tag on her list (payable to herself), Mindy grinned. "I wish!"

    But no, seriously speaking¡­ 125k for a Wasp was about as high as she dared go. Hopefully it won''t be so high that Remian would shoot the design down without considering its advantages.

    Perhaps she could pay for it herself, bring out a fully completed prototype to show him¡­

    But doing so would set back her funds. Mindy wasn''t too keen on unnecessary spending these days.

    Not when she was saving up for her dream airship.

    It''s just¡­ was it really a good idea to still design airships using magic drives? Doom already said that the world was running out of mana. Maybe she should try using another type of power source?

    For this kind of quick side-to-side movement, rocket drive would be the only other option. Runic drive would work, but those also used mana. The problem, in the end, was that Mindy didn''t know much about rocket drive systems, only that they existed. Magic drive was all she really knew.

    "Blast it, why does the world have to run out of mana just when I started flying airships?!" Mindy fumed. "It''s not fair!"

    Forget it. The world still had some twenty years of mana, right? Magic drive will do for now. Rocket drive can wait for the next design. That would be¡­ what? Next week?

    "Done. This will do." Mindy decided. "Any objections from Quality Control Staff?!"

    There was no answer. Of course not. There was no QC staff. Mindy was entirely alone.

    "Great! I hereby declare the Wasp-class corvette patrol boat flyer-fighter complete and ready for production!" Mindy said, and hammered her fist onto her desk as if to seal the deal.

    ***

    But that confidence faltered when she presented Remian with the budget (minus the labor costs for Admiral Mindy).

    "Is¡­ is it too expensive?" Mindy asked, hesitantly.

    "Before the Beast Tide, I''d have said so, but now¡­" Remian allowed himself a wry grin. "Mindy, do you remember what Aren said about Flaming Bronze? We should easily be able to afford it."

    "So¡­ I can include labor costs?"

    "Certainly. Also include the labor costs for the workers replanting the bamboo." Remian added. "I''m fine with that higher price, but are you? Our deal was that I pay for the airships construction but you don''t really own them until you pay for them with guild points or lir. I seem to remember that you want all the airships to yourself and that you''re more than twelve million guild points short."

    Mindy''s face fell. "But haven''t I been collecting rental for the Sky Barges and Tugs?"

    "Why, yes, I do seem to have been paying you. But you don''t seem to have been paying me anything, though? When are you going to pay for the airships you''ve been using? The Red Fang alone is worth at least fifteen million lir, thrice that in GP."

    Mindy wilted. "The Red Fang is your flagship. I can''t take it away from you."

    "Is that really a wise decision?" Remian asked. "Without the Red Fang, you won''t be able to trade with ports farther away. Unless you plan to trade exclusively with Fal''Herim?"

    "No!" Mindy exclaimed. "But¡­ but I can''t just go off for trading and leave you all behind! You still need me around to¡­ to¡­"

    "To do what?" Remian nudged her. He squeezed her shoulder. "The point I''m getting at here, Mindy, is that you should really think about making the most of your assets. Using airships to trade would be far more profitable than having them all sit around earning rent. The Tugs and the Sky Barges are enough for the mines and the miners. We''ve found Darian. Arnold and his crews can handle the Wasp construction. You should go make your dreams come true."

    "But¡­ but what about you? Are you coming with me?"

    Remian considered. "Maybe just once. But afterward, it''s all up to you."

    "Great! So where are we going?" Mindy cheered up immediately.

    But Remian wasn''t going to give her the answers. "Where do you think we should go?"

    "Um¡­ if we''re trading¡­ what do we have to trade? Fire Copper, jade, Flaming Bronze¡­ where¡­ ah! Germat! We should go to Germat!"

    "Germat?" Remian blinked.

    "They''re very industrious. They build more machines and airships than anybody in the region! If we''re selling Fire Copper and Flaming Bronze, they''ll fetch good prices there! Unless we go to Ecclesia, or¡­ or¡­ but those are too far away! Germat is a lot nearer, the time it takes us to get to Ecclesia, we could make three trips to Germat! Plus it''s on the way to Ashdale. We can pick up parts for the Wasp while we''re at it!"

    Remian rubbed his forehead. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but fine. Let''s follow efficiency, supply and demand. But remember, Mindy, it''s not just about selling the Fire Copper and Flaming Bronze. It''s about trading."

    "I''ll¡­ buy an excess of power converters. Charlie''s dad said they were cheapest in Germat. I could buy them there and sell them at Ashdale." Mindy suggested. "At least¡­ until I find something more profitable."

    "Don''t jump to conclusions. Think it over, and take a good look around when you get there." Remian advised. "Look at what they produce, and what Ashdale needs, whether we might want to stop somewhere else instead of Ashdale. Take the time to learn their prices."

    "Okay."

 135 Stopping by Three Pines Peak

    Three Pines Peak looked a little different when the Red Fang made a stop there. Particularly the branch on which they docked once more.

    This branch now sported a treehouse.

    It was a big one, comparable to the Guild Hall. It fit snugly onto that branch, surrounded by plank-and-netting walls and floors similar in style to the original Sky Barge. There was no question in either Remian''s or Mindy''s mind that this treehouse was built by their people.

    "What happened here?" they went over to investigate.

    Inside were stacks of supplies. Food supplies, tools, camping equipment¡­

    "Aren''t these the things we offloaded and left for the adventurers to set up the excavation camp?" Remian asked. "Why are they still on the branch? And why is there now a treehouse over them?"

    "You took the airship and almost all the wolfcats. How were we supposed to get them down from the branch?!" someone yelled from the treehouse''s second floor above. A carrot-head of a tomboy made a face at him. "A dozen tons of equipment and not a single rope long enough to reach the ground from here!"

    This was one of the six adventurers they''d left behind(1) ¡­ Sandra, if Remian remembered correctly. She was one of the most energetic younger teens they had in the Guild.

    "You could have moved them to a lower branch that your ropes could reach and on and on until you reached the ground." Mindy argued. She didn''t get along very well with Sandra for some reason.

    "Those branches belong to other flying Wilds! They''re already not too happy with us here, and you want us to trespass into their homes?!" Sandra flared. "Eagle Lord or no Eagle Lord, that''s just asking for trouble! Are you trying to get us killed?!"

    "Sorry!" Remian cut in before they could start arguing furiously. "So, how''s the investigation?"

    "I don''t know! Gammie and I just guard the supplies!" Sandra grouched. "We don''t have wolfcats! We can''t even get down from the tree!"

    "But the others can?"

    "They all have their own exclusive wolfcat friends to help them down. We don''t." Sandra grumbled.

    Remian paused. "Exclusive wolfcat friends? Is that a thing, now?"

    "It started some time ago." Mindy explained. "It''s like how you always stick with Carrie. Some of the adventurers have just this one or two wolfcats that they especially get along with. They go everywhere together, and take care of each other."

    "Like¡­ their pets?" Remian frowned.

    "No, they''re not pets, not really. That''s not the kind of bond they have. They''re¡­ friends. Traveling companions. Comrades."

    "Comrades." Remian tested the word. "Okay. That doesn''t sound too bad."

    "You know what sounds better? Longer ropes."

    They left some for Sandra, but Remian and Mindy took the airship down to the ruins. Despite leaving most of the supplies and equipment on the tree, the adventurers there seemed to be doing quite well. They had practically taken over the ''town square'' of the ruins, moved into one of the sturdier structures and had delicious smells drifting out from the ''kitchen''.

    "I think this used to be a restaurant. But the upper floor looks decent enough. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms." Dennis told them. "Each of us have a room."

    Oh, right. Dennis was another of the six adventurers left at the Three Pines Ruins. This was the first guy they met upon reaching the new ''campsite'', which was starting to look more like a camp ''house''. There was another guy, Greg, in the kitchen, currently cooking lunch, which had been some small critters they''d hunted and trapped around the ruins. The rest were currently out exploring.

    "There are bathrooms?" Mindy blinked.

    "They didn''t work at first, but we got them fixed and working eventually." Dennis said proudly. "There''s something wrong with the old runes and we can''t find any converters, but if we channel mana manually, we can manage."

    "So tell me about the ruins." Remian requested.

    Dennis brought them to the biggest table on the ''restaurant'' floor. On it were four large sheets of paper stuck together. "There seems to be five different areas in this town. This front area around the village square has the biggest and strongest structures. There''s one particularly badly damaged place that used to be the biggest building in the whole town; it looks like a shared residential area, like a dorm. We found a lot of old weapons there, but most of them are in really bad shape. I got this from there." He showed them a dagger with two runes, one on the blade, one on the hilt. "The area around the main road seems to be a market area going all the way to the back, which has tall thin buildings. My bet is they were windmills, but Greg thinks they were monoliths for some sort of religion. In the middle left, houses are smaller and there are more workplace-looking buildings. The middle right has bigger houses, and places with larger halls. I''m thinking concerts and shopping, but Greg thinks they were schools and colleges. In any case, there''s the poor side and the rich side, and that''s about it."

    He brought them around the hall. "Each of these tables represent one area. The weird stuff we found here in the front clearing is on this table. That table holds the artifacts we got from the main market street. This one over here has the things from the back, that one has the stuff from the poor side and over on that table are the items we got from the rich side."

    There weren''t many. Each table only had a handful of items.

    "There''s more stuff in boxes under the tables, but those are more like pieces of items. The stuff that are intact are on top." Dennis added.

    Remian grimaced. This did not look like a professional archaeological dig by any stretch of the imagination, but at least they hadn''t run around looting mindlessly.

    "So what do you think these are?" Mindy asked, picking up one of those strange devices. It was like a small square that fit comfortably in her palm, made completely black with a glass screen facing her.

    "Isn''t it a mirror?" Dennis blinked.

    "Not reflective enough. These people were supposed to be more advanced than we are. There has to be more to this thing than just looking at your reflection." Mindy frowned, staring at it. "Besides, if I were to make a mirror, it would be a lot bigger than this."

    She handed it over to Remian. He inspected it, then went over some of the other weird items on the tables, and mused. "This rune here¡­ what is it?"

    Lines, circles and waves. Mindy frowned. "I have no idea. Why?"

    "Because it seems to be very popular. A lot of these items have that very same rune." Remian pointed out.

    "Maybe it''s a brand? Or some sort of insignia, like their country''s flag?" Mindy guessed.

    "It''s a rune. It must be able to do something important."

    "Something important that all these items have in common?" Mindy thought about it. "Maybe it''s a durability rune? Or self-repair?"

    "I don''t know. Maybe Andros or Arnold could figure it out." Remian grunted. "We should get more people here. Experts who deal with device making and runes in particular."

    "Great. While you''re at it, perhaps they could set us up with a power source." Dennis said hopefully. "I''m getting tired of channeling mana manually into literally everything we want to use."

    Remian and Mindy both jumped. "Power source!"

    Dennis scratched his head. "Well, yeah, I mean¡­ the bathrooms can''t even pump water without it, you know?"

    But Mindy wasn''t listening. She grabbed up that ''mirror'' device again and put her finger on that ''popular rune''. She channeled mana into it.

    Light shone out from the mirror device. There was a flash of color, and then smoke and sparks began to fly¡­

    "Watch out!" Remian knocked the device out of Mindy''s hand and pulled her aside. "Light!"

    A barrier of light rose up just as the device exploded, sending burning pieces in all directions. Remian, Mindy and Dennis stared, stunned, at the green and blue flames consuming what was left of the mirror device.

    "Be careful!" Remian urged Mindy. "Didn''t I warn you before?"

    "S-sorry¡­" Mindy apologized. "Um¡­ you don''t think¡­ those weapons we found¡­ would also blow up?"

    "I don''t know." Remian said. "But just in case, let''s be really, really careful with them. All right?"

    ***

    Thankfully, they didn''t. Remian and Mindy were nervous when they tested them out at a clear spot on the mountain, but the runes on those weapons didn''t cause explosions.

    One made the hilt spit out a firebolt. One raised a shield similar to Remian''s light barrier. There was one rune that both weapons shared; that one lit up the edges of the blades with some sort of energy. Another one actually amplified sound, so that even a whisper could be heard from ten feet away. One made Remian''s weapon heavier. Three more didn''t seem to do anything, or maybe just didn''t work.

    "Heavy blows, shield, power-edge¡­ I think mine is the front-line sort." Remian figured. "Yours has a firebolt shooter and sound amplifier. Yours is more like a support or command type."

    "Wanna switch?" Mindy asked.

    "No, no. That amplifier could come in useful if you want to shout at another airship." Remian shook his head. "I''m fine with mine."

    "It''s amazing that these still work." Mindy shook her head. "Or at least, have one or two functions that still work. Still¡­ I can''t help feeling like we''re using them wrong."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean, we''re channeling mana into them manually, and the amount of power it takes¡­ it''s quite a drain. I can''t imagine bringing these into battle and trying to fight while manually channeling mana at such a high drain rate." Mindy shook her head. "I''d be exhausted in minutes!"

    "It''s odd." Remian agreed. "But we''ll figure it out eventually. I''m happy with just the power edge function alone. Imagine what Markus or Song Chen could do with these."

    "If we gave them our weapons, they might be able to take down Spike." Mindy agreed. "But we''re not going to do that, are we?"

    "No way! At least, not unless we have to." Remian laughed.

 136 Back

    Early the next morning, a terrible shadow fell over Kara-Goth. A loud roar shook the mines and the tunnels, causing many yells and a whole lot of people jumping out of bed in a panic.

    Again the roar sounded out as an unmistakable shape descended from the clouds. Shadows took shape in solid glistening brown form, as down from the skies came the creature everybody had hoped would never cross their paths¡­

    "D-dragon¡­!" Aren''s voice, and hands shook.

    The sinuous form emerged, scales like stone and wings stretching farther than an entire Sky Barge''s length. Fire leaked out from its mouth as it breathed, staring down at the hapless people below with wide, cart-sized eyes.

    "Battle stations!" Aren shouted. "Man the ballistae! Quadruple crews, maximum reload speeds!"

    But then, from afar came a psionic shout. Remian''s voice echoed in everyone''s mind. [Black alert!]

    Black alert was the highest level of alert and the one intending the highest level of safety. Don''t cause a ruckus, shoot, don''t fight, don''t even make a sound! The whole concept was, in short, ''Run And Hide!''.

    The signal from the guard post went out, a few drumbeats in rapid succession; Ba, ba-dum, DUM!

    Seeing the dragon coming down on top of them, nobody argued. Everyone abandoned the big guns and ran for cover.

    Then, there was a nervous, tip-toeing silence.

    "Maybe it''ll pass¡­" Aren whispered to his tensed-up wife.

    As if hearing that as a signal, the dragon fell upon them with nerve-wracking speed, dropping past the Red Fang that had just arrived at Kara-Goth. It landed in the Pit, and then stretched its head over the side, so that¡­

    Wait. What?

    Someone hopped off the dragon.

    "Hey, guys! I''m back!" Darian announced cheerily. "Guys? Hello?"

    The only sound in Kara-Goth for the next few seconds was a loud clang as Zana dropped the saucepan she was about to cook breakfast with.

    ***

    Remian tried his best to announce that everything was okay, and that Ha''res-dras was not about to eat everybody (probably), but they didn''t seem entirely convinced. It wasn''t until Phoebe went around assuring everybody that Ha''res-dras was a friendly that people began to calm down.

    Nevertheless, Phoebe suddenly found a lot of work to do at Kara-Goth that morning. There was a slew of sudden medical emergencies, including two heart attacks, three crushed feet, two concussions caused by running into something hard like a pillar, and one case of spilling boiling water onto one''s own tummy while attempting to make tea.

    Thankfully, nobody died.

    Remian almost joined her list of emergency patients. Despite having traveled by airship, the journey to the south had still taken its toll on him. By the time they set down in Kara-Goth, he was already pale and on the verge of throwing up. It was all he could do to greet Aren before he had to ask for a bucket and emptied out his stomach incessantly.

    "This won''t do. You need to rest!" Zana leapt into her role as hostess and had Aren bring almost all of them to the Adventurers Guild branch in Kara-Goth.

    Why almost all? Well¡­ it''s because one of the adventurers who had gone with Remian and Mindy was Talia, Aren and Zana''s daughter. Naturally, she simply went home with her parents.

    Also, Sandra and the quiet boy Gammie had replaced two of the adventurers who had gone to Dragon Lake from Three Pines. Maybe they were bored of guarding a warehouse/treehouse?

    They didn''t sound like it, though. They were enthusiastically telling people about how absolutely huge those trees atop Three Pines Peak were.

    "You know, those just normal sized if you go to Dragon Lake." Mindy nudged them after the fifth retelling. "All the trees around the lake are about that big. They''re all dragon-sized. Worse, I think the trees farther south from there are even bigger."

    That shut them up¡­ for about twenty seconds.

    "Where¡­ are my parents¡­?" Remian asked Aren while Zana was bustling around tidying up the already tidy room at the new Adventurers Guild Branch in Kara.

    "They''re still in the Sky Barges. Your mom''s Barge is helping out at the Farm, your dad''s is fishing with the Encles."

    Remian breathed. "They need to¡­ know¡­"

    "Trust me, by now, everyone in Shadowflash fief knows that Darian came back with a dragon pet."

    "Not a pet." Remian corrected, shaking his head half-feverishly. "A comrade."

    Upon hearing that, for some reason, Sandra flat out burst into tears.

    ***

    She just couldn''t take it any more.

    "Gammie! We''re going to the Farm!" Sandra announced.

    "Why?" Gammie asked, distressed.

    "We''re going to find our own Comrades!" Sandra said. "You can find someplace to sleep later!"

    Gammie gave the nearby rooms prepared for them a wordless, longing glance as Sandra dragged him right out of Kara-Goth and onto the next Tug from Kara-Goth headed for the airport.

    It turned out this Tug also brought an entire Sky Barge along on this trip. This was one of the school Sky Barges, the one that Remian''s dad had been fishing on just this morning. When Darian arrived, he almost leapt out of the Barge and dashed right into the mines, telling his students to just ''go do something!''.

    ''Something'' turned out to be a cargo delivery to the north, an almost full load of fire copper bars, jade and fish. That, plus one crate of some super-secret cargo everyone was very hush-hush about.

    The minute they docked at the airport, though, Lisa Vin barged onto the Barge. She barked, "Where is he?"

    "Who? Teacher stayed back at Kara-Goth." Alani, the head girl of the Sky Barge Encles School informed her.

    "Darian! Where''s my son!?"

    "He''s there too. So is Remian. Everyone''s there. They said to send word." Alani explained.

    "They''re all there?!" Lisa spun. "Izak!"

    "Yes, ma''am!" Izak, the head boy of the Sky Barge Farm School stood to attention.

    "Prepare the airship! We''re going to Kara-Goth immediately!"

    "Yes, ma''am!" Izak grinned.

    "And no dating mining girls until you''ve settled everyone''s homework!"

    "Ma''am, Talia is not a mining girl."

    "Just GO!"

    "Mom?" Eriane poked her head in, then. "Where''s Darian?"

    "He''s at Kara-Goth, dear. Get your stuff. We''re going to see him, right now." Lisa told her.

    So she said, but it was a five hour trip to and from Kara-Goth by Sky Barge, even with a full crew rushing the Tug.

    Sandra and Gammie stood on the airport dock watching them go, and then Sandra turned her attention back to the farm. "Let''s go get our wolfcats!"

    "But¡­ lunch¡­" Gammie protested weakly.

    "Fine!" Sandra rolled her eyes. It was a bit past one, and already late for a lunch break anyway.

    They bundled themselves over to the Adventurers Guild Hall at the Farm/Airport for lunch. Over there, Sandra met some of their Harvest Sun friends.

    "Hey, Sandra! You''re back!" Ruth waved her over. "What brings you back here?"

    "Wolfcats!" Sandra said, while at the same time, Gammie said, "Lunch."

    "Well, we have plenty of both! What''ll it be, today?" Ruth asked.

    "I need a strong one! Someone willing to travel far! Who''s the liveliest wolfcats around here?" Sandra got down to business immediately.

    Meanwhile, Gammie quietly picked up a Tier 3 lunch set and asked, "Aunt Xia?"

    "Out back." Ruth advised him. "She''s been worried abou you. You should let her know you''re back."

    She wasn''t his aunt, not really, but she might as well have been, she took care of him the way Koma and Ruth took Sandra under their wing. Sandra considered herself and Gammie lucky among the Encles children to have the hunters mentor them that way.

    Ruth hung up her apron and sat Sandra down for lunch before letting her run off again. "So tell me, what''s the big deal with wolfcats?"

    "Comrades!" Sandra told her.

    By the time she was done with lunch, Ruth and Xia were wanting their own Comrade wolfcats too.

 137 Inside Kara-Goth

    "Well, this changes things." Aren murmured as he looked out the window over the Pit from where he sat to lunch with Zana and Talia in their (temporary) home''s dining hall.

    "How so?" Zana asked.

    "That''s a dragon, you know?!" Aren half-coughed. He dragged the word out for emphasis. "Draaagon! Just imagine! Next time a Beast Wave comes by, all that fellow needs to do is blow at them! VWOOM!" Aren gestured vaguely.

    If his crew saw him talking like that, their jaws would hit the floor. Stern taskmaster Aren speaking cutesy was something only his daughter would think was normal.

    "That''s nice, dad, but it''s not our dragon." Talia pointed out. "Darian has to go back for training and all."

    "Besides, are the Beast Waves still coming? I thought the Tide was the end of it? Or are they all going to be Tides, now?" Zana asked.

    "I¡­ I''m not sure." Aren confessed.

    "I think they''re from different sources." Talia cleared her throat. "The Tides happen when we reach 10,000 killed Wilds. The Kings of the Wilds and Doom handle that. The Waves are caused by a whole different group of people."

    "Anyway. What you''re saying is, the dragon is leaving, right?" Aren considered. "That''s good. We haven''t been able to get any work done in the new tunnels all morning. Nobody dares to dig up Flaming Bronze with a dragon snoozing in those tunnels."

    Right. Darian''s dragon had pretty much crawled straight into the new tunnels from the pit and decided to take a nap in the middle of the richest part of the lode.

    Ha''res-dras was a upper Tier 4 dragon juvenile, not quite an adult yet, actually smaller than Spike, but several times bigger than Carrie. Strange. He seemed so much bigger earlier¡­? Maybe having his wings out, his length made him seem especially huge¡­ but when he withdrew his wings and curled up in the tunnels, he didn''t take up all that much space. Or maybe it was all some sort of psychological effect?

    Or maybe he''d somehow shrunk his body.

    Still. Nobody was going to mine anything anywhere near that dragon. Having had so many rough experiences with the Wilds out here, nobody was going to risk literally waking a sleeping dragon.

    "That dragon is mainly here to make sure he goes back to Dragon Lake later." Talia told her dad."It''s not here to protect us or anything."

    "But he lets Darian sit on his back, you know?" Aren scratched his head. "It was weeks before Dan managed to get his wolfcat comrade to give him a ride. There''s a lot of trust involved."

    Talia rolled her eyes. "More likely there was a lot of roast meat, grilled fish, ear-scratching and tummy-rubbing involved."

    "That, too."

    Aren went on grumbling throughout the afternoon, complaining about the dragon in the tunnels causing a major work obstruction, but despite all his muttering, people couldn''t help but notice the big smile on his face.

    "Maybe it''s because his daughter is home?"

    "Maybe it''s because we have a holiday?"

    "No, I think it''s because we have a dragon on our side. Suddenly, Beast Tides don''t seem quite as scary as they were last night."

    "Is it really on our side, though?"

    "It lets Darian sit on its back, and it hasn''t eaten any of us yet. I''d say that''s a good sign."

    Perhaps having a dragon sleeping in your workplace was not really a good thing in general, but between one cause and the other, the general mood around Kara-Goth had very perceptibly lifted compared to how it was over the past few days.

    ***

    Remian meanwhile, was awoken from a restless slumber by his dad''s voice. "That big?"

    It was coming from outside. These living quarters they''d given him had several bedrooms and a central dining/living hall, with square windows cut into them high overhead. This helped with ventilation, but didn''t exactly help to keep out sound.

    Darian''s voice answered. "Yeah! But Ha''res-dras ate the whole thing already, so I can''t show it to you. Oh wait! There are bones, I think? But there are so many big fish-bones around Dragon Lake, it hardly seems like much."

    "Well, my biggest catch was THIS big, and everyone seemed to think that it was awesome already."

    "It is, coming from here. But everything is just bigger at Dragon Lake, even the rocks and trees."

    Remian sat up, rubbing his eyes. What time was it? He felt incredibly hungry, even though he still felt queasy and dizzy at the same time.

    Soft knocking sounded on the door. It opened, and Phoebe poked her head in.

    Remian felt like someone had opened a curtain and let sunlight into the room. Everything had turned brighter for some reason.

    "Hey. You''re up! That''s good." Phoebe pushed her way in, carrying a tray. Remian smelled oatmeal. "I brought lunch. Can you eat?"

    Remian kept his gaze on the food, trying not to get distracted by her looks. "I¡­ guess so?"

    Even looking at the tray, not at her face, he could see her move. How did she look like she was dancing just by walking straight? Was she always this slim? Why was his face feeling warmer and warmer¡­?

    No, this was not the time to think about Mandy, or certain special nights in private places. Not the time at all!

    But blast it, every guy in the world and his uncle had to admit, Phoebe was extremely attractive. Remian would have to be blind or outright lying to say or even think otherwise. Even sickly and on the verge of throwing up, Remian had to keep his mind from wandering, dangerous thoughts.

    For that, one simple truth was enough to focus his thoughts. ''This girl and I have no future together''.

    There it was. The one reason he was completely able to ignore everyone''s teasing and hinting. Phoebe was only here to help Lydia out until the slaves were freed. After that, she was going back to Ashdale, and pursuing her medical and magical studies, very likely never to return to the Frontier again. By this time next month she would probably be gone and none of them would ever see her again.

    What? A long-distance relationship, with a girl in Ashdale? Tried that before. Did not work out well. Not going to try it again.

    "Thanks." Remian kept his tone polite and sniffed at the oatmeal. "I smell honey."

    "Mindy put it in." Phoebe told him. She sat down, and checked his pulse. "She cares a lot about you, you know?"

    "Mm? Yeah, she''s practically my little sister." Remian was a bit surprised to hear this coming from Phoebe, of all people. "She might very well be my sister-in-law, if¡­ well¡­"

    "I''m not sure a brother-in-law is the way she sees you." Phoebe observed.

    Remian shifted, spooning oatmeal into his mouth. "Why bring this up? You know my condition better than most."

    "I don''t want to see her hurt."

    Remian frowned. "You won''t be around that long. In fact, I probably won''t be around that long either."

    "That''s likely going to hurt her even more." Phoebe checked his temperature, observed his eyes, his throat.

    "What do you want me to do? Distance myself from her? I can''t just abandon her. I''m already sending her to travel the world, I just need to see her through the first time."

    "That is good. But aren''t you worried about her out there on her own?"

    "She''ll have her crew." Remian mused. "And very likely a few of the wolfcats."

    "Wolfcats!" Phoebe rolled her eyes. "You should go with her. From what I hear, you haven''t seen all that much of the world yourself."

    "Are you trying to keep me away from her, or keep me with her?" Remian protested.

    "Neither. Both." Phoebe shrugged. "I''m just making conversation. Don''t take anything I say seriously. After all, like you said¡­ I won''t be around that long. You won''t either, if you keep running around like this. You''ve really overexerted yourself this time. You should take it easy for a week, maybe two."

    "Should I take that seriously, or are you just making conversation?"

    "Take this one seriously, please. You need a week of rest, minimum. Doctor''s orders." Phoebe said.

    "I need to talk to George, and Song Chen, and¡­"

    "Have them come and meet you here, in these apartments." Phoebe got up to leave.

    Oddly, seeing her shoulders in front of him, Remian had an instant of an urge to hug those shoulders. Why? Whatever for? He didn''t understand it himself.

    Suppressing the weird urge, he cleared his throat. "Thank you, doctor."

    "Take care, now, and eat slowly." Phoebe said shortly. "I''ll be in the new hospital wing two floors down if you need anything."

    With that, she left, leaving Remian wondering why he had the strangest feeling that she''d been offended at him for some reason.

 138 Tools

    George had his own way of ranking the importance of the news he received.

    For instance, "The Red Fang is back!" was ranked lower in importance to "Darian came back on a dragon!"

    But even "The dragon seems to be on our side!" was ranked lower in his mind than "Remian exhausted himself and is now ill in bed!"

    Faced with that dire top-ranking news, George called Taj. "How''s our secret project?"

    "The herb farm?" Taj blinked. "It''s just getting started. It seems secure, and there''s been no signals or reports of attacks, but you have to understand, herbs take time to grow, even with life magic, water magic, and earth magic treasures and the most skilled mages of my clan on it."

    "Is there anything we can do to¡­"

    "We''re already giving it all our best. The herbs will thrive, I guarantee it, but we need time!"

    "How much time?"

    "A week at least for even the quickest-growing herbs. That is, assuming you want quality."

    "Absolutely." George said. "Thanks, Taj."

    Also, his comms crystal rang. "Hello?"

    Remian coughed, then said, "George? Can you come over to Kara-Goth for a meeting?"

    "I''m coming!" George sprang into action.

    He slipped on board the Farm/School Sky Barge bound for Kara-Goth, and quietly brooded in the corner as Remian''s mom ran everyone ragged trying to hurry a junk-grade barge hauled by an industrial-grade Tug across the distance of a day''s journey on foot-with-wolfcat-support.

    But stealthy as he was, Eriane found him anyway. "George! Let''s play!"

    "What do you want to play?"

    "Let''s play Sniper!"

    "You want to shoot me again?"

    "Not you. Not now. Other things. You pick!" Eriane said generously.

    "Huh." George pointed to a normal bird flying by innocently. "That one."

    Eriane aimed, fired with her toy sniper rifle, and sent a cork bullet spiraling way off-target, missing the bird by perhaps ten meters or more.

    "This is a lousy gun." Eriane complained, looking at the ''rifle'' in her hand.

    "Well, let''s try something bigger and easier." George glanced down. "That sleeping snake thing on that tree."

    "Ooh!" Eriane stared, eyes wide.

    "Just, this time, use THAT." George pointed to the nearest ballista on the Barge''s prow.

    He wasn''t sure her mom would approve of her shooting Wilds at her age, but everyone had to start somewhere, and out here on the Frontier, George''s belief was ''the sooner, the better''.

    It didn''t seem to be anything to worry about in any case. Eriane missed her next shot by a grand fifty meters. She missed her second shot at the snake by thirty, and then missed her third by twenty.

    "If you can''t hit it with your next shot, you''ll have to give up on it. We''ll be out of effective range soon." George advised her.

    "I can do it! I know I can!" Eriane jumped as the gunnery crews reloaded the ballista for her. She took careful aim again, then fired.

    "HISS!" The snake leapt up with a loud shriek. It looked furious. But of course it would be, having been woken up from its sweet nap by being shot in the tail!

    "Well¡­ I guess that counts as a hit?" George scratched his head.

    "It''s a hit?" Eriane beamed.

    "Yes, it''s a hit. It''s not a kill-shot, but¡­"

    "It''s a HIT!" Eriane exulted running around the airship. "Mommy! It''s a hit! George said I got a HIT!!"

    That totally blew George''s cover. In no time flat, Lisa Vin discovered George was on board and immediately pressed him into service lecturing her students on identifying common edible plants in Shadowflash Fief.

    This went on for the entire remainder of their trip. By the time they reached Kara-Goth, George was on the brink of collapse and seriously thinking about joining Remian on his sabbatical.

    But when he finally met Remian, the guy was sitting up in bed, swinging his arms left and right experimentally, wearing¡­ "What is that?"

    "This?" Remian slowly stood up awkwardly, jerkily. "This is a prosthetic Phoebe had Arnold made for me when I told her I had trouble standing up."

    Apparently, somewhere between lunch-time and the arrival of the Farm School Sky Barge, Remian had tried to go to his apartment''s living room to hold his meetings. Attempting to get out of bed, however, landed him face-down in the floor and his family yelled for Phoebe on the spot.

    Phoebe tried ordering him back to bed and canceling his meetings, but on his promise not to leave the apartment or move around too much, she was eventually persuaded to get him some help in moving around. Instead of the crutches or the wheelchair he''d expected, however, she came back with these.

    "These are mana-powered motion-assistance prosthetics designed to help for rehab patients who need to recover their movement abilities." Remian explained. "I don''t really need it, but it really helps me get out of bed."

    George frowned. "If Phoebe says you need it, I strongly suspect that you actually do need it. How badly did you overexert yourself this time?"

    "It was just a few days'' adventure, nothing much." Remian waved dismissively, but even his wave was jerky and erratic.

    A weird idea was occurring to George at this point. "Just how much help does this skeleton frame give you?"

    "Um¡­ a little? It falls just a bit short of the average human''s." Remian said, still moving around jerkily.

    "Yeah, we might want to fix that." George observed. "If it was properly made, if Arnold had time to really smoothen out the kinks and the magic¡­ might we be able to make something more powerful? Like¡­ motion assistance to twice the strength of average humans?"

    "That''s not good, George." Remian shook his head. "Cheating like that is going to stunt people''s growth. It''s going to cause a problem with future growth potential. Better to grow stronger by working out as normal."

    "That''s fine if you have time, but what if I don''t?" George asked. "What if I only have weeks before the next Beast Tide hits, and I don''t have time to grow stronger?"

    "Then your best bet would be an airship with a good ballista."

    "That''s not going to be very inspiring to our troops on the ground. Not as inspiring as say¡­ standing in front of your own troops, between them and the oncoming hordes, your sword drawn with all their eyes on your back."

    Remian chuckled softly. "You''ll be designing it for Song Chen, then, because I''m probably never going to be able to do that."

    George didn''t tell Remian what he was really thinking; that such a suit was something he wanted for himself.

    "So, how are the farm and the mines doing?" Remian asked.

    "The farm''s fine, but it''s not expanding any more, because nobody dares to provoke the Wilds." George began.

    "That''s good. The fewer Wilds we kill, the better." Remian nodded.

    "What?" George stared. "But¡­ the dangers to our people¡­"

    "The Beast Tides are triggered when the number of dead Wilds reach ten thousand." Remian told him directly.

    "But what about OUR dead?" George asked. "Are we simply to stand around letting them kill our families and friends?"

    "No, of course not, but we should try to get along."

    "I''d rather have the more dangerous ones killed before losing anyone important to me."

    Remian frowned. "Maybe we can''t avoid killing one or two, and I don''t think it''s fair to prohibit hungry people from eating meat if they can hunt either¡­ but don''t kill unnecessarily. Remember, there''s only so many deaths the Wilds will tolerate before we face another Beast Tide, and next time, the one commanding them might not be as kind as Doom, to let us keep the farms, the mines and the airships. I have it on good authority that the next one might not stop with just wiping us out, they might start wiping out all of mankind."

    George shook his head. "I don''t think they''ll ever manage that."

    "Tell me that again after you''ve seen the Wilds around Dragon Lake. The dragon that Darian brought back was actually one of the smallest ones there. I saw dragons literally a hundred times bigger than him back there."

    "Just how many dragons did you see around that lake?" George had to ask.

    "Hundreds." Remian said, shaking his head. "Most of them were twenty to thirty times bigger than Ha''res-dras. Think about that the next time you think about a Beast Tide coming for us."

 139 Day 14

    Darian had a warm reunion with his worried Mom outside.

    "Mom¡­" Darian gasped, "I can''t breathe¡­!"

    "Darian!" Eriane scolded. "Don''t make Mom cry! I''ll shoot you!"

    "But¡­ but¡­"

    *BANG* Eriane''s toy gun fired.

    They ate dinner together. Sabriane came up from the new hospital site. Remian came out of his room. The apartment instantly became the Vin family home, and it stayed that way for five days. Five warm, soothing-if-somewhat-annoyed-by-siblings days.

    In these days, the miners avoided the new tunnels and the dragon within, just mining Fire Copper and Jade normally.

    In these days, Remian left practically everything north of Kara-Goth to George, repeatedly stressing the dangers of killing too many Wilds, but not interfering with George''s policies.

    In these days, Darian became a hero to the younger generation who sought this new trend/craze called ''Comrades'' with tail-wagging enthusiastic cooperation from the wolfcats. The average levels of cub care/pampering, ear-scratcing, tummy-rubbing and wolfcat-bribing-with-roasted-meat skyrocketed. While he spent most of his days at home with his family, he once took to the skies for an airborne tour of Shadowflash Fief with Ha''res-dras, Mindy, the Eagle Lord and his family, and roughly one hundred of his subordinates. Mindy had gone with Lady Eagle, while the Eagle Princess took a ride atop her daddy''s back, both girls swearing to fly the skies on their own power one day¡­ but just not today.

    George watched them fly together and return together, the dragon yawning as he slunk back into the warm Flaming-Bronze-rich tunnels, the Eagle Lord sniffing and mentioning how tunnels was beneath him in the process¡­ Mindy and Darian laughing over themselves as they parted ways. He watched the two of them from afar, and his face slightly darkened.

    And then the next Beast Wave arrived.

    ***

    Days since last Beast Tide: 14. Current Kill Count: 417 (42 since yesterday).

    Mindy stood at the prow of the Red Fang as they watched the signals rise from the south. Three plumes of smoke; this was just an ''average'' Beast Tide, then? No, wait, there''s a fourth.

    "Battle Stations!" Mindy called into her comms crystal. "Form Battle Fotresses!"

    "Encles School Battle Fortress, beginning combination procedures! All hands stand by¡­"

    "Kara-Goth Battle Fortress, currenly in mid-procedure, gunboat docking complete, Tugs locking in¡­"

    "Farm School Battle Fortress, already formed up and fully prepared for battle!"

    "Scouts, report!" George called.

    "Black Depths Foresight reporting! We see them! Estimate sixty Wilds, mainly Tier 4, with a handful of Tier 5!"

    "Jim? Are you guys in the air yet?" George asked.

    "Yes. We''re packed, and roughly¡­ six feet off the ground!"

    "Higher, please. We don''t want you caught up in the Beast Wave."

    "There''s no need. We''re practically out over the center of Black Lake. They''re not going to reach us. Besides, Deepsilver is right here with us."

    "That''s another cause for concern. She might zap you."

    "Happens all the time. You have no idea. Don''t worry. We know what to do."

    They really did. These days, Jim practically lived in a triple-strength rubber suit, sticking a metal lightning rod into the ground with every step he took. Still, he conducted his research and experiments with Deepsilver and his weird devices that kept blowing up and getting fried¡­

    "FDF, status?"

    "Kara upper crossbow unit, fully in position and tired of waiting since the first signals went up."

    "Goth front gate units, both pike and shot ready."

    "Kara auxiliary crossbow unit, we''re set."

    "Goth upper crossbow unit, everyone''s here, and we''ll be ready in a minute."

    "Kara front gate pike, in position!"

    "Goth auxiliary crossbow unit, we seem to be missing our second ammo cart¡­ ah, here it is! We''re good!"

    "Kara front gate crossbows, where IS everybody?!"

    "Sorry! We''re coming! Arnold wanted us to bring his new repeating crossbow turret cart! We''re almost there!"

    "The turret cart is ready?" Remian echoed, astonished.

    "Not exactly! The wheels still can''t hold up! We''re hauling it over by rail on a mining cart and then carrying it over by hand!"

    "Need some help?"

    "Actually, yes, please, this thing is heavy!"

    "Scouts?"

    "Jim here. The Wave just reached Black Depths Lake! They look fierce, guys! We''re taking this gunboat up before they get anywhere near us! I can''t believe they''re so fast! Tier 4 predators in full charge, coming your way! Watch out for the cats! Goodness, are those lions metal?!"

    "Golden Lions, Jim. I don''t think their skins are actual gold, though."

    "It''s like they''re made of plate armor!" Jim gasped. "Can crossbows really shoot through that?!"

    There was a short, chilled silence.

    "Guys, forget the repeater ballista turret cart. I don''t think it''s going to be of much use in this fight." George advised. "Pick up the pikes and the rams. We''ll use the Pit."

    "Got it! Everybody, Plan B!"

    "Plan B!" the order rang out from unit to unit. "Plan B!"

    "What''s Plan B?" Darian asked.

    "It''s our Spike-situation response." Mindy explained over the crystals. "For the times when we''re facing something big and heavy and our crossbows can''t even hurt them."

    "Push them into the Pit." George summarized.

    "Um¡­ Ha''res-dras is down there, you know?"

    "Even better."

    "I¡­ better go wake him up."

    "Please do."

    "All units, report in when you''ve re-armed!" Remian requested a while later.

    "Wait! It''s not easy putting on heavy armor!" a dozen yelps sounded across the network.

    "How much time do you need?"

    "How much time do we have?!"

    "Weren''t you already wearing armor?!" Remian asked. "At least the gambersons?!"

    A shaky voice quailed. "We figured they wouldn''t even get in here, so¡­"

    "Goth Front Gate Pike Unit here, we''re ready! Fully armored and prepared any time!"

    "Goth Front Gate Ram Unit, we''ve stowed away the crossbows safely and are now manning the ram! All members fully armored and in position!"

    "Goth Upper Crossbow Unit, switching ammunition to smoke types, completed!"

    "Kara Upper Crossbow Unit, same!"

    "That''s not fair! You only need to switch ammo, while we¡­"

    "Less talking, more hurrying!"

    "Jim here. Beast Wave passing Black Depths Lake center, increasing speed! I can''t believe it, but they''re moving even faster!"

    "Goth Auxiliaries, all armored up, ram and smoke-bombs ready!"

    "Kara Auxiliairies, we''re armored, and the ram''s ready! What''s this about smoke-bombs?"

    "It''s in the box! Over there!"

    "Uh¡­ hold on¡­"

    Remian sighed. "We need the FDF to run drills for different plans in the future, not just train in shooting and personal combat."

    Song Chen cleared his throat. "We did run drills, but mainly to get into position and Plan A situations. This is the first time we''re implementing a Plan B case."

    "Is everyone set?" Remian asked again.

    There was a yelp. "Wait! Our crossbow¡­ I mean¡­ Kara Front Gate Ram unit is¡­"

    "Where are they?" Kara Auxiliary Unit asked.

    "They left their armor in their rooms!!"

    There was a long, meaningful silence.

 140 Grumpy

    "Here they come!"

    "Ranged units, fire at will!"

    Song Chen gripped the hilt of his sword, the strongest bladed weapon ever produced by the Burning Steel Forge. Designed for battling massive Wilds the likes of Spike and DD, it was a massive ruler, five feet in length, five inches broad and weighing almost 15 kg. Made out of Tier 5 bone (DD lost a tooth when he fell in the Pit way back then) it was not usually a weapon one carried around to a battle, completely unsuited for complex swinging, much less for prolonged combat¡­

    Heck, it wasn''t even sharpened. But when you had to deal with oversized, heavily armored targets, blunt force trauma and sheer mass worked better than sharp edges. Besides, this battle was turning out to be a challenge of pushing heavy Wilds into the Pit, not actually trying to kill them with weaponry.

    At least, not for the FDF. The Sky Fortresses had the advantage of height and heavier weapons, but down here, all the FDF had to rely on were rams, pikes and their own heavy armor.

    The FDF heavy armor was a combination of Ashdale and Iron Legion style, using thick linen layers for a padded long sleeve, long pants suit of gamberson inside, and then metal splint mail, bracers and leg guards on top of that. It was not to Song Chen''s taste, since he preferred agility, but going up against Wilds like those golden lions, they were the FDF''s best bet at keeping more people alive.

    "Goth Units, on me. Do NOT charge out before I do!" Song Chen ordered sternly. "I will draw their attention. Both Ram units, strike whatever''s directly in front of the gate on my signal! Pike unit, keep your weapons between them and the incoming Wilds! Remember, wait for my signal!"

    "Smoke screens!" Remian ordered, and smoke bombs were hurled all over the Pit area.

    Thundering footsteps neared. Song Chen tuned out the sounds, the panic, the near palpable tension in the air. He spread out his spiritual sense, detected massive concentrations of life force coming at him, focused on the nearest as it closed in¡­

    "Wait for my signal!" Song Chen ordered one last time before charging out at the first Golden Lion that approached the front gate with a warcry. "You''re doing DOOOOOOWN!"

    The golden lion turned toward him, jaws wide open and teeth ready to welcome him into its maw¡­

    Song Chen dove low, holding the oversized ruler before him, left hand supporting the flat of its ''blade''. The weight of man and metal crashed into the armored lion in a perfect angle, smashing into its side just as its left forepaw was off the ground¡­

    "OOF!" Song Chen splattered against the armored lion. There was an awkward pause as he stuck there, jellified up against a surface harder and tougher than him and his weapon combined, velocity-be-hanged. Even the lion itself seemed surprised by the (dismal lack of!) effect of his charge.

    Slowly, he slid face-down into the dirt, and lay there completely flat.

    "Is that the signal?" one curious FDF member manning the first Goth Ram ventured to ask.

    "GO!" someone else yelped, and the Goth First Ram unit charged out.

    The elephant-sized golden lion turned to face them as they went straight for its face. Fiercely, it chomped down on the front of the ram, biting the ram''s ''head'' off¡­

    The rest of the ram followed through right into its mouth. There was a bare moment of resistance as teeth met metal, and then five hundred kilograms of reinforced steel was rammed down the throat of the poor Wild with the force of twelve FDF troopers running at full tilt in heavy armor.

    "RO-GWUUBUOOOO!!" the golden lion stumbled back, flailing, one step, two steps¡­ "WU?!"

    "Brace!" the First Ram Unit managed to save the ram while the lion went down over the edge into the Pit.

    "Get back!" the Pike Unit swarmed out, trying to fend off the next incoming giant metal lion trying to have them for lunch.

    "Get clear!" someone behind yelled. "Second ram coming through!"

    "Wait! Song Chen is¡­"

    Song Chen lifted his head in time to see the second ram and the second lion meet loudly.

    BAM! The second lion went reeling sideways, almost trampling Song Chen in the process. One tawny forepaw hammered into the dirt six inches from his face, claws almost tearing through his left shoulder as he rolled aside. The lion''s rear right leg stumbled, trying to gain balance, and landed right on Song Chen''s own right leg¡­

    "AARGH!" Song Chen let out a scream as the lion stumbled over his leg and was hurtled down into the pit by a jubilant Second Ram crew.

    In this way, Song Chen proved ineffective against the first lion, but instrumental in the downfall of the second lion¡­

    Unfortunately, he was neither proud nor happy of his recent feat. In fact, he was rolling around in the dirt clutching his leg and screaming.

    Oh, dear. He really didn''t look at all happy.

    "Emergency! Phoebe! HELP!" they dragged him back in to safety.

    Phoebe appeared, Song Chen saw her, and for a moment there, Song Chen stopped screaming, seeming even to forget that he was hurt¡­

    But just for a moment. Phoebe grabbed his leg and life magic flared and¡­

    "OW!!! AARGH!!!"

    Aye, there was great joy and great pain when one got involved with beauties. (sigh)

    ***

    Meanwhile, the pair of metallic lions down in the Pit were also in great pain. At first they roared threats and promised harsh vengeance and much agony upon the ancestors and descendants and general family members of every human being involved in their downfall¡­

    But then, another angry roar was heard, and this one came from the non-collapsed tunnel leading out from the Pit. [QUIT DISTURBING MY NAP!]

    It was accompanied by a belch of dragon-fire.

    Suddenly, the two lions became very, very quiet.

    The two were joined by two more in short order from the other side of the Pit. Those new two were likewise very lively at first, bellowing and threatening, but then they were curious at why the earlier two were so frantically trying to shush them¡­

    A bigger belch of dragon-fire came splurting out of the tunnel, with another angry roar, and then once more, there was abrupt silence in the depths of the Pit.

    ***

    High above the Pit, three Sky Fortresses rained down heavy fire upon the incoming Wilds. They hovered, then lowered, and in doing so baited dozens of bloodthirsty Wilds into trying to reach them.

    But of course, they were directly over the Pit, so¡­

    "ROAWoaaaaa¡­?" down they went, first five, then six, then sixteen all in a bundle. Golden lions, silver lions, bronze lions, iron lions, coal lions, giant snakes, oversized insects, one bustling war mammoth¡­ all of them went down.

    The mammoth, especially landed with much fanfare. One could say its arrival had quite the impact. "RIAOOOOO!"

    [ENOUGH!] Ha''res-dras roared, and came thundering out of the tunnels. Fire sprayed around the Pit, much to everyone''s grief, and then the dragon took to the skies, and fire streamed out everywhere.

    [Now, you''ve done it!] the first golden lion into the Pit groaned.

    "Get away!" Remian yelled indiscriminately, and indiscriminately, everyone scrambled to do just that.

    Ha''res-dras raged as he poured fire all over the scene. Wilds and humans alike screamed in fright and ran for cover. The entire Beast Wave was practically derailed on the spot, all fighting utterly forgotten, if not forgiven outright.

    "Faster! Faster!!" Mindy yelped, piloting the Red Fang to lead the Sky Fortresses away.

    Ha''res-dras went on full-tilt bad tantrum, burning the land below and the skies above. All the Wilds in the Beast Wave up on the surface were broiled, baked, fried, or outright reduced to ashes within minutes. Oddly enough, the Wilds who were down in the Pit actually escaped the worst of it, suffering burns, but generally keeping their lives.

    [Darian! I''m leaving! You''re coming with me!] Ha''res-dras fumed.

    "But¡­!"

    [Either you come with me now, or I break that little hill you''re hiding in and drag you out!]

    "Coming, coming!" Darian scrambled hastily. "Bye, mom, bye, dad! I''ll come visit on the weekend!"

    "Wait!" Remian grabbed Vigil and threw the yelping, furry bundle almost into Darian''s face. "Carrie asked if you could take him with you!"

    "For what?!"

    "Training!" Remian summarized.

    [I''m leaving!] Ha''res-dras roared.

    "Okay, okay!" Darian answered everyone with the same words, and went off to begin his training.

 141 Hostage Negotiation

    "Wasn''t that dragon already awake earlier?"

    "No, apparently, Darian couldn''t wake him up¡­"

    "Well, he''s definitely awake now. Any Wilds in the Beast Wave left?"

    "Only those in the Pit."

    "So¡­ what do we do with them?"

    They barricaded the tunnels and surrounded the Pit, three Sky Fortresses and the military-grade Red Fang hovering above with every cannon and ballista pointed downward. Having the enemy trapped in a pit, surrounded on all sides, with air superiority and the ultimate high ground all at once, this Beast Wave was turning out to be much easier to handle than expected.

    Remian, Markus, and Carrie peered down at the trapped Wilds from above. Remian called out, "Everybody get clear, at least three hundred meters away!"

    They moved while Remian closed his eyes and concentrated. He calmed himself, calmed his mind, gathered his strength and evened out his breathing. "I am calm. The skies are blue. The grass is green. I am at peace¡­"

    "We''re clear!" Markus reported.

    "Airships clear!" Mindy called. "Go for it!"

    Remian clenched his fist, and released his powers. "Anti-Magic!"

    A ripple burst out from him for a couple of hundred meters. This was more than enough to reach the bottom of the Pit and clear out any magical effects still lingering on the trapped Wilds below.

    [Wha¡­ where are we?] a lot of confused Wilds asked each other. [Can someone tell me what is going on?]

    "Surrender or die!" Remian called down.

    [Humans?! They have us trapped! But we will never surrender!] Snarls were their only reply.

    "We''ll treat your wounds and treat you to dinner!" Remian offered.

    Half the growls and snarls in the Pit paused.

    "Look, you guys actually attacked us first. We can''t just let you run off, now, can we? Swear fealty on the Twin Dragons, and join our side!"

    [How dare you!] the biggest Golden Lion below roared. [I am the third cousin to the Golden Lion Lord! Release me immediately, or he will exact vengeance upon you!]

    "Oh? Sounds like we have a valuable hostage!" Remian exclaimed.

    [Whoops¡­] The Golden Lion gulped.

    "All right, everybody else has a chance to join our side¡­ except that one! That one, we use as a hostage to negotiate with the Golden Lion Lord!" Remian decided.

    [Nooooo¡­!] the Golden Lion Lord''s cousin wailed.

    Remian backed away from the edge of the Pit with a smile, then almost stumbled over something in the dirt. "What is this?"

    It looked like a metal board stuck onto a bone handle¡­ "Wait, I know what this is. A bone core made from DD''s tooth supporting a body of metal¡­ this is Song Chen''s ruler. What''s it doing here?"

    "I think he dropped it when he got hurt?" Mindy guessed.

    "Can anyone even use something like this to fight?" Remian wondered. "I mean, it looks more like something you''d carve runes into and sit on to fly."

    Mindy''s eyes went wide. All of her sudden her gaze seemed almost to sparkle.

    "Anyway¡­ it looks like Darian has gone. I guess it''s time we left too." Remian added.

    "We''re leaving?" Mindy stared.

    "I''m going with you for your first trade run, remember? Although we need to go south to have a chat with the Golden Lion Lord before we go north."

    "Ah. Right." Mindy pondered. "When are we going? Tonight?"

    "No, I still need to make a few arrangements. Let''s head out tomorrow morning, after breakfast."

    "Okay."

    ***

    One of those arrangements was for his parents to head south too.

    "Three Pines Peak?" Remian''s dad mused. "Are the ruins there dangerous or something?"

    "No, it''s more like an academic dig than a dungeon raid." Remian explained. "The Wilds there are the Eagle Lord''s followers; they''re friendly toward us. But we need to send a lot more manpower, and I''d like our most knowledgeable academics to take a look. That means you and mom, by the way."

    "I think the ones you want there are actually Arnold and Jim, but sure, we can go take a look. We''re in airships. We can go anywhere." Damien Vin shrugged.

    Lisa Vin, though, shook her head. "We can''t just run off on a whim! Most of our students are here! What are we going to do, take them away from their homes? We can''t just upset everyone''s routines!"

    "Call it a field trip, or a summer camp!" Damien Vin suggested.

    "Just how long do you expect to be there?"

    "Until Darian comes visit us for the weekend. It''ll be a much shorter trip for him to visit us there than to visit us here. That means more time with him."

    That certainly weighed in heavily. But Remian''s mom still had a few more issues. "What about Sabriane and Eriane? Are we just leaving them here?"

    "We could just bring them along." Remian''s dad shrugged. "Though Sabriane might prefer to stay here and keep working on the new hospital. She can stay if she wants. She can take care of herself."

    The choice was hers, but in the end, Sabriane opted to take a week off from the hospital and go set up an infirmary at the Three Pines Outpost.

    Forty adventurers and three airships (Red Fang, Farm School, Encles School) headed to Three Pines Peak the next morning. Most of the adventurers were children and teenagers out on a ''field trip'', but there were three older Adventurers who brought everything they had, prepared to stay at Three Pines for the long haul.

    Basically¡­ Sandra''s and Gammie''s ''parents'' (Guardians? Mentors?) were going back with them to see their treehouse. Koma, Ruth and Xia were going to be in charge of Three Pines Outpost in the long run.

    Oh, and¡­ they also brought along one hostage. The Golden Lion ''cousin to the Lord'' had an entire plank-and-netting platform slung below the Red Fang to himself. It was large enough for a quick pace to and fro, but the noble cousin did not seem to want to do much pacing when the only thing between him and a five hundred foot drop was a single piece of wood and some rope.

    Meanwhile, the Eagle Lord and his host went and returned to Three Pines ahead of everyone else. They left Kara-Goth earlier in the morning, while the airships were loading supplies, and were miles ahead by the time the airships took off. By lunch-time, they were already on the far side of the horizon, almost out of sight.

    The Red Fang, likewise, left the two school airships behind very quickly. That was all very well since Remian and Mindy weren''t actually going to Three Pines this time. They were going to see the Golden Lion Lord.

    ***

    [Golden Lion Lord! I have your cousin hostage! Meet me to negotiate terms, or we kill him!]

    [Cousin! Help! HELP!]

    The Golden Lion Lord got the messages as soon as the Red Fang entered his Fief. He blinked once at the sorry figure hanging from the netting below the airship, turned to the nearest lioness at his side and asked, [Is that really my cousin?]

    [He''s a golden lion.] she shrugged. [If he isn''t your cousin, he''s probably one of your brothers, or your uncle, or something.]

    [Ugh.] The Lion Lord turned to the airship and said, [What do you want, human?]

    [My enemies have infiltrated your land and are turning your kind against me. I want these human enemies of mine hunted down and the Beast Waves stopped!]

    [What do the Beast Waves matter? Sooner or later you will heap the wrath of another Tide upon yourself and this time, you won''t survive it.]

    [Don''t you care about your own kind being used in someone else''s schemes?]

    [Less mouths to feed.] The Lion Lord yawned lazily. [Less work for me.]

    [HEY!] The lioness by his side growled.

    Remian snorted. [I see why the Eagle Lord said that negotiating with you was beneath him.]

    [He says that about everything.] The Lion Lord murmured, already feeling bored and sleepy. [If that''s all¡­]

    [Do we have a deal? You swear upon the Twin Dragons to hunt down those humans, and I give you your cousin back!]

    [How odd that a human asks me to hunt down his kind to save my own¡­] the Lion Lord mused.

    The lioness beside him rolled her eyes. [That''s because you''re too lazy to do it on your own initiative!]

    [This is a trap, isn''t it? You expect me to believe you have turned on your own kind?] The Lion Lord finally roared.

    [It''s no trap. As I have said; they are my enemies, not my friends.]

    [But still your own kind, as similar to yourself as Iron Lions are to me.]

    [Yet they want to kill me and destroy my people. Therefore I want the same upon them.]

    [How odd.] The Lion Lord shook his head. [Hundreds of other species, far greater threats looming all around you in the world, and you humans fight your own kind.]

    [Just give me an anwer already; yes, or no?]

    The Lion Lord yawned, thought about it for a moment, then gave his answer.

    [No.]

 142 Deals

    Days since last Beast Tide: 15. Current Kill Count: 478 (81 since yesterday).

    ***

    "No? Fine! Drop the lion!" Mindy ordered.

    [No, don''t!] the lion under the airship yelped.

    "Wait!" Remian also yelled. [Lion Lord, please elaborate. What do you mean ''no''?]

    [''No'' means no.] The Lion Lord yawned again, settling down to sleep. [I know your kind. You want us all to work for you. Well, I won''t do it! If you want to hunt your own kind, do it yourself.]

    [So you''ll let us hunt them?]

    [What do I care?]

    [And you won''t attack us?]

    [Maybe we will.] The Lion Lord shrugged. [I make no promises.]

    [We still have your cousin, you know. He''s still our prisoner.]

    [So?]

    [So we won''t release him unless you help us, or at least promise us safe passage!]

    [Then don''t release him. See if I care.]

    [Cousin!?] The lion prisoner protested.

    [Don''t worry. These guys try to befriend Wilds all the time. Also, they''ll give you free food.] The Lion Lord snorted. [You''ll be fine.]

    [How is this in any way fine?!]

    "At least tell us where to find the human camp. It won''t cost you anything." Remian requested next. "Just point us out in the right direction, and we''ll stop those pests from driving any more of your fellows mad. Think of it as us working for you for free."

    The Lion Lord considered it. Then, he finally answered. [They are not in my lands. They intrude from time to time and ensnare the foolish and the careless in their traps. But they do not camp in my territory.]

    "Then where do they camp?"

    [There.] The Lion Lord nodded to the south. [In the Fief of the Stag Lord.]

    "Thank you very much." Remian saluted the Lion Lord. "We''ll be leaving now."

    [Great! Just put me down softly¡­] The lion prisoner requested.

    "Who said anything about letting you go?" Remian asked. "I didn''t. Mindy?"

    "I didn''t either. Lion Lord?"

    [Wasn''t me.]

    [But¡­!] The lion prisoner spluttered. [But¡­ but¡­!]

    [Bye, cousin!] The Lion Lord waved one paw, and went back to sleep.

    [Noooooooooooo¡­!] The lion prisoner wailed on as they continued south.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Charlie was arriving at Kara-Goth. Between increasing orders, increasing loads, and farther distances, his schedule had shifted to arrive at the Frontier the day after the Beast Waves.

    "You want explosives?" Charlie mused as he heard George''s latest request. "For mining?"

    "Not entirely. I especially need a lot of the waterproof type."

    "Waterproof? Are you planning to blow up Deepsilver?" Charlie asked, startled.

    "No, I''m planning to blow up Rocky Ford." George answered.

    "Blow up Rocky Ford¡­?" Charlie stared. "But that''s the only land access this Fief has to the south!"

    "We never really use it." George pointed out. "All our expeditions to the south use airships. Right now, the only ones using that ford..."

    "¡­Are the Beast Waves." Charlie finished for him. He let out a low whistle. "It''s a novel idea. If you cut off land access, you might be able to ward off the Beast Waves entirely without firing a shot."

    "Well, Remian said we should try not to kill too many Wilds, so¡­" George shrugged. "It was the best way I could think of."

    "I like the idea." Charlie patted George on the back. "I just hope it works."

    "Probably not. But it could at least keep the lower Tier Wilds back. Then we''ll only have to deal with the biggest ones, or the ones who can swim." George sighed. "We''ll have to trust to smoke-bombs and a few tricky modifications to the Pit for the rest. We might not be able to stave off a Beast Tide, but blimey if we can''t handle at least a few measly Beast Waves without casualties!"

    "Well, you might have to handle the next Beast Wave the normal way, at least. I don''t have that much explosives on board right now." Charlie told him. "But rest assured, I''ll definitely have it for you next week. For now, maybe earth magic¡­?"

    "Our earth magic equipment and magi are all needed elsewhere. I''d rather set the miners and the wolfcats to dig." George shook his head.

    "No, don''t. You should prioritize digging for Fire Copper." Charlie urged him. "That''s your most profitable export."

    Indeed it was. For the sake of that Fire Copper, Deutero still sent airships; one arrived mid-week, one arrived a day or two before the Beast Wave, and they often had a lot of weapons on offer. Added to that, Charlie usually arrived the day after the Wave and seemed to have a lot of medical and construction supplies on board.

    That was just as well. George bought out the lot and emptied out Charlie''s cargo hold. The funds for the medical supplies and construction materials came out of Remian''s budget. In return, Charlie stocked up on Fire Copper (5 crates) and Jade (1 crate). "50k for the jade, 300k for the Fire Copper. Deal?"

    "Sounds about right." George grunted. "What about skins from Tier 4 Wilds and such?"

    "Not this time, thanks. A lot of the new skins seemed to be rather burnt." Charlie said evasively.

    George frowned. That seemed a bit odd. Charlie never balked at buying high Tier skins before, even with burnt marks and arrow holes in them.

    Then again, his holds were already full with Fire Copper. George listed the revenue of 350,000 in the accounts and mused about it for a moment.

    Technically, it belonged to Kara-Goth. Charlie hadn''t bought any farm produce, whether it was foodstuff or scroll reagants, so George didn''t actually get any money from this round (his take was 50% of the farm profits). He also didn''t buy any materials from Wilds like skins and bones or even meat, so the Adventurers Guild didn''t get anything either. This time around, all the revenue went to Kara-Goth, that is, 81% belonged to Remian (283,500 Lir), 9% was Mindy''s (31,500) and 10% actually belonged to Charlie (35,000).

    It wasn''t much better with the Deutero airships. They bought more, consistently 8 crates of Fire Copper, a steady 400,000 Lir per arrival. With the Burning Steel out and most internal sales made using Guild Points rather than Lir, these three airships were Shadowflash Fief''s main sources of income.

    1.1 million Lir a week wasn''t very much considering the costs of renting the Sky Barge from Mindy alone was 80,000 lir a day (560,000 Lir a week). That payment came out directly from Remian''s share, so it didn''t affect Charlie''s take at all¡­

    George closed his eyes, feeling a sudden sourness. "Charlie, I''d like to buy out your share in Kara-Goth."

    "Oh?" Charlie raised an eyebrow. "I got 115k this week from my shares. A year''s worth of that income is almost six million lir. Do you have six million lying around?"

    "Yes."

    Charlie considered. "Hmm. I could do a lot with six million. I could upgrade my airship extensively or outright buy a second one¡­"

    "So, it''s a deal?" George prompted.

    "Deal." Charlie said.

    Both of them knew that there were other mines about to open up all across the Fief. Construction would soon be complete and they, too, would start production. George was thinking that Charlie''s 10% share would soon greatly increase in value. But Charlie was thinking that his 10% ownership only went as far as Kara-Goth; it did not include all the new mines that were built solely on Remian''s funding.

    At this point of time, neither George nor Charlie knew anything about Flaming Bronze. Aren, Remian and Mindy kept it a secret, and other than them, only a few miners and wolfcats knew about it.

    Oaths were sworn to the Twin Dragons; the jade plate that certified the 10% shares exchanged hands. Having no idea of the repercussions of this little deal of theirs, George and Charlie parted ways amicably.

 143 Busy Darian

    While Mindy and Remian were flying off to start trading, while George was taking charge of Kara-Goth and the rest of Shadowflash Fief, Darian was learning an ultimate technique.

    Or at least, Doom said it was an ultimate technique. That''s what he called it. Darian wasn''t so sure.

    But whatever it was, it was definitely powerful.

    The first thing Doom had Darian learn was the Dragon Silhouette. He said, "You need to be able to survive out here on your own! I''m not going to run around rescuing you all day!"

    "Is it that hard to survive around here?" Darian asked, looking around Dragon Lake.

    "You''re in the middle of six Dragon clans with hundreds of members between them, any of whom might feel like snapping you up as a snack. You tell me."

    Darian quit the very thought of protesting. "What''s a Dragon Silhouette?"

    "You know how Ha''res-dras sometimes appears bigger than he really is? He doesn''t actually get bigger. That''s his Silhouette. If you hit it, he probably won''t even feel it."

    "So it''s like armor?"

    "More like an aura, but yes, it protects him. If it somehow gets destroyed, he might just survive and escape, and then once he recovers his strength, he can just make a new one¡­"

    "That''s awesome! So I need to make a Human Silhouette?"

    "No, I told you already! Dragon Silhuoette! Draaaagon!" Doom dragged it out. "Claws, tail and everything! Like this!"

    Doom disappeared and in his place, a towering hundred-foot long dragon appeared, dark green and scaly, wisps of fire coming from his mouth. [See?]

    Darian suddenly had a very clear understanding of exactly how it was that Doom managed to get along so well with the dragons.

    Forming that Silhuoette, however, was crazy hard. He needed Psionic Power, a good deal of Life Force (Song Chen might call it Martial Qi, Darian thought), some Body Strengthening methods much more difficult than Wulfgar''s, even some magic for the fire breath. In order to perform this one technique, he needed to learn all of them in a hurry.

    Otherwise, he might just become someone''s lunch snack tomorrow.

    So Doom taught him methods to train in all those things and then said, "Other than practicing those methods I taught you, there''s a few things you should do to hurry your training up. Eat these fruits twice a day, lie down at the bottom of the lake over there for the water pressure, breathe through this tube, and pray to God that no big fishes get hungry enough to take a bite out of you."

    "What fruits are these?"

    "Just try one. Put the whole thing in your mouth, chew and swallow quickly."

    AUM!

    "Whoa! My blood is on fire! My body is burning up!!" Darian yowled.

    "Like I said; bottom of the lake." Doom handed him a gigantic tube. "For breathing."

    Darian went right in. Even inside the lake, he still felt the scorching heat in his body. It wasn''t like spicy food where only his throat and tongue burned; his very blood seemed to be on fire.

    He lay there at the bottom of the Lake for roughly five minutes before another problem cropped up. [I''m bored.]

    Doom shrugged mentally in response. [So? Feel free to chat. There''s lots of Wilds around. Take your pick.]

    He did. But the one he chatted with the most was Doom himself. He learnt a lot from Doom.

    By the end of the first day, Darian successfully formed a Silhuoette¡­ two inches big.

    "Well¡­" Doom eyed the vaguely wormy form. "I guess it sort of looks like a dragon? You''ve got a long way to go, my boy."

    Darian groaned.

    ***

    They lived in tents made of dried skins. Why dried skins? It''s because Doom had a mind-blowing abundance of such materials. He''d collected skins and bones and even leftover meat from the remains of the prey dragons nearby hunted. Then he dried the skins for his clothing and tents and such, carved the bones to make spears and harpoons and fishhooks and whatnot. There was a tent Doom slept in, a new tent for Darian, two big tents that stored up lots of that skin and bones, two really big tents that stored up cured meat and dried fish (although that emptied out every time a dragon came by to join them for supper), and one last square tent that was filled with sticks and stones.

    Another of the most useful techniques Darian learned early on was how to light a fire with magic.

    Doom drew a triangular insignia and said, "Flame!"

    Whoosh! The hearth made of stones and sticks lit up just like that.

    "Remember to aim properly." Doom told him. "And never say ''fire'' or ''burn'' or anything! Always ''flame''! That keeps it small, just one flame! Be specific!"

    Then he taught him how to use water magic to purify water for drinking, wind magic for a breeze and to dry stuff faster, earth magic to sense vibrations from afar when something was coming.

    ***

    That weekend, Darian went to visit his parents at Three Pines Peak. He wasn''t sure they were there at first, but Doom said they were, and he could ask the Wilds about it, so¡­

    "Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad." Darian waved and left Ha''res-dras to snooze atop the mountain while he stayed with his parents in one of the less damaged structures at the black ruins town square.

    Darian''s Mom was not happy when she heard how he was living these days. "At least learn to tan leather properly! And you need to eat a more balanced diet!"

    "I eat plenty of fruit!" Darian protested.

    "That''s not good enough. You need rice, or bread." Mom insisted. "Take some seeds. Plant grain and vegetables. Take care of yourself."

    So Darian went back after that weekend with bags of grain and vegetables, and fulfilled his promise to Mom to plant them. That was how a garden sprouted up around their campsite. Also, he had to learn how to tan. Doom ended up helping him out with that until he could handle it on his own.

    The following weekend, Mom had Koma teach Darian how to thatch. She simply was not comfortable with him living in a tent! Doom shook his head when he heard of that ridiculous bias, and said, "You may as well just live in a tree house."

    That was exactly what happened next. Mom couldn''t very well complain about him living in a tree house when Aunt Xia did that at Three Pines Peak, right?

    Still, she complained about his clothes. She ended up sending a few new sets back with him that second weekend, proper clothing made of linen and a wool blanket on top of that.

    Darian didn''t protest. What was he to do, tell her that he spent most of his days naked underwater? On top of that, the time he needed clothes the most was when he was on a dragon''s back; those times, he needed really, really thick furs.

    Unable to tell her too much (for her own sanity as well as his), Darian lugged more luggage back that second weekend.

    Doom groaned when he saw all that. "What next? Do you need to learn forging too?"

    "Maybe?" Darian scratched his head.

    "Forget it! Dragon bones are harder than iron! I''ll just teach you how to carve and craft with bone. Just add in some runes and you''re good to go."

    Rune-smithing, now?!

    Yeah, Darian learned a LOT.

 144 Busy Mindy

    Days since last Beast Tide: 17. Current Kill Count: 528 (39 since yesterday).

    Mindy arrived at Fal''Herim with Remian and found a familiar face at the airport.

    "There! Did you see that?!" Asda pointed, shrieking. "One just ran past, behind you!"

    "Ma''am?" the guard turned around and looked about curiously before shaking his head. "I don''t see anything, ma''am."

    "It was there!" Asda insisted. "There was a lynxmouse!"

    "Yes, ma''am." The guard said politely. But when Asda turned around, he exchanged glances with the other guard next to him, who also shook his head wordlessly.

    "Hey! Asda!" Mindy pounced.

    "UWAAAAAH!!!" Asda shrieked. "It''s HER! It''s Mindy!! She brought the lynxmice!"

    "Wha¡­?" Mindy stared. "I didn''t! You can ask your airport customs people! They just did a full search of my hold!"

    "It''s you! I know it is! You''ve been setting lynxmice on me! Spying on me! Stalking me! Stealing my CHEESE!!" Asda pointed, screeching wildly.

    "Asda¡­ are you¡­ okay?" Mindy asked, scratching her head. "You know, I only meant to surprise you¡­"

    "They''re everywhere! EVERYWHERE!!" Asda jumped, then pointed again. "THERE! Behind you! Do you see that?!"

    Everyone looked. "Uh¡­ where?"

    "There was one right there!" Asda barked. She rounded on Mindy in a fury. "It''s you! I know it''s you!!"

    "Maybe stopping by here wasn''t such a good idea." Remian said darkly.

    "But the prices¡­"

    "Forget it." Remian said shortly and marched straight back on board the airship.

    ***

    Days since last Beast Tide: 19. Current Kill Count: 608 (41 since yesterday).

    Mindy did not have a good impression of Germat at first. When they entered Germat airspace, a military patrol corvette immediately approached and demanded to know their business.

    "Trade." Remian answered.

    "All trade is to be conducted with official representatives at the airport. Follow us and do not deviate from our flight path."

    Mindy glanced at Remian. "Do we trust them? I mean¡­ they look like the real Germat military, but what if they''re bandits in disguise?"

    "That''s a proper military corvette with the right flags and everything. If they were imposters, Germat''s real military would have shot them down by now."

    So they followed the corvette to a very specific airport, set down at a very specific dock, and then met with a very specific representative who took a look at her cargo and offered her very specific prices.

    "120,000 lir for every ton of Fire Copper." The officer offered. "We''re not interested in anything else."

    "WHAT?!" Mindy shrieked.

    Remian clapped a hand over her mouth. "Calm down!"

    The officer frowned at her. "The price is set by our central government. It will be the same everywhere else in the country. I cannot change it for anyone or anything¡­"

    "No, no, it''s good! It''s great!" Mindy exclaimed. "Deal! You can have all of it!"

    "Very good." The officer said stiffly, still not quite gotten over the shock. "We will proceed."

    "So¡­ what was all that yelling about?" Remian asked.

    "120,000 lir! Remian, that''s¡­" Mindy spluttered and switched to mind-speak. [More than double what Charlie or Deutero would pay for a ton if they picked it up from Kara-Goth.]

    "Yeah, coming here was a good idea, wasn''t it?" Remian said mildly. "Too bad about the Tier 4 skins and bones, though. And the jade is good too."

    But the officer wasn''t buying and that was that. He only wanted the Fire Copper.

    "What about¡­ the reinforced crate?" Mindy asked the officer.

    "Um¡­ about that¡­" The officer hesitated. "I need to check with my boss. We don''t normally buy that sort of thing so easily."

    "I understand." Remian said. "Well, then, we''ll just be on our way."

    "Please wait! Just one hour! Give me one hour!" the officer said. "The airport has a rest area, restaurants and refreshments and a whole commercial zone. You are permitted to use the facilities."

    "We could use some lunch." Remian mused, glancing at Mindy. "What do you think?"

    "Sounds good." Mindy smiled. [Their Fire Copper prices are awesome. I''m almost afraid to find out what they''d offer for the special crate.]

    So they had lunch, tried out a wide assortment of heavy meats and quality sausages, rested and refreshed themselves, and picked out a few items from the souvenir shops. Mindy came back with an armful of diagrams and drawings of historical Germat airships. Then she went out another round and came back with scale models of more modern Germat airships. Then she started buying books about airships¡­

    But she forgot all of that when the officer came back with the official offer. "1,200,000 lir for a ton of Flaming Bronze. There''s 2 tons in that crate, bringing the total offer up to 2,400,000 lir. If you''re willing to sell, I can give you the money in cash or bank transfer right now."

    Mindy almost fainted.

    ***

    Days since last Beast Tide: 20. Current Kill Count: 651 (43 since yesterday).

    They found a buyer in Ashdale. "One crate of raw jade, one crate of Tier 4 skins, one crate of Tier 4 bones¡­ I''ll take the lot for 100k. Deal?"

    "Deal." Mindy sighed. "It''s all yours."

    "Very good, very good." The man said absently. "Say, do you have any metals, by any chance? Industrial tools? Weapons?!" that last came out eagerly.

    "Weapons? No. Why? What''s the sudden interest?" Mindy asked.

    "It''s war. War is brewing." The man said seriously. "Tensions around here are increasing daily. Ever since the new crystal lode was found, all the countries around here are on their toes. It won''t be long now until the first shot is fired, and then all hell will break loose."

    "They''re fighting over crystals?" Remian blinked.

    "Mana crystals. The prices of mana have been rising steeply over the past year. There''s been almost no new lodes found, and rumor has it that the old mines are running low."

    "So now everyone''s buying metal to fight for mana?"

    "Most countries around here, yes. The prices of iron and copper have doubled in the past week, and steel has gone through the roof."

    "Then what about elemental metals?"

    "Don''t even get me started on elemental metals."

    "I''m starting to get the idea." Remian trailed off.

    But Mindy asked, "Just out of curiosity, how much would you buy a ton of Fire Copper?"

    "Fire Copper? A whole ton? 90k easily."

    Still not as high as what Germat offered. Mindy settled back, satisfied that they''d taken the better price.

    ***

    After a break, Remian asked, "Do you want to go visit Mandy?"

    Mindy hesitated. "Yes, and no. I want to see her, but I don''t want her talking down on me again."

    "So you want to see her, but in a way that impresses her?" Remian summarized.

    "Yes. Yes, that''s it, exactly." Mindy nodded.

    "Well, then, buy a manor in an upscale location, hire a full staff, wear an expensive dress, invite her to a grand tea party and send a high-class vehicle to pick her up." Remian suggested.

    "How much would all that cost?" Mindy gasped.

    "Tens of millions, easily. Maybe a hundred million?"

    "That''s over thirty trips like we made today." Mindy calculated. "It could be over a year before we make that much money."

    " ''We''? I thought you were buying it all on your own."

    "Come on. You know you want to impress her as much as I do, maybe more."

    "That''s true." Remian reflected.

    "So, anyway, how do we divide up the profits? You own the mines and the goods, but I own the airship and I did the trading, so¡­?"

    "This round, it''s all yours. Consider it my gift to you, in support of your venture." Remian said. "In the future, you''ll have to buy from Kara-Goth, and I must warn you, I''m going to raise prices along with everyone else."

    "I can''t keep taking everything from you for free!" Mindy protested.

    "Fine, then. Sell me the rest of your fleet." Remian suggested. "The airships I already use. The Sky Barges, the Tugs, the Gunboats¡­ all of them. That should easily make up the worth of this trip''s goods."

    "Two point seven million lir? I hardly think three second-hand industrial grade Galleons can cover it, even including those floating turrets we call Gunboats and the Tugs."

    "That''s my offer. Take it or leave it."

    "I''ll take it!" Mindy hesitated one last time. "You know the kind of prices I''m being offered, right? You know what kind of profit I''ll make? Are you certain you want to let me have all of it?"

    "Yes. It''s all yours. Go for it." Remian gave her a thumbs-up. "Just let me know if there''s anything I can do to support you."

    Mindy''s eyes were filling up. "You already do. All the time."

    After buying an airship''s worth of furniture and other useful items, they left Ashdale and headed for home.

 145 Busy George

    Days since last Beast Tide: 21. Current Kill Count: 672 (21 since yesterday). During Darian''s first weekend.

    ***

    George stared at the map on the table in front of him, rubbing tired eyes. In his hand was breakfast, an Ashdale style plate of hash browns, eggs, and sausages.

    The images and icons in front of him seemed to swim for a moment. George shut his eyes tight for a bit, and wondered if perhaps maybe, just maybe, he should have slept in this morning.

    "Not today." He decided, gathering his guts and his willpower. "Tomorrow. Today, we need to face another Beast Wave."

    What should they do? Should they evacuate the mines, or just keep them running? Except maybe for the copper mine at Deadly Sands. And maybe the silver mine at the far southern end of the Misty Heights. Maybe even the Misty Steel mine at the source of the Three Forks River, at the heart of the Misty Mountains.

    Right. Misty Steel. That was a water elemental metal, similar to Fire Copper. It was located right next to a wolfcat den, but those wolfcats were their friends now, so they had access that nobody else had had before. The Misty Steel lode didn''t seem as rich as the Fire Copper deposits at Kara-Goth, but elemental metal was still a high value asset.

    Compared to the mine just south of the Three Forks River source at Misty Heights, the tin mine across it to the north was a lot lower in value. There were also two gem mines at the Amber Gorge¡­

    Should he call for a total evacuation of all the mines? That was the safest option for the miners. But George felt that it wasn''t necessary. It would totally disrupt production and cause a lot of bother and most of the time, the Beast Waves wouldn''t even leave their habitual route.

    There was only one mine in their route, and that was the copper mine at Deadly Sands. Everything else was so far out of the way George didn''t think the Beast Wave would ever bother them.

    "But just in case¡­ let''s evacuate the silver mine and double the guard on the Misty Steel mine." George told himself, making notes in a little booklet he kept in his pocket all the time these days. That little booklet was proving to be his most helpful tool.

    Things might not go so easily next time. Once Rocky Ford was removed from the picture, there was no telling how the Beast Waves might wander. For today, though, they could expect the Beast Wave to come up through their normal route from Craggy Falls, through Deadly Sands and Rocky Ford all the way to Kara-Goth.

    "Again, the Pit is the key." George muttered. "Hidden trapdoor flaps on the edges¡­ smoke bombs¡­ do we need bait? But the Waves are already following some Wave Call Crystal somewhere¡­ what other bait could we need?"

    But the Wilds these days seem smarter than the ones before, able to think clearer, protect themselves better. Enough, at least, to know that it was dangerous to tick off a sleeping dragon. Maybe whoever made the Wave Call Crystals had improved the design?

    More importantly, what was he missing? It happened every time there was a Beast Wave. They always missed something, or something new happened that they hadn''t expected, and then they always suffered for it. George was determined to try to avoid that this time. There was no Remian to fall back on today, no Charlie coming to reinforce the defenses. Neither of them would be back until tomorrow.

    Heck, even Song Chen was still in the hospital.

    Today it was all on him. George felt the weight of it on his shoulders and wondered if he should borrow Remian''s prosthetic frame.

    Speaking of which, the armored version should be about ready. George made a note in his book to go find Arnold and test it out.

    "What should I offer the mercenaries?" George pondered.

    There were dozens of them around Kara-Goth, now. Most of them were from Fal''Herim, having come for the bounties on the Wilds around the farm. They were good at their jobs, and they kept the farm and the mines safe. Should he try to involve them in the defenses? Offer them a bounty on Beast Wave Wilds? Something like double the normal price, today only?

    No. He didn''t have much of a budget left. He''d spent six million of it on buying out Charlie. George didn''t regret it; Charlie''s 10% shares were a permanent drain on Kara-Goth''s profits that would never ease and only grow bigger with time. To George, saving Kara-Goth from that drain was more valuable than hiring mercenaries to stave off the Beast Wave.

    The FDF would just have to make do with what they already had. Barring any surprises, it should be enough. Theoretically.

    Maybe he should just keep the standard prices but include the Wave Wilds in the bounties and see if the mercenaries would go for it.

    Knocking sounded on his door.

    "George?" It was Arnold. "The Exosuit is ready."

    "The what?" George blinked.

    "That prosthetic armor you wanted."

    George practically bounded to the door and ushered Arnold in hastily. "Really?"

    "See for yourself." Arnold opened a chest and took out pieces of armor. "I used quality steel for the armor, and reinforced the frame, so that¡­ well, in short, you should get motion enhancement to twice the strength of an average man."

    "Nice!" The armor was fashioned in the uniform shape and colors of the FDF, black, white, and blue. George figured that with him wearing it, there would be no doubt in their minds that he was one of ''theirs''.

    He tested it out, moving around the room. It wasn''t perfect; George felt a bit awkward and clumsy, often making movements bigger and wilder than he''d intended, but he figured that with practice, this could work out very well indeed. "How much?"

    "Let''s peg the price at 63,000 lir and leave it at that." Arnold suggested.

    "Is that your cost price, or did you include labor?"

    "Don''t ask." Arnold said evasively.

    George considered for a moment. "Let''s make it 83,000. You deserve good pay for a good job."

    Plus, Arnold himself was invaluable. George simply could not afford to lose him.

    "Uh¡­ actually, I was thinking, what if we could basically sell these suits?" Arnold asked. "Jim says that we could replace a lot of the Fire Copper veins with silver or even normal copper, so we could actually build cheaper but weaker versions. I have some other ideas to adjust the suit''s design that would cut cost more and more. I think it''s actually possible to end up with a suit that costs only half as much."

    "Half the cost?!" George stared. "And just as strong?"

    "Err¡­ probably not. It''ll definitely be weaker, but not by much. I think." Arnold cleared his throat. "The point is, we might be able to sell it for a profit. If you could provide me with the materials, you could have a fifty percent share."

    "That''s nice, but do it tomorrow. Tonight, we need to focus on defense."

    "About that¡­ I think if I had more time, we could use a lot of the same design methods in the Repeating Crossbow Carts. I have some ideas that could help them fire faster, hit harder, and even move around more easily."

    "How much time are we talking about?"

    "A few days?"

    "Next week, then."

    ***

    George went to find Markus. "Can the Iron Legion help out the defense against the Beast Wave today?"

    Markus considered it. "Officially, no. We took a lot of losses during the Beast Tide. We''ve been directly instructed to focus on building the road north and leave your troubles to your people. But as for myself, I could come by and lend a hand personally. If anyone else wants to volunteer, I wouldn''t stop them either."

    "That would be great. In fact¡­ could you take command of the mercenaries? I''m extending the bounty on the Wilds to include those in the Beast Wave, so quite a few of them want in on the action."

    "You''re paying your way out of this Beast Wave? In that case, I think a lot of our guys would want in too." Max jumped in.

    "Max, we can''t get them involved in this¡­"

    "Oh, we''re not. It''s just that they might want to earn a little extra doing some mercenary work on the side." Max mentioned casually. "There''s money involved, you know? HQ can''t fault us for that."

    "Just¡­ make sure it doesn''t interfere with their training. And keep everyone alive!"

    "That should be up to you. You''re the one in command, remember?"

 146 Busy Tim

    And then there was Tim.

    Tim skulked around the corner of a white palace corridor with a sound ampliflier runed conch, listening.

    "They''re there! The lynxmice are there! I swear they''re there!" Asda ranted on the inside of the building. "Double the watch! Inspect the kitchens at midnight! Where are the rat-trap engineers?!"

    [Guard coming around the corner.] One lynxmouse scout advised. [Ten seconds.]

    Tim darted away, finding cover around the next corner before the guard patrolled past, then resumed his eavesdropping on Asda''s conversations.

    "You want me to control the lynxmice?!" Asda was saying to someone on the other end of a communications crystal. "I can''t do that!"

    "You were friends with Fort Spoas once, were you not?" the pinched voice on the other end of the line pressed. "Surely you have discovered the secrets of taming the Wilds!"

    "Well¡­ I think it''s mainly just food." Asda replied. "Barbecued meat, usually."

    "There must be more to it! We have been researching and experimenting and operating on Wilds for decades, and not even we can control the Wilds the way this Remian and his people can!"

    "Then why don''t you ask them?" Asda flared.

    "And alert them to our interest? Never! Our secrecy is our greatest protection. No one must know of our interests in the Wildlands!" there was a short cough. "We wouldn''t even have approached you if your brother wasn''t a close ally."

    "You mean, you can trust him because he''s so deeply in debt to you, he''s basically your lackey." Asda summarized bitterly.

    "Better a lackey to one of our own than a friend to infidels. Rest assured, Kuasa Besar will reward loyalty."

    "If that''s supposed to persuade me to tell you more, I''m afraid I''ll have to disappoint you. I really don''t know anything else."

    "Have you seen them use any device on the Wilds, like a special rune, or crystal¡­"

    "No, nothing of that sort."

    "A special liquid, or potion, perhaps?"

    "Milk, maybe? Or honey?"

    "What about devices implanted into their heads¡­"

    "Look, I don''t know anything! Why do you even need Wilds to do your work anyway? You''re not short of manpower or resources."

    "Suffice to say that there are things in the Wildlands that we want, and we do not want anyone else poking their noses into it." The voice on the other end said. "Do you have word from the Underground King?"

    Asda hesitated. "The who?"

    "Come now. Put aside your pretenses. We both know who the true ruler of Fal''Herim is."

    "Fal''Herim is loyal to the crown and to Khar''al-dras!"

    "Khar''al-dras is always asleep. I''m talking about the ruler-beneath-the-sands. We had a deal. Where is he?"

    "I¡­ I don''t know what you''re talking about."

    "Oh? Your brother says the same thing. How very odd. Since he left, we thought for sure he would leave word with at least one of the royals. If it''s not your brother, and it''s not you¡­ who might it be?"

    "We don''t know anything about the Underground King!"

    "Ah, but you do, little princess. You definitely do. Or else, you would not have such fear in your voice." The voice cleared his throat. "But he will return to Fal''Herim. He always returns. When he does, we expect his job would be done. He will surely see fit to introduce himself to you or your brother. At that time, you must tell him to contact us immediately. We have a new job for him. We will pay well."

    "A mercenary?" Asda sounded interested. "Perhaps I can find him for you. Where might he be? What job have you hired him to do?"

    There was a long pause.

    [Guard patrol! Ten seconds!] the lynxmice warned him.

    Tim darted off again, and waited for the guard to pass before returning to his listening post.

    But there was only silence on the other side.

    Tim made a face, vexed, thinking the conversation had ended completely when suddenly, the silence was broken by that pinched voice. "Very well. For the sake of the hurry we are in, we will take you into our confidence. The job we hired the Underground King to do is to drive out the new settlers infringing upon our Wildlands. He was to do so using the Wilds, so as to leave no traces as to our involvement."

    "The Beast Waves? The Underground King is the one sending the Beast Waves? And the Beast Tide?!" Asda gasped.

    Tim froze, eyes wide.

    "Whatever. Venture into the Wildlands if you must, but find him and find him quickly. We have a more important job for him right now."

    There was a shuffling sound and movement. Tim frowned, trying to hear more¡­

    The wall opened up. Tim jumped straight up, a clear six inches off the ground, instinctively hiding the Listening Conch. He found himself staring wide-eyed, face-to-face with Asda.

    "It''s YOU!" Asda shrieked.

    Tim ran. He ran like his feet were lightning, dashing around the corner and off into the wind in no time.

    "Guards! GUARDS! Intruder! There''s an INTRUDER!" Asda screamed.

    Heavy footfalls sounded all across the palace. Shouts and yells sounded on all sides. The entire garrison and their reserves were sent out to scour every inch of the palace and palace grounds for this intruder.

    But they did not find anything. Not even a single sign of Tim or any lynxmice.

    ***

    Panting for breath, Tim and his squad of lynxmice hid in a secret tunnel roughly four feet underground.

    "Anyone lost any furs?" Tim asked, gasping.

    "Mwiik." [We made a clean getaway. All furs accounted for.]

    Up above, Asda was screeching at everyone and their uncles and their dogs. She wanted every hole, crack and opening in the Palace sealed. Never mind that they had already done that, re-done it twice, and had never opened any new openings large enough for lynxmice since then. She wanted anti-lynxmice security doubled, tripled down immediately.

    [I think we better stay away from this place for a few days. Cancel all raids. Even the cheese snatches.] Tim told the lynxmice.

    [But¡­ weren''t we going to steal the third volume of Sneaky Earth Magic from the royal library tonight?] one of the lynxmice asked. [We had been planning and preparing for it all week!]

    [Next week, guys. Our Earth Magic is sneaky enough as it is.] Tim didn''t suppress his grin. [Just station a few lynxmice to keep Asda chasing shadows while we''re gone.]

    [We''re leaving? Where are we going?]

    [I''m going to talk to our human informants about this Underground King fellow. We''re going to hunt him. If he''s really the guy sending the Beast Waves, then he''s the guy we want to stop the most.]

 147 George vs the Beast Wave 1

    George prepared to face the Beast Wave and discussed the issue with Aren.

    They only had one Sky Fortress with which to face the incoming Beast Wave this time, and George sent it out to evacuate the Deadly Sands mine.

    "But what about the Wilds already at the bottom of the Pit?" Aren asked. "We need an airship to get them out unless you want to open the tunnel that we sealed up from the Pit side¡­"

    "Leave them there. We still haven''t had any word from Remian about his negotiations and that Lion Lord''s cousin. At this point, we don''t even know if the Lion Lord would be coming up with the next wave to rescue the captives."

    "And if he does?"

    "Then he can join them down there." George straightened. "How many mercenaries have joined the defenses?"

    "Including the Iron Legion guys? Twenty-five."

    "That''s barely two squads." George frowned. "Let''s have them reinforce the front gates. We better make sure they have heavy armor comparable to the FDF''s."

    "We can just lend them armor if need be. The FDF have at least that many sets to spare. But that shouldn''t be the case. Most of them are Iron Legion, you know?"

    "It doesn''t mean theirs is better. I think there''s something to be said about having everyone wear matching armor. Let''s just send them the FDF sets."

    "Speaking about matching armor, are you sure about going out there yourself?" Aren asked.

    George grunted. "I have a new exosuit. It''s a good chance to test it in real combat."

    "Anybody could do that. It doesn''t have to be you."

    "But I''m going anyway. It makes a big difference to me."

    "And what difference is that?"

    "It''s the difference between saying ''go risk your life while I sit here safely'', and ''come with me as we risk our lives together.''"

    Aren hesitated. "The burden of command is¡­"

    "It''s more than I''m willing to put up with today, all right? Just¡­ not today."

    Today was the first time he faced the Beast Wave as the guy in charge. Maybe it was crazy, but he wanted to be there on the front lines, facing it in person with a sword in his hands.

    Or maybe a battle-axe. Perhaps an axe would be better. With the exosuit boosting his strength by twice an average person''s, swinging around a battle axe should be a lot easier. George himself had more than the strength of an average man. Adding the exosuit''s boost, he should have more than three times an average man''s strength. That should be on par with grizzled veterans like Max and Markus. If he could wield a good heavy battle-axe¡­ that much strength and that much weight together could do some serious damage.

    "The Deutero airship has arrived, by the way." Aren added. "They brought a lot of expensive weapons. They said the prices are high because of quality, but I think the prices just went up, period."

    "I''ll go take a look." George nodded. High quality melee weapons had been harder and harder to come by ever since Andros and the Burning Steel left. They were getting by so far on what they''d left behind, mainly because Arnold''s crew had been improving ranged weaponry the whole time, but with exosuits in the picture, a good axe might be a lot more useful than a crossbow against a Tier 4 or even a Tier 5 Wild.

    But when he actually went to the Deutero airship and took a look at the weapons in its hold, George realized that he''d made a mistake. He''d been wrong. The weapon he really, really wanted to use tonight wasn''t an axe.

    No, the weapon he wanted was the one standing in front of him, neatly laid out in a display case.

    It was a glaive. Two meters tall, steel-reinforced haft with a heavy blade made of Meteor Iron, an earth-elemental metal similar in value to Misty Steel and Fire Copper, but weightier and harder. It was heavy, goodness was it heavy, George wouldn''t dream of dragging it along into a fight if not for the exosuit''s strength.

    But with the exosuit activated, George felt like he was lifting a common shovel.

    "It''s rated Tier 5, you know." The Deutero salesman said. George wasn''t sure whether to believe him, but then the sales guy pointed out three runes. "This one''s for sharpness. This one''s for durability. But this one¡­ this one''s called a Shockwave Rune."

    "What does that mean?" George asked.

    "That means whatever it hits will feel the impact a lot harder." The salesman grinned. "I believe the rune has a tendency to cause shockwaves. Even if it''s someone wearing armor, the blunt force trauma is going to be that much more serious."

    "How much?" George asked.

    "Since it''s young master George, we''ll give you a sweet discount; 50,000 lir."

    "Great." George decided to buy it despite the hefty price tag. "Now, how about long-ranged weapons?"

    "Uh¡­" the salesman scratched his head awkwardly. "I''m afraid we don''t have any."

    "You don''t have any?" George stared blankly. "Not even a crossbow? Not a single heavy ballista?"

    "All the weapons we have on sale are the ones you see right here."

    In other words, the longest-ranged weapon for sale today was a throwing knife. Or a javelin. Or a throwing axe.

    George went for the javelins. This was the thrown weapon of choice for the Iron Legion, and George had been trained to use them accordingly. Now he had extra strength to throw with, he wanted heavier versions. The Iron Legion types weighed a little over 3kg each. The javelins in the set of five George bought weighed 8kg each.

    Song Chen loved them. "I have a set too, but mine are 5kg in weight. I don''t have that much brute strength to throw them with."

    George hesitated. In his estimates, Song Chen was actually physically stronger than even Markus or Max. In other words, definitely stronger than George even with the exosuit. Maybe¡­ maybe 8kg javelins was overestimating the suit''s capabilities.

    "Any chance we could trade?" George asked.

    Song Chen considered, then grinned. "Are you willing to take a risk for it?"

    George''s face hardened. "I don''t do gambling."

    "I''m not talking about gambling. I''m talking about a challenge. A contest." Song Chen said. "You and me, tonight. If you can beat my kill score with your fancy new suit, I''ll lend you my javelin set for a month."

    "Deal!"

    ***

    That evening, George stood alone atop the peak of Kara, right next to the airship dock. Twelve FDF troopers manned four high-powered ballistae there, with stacks of spear-like bolts ready to rain down on the incoming Beast Wave.

    This was the most heavily armed weapons platform in Kara-Goth. There was a similar battle station atop Goth, but that one only had three ballistae; the fourth was still under construction and would not be ready in time.

    George scratched his head, surrounded by grumpy and sweaty middle-aged men considering what orders he should give them to keep losses and casualties to a minimum and wondered how a tweenager like him ever got into this situation.

    Then again, there were only two tweenagers like him, and neither of them were anywhere near here. Unless one counted Jane? But even she wasn''t quite the same. Also, she was in a vastly simpler situation, simply following a guy six years older around and helping him out.

    She didn''t have to wonder whether it would be a good idea to put up a fake front as the Wave arrived and then evade at the last moment to lure the Wilds into the Pit. It would be a risky maneuver; a lot of things could go wrong too easily.

    She didn''t need to consider whether the FDF might perform better without armor; early scout reports said the incoming Wilds were fast, too fast to be heavily armored, which meant rapid fire would work better than power shots. Taking off the armor could kill off these lighter Wilds quicker since the defenders could reload, aim, maneuver and shoot faster without encumbrance¡­ but it would be risky. If the Wilds got through the pikes, facing them without armor was likely a death sentence.

    She didn''t need to second guess whether an earlier decision to shift a crossbowman to the pike line would result in his death. Whether ordering the FDF to build up a ramp to hide the edge of the Pit was at all going to increase the Pit''s effectiveness or just tire out their troops uselessly before an important battle. Whether the decision to decrease smoke cover to increase crossbow accuracy was a wise choice or a poor one¡­

    All she needed to worry about was what Jim ate for dinner and whether he had enough paper to jot down his endless notes on his experiments.

    George paused, wondering. How did she ever get that job in the first place? Even he wasn''t sure. But between Jim''s absent-minded requests and Jane running around to fulfill them, that''s basically what happened.

    Also, for tonight, at least, Jane was on comms, speaking as the forward scout stationed aboard Jim''s gunboat above Black Depths Lake.

    "Scouts, report please." George spoke to a comms crystal.

    "Fast running Wilds coming up on Black Depths Lake." Jane reported. "They''re moving fast! Jim thinks they''ll be there in an hour."

    "What types of Wilds?" George asked.

    "I''m seeing mainly stag-types, eight Tier 3, three Tier 4 in the vanguard. About thirty more farther back."

    "Anything with heavy armor?"

    "No, I''m only seeing fur, but there''s a lot of them."

    George cleared his throat. "Thanks, Jane. We''re calling battle stations now."

    "You''re welcome."

    "And Jane?" George hesitated.

    "Yes?"

    "It''s¡­ kinda good to hear your voice again." George said.

    There was a sudden silence on the other side.

    "Don''t get killed, okay?" George tried to stave off the sudden awkward feeling he had. "Mindy will kill me if I let you die under my watch."

    Mindy? Now why did he bring her up all of a sudden? George wanted to facepalm, but she''d hear it¡­

    "Don''t you worry about me." Jane replied back in a gamely fashion. "Just don''t you die either!"

    "I''ll try my best." George answered modestly, and went down to the front gate.

 148 George vs the Beast Wave 2

    Half an hour later, George was in his armored exoskeleton, standing shoulder to shoulder with Max and Markus, all three of them warming up as the alarms rang, and scouts reported.

    Rather than word of incoming Wilds, however, what they said was rather unexpected.

    "Airships to the south!" they said.

    "Wha¡­?" George blinked. "Whose?"

    "Uh¡­" there was a quick discussion and a reply. "Ours."

    "Ours?" George stared blankly.

    "It''s the school Sky Fortresses." Joshu explained. "They seem to be heading our way."

    "They''re coming?" George brightened. "How long until they arrive?"

    "Uh¡­ at this rate¡­ probably later tonight?" Joshu guessed grumpily. He always seemed unusually grumpy these days. George rather wondered why.

    "What of the Wilds?" Markus questioned.

    "Best guess? Twenty minutes." Joshu grumped.

    The comms crystal buzzed.

    "George here."

    "Hey, George. How''s the Beast Wave today?" Remian asked.

    George felt oddly annoyed at hearing his voice. "You''re calling for a report, now? They''re just twenty minutes away!"

    "What''s coming up and how do you plan to handle it?" Remian asked.

    "They''re a mass of fast runners. We''ll just shoot them down with crossbows and stave them off with pole-arms. Standard pike and shot, and the Pit will catch whatever it will catch."

    "That sounds straightforward enough." Remian agreed. "Need any advice? Everyone cooperating with you properly?"

    "Everything''s fine, Remian." George sighed. "We''re okay."

    "Let me know how things went afterwards. Tell me everything."

    "Markus is scratching his left buttock, and Max is drawing smiley faces in the dirt with his javelin."

    "What?" Three voices chorused at the same time. Five more spluttered.

    "You said to tell you everything." George mentioned innocently.

    On the other side of the crystal, George heard Mindy laugh. Just that laugh was worth the trouble he was going to get into.

    "What about you guys?" George asked. "How are things going?"

    "Good. We sold all the cargo, and we''re on our way back. We''re actually about to stop by Fal''Herim for a quick resupply before heading back." Remian answered.

    "You''re coming back?" George blinked. "I thought you guys were going to trade from port to port for goodness knows how long."

    "I did, too." Remian confessed. "But then we realized that we had a lot of cargo that needed selling back at Kara''Goth and lots of profit to be made buying it from there and selling it elsewhere."

    "You know you''re basically buying from yourself, right?"

    "More like, Mindy''s buying from you. I''m just¡­ going to sit back and watch. With popcorn."

    "I don''t own Kara-Goth. You do. In fact, I just bought back Charlie''s ten percent for you. You can thank me later."

    "You did what? Oh, no¡­ poor Charlie." Mindy gasped. "George, you just robbed him of a huge payday."

    "What? What are you talking about?" George asked. "I mean¡­ the new mines aren''t included in these shares, you know? I paid Chalie a good six million lir for his shares. That''s a year''s worth of income at the rate we''ve been going."

    "But, George¡­ our revenue just went through the roof! You''ll have to see it to believe it!" Mindy said. "The prices out there are just¡­ crazy!"

    "Prices of metal everywhere are rising, George. There''s talk of war, and it sounds big." Remian explained. "We''re raising the selling price of our Fire Copper at Kara-Goth as well. I''m thinking maybe 60,000 lir a ton, smelted bars."

    "That''s a 20% price hike. Are you sure?"

    "Oh, yes, I''m sure. I''m absolutely sure."

    "Mindy''s still buying from us, isn''t she?"

    "And she''ll be paying full price, gladly." Mindy cut in. "Trust me. Looking at the profit we''ll make selling it elsewhere, nobody has any right to complain."

    "Defend Kara-Goth well, George. Don''t spare any costs. That mine''s value is going up, fast." Remian said.

    "It''s already invaluable, Remian. It''s where we live, now." George threw in.

    "That, too."

    "George! They''re almost here!" Joshu shouted. "Ballistae! Ready!"

    "Remian, Mindy, the Wilds are here. I gotta go." George said apologetically.

    "Wait. Why are you, exactly, going? Shouldn''t you be overseeing the battle from someplace safe and high up? Like the Sky Fortress?"

    "No, I''m down at the front lines leading the charge today."

    "What?! WHY?" Mindy blurted. "That doesn''t make any sense!"

    "It''s something I wanted for myself. To be here, shoulder-to-shoulder¡­"

    "You''re already there?!"

    "Yep. And I''m sorry, but I can''t leave my troops and run off to safety by myself."

    "George, think about it!" Mindy yelped. "You don''t have to¡­"

    "I''ll call you guys back later." George ended the call.

    The Wilds were coming. The smoke bombs were going off, and a light fog was clouding up the air. George raised his glaive, waving it to left and right in a prearranged signal. The pikemen formed up lines to either side of him.

    "In range!" Joshu shouted. "Ballistae, open fire!"

    Snaps sounded from above, and slivers of light darted down at the incoming Wilds.

    "Brace pikes!" Max barked.

    "Ho!" Filling in the gap between Kara''s front gate and the Pit, the line of pikemen took a knee, bracing their pole-arms against the ground, tips pointed at the incoming shapes in the fog.

    George stood behind the double line of pikes and tower shields, hefting one of his new javelins and wincing at the weight. Had they always been this heavy? Song Chen''s lighter javelins now seemed even more attractive.

    "Range!" George called up.

    "Forty meters!" Joshu barked. "Crossbows, fire at will!""

    "Pikes! What is your mission?" Markus bellowed.

    "Hold the line!"

    "What is your stance?"

    "Hold the line!"

    "How do we achieve victory?"

    "Hold the line!"

    "Let none pass!" Markus roared as the Wilds burst out of the fog. "Hold the line!"

    "HO!" the heavily armored pikemen roared in reply as five Tier 3 stags leapt out from the smoke.

    George threw a javelin. The suit boosted his throwing power; there was a lurch, and then a strained feeling in his arm while the javelin poked into a nearing stag and got stuck to its chest. How much damage did it do? Did it help at all? George had no idea.

    There was a resounding crash, and then another as antlers and pikes collided. Huge bodies the size of elephants staggered, a dozen pikes flat out broke, while in two places, the line buckled and actually stumbled back a few steps. George let out a wordless yell as he charged, glaive swinging down at the nearer of the two trouble spots.

    The blade of his glaive hammered down on the antlers of the Tier 3 stag that was about to break through. At the impact, George felt like he''d almost torn his arms off, exosuit or no exosuit, but the results were tangible. The stag stopped, stumbled, and then stared at him angrily.

    George couldn''t help smiling in return.

    Looking even angrier at his smile, the stag lowered its antlers and advanced again. George slammed his glaive down once more, but this time his blow lacked the weight and momentum of his charge. His weapon locked against the stag''s antlers, but it started to push back against George and the shield line.

    Steel streaked down from above. A spear fired from a ballista atop the hill slammed into the rear of the stag. It was a risky shot, since the target was practically toe-to-toe with their own people, and George himself wasn''t that far away¡­ but considering that the target was the size of an elephant and that the bolt was a Tier 3 spear fired from a Tier 4 ballista with height advantages and relatively close range by an experienced shooter¡­ George had no complaints about the shot.

    Still the stag raised its head angrily.

    George hopped back a foot, aimed his glaive, and lunged. Using it like a spear now, he stabbed his weapon''s blade lower, aiming below the stag''s upraised head, going straight for the throat.

    The stag noticed, and lowered its antlers again¡­

    Instead of piercing the throat, George''s glaive ended up hitting the hard skull of the stag, almost glancing off¡­

    George braced, focusing his strength on the tip of the glaive. "Pierce through!"

    He threw in his full weight and strength into the thrust, now trying to pierce directly through the skull of the stag straight into the brain. But the stag twisted its head; George''s thrust slipped sideways, and then George himself was stumbling forward, almost into those antlers¡­

 149 George vs the Beast Wave 3

    The antlers met his armor with a stunning impact. "Aargh¡­" George coughed.

    He braced, while at the same time grasping those antlers, trying to push them away from his chest, suddenly fearful that they might pierce his armor and his lungs.

    The world tilted; no, not really, but George was suddenly looking down at the battle from above. He was lifted high above the stag''s head; suddenly, the stag''s back was right in front of him, an easy target for a glaive-wielder stuck atop the stag''s antlers.

    George gasped, one-handedly wielding the glaive while the other grasped the antlers, still trying to push them away. He aimed; he struck, a direct spear-like thrust straight down the back of the stag that had him caught in its antlers.

    The stag roared, thrashing. George yowled, dropping his glaive in the pain, now devoting both hands to getting the antlers unstuck from his armor. He was swung to the left, to the right, then he was flying, rolling across the ground, finally freed from the antlers.

    Someone caught him in mid-air and put him back on the ground gently. George turned, thinking it was Max, or Markus, or Song Chen¡­

    But no. It was someone else entirely, with long, dark hair, and wide, dark eyes, and a cool, indifferent expression on her face.

    Yes, it was a girl. George wasn''t sure if he was supposed to be embarrassed that he''d been saved by a girl, but mainly, he was just plain happy to be saved from hurt. "Thank you."

    Having said that, he really wanted to know, who was she? He was quite sure he hadn''t seen her on the Frontier before. That is, she wasn''t one of the Sand People or the Encles. Maybe¡­ was she a mercenary? Or one of the Iron Legion trainees?

    "Keep your head down." She advised.

    "Sure¡­" George began when an antler almost bashed him on the side of his head.

    Oh. She meant that literally. George hastily ducked, knees bending and nearly giving way as he strove to avoid the attack.

    Meanwhile the girl herself had leapt high and struck from above. She had a runic spear that glowed green, and it came down over the stag''s antlers, aiming directly for its hind parts.

    With a roar, the stag collapsed, front legs and back legs alike damaged too badly to hold itself up. As it stumbled, pikes and javelins from all sides hammered down and then it lay still.

    "First hamstring. Then kill." She advised.

    "That sounds like a wolfcat''s advice." George found himself saying.

    "Wolfcats are smart." She nodded, still calm and unperturbed, as she went on to target the next Wild.

    George took a step back and a short breather to collect himself. Looking at the sheer amount of stags brought down in this Wave, they were going to be well-supplied with venison for quite some time to come. Looking at this from the wolfcats'' perspective, it was almost like dinner had freely come throwing itself at them¡­

    "Tier 4 incoming!" Song Chen shouted. "Pull back one step! Shields up!"

    Of the two rows forming their front lines, the row holding pikes dropped their long spears and took up a second row of shields. They plied that on top of the first, while the first ducked, doubling the shield wall in height, turning the stabbing-and-poking match into a push-and-shove with a wall of steel in between them and the remaining Wilds.

    "Auxiliaries! Reinforce the front line!" George waved them forward.

    Behind him, a line of guys throwing javelins quit throwing spears and dashed forward to brace up the front line raising the solid shield wall.

    Out from the thin fog, the biggest stag yet emerged. Tier 4''s were basically comparable in size to elephants and this stag towered over everyone menacingly.

    It wasn''t in a rush. Seeing the shield wall in front of it, the stag dashed sideways, looking to outflank the defenders. The ground shook as it thundered to the side, until¡­

    "URGHK!" there was a bewildered yowl and then a short, tense pause.

    BOOM! There was a heavy impact that all of them felt.

    "Tier 4 in the Pit! Raise pikes!" Song Chen barked. "Auxiliaries, back to the javelins!"

    "HO!" the shouts that responded sounded more enthusiastic as two rows took up pikes and javelins again, leaving just one row of shields on the front, the way they originally were.

    "Another Tier 4 incoming!" Max called.

    Song Chen observed the shape. "Hold position!"

    Not going to respond? George peered at the incoming shape, and nodded. The way that stag was running, it was only going to¡­

    "URGHK!" the second Tier 4 stag let out a short yowl as it, too, went down into the Pit.

    "One more Tier 4 incoming! It''s moving slow!" Max reported.

    George and Song Chen observed it, then exchanged glances. "Scouts? Any more incoming?"

    "All engaged!" Joshu shouted, firing his crossbow and reloading hastily.

    George gave Song Chen a nod.

    "Sortie!" Song Chen announced. "Max, Markus, I''m going for it!"

    "On your flank!" Markus grabbed a heavy spear. "Mercenaries, with me! Outflank the Tier 4!"

    "Legionnaires, with me!" Max called. "Clear the Tier 3''s!"

    "Pikes, pull back!" George called. "Shot and auxiliaries, hold your fire! Channels, on my mark¡­"

    Song Chen, Max and Markus led the charge.

    "Mark!" George shouted.

    The front line shield-bearers withdrew and offered the sortie force a nice gap to charge through. Song Chen, Markus and the mercenaries spread out and surrounded the wounded Tier 4. Max and the legionnaire ''mercenaries'' finished off the remaining Tier 3''s. George himself took up his holster of javelins and drew one out, darting forward to stand just behind the shield line.

    In these circumstances, long-range fire from ballistae was risky; George didn''t want to risk them hitting their own people. Regular crossbows and javelins weren''t going to be much good either. For that reason, George had them hold off. But he himself was capable of launching heavy javelins with thrice the strength of an ordinary man. That kind of power should at least be able to make a difference if he could time his shots right.

    "Three seconds!" George shouted.

    "Ho!" Song Chen acknowledged.

    George timed his shot, then threw the javelin directly for the stag''s chest.

    The stag lowered its head to meet it with its antlers. There was a jarring sound¡­

    Song Chen pounced. Markus pounced. The entire mercenary force pounced. Having been given a clear timing of when it would happen, all of them waited for precisely that moment to strike when the javelin distracted the stag''s attention.

    Nobody quite knew who killed the stag, in the end. Between all of their weapons scoring hits at practically the same time, it was impossible to tell who exactly scored the killing blow, or whether it was the cumulation of all the damage that did the job.

    "Tier 4, down!" Markus announced.

    "Tier 3''s cleared!" Max announced.

    "All Wilds down!" Joshu yelled. "We''re clear!"

    "What of the next batch!?" George asked.

    "Down to ten Tier 3''s. Sorry, nine." Joshu told him, squinting. "They''re getting slaughtered out there."

    "Slaughtered? By who?" George blinked.

    "By the School Sky Fortresses. They''ve been shooting at the Beast Wave all day." Joshu explained. "They''ve been firing on them from above all the way from goodness-knows-where."

    "So these stags here¡­" George trailed off.

    "These are just the ones that got through." Max nodded. "And it looks like that''s all we''ll need to deal with today. We can hold the line until the last Wild falls, just to be sure, but I don''t think those remaining Tier 3''s are going to get close enough to meet our pikes. The airships, the ballistae and the crossbows will take them down long before that."

    "So¡­" George hesitated.

    "Yep. Our job here''s pretty much done." Max patted George on the shoulder. "Congratulations, George. We''ve won."

 150 A night-time conversation

    Remian woke up panting and sweating.

    Again.

    Sitting up, he forced himself to stillness, to calm, to breathe slower. Experience taught him the hard way; when he breathed heavily and felt like he was still suffocating, the fact was he was actually breathing too hard, too fast, and the oxygen didn''t have time to work. He had to slow it down, even though every instinct in him wanted to breathe harder and faster.

    There was a time when just getting up like that would trigger a response. Someone would reach over and pat him on the back and try to soothe him. But now¡­

    Alone in his room, he fought an old fight, an all too familiar struggle to live, to breathe.

    Weariness seeped in his bones. Sometimes, he wanted to just lie down and let it all end. Stop the fighting, stop the struggling, and just let go¡­

    Fight. Have to fight. Remian got to his feet, and left his gloomy dark room. He went out onto the deck, and looked up at the stars.

    It was a beautiful night. The world was a beautiful place. He should be wanting to live, doing his absolute best to live¡­

    "Remian?" Mindy approached. "You heard?"

    "Heard what?" Remian asked.

    "The lynxmice. The ones we left at the Stag Lord''s fief. They''ve found the camp of the Wave Callers." Mindy told him. "The report just came in as we passed Fal''Herim."

    "Good." Remian was careful to breathe evenly, slowly.

    But Mindy noticed something was odd anyway. "Are you all right? Is there something I can do for you?"

    "No, it''s fine." Remian waved her away.

    "Come on. Surely there must be something. I already owe you so much¡­"

    "You don''t owe me anything."

    Mindy barked a short laugh. "Just my life. My freedom. My sister''s freedom. My friends'' freedom. The very chance to fly an airship, let alone owning one! Remian, honestly, I owe you everything."

    Remian coughed, feeling a sudden heat in his face. "Keep going like that and you''re going to embarrass me."

    Mindy suddenly paused, then she also seemed to be turning bright red. Even in the moonlight it was visible. "So, is there¡­ anything¡­ I can do for you?"

    Remian thought for a bit, then said, "Some hot cocoa would be nice."

    Mindy burst out laughing. "You know, for that level of gratitude we''re talking about, most girls would happily throw themselves at your feet."

    "That would only make me stumble."

    "Or fall head over heels." Mindy countered. "You never know. Speaking of, what''s the deal between you and Phoebe? I feel as though there''s something there¡­"

    "Phoebe? Medical bills, mainly." Remian figured. "Anything else would probably be more than I could afford."

    "You do know I''m talking about romance, right?"

    "Yes, I do."

    "Then why not at least give it a shot before you make assumptions?"

    Remian shook his head. "I don''t think there''s any point."

    "I think there''s plenty of reason to at least try for happiness." Mindy prodded. "Just looking at you in the moonlight just now, you seemed very lonely. Isn''t that alone worth the effort?"

    Remian shut his mouth. He just stopped talking and wouldn''t say what was on his mind.

    Mindy blinked, actually feeling an odd sort of hurt and not sure why. She hesitated, but still, she tried. "Come on. Can''t you tell me? It''s me, remember?"

    "Sorry." Remian shook his head slowly. "I can''t."

    He turned away slowly¡­

    "It''s Mandy, isn''t it?" Mindy said softly, then. "You still haven''t gotten over her."

    Remian did not refute.

    "Does it help to say that I think she''s been a total annoyance? That she''s been acting all high-and-mighty while refusing to see what was right in front of her nose? She''s been insufferably arrogant." Mindy said. "See? I''m still learning more and more words, by myself. Just like you taught me."

    "That is good." Remian ruffled her hair, entirely by instinct.

    Mindy stopped. "You really do see me like a younger sister, don''t you?"

    "Haven''t I been saying that all this time? There was a time you were literally my sister-in-law."

    Mindy gave him a flat look. "Yeah, definitely haven''t gotten over her. All this time you''ve been acting all cool and you were really missing her. Is that why you''ve been trying so hard to put George in charge? So that you could leave and join her in Ashdale?"

    "I won''t leave. Not till I''ve died." Remian said.

    Mindy rolled her eyes. "So gallant. So stubborn. Do you think maybe she hates the Frontier because you chose it over her? All that nonsense she spouts could just be a cover."

    "Maybe. Probably." Remian shook his head. "But among all the things she''s said, the one I believe the most is that she really can''t bear to live in the Wildlands any more."

    "So why not drop her entirely and go be happy with someone else?" Mindy asked. "Even if you''re not too fond of Phoebe, there are other girls around."

    "There''s nothing wrong with Phoebe. She has a bit of a cold attitude towards others'' pain, sometimes, but she looks great and theres literally nobody who knows better how to take care of me."

    "Then¡­?"

    "Maybe I will go ask her out sometime." Remian sighed.

    "Oddly enough, you don''t sound too excited about it."

    "Mmmhmm."

    "You''re just saying that to get me to shut up about it, aren''t you?"

    "Mmmhmm."

    Mindy snorted. "Fine. Go be miserable."

    She threw up her hands, gave him a jaunty wave and marched off.

    Remian watched her go.

    Then, he sighed. "There goes my hot cocoa."

    ***

    Admiral Mindy went back to her cabin to do something productive, like scour over airships schematics and other juicy, happy options.

    It was time to get a new airship. The Red Fang was fast and deadly, but it was lousy at carrying cargo. Almost as bad as Remian was at carrying burdens he really shouldn''t.

    Productive activity, Mindy! Productive! Thinking badly of Remian did not qualify! What was it Charlie said? Time spent on wasteful activity had a hidden cost; you lose out on the things you could be doing.

    So! Airships! Mindy dove into her own form of retail therapy.

    She needed a Galleon-class, at least. Frigates like this could barely squeeze cargo on board. A lot of its capacity had been dedicated to equipment. Short of hanging netting over the side and tying crates in them, Mindy had little way of increasing the cargo capacity and therefore profitability of this military frigate.

    No. She needed something like the Sky Barge, capably of carrying ten times as much. But of course, the Sky Barge was not made for long-distance travel, or any distance travel, really. If it weren''t dragged around by a Tug, it simply wouldn''t budge on its own. Like Remian.

    Stop! Thinking badly of Remian is NOT productive! Airships, Mindy! Airships!!

    Now. She needed something like one of Deutero''s Sky Galleons. Deutero''s Sky Galleons came in 2 variants, Variant E, which was more economic, carried more cargo, but moved slower, and a Variant S, which had a bigger engine but about a tenth less cargo capacity. Both were built with reinforced structures, which Mindy was of two minds about. On one hand, it made for a lot of unnecessary weight, but on the other hand, if the weather got rough or if she wanted to push the engine into overdrive, she would be very thankful for a stronger structure.

    Even the Economy version would cost some ten million credits. The Speedy version could cost over twelve million. Getting one second-hand could halve those prices, but even so, she''d need to make at least one more trip to afford it. A couple more, to be safe, and to have enough money left over for trading. Best to consult Remian¡­

    Oh scrap.

    Mindy felt her cheeks wet before she finally gave up on trying not to think about him.

    "Blast it, Remian, I''m a girl too, you know?!" Mindy whispered the words no one would hear, and then finally decided to go to sleep.

 151 New Airships and New Plans

    Days since last Beast Tide: 23. Current Kill Count: 723 (29 since yesterday).

    ***

    By the time Mindy returned to Kara-Goth, she had three new plans regarding airships.

    First, the Wasp fighters. Mindy''s latest trip had made sure they had the parts they needed for at least a prototype. Putting them all together, plus their structures and everything was up to Arnold''s crew, which was hands down the busiest group of people in all of Kara-Goth.

    Second, she needed a new Sky Galleon, something on par with the Deutero galleons, though bigger or faster woud be nice, and very, very likely second-hand, because she really couldn''t afford full prices as yet. This meant a couple of trips to Germat, and one final purchasing trip to Ashdale. If all went as planned, she''d have a new airship within two weeks.

    That is, unless she sold the Red Fang. But she wasn''t about to do that. Sentimental reasons aside, the Red Fang was going to be her new airship''s escort. Mindy wasn''t nuts enough to try flying a fat Galleon-class airship around without military-grade protection. No way.

    Then, third¡­

    Mindy''s third idea was downright ridiculous. It was expensive. It was uneconomic. It was a luxury that even she thought was too much to afford.

    But what if, just if¡­ she built the fastest Galleon ever?

    A corvette or a frigate would be too small. No, Mindy wanted to fit a Deluxe-grade magic-drive on board. That engine alone would take up more space than a frigate could handle. Also, she wanted ample space for living quarters, so¡­

    It was an extreme version of the Deutero ''speedy'' Galleon. It followed the same concept as the Wind Voyager, was similar in size to the Deutero Sky Galleon, and used the same engines as the much, much larger Deutero Freight Cruisers. This was an airship that could theoretically go from Ashdale to Kara-Goth in half a day instead of three. The magic consumption would be horrifying, yet if it was used to sell high value cargo, like Flaming Bronze, for instance¡­ it might still be profitable.

    Also, it would only have one weapon. Yes, that''s right, one. This was a design style that Mindy always seemed to end up with; put the biggest, heaviest weapon she could think of on board, but only one. The Red Fang, for instance, had four light turrets and two cannon mounts. Many Galleons had twice or thrice that for protection. But Mindy''s dream-boat yacht design relied on speed for protection, not guns, and thus she reverted to her one-heavy-weapon style. This yacht could mount a heavy cannon, a single, extra-ranged monster roughly three times the size of a standard magic cannon. Decent cannons of this caliber should be able to at least hurt a Tier 5 like Spike. High quality heavy cannons should be able to kill a Tier 5 at very long range.

    In other words, this was an airship design that could take on the Lords of the Wilds. Even if all it could do was hit-and-run operations, it had enough bite to make them hurt and enough speed to get away.

    Or at least, that was the plan. Being able to afford a heavy cannon of that kind of power and then provide it when the necessary mana, well¡­ that was a whole different challenge. But that came later. First, they had to build the airship, and it had to be very, very fast and very, very comfortable.

    After all, this was the airship she planned to live in herself.

    Speaking of new airships, there was one approaching that she hadn''t seen before. It was a Deutero Sky Galleon E, but this one was unusually colored blue and brown. Plus, Deutero airships usually didn''t arrive two days after the Beast Wave. They usually arrived mid-week, or the day before.

    Mindy raised her telescope to take a good look at this new airship, certain that she''d never seen it before¡­ but then she saw a familiar face on board.

    "Charlie?"

    ***

    Since receiving that generous payout from George, Charlie had happily bought over a second-hand Sky Galleon E and thoroughly enjoyed trading with more than ten times his old airship''s cargo capacity. His profits had shot up so high, he needed a new chart to better reflect the new magnitudes of his earnings.

    This time around, he''d picked up tons and tons of construction materials and brought them all to George, intending to buy more Fire Copper here while he was at it.

    "You want all the Fire Copper?" George repeated. "Can you really manage it?"

    "Do you have enough to fill up my holds?" Charlie challenged.

    "Actually, we do, and more." George nodded.

    "Wait! I wanted it! All of it!" Mindy protested. "If we empty out the stores for Charlie now, there won''t be enough to fill up my holds the next time I get back!"

    "Ah, but by then, we''ll have Misty Steel for you." George pointed out.

    "Misty Steel?!" Charlie jumped.

    "And raw gems, and silver, and regular copper, and tin¡­ but you don''t seem very excited about those¡­"

    "Silver, copper and tin would be okay once the Fire Copper runs out, I guess?" Charlie scratched his head. "But you really should double down and ramp up production of the Fire Copper ores."

    Mindy kept her mouth shut about a certain other elemental metal that she wanted all to herself.

    "It''s not about the ores. It''s the smelting that''s the problem. We only have so much smelting capacity here. There''s a lot of push to build more smelters, but there''s the Wilds to consider, and the pollution¡­" George shook his head. "The Eagle Lady flat out told me that if we didn''t do something to reduce the air pollution, the Eagle Lord was not going to be friendly toward us for very long."

    "The who?" Charlie blinked.

    "Oh. We''ve met more Lords of the Wilds. The one I''m talking about is a literal eagle. He has a great many birds under his rule. If we upset him, I can''t guarantee the safety of any airship in the Wildlands."

    Charlie gulped. He got the picture. "So then¡­ the Fire Copper is limited forever?"

    "Maybe not. I''m thinking of whether we can still use Andros and the Burning Steel. They''re at Fal''Herim now, and they have no problems building up heavy industrial facilities." George mentioned.

    Mindy''s face fell. "You really want to work with traitors?"

    "If necessary. In the end, it all comes down to what''s good and bad for us." George said. "Even if I''d rather trade punches with him than lir, I have to consider the end results."

    Mindy patted him on the back sympathetically. "George¡­ you''re growing up."

    "So glad you noticed." George said wryly. "Maybe we should start going out on dates, soon."

    "Oh? There''s someone here you have an eye on?" Mindy punched him in the shoulder playfully. "Who is it? You''re not going after Phoebe, are you? Or is it some new girl I''ve never met?"

    "New girl¡­? W-what new girl?" George stammered, suddenly appearing flustered.

    "There really IS a new girl?!" Mindy stared. "Who is she? What''s her name? Where did she come from? How pretty is she?!"

    "Errr¡­ um¡­" George stumbled. "That''s not¡­"

    "Spill!" Mindy ordered, raising her fist threateningly.

    "I don''t know!" George backed away hastily. "I don''t even know her name! She came with the latest batch of mercenaries¡­"

    "AHA!" Mindy leapt up and dashed right out of the airport, keen senses honed in on acquiring new information on this mysterious new girl.

    "But¡­ but she''s not¡­" George''s face fell.

    "You can say it, George. Mindy''s already gone." Charlie assured him.

    "She''s not the girl I wanted to date." George sighed. He glanced at Charlie. "Don''t tell her I said that."

    Charlie barked a laugh. "As you wish. In that case, you''re on your own with that one, buddy."

    ***

    Remian approved of George''s idea. "Yes. We can do that. I technically still own fifty percent of Burning Steel. I think we should remind them about that."

    "We can do that?" George gaped.

    "Leave it to me." Remian assured him. "Mindy''s headed straight back north after this. I''ll ask her to drop me off at Fal''Herim, and I''ll weigh in on Andros from there. There''s a Deutero branch set up in that city, isn''t there? I still need to handle the investment banking offer and everything."

    "Are¡­ are you going to be okay?" George asked hesitantly. "I mean, all by yourself in Fal''Herim¡­"

    "I don''t think they''ll let me bring in a clan of wolfcats, if that''s what you''re thinking." Remian advised.

    "But maybe, the Iron Legion¡­"

    "That''s possible. We get along quite well, so far." Remian nodded. "But I''m thinking I''ll just operate there as a normal businessman. I doubt Fal''Herim would cause me any trouble since I''m basically just investing in their heavy industries."

    "I don''t know. Asda might not be entirely happy to see you in her turf." George mentioned. "Maybe you should bring Song Chen and a few FDF squads just in case."

    "No way. If I''m going to bring anybody, it''ll be either Adventurers or Sand people. Salim or Aren or Taj''s people." Remian decided. "I think there''s a couple of those among Mindy''s crew."

    George hesitated, then said, "You should bring Phoebe."

    "What?" Remian blinked. "Why?"

    "Because you look like you''re about to fall over." George advised him. "I wouldn''t feel comfortable about letting you waltz off to a city in the desert without some medical professional on hand."

    "Fine." Remian sighed. "Let''s ask her if she wants to come along."

 152 Phoebes little trip

    "Fal''Herim?" Phoebe repeated, considering.

    Should she go? There was still a lot to be done here. The new hospital (at the Farm) and the new, new hospital (in Kara-Goth) were nowhere near fully operational. The work of emancipating the slaves was only a little bit past half-done.

    But Lydia did not require Phoebe''s help specifically any more. She had a half-dozen assistants to provide her mana and run about fulfilling her every need and every whim.

    Remian, on the other hand, clearly did need her especially. His condition was consistently deteriorating and he still insisted on trying to live his life, flying around from country to country trying to finish some vague dream before his time ran out.

    Well. At least, he was interesting. To put it in simple terms, Remian was weird.

    Phoebe liked weird. Weird was far better than boring. At first she''d thought Remian was boring, but now she knew better. Remian was flat out the weirdest guy she''d ever met.

    So, yeah, Phoebe was interested in the Fal''Herim trip. It would very likely be more eventful than another week of helping Lydia and trying to fix the hospitals'' endless issues and yet another Beast Wave. Between Remian''s crazy ideas and Fal''Herim''s justifiable hostility toward a guy who''d attacked them with Wilds before, all sorts of chaos could erupt.

    Chaos meant opportunity, and Fal''Herim was a place with both slaves and the Iron Legion in place.

    "Fine. I''ll come along." Phoebe nodded.

    Phoebe packed clothes, food, medical supplies, and lots of water. Mindy packed clothes, food, water, mana crystals and books. The members of her crew likewise packed clothing, food, water, and some minor entertainments.

    Remian just brought two lynxmice and a wolfcat and tried to hide them in his private cabin.

    See? Weird, right?

    ***

    Upon reaching Fal''Herim, Phoebe descended from the airship in her full glory, wearing a traditional Sand People robe, but keeping it tight in certain places and not quite fully covered up in others.

    Oh, she knew how it would affect the guys. Three steps off the airport, and already men were bumping into things. Ten steps later and the first explosions started.

    The dock officials, those who weren''t staring at Phoebe, gave Remian a dark look as if it were his fault.

    Remian, however, didn''t even seem to notice, much less return their hostility or try to appease them or anything. He just walked right past, completely oblivious.

    Also, he was wearing Sand People survival gear, hardy leather complete with sheltering layers. Hello, Remian, we''re actually in a city here, didn''t you realize¡­?

    Plus, while Mindy was looking for an inn, and her crew were looking for restaurants or taverns, Remian went around looking for a secluded spot in which to release his lynxmice. Really, what was up with that?

    Everyone noticed him, of course. The dock officials, the guards, the police, the military¡­ every eye in Fal''Herim was on him and entirely willing to pounce, stab, or shoot him at first opportunity, and smuggling a crate into dockside corners was suspicious enough to warrant such ''emergency actions''.

    But Phoebe went along with him. A boy and a girl slipping into a secluded corner together¡­ guys tended to forget about the crate entirely, turn away sheepishly, and think about much more pleasant situations in which they were the ones in such corners with girls¡­

    Of course Remian hadn''t a clue. "Phoebe! Um¡­ what brings you here?"

    He didn''t even try to explain the suspicious crate in his hands or make excuses or anything. It was as if he expected that nobody noticed what he''d been trying to do.

    "I just came to tell you; the air here is especially dry, and hot. You need to keep hydrated. Always keep some water on you." Phoebe advised with a straight face, quite an impressive feat, if she could say so herself. She offered him one of her water gourds.

    "Ah. Thank you." Remian took it and drank a few gulps immediately as if to appease her.

    As if appeased, Phoebe nodded and walked away nonchalantly, deliberately making no sign that she noticed six different accidents taking place in the dockyard as she walked past.

    Behind her, she distinctly heard Remian ask, "Why are those guys looking at me funny?"

    Mindy, somehow, had popped up beside him, and answered, "I think that gourd you just drank from is the same one Phoebe''s been drinking from."

    "Ah. I thought it tasted funny¡­ OW! What was that for? OW! Not again!"

    Was it, though? Phoebe thought back and nodded to herself. Right. Indeed, it was. Remian didn''t seem to think too much of it, though. Not like Mindy, whose face was like a tomato on the verge of popping.

    Poor Mindy, she never understood anything about Remian, not now, not ever. Hadn''t she realized by now? If Remian were concerned about such things, he''d have a whole harem catering to his every whim already, much like the kings of Fal''Herim. He even had a slave-girl contracted to him. And what did he do with that slave-girl in the end? Outright freed her and left her to fend for herself in Ashdale, that''s what!

    Speaking of slaves, there were quite a few at the docks. Phoebe eyed them and nodded to herself. They seemed to be in better conditions than before. Better fed, less whip-marks, even decently clothed. But they were still enslaved, still suffering, still hopelessly without freedom or opportunities.

    Phoebe smiled to herself.

    If she had her way, they would not be enslaved for much longer.

    ***

    Phoebe casually walked right into the Iron Legion camp at Fal''Herim, the one with piles of road construction material stacked on the south side.

    "Hi, I need some advanced medical supplies." She requested openly. "You''re from Itarim, right?"

    "Yes, yes¡­ you''ll want to talk to the quartermaster¡­" the busy legionnaire said, with a yawn, and then had someone take her to the quartermaster''s office.

    There, she asked about medical supplies for perhaps ten seconds before she added, very casually, "Operations Code: Aquila-Nine-Four. Amber Range."

    The quartermaster choked, almost dropping something on his own foot. "You¡­ you''re¡­!"

    "Busy and strapped for time. Please confirm." Phoebe added.

    "Confirm, Aquila-Nine-Four. Yellow Range." The quartermaster gave her a discreet salute. "There is a tavern on the north side of the main bazaar. Speak to the barkeep named Myrissa. Her code is Aquila-Five-Three. Yellow Range."

    "Understood." Phoebe nodded. "Now, about those needles¡­"

    She got her supplies, she got her contacts, and she got out of the Iron Legion immediately after.

    ***

    Myrissa was a brown-haired lady who kept her hair in a high bun. She was one of two bartenders running the evening shift at the Moonlit Oasis Bar.

    Upon hearing Phoebe''s code and identification, she stared. "Amber? Wow. You''re young¡­"

    "Please confirm." Phoebe requested.

    "Confirm, Aquila-Nine-Four. I am Aquila Five-three. Yellow Range." Myrissa said formally, while hunkering around a lightly alcoholic iced drink as if she and Phoebe were gossiping.

    "Macro-info?" Phoebe requested.

    "Five major holders. Well-policed, but not very strong." Myrissa informed.

    Phoebe frowned. That meant that there were five big slave-traders in Fal''Herim, and they had a lot of manpower. Not very professional or very powerful troops, but plenty of them.

    "Legion readiness?" Phoebe asked next.

    "Dismal. They really do want to focus on the road."

    Phoebe grimaced. So much for Iron Legion support.

    "External intervention?"

    "Unlikely. Unless you have contacts?"

    Phoebe considered. "Maybe. I''ll have to get back to you on that."

    ***

    So it was that Phoebe went over to Remian as he and Mindy were having dinner at night and outright said, "Let''s free the slaves in Fal''Herim. All of them."

    To which Remian, weird as always, simply nodded and said, "Okay."

    Mindy almost spilled her tea.

 153 FalsHerim in Chaos

    "EHHHHH?!" Mindy burst out. "Wha¡­?!"

    There were actually two main reasons why Remian opted to agree, and two other reasons why it was now a feasible idea.

    "Is it because of what I said?" Mindy asked, weakly.

    "Actually, yes." Remian nodded.

    Mindy had been going on and on about the water gourd and indirect kisses and that he should make a big gesture to Phoebe in response.

    "That¡­ that wasn''t the sort of big gesture I meant!" Mindy protested. "I was thinking, flowers, or something¡­"

    "Flowers are boring." Phoebe said suddenly. "As far as big gestures go, I like this one."

    The other main reason was that they weren''t as alone as Remian thought. Upon reaching Fal''Herim, he''d noticed a whole lot of mental buzzing¡­ it turned out that there were no less than five clans of lynxmice already in the city, hidden underground. Apparently, Tim had more than half a thousand lynxmice out here preparing to strike for weeks.

    Already, the security of all nineteen of the bazaar warehouses had been breached. Strike teams were in place for six strategic hot-spots, including the airport, the palace, and the main military command center. The plans were already laid; the lynxmice were already briefed, equipped and deployed. All it took was a single word, ''go'', and Remian would unleash chaos and furry hell upon Fal''Herim.

    While Remian had some complaints about Tim''s lack of communications, he was very much impressed with how he''d managed to accomplish all this without Fal''Herim finding out. The lynxmice had practically taken over the tunnels under the city, both old and new, and had established a co-existence with the beggars, thieves and brigands that populated it. Remian couldn''t be entirely sure but it actually sounded like the lynxmice had been feeding these people¡­

    How did Tim manage all this in three weeks¡­?!

    Anyway. The point was, their forces were ready and waiting. Fulfilling Phoebe''s request was only a little add-on, like cherry on a cake.

    "But¡­ but what if they attack us back?" Mindy protested.

    "How?" Remian asked. "We have the Eagle Lord on our side. They could send a hundred airships into the Wildlands and none of them would make it as far as Kara-Goth."

    "What if they attacked your family directly?" Mindy asked. "Kidnappers and assassins and such?"

    "My family''s right under the nose of the Eagle Lord, except for Darian, and he''s at Dragon Lake. You wanna try kidnapping my brother in front of all his dragon friends? Good luck with that!"

    "You''re serious¡­" Mindy stared.

    "Yep." Remian nodded.

    "But the Burning Steel forge¡­ don''t you own half?"

    "They''re not a target."

    "But Fal''Herim will retaliate, you know? Them and the whole Coalition of Six!"

    "Will they?" Remian mused. "I have an idea about that."

    ***

    There was one more party that needed to be convinced. Phoebe handled that.

    "You want to do what?! But where are we going to send them?" the Iron Legion commander asked, in disbelief.

    "Kara-Goth. Send them to us in the Wildlands."

    "Would they even accept freed slaves?"

    "The majority of their population consists of freed slaves and slaves queuing up to be freed. My sister works there and she''s fully supported by all the local clans."

    "How much support are we talking about?"

    "They built a new hospital at the Farm where the entire Harvest Sun clan was emancipated. Now they''re building a second hospital in Kara-Goth where the Desert Moon clan lives¡­"

    "Really?"

    "I witnessed all of it with my own eyes. I helped my sister free them with my own hands. It''s all real."

    "But wait, didn''t a whole lot of slaves recently come up from there?"

    "Their masters intended to free them there, but then changed their minds and brought them back. It is not by choice that they''re here."

    "So¡­ you seriously think we can do this¡­"

    "No, sir, you''re not going to do anything. My friends and I will handle it. You just wait for the people to arrive and escort them safely southward."

    "And then?"

    "There will be airships to pick them up." Phoebe informed them.

    "But¡­"

    "That is all!" Phoebe barked.

    The commander sighed. "Understood, Amber Range. Good luck."

    "Good luck to you too, Yellow Range."

    ***

    They made a call to Kara-Goth. George sent out a Sky Fortress.

    And then, Remian said, [Go!]

    ***

    It started with the screaming in the marketplace.

    People were just starting to run out of the main bazaar when explosions went up all over the main military command center.

    Then, the palace collapsed. Flat out just crumbled downwards. The Crown Prince was seen running out the back in a panic, wearing only a pair of pants.

    Meanwhile the royal treasury was overrun.

    Also, the royal kitchens.

    At the same time, the airport suddenly had airships loosed from their moorings and floating up, up and away into the sky with nobody and nothing to hold them down any more.

    All of this took a long time to describe (actually, no, it didn''t) but in truth it happened very quickly (uh¡­ maybe not that quickly).

    By the way, it could have taken much, much longer to describe. Much could be said about the expressions on people''s faces, about how they were bragging of the stability and security of Fal''Herim, and how they said bad things about poor, defenseless lynxmice in general and many provocative things that could take three pages to write about¡­

    But there''s really no point, is there?

    BOOM! The palace went down and the dust rose up, and already, Phoebe and Mindy were leading the charge into the royal slave-pens, both of them veiled and wearing head shawls in local fashion.

    "Who dares?!" the head guard of the Crown Prince, half-taking off his own shirt to give his boss, shouted.

    "Surrender in the name of Queen Asda!"

    "Asda!" The Crown Prince roared. "I knew it! She''s at it AGAIN!"

    Meanwhile, the lynxmice had already broken through the slaves'' bindings. Phoebe and Mindy took off running in different directions with hundreds of slaves scattering to the winds.

    "Leave them! Form ranks!" The Crown Prince shouted. "Call out the reserves! We are at war!"

    "With who?" the commander asked.

    "With Asda!" the Prince shouted. "Alert the generals! Civil war is upon us!"

 154 Even More Chaos

    From that point onward, things became even more confusing.

    Asda sent her forces after the lynxmice, screaming that it was them who were at fault. This basically meant they went around chasing lynxmice in all directions, often without any actual lynxmice running in front of them.

    The lynxmice attacked the palace and chased the Crown Prince and the palace guard around in circles.

    The confused forces supposedly on defense duty in the city received direct orders to attack Asda.

    The police shut down the marketplace and imposed martial law.

    Two generals defected on the spot and proclaimed their support of Asda and fought against the police for control of the marketplace.

    Three generals opposed them and surrounded the marketplace, then attempted to seize control of the airport.

    The crown prince fled to the airport and found it half-controlled by military forces. Assuming the worst, his palace guard immediately began to assault the airport and the loyalist forces there trying to seize control of it.

    Asda''s forces flat out ignored both the crown prince and the loyalists defending the airport and chased the lynxmice. The palace guards and the loyalists alike saw them chasing lynxmice and assumed they were on their side and left them well enough alone. Meanwhile, they fought each other.

    It was all very confusing since those forces which were supposed to be on the same side ended up fighting each other and nobody really understood what the heck was going on any more. Sand people soldiers were fighting sand people soldiers on all sides, and who was on whose side was entirely uncertain. Nobody, not the generals, not the crown prince or Asda, not the police, nobody really knew who they were fighting, or even whose side they were on.

    Fal''Herim''s military headquarters could have cleared up the whole mess¡­ if they hadn''t been the main target of Remian''s strike. He personally supervised the lynxmice bursting out of the underground tunnels in their lightning raid and very quickly paralyzed the command center.

    That headquarters was the first to fall. After that, it was all a matter of misinformation and increasing chaos among their ranks. The information came from headquarters, after all. As for who exactly was sitting in headquarters telling them where to go and who to fight, well¡­ they were all a little busy to verify that at the moment.

    ***

    "Mob of freed slaves coming up from all sides! Take the high ground! Get to the roof and barricade the stairs!" Remian advised Fal''Herim''s elite troops from their command center.

    Then, he sent a message to the heavy artillery positions, with the coordinates of that rooftop.

    "Fire a concerted salvo on insurgent strong-point. Maximum firepower."

    BOOM!

    Actually, the artillery positions were doing a great deal of damage at Remian''s behest. Those big guns alone accounted for over half of the Crown Prince''s loyalist casualties.

    In fact, it might not be too far fetched to claim that the artillery ended the war.

    This was because about two hours into the fighting, the Crown Prince called the command center.

    "I''m taking up a defensive position in the square just east of the airport. Send all available reinforcements to me! Have them wave a white flag as they approach so we know they''re friendlies!" the Crown Prince ordered.

    "Understood!" Remian replied.

    Then, he sent a message to the artillery. "New target: square just east of the airport. Full volley. Fire when ready."

    BOOM.

    That was basically how the war ended.

    ***

    With all the chaos going on, it was really not until sunrise that the fighting finally died down.

    When the dust cleared, Asda was queen. She was still screeching away madly about lynxmice, but the only surviving forces in Fal''Herim were loyal to her.

    As for Remian, his friends, and the freed slaves, well¡­ they were long gone from the city by then. About half the freed slaves were on airships on the way to Itarim. The other half were boarding a Sky Fortress at the end of the unfinished road leading to the ruins of Fort Spoas from Fal''Herim.

    The lynxmice? They escorted Remian and company to the pick-up point, then scurried away underground again. They had completely plundered Fal''Herim of all the cheese in the marketplace, all the food in the royal kitchens, and even emptied out the royal vaults with the help of underground carts.

    Goodness, whatever had Tim been teaching these little furballs¡­?

    Whatever the case, Remian left them to it. Perhaps Tim had an important use for all that food and money. Remian himself didn''t touch a single lir of it. That money was Tim''s, and Remian felt he''d earned it. All Remian took from the plunder was some bread and cheese for breakfast.

    "You sure you wanna leave Asda in charge?" Mindy asked Remian. "I mean¡­ I think if we really wanted to, we could conquer Fal''Herim here and now."

    "Coalition of Six, remember? They won''t make a move against Asda, because she''s one of their own, but if we tried to take the city, they''d definitely come down on us at once." Remian pointed out.

    "Then why not just leave the Crown Prince in charge and bomb Asda instead?" Mindy queried.

    "What''s the point of freeing the slaves, then? At least we know Asda''s policy is emancipation. Under the Crown Prince''s rule, Fal''Herim would simply get more new slaves to replace those we save. No, leaving Asda in charge is the best outcome I could think of. Besides, George mentioned that her shipyards were building airships for us. Wouldn''t want to mess that up."

    "So, that''s it? We leave with just the freed slaves?"

    "Well, not exactly. The slaves are leaving. You can go with them. I still have business here." Remian shrugged. "Also, we seem to have picked up quite a few valuables along the way."

    "Such as?"

    "Such as a whole lot of magic books from the royal library." Remian mused. "Apparently Tim asked the lynxmice to grab as many as they could if they had the chance. We have three entire shelves."

    "Is that your unfinished business here? You want to return them? You know there''s no expiry date for that sort of borrowing, right?"

    "No, no, I actually wanted to grab the rest of the books in there." Remian coughed twice, as if in embarrassment. "But that''s not my unfinished business. My business here is with the Burning Steel."

    "Right, right¡­ but are you sure they''re still willing to do business with you?"

    "What does willingness have to do with it?"

    ***

    Andros was actually sitting in the airport waiting area with a suitcase full of money and a ticket to Germat when Remian quietly sat down right next to him.

    "R-Remian?!" Andros gasped. "How did you¡­ No, I mean¡­ The Man fears nothing!"

    How he found Andros was simple enough. He just asked the Lynxmice.

    "Last I checked, I still own fifty percent of the Burning Steel Forge." Remian mentioned.

    Andros started running. Just picked up his suitcase and ran.

    "Light." Remian called, and a wall of coherent energy appeared right in front of Andros. He ran straight into it and consequently bounced right off.

    "I¡­ it wasn''t my fault! They forced me to sell them the Forge!" Andros blurted.

    "Is that what you''re carrying? The proceeds of the sale?" Remian eyed the suitcase. "Who did you sell to? What are their intentions?"

    "I¡­ I don''t know! They paid in cash, so¡­" Andros brightened. "I''ll give you your half! That''s fair, right? I just want out of here¡­"

    "And how is it that you''re now able to go around freely when you weren''t able to before?" Remian asked.

    "Germat made me an offer. I just need to get there and start work quickly."

    "Germat, huh? They really do seem to be weighing in on industry these days." Remian considered for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. I''ll take half, and you can be on your way."

 155 New industry in FalsHerim

    "Germat bought your Forge and then invited you over?"

    "Not quite. Germat invited me to join them, but the one who forcefully bought the Forge was a local."" Andros told Remian. "They call him the Underground King."

    "The Underground King?" Remian repeated.

    That phrase sounded familiar. Wasn''t that the guy the lynxmice said Tim was looking for? The so-called ''True King'' of Fal''Herim?

    "So¡­ this Underground King¡­ he''s here? You''ve met him?" Remian pressed.

    "Uh¡­ no. I met one of his lieutenants, Steeljaw Sarlash." Andros shivered. "He''s¡­ not the kind of guy you want to meet. He''s not the kind of guy anyone wants to meet."

    They were starting to draw attention. Casting spells and raising energy barriers in public locations tended to do that. It wasn''t hard to guess that Andros was being held against his will; airport security was already alerted, but for some reason, their response time today was dismally slow¡­

    Given all the chaos going on around Fal''herim currently, that was hardly surprising.

    But seeing the attention, Andros'' eyes lit up. "HELP! Robbery! Bandits!"

    In response Remian barked, "Pay back what you owe!"

    People around hesitated, unsure whether or not to make a move.

    Andros still didn''t give up. "Help! Security!"

    Remian frowned. "Police! Come over here immediately! I demand justice!"

    At this point people were staring at both of them blankly.

    Seeing Remian call for the police, Andros faltered. "What are you even doing here in the first place? You wouldn''t come all this way just to collect¡­ you couldn''t even know¡­"

    "I was here on other business." Remian shrugged.

    Andros'' eyes widened. "The chaos and the fighting today¡­ it''s caused by you?!"

    "You should know me a little, by now. I definitely didn''t come alone." Remian folded his arms. "Also, just so you know¡­ you''re coming with me."

    "No. No way! HELP! SECURITY!" Andros redoubled his efforts.

    Airport security finally arrived, a pair of uniformed men who looked very flustered and very annoyed. "You two, come with us! You will be held for questioning!"

    "Help! He''s a bandit!" Andros pointed.

    "He owes me money." Remian replied calmly.

    "We don''t care! You''re making a fuss, and you''re both coming with us, now!" Airport security demanded.

    "But¡­" Andros spluttered.

    "Coming." Remian nodded, turning to follow them.

    Andros tried to run.

    "Light!" Remian drew up another barrier with an outstretched hand. Andros ran into it and bounced off... and Remian clenched his open hand into a fist. "Cage!"

    The light barrier likewise clenched around Andros, holding him in mid-air. Andros froze, unable to so much as set his feet on the ground, much less run.

    "Like they said. You''re coming with us." Remian told him, and dragged him along as he went off with Airport Security.

    They made it as far as the interrogation room before Andros started to offer bribes. A thousand lir each was enough to make Airport Security hesitate, but then, Remian simply clenched his hand a little tighter and the barriers closed in a little harder¡­

    The Airport Security guys, in their current chaotic, bedraggled condition, hesitated to help out a man literally in the choke-hold of a powerful mage. They knew nothing of these two men, and neither of them offered any information, identification, or even a hint as to how to find information on them.

    "Ten thousand!" Andros gasped, raising his offer tenfold. "Each!"

    "Try anything funny, and you die." Remian casually informed the men he was trying to bribe. "Anger me, and I will destroy the entire airport. Annoy me enough, and Fal''herim burns today."

    At that, one of them stepped back, but the other one flared up. "How dare you-?"

    "Freeze." Remian snapped the fingers of his left hand. Then, he closed his right hand harder.

    One man in uniform fell over, frozen. The other one caught in a cage of light let out a scream and a few crackling sounds. Remian released them both, letting them collapse onto the floor in at the same time.

    "I''m taking my half of the money. Since the Burning Steel is gone, I''m going to need it to buy or build my own forge and smelter." Remian took up Andros'' suitcase, opening it to check, and found nothing inside but money. "You know, we could have parted much more amicably, but you just had to go and try to cheat me. Therefore, the other half¡­ I''m taking it for the trouble you''ve caused me. I''ll just leave you something for your hospital bills."

    Andros didn''t protest this time. He only groaned.

    "Actually, I''m not sure we can trust the medical facilities around here." Remian added, considering. "Maybe I should take you back with me¡­"

    Andros groaned even louder.

    "No? Okay, then." Remian handed the remaining security guy ten thousand lir in cash, and said, "Set him up in a hospital, will you?"

    He slipped another twenty thousand into Andros'' pocket, then left him to his fate in the hands of the remaining security guard. Whether the guard actually helped him or robbed him further¡­ that had nothing to do with Remian any more.

    ***

    To be honest, Remian felt a bit disappointed in the amount of cash in the suitcase. There seemed to be only about five million lir in there, which looked like a lot at first glance, but considering that it was the price of a runic forge, it seemed rather little. Andros must have been in a hurry to sell.

    Still, it was a lot more than he''d invested in the Forge to begin with. He''d actually only put in a few tens of thousands in lir, and untold tons in valuable materials like Fire Copper. Based on the sales prices back in those days, and considering a lot of it had been provided as raw ores while the Forge itself smelted and processed the metals, the total value of his initial investment in the Burning Steel Forge probably didn''t amount to more than a million lir.

    Yet even with this theoretical profit, Remian felt shortchanged. What he really wanted was the Forge, and heavy industrial capabilities near his territory. Fal''Herim was near enough that shipping raw ores here to be smelted and processed seemed feasible. Remian certainly preferred it to angering the Wilds back home with pollution.

    "Forget it." Remian shook his head. "Maybe we''ll just buy another forge, or set up a whole new one."

    He didn''t realize it at the time, but setting up a new forge or buying a normal one would actually turn out cheaper than the sales price of the Burning Forge. For one thing, they didn''t actually need rune-forging capabilities, just smelting and plain old regular metal-working. At least, for now.

    Also, the chaos in Fal''herim meant a lot of people were leaving, land value was low to begin with and bottoming out very quickly, so buying up a few factories and smelters in the industrial zone turned out to be a fast and easy feat. All told, a few million lir would be enough to buy out an entire industrial district, five factories, three smelters and a dozen miscellaneous facilities like water towers and warehouses and a corner coffee shop. But all that was going to take a few days to find out.

    As for the Burning Steel Forge itself¡­ oddly enough, it ceased all operations and didn''t do anything in the mean time. Remian had a few lynxmice keep an eye on it, and it seemed that after the Underground King bought over the place, the Forge had completely shut down. Nobody even went in any more.

    Well, whatever. So long as they didn''t cause any trouble, Remian was fine leaving them well enough alone. He just went about his business and called over a crew from Kara-Goth to come manage his new (old) industrial district.

    Aren himself came by to take a look later that week.

    "These are really, really old facilities." Aren sighed. "Back in the day, I''d be satisfied already, but now¡­ I must be getting used to all the new stuff in Kara-Goth."

    "Think we can manage?"

    "For now. We can renovate later." Aren mused. "The thing is, we might have a labor problem. Almost everyone I know has left, and a lot of my friends were slaves that you''ve already shipped off to Itarim or Kara-Goth, and they''re not wanting to come back here, so¡­ finding workers will be tricky."

    "Just¡­ do what you can. There''s got to be a lot of people out of work with so many things around town shutting down." Remian shook his head. "Also, we''ll need security. Mercenaries, perhaps, or lynxmice¡­ but I hear that the new Queen Asda is particularly squeamish about lynxmice. We might need to bring in wolfcats instead."

    "That might cause even more chaos. Let''s just stick to mercenaries. At least people won''t go screaming and running away from them on sight."

 156 The First Wasp

    Days since last Beast Tide: 28. Current Kill Count: 875 (34 since yesterday).

    ***

    "Careful, now! Careful!" Arnold beckoned slowly.

    Mindy slowly eased magic drive forward, carefully regulating a steady, small flow of mana. Bit by bit, she drifted toward him.

    They were testing the half-built prototype of the new Wasp fighter while waiting for the docks to load Fire Copper and Flaming Bronze onto the Red Fang. It was a tense day for Mindy; that batch would be the last batch she needed before she''d be able to afford the second-hand Sky Galleon she''d targeted and still have money left over to buy metals from Kara-Goth to trade. In order to keep her mind off the tension, and her teeth off her fingernails, Mindy went over to find Arnold to distract herself and eventually ended up testing the much smaller airship.

    The Wasp had three main sections, a forward pilot''s station, a central power unit, and a rear gunner''s station. By right, the corvette should be crewed by three people, preferably five or six. But Mindy was directly controlling the engine with her magic. Such raw control bypassed all the maneuvering systems and only allowed for the most simple directional movements. While not a good idea for actual flight, for the purposes of their current test, it was sufficient.

    "Looking good!" Arnold said. "Take it straight up and down, now¡­"

    Mindy hesitated, then threw caution to the wind and sent in a burst of power to the engines.

    The Wasp shot upwards. The ground fell away beneath her. Mindy had a queer feeling, like she''d left her stomach somewhere far below down there, and that she wasn''t actually entirely here, up in the air, in this skeletal ten meter airship...

    And then she let it drop. Rapidly, without anything to slow it down, like a rock, falling straight out of the sky¡­

    Actually, no, even half-built, lacking its forward and aft gas envelopes, the Wasp already contained a fair amount of helium in its central segment. The lighter-than-air gasses drastically reduced the drop speed of the Wasp, even without power in the engines. In fact, the drop rate of the Wasp, unpowered, was less like a rock and more like¡­ a twig, maybe?

    After all, lacking half its frame, the current combined weight of this prototype wasn''t as heavy as the final Wasp models were supposed to be.

    That didn''t stop Arnold from yelping and freaking out when Mindy made their prototype do the twenty foot hop. The poor guy practically fell over and dropped half his instruments, nearly tripping over his¡­

    POW! Something sparked and burst near to Mindy. With a jump, Mindy reacted instinctively, her magic seizing control of the engine rather than gently manipulating it. With brute force, she brought all movement of the prototype to a full stop, not even dropping another inch toward the ground.

    It would have been impossible if she''d been piloting a Galleon, or even a Frigate. But the corvette was just small enough, the structure was just bare enough that she actually managed to bring it to a stop the way she might put her feet down from a carriage to bring it to a stop. It was still a very bad idea; the strain nearly made her blank out, and the drain on her personal mana was frightening, to say the least¡­ but she actually managed it.

    "That was dangerous!" Arnold shouted. "What were you thinking?!"

    Mindy wasn''t entirely certain as to which of her little stunts he was referring to, didn''t suppose it mattered. Her brain felt like it had been stretched and then wrung dry all in a matter of moments, and there was a sudden, deep weariness in her very bones.

    Letting out a groan, she admitted, "That really was a bad idea."

    "You think?!" Arnold shot back.

    "But at least now we know it can be done." Mindy offered weakly.

    "You did NOT have to do it like that!" Arnold barked. "There''s such a thing as safety precautions! And more importantly, you could have TOLD ME FIRST!"

    Mindy didn''t answer. She just held her head and groaned.

    "I think that''s enough for today." Arnold said tartly. "Next time¡­ don''t SCARE me like that!"

    "S¡­ sorry¡­" Mindy rubbed her forehead. "I¡­ I''m going to find something to eat."

    It was early for lunch, still about half an hour before noon, but Arnold simply nodded. "You do that. I''ll try and see what went pop just now. The Wasp is supposed to be able to make high speed maneuvers all the time. We can''t have things going ''pow'' every time it tries to dodge something."

    "Do you think¡­ maybe¡­" Mindy hesitated. "It might be ready for action tonight?"

    "Tonight?" Arnold frowned. "You mean, the Beast Wave? I don''t think it''s necessary. Last time, with two Sky Fortresses firing on the Wave all the way from goodness-knows-where, there were only a handful of Wilds to deal with. Our guys managed it without a single death, only a few injuries. Even George got off with barely a few bruises and he was on the front lines."

    "Can it?" Mindy pressed.

    Arnold groaned. "You know I can''t rush it, George''s got me swamped with so many projects¡­"

    "Can it be ready or not?" Mindy wouldn''t drop the question.

    At last, Arnold sighed. "It''s in no shape for dogfights, but if it''s just to provide fire support from above¡­ yes, it can. But be careful."

    "Sure, sure¡­" Mindy said, and immediately got to work preparing it for battle.

    ***

    Meanwhile, far to the south, the Sky Fortresses were spying out the next Beast Wave.

    "Horse-type Wilds?" Damien Vin scratched his head. "A whole herd, no less¡­"

    Whoever was gathering these Wilds for the Waves, they were getting lazy. Rather than going for a variety, the wave-callers were now targeting whole groups.

    Either that, or they found a way to affect entire groups at once.

    "Can we catch them?" one of the students asked eagerly. "Horses are good, right? Everyone likes to use horses¡­"

    "Err¡­ I''m not entirely sure. I mean, these are Wilds too, you know¡­" Damien mentioned.

    "But what if we could catch them, even tame them¡­? They can communicate psionically! We''d have horses we could TALK to!"

    "Err, catching them isn''t the hard part. We have a big pit, after all. But taming them¡­? I don''t know." Damien scratched his head. "Wouldn''t we be offending some Lord of the Wilds terribly? Would it be considered slavery if we treated Wilds horses like normal horses? Aren''t we trying to free slaves rather than practice enslavement?"

    His students looked back at him blankly. One of them ventured to respond. "You ask us, but who do we ask?"

    He ended up asking another young man about this very issue. This, however, required the use of a comms crystal.

    ***

    "Horses?" George repeated, speculating. "Well, now, that''s¡­ different."

    It really was. Horses represented a whole lot of opportunities in regular society. It was, at the very least, risky to bring a wolfcat into a normal city elsewhere in the world. But horses? You could bring them into any town, any city, anywhere in the world, and nobody would be especially worried. So long as they looked and behaved like regular horses, nobody would even question them around.

    Would it really make a difference? George believed it would. Even in the most normal beast-of-labor situations, a horse that could understand your thoughts made the work a whole lot easier. Better yet, a horse that could explain his needs and wants would be much easier to take care of. Also, they''d be a lot more adaptable, much more capable, able to do things which required finesse that non-psionic horses simply would never even dream of doing.

    George once heard Markus say that a well-trained warhorse was one of the most powerful weapons a legionnaire could bring to the field. Now, he begged to differ. Compared to a well-trained warhorse, a Psionic horse had far more potential.

    "Don''t kill them!" George decided at once. "Let''s try to capture them alive!"

 157 Anti-magic for the Pi

    "Take her up slow." Mindy ordered.

    Talia sat in the pilot''s seat of the not-quite-completed Wasp prototype, sweat dripping down her face as she pulled back a handle, tilting the maneuvering thrusters so that the airship would be pushed upwards¡­

    "Not that slowly! Faster!" Mindy barked.

    Talia threw up her hands off the controls with a squeak. "I''m sorry!"

    "Don''t let go of the controls!" Mindy yelled from the basket tied to the turret frame at the back. "Izhan! Power it up! Bypass the controls and directly take us up six inches!"

    "But¡­!" Izhan gulped.

    "Just do it! We haven''t much time!"

    Down below, roars and neighing sounded. Max was shouting orders to the legionnaire trainees, changing their formations to better channel as many horse-type Wilds as they could into the smoke-hidden Pit. All around them, above, below, and to the side, ballistas and crossbows were firing. Mindy''s and Arnold''s simple preparations had taken a lot longer than they''d anticipated and by the time they were ready, the Beast Wave had already arrived at Kara-Goth.

    At this point, Mindy and her crew were on a platform sixty feet above the ground. While on a usual day this was a platform used to dry laundry, right now it had turned into a temporary rest stop and airship pad.

    Or at least, they were until Izhan hastily powered up the engines and¡­

    "WHOA!!!" Four voices yelped as the Wasp practically leapt ten feet straight up from the platform.

    "That is NOT six inches!!" Mindy barked.

    "Then YOU do it!" Izhan barked back.

    "Will you two let me do my job?!" Talia barked right along with them.

    Mindy''s crew were three teenagers from Kara-Goth and the Red Fang. In the pilot''s seat for the very, very first time was a tense and nervous Talia, half-thankful that her father Aren or her mother Zana wasn''t around to see her mess up if the worst happened, half-wishing he was there instead to offer some word of comfort. Behind her, at the power station was Izhan, trying his best to be supportive to all sides, but similarly tense and nervous himself and instinctively protective of Talia. His parents, Taj and Nadia, were not at Kara-Goth, they stayed at the Farm, but he still seemed intent on putting on a brave face in front of (or behind!) Talia.

    Then there was Larun. He just stood in the gunner''s station, hanging on to the empty turret frame waiting to lower Mindy by rope. He didn''t have the mana-control abilities of the other two, but he was the biggest, most muscular guy on her Red Fang crew. When it came time to haul precious cargo, like crates of Flaming Bronze, or herself, Mindy would trust nobody more to shoulder the burden.

    Mindy herself was sitting in a basket tied to that frame. As nervous as Talia and Izhan were, she was nail-bitingly tense enough for both of them and then some. They were just new at their jobs, trying to do something she''d already done. She, on the other hand, was trusting her life to people who''d never done what they were about to attempt, getting lowered on a basket into a Pit full of berserk Wilds and trying to cause an anti-magic burst with enough range and power to free them all.

    Not for the first time today, she wished Remian were here. That would have solved everything immediatey. Mindy herself would be in the pilot''s seat and Remian can handle all the tricky magic. But no, he wasn''t here today, he was at Fal''herim, with Phoebe¡­

    Which reminded her. Casualties were not recommended today, because their emergency doctor wasn''t around either. Nobody expected heavy injuries or fatalities, really, because the last time they had a Beast Wave, aerial bombardment pretty much took care of most of it.

    But who knew the bulk of today''s Wave would be horses?! And of course, George, dear compassionate George, got it into his head to try and rescue them/capture and coerce them into servitude. Because horses could be very useful, after all¡­ so why kill them when they could be put to use, like Spike?

    This resulted in the Sky Fortresses leaving them pretty much alone as the Beast Wave made their way to Kara-Goth. While indeed, most of the stampeding herd landed up running blind into the smoke-covered Pit, roughly a dozen skirted the sides and right into the pike formations. Of those, half fell, the other half plowed through, and a full-on melee ensued.

    [Mindy!] George was calling. [Hurry up!!]

    [We CAN''T hurry!] Mindy shot back. [These things take time! I need time to get into position, and even if I were already in position, I would need more time to form and trigger the anti-magic burst!]

    [How much time?!]

    Talia was inching the airship out above the Pit now, moving it at a painfully slow pace.

    "Larun! Start lowering the basket!" Mindy decided. "Let''s see if we can hurry this up¡­"

    Meanwhile, she sent back a message to George. [Five minutes to get into position and at least as long for me to work the anti-magic!]

    [Five minutes?! We could be dead by then!]

    [Pay attention! I need ten minutes, not five! Maybe fifteen!]

    [Why so slow¡­?]

    [Are you kidding me? This is anti-magic we''re talking about, not some scroll-casted light sphere! I''m not even sure I would even succeed in my first attempt!]

    [Remian could¡­]

    [I''m not Remian! If I weren''t careful, I could kill myself!]

    [What if you started now, and did it real slow¡­]

    [And risk frying my own airship''s magic drive? No way! Anti-magic is totally unstable, unpredictable even in stable conditions and I''m in a basket swinging around in mid-air, for goodness'' sake! Under these circumstances, it could go off at any time! I''m not even going to start until I''m at least forty feet away from anything we want to keep!]

    [OOF!] George didn''t reply, knocked over by a prancing pony of a Wild. [Oh, scrap¡­]

    Mindy held off on the anti-magic for now and pointed a finger. "Dazzling Light!"

    Fireworks shot out. Really, Mindy''s magic was pretty much just a brilliant light show, colorful and bright, but otherwise completely harmless. Trying to provide magic support at long range through the smoky environment was risky, especially since the pony was practically on top of George. The best she could do was try to distract it or surprise it into backing off.

    [Oof! Ow!] George took a few more hits, but he didn''t sound afraid or anything, just disgruntled, as if it was all her fault.

    Mindy protested. [Hey! Don''t put the blame on me! You''re the one who wanted to spare all of them! The more we save, the more we gain, you said!]

    [Isn''t there a way to hurry it up a bit?]

    Mindy flared. [Next time, get someone else to do you precious anti-magic!] She turned away in a huff.

    Regardless of George''s haste, Talia moved the airship so slowly, they practically drifted their way out to the middle of the Pit.

    By that time, Mindy was roughly sixty feet below, trying to put together a decent burst of anti-magic, but failing to gather enough power before losing her grasp on it entirely. The entire cluster dispersed, then regathered and dispersed again and again under her flailing attempts while the basket rocked to and fro, and she almost dropped everything at least thrice.

    This is why nobody tries to anti-magic the Wave while it was in motion! Trying to put it all together was hard enough if she were completely still, what more while swinging about like this!

    Meanwhile, the fighting had already stopped, the horse-types who hadn''t run straight into the Pit outright had been either struck down, or pushed down into the Pit to join the rest.

    It took six more tries after the airship stopped inching toward the center. Roughly an entire hour after the battle began, Mindy finally managed a single burst of anti-magic.

    But nothing happened.

    "Too small, too far away!" George grumbled.

    As they waited for her to get her act together, the clean up started and George sat down to rest on a spare crate that had been used as a traffic channeling obstacle. Someone brought him a drink and he sat there sipping from a wooden cup while Mindy tried and tried again to work some anti-magic.

    Five tries later, she managed another burst. This time, a few of the horses below were affected.

    "Still too small!" George called out, sipping his tea.

    "Quit complaining! Next time you try it!" Mindy grouched back. "Larun! Talia! Lower!"

    Another hour passed. The clean-up was half-done by the time Mindy managed a third burst.

    But again, it wasn''t enough.

    "Lower!!" Mindy yelled up to her crew.

    A fourth burst happened half an hour after. Then a fifth, six minutes following.

    By then, Mindy was panting and sweating and wishing to high heaven that she''d never volunteered to try to perform anti-magic, much less in a swinging basket.

    Finally, ten minutes after that, she dropped the sixth burst just as she completed forming it.

    There was a buzz, and a silence, and then, a lot of confused Psionic questions from a lot of confused horse-type Wilds.

    "Finally!" George exulted. "You should have tried dropping it on them from the start!"

    Mindy took off her left shoe and threw it at him.

 158 Handling the Underground King

    Don''t tell Mindy, but she actually botched the job.

    But then what happened to the horses? How did they get freed?

    Well, while Mindy was wrestling with anti-magic in a swinging basket, Tim had found the Underground King.

    Then began an epic battle, the likes of which need not be described¡­

    Oh? You want to know what happened?

    Might I recommend we not go there? Do we really need to go through exactly what happened and how?

    I''ll confess it. The fight was not actually glorious or epic in any way. In fact, I''d go so far to say it was downright dirty. I don''t think you want to know what happened¡­

    You still want to know? You really, really want to know?

    Okay, but don''t say I didn''t warn you. This was NOT the kind of fight you want to tell stories about. This was a fight between lynxmice and beggars, between bandits and spies, between a crime lord and a desperate tweenage boy. There was nothing glorious, nothing dignified, nothing even fair about it. Everyone was using every dirty trick they could get their paws on¡­

    You still want a detailed explanation?

    Fine!

    Tim and three clans of lynxmice (one of which were of the desert lynxmice) tracked and trailed the Underground king through endless tunnels that reached all the way from Fal''herim into the Wildlands. Days of tunneling led them to the Underground King''s (temporary?) lair in the Stag Lord''s fief (though they wouldn''t have known it if they hadn''t kept Psionic contact with other lynxmice on the surface).

    They found him surrounded by his lackeys. Suffice to say it took quite a wait (roughly half a chapter''s worth of description) while the man boasted about his secret ways and unspeakable cunning and sure success and how much he looked down upon the miserable sufferers at Kara-Goth cowering under his profound Beast Wave torture.

    Then they waited until the Underground King was alone in his room before they pounced on him.

    The battle began with Tim kicking the man straight up between the legs. "OWwuughhh¡­!"

    "Mikiik!" As his hands went down, Mikai went up, straight for his throat.

    BANG! The Underground King''s head went down just as fast, and between mice and men, the king''s head was harder; Mikai went down a lot faster than he went up, and the king went from gasping to howling as his hands separated, one between his thighs, the other one onto his forehead. "AUGH¡­"

    "Now!" Tim tried to restrain him.

    "Rraaagh!" the Underground King drew up his wrath and elbowed Tim in the nose, then spun around and kneed him viciously in the stomach.

    "OGuu¡­" Tim gasped, stumbling back.

    "HELP!" the king yelled. "GUARDS!!!" He tried to make a run for it.

    At that point, two lynxmice tied his shoelaces together. They did it so hastily, one of them tied himself into the tangle of shoelaces. "Kiik¡­?!"

    "WHOA!" The king stumbled and fell face-flat into the ground.

    The lynxmice charged! Three scurried into his clothes, teeth and claws attacking furiously. One gnawed his flimsy belt broken and a united formation of five brave lynxmice pulled his pants down.

    Even that wasn''t enough to stop him. "HELP! Guards! GUARDS!! I''m being attacked by RATS!" The Underground King hobbled out of his room, hunched over an aching groin and an aching head, screaming for guards with his pants coiled around his feet, which were tied together in a tangle with his pants, his laces and a lynxmouse squealing in between.

    The revenge of the king''s henchmen was ruthless. Seeing they were up against lynxmice, they called out the cats, and a few of them even threw rat-traps baited with melted cheese. One of them even threw out cheese spiked with alcohol. They went at the lynxmice with brooms and shovels, and someone even raised a saucepan against their feline-rodent foes.

    But then Tim enacted his own revenge upon the Underground King, jumping on him from behind, pulling his hair, so that the Underground King''s hands went up, just in time for him to launch another well-aimed kick against his original target below¡­

    The second kick fared with much more success than the first. The Underground King went down, and then an all-out brawl began. Mice and men were kicking and squealing and rolling around in the dirt, everyone clawing at each other tooth and nail, absolutely no terms of civil conduct or martial prowess to be seen.

    But in the end, there were simply far more lynxmice than there were beggars, thieves and bandits present with the Underground King. It was a fight of three hundred against nine, and ultimately, the three hundred won.

    "It''s not fair!" One of the defeated beggars grumbled, hanging from a ceiling root with one hand tied to his ankle, and the other arm wrapped around his own neck.

    But yeah, it really, really wasn''t fair. That was kind of the point.

    That guy wasn''t actually in the worst position. There were five others tied into a tight tangle, one of them with his head very close to someone else''s smelly foot, with only half a dirty sock still dangling on it.

    "Grab everything! Feed them their own spiked cheese!" Tim growled, trying to stop the bleeding from his nose. He was ''basking in his glorious victory'', sitting in the dark with his back to the wall, holding on to his nose, and regretting ever getting personally involved in the fight. Whoever said that a straight up kick between the legs was a sure way to take a man down was an idiot. Either that, or he''d missed a key target or didn''t have enough power. Or maybe the Underground King''s pants were just hanging too low.

    Whatever the case, Tim managed to defeat the ''true'' king of Fal''herim, rob him of everything but the clothes on his back (actually he literally also lost his pants, but that wasn''t Tim''s doing) and in one fell blow, eliminated the agency causing Beast Waves in the Wildlands!

    At least, until their bosses found someone else to do the dirty work. The Coalition of Six were still out there, after all, and there was no telling if it were the kings (or equivalents) of those countries who were responsible, or merely certain factions within them, or simply a single enterprising entity out there somewhere¡­

    "Who hired you?" Tim asked the Underground King, but the man simply glared back.

    Tim went quiet. Deadly quiet. Then, he glanced at Mikai. "I need a few hungry lynxmice."

    The captured ''king''s face went pale.

    Grimly, Tim took off the king''s shoes.

    "I''ll talk!" The ''king'' said suddenly. "I''ll tell you everything!"

    "Who hired you?" Tim asked.

    "It was the Crown Prince!"

    "Anyone hungry?" Tim asked the lynxmice around him, taking off the ''king''s socks.

    "It''s true!" the ''king'' screamed.

    "The Beast Waves began long before the Crown Prince was ever in power." Tim pointed out.

    "Uh¡­" the ''king'' hesitated.

    "Bring some of that cheese¡­" Tim told Mikai.

    "NO!!" the ''king'' yelped. "It''s true that the Crown Prince pays me now! But before that¡­ before that¡­ it was Deutero! Deutero hired me!"

    "Oh, really? And what did they want you to do?" Tim asked blandly.

    "Uh¡­ smuggle goods¡­" the Underground King trailed off.

    "Who hired you to magick Wilds and send them on Beast Waves?!" Tim specified.

    At that, the Underground King fell silent.

    Tim started applying cheese to his toes.

    "Caliph Irafa. Or at least, his butler." The words sounded like they were dragged out from between his teeth by a horse. "He paid me to start the first Beast Wave. The Desert King found out and paid me to continue it. When he died, I approached the Crown Prince, and he kept it going¡­"

    "Why?" Tim asked, eyes narrowed.

    The Underground King bit his lip.

    "WHY?!" Tim demanded, drawing a knife.

    "L-land values!" The Underground King shrieked. "For old claims to be sold! For lost treasures and ruins yet unexplored! To make them all too costly to be exploited, and the rights to the lands cheaply bought!"

    "Bought from who? Nobody owns the Wildlands." Tim frowned.

    "The treaty¡­ recognized by 48 nations¡­ with Ecclesia and the Dragon Empire as witnesses¡­ every colonization effort in the Wildlands¡­ has a hundred years of claim¡­ before it expires¡­"

    "And those claims can be sold?" Tim asked.

    "Yes! The Desert King already bought half of them¡­"

    "So who owns them now that he''s dead?"

    "The¡­ the Crown Prince¡­"

    "And if the Crown Prince is also dead?"

    The Underground King stared in shock. "You¡­ you want to kill the Crown Prince?!"

    "No, it''s too late for that." Tim shook his head. "He''s already dead."

    The Underground King''s face went totally white.

 159 Tipping Poin

    It was a time of great upheaval.

    Many boars were about to lose their jobs at the farm, to be replaced by harder working, less rude, less greedy and far friendlier horses. The average price of grub in the farm market was soon to halve, while the prices of oats doubled. The price of honey-roasted oatmeal tripled. Huge swathes of land around the farm were cleared but left fallow, or given to open fields where horses could roam and graze freely. Acres and acres of new farmland was dedicated to oats and barley.

    The number of random Wilds attacks upon the farm and the protectors of the farm (mercenaries and adventurers on patrol, mostly) rose steeply as the western forest shrank and shrank once more¡­ the Wilds of the western forest began to gather in groups. Farmers began to fear a large scale attack in spite of Doom''s orders in the past.

    Meanwhile, George was drowning in the sudden inflood of new population.

    There were roughly six thousand freed slaves arriving at Kara-Goth.

    "Our people are starving!" the Jamil Clan pleaded for help.

    "Water! We need water!" one woman from the Aman Clan clung to him desperately.

    "Sir? Our children are getting sick. The air here¡­ it''s humid, and colder, and¡­ the doctor lady said we needed clothing." An Elum clan elder said.

    A burly guy from the Jaka retorted. "You don''t need any such thing! You already have a big cavern to stay in. What about my people! We don''t even have a place to rest! We''re sleeping under the open sky, afraid it would rain tomorrow! At least you have some form of housing!"

    "Aren¡­ where''s Aren¡­" George called for help.

    "He''s gone off to Fal''herim to help Remian set up a new industrial district!" Zana informed him.

    "Then what am I supposed to do with all these people?!"

    "Take care of them, I guess?"

    "They don''t belong to me, and I''m not responsible for their needs in any sense." George turned to the freed slaves. "You''ll have to earn your own keep and see to your own needs from here on out."

    They fell silent, in some cases, outright dumbstruck.

    "Can you guys build your own houses?" George asked.

    "Our people are exhausted¡­"

    "¡­hungry¡­"

    "¡­thirsty¡­"

    "¡­getting sick¡­"

    In the end, they turned to him once again.

    "STOP!" George shouted, giving up on letting them handle themselves, at least for the time being. "We have to prioritize. First things first. Alani! Where are you?"

    "Here!"

    "Take the Aman Clan to the Encles settlement!" George requested.

    "We need water¡­!" the woman tried again.

    "It''s at the RIVERSIDE!" George burst out. "Go drink whatever you need! Taj? Is Taj or Nadia here?"

    "They''re at the farms."

    "Call them! No, wait! Just send the Jamil clan to them!" George shook his head. "Get them fed, and get them settled until we can sort them out properly. Elum clan, stay put. Jaka clan, can you mine?"

    "Sure, we can!"

    "We have other mines to the west and the south. You''ll have to board the airship again, and it''ll take you over. Whoever else needs shelter and doesn''t mind mining, you''re free to join one of four other mines."

    George wasn''t about to let strangers tamper with Misty Steel or Fire Copper, but there were gem mines at Amber Gorge, a tin mine at North Misty Heighs, and a silver mine at South Misty Heights. They hadn''t been in operation long, but surely they had been dug out enough to shelter a clan or two.

    As for the Elum clan''s clothing problem¡­ "What do you guys do?"

    "Whatever you want us to do, just please, the children¡­"

    "Even children take care of themselves around here." George growled. For goodness sake, he qualified as one of those ''children'' himself! And the reason for that¡­ "They can jolly well join the Guild just like I did! I''ll have the Guild open a credit line for immediate needs. Everyone needs to sign up and pay off your debts in Guild Points by doing missions for it. Fair?"

    "Uh¡­ whatever you say, master¡­"

    "I''m NOT your master!"

    It might take quite a while before freed slaves got the hang of taking care of themselves.

    "We''re going to have to explain economics to these people." George groaned.

    "It won''t be easy." Zane sighed. "It''s different for the High Rock clan. We accepted jobs from outside, and we understand something of money and how to take care of ourselves. But there are clans like these, who have no understanding of money. They work, but are never paid. They are fed, but never buy. How can they understand?"

    "If they don''t know what to do, they can just join the army. We''ll tell them what to do all the time!" Song Chen barked a laugh.

    "That might actually be the best idea I''ve heard all day." George said gloomily. "But I don''t think that''s what Remian had in mind when he sent them here."

    "Well, we can''t house six thousand people." Zane shook her head. "We''re only in phase one of the reconstruction program, and even housing one thousand is more than we can manage. Even when we finish up to phase five, we could accommodate five thousand, at most. We simply didn''t design Kara-Goth for numbers that big."

    "Then we better re-design." George grimaced. "Call it Phase Six, if you will, but at the rate we''re going, we better be prepared to handle thousands of people at a time. How many people can these hills hold if we use at least half of them? If we use steel-reinforced structures and supports?"

    "You''ll have to ask Arnold."

    ***

    "Twenty thousand, probably." Arnold guessed. "Assuming we use the Pit. Fifty thousand, if you include all the hills around here. But it''s going to be a whole lot of work, you know. Won''t it be simpler just to build normal houses outside¡­"

    "And have them wiped out again and again by every enemy attack that comes by? No, thanks, I''ve had enough of that." George shook his head. "We''re digging strongholds out of mines and hills, and that''s that."

    "We''re going to need so much earth magic¡­" Arnold sighed. "Or at least heavy machinery."

    "What do you mean by that?" George asked.

    "I mean specialized machines designed for digging. Mana-powered drills, for example. A friend of mine works at the Rockeater Drills company. I can ask him about sending us one by Deutero Delivery."

    "Let me know how much it costs. We might need a whole lot of those." George figured. "Meanwhile, I''ll ask Remian about hiring more Earth Magi."

    ***

    Word came back three hours later.

    "Fifty green crystals an hour?!" George gaped. "And there''s no way we can pay in lir?"

    "The mages don''t need lir, right now, but everyone''s scrambling for crystals." Remian coughed, wheezed, then coughed again heavily.

    "Are you okay?" George asked.

    "I''m¡­ I''m fine¡­" Remian cleared his throat. "Back to the topic¡­ the thing is, more and more people are becoming aware of the mana shortage."

    "There''s a mana shortage?" George blinked. "But I thought mana was generated naturally by living things. I thought everyone generated their own mana!"

    "Personal mana, yes. But that''s very little compared to the power we get from mana crystals. That''s why devices powered by mana crystals are capable of so much more power than even a high leveled mage casting spells using his own mana. The problem is, as a whole, mana crystals have been heavily, fanatically mined across the whole world for centuries now, and there just doesn''t seem to be much left. Magic across the world has been consuming mana crystals at a terrifying rate and that rate is only increasing as time goes by. We''re at the point where production is feasible even at high cost and it still can''t keep up with demand. Someone discovered a new vein recently, and entire countries are on the verge of going to war over it."

    "So that''s why magi won''t take jobs for lir any more?"

    "Yeah, they only want payment in crystals."

    "Didn''t we already sell all the crystals we had?"

    "The Red Fang still has some in storage from the time it was in the Fal''herim military. We''re still using them to fly around."

    "What about the Tugs and the Sky Fortresses?"

    "Those are powered by groups of people."

    "So what happens when the Red Fang runs out of crystals?"

    "We''ll have to power it manually, or it won''t be able to move about. It''s going to be exhausting work and the airship probably won''t be able to move even half its usual speed."

    "Then shouldn''t we just sell the Red Fang and buy something that could be powered by people more easily?"

    "Not yet. I wouldn''t recommend it until we have something to provide air security in its place. Like the new Wasp Fighters. I think we might be able to manage if we could put four or six of those on a Galleon or a Sky Fortress."

    "Speaking of Galleons, doesn''t Mindy''s new Galleon use crystals as fuel too?"

    "Actually, yes, it does. But I think she can get by with a larger crew."

 160 Burdened Wings

    Days since last Beast Tide: 32. Current Kill Count: 1065 (44 since yesterday).

    ***

    Getting a larger crew was easy enough. Unlike certified magi, Adventurers from the Guild still accepted Guild Points or Lir in payment. Mindy put up missions for round trip crews (from and back to Kara-Goth) offering 1000 lir for a week, six hour shifts, three-shift rotation. She got so many applicants, they had enough crew to manage a four-shift rotation.

    "Can we really put that many people on board the Red Fang?" Izhan shook his head. "Even Izak''s coming along, now."

    "Both you and Talia are on board. What did you expect your brother to do?" Mindy shook her head.

    Fifty-two crew members were able to form four shifts of twelve each (under normal circumstances, battle situations was different). The engine room only had so much space, after all. Twelve people around the power core was already a squeeze. It went with the saying ''many hands, light work'', but Mindy accepted every Adventurer who signed on. The reason for this was because they were going to pick up a new (old, second-hand, actually) Sky Galleon at Ashdale. Charlie''s dad had the deal all worked out already.

    Along with the Sky Galleon, they were also supposed to pick up some heavy machinery and some friend of Arnold''s named Schwartz. Mindy had a little trouble even pronouncing the guy''s name, but the point was, he was good with machines, and he would be a big help to the miners. Charlie''s dad was kind enough to get his crews to load the stuff into the new Galleon for free. All they had to do now was go and collect.

    But first, they needed to make a stop at Fal''herim with a load of water. No, seriously, Remian had a whole new industrial district out there with new people joining up, and the first thing they asked for was water.

    As for how they were going to fit all of that into the Red Fang, well¡­

    They weren''t.

    "What is this?" Izhan asked, while keeping an eye on Izak and Talia.

    "It''s a frame with wings." Mindy shrugged. "It''s heavy, but it has to be strong in order to carry all that water. See those barrels? We''re not trying to put tons of water into the airship. We''re carrying the water outside it."

    "A military airship bearing a frame carrying nets loaded with barrels." Izhan muttered. "We''re back to planks-and-netting."

    "That''s our trademark." Mindy agreed. "At least, for now. Once we''re at Fal''herim, we can drop the whole frame and move on at our proper speed."

    "How long will we take to get there, with that cargo frame attached?"

    "Uh¡­ about nine hours? It''s still faster than a Sky Barge and a Tug."

    "ANYTHING is faster than a Sky Barge and a Tug!"

    "Except maybe a Sky Barge without a Tug."

    "That won''t even move!"

    Mindy stood up. "Okay, I think we''re done here¡­"

    "WAIT!" Alani burst in. "Wait for me! I wanna go!"

    "Alani? You too?" Mindy stared.

    "Yes!" Alani said.

    "How come everybody wants to come along all of a sudden?" Mindy had to ask.

    "Well, it''s not like there''s many jobs left!" Alani sighed. "There are new clans here and hundreds of new Adventurers now, and all the easy jobs have a queue waiting to snap them up! A QUEUE! Who in the world queues up for jobs?!"

    "Ah." Mindy grimaced. "It sounds bad. But if jobs are in such high demand, I wonder why they didn''t sign up for my crews."

    "Probably because mana channeling is a requirement." Alani pointed out. "Scroll-casting is one of the first things all of us learned as Adventurers, but the new guys haven''t had the chance to learn yet."

    "Ah! So that''s it!"

    Mindy stood there looking at Izhan and Alani, the oldest and youngest members of her current crew. Izhan was eighteen now, three years older than his brother Izak, and her top choice to captain the Red Fang once Mindy had her new Galleon. Alani was nine, almost ten.

    Having such a young crew presented her quite a bit of problems. For one thing, she was nervous about docking at countries that might see her friends as child labor. Even though she was younger than most of them, those countries'' laws could still get her into a great deal of unnecessary trouble. At least Charlie''s dad was more understanding, and Germat didn''t care who brought the goods as long as the goods were brought. But docking at Itarim to pick up Iron Legion trainees was a nervous affair and the one time she tried to dock at La Vive, she noticed the dock workers giving them a great many odd looks.

    That was about the time she lost the last of her adult crews. That one trip to La Vive did it in a single hour. It was like all the adults in her crew at the time suddenly realized that they were following the orders of a child and that they were in a location that was pretty good to stop off at¡­

    Mindy grimaced. La Vive was a bad idea. Learning the prices there was really not worth losing her adult crews or getting all those weird looks from the locals. They kept asking if they were from Otta, or the Ira Caliphate. Were those places famous for hiring youngsters? Maybe she should go there and take a look one day¡­ but not just yet. Right now, the new Galleon and the machinery held priority.

    ***

    They took off around 10 in the morning and crawled their way north. After whizzing around in the Red Fang all these weeks, Mindy suddenly felt like they were being pushed back by even the smallest winds and every three steps forward was accompanied by two steps backwards.

    The cargo frame creaked and swayed the entire way. Carrying tons of water in barrels as it were, Mindy was half afraid she''d see the whole rig tear apart and fall to pieces despite Arnold''s best assurances.

    Ten nervous, exhausting hours later, they finally pulled into Fal''herim airport and put down the cargo frame. In the midst of lowering it, the frame finally gave way. With an especially loud creak, the left wing collapsed and the barrels on it fell the remaining two inches to the ground in a series of loud crashes. Mindy almost quailed thinking of what might have happened if they had been even a minute slower in arriving or taking off the frame.

    "It''s all right¡­ it''s all right¡­ we''re okay¡­" Izhan waved off the local airport crews who''d come running up to see what the noise was.

    Mindy looked about for Remian, but he wasn''t to be found. Where was he? He was supposed to meet them here.

    Maybe he was a bit late. Mindy decided to wait for a few minutes.

    After a while, someone did show up, but it wasn''t Remian. It was Phoebe.

    "Where''s Remian?" Mindy asked.

    "He''s¡­ not in good shape, right now." Phoebe trailed off. "Would you like to come see him?"

    "What happened?"

    "Nothing unusual. He''s just been busy. Too busy." Phoebe frowned. "He won''t listen to me. I kept telling him to take it easy, but¡­"

    "Where is he?"

    ***

    "Remian!" Mindy pounced on him the moment she burst through his door. "What are you doing out of bed? The doctor said you needed rest!"

    "The doctor¡­?" Remian blinked.

    "She''s right. I did." Phoebe mentioned blandly.

    "It''s fine. I''m almost done. I just need to do a little more." Remian said, making his way to the door.

    "That''s exactly what he said yesterday. And the day before." Phoebe mentioned.

    "Stop! Enough already!" Mindy jumped. "You need to rest."

    "I don''t have time to rest. Everything is coming to a crux¡­ it''s not just Fal''herim. Everything is¡­ everywhere is¡­" Remian coughed twice, heavily.

    Then he collapsed.

 161 Downtime 1

    Remian opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar darkwood ceiling. He felt movement; the bed he was in, in fact, the entire room and the floor, was moving¡­

    "An airship?" Remian guessed.

    Squeaks sounded. There were two lynxmice in his room. One of them sent out a message. [He is awake!]

    "Where am I?" he asked.

    The other lynxmouse approached and scratched itself behind one ear. [I don''t know. Here?]

    "Where is here¡­?" Remian shook his head and changed his question. "Are we in an airship?"

    [Yes! We''re in the new airship! Uh¡­ the old one. The new old one!] the lynxmouse struggled to explain.

    "This is the new second-hand Sky Galleon Mindy bought?" Remian guessed.

    "Mikii!" [Yes, yes!!]

    "Which means¡­ we went from Fal''herim to Ashdale, and then left Ashdale¡­ have we taken Iron Legion trainees on board?"

    [Not yet.]

    "Fresh out of Ashdale, then, and en route to Itarim." Remian figured. "So¡­ what am I doing here?"

    "You''re here because I asked Mindy to get you out of Fal''herim." Phoebe entered the room.

    "Ah. That explains it." Remian grunted, sitting up in bed. "Hello, Phoebe."

    Phoebe went over to him and checked his pulse, looked at his eyes and under his eyelids, had him open his mouth and checked his throat with a light spell, then started pressing his tummy and tapping his back as if listening for sounds¡­

    Remian started coughing uncontrollably. Then weird sounds started coming from his stomach and he started dry-retching.

    "Bucket!" Phoebe yelled.

    [Wha¡­?] the lynxmice blinked at her, blur.

    "Air net!" Phoebe stretched out her hand and her mana, seizing a little bucket by the side with magic. She hauled it over that way just in time.

    Remian grabbed the bucket and threw up some bitter liquid that burned in his mouth. "What¡­ what is¡­"

    "Over-hunger, I''d guess. You haven''t eaten for three days. It seems your stomach acids have been building up."

    "Is that¡­ supposed to¡­ happen?" Remian asked, in between hurling.

    "Let''s just say your current condition isn''t quite awesome." Phoebe turned to the lynxmice. "He needs food."

    [On it!] the lynxmice scurried away.

    They returned with bits of cheese that looked a bit mouldy.

    Remian looked at the two mice offering their cheese and actually felt a bit touched.

    "Not THAT!" Phoebe rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Call in the ship''s cook! Whoever is on kitchen duty!"

    Mindy popped in before the ship''s cook could. "Remian! Are you all right? Phoebe? Is he all right?"

    Phoebe snorted. "No, and you knew that, or you wouldn''t be asking."

    "What can we do?"

    "He just needs lots of rest. That should be the best thing for now. Once we reach Itarim, we can take him to a hospital for some tests¡­"

    "No tests!" Remian barked, then coughed and threw up some more. "No¡­ hospi¡­ bleurgh!"

    "So he says." Phoebe sighed.

    Mindy lowered her voice, but Remian still heard her say one word. "George."

    Phoebe, in return, only nodded.

    George? What did George have to do with anything?

    "First things first, get him some food." Phoebe advised. "Then make sure he gets lots of rest."

    ***

    The next thing Remian knew, he was in a shared hospital ward, and his roommate was George.

    "Where¡­ what¡­ why¡­?" Remian trailed off.

    "Welcome to the new Kara-Goth hospital. What do you think of the place?" Mindy asked, with a gracious sweeping gesture.

    "Uh¡­ it looks¡­ comfy." Remian said, glancing about.

    It really kind of did. The room was not very large, but the beds were soft, the blankets were clean, the walls were hung with warm brown furs and yellow-light glowlamps, although at the moment sunlight streamed in from a lot of narrow windows.

    "Still. I do have a room back at the Guild." Remian pointed out.

    "It''s not a good place to rest at the moment. Too much going-on. The construction around this part of Kara-Goth is already finished, and most of the work is concentrated in the other hill, so right now, this area is quieter." Mindy shrugged. "Besides, this way, I get to take care of both you and George in one fell swoop!"

    "What happened to George?" Remian asked, eyeing his unconscious roommate.

    "Same thing that happened to you. Collapsed from overwork." Mindy said. "The guy was literally running around trying to take care of everybody every day."

    Soft knocks sounded on the door. A low voice sounded from the other side. "Lunch."

    "Come in." Mindy invited, in a normal speaking tone.

    The door opened and in walked Talia with a tray of food.

    "Talia is a nurse, now?" Remian was confused. "What happened to all the airships and the trade route?"

    "We''re taking a break." Mindy said. "While waiting for the new industrial district to get their act together. Once they''re up to speed, we''ll be hauling raw ores to Fal''herim and buying smelted bars from there. Meanwhile, we''ve more or less already emptied out Kara-Goth''s trading stock."

    "Well, I better get back to Fal''herim, then¡­"

    "No, you don''t. Leave it to Izhan and Izak."

    "Izhan and Izak?"

    "They''re the ones I left with Aren. I hear they''re working very hard under him, especially Izak."

    "Izak? Why¡­" Remian saw the blush on Talia''s face and figured it out easily enough. Working under your prospective father-in-law had to be rough. "Oh."

    Lunch looked rather like re-heated breakfast, sausage, some juicy fruit, hot tea¡­

    "What sort of tea is this?" Remian sipped it, feeling it warm him from head to toes. It left a tingly, vibrant feeling inside him as he drank.

    "Herbal tea." Mindy supplied.

    "What sort of herbs?"

    "I''m actually not too sure. You''ll have to ask Phoebe."

    "It''s good. I didn''t know our hospital here could do this sort of thing."

    "Like it? The food is all farm-fresh. Even the sausages came from our farm chickens."

    "Chickens? Our farm has chickens? Since when?"

    "Since last week. The farm district''s grown very big. There are feed farms, egg farms, butchers and everything. There''s even a cattle ranch, and the beef is good, though I can''t speak highly of the milk supply. Goodness knows we''re going to need it with the influx of people."

    Right. All those freed slaves meant a whole lot more mouths to feed. That explained why the farm had become a whole farming district. "Exactly how big is the farming district, right now?"

    "Huge. Bigger than Fort Spoas, Kara-Goth, and Fal''herim put together, and then some."

    "Can we even protect that much territory?"

    "Right now, there are mercenary groups patrolling the perimeter and draining George''s bank account, but we actually have thousands of new Adventurers, and it won''t be long until they''re skilled enough to do the job without mercenaries."

 162 Downtime 2

    Remian stretched, feeling oddly good as he ate. He yawned. "Goodness, that was a good night''s sleep."

    "More like three days, but yeah, I''m sure it was."

    "Three days?" Remian blinked. "George too?"

    "George came in yesterday. He got even busier when we brought you in here on a stretcher, and¡­" Mindy shook her head. "Speaking of George, he got you something pretty nifty. He used it to keep running around long after he was exhausted on the last day."

    Remian stared. "What did he use? Some kind of stimulant drink? Coffee?"

    "Not quite." Mindy pointed to some weird metal heap at the side. "He used a ME-Frame and got you one too."

    "What''s a ME-Frame?"

    "A Motion-Enhancement Frame. It''s the grandson of your prosthetic." Mindy barked a laugh. "It''s a full-body exoskeleton. There''s an armor version for combat, and a frame version for adventurers. This is the frame version. It helps with everything, walking, mining, hunting, foraging¡­ all sorts of things. Our Adventurers love the versatility. I hear it''s particularly popular at Three Pines Peak."

    "Really?"

    "Haven''t you heard? They''re holding tree-climbing races there, with prizes, and equipment is allowed." Mindy said wistfully. "There''s official betting and everything."

    "Tree-climbing races? Just how many people are staying at Three Pines, these days?"

    "Two hundred? Three? I don''t know. The school Sky Fortresses are always there, except when they come by to pick up supplies and students, and the families here keep sending their children to school, so¡­"

    "School Sky Fortresses¡­ you mean, mom and dad are running Three Pines Peak?"

    "No, I think they just run the schools. Ruth and Xia run things at Three Pines Peak. It''s a little tree-town full of Adventurers climbing from tree platform to airships, to the ruins, and back."

    "Aren''t they staying in the ruins themselves?"

    "Not since someone died in bed, no."

    "Someone DIED?!"

    "More than one. Others died exploring or trying to activate some ''simple'' Black Ruins devices. Apparently, the ruins aren''t all that safe to stay at."

    "People are dying out there?!"

    "People are dying everywhere, even out at the cattle ranch. This is the Frontier. We''re all used to it."

    "But¡­"

    "Calm down. There are people in charge of all these things. Let them handle it."

    "You mean, people like George?" Remian glanced at the guy who had been laid flat out from exhaustion, even with a ME-Frame. "We need to get that boy a proper admin staff."

    "That, we do." Mindy nodded. "And you, too."

    "Me? Now that Aren, Izhan and Izak have the industrial district well in hand, I seem to out of a job." Remian half-joked.

    "Good. Then it''s time you took a vacation." Mindy said.

    "Great! Where are we going?"

    "Right now? You''re not going anywhere until Phoebe checks you out thoroughly." Mindy said flat out.

    ***

    Phoebe took four hours of tests before she was satisfied. "Well, you''re dying, but you''re not about to die just yet."

    "Great. Thanks so much for the encouragement." Remian said dryly.

    "The herbs seem to help quite a bit." Phoebe remarked. "But I think bedrest did most of the work. From now on, you have to reduce physical exertion."

    "And how am I supposed to do that?"

    "Use a ME-Frame." Phoebe shrugged.

    Putting on a ME-Frame was tricky. Remian needed help from Mindy and Talia both to put it on properly.

    "And you say everybody''s using these things now?" Remian asked.

    "Not everybody, but it''s selling well. Arnold sells them for 20,000 lir, or 54,000 Guild Points." Talia told him. "It should have been priced at 60,000, but George had the Guild give it a 10% discount both to make it more easily available to the harder working youngsters and to increase the desirability of Guild Points."

    Remian tested it out. "Wow. It''s strong. I think using this, I''d be stronger than an average Legion Trainee."

    "George said it provides roughly 150% the strength of an average man. I saw him bench-press 80 kg with his ME-Frame just for fun once." Mindy mused. "For specific tasks like mining or quarrying or transportation, there are better, more efficient machines, but for a combination of all of them, it''s hard to beat this sort of versatility."

    "Anyone tried climbing out of the Pit with one of these?" Remian asked.

    "Probably not. The Pit walls aren''t totally sheer, but they''re still pretty steep, with precious few footholds and handholds. I mean, I can see someone in a ME-Frame leaping over six foot gaps, or jumping up six feet to ledges, but without handholds and footholds, well¡­"

    Remian wiggled his fingers, testing out their movements while wearing the rings, support-structure, and half-glove of the ME-Frame. "It feels a bit clumsy for intricate movements."

    "It''s not supposed to help your handwriting, but it should be enough to get even you from one end of Kara-Goth to the other without breaking a sweat." Mindy checked on George one last time and said, "Ready to go?"

    "Let''s go." Remian nodded, and the three of them headed out into town.

    ***

    George''s vision of a mall-like structure did not quite pan out as expected.

    For one thing, the malls as Ashdale used a lot of white stone. Kara-Goth was generally grays and browns. Also, rather than add different colored stone to an already stony interior, the High Rock clan opted to put in wood panels. The floors, the pillars, even some beams over the ceiling were all smooth, polished wood. This gave the whole area a more cave-mansion feel than Ashdale''s steel-and-tile structures.

    But it did indeed have that large central area stretching all the way up five floors to the open sky, a view ringed by platforms and railings. The rooftop seemed to be an airship dock; there were three ''Foresight'' gunships moored up there. Remian could see them from all the way down on the fourth floor.

    This central area was circular. That means, this was Kara. As far as Remian remembered, Goth''s central open area was an oval.

    Down below was a park. Maybe it was supposed to be a garden, but someone had put in swings, see-saws and before you knew it, the place had become kids'' zone central. Also, someone had planted three pines to one side.

    "Why the three pines?" Remian asked. "Does it have something to do with Three Pines Peak?"

    "I think so." Mindy squinted. "By the way? If that park below were a compass, those three pines are due north."

    Well, that was one way to offer directions in a circular compound.

    "Come on. Let''s take a look around." Remian suggested.

 163 Downtime 3

    Remian passed by a library, a gym, and a dojo before he figured out that the fourth floor were basically all facilities. Making a full circle, he went down a floor and found a massive food court, an inn (probably meant to cater to the airship crews when they docked), three empty lots, elevators and toilets. There were shops dedicated to selling clothes, strong drink, accessories, books¡­

    Wait. What?

    Remian found himself staring at the bookstore. "How did that get here?"

    "Uh¡­ I brought it here. From Ashdale. It''s one of Lydia''s friends. He said he wanted fresh air and the freedom of the wild frontier, but I suspect he might want something more with Lydia than just friendship." Mindy grinned. "He''s got all the basic magic books, if you''re interested."

    "I''ll definitely take a look." Remian said, brightening. Access to knowledge would be priceless for the developing clans. It brought a lot of considerations to mind, such as the future of these clans, the limits of their advancements of education, skill, and opportunities.

    Mindy and Talia watched him stand there in a semi-daze, suddenly filled with thoughts before they decided to interrupt him and drag him on with the tour. "You can fry your brain overthinking everything later." Mindy said.

    Someone had opened a restaurant below. This wasn''t like the food stalls at the food court above. This was a single shop selling a whole menu of varied dishes, skillfully cooked and served at your table by waiters. "Where did this come from?"

    "Song Chen''s cousin. This is the Kara-Goth branch of the Song Family Restaurants." Mindy cleared her throat. "Apparently, Song Chen''s family actually runs a restaurant franchise."

    Arnold''s workshop was likewise on the second floor, but at least half of it had turned into a gadget shop. There were a half dozen people fitting on ME-Frames right that minute. Remian gave Arnold a nod and a wave as they passed by. "Those two lots next to him are empty, right?"

    "Yes. Why?"

    "I think he could use the extra space. Also, see if we can send him some help, maybe a few interns or something. His inventions could do a lot to help our people develop."

    "George said the same thing. Zane is already on it."

    From the central commercial area there were broad tunnels branching out to residential blocks on the lower three levels. An especially large tunnel led to Residential District Kara-02 to the west. "Where does that go?"

    "Another central area, with its own commercial open space, and it branches out to a whole lot more residencies. I hear it''s smaller, but the central space is a square, and they turned it into some multi-purpose sports court. There''s suggestions of putting seating in to make the central area like an arena."

    "Just how many districts are there in Kara-Goth at this time?"

    "So far? Four. There are plans for four more, though."

    "That many? There still seem to be empty lots around here."

    "Do you remember all those freed slaves you sent here last time? When George gave them options, some hundreds went off to each of the mines, but the majority of them were looking lost and wanting nothing more than to stay in this nice big safe haven dug into the hills."

    A shadow loomed overhead, blocking out a substantial bit of the sunlight. Remian glanced up to see a familiar figure maneuvering to dock. The Red Fang had just arrived.

    "You sent the Red Fang off without you?" Remian was amazed.

    "Only on short runs within Shadowflash Fief. Mostly to the quarry and the farms. There were a couple of trips to the outlying mining towns, because there are just that many freed slaves, but that''s about it." Mindy explained. "Don''t worry. It''s being captained by your sister."

    "My sister?" Remian gaped. "Not Eriane, I hope?!"

    "No, I''m talking about Sabriane." Mindy shook her head. "She needed a break, too."

    "What of your Sky Galleon?"

    "That one''s busy at the farms. Nadia can handle it." Mindy trailed off. "Remian, we really need a lot more vehicles. Auto-carts and carriages, at least."

    "You know about the mana crystal shortage, right? Anyone wanting to drive a vehicle around will have to power it manually." Remian shook his head. "That generally limits us to Frames and bikes or similar light vehicles."

    "We can still use beast-drawn vehicles like the Dragon Empire does. We might not have giant lizards and magical creatures to pull them, but we at least have horses."

    "You want our horse-type Wilds to pull carriages and carts?"

    "Why not? I myself still carry boxes and do the dishes, sometimes."

    "Don''t you think it might be, maybe, demeaning to them?"

    "You mean ''beneath them'', like the Eagle Lord always says? Since when should jobs in the Frontier ever be beneath anyone simply by virtue of birth or bloodline? The rules for humans should apply to Wilds as well. Whether they want the job, can do the job and get the job is all between them and their employers. Free market rules."

    "You really like those sort of rules, huh? As compared to aristocracy or noble houses like the feudalistic countries?"

    "I''m not entirely sure what you''re talking about, but at the end of the day, I think trades, including labor and hiring, should boil down to offers, negotiations and acceptance."

    "That being the case, we better start a labor union before some savvy employers exploit less savvy workers in negotiations. Sometimes, people just aren''t good at pressing for what they deserve or need. Sometimes, they need more eloquent people to speak up for them."

    "Like lawyers?" Mindy grimaced.

    "Champions. Leaders. Representatives." Remian shrugged. "Call them what you will. A lot of our people are freed slaves. They''re really going to get bullied if we don''t look out for them."

    "I''ll be sure to pass that along to George, but it might not be entirely true. They do have clans, after all. They already have clan leaders, and those leaders are usually related to them in some way."

    "Speaking of employers¡­ aren''t I basically the guy employing everyone around here?"

    "No, I think that''s George."

    "He''s using my money, though."

    "Fine, then. You are."

    "Someday soon," Remian said, "We''re going to have to make a careful inspection of those towns and make sure they''re doing okay."

    "Yeah, yeah. Just give them some time to settle down first, okay? Right now, I think they''re more concerned with getting everyone enough blankets than about labor rights."

    "Shouldn''t we be seeing to that?"

    "What do you think our airships have been doing?" Mindy shook her head. "Leave it to the others. Today, you''re off duty."

    "Oh, really? The whole day?"

    "The whole day."

    "And tomorrow?And the day after that?"

    "As long as you need to recover."

    "And if I don''t recover?"

    Mindy bopped him over the head. "Don''t you say that! Don''t ever talk like that!"

    Remian snorted. He glanced at Death, still hovering several feet over his left shoulder, just waiting to grab him and go. "Well, I''ll spare your optimism and drop the subject, but since we''re talking about days off, how about we really take a break and go somewhere?"

    "You mean, a holiday trip?" Mindy brightened.

    "Yeah. You haven''t yet taken my advice and visited other countries, I noticed. La Vive, Itarim, Ecclesia¡­ you should see them all, and soon."

    "Well, that sounds nice, but what''s the hurry?"

    "War''s coming, and something tells me those places aren''t going to be the same as they were afterward."

 164 Visit to La Vive

    Days since last Beast Tide: 37. Current Kill Count: 1261 (70 since yesterday).

    ***

    In a scenic seaside town near the borders of La Vive, a man walked into a bakery.

    "Bonjour!" he called out loud and clear.

    "Bonjour!" the baker called back, smiling in a friendly manner. They chatted for a short while, the man bought his bread, and the baker sent him off warmly.

    Then, Mindy walked into the bakery. The baker watched her enter and look around wide-eyed at all the baked goods. She noticed him eyeing her and hurriedly bobbed her head in greeting. "H-hi¡­"

    His face darkened. He frowned.

    "I-I mean¡­" she scrambled to think back to what Remian said when they arrived. "B-bonjour." That last scarcely came out as a whisper.

    The baker''s face darkened even more. "What do you want?"

    "Um¡­ I was just looking¡­ seeing how good your goods are¡­ you know, compared to everywhere else¡­"

    "My goods are the best!" the baker said, loudly. "You will never find quality as good anywhere in the world! And don''t you forget it!"

    "R-really?" Mindy looked really nervous at this point. "The best in the world¡­? I''m not so sure, I mean the world''s a really big place¡­"

    "Get out." The baker said flatly.

    Mindy blinked. "What? Really?"

    "Get OUT!" the baker roared.

    Mindy hurriedly scrambled out.

    Sitting on the bench facing the main street nearby was Remian. "How did it go?"

    "I¡­ I don''t know! I don''t know what happened!" Mindy shuddered, then turned and got angry. "He was so rude! I can''t believe it! What kind of shopkeeper treats his customers that way?"

    "What did you do?" Remian asked.

    "Nothing! I just greeted him, you know, like you said, and then talked about his goods, and he said it was the best in the world, and I said I wasn''t so sure, I mean, I hadn''t even inspected them yet¡­"

    "Just how did you greet him, exactly?"

    "I said, ''hi'', just like you told me to."

    "Was that really what I told you to do?"

    "You said to greet him!"

    "Greet him HOW?"

    "Uh¡­ say ''hi'', in their language, which was ''bonjour'', I think?"

    "Is that all? What else did I say?"

    "Uh¡­" Mindy thought back. "That''s all you said! You just told me to yell ''bonjour'' when I got in, which meant ''hello'' in their language."

    "Did you do it?"

    "Do what?"

    "Yell ''bonjour'' loudly when you entered."

    "Eh¡­?" Mindy thought back. "Uh¡­ not exactly. But I did say ''hi'', and I gave him a nod¡­"

    Remian let out a sigh. "In other words, it was you who was rude to him first."

    "What?"

    "It''s a culture thing. Never mind. Next time, say it in their language and say it loud and clear."

    "That''s it¡­? That''s what''s wrong?" Mindy said in disbelief. "So it''s not about the quality of his goods being the best in the world or everything? Because I don''t think it was. Among the best, maybe, just maybe, but I''m not sure it''s THE best."

    "Well HE''S sure it''s the best, and he takes pride in his work, and it kind of has to be that way. They take the quality of their work very seriously, and that pride in their craft might be one of the reasons why their goods are so good. Again, it''s a culture thing. They have their own customs."

    "But it''s such a strange custom. My own culture and customs are nothing like that. Since I''m a customer, and new to the whole place, shouldn''t he at least give me some face and explain things to me? I mean, this is near the border and all. Can''t they tone down on their own customs a bit and adjust to their customers'' culture?"

    "Why should they conform to our culture? We''re in their land. They have every right to throw us out, or jail us. They could even kill us all, and what could we do about it?"

    "If they killed us, Tim would come and wreak havoc upon them in revenge!"

    "Ah, but they don''t know that. It''s not like we can go around saying ''don''t mess with me, I''m friends with a kick-ass spy and his merry band of lynxmice."

    "That''s beside the point. There''s such a thing as customer service, you know."

    "Even that is an issue of culture. I''m not saying theirs is any better or worse, but it is theirs. This is their land, they get to make the rules."

    "Just you wait. Let''s see what happens if one day he decides to board my airship." Mindy muttered darkly.

    "Ah, but YOUR culture cares more about the customers'' needs and wants. To treat a passenger as any less than an important guest would be going against your own principles, wouldn''t it?"

    Mindy''s face fell. "That''s not even fair!"

    Remian just laughed. "Maybe not, but in the international arena, you''re the one who would get more customers and sales."

    "Hmmpfh! Take that, rude baker!" Mindy snorted to herself, but she said it in a very low voice to make sure nobody else could hear.

    "I don''t think he minds losing one sale. His pride as a craftsman is worth a lot more to him."

    Mindy just scowled, saying nothing in reply.

    "Come on. Let''s try again elsewhere." Remian suggested. "Before you get so hungry and hangry that you start biting the bakers instead of the bread."

    The two of them were fresh out of the airport after a long flight. It was six in the morning when they docked at La Vive, and eight before they settled all the customs and registrations and inspections and finally went out into town.

    Despite her earlier fiasco, Mindy soon got the hang of greeting shopkeepers and pretty soon they were munching a hearty breakfast at a picnic table by the seaside.

    "This is pretty good." Mindy marveled, chowing down on soft, rich bread and one of six different kinds of cheese they''d bought at the corner shop down the street. "This place is beautiful."

    "Isn''t it? Aren''t you glad you came?" Remian barked a laugh.

    "I am." Mindy agreed. "Actually, I''m amazed we were able to leave. I thought it was a going to be another Beast Wave day."

    "It should have been." Remian paused. "Do you think Tim was right?"

    "About what?"

    "About the Beast Waves being stopped for good. Now that the Underground King has been captured."

    Mindy shifed. "Well, it stopped this week, at least. I''m grateful for that, and happy to be here. I''m not sure if it''s really gone for good, or just delayed a few days or something."

    "Here''s to hoping he''s right." Remian tapped his bread and cheese to her as if they''d been holding wineglasses, and they went on munching breakfast by the seaside.

 165 Visit to Itarim

    They made a stop at Germat, selling off their cargo before turning around and heading back south.

    "I can''t believe the prices of tools and machinery has gone so high." Mindy scowled. That was on their shopping list but the prices of those goods in both La Vive and Germat had skyrocketed.

    "Maybe we can pick up something at Itarim." Remian suggested. "We have passengers waiting there anyway."

    Yup, despite their best efforts, their little vacation had turned into another supply and passenger run. Mindy just couldn''t resist. Still, Remian was intent on bringing her to see more of the countries she so casually visited, something more than just the airport.

    In contrast to Germat''s strict rules, the market in Itarim was a chaotic, almost confused affair. There were a good number of empty stalls. People here seemed to be in a hurry to leave.

    "Why all the fuss?" Mindy asked.

    "Apparently, that new vein of mana crystals isn''t that far from here. It''s in the neutral zone, but this place is one of the closest settlements. If anyone starts shooting, things could get very rough here very quickly." Remian explained.

    "But this is the Iron Legion headquarters! Surely there''s enough respect for them to spare this market, at least?"

    "Maybe. Or maybe that''s why it''s even more likely to be a major conflict zone."

    More to the point, their passenges weren''t ''trainees'' headed for the Frontier this time.

    "All our recruits are staying here, for now." Tiberius, First Centurion of the Southern Legion''s 12th Cohort, rubbed his forehead. This was Markus'' commanding officer. "The passengers waiting for you are basically refugees, civilians trying to get as far away from the oncoming war as possible."

    "Well, we are pretty far, but it''s not much safer out there on the Frontier." Remian mentioned.

    "Actually, it is. At least there the worst they need to worry about are big, angry animals. As long as they stay inside Kara-Goth, they''re basically in an impregnable stronghold. Out here, they have to worry about magic cannons. A single stray shot could wipe out their house and entire family at any given time."

    Looking at the sheer size of the magic cannons the Iron Legion were using in the practice field, Remian could easily see a stray shot taking out a whole house. How many of those cannons were going to be out there in a battle? A dozen? A hundred? How many shots would be fired? If even 1% of those went awry¡­

    Tiberius was rubbing his forehead again. He looked like he was having a very, very bad day.

    "Anything we can do to help, First Centurion? Markus and the Iron Legion have done so much for us, the least we can do is provide some logistic support while we''re here." Mindy offered hesitantly.

    They couldn''t offer much. They''d brought the Red Fang, not the Sky Galleon, which was still busy ''providing logistic support'' to the rapidly expanding farming district. But Mindy felt they owed the Iron Legion something.

    "Actually you could help. There''s roughly a hundred cannons that you could help us move." Tiberius brightened. "And some hundreds of tons of supplies. Our road caravans have been slowed due to chaotic traffic all across the country. If you could pick them up right off the congested roads and get them to where they need to go, we''d all breathe a lot easier."

    Goodness that was a lot more than they''d bargained for. Mindy offered an inch and Tiberius instantly asked for a mile.

    "That sounds like a job for a bigger airship." Mindy hastily retreated. "Tell you what. I''ll bring this lot of passengers back to Kara-Goth first, and then come back with a Sky Galleon. That could move a lot more stuff at a time."

    "That would be great, thanks."

    ***

    They called Talia and the Sky Galleon in on it and tiptoed out of Itarim.

    "Do we really need to see all these places now?" Mindy asked. "I feel bad for dumping all the work on them. I could¡­"

    "Yes, now." Remian said flatly. "I need you to see Ecclesia, and it''s quite a distance away. Even the Red Fang might take a couple of days."

    "Why? Why is it so important to see all these before any wars begin?"

    "Because I need you to see and learn and understand."

    "That''s all?"

    "That''s the most important thing."

    "I would have thought the most important thing was to raise your own strength, improve your magic until you''re well-nigh unstoppable. You know, Song Chen offered to teach you martial cultivation? He says it can really improve your health and longevity. You don''t need to scramble to leave a legacy behind so urgently. You can live."

    "Living is great, but improving magic won''t actually help us all that much. Mana crystals are already a scarcity, and from what I understand, martial cultivation treasures are almost extinct."

    "What are those?"

    "Herbs, generally. Other sorts of natural treasures that aid in martial cultivation." Remian shook his head. "The thing about the Dragon Empire people is that they tend to be selfish. They only care about their own strength and cultivation. This leads to high consumption rates without a single thought as to leaving anything for others, or planting more herbs for future generations."

    "But surely the world is a big enough place that these things can naturally recover over time¡­"

    "Every generation does the same thing." Remian pointed out. "Also, they kill each other a lot. Apparently to kill someone and take his stuff is the easiest and quickest way to get rich. Competition is fierce; whoever is strongest gets to bully everyone else and nobody would dare to say a word otherwise. Therefore, strength is of paramount importance and getting strong is the only way you and your family could live safely. You can imagine how much waste that creates."

    "Waste?"

    "Think about it. Millions of guys cultivating martial arts, consuming all these herbs and natural treasures, which get rarer and rarer, paying any price, risking any disaster, in order to grow stronger. Very often, they fight and kill each other, sometimes for each other''s treasures, sometimes as revenge for something someone in each other''s clans did some time ago. Not only are all those herbs and natural treasures used up forever, many of the people who used them outright die violent deaths. Everything they consume is therefore wasted."

    "But surely they can plant herb gardens¡­"

    "Think about it. Consider, for example, perhaps a million thousand year-old ginsengs consumed in a generation. Twenty years later, the next generation scours the world for more. In a hundred years, herbs that take a thousand years to grow are completely wiped out. Song Chen speaks fondly of the old days when masters of martial cultivation roamed the land freely, each stronger than the last. Compared to the masters of old, martial artists today just don''t have the kind of resources to grow that strong any more. His words, not mine."

    "Speaking of Song Chen, he''s amazingly strong. I''ve never seen anyone who dared to bully him."

    "Did you know how I got Song Chen in my service and risk his life? I''m paying his debts. That''s thousands of lir every month to keep the loan sharks off him, because he borrowed more than he could repay, still isn''t as strong as he wants to be, and had to flee several loan sharks and a half dozen powerful enemies in his homeland. Those loan sharks actually came looking for him, and I helped him out."

    Mindy fell silent. "So¡­ you don''t want to practice martial arts?"

    "I can give it a shot, but the point is, it''s important to think about the future. Not just for ourselves, but for the generations to come." Remian said. "Every country heavily dependent on mana crystals is currently learning that the hard way."

 166 Ecclesia 1

    One fine weekday morning, Remian and Mindy slipped into an open lecture in one of Ecclesia''s Forums on the topic of the Sixteen Elements.

    In the lecture hall, seated at multi-levels of desk-and-chair sets, roughly two hundred fresh or sleepy students dropped in to listen to a robed graying mage tap a chart with a walking stick.

    "The sixteen elements can generally be categorized in four groups of four." The man was saying. "The easiest and most basic of the elements are these; earth, fire, air and water¡­"

    Mindy, after a long flight from Itarim, almost nodded off to sleep at that very first sentence. This stuff was so basic, she had to wonder why Remian dragged her here all the way from Itarim.

    "Now, these four basic elements can be combined to form what we call the four composite elements. For example, a popular combination is water and air to form ice. Another popular combination is fire and air for lightning. Less popular is the magma combination, which also works for explosive powders, the combination of earth and fire. Least popular of all, but in my opinion the most useful, is the combination of earth and water, which miraculously, results in what we call the wood element."

    Mindy snapped bolt upright. "Wait. What?!"

    "Now, sometimes a student asks, what about fire and water? Or air and earth? Could those, maybe, somehow, be merged and combined into a whole new element also? Well, sadly, I have yet to see such an actual effect. The closest application I''ve ever seen to air and earth combining together is Professor Lopez''s Sandstorm magic, but in that application, the elements, while united and intermixed, do not actually combine or merge into anything other than what they are. Similarly, the steam baths of the Rocher Family Spa might also be said to be a combination of fire and water magic, but again, it is more of fire affecting water; while both magics are certainly applied and operational, the elements do not combine."

    Remian watched as Mindy''s sleepiness vanished and she started to pay rapt attention. On the other hand, on the other side of him, Death yawned. "You know he''s totally wrong, right?"

    "Hmm?" Remian spared Death a glance.

    "All those theories about elements. Utter nonsense." Death snorted.

    But it seemed to make perfect sense to the hundreds of students gathered around the forum.

    "Now, above the basic and composite elements are what we call the Higher Elements. We call them that, because for many mages, they are beyond reach for most of their lives. They are difficult to evoke and often require greater expenditure of energy to manipulate. Light and sound, kinesis, which is the force of movement, and gravity, also called magnetism. These four are generally more difficult to use, unless you have a special bloodline or talent for it."

    "Is it really that hard?" Remian asked, in a low voice.

    "It is!" Mindy flat out replied.

    "Only if you think of it in certain ways." Death snorted. "Which is exactly the ways they have been teaching all this time."

    "And then there are the Sacred Elements." The lecturer went on. "Which are the hardest to reach and affect. These are; space, time, life, and anti-magic. Of these, the easiest for us to affect is Life Magic, because we ourselves are living beings. The other three, however, are extremely difficult even in the best of circumstances."

    "Is it, really?" Remian wondered again.

    "It totally is!" Mindy fumed. "Only YOU find it easy!"

    Death just snorted and shook his head wordlessly.

    Someone raised a hand.

    "Yes? You have a question?" the lecturer turned to him.

    "What about mana? Where does magic power come from?" the student asked.

    "Why, from living things, of course." The lecturer said. "Every living being has mana."

    "But what about mana crystals?"

    "They''re from living beings too. Crystallized magical energy forms over thousands of years from the blood and corpses of magical creatures who died and crystallized long, long ago."

    "What beings are those, and how long, exactly?"

    "We don''t know." The lecturer said frankly. "Whatever they were, we don''t see them around any more. Most of the animals we see today turn to stone or liquid after they die."

    Death snorted again. "He''s lying."

    "What¡­?" Remian stared.

    "He knows exactly where and how to make new ones today. He''s just not going to tell them."

    "Why¡­?"

    "It''s one of Ecclesia''s most highly guarded secrets."

    "So the mana crystal shortage¡­?"

    "Is definitely happening and revealing the secret isn''t going to help much."

    "Sir, there are rumors of a way to manufacture mana crystals." The student objected. "The Ivory Tower is trying to create artificial crystals and they say they''re near a breakthrough."

    "You mean those storage crystals they''re cooking up? That''s different. That''s just stuffing your own mana into a crystal to save for later. Those crystals are weak, and they lose their charge over time. The amount you put in is less than the amount you''ll be able to take out, they won''t last more than a week after you fill them up, and they can only store so much power."

    "But with time and research, the design can improve¡­"

    "Either way, in the long run, it''s going to be someone''s energy, yours or someone else''s. You may as well ask others to help you directly. The only advantage it has is convenience, and its limitations put it far, far short of the value of real mana crystals."

    "Then what can be done about the mana shortage?" the student wanted to know.

    The lecturer sighed. "Nothing. I''m afraid these are dark days ahead for magic everywhere. I''m sorry, but this is the end of magic''s golden age. Much like the martial age before us, sheer exhaustion of natural resources has taken its toll and we must close the book on the good old days."

    "No¡­" the students around groaned. "Surely there''s some way, somewhere¡­"

    "There is a new vein of mana crystals discovered in the neutral zone, recently. Experts estimate roughly five billion yellow crystals worth. That''s about five years'' worth of Ecclesia''s consumption. Fifty years, for Itarim''s. Out of sixty prospected sites in the past year, that was the only new lode that was found."

    "But¡­ but aren''t we sitting on top of a mana vein right now? That''s why Ecclesia was founded here, right? That''s why the church moved its headquarters from Itarim to come here!"

    "The vein''s already been completely dug up. There''s a lot of ambient energy left resonating in the land, but that''s about all the advantage we''re getting from it today."

    "And we''ve really looked everywhere in the world? Everywhere?"

    "Not everywhere." The lecturer cleared his throat. "The deep seas, for instance, likely has some lodes, but reaching that deep is difficult even for the most powerful magi. The frozen icelands in the north and far south might have something. There could be some in unexplored caverns in some mountain somewhere. But basically, all the easily accessible mana crystals on or near the surface world has been claimed, and likely about to be fought over. This includes the stockpiles kept by every country and many private organizations. There''s no telling how much mana has been stashed away by others."

    Remian suddenly felt an odd sort of desperate killing intent rising on all sides. As a Psionic, he found it so tangible, he could almost taste it.

    "Can we really do that? I mean¡­ can we win?" another student asked.

    "Who do you think we are?" the lecturer snorted. "We are Ecclesia! We have the greatest number of powerful magicians in the world! Who could stand before our combined arcane might?"

    "That''s right! Magic is ours!" one heated student shouted.

    "It''s just a question of picking our fights, cutting our losses, reaping the greatest benefits for the lowest cost." The lecturer went on. "War is most certainly about to break out over mana and we will simply have to make the most of it."

 167 Ecclesia 2

    "That''s¡­ not going to solve the fundamental problem." Mindy protested suddenly, cutting through the murmurs of agreement and affirmation from other students.

    "Then what would?" the lecturer asked pointedly.

    "Uh¡­ I don''t know¡­" Mindy hesitated. "Maybe we should try searching those hard-to-reach places, like the deep seas or the frozen north. Maybe there''s a way to make mana crystals that we simply haven''t found. Maybe we can find ways to use less mana, so that just our natural mana is enough and we don''t need crystals."

    The lecturer nodded. "Certainly. But those ideas will take time, and we seem to be oddly short of time all of a sudden."

    "Why is it sudden? How was it that nobody realized we had a mana shortage earlier?" Mindy had to question.

    "We only got the results of the prospecting cycle recently. We all expected better findings, thinking at least half of the potential sites should have rich deposits. We never thought there would be only one."

    Remian frowned. For some reason, he found that to be highly suspicious. So many prospects and so many failures all at once¡­? How was that even possible?

    "What about the Source of Magic?" someone asked from another side.

    There was a sudden, total silence.

    "What is that?" Mindy asked, softly.

    Still, in the quiet of the hall, they could still hear her.

    "There''s a legend." The lecturer said. "That if we could find the Source of Magic and open it, magic would once more flow freely into this world, and the very air would be filled with mana."

    Mindy perked up. "Well, where is it?"

    "That''s the thing. We don''t know." The lecturer sighed. "We don''t even know WHAT it is."

    Death chuckled. "He really doesn''t."

    "Does anyone know?" Remian asked out loud.

    The lecturer shook his head. The students were silent. Even Death simply smiled mysteriously and would not say anything.

    "Surely, someone has to know something!" Mindy protested.

    "Maybe the Dragons would know." The lecturer sighed. "And by Dragons, I meant the Great Dragons, not your garden-variety wyvern."

    Great Dragons¡­ like Khar-al''dras, and Mal''thor-dras, and Kor''ag-dras and the likes. The kinds of dragons that people swore upon.

    "Anybody want to wake Khar''al-dras up again and ask him?" Mindy gulped.

    "We can do that?" a student to the other side asked.

    "Don''t." Remian advised. "The last time someone woke Khar''al-dras, he left Fal''herim in ruins."

    "Isn''t Fal''herim his own city? The people there worship him in a temple and everything?"

    "That''s the one."

    "What about the other Great Dragons? Someone already awake?" another student took up the discussion. "Like the Dragon Emperor? According to legend, he''s an actual Great Dragon who never sleeps and knows everything."

    "That''s just Draconian hype." The lecturer snorted. "Not even a Great Dragon knows EVERY thing! I mean, if their Dragon Emperor really knew what and where the Source of Magic was, don''t you think he''d have gone and taken it already? I''m not even sure if he IS a Great Dragon, or just some theatrical Draconian putting on airs!"

    "Maybe Sel''ea-dras? Sailor say she appears with every storm."

    "YOU wanna face the Mother of Storms?! I''d rather take my chances waking Khar''al-dras again!"

    "Are there only five? Just how many Great Dragons are there?" Mindy posed the question.

    "Six that we know of for sure. Eight according to legends. Several mythical writings suggest there might actually be nine. But definitely at least six still alive today." The lecturer supplied. "Khar''al-dras of the sands, Kor''ag-dras of the grass, Mal''thor-dras of the stones, Zor''khan-dras of thunder, Sel''ea-dras of the waves, and Ti''ela-dras of the tides."

    "Ti''ela-dras? Might we be able to reach that one?" someone else asked.

    The lecturer shook his head. "Ti''ela-dras and Sel''ea-dras are known to the Sea People as the Father of the Deep and the Mother of Storms. They fear Sel''ea whenever they face a storm¡­ but they fear Ti''ela even when the weather is calm. That''s why the Sea People are afraid to venture out into the vast deep ocean. Given a choice, they''d rather stay around coastal seas and the islands and risk Sel''ea-dras than intrude upon the high seas and risk Ti''lea-dras."

    "Then¡­ what about Zor''khan-dras of Thunder?"

    "You wanna try flying into a thunderstorm on an airship to try to meet him?"

    Again, a muted, depressed silence.

    "What about the legendary ones? The ones we''re not sure even exist, or still live today? Who are they and where might they be found?"

    "There''s Nil''rak-dras of the night. Supposedly, he''s on the moon. The romantic tales indicate he''s on the dark side of the moon, to boot. Anyone ever been to the moon before?"

    Nobody even laughed.

    "And the eighth?" someone still held out hope.

    "Ra''oul-dras of the grave. Supposedly, he''s a ghost dragon who haunts the afterlife. I''m not sure you can call that ''alive'', if he even really exists. If you do manage to die and come back to life after seeing him, do let me know."

    "Well, what about lesser dragons?" Mindy suddenly asked. "Not the Great Dragons. Just regular Elder Dragons, like the kind around Dragon Lake and Wyvern Peak."

    "The what, where?" many students were puzzled. "Where are those places?"

    "They''re deep in the Wildlands." The lecturer supplied, shaking his head. "That''s suicide. They''d sooner burn your airship to a crisp than tolerate your intrusion on their lands. These are the Wildlands we''re talking about."

    Mindy snorted. "I''ll bet you my entire airship that I could make it there and back alive."

    "You?" a tall student by one side snorted. "Have you even seen a dragon?!"

    "Seen one? I''ve spoken with one! My friend even rode on his back!" Mindy declared.

    Remian grimaced. "Mindy, I''m not entirely sure we should be saying such things in public."

    "But¡­ but this is important!" Mindy pointed out. "Whole countries are going to war and tons of people are going to die everywhere! We have to tell them! We have friends who can talk to the dragons!"

    "I''m not sure we can call them friends, exactly. Last time we met, the guy basically wiped out our whole town."

    "But Darian isn''t like that! He''s your brother! You can talk to him, and HE can ask them!" Mindy pushed.

    By now murmurs were rising up all over the hall. The lecturer stared, eyes wide. "Is it true? You have a brother who can talk to dragons?"

    Remian shook his head. "Not exactly. He''s made friends with one dragon, but it''s just a young one, and I can''t say the same about any of the other dragons¡­"

    The murmurs rose up to a boiling point. Several people were already on their feet.

    "Just who are you people?" the lecturer asked.

    "Us? Oh, we''re just travelers¡­" Remian tried.

    "He is Remian Vin, king of the Wildlands!" Mindy proclaimed.

    Remian facepalmed. "No, I''m not, I just own some mines there¡­"

    "A dozen clans and seven mining towns live by your rules! Deny that!" Mindy flared up.

    Remian sighed. "They''re employees."

    "You people¡­ you''re from Kara-Goth?" the lecturer stared. "The last hold-out colony in the Wildlands?"

    "We have apartments there, yes. But most of the time I live on my airship." Mindy said modestly.

    "My lady, would you be so kind as to invite me there?" the lecturer said, suddenly. "I would see this friend and this dragon for myself, if you would have me."

    "And I!" someone else shouted.

    "I wanna go too! I wanna see the dragon!" a more excitable girl jumped up.

    "Me too!"

    "Wait for me!"

    Suddenly people were on their feet, raising hands and clamoring to go visit Kara-Goth and see the dragon.

    "Okay, okay!" Mindy grinned. "Come to the airport at sunset tomorrow. We''ll be boarding then."

 168 Ecclesia 3

    Getting to the Wildlands on your own was a daunting prospect for the average mage student in Ecclesia. There were no flights listed as ''Bound for the Wildlands'', no advertisements, no tourism packages, no contact forms or any such means. The best hint anyone had of getting there was a world map, in which case, they''d simply fly far, far to the south west, pass Itarim and the Midlands Sea, then over the Endless Desert and Fal''Herim. Even if they did so, after finally crossing the Desert Edge, they''d simply have no idea where to go.

    But having a classmate who came from Kara-Goth made the Wildlands a whole lot more accessible. Suddenly, reaching it was as simple as ''joining my classmate on board her airship'', or, in more practical terms, ''be ready to board at the airport by sunset.''

    Was this for real? Could it be a hoax?

    With the lecturer coming too, neither of those seemed likely. Even if it was some sort of elaborate ruse, they surely wouldn''t dare play tricks on a well-known lecturer from Ecclesia''s College of Magi.

    And if they did, well, the ensuing fireworks would be even more fun to watch.

    Unknown to his trusting students, the lecturer himself was having second thoughts about the whole thing. When he spoke out about going to the Wildlands, he had actually expected Mindy to back down and retreat hastily, thereby proving her fraudulent claims about being able to communicate with the dragons, or being affiliated with the Wildlands at all. He hadn''t actually expected her claims to be true.

    But now, having already packed his bags as an honorable gentleman who keeps his word, and having confirmation from the airport that there was, in fact, a military-grade airship named the Red Fang, and that a Professor Alexei Mikhailov (himself) was authorized to board that evening, it finally sank in to poor Professor Alexei that this trip to the Wildlands was, in fact, for real and that he''d really gotten himself in for it this time.

    "Oh, my God¡­ what do I do¡­?" Professor Alexei was tearing at his hair even as he packed his bags.

    As he made his final preparations, he called his good friend, Father Petrov, and told him, "I''m sorry, my friend, I will not be able to join the hunting trip this month."

    A fellow native of neighboring Medved Nation, Father Petrov was mildly surprised. Their hunting trip was something neither of them would miss unless something important came up. "Why? I thought your regular classes did not resume until next month."

    "Apparently, I am about to go hunting for the Source of Magic." The lecturer sighed. "It''s like this¡­"

    Father Petrov listened to the tale with increasing amusement, then burst out laughing at the end. "You have certainly gotten yourself into it this time! But perhaps¡­ no, I couldn''t¡­ could I?"

    "Petrov¡­?"

    "I was just wondering if maybe¡­ perhaps¡­ I could join you on this hunt instead." Father Petrov mused. "The church also has writings about the Source of Magic, but in many cases it is described as an evil thing, on occasion referred to as the Source of Wrath."

    "Might it be a weapon?" Alexei wondered.

    "It sounds like it could certainly be used as such. Yet from what I''ve read, it seems that it might not be entirely material."

    "Meaning it is a form of energy, perhaps? Like lightning?" Petrov considered. "You know, I would be quite honored to ask for an additional invite on your behalf. An expert from the church would not go amiss on such a hunt, I think."

    "Hardly an expert, but I do have a few books... I could bring them, and be all packed and ready in two hours, maybe three."

    "Sundown will do, my friend. Sundown will do."

    ***

    "Hunt for the Source of Magic?"

    "Yes, your holiness. As such, I must as for leave indefinite!"

    "A solution such as this, which may save so many lives in war, and indeed our way of life and magic, is of paramount importance, Father Petrov. No leave is required; consider it your utmost duty! In fact, I shall open our relinquary for you; go choose a Saint-level artifact to safeguard your cause and well-being. Also, perhaps you could bring an escort, or men to aid you¡­"

    "Thank you, Bishop, but I dare not impose on my host too heavily. A single artifact will do."

    "You are too modest, Petrov. I will assign two Temple Knights to protect you. Perhaps Sir Ivan and his squire¡­?"

    "It would be my honor to travel with Sir Ivan."

    ***

    Sir Ivan didn''t really mind the sudden duties. His wife, however, was not so indifferent.

    "His holiness wishes WHAT?!"

    "Nothing less than my job. I must go, my dear. Duty calls me to the Wildlands to protect Father Petrov."

    "But¡­ it is the Wildlands! Surely I must accompany my husband!"

    "No, no, there is no need. I will be back before you know it. Simply pray for me, and pack me some vareniki for the road, and that will do."

    "You would rather bring vodka than vareniki for the road, don''t think I don''t know! Also, the last time you said you would be back before I knew it, I waited for you for six months! No more! This time, I am coming with you."

    "But, dear¡­"

    "No buts! There is a town in the Wildlands, no? This¡­ Kara-Goth you speak of? It is safe there, is it not?"

    "Nowhere is safe in the Wildlands, dear, but it is a fortified stronghold, yes."

    "Safe enough! I will go with you! No arguments!"

    ***

    "Margerita! I did not expect to see you here! Why the hurry?"

    "I must gather lighter clothing for my Ivan and I. We are going south, far to the south and I fear the climate there would not agree with such heavy vestments as ours."

    "Why, it is the same for my husband! Would you believe he plans to go to the Wildlands?!"

    "That''s it! That''s exactly it! We, too¡­"

    "You also? Wives are permitted to join our husbands on this trip?! But is it not an expedition of the College of Magi?"

    "Who cares what it is? My Ivan is going, and I''ll not let him leave me for months without word again!"

    "Months¡­?! Goodness, I can''t have that! I must pack too!"

    As they went on, the shopkeeper listened and thought to himself.

    "A great expedition into the Wildlands, eh? My brother''s business just went bankrupt. Perhaps this was the opportunity to start afresh that he was looking for¡­"

    ***

    At the home of the woman who met Ivan''s wife at the shop¡­

    "Wait. Now MOM''s going along with dad? What about us?"

    "Mom said to pack up, because we''re going too!"

    ***

    That sunset, with half her hold full of goods from the independent state of Ecclesia and the neighboring giant Nation of Medved, Mindy went looking for her handful of classmates and the lecturer who signed on for the Hunt for the Source of Magic.

    Instead, she found five families, three couples, two merchants, a temple knight and his squire, the professor and a priest of the church of light.

    "How did this happen?!" Mindy asked, bewildered.

    Remian shook is head. "Just bring them. Kara-Goth is in short supply of higher education personnel. A whole bunch of magic college students and their families like this could do us a lot of good."

    "Can we really take these many on board?" Mindy scratched her head.

    "It''ll be a bit of a squeeze and we may as well drop our pick-up detour to Itarim on the way back. Let''s just head straight for home." Remian suggested.

    "Fine." Mindy threw up her hands, and let the passengers on board.

 169 Word of War

    Days since last Beast Tide: 43. Current Kill Count: 1734 (85 since yesterday).

    15 days since last Beast Wave.

    The same day that Mindy and Co. leave Ecclesia at sundown.

    ***

    "Deepsilver! I challenge you!" Wulfgar roared toward the waters of the Black Lake.

    At the time, Deepsilver was on the edge of the lake, head above the surface, watching with some interest as Jim, George and a crew of others set explosives across Rocky Ford with some help from Charlie and his airship.

    "Do you think this will really work?" Jim asked George dubiously.

    "The theory is sound. Destroy the ford and there is simply no way across the river for the average Tier 3 or 4 Wild. This could really cut down the threats we face if and when we have to face the next Beast Tide."

    "I thought you said they''d stopped already?" Jim mentioned.

    "The Beast Waves have stopped, yes. We expected one yesterday and just like last week, they didn''t show. I take it as a good sign. But Beast Tides are an entirely different matter. There''s a countdown ongoing, and eventually, we''ll have to face them again. At that time, we can blow the Ford before they arrive, or even when they''re halfway crossing through it. Either way, it could take some pressure off us."

    "But you''re not expecting this to stop the Tide entirely, are you?"

    "Not really, no. I think they''ll either go around it, or find a way to cross the river regardless." George admitted. "But we might at least be able to break their momentum, maybe take smaller bites rather than handling them all at once. If nothing else, we could perhaps buy time for an evacuation."

    "You really don''t sound confident." Jim remarked. "What if by then we''re prepared enough and strong enough to take them all out without heavy losses?"

    George barked a laugh. "That would be awesome."

    Meanwhile, Wulfgar was still roaring at the Lord of the Black Depths Lake. "Deepsilver! Fight me!"

    Deepsilver glanced at him once, dismissively, and¡­

    ZAP!!!

    "Emergency! Phoebe! Help!!" someone started yelling for medical aid on Wulfgar''s behalf.

    ***

    At that time, Tim was arriving back at Fal''herim with a few new subordinates in tow.

    At that time, Darian was bemoaning the lack of progress on his now foot-long Silhouette. In order to relieve some of his stress, Doom called for a day off, and the three of them, Doom, Darian and Vigil, spent many hours lying on beach chairs on their backs, with their tummies up, all four paws in the air¡­ Har''es-dras attempted the same thing, but there was no beach chair large enough for him, and for some reason, the end result just didn''t feel the same.

    At that time, various Lords and Kings of the Wilds were communicating with each other, casting dark glances at the growing population and increasing death counts of Shadowflash Fief. One of the exceptions to this dark murmurers was the Eagle Lord. "Such muttering¡­ is beneath me!"

    Another exception was the Golden Lion Lord. "Whatever. Let me sleep."

    Of the voices raised in grim expectation, the darkest were that of the Stag Lord, who had lost many of his kin to dinner plates, and the Pegasus Lord Brothers, who eyed the recent capture and employment of their kin with great suspicion.

    At that time, a large exodus of wolfcats occurred as the small majority of the wolfcat clans left Kara-Goth forever. Following Carrie''s lead, they settled at the new vertical settlement at Three Pines Peak and the Black Ruins Camp there. This made the new horse-type Wilds working at the farm a lot more assured. By the handful, friends and friends of friends of said horse-type employees, also horse-types themselves, began to join up, causing the nearby Pegasus Lords to be increasingly suspicious of What Was Going On Around There.

    That was the time when the first shots were fired. Mindy was still boarding passengers at Ecclesia when the war for mana began almost without anyone noticing.

    But as the sun set on that dark Starday, at some forgotten edge of the neutral zone, a lord of the Nine Mountains killed a prince of Auria, and throwing aside all semblance of diplomacy and cordiality, forces from both nations immediately called upon their allies and drew steel. The tinder was already laid; a mere spark, any spark, was enough to set it off. That very evening, minor clashes between unaffiliated groups from six different nations drew blood and a handful of deaths.

    The next morning, Auria declared war upon the Nine Mountains. Mendev stepped in and demanded Auria back off, but Germat stood with Auria and demanded that Mendev back off. La Vive stood with Mendev and more and more world powers began to chip in.

    At that point, First Centurion Tiberius sent Talia and the Sky Galleon ''Free Wings'' home. Unaffiliated parties began to leave the neutral zone and the surrounding possible conflict areas en masse.

    ***

    Days since last Beast Tide: 44. Current Kill Count: 1823 (89 since yesterday).

    16 days since last Beast Wave. Mindy ¨C one day out from Ecclesia.

    ***

    The next day, as Talia was arriving at Fal''herim, and Mindy was nearing Ceres, passing by to the south of Itarim, Aurian raiders wiped out a Nine Mountains supply convoy attempting to reach their ''embassy'' fort in the Neutral Zone. In response, a contingent of Mendev riflemen pursued the raiders all the way back to the Aurian ''embassy'' fort and laid siege.

    "Any word about what''s going on at the Neutral Zone?" Talia asked at Fal''herim as she was doing a little bit of profitable trading on the side while on the way back.

    "War. Word is, it''s war." They told her.

    She left Fal''herim and headed for Kara-Goth six hours ahead of Mindy''s approach to Fal''herim.

    ***

    Days since last Beast Tide: 45. Current Kill Count: 1918 (95 since yesterday).

    17 days since last Beast Wave. Two days out from Ecclesia.

    ***

    Having absolutely no clue that the war had already broken out in the Neutral Zone, Mindy and her classmates pulled in to Fal''herim in a sightseeing mood.

    "So this is the Desert City!" Professor Alexei exclaimed as they docked. "It all seems so¡­ new¡­?"

    "Like I said. The last time Khar''al-dras woke up, he left this city in ruins. Most of it IS new." Remian pointed out.

    "Incidentally, where IS Khar''al-dras right now, do you know?" Alexei asked.

    "Somewhere in that direction." Remian pointed toward the deep desert. "I''d rather not get too close, if you don''t mind."

    "Right, right¡­ wrong dragon." Alexei nodded sagely.

    As they got off at the docks to do a little shopping and maybe grab a bite of local cuisine for breakfast, a familiar face suddenly popped up almost out of nowhere. "Hey, Mindy. Remian."

    "Tim!" Mindy brightened, running over to greet him with a quick hug. "Where have you been? What have you been doing?"

    "Me? I''ve been taking over Fal''herim." Tim shrugged.

    "I thought that''s what I was doing." Remian mused. "Have you seen the new Industrial District?"

    "Oh, yes. It''s a bit of a mess, but with Aren''s help, Izhan is steadily getting his act together. I can''t say the same for Izak."

    "Izak? What''s wrong with Izak?"

    "He keeps trying too hard, thinking up and attempting to implement all sorts of new ideas, and I think he''s just trying to help, but it''s driving Aren crazy." Tim sighed.

    "Trying too hard? At least he''s making an effort." Mindy mused.

    "Well, he''s making an effort at the wrong time. Things haven''t even settled down around here, and war''s already breaking out in the north, and getting the kinds of resources and equipment he needs for his new ideas just¡­"

    "Wait. War''s breaking out? Already?" Mindy gaped. "But¡­ but I thought we still had time! Another year, at least!"

    "Time for what?" Tim asked.

    "To find the Source of Magic!" Mindy told Tim in a conspirational whisper.

    Tim half-smiled, half-grimaced. "Right. Good luck with that."

    Mindy punched him in the shoulder. "I''m serious! See this guy here? This is Professor Alexei from the Ecclesia College of Magi. That''s his friend, Father Petrov, from the Church of Light, with two Temple Knights in escort."

    "Really?" Tim at least put on an impressed look. "And these others?"

    "Classmates of mine from Ecclesia."

    "You studied in Ecclesia?"

    "A few days ago, yes."

    Tim was about to say something else, but suddenly, he froze, then said, "Excuse me a bit. I''ll be back."

    Then he dashed off and disappeared around the corner.

    "What was that all about?" Mindy asked.

    Twenty seconds later, Asda showed up with ten armed guards in escort.

    "You guys! We need to talk!"

 170 At a corner coffee house

    "Sure. Let''s find a place to grab a bite around here." Mindy glanced about.

    "Actually, let''s not do it here. Why not take a look at the new industrial district while we''re at it? There were a few eateries starting out, last time I was here." Remian mentioned.

    "Uh¡­ if that''s the case, how about we take a little detour, check out a few popular places before stopping in at the district? You know, just for comparison''s sake?" Tim suggested smoothly.

    Too smoothly. Mindy peered at him sideways. "Tim? What is it you want us to see?"

    "Nothing! I''m not asking you to see anything!"

    "Then¡­" Mindy paused. "What DON''T you want us to see?"

    Tim sighed. "It''s just¡­ there''s an ugly sight around the district entrance nearest to here."

    "What ugly sight?" Mindy immediately shot off to look for it.

    Tim exchanged helpless glances with Remian and shook his head. "I did NOT want her to see it."

    "See what?" Remian asked.

    "I guess you''ll see for yourself, soon enough."

    ***

    They really did. They couldn''t miss it. Hanging upside down from an archway over the district main entrance was a naked man, very battered, very bruised, and still bleeding.

    "AIEEEE!!!!" Asda shrieked and took off running. She disappeared around the corner in ten seconds flat, her voice sharply echoing throughout the streets for twenty more.

    "This man¡­ what happened to him?" Mindy asked, dazed. "What happened to his jaw?"

    "Is that¡­ a steel jaw?" Remian blinked. "Tim, is that the guy they call Steeljaw Sarlash?!"

    "Yes, that''s him." Tim grimaced. "Please don''t interfere."

    Remian eyed him sideways. "You did this?"

    "It''s¡­ complicated." Tim grimaced.

    "Who is he? What''s going on?" Mindy asked.

    "He''s the one who forcefully bought out the Burning Steel before." Remian mentioned. "Doesn''t he work for the Underground King?"

    "He used to." Tim shrugged.

    Remian glanced about. "Tim, you have to come with us. If the Underground King comes after you, at least he''ll have a harder time reaching you in Kara-Goth."

    "No, he won''t, and no, he won''t." Tim said softly. "He won''t be reaching anyone or anywhere any more."

    Mindy perked up. "What did you do to him?"

    "Um¡­ that is¡­ also complicated." Tim scratched his head. "But don''t worry. I handled it."

    Remian hesitated. Then, "Tim, are you in any sort of danger, now?"

    "Me? I''m not the one in danger." Tim assured him. "Don''t worry about me."

    "That only makes me more worried." Mindy grumbled. Then, she took a step directly towards Steeljaw Sarlash.

    "Mindy¡­? What are you doing?!" Tim gasped.

    "I''m just going to add a little decoration to the ugly sight¡­" Mindy said, taking out a marker pen.

    "No, no, please, don''t! Just¡­ leave him alone. Please." Tim requested. "In fact, I''d rather you didn''t go anywhere near him, or even let him see you."

    "Fine." Mindy scowled. "Let''s go around to the next entrance, then. Any idea where Asda went?"

    Remian and Tim both paused for a moment, then said at the same time, "Home."

    "What?" Mindy blinked.

    "She''s run home." Remian explained, glancing at Tim. "You''re getting good with Psionic scans."

    "I didn''t scan anything. I just asked the lynxmice." Tim explained. "They''re all keeping an eye on her."

    "Why?"

    "That is¡­ also complicated."

    In any case, Tim seemed to be doing fine with whatever it was he was up to. Remian didn''t ask any further and they went around looking for a place to eat.

    ***

    They settled for a corner coffee shop near the main smelter, and picked a rough sturdy table at the window, then ordered food.

    "This place is looking quite a bit better." Remian observed. "It''s tidier, and busier, and there''s a lot more people around now."

    "Some of them look a bit¡­ sneaky." Mindy frowned. "I think those two are beggars."

    "They are." Tim acknowledged.

    "And that boy over there¡­ I think he just stole something from the passer-by."

    "He did." Tim grimaced.

    "Is that crippled guy¡­ a beggar?"

    "Usually, yes." Tim answered.

    "Tim, are you sure you''re not in danger?" Mindy asked in a low voice.

    "Totally sure." Tim told her.

    "But those guys might be the Underground King''s people!"

    "Don''t worry about them. They just want attention." Tim shook his head.

    "I don''t know. I mean¡­ they might try to rob us, if nothing else." Mindy said warily.

    Tim snorted. "No, they won''t. I won''t let them."

    "Mindy, there are fifty lynxmice surrounding us right now." Remian advised her. "With roughly a hundred more in the area. If anything goes down, I dare say we''ll have the upper hand."

    "Oh." Mindy subsided.

    "So¡­ what do you think Asda wanted to see us for?" Remian asked, glancing about. "Do you think she''s going to find us?"

    "Let''s make sure she does." Tim glanced about idly. He waved to the waitress, and gave her a coin, then whispered some instructions. The waitress gave him a quick bow and a quick grin, then scurried off.

    Then, they ate and chatted while waiting for Asda to show up.

    ***

    "Your majesty! There''s a woman here who reports seeing a lynxmouse!" Asda''s secretary informed her. What was his name again? Asda wasn''t too sure, but he did his job well enough, and managed to keep most of the tedious chores from overwhelming her day by day.

    "Where?" Asda asked.

    "The woman? She''s waiting outside. She said the lynxmouse was sighted at her workplace, a coffee shop in that new industrial district."

    "Call out the guard!" Asda ordered. "We''re going to investigate!"

    Asda brought out her honor guard in force, fully armed and ready for the terrors of war. But of course, they didn''t find any lynxmice. They did, however, find Remian, Tim and Mindy.

    "You lot, keep an eye out. Raise the alarm as soon as you spot a single lynxmouse!" Asda ordered.

    "What about the woman?" her secretary asked.

    "Pay her if we spot any. Otherwise, she won''t get a single lir." Asda snapped.

    Just then, a furry head popped up from above them.

    "LYNXMOUSE!" Asda shrieked.

    The critter immediately dashed up to Remian''s table and hid behind his leg.

    "You brought it!" Asda pointed at Mindy.

    "Me?" Mindy gaped. "Why are you pointing at me?"

    Remian forestalled her. "Yes, this is one of mine. What''s the problem?"

    "Lynxmice are FORBIDDEN in Fal''herim!" Asda shrieked.

    "On what grounds!"

    "On the grounds of them FREAKING ME OUT!" Asda cried. "By order of the queen, no lynxmice are permitted in the city! Secretary, make a note! I want that written into LAW!"

    "Uh¡­ your majesty, creating a law that cannot be enforced is just¡­"

    "Have all the guards enforce it!"

    "But then they''ll be too busy to do anything else! Even if they tried, I''m not sure it can be done¡­"

    "Enough about that." Tim cleared his throat. "You wanted to talk to us about something? What is it?"

    "Oh. Right." Asda said, distractedly. "Your airships are ready. Pay up the rest of the money, and you can take them with you today."

 171 Searching for Magic 1

    There were six of them ready to go. They followed the same basic idea as the Foresight Gunboats, that is, to put as big a gun (a heavy mount currently outfitted with an XXL Ballista, actually, Asda''s shipyard didn''t have anyone who could build magic cannons) on a floating platform as they could manage. George also wanted them to be able to move around on their own, and respond quickly to situations, so they also had their own engines and power system. In order to fit all the equipment and crew on board, the airship''s basic size easily matched that of a Sky Tug.

    The end result was a squad of Patrol Boats that Asda priced at 600,000 lir in total. "This includes labor charge, tax, and a big discount since you guys have helped me out before."

    "A discount? Really?" Mindy eyed the less-than-stunning workmanship and shook her head. "Then why do I feel like they''re a bit overpriced?"

    "Hey, you ordered, I delivered. You want them or not?" Asda said.

    "We''ll take them." Remian cut in before Mindy could flare up.

    So he said, but it was Mindy who forked out the cash in the end.

    Then there was the issue of getting them back to Kara-Goth. They had to ask Aren for help.

    Aren put Izak on the first Patrol Boat out. "Now you have an airship with a big gun. Go find Talia and keep her safe!"

    "That''s not a gun. It''s just a ballista." Izak protested, but he took the airship, a whole bunch of his friends, and relieved Mindy''s overloaded airship of some cargo. Then Mindy piled on more cargo (since they had extra capacity on their hands) and they made for Kara-Goth.

    ***

    "You owe me 600,000 lir." Mindy told George as they delivered the Patrol Boats to Kara''s topside dock.

    "You can take it out of your next ore bill." George offered.

    "Deal."

    "The Wildlands!!" Father Petrov exclaimed as he set foot on the airship dock. "We''re really here!"

    "Amazing! What a place!" Professor Alexei said, looking around Kara.

    "Oh? We have visitors?" George blinked, seeing a whole lot of new faces.

    "Yes, we do!" Mindy jumped into action. "George, meet Professor Alexei Mikhailov, Sixth Circle Thaumaturge of the Ecclesia College of Magi."

    "What''s a Thaumaturge?"

    "Um¡­ a magician."

    "You could have just said that."

    "Right. Anyway." Mindy cleared her throat. "This is Father Petrov, a priest and scholar from the Church of Light. That''s Sir Ivan, his wife, and his squire; Sir Ivan is the Temple Knight charged with protecting Father Petrov."

    "Great! And the rest?"

    "Um¡­ I''m not exactly sure. Classmates of mine from Ecclesia, and their loved ones, mostly." Mindy said modestly. "I was a bit too busy piloting the airship to get to know everybody."

    "Aren''t they your classmates?"

    "They are. We attended the Ecclesia College of Magi together!" Mindy said, proudly.

    "How did you ever find the time to go to college?!" George blinked.

    "It was one public lecture in an open forum." Remian clarified.

    "And you brought thirty magi back?" George shook his head. "We should send you to Ecclesia more often."

    "You should." Remian agreed.

    "Hey! I need to make money, too, you know!" Mindy protested. "The amount of profit I could have made from Germat during the time it took to get there¡­"

    "That doesn''t seem likely." George cut in. "The war''s started out, and Germat''s pretty much closed its borders already. I don''t think you could have gotten in to trade if you tried."

    "They''ve closed their borders?" Mindy sank back. "That sounds¡­ bad."

    "It''s serious." George nodded.

    "Well, anyway, I won''t be going to Germat any time soon. First, we need to find the Source of Magic." Mindy told George about it.

    "Would Ha''res-dras really know about that sort of thing? I thought he was just a baby dragon." George pointed out.

    "Maybe he might not. But his dad or mom might know something, and he could ask them. Worse comes to worst, we could ask Doom." Mindy suggested. "In any case, I think everyone mostly just wants to see a dragon without getting themselves killed."

    "And what about the ore shipments to Fal''herim?" George asked. "And selling the smelted bars from there onwards?"

    "Talia can handle those with the Sky Galleon." Mindy shrugged. "We have a chance to save magic here. That means we could end the war before it gets too serious."

    "I''m not sure that''s going to work, but good luck with that."

    They stayed a day at Kara-Goth. Mindy switched trade goods for expedition supplies, Remian had a check-up at the hospital, everyone else explored Kara-Goth. Most of them just shopped and ate, or toured, but Ivan''s wife picked out an apartment at Residential Block Kara-02, to the west of the main block, the one with the multi-purpose sports court in its open area.

    "This is where I''ll be staying, then." She said, looking about. "I''ll take the apartments next door too."

    "What?" Zana blinked.

    "My husband brought his squire, and I''ll want a pair of maids and a steward." Margerita nodded to herself as if it was all only to be expected. "And one of those clever dogs everyone has. They seem very well trained."

    "They''re not dogs. They''re wolfcats. And they''re not owned or anything, they''re Comrades. They''re our friends and neighbors."

    "Neighbors? You sound as if they own property."

    "Actually, they kind of do. See that tunnel? It leads to Red''s clan. The cavern they live in is entirely their territory."

    "What''s that half-built hall next to it?"

    "That''s the new Adventurers Guild Hall Headquarters. We''re moving it here for efficiency."

    "You''re moving the headquarters?" Mindy gasped. "Who decided that?"

    "Josh and George did. Why?"

    Remian restrained Mindy with a hand on her arm. "Never mind. Please, carry on."

    Mindy glanced at him. "But¡­ but they didn''t even ask you!"

    "They shouldn''t have to." Remian said. "Josh can handle the Guild. George can handle Kara-Goth. Everyone''s doing exactly what they''re supposed to."

    "But you should be in charge! You should¡­ you should¡­"

    "I''m fine." Remian assured her. "Don''t worry about it."

    Remian noticed Margerita looking at him oddly. He looked right back at her, his question all over his face.

    "It''s unusual to see a young man give up power so freely." Margerita noted.

    "Then consider me old." Remian suggested.

    Margerita barked a laugh, but she still looked at him as if at an oddity.

    The two merchants likewise found places to settle down. One of them was the brother of the shopkeeper where Margerita spoke with her friend. He opened a boutique at Kara-01, on the second floor overlooking the main open area. The other merchant didn''t open up any shop or some such yet. He just settled in for now, and claimed he intended to explore the area further before making any big decisions.

    "But I''m definitely staying here." He said broadly. "At least for a few years."

    Remian didn''t ask him why. He just bade him good luck, departed in peace, and advised the neighboring lynxmice to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn''t do anything bad.

    Then they were off, heading to Three Pines and Dragon Lake to look for Darian.

 172 Searching for Magic 2

    The next day, after a night''s stop at Three Pines, and another few hours'' journey, they arrived at their destination.

    "So¡­ this is Dragon Lake?" Father Petrov mused.

    "The dragon¡­ where is the dragon? We have to see the dragon!" Professor Alexei was already bobbing up and down all around the airship in excitement. "Isn''t this Dragon Lake? Where are all the dragons?"

    To be fair, Dragon Lake was huge. They couldn''t see the other side of it, and frankly speaking, the horizon of the lake that they could see basically covered just the near corner.

    "There better be a dragon." One of the students muttered darkly. "Don''t tell me we''ve come all this way on a hoax just to be laughed at in the end¡­"

    Then the lake exploded. Water fountained up hundreds of feet high as a massive shape hurtled into the air with a thundering roar. Five students fell over; two almost fell overboard, and one fainted outright. Family members shrieked and ducked for cover; only one guy''s excited son cheered and jumped up and down rejoicing. The somewhat tubby little guy had both fists in the air bouncing on his toes upon the ship''s deck shouting, "YEAAAAAAAHH!!!!"

    "DRAGGGOOOOONNN!!" The doubtful student half yelped, half exclaimed.

    "Yes! There it is!" Alexei beamed. "Now we can get started."

    "Uh¡­" Remian trailed off. "That''s not¡­ Har''es-dras. That''s¡­"

    [Intruders¡­!] the gray-scaled dragon glared at them, then drew in a deep breath, the suction force almost causing everyone and the airship to tilt forward.

    [We''re friends!!] Remian gasped. [We''re just here to talk to Har''es-dras! Take it easy!]

    [Friends of that puny misfit deserve no mercy!] The dragon roared, and belched fire.

    "Light!" Remian threw up a hand and a barrier of light six feet thick and nine meters tall appeared to block off the flames.

    "We''re under attack!" Alexei shouted. "All students, support me! We will cast the chains of ice¡­"

    But there was no time. The dragon flipped up its tail.

    "Light!" Remian threw down another light barrier, blocking the tail. There was a shaking in the air as the tail met the barrier, the shock of the impact not entirely dissipating across the wall of light.

    Cracks appeared in the barrier.

    Remian frowned at it. As if in apology, the cracks faded away meekly.

    The dragon roared, and then spat fire, three separate bolts that streaked towards the front, middle and back of the airship respectively.

    "Counter-cast¡­" Prof. Alexei gasped.

    "No time! DUCK!" Father Pretrov yelled.

    "Fire!" Remian raised a hand, sending up his own fireballs, meeting them three for three.

    Explosions rocked the air amidst screams and yells.

    The dragon roared, but this time, nobody heard the roar; the sonic energy was being gathered around its maw¡­

    "SIT!" Remian shouted at the dragon as if scolding a dog.

    Abruptly, the dragon fell. It was like a huge fist had grabbed it by the tail and tugged it back into the water. "URGHK¡­?!"

    The sonic energy of its collected roar went splaying about wildly, rippling high up through the air over the lake completely out of control. None of it hit the airship, or even the barriers of light guarding its front.

    "Everyone, gather!" Alexei gasped hurriedly. "We will cast¡­"

    ROAR! Two more dragons rose up out of the water, one red, one green, both looking at the airship menacingly.

    "¡­the chains of ice¡­! I need two people on water supplemental¡­" Alexei spat out instructions.

    "Chains of ICE!" Remian barked, pointing at both the two new dragons at the same time.

    Water hardened. Rivulets streaming down the newly emerged dragons suddenly froze, and great splashes across the lake only added more arces of frost and rime suddenly wrapping around the serpentine forms. First entangling, then completely immersing the dragons, absolute ice leapt out of the lagoon and heaped on them until there was nothing left to see but two blinking, astounded dragons completely encased in solid icebergs.

    The first dragon glanced left, glanced right, the roared at Remian again as if in protest.

    "You too!" Remian pointed, and like a pair of white jaws, ice rose up out of the deep and closed in on the gray dragon from all sides. Down he went in another iceberg.

    "Whoa¡­ what the¡­?" Alexei stared. "How did you DO that?"

    "It wasn''t me. It was the lake." Remian explained. "There''s plenty of water."

    "I know. That''s why I wanted to use ice. But to do all that, all at once, with just a sentence¡­?" Alexei whistled.

    "Wasn''t that how it was supposed to go?" Remian blinked.

    "Haven''t you learned ANYTHING about that spell?" Alexei asked.

    "Not really, no. I just heard its name." Remian confessed.

    "You''re supposed to carefully set down a formation, using two elemental catalysts and a balancer, with equal balance between both catalysts, especially if you want the stronger version which means two people on each catalyst¡­ aaah, forget it!" Alexei threw up his hands. "Just do it your way. What you just did is stronger than anything I was hoping for with five students anyhow."

    "What did you do?" Father Petrov ask, in shock. "What did you just DO?!"

    "I didn''t know you could do that." Mindy added, blinking.

    "Actually, I didn''t either." Remian admitted. "I just thought I''d try it out for once. Goodness, if I''d known this was possible earlier, I''d have had everyone digging ponds in preparation for the Beast Waves."

    "Well, at least someone responded quickly." Father Petrov breathed in relief.

    "Yeah. We have five other student magi on board, and nobody even cast a single spell!" Mindy objected. "What''s the matter with everyone."

    Alexei cleared his throat, "Students," he said, "We are in the Wildlands. The laws on magic usage do not apply here."

    "The laws¡­ what does that mean?" one student asked.

    "It means, you can use magic freely." Alexei told him. "Just be responsible."

    "Use magic¡­ freely?" the student stared. "No conditions?"

    "Before you go wild, just be warned; we will hold you responsible for anything you do." Remian said, up front.

    "Is the government okay with that? Who governs the Wildlands, anyway?" the student asked, awkwardly.

    "He does." Mindy pointed to Remian. "I told you, remember?"

    "For real?"

    "For real."

    It seemed only now that it was really beginning to sink in. Suddenly, people were bowing left and right. "Your majesty!"

    "Will you guys cut that out?!" Remian protested. "We''re fighting dragons here, and they''re still looking at us as if we''re dinner! There are more than three dragons in this lake."

    "Yes, there are, and unless you want them all to jump on you, you better tell me what you''re doing here." A voice said from behind.

    Turning around, they found Doom standing on absolutely nothing but empty air behind them, arms crossed and looking rather annoyed at the people on the airship.

 173 Searching for Magic 3

    Mindy was the first to react. "You can FLY!"

    "Mana here is twice as dense as it is back at your Kara-Goth." Doom shrugged. "Ever heard the phrase ''twice the results for half the efforts''? It applies here."

    "Twice as dense?" Alexei perked up. "Could it be¡­ the Source of Magic? We''re getting closer!"

    "Wait a minute. Aren''t you the guy who keeps saying we shouldn''t use magic, because it''s running out?" Mindy protested. "If mana is so thick here¡­"

    "Hey, it was thicker ten years ago. A lot thicker. It''s been draining out." Doom scowled. "So you came looking for the Source of Magic? What for, so you can steal it for yourself and keep your wasteful lifestyle?"

    "Then you do know where it is? And what it is?" Alexei perked up.

    "Oh, I know. But why should I tell you any of it?" Doom said darkly. "All you want to do is maintain the way of life you''ve been living, consuming endlessly, never a thought as to everyone else and everything else."

    "Wouldn''t finding the Source of Magic replenish this world''s mana? That would be good for you, too, wouldn''t it? Weren''t you the one worried about magic running out?" Mindy cajoled.

    "Worried because of exactly what is happening now! The whole world''s started fighting over what''s left, hasn''t it?" Doom pointed out.

    "Yet you taught my brother to use magic." Remian cut in.

    "His own mana, yes. Whether physical energy, or magical energy, as long as it''s his, why should I prevent him from using it to fulfill his own needs? But in digging up mana veins, mankind has destroyed entire lands. Why did you think Ecclesia moved to Mendev? It was at Itarim, before, an independent holy state where the church held power. Then they drained all the mana, and the land became a dead land. Never mind casting spells, they couldn''t even get crops to grow! They had to move to the next richest mana vein so they could drain that one too!" Doom shook his head. "Did you know, five hundred years ago, Fal''herim was surrounded by greenery? It was the most fertile land, the most famous food producer in the world! Look at it now! Look at the place you call the Endless Desert!"

    Remian stared. "That''s what happened¡­?!"

    "It''s not only those two. It''s happening everywhere, across the whole world." Doom growled. "Except at Libertaria. They''re digging up something else entirely. The way things are going, they''re going to be the greatest nation in the world, soon enough."

    "But we can stop it! We can stop the killing, stop all the fighting! We just need to find the Source of Magic!" Alexei argued. "So help us!"

    "Wait. Is the Source really unlimited?" Mindy cut in. "Is it really going to release mana endlessly?"

    "According to the legends, yes." Doom growled. "But it is also evil. If you use it, you''ll destroy us all!"

    "But we need magic!" Alexei argued. "We need mana! Otherwise, it will be the end of life as we know it! The whole world will be plunged into chaos!"

    "Maybe it''s time for a bit of chaos." Doom said. "Perhaps then man will change his ways for the better."

    "You''re a man too!"

    "I don''t destroy the land I live on! I''m not destroying the world!"

    "If you keep that Source of Magic from us, then you would be!"

    "Teaching wasteful cultures a lesson in the consequences of irresponsible consumption is saving the world, not destroying it!"

    "People will die for it! Lots and lots of people!"

    "And humans are more important than nature and the world we live in?"

    "Yes!"

    Doom and Alexei were arguing head to head, meeting glare for glare. It was clear they were not going to come to a consensus anytime soon, probably not ever.

    "Guys, don''t¡­" Remian began.

    Too little, too late.

    "Formation!" Alexei growled. "Storm of the Seven Seas!"

    Five students leapt into a cluster, and began to gather mana.

    Doom shouted. "Sior krav draknev!"

    Sudden roars thundered on all sides. On the left, on the right, and directly in front, more Tier 5 dragons lifted their heads. Even those three caught in ice began to struggle, and cracks appeared in the icebergs. Then, farther out, a larger, Tier 6 senior dragon began to stir.

    A Tier 6 Senior Dragon! That one fellow alone was ten times the size of the previous three they had fought before. That wasn''t even counting the other six that just arrived, and the three that were about to break out of the ice. This had already gone far beyond what any of them, or even all of them together could handle.

    "Oh, scrap¡­" Sir Ivan groaned and drew his sword.

    "I¡­ I just wanted to see the friendly dragon." One of the students quailed.

    "Well, you''re seeing plenty of dragons." His classmate quipped.

    "But these all want to eat me!"

    "Actually, I don''t think you''re even enough to make a decent meal for any of them."

    "But¡­ why¡­"

    "We walked right into this one, didn''t we? Went straight into the dragon''s den." His classmate sighed. "I just thought maybe¡­ but no. I guess I''ll never see a friendly dragon."

    "That, you won''t." Doom promised him. "But you''ll be able to live to see another day if you turn around and leave now. That''s the best I can offer you."

    "But we''re so close! The Source of Magic¡­" Alexei gritted his teeth.

    "Not today, my friend." Father Petrov restrained him. "Today, we go home."

    Doom said no more as Mindy turned the airship around and they left.

    ***

    Ten minutes after leaving Dragon Lake, Alexei hammered his fist on the guardrails of the airship in frustration. "What do we do now? Do we really just turn around and go home?"

    "That might be best, but perhaps not yet." Father Petrov consoled him. "Perhaps there''s someone else we can ask around here. Where is this brother of yours, Remian? This Darian person?"

    "He''s probably still training somewhere around Dragon Lake." Remian answered gloomily. "But if you really want to meet him, he does come around to Three Pines on the weekends. We''ll have to wait a couple of days, though."

    "We''ve already come all this way. We can wait a couple days." Father Petrov nodded. "Can''t we, Alexei?"

    "I packed for a long trip, anyhow." Alexei sighed.

    Days since last Beast Tide: 47. Current Kill Count: 2136 (115 since yesterday).

 174 Searching for Magic 4

    Days since last Beast Tide: 49. Current Kill Count: 2374 (122 since yesterday).

    "Still no Beast Waves?" Remian asked, when the weekend finally arrived.

    "Three weeks, and still no Beast Wave." Lisa confirmed. "I think it''s true. It really is all over. At least until the count reaches zero and another Beast Tide hits."

    "Great." Remian said, and closed his eyes.

    For the past two days, he''d been basically in bed all day. Soul-boosted magic took its toll sooner or later; in this case, it happened roughly ten minutes out from Dragon Lake. Remian had been laid completely flat out, unable to so much as sit up without feeling dizzy.

    "Another spoon?" Lisa sat by his bedside, a bowl of porridge in her hand, spoonfeeding him bit by bit like she used to back when he was younger and they were ordinary citizens in the Rain Sultanate. Despite everything, Remian''s mother had taken time out from her busy schedule to care for her sickly son.

    Actually, she wasn''t the only one. Mindy did too, but right now Mindy was away on patrol, seeing as this was a Beast Wave day and all. Thankfully, so far, there had really been no sign of another Beast Wave.

    Two soft knocks sounded on the door.

    "It''s me." The voice belonged to Father Petrov.

    "Come in." Remian invited.

    Father Petrov stepped in, laying a hand on Remian''s head. Soft yellow light glowed. "Hmm. You seem to be quite a bit better today. I think you should be able to get up by tonight."

    "Great. How is everyone else?" Remian stretched slowly, feeling twinges in his muscles that almost developed into cramps on the spot.

    "On edge. They''ve been picking up your local habits."

    "What does that mean, exactly?"

    "They''ve been buying up scrolls for quick spellcasting like the locals do." Father Petrov specified. "This isn''t college any more, and I think they''ve all taken that lesson to heart. They''re also practicing joint casting Tier 4 spells in formation. Alexei is even trying to enchant a quick-casting wand."

    "Excellent. We could definitely use a wand-maker around here." Remian fought a yawn. "We should be in fine fettle for this weekend''s adventures."

    "Really, now¡­" Father Petrov cleared his throat.

    Loud footsteps sounded thumping down the corridor, and then Mindy burst into the room. "Remian! Are you all right?!"

    "Wha¡­?" Remian blinked. "What''s wrong?"

    "Oh. Nothing, I just heard Father Petrov had come here¡­" Mindy trailed off.

    Father Petrov explained. "It''s just for a check-up. He''s fine. Well, not ''fine'', exactly, but better. On the way to being ''fine''. Half-fine?"

    "Hey, Mindy. How are things?" Remian asked.

    "What things? Nothing''s happening. No Beast Wave. No Source of Magic. No Darian. Nothing." Mindy flounced down. "How long do we have to wait?"

    "Until Darian shows up and we can ask him to ask Har''es-dras about the Source. Or ask Har''es-dras to ask his parents and friends in turn if necessary."

    "And then what?"

    "Then we go find the Source and use it and the world will have unlimited mana." Father Petrov said. "Or something like that. I''m not entirely sure as to how it works."

    "That''s exactly the point. Doom said it was evil. Are you sure we should even let it work?" Mindy asked.

    "Doom said mankind was evil too. That doesn''t mean we ask everybody to stop working." Father Petrov pointed out.

    "Really? A vacation kind of sounds nice." Remian yawned.

    "I''m serious! We could be doing something really, really bad if we mess around with the Source." Mindy sat down. "Doom might be a pain in the tailroot, but he''s no idiot. Despite his rudeness, he really does seem to care about the world and everyone, in his own dark, twisted way."

    "Might not be that dark or twisted. Darian seems to think highly of him." Lisa Vin added.

    "Right! And Darian''s no idiot either." Mindy nodded.

    "I''m not so sure about that." Remian mused.

    Lisa shot him a sharp look. "You''re just saying that because you''re accustomed to the likes of Mindy, George and Tim. Most children their age aren''t like those three. The things you''ve been teaching them¡­"

    "I haven''t actually taught them that much. Mostly, they figured it out on their own. They''ve been traveling their own roads on their own two feet; I just got them some shoes."

    "More than that, I think. Much, much more."

    "Back to the topic. What do you think, Remian?" Mindy asked.

    "About what?"

    "About the Source of Magic. About finding it. About what Doom said. About the argument he had with Alexei. Everything."

    Remian shook his head. "About that argument, I''m not going to pick sides or say who is right or who is wrong. All I can say is, I don''t think we''re going to be able to stop them from arguing."

    "But surely you do have opinions on the matter." Even Father Petrov looked a bit interested now.

    "What can I say? I''m human. Naturally, I want to save my own kind. If I have to hunt down Wilds for meat and furs to feed and clothe my people, I would. But at the same time, destroying the world is destroying ourselves just as surely. We need the world." Remian sighed. "This argument had to happen, and it needs to happen, and it needs to keep happening. Both sides need to be heard, and both sides need to fight, and they need to keep fighting until they settle on something in between. Very likely something that neither side likes, but that both sides could live with."

    "Unless one side pulls out a dozen dragons. It''s rather hard to fight that." Father Petrov observed.

    "Use of force to decide the issue would definitely bring about a quicker conclusion. It''s a shortcut, in it''s own way. That would be quicker."

    "It may be quick, but would it be right?" Father Petrov asked. "Is that really the best way to decide things? If might is right, there is no justice in the world."

    "Justice is made by people. There may be none even if there''s no might involved." Remian pointed out.

    "There''s something profound right there, and I''d love to get back to that topic one day, but right now we''re talking about how things should be decided if force was not a factor. All else being equal, looking at the sheer logic of the situation, what do we use to determine an outcome?"

    "Looking at business principles, cost and benefit, most likely. But we''d need to consider the cost to everyone, everywhere, the whole world, not just ourselves."

    Lisa cut in. "And how do we put a value to nature? To the air we breathe and the land we walk on? How much value do these things have before a price tag big enough warrants destroying them?"

    "Uh¡­ I think I''ll go run a maintenance check on the airship¡­" Mindy stepped back.

    "Stay, Mindy, and listen. You, of all the people here, need to hear and think about these things." Remian cut in. "In fact, it is for your benefit that this discussion is even taking place. Without you learning from it, there is no point in having this conversation. Sit down and listen. Better yet, say what''s on your mind."

    "What''s on my mind is, I''m actually rather lost as to what any of you mean, at this point." Mindy admitted. "I''m still trying to understand what Father Petrov said several sentences ago about might and justice, and haven''t even begun to understand what you mean about the cost to everyone. You guys have gone clear over my head, left me in the dust, and I haven''t a clue as to how I''m going to catch up."

    "Well, then, let''s explain it to you bit by bit. What happens if nobody cares about right and wrong, and all that matters is who is stronger? What happens to a society, a culture, a world that functions that way?"

    "I don''t know. What happens?" Mindy asked.

    Father Petro ventured an answer. "Abject tyranny. Nothing would ever be fair. People stop trusting each other. Civilization devolves into barbarism bit by bit."

    Lisa asked, "Doesn''t religion balance that out? Spiritual beliefs, faith, and moral code outside of the judicial system?"

    "Sometimes. Assuming religion itself isn''t corrupt." Father Petrov nodded.

    "Are you speaking from experience?"

    "No, no. I''m just saying¡­ there''s a lot to what Remian''s words, ''justice is made by man''."

    Knocking sounded on the door. "Remian? Mom? Are you in there?"

    "Darian! Come in!" Mindy leapt up and ran to the door as if salvation had come. As soon as he stepped in, she asked, "Where''s the Source of Magic?!"

    "Uh¡­ I have no idea. I don''t even know what it is." Darian said, flat out. "Also, I''m supposed to tell you to back off and quit the whole idea before someone gets hurt."

    "Can we ask Har''es-dras¡­"

    "No." Darian said flat out. "Doom''s flat out refusing you any information. The dragons will follow his lead."

    "Well, forget dragons and magic. How have you been? How''s Vigil?" Lisa said, taking Darian away.

    Mindy went with them, happy to take an excuse to flee.

    Left behind, Father Petrov and Remian exchanged glances.

    "It seems force has played a factor in this argument in the end." Father Petrov sighed. "It''s such a pity everyone came all this way for nothing."

    Remian paused. "Maybe not. After all, we already know where the Source of Magic is."

    "We do?" Petrov blinked.

    "Well, not exactly, but we have an overall direction." Remian told him. He pointed to the south. "Mana density, remember? If mana is thicker THAT way, then¡­"

    "We just have to follow the mana." Father Petrov''s eyes widened. Then, he hesitated. "Are you¡­ are you sure about this, Remian? Finding the Source? I thought you might be against us using it."

    "I might be." Remian agreed. "But the fact is, I don''t know, yet. I don''t even know what it is, or what could happen either way. How would it even affect anything? Until I know, or at least have a better clue, how can I figure it out? I need more information. I need to find it, and see what it is for myself, first."

    "So¡­ we''re really going to look for it?"

    "Yes, we are. Even if we never use it, at the very least, we should go find it."

 175 Searching for Magic 5

    While Remian and Petrov were debating the fate of the world for Mindy to learn, Alexei was investigating the Black Ruins at Three Pines Peak. He had already explored the area yesterday; today he was going to look inside several buildings he had hunches about. The whole process went on for a few hours¡­

    "Fascinating. Some day, I''d like to come back here and look into this in greater detail." He mentioned as they were taking a break for lunch.

    Behind him, two of his students exchanged meaningful glances.

    "Can you make any sense of it?" Ruth asked. She and Sandra were supposedly showing their guests around but really, the magi seemed to know more about these weird buildings than they did.

    "Well, that''s a transmission tower for sure." Alexei pointed. "Those three are certainly mana-gathering foci. That place there appears to be a manufacturing plant for some light machinery. This open cage here appears to have been a garden."

    "Wow. Really?!" Sandra bounced. "So those pipes with holes aren''t some sort of music instrument?"

    "I believe they''re for irrigation."

    "And I thought this was an instrument maintenance facility." Sandra stared. "I thought this whole town was an arts center."

    "Hardly. Looking at the way the roads lead to that building, I''d say the manufacturing plant was actually the main focus of the town." Alexei squinted. "Whatever they did here, it used a lot of magic. Those towers¡­ their mana channels are six times larger than the ones regularly used at Ecclesia. What kind of devices would require that much power just to assemble¡­?"

    "What kind of garden would need a cage like this and pipes with holes? I mean, there''s plenty of land all around." Sandra added.

    "You''re welcome to stay with us." Ruth put out the invitation directly. "All of you. You can teach us how to properly investigate these ruins."

    "Can you even afford to properly investigate these ruins? How much funding do you have?" Alexei asked.

    "Uh¡­ we don''t actually have funding. We just get Guild Points¡­"

    "Guild Points aren''t going to pay for the experts and the equipment you''d need for ruins like these." Alexei snorted.

    "Just how much funding would we need, do you think?"

    "This?" Alexei shook his head. "It could take several years. Each year, you''d need to hire experts, rent specialized equipment, bring on an entire support staff¡­ it''s good you already have a settlement here, that would cut costs greatly¡­ but shipping heavy equipment here from Ecclesia or Ceres would be costly, so perhaps¡­ ten million lir a year?"

    "What if we could handle the shipping ourselves?" Ruth asked. "Use Mindy''s airships?"

    "I did see a Sky Galleon back at Kara-Goth." Alexei mused. "I suppose you could save a million or two from shipping costs if the airships are all manually powered. But the basic problem is that shipping, equipment and experts¡­ everything and everyone will need crystal power, and crystals are heart-crushingly expensive these days. Some equipment couldn''t run on anything less than a purple crystal. That''s as much power as a thousand yellow crystals can provide, densely concentrated, very rare, and very, very expensive."

    "Simply putting in a thousand yellow crystals or a hundred people''s mana wouldn''t work?"

    Alexei shook his head. "The concentration density wouldn''t be enough."

    "Where would we even find purple mana crystals?!" Sandra groaned.

    "You might not have to worry about that. The same experts who own the equipment usually keep stock for expeditions. You just have to pay them." Alexei explained. "By the millions."

    "What about red crystals?" asked a voice behind them.

    Alexei, his students, Ruth and Sandra turned to see Darian arrive.

    "Red crystals¡­? You mean, the legendary Dragon Emperor''s crown jewel?" Alexei mused. "If you manage to steal it, the power contained in that thing should be able to cast twenty Tier 4 spells all by itself, without assistance. That''s roughly two hundred fireballs'' worth of mana, unaided. That level of density¡­ it''s probably going to destroy the equipment if you tried to use it."

    "But supposing someone managed to steal that red mana crystal, how much could it sell for?" Darian asked.

    Alexei frowned. "Such a crystal would be priceless. Last week, a fresh, standard Tier 4 purple crystal was sold in Ecclesia for 1,600,000 lir. A Tier 3 blue crystal sold at 80,000 lir. Using the ratio of twenty fold increase from Tier to Tier, math tells me that a Tier 5 red mana crystal should theoretically sell for 32,000,000 lir. But that was last week, before the war broke out. Why?"

    "Oh¡­ nothing¡­" Darian said, with an innocent look on his face, one hand in his pocket. "Just curious."

    ***

    "You want to what¡­?" Remian blinked.

    Ten minutes after lunch and ten minutes before takeoff, Darian had approached him out of the blue. "I said, I''ll bribe you to drop the search for the Source of Magic."

    "Darian, do you even know what ''bribe'' means?" Remian had to ask.

    "Sure. I''ll give you something, so that you''ll do something for me. In this case, I happen to know that you need high level mana crystals or millions of lir to fund your investigation of the Black Ruins." Darian said frankly. "I can offer you that."

    "How?" Remian frowned.

    Wordlessly, Darian took his hand out of his pocket, and opened it.

    Red light gleamed for a bare moment before Remian yelped and hurriedly covered it up with his own hands. "Don''t show that sort of thing out in the open! How did you even get that?!"

    "It''s really valuable, isn''t it? Doom said if we gave it to you, it should be enough to make you quit your search. You can sell it and hire experts to investigate these ruins and everything. Won''t that be more worthwhile than chasing rumors and legends?"

    "Probably. But this trip isn''t about money. It''s about ending the war and saving lots and lots of people." Remian tried to explain. "We can''t just take bribes to give up and let all those people die."

    "Well, you can''t do it. You don''t even know where to go or what to look for." Darian said pointedly.

    "Maybe not, but we know we need to head south." Remian answered. "All we really have to do is follow the mana density. As long as we head towards wherever it''s thicker, we know we''re getting closer. It''s not called the Source of Magic for nothing."

    Darian grimaced and lowered his head. "Drats."

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    Then he stepped back, and clenched his fist in his pocket. "Looks like I''ll have to stop you by force."

    Remian stared, half-frozen. "No way¡­"

    The power of two hundred fireballs in the hands of a nine year-old bent on stopping the expedition¡­ not good. NOT good.

    Darian pointed his finger.

    "Light!" Remian threw up a barrier.

    "Thunder!" Darian shouted, and then¡­

    What happened¡­?

    Remian wasn''t entirely sure. He seemed to be looking up at the blue sky, and the nice fluffy white clouds overhead, and of course, he''d soon be joining them, because he had an airship¡­

    But he didn''t need an airship, did he? He was already flying, floating freely like the clouds¡­

    There was a high-pitched sound in his ears, and some muted buzzing. Dimly, he was aware of fireballs flying and criss-crossing both ways above him. Only then did he realize that he was in fact on his back, looking up at the sky, but beyond that it was hard to tell what was going on with all the ringing in his ears.

    "Ugh." One groan. That was as much as he could manage.

    ***

    But considering Remian''s situation, it wouldn''t be proper to describe things from his perspective.

    So instead, here''s the general overview of the battle.

    Darian''s Thunder spell hit Remian from all sides. It was an area-of-effect burst; while some of it splattered across the barrier in front of Remian, the sonic energy hitting him from left, right, above, below and behind was more than enough to lay him as flat out on the floor as the exhaustion from two days before.

    Alexei responded quickly with a fireball.

    Darian countered the fireball with one of his own, missed, and almost hit Father Petrov instead.

    Alexei''s fireball blasted Darian off his feet.

    Sir Ivan darted in to block Darian''s fireball from Father Petrov. Darian''s fireball blasted him over sideways.

    Darian formed a thin Silhouette layer, instantly wiping out the fire on his clothing. It must be mentioned that momentarily being set on fire would usually cause grevious harm to nine year-old boys and should never, ever be attempted experimentally. Darian, however, was a boy who had been through a great deal of body tempering, eaten a whole bunch of special fruits that increased everything from his defense to his martial energy, and had been wearing furs made from the leftovers of dragons'' meals, that is, the hides of Tier 4 and 5 Wilds. Basically, while a little singed, Darian wasn''t hurt much.

    Three students scroll-casted spells at Darian, an ice spike, a fire bolt, and a web.

    Darian dodged. He simply ran in a quick semi-circle around the spells, and charged directly at the students.

    Alexei gasped. "So fast!"

    Sir Ivan''s squire leapt forward to meet him. They met in a loud crash, making the dock shake. Darian stumbled back a few steps. Sir Ivan''s squire went flying clear off the dock.

    Sir Ivan himself had regained his footing and went charging in to fill the breach.

    Darian ducked, tapped the dock with his hand and said, "Shake!"

    "Whoa!" Father Petrov, Professor Alexei and two of the five students stumbled. One more student leapt up to avoid the shakening, and the last two dropped and hugged the deck.

    "Darian! Stop!" Mindy yelped, dashing out of the airship. "Please!"

    Sir Ivan drew his sword.

    "Mindy, stay back!" Darian tore a floorboard right off the dock and wielded that in his hands in reply.

    Alexei gasped. "So strong!"

    But Mindy ran right at Darian, not hesitating for a moment. "Stop, or I''ll¡­ I''ll¡­ I''ll KISS you!"

    "K-k-k ¡­.!??" Darian gasped.

    Mindy puckered up her face.

    "Nooooo!!" The nine year-old boy turned and ran for his life.

    Various teenage adventurer girls watching from afar exclaimed, "So cute...!"

    Father Petrov, Sir Ivan, Professor Alexei and everyone else was left staring in bewilderment as the prot¨¦g¨¦ of Doom fled the scene.

    Meanwhile, a still-dazed Remian finally managed to sit up.

    "What did I miss?"

 176 Searching for Magic 6

    Damien and Lisa Vin were at lunch when they heard the ruckus. "What''s going on?"

    Ruth glanced out the window. "Darian is fighting Remian."

    "Boys." Lisa rolled her eyes.

    "Brothers fight sometimes." Damien shrugged. "They''ll get over it."

    ***

    "I failed." Darian reported to Doom gloomily some time later. "I couldn''t stop them. I''m sorry."

    "It''s not your fault. They just wouldn''t accept our kindness. It came to a fight and you were outnumbered." Doom consoled him. "Try it again with backup and see."

    "Yeah." Darian muttered glumly, not really reacting.

    There was a short pause.

    Then, Darian raised his head and found Doom looking at him expectantly. "What?"

    "What did I just say?" Doom asked.

    "You said to¡­ try it again with backup¡­" Darian''s eyes widened. "Wait. You were serious? When?"

    "Isn''t it obvious?" Doom snorted. "NOW. Go already!"

    "Okay, okay!" Darian scrambled.

    ***

    Five hours out from Three Pines, the expedition clashed with Darian again.

    This time, he had backup.

    "He''s got a dragon!" Alexei gulped.

    "THAT is Har''es-dras." Remian confirmed. "And¡­ Vigil?!"

    Darian had come back with his two closest friends to help him; the dragon Har''es-dras, and the wolfcat cub Vigil. Now he had three times the numbers to fight the same enemies with as he had five hours ago!

    Also, they were a hundred meters up in the sky, quite a long ways off the ground. The airship gave the expedition an advantage, but Darian had a dragon, so¡­

    "Attack!" Darian made the first move, and threw Vigil at the deck.

    "AWOOOO!" Vigil''s yelp was half-warcry, half sheer terror. The way he looked made Remian suspect he might soon qualify as a counseling case for battle trauma. [WHHHHYYYYYY?!!]

    "Vigil!" Remian caught him, stumbled, and then both of them went scattering across the deck. "What are you doing here? Why are you even fighting?"

    "Ruuuu!" [He threatened my dinner! My steak is at stake!]

    "We have plenty of meat! Come join our side!" Mindy offered.

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    "Wuu, wuuu¡­" [It''s not the same! The meat at Dragon Lake are whole Tiers higher!]

    That was true. There was almost no Tier 4 or 5 meat available to wolfcats back at Kara-Goth. At Dragon Lake, any random leftover from a dragon''s meal would be at least that high-tiered.

    "Restrain him!" Mindy barked an order.

    Sir Ivan and his squire pounced on the wolfcat with nets. They might not be able to help in an aerial battle between an airship and a dragon but by steel and fire, they could definitely handle a one-wolfcat boarding raid!

    But Vigil would not go down so easily. He scurried to the side, avoiding the net, then dashed directly into the cabin, forcing the two knights to chase after him below decks¡­

    There was a whole lot of crashing and yelling. "There! Under the table! On the left! THE LEFT!"

    BANG! "Look out behind you!"

    KAPOW! "He''s coming your way!"

    The whole deck shook. "Grab him! GRAB HIM!"

    "Not the kitchen!! NOOOOO!!"

    "YIYIP!" Clang, clang, CLANG!

    Meanwhile, Har''es-dras was ascending, flying higher, soaring above the airship¡­

    "He''s aiming for the envelope!" Mindy gasped.

    Har''es-dras spat a rapid stream of fireballs at the airship.

    "Light!" Remian flung up a barrier.

    "Don''t overdo it!" Mindy warned Remian. "Let the magi handle it!"

    "Icewall!" Alexei casted a barrier of his own.

    "Tangle-vine!" His students likewise casted spells prepared earlier. "Earth Shield!"

    "Fireball!" One of them even intercepted an incoming fireball with another.

    "Web!" a fourth student tried¡­

    And failed. To be fair, the web met the fireball spot on, but it failed to stop or even slow the incoming flames. There was a brief impact on the armored envelope of the military-grade Red Fang, and then a sharp explosion that jarred the airship a little.

    "Envelope''s taking damage! We can''t take too many of those!" Mindy barked. "DO something!"

    "Assignments! Team 2 on defense! Team 1, with me!" Alexei growled. "Petrov!"

    "Team 2, support me." Petrov took charge of defense. "We''ll cast the Great Sphere of Light!"

    But just then, Har''es-dras charged, physically streaking for the airship with claws extended.

    "Too late!" Remian shouted. "LIGHT!"

    A huge wall of light went up. Har''es-dras crashed right into it with a thunderous roar. Light rippled, the air shook, and Mindy could have sworn she saw lightning¡­

    BAM! Wait. That wasn''t lightning. That was¡­ "Darian?!"

    He had leapt clear off the dragon''s back in mid-air and was currently on top of the airship, stabbing it with some spear-like bone. Despite all its military-grade armor, despite all its resistance to magic cannon fire, a direct stab with a dragonbone spear managed to pierce the envelope. Gas started to leak out.

    "Not good!" Mindy gasped.

    Darian went on stabbing. Hole after hole was torn in the envelope.

    "There!" Darian''s voice had somehow turned weirdly high-pitched. "Now you''re going down!"

    "What happened to your voice?" Mindy asked, bewildered.

    "It''s the helium." Remian said, but he didn''t have time to explain. The airship was already starting to drop slowly.

    "You''re going to pay for those repairs!" Mindy yelled at him, shaking her fist.

    "Charge it to my brother!" Darian invited, jumping back on to Har''es-dras.

    "HEY!" Remian protested.

    "I''ll be back for Vigil later!" Darian yelled over his shoulder as he and Har''es-dras flew away.

    ***

    Slowly, the airship descended until at last, it set down atop a steep hill deep in rocky terrain.

    Remian grunted, strapping on his ME-Frame. "It looks like we''re going to have to do this on foot."

    "Can''t we call for help, or rides, or something?" Mindy asked. "We can still contact George or Talia."

    "Actually, don''t. Call Mom." Remian said.

    "You want to ask her to set Darian straight?"

    "No, that probably won''t work. But I think she can get to us safely enough. If she came looking for us with an airship, Darian would assume we just called for a ride home. He might just let it get to us without any problems. As long as we don''t try to take the airship farther south, as long as it only heads back north, he''ll probably even let it go."

    "You want to give up?" Mindy gasped.

    "No way." Remian said. "But if we''re going to continue the rest of the way on the ground, we''re going to need equipment."

    So he called Lisa Vin and asked her to bring some stuff over.

    "Camping gear, Supplies, ME-Frames, and Tier 4 wolfcats? Anything else?" Lisa mused. "Anything or anyone specific you need?"

    "Yes. Please bring Carrie." Remian said, eyeing Vigil, who was thoroughly netted and hanging from a tree. "We need her to guard the hostage."

 177 Searching for Magic 7

    "No. I can''t allow you to do it." Lisa Vin forbade her son.

    Only, it wasn''t the son they''d been expecting her to forbid. Out here, in the temporary camp of the expedition, the son she was talking to was Remian.

    "Mom, this is important¡­" he tried to explain.

    "Everything is important! It''s always important!" Lisa flared. "And every time you over-exhaust yourself and you get weaker and weaker! When will you ever stop? At this rate, one day soon, I''m going to ask for news of you and discover that you''ll never be coming home again!"

    "Uh¡­" try as they might, none of them, not Remian, not Father Petrov, not Professor Alexei, not Mindy¡­ nobody could think of a way to refute that point.

    "You''re coming home with me, now. While you still can. Let them handle the search." Lisa gestured vaguely at Professor Alexei and Father Petrov.

    "But these are the Wildlands¡­" Remian objected.

    "Mindy can guide them. Whatever you want to handle, she can handle." Lisa snorted.

    "I need to repair my airship¡­" Mindy began.

    "We''ll tow it back with us." Lisa cut in. "It will be slower, but we''re in no hurry."

    "But Mom, there are important decisions that need to be made." Remian frowned.

    "She can handle those too." Lisa growled. "Isn''t she one of your smartest, wisest students?"

    "One of the top three, for sure." Remian agreed.

    "So trust your student. Sooner or later, you''re going to have to let them make the big decisions for themselves, and from what I''ve seen, you''ve always voted for ''sooner''."

    "This one might be a little bit over her head."

    "Then just have her call you on a comms crystal when the time comes."

    "That¡­ actually sounds doable." Remian mused. Then, he grinned. "That''s it then. Congratulations, Mindy¡­ this expedition is now in your hands. You''re going to have to guide total townies through the deep Wildlands on foot without an airship and without my help."

    "Great." Mindy half-groaned. "Just great."

    ***

    Of course, he didn''t leave her entirely without help.

    Carrie and six other Tier 4 wolfcats had joined the expedition. They weren''t being ridden; they were here as mainly as escorts and scouts. The sole exception was carrying supplies.

    As for Mindy, Father Petrov, Ivan and his squire, Professor Alexei and the five students, all of them were equipped with ME-Frames (mainly borrowed from adventurers staying at Three Pines) and would generally not require a ride from a wolfcat unless things got hectic.

    Joining the expedition were Sandra, Gammie and their comrades, a Tier 3 wolfcat named Sandy (Gammie''s comrade) and a Feelo-Wasp Prince named Dodger (Sandra''s).

    Everyone else, including Remian, went back with the airships.

    "What are you guys doing here, again?" Mindy asked Sandra.

    "Nothing special. Priority Guild escort mission. We''re just here to keep you alive." Sandra told her. "Everything else is up to you."

    "Uhuh." Mindy shook her head. She had expected no less. "You know it''s going to be hard, right?"

    "How hard?" Sandra asked.

    "We''re south of Dragon Lake, now. Every Wild out here is at least Tier 4. Tier 5''s are common. The Lords of the Wilds in these territories are Tier 6, and there are Kings around here who are Tier 7. Do you even know what Tier 7 means?"

    "Something the size of Kara-Goth?" Sandra guessed. "Or bigger? Probably bigger."

    "Something on that scale of power anyway, the sizes seem to vary. At a certain point, Psionic power counts more than size. In the end, it''s the overall strength of a Wild that matters." Mindy hesitated. "Also¡­ there are supposedly Wilds even more powerful than that, the ones they call Emperors."

    "What are those like?"

    "I''ll give you a hint; I only know of two of the Tier 8''s around here. Their names are Kor''ag-dras and Mal''thor-dras."

    [Don''t worry about the Emperors. They almost never appear, and would not for a motley crew like ours.] Carrie assured them. [Worry about the Nine Kings of the South.]

    "There are nine Kings?" Mindy asked weakly.

    [There are many Kings.] Carrie shook her head. [But we need only worry about the Nine. the territories we are headed toward belong to them. More specifically, the turf of the Great Roc.]

    "The Great Roc? What exactly is he?"

    [He is a bird. A very, very, very big bird. When he can, he likes to eat dragons for dinner.]

    Mindy gulped. "We were about to fly an airship into THAT King''s territory?!"

    [That would have been a very bad idea.] Carrie agreed. [And likely one you would not have survived.]

    "But¡­ would we really be able to make it through safely on foot?" Mindy wondered.

    [If we''re very, very quiet, we might be able to avoid his notice. Or maybe he just won''t bother with small creatures like us.] Carrie suggested, ears twitching. [Unless¡­]

    "Unless what?"

    [Unless we get help from his kin.]

    "What do you mean?"

    [I mean, we might have to ask the Eagle Lord for a favor.]

    ***

    But of course, the reply was to be expected.

    "That¡­ is beneath me!"

    ***

    Yet though it was rejected, the very asking produced unexpected results.

    "Are you SURE you want to do this?" Mindy asked the Eagle Princess. "Does your father know you''re here?"

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    [Eh¡­ it''s just a visit to old Gramps, you know?] The Eagle Princess chirped, her wings twitching. She looked very excited and very nervous. [It will be okay¡­ I think?]

    " ''Old Gramps'', you say? You know the Great Roc?" Mindy blinked.

    [Oh, yes. He''s very nice to me.] the Eagle Princess chirped. [As long as we get past the Bog Serpents, we should be able to reach him safely.]

    "Bog Serpents? What in the world are Bog Serpents?"

    [They''re like flying snakes, not quite as big as dragons, but they breathe ice and spread fog around, you know? Their entire area is bog covered in fog. Nasty, wet place. We''d normally just fly high, high over it, but you guys¡­]

    "We''re going to be walking right into it." Mindy gulped. "Bog and fog¡­ what if we get lost?"

    "That''s not likely. As long as we can sense and compare mana densities, the Source of Magic is as good as a compass." Alexei assured her. "On top of that, we also have actual compasses, and all of us know spells which can help with directions and mapping."

    "Can we go around it? How long would it take?" Mindy asked.

    [Just me, alone, running without any hindrances? Half a day. With this group, well¡­] Carrie hesitated. [Three days? Four?]

    "Never mind. Bog and fog it is." Mindy said, drawing up a brave face. Then, she shuddered.

 178 Bog and Fog

    "Where am I?"

    Mindy wandered in endless mist, aimlessly, the fog around her seemingly in harmony and one with the fog in her mind.

    She came across something cute and funny. There was this big wolfcat, bigger than a horse, and it was carrying a wolfcat cub by the scruff of his neck.

    Wait. I know that wolfcat. That''s Carrie. And the cub dangling awkwardly in her mouth is Vigil¡­

    But such strange ideas faded and swirled around as Mindy giggled and stumbled in the bog. She called into the fog. "Helloooooooo!"

    "Chirp!" a bird''s voice answered her from far, far away. Meanwhile, the wolfcats right in front of her wandered off to the right and completely disappeared in the mist.

    "Aeyrie?" Mindy called.

    "Chirp!" a big bird came flapping over, a chubby eaglet as big as Mindy herself.

    "Aeyrie! You can fly!" Mindy remarked in surprise. "Oh, but then, you could already fly a bit for quite a while now. Sorry. I forgot."

    She giggled. Aeyrie giggled. Together, Mindy and the Eagle Princess stumbled around in the weird smelling mist.

    Then another queer smell cropped up, and Mindy seemed to be in a nice wooden home, by the fireplace, with Aeyrie sitting by her side, and there was Remian and Mandy, and they were married and living together happily, and Remian was her brother-in-law and Mandy was pregnant¡­

    "I wish¡­" Mindy sniffed, feeling tearful all of a sudden. Why was she tearful? This was such a happy scene¡­

    Was it even really her wish? She wasn''t sure.

    But suddenly, it wasn''t Mandy who was talking with Remian any more. No, Mandy had left, and now the owners of this cozy home were herself and her husband¡­

    Wait. What? The man in front of her had also changed. It was almost-Remian, but at the same time it was not Remian. Mindy actually knew who he was, except that she''d never seen this face, this form before.

    But she did. Sort of. Only the last time she saw him, he was much, much younger, and hadn''t grown up to be that man yet.

    What was his name?

    Ah, yes. Darian. Mindy stepped forward, trying to kiss him.

    Darian ran away. Flat out turned and ran off, disappearing through the walls.

    "Chirp." The Eagle Princess laughed by the fireside. Then, she walked into the wall.

    "Me too!" Mindy said, and tried to do the same.

    BANG! "OW!" Mindy held her head, wondering why for goodness'' sake she''d been dumb enough to try walking into a wall.

    But wait, it wasn''t a wall. It was a tree, and the mud there was especially murky.

    Tree? Mud? Mindy looked around, frowning. The house was gone. The fireplace was gone. The strange smell was gone. She and Aeyrie were surrounded by fog, but the mists here at least smelled better.

    Wait. Where¡­ why¡­ what¡­?

    "Ugh!" Mindy held her head as clarity pounded back in with her aching head. "What just happened?"

    "Chirp." Aeyrie blinked, looking around. [Bog Dreams. This is bad.]

    "Where is everybody?" Mindy glanced about. Other than her and Aeyrie, there was nobody else around. The entire expedition had gotten lost in the fog, probably caught up in some dream-state or the other just like she had been.

    "C-chirp¡­!" Aeyrie gasped, suddenly ducking and keeping her head down. [I don''t know about everybody, but something big is coming this way!]

    There was a hissing sound coming from above. Mindy likewise crouched, and the pair of them stayed very, very still.

    An enormous, serpentine form slinked overhead, as if floating or swimming, a form so big, it could easily have swallowed them both in a single gulp. Mindy glanced at Aeyrie. [Bog Serpent?]

    Aeyrie nodded slowly.

    And then an absolutely colossal figure appeared out of nowhere, blotting out the sky in its shadow. It was like the entire day had turned to night in an instant, and then turned back into day again, except that now it was a little bit brighter than before, because the serpentine shadow above was gone.

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    [What was THAT?!] Mindy gasped.

    [That was gramps!] Aeyrie perked up, immediately cheered. [He just came out to grab a quick bite! We have to go after him! That way!]

    [But what about the others¡­]

    [What about them?] Aeyrie asked, frank and uncaring.

    [We have to get them out!]

    [How? If we wander around much more, we might get caught up in the dream-state ourselves again. Let''s get ourselves out of here first.]

    Over to the left, there was loud hissing, and then a scream.

    [They''re going to die out here¡­!] Mindy gasped. [We have to help them!]

    [Not by ourselves! We have to get to Gramps. He can help us.] Aeyrie urged. [The Bog and the Serpents are more than we can handle.]

    Mindy hated to admit it, but she was right. As things stood, they were of no help to anyone. [All right. Let''s go get your Gramps.]

    ***

    The journey through the Bog was arduous, at best. Several times, Mindy almost wandered off into another dream-state before Aeyrie smacked her awake. Likewise, she had to rap the Eagle Princess on the head sharply a few times whenever the bird''s eyes started to glaze over and her feet began to wander.

    The dreams Mindy faced were bewildering, familiar, yet unfamiliar. They felt as if they''d already happened, even though Mindy was sure later that they never took place.

    For example, twice she found herself fighting George, and he had his ME-Frame equipped, and so did she¡­

    At one time, she caught Tim flying her airship.

    On three separate occasions, old friends whose names she could barely remember came by and had lunch, dinner and tea with her respectively.

    There was even this one case of Arnold dressing up as a clown to perform a balancing act for three new airships to learn from. He kept telling the airships to pay attention and learn how to balance themselves, but all three basically just floated there, ignoring him.

    There were even weirder dreams that made absolutely no sense. Some of them, Mindy clear forgot the instant she woke up.

    All told, it was a rough trip, and it lasted for hours.

    But at last, they set foot on solid grass, and left the fog a few inches behind them.

    "Now, what?" Mindy asked.

    "Chirp." [Now we go up the mountain.]

    "Mountain¡­?" Mindy looked about and trailed off. "Wait. You mean¡­ THAT mountain?!"

    In the distance, a huge cliff loomed over them. It was so high, Mindy hadn''t even thought of trying to climb up it. She had actually been looking around for a pass or a tunnel to get through.

    But Aeyrie nodded. [Gramps is at the very top.]

    Mindy grimaced. "Can we go around it, or skip it altogether?"

    [There are eight other mountains in this range, and every one of them is ruled by a King. Which one do you want to cross?]

    Mindy''s face fell. "Never mind."

    She drew herself up. Aeyrie fluffed her feathers a bit, and the pair of them turned their gazes to the cliff ahead of them.

    "Let''s go climb a mountain."

 179 At the foot of Mount Roc

    "Oh, no, you don''t!"

    Mindy had set one foot on the mountain trail before trouble came by to stop her.

    Darian was there, with the red crystal firmly grasped in one hand, a fireball taking form in the other. "Back off, Mindy. Stop this search already. The Source of Magic is evil. You can''t use it."

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    "That''s only what Doom tells you. Have you even seen it? Do you even know what it is, yourself?" Mindy shot back. "We can''t give up! We have a chance to stop the war before it happens, save countless lives¡­ and we''ve already come this far! We can''t stop now!"

    "The war has already begun. Haven''t you heard? Even I''ve heard of it, and I''m basically a hermit''s apprentice." Darian informed her. "It''s already too late to stop the war."

    "It''s¡­ already started?!" Mindy gasped. "Then we have to stop it! We have to find the Source and tell them they don''t need to fight any more¡­"

    "What makes you think that the Source would be of any help in ending the war peacefully? It''s much more likely to drive them into an even bigger frenzy fighting over it."

    "We can figure out ''how'' after we get it." Mindy took another step up the mountain.

    "Don''t!" Darian shot the fireball onto the path directly in front of Mindy. "There must be a reason why Doom refuses to go anywhere near the Source or to let anyone else get to it! Think about it!"

    "I think he just wants you to get some combat experience." Mindy scoffed. "Some sort of tempering training."

    "Are you confusing Doom with Remian?"

    "What do you mean?"

    "Isn''t that why he sent you out here on your own? For tempering?"

    "That''s not it!"

    But was it? Mindy herself wasn''t sure. When she stopped to think about it, that really did sound like something Remian would do.

    But it was necessary, wasn''t it? Otherwise, he would surely have picked something more doable, less dangerous, like a solo trip to trade with the Sea People, or a trip to the Rain Sultanate to pick up more of his family, some cousins or some such¡­

    Sending her deep into the Wildlands with just a motley crew like this just seemed like a lot. "For a tempering trip, this seems like far too much for a twelve year-old girl to handle!"

    "You can do it." Darian said, with confidence. "Otherwise, I wouldn''t have come out here to stop you."

    Was it strange that Mindy found his faith in her oddly encouraging? Especially when he was trying to stop her?

    "If you''re determined to stop me, then you better be prepared! I''m not going to hold back!" Mindy threatened.

    "Chirp!" Aeyrie said in support. [Me too!]

    Which reminded Mindy. "Where''s Har''es-dras? Waiting to swoop down on us somewhere?"

    Darian grimaced. "He''s¡­ not coming."

    "Not coming?" Mindy echoed, blinking.

    "Chirp!!" Aeyrie burst out laughing.

    Mindy looked at her and quickly realized why. "He''s afraid of the Roc!"

    That was a bird that ate dragons and Bog Serpents, after all.

    Darian was alone, without his backup. Mindy was without her airship, the magi, the knights, the priest, and her mentor. But at least she still had Aeyrie.

    And he still had the red crystal.

    Mindy grimaced. "I might really have to kiss him this time."

    Darian took a wary step back. Electricity arced around him threateningly. "I''m not going to fall for the same trick twice!"

    Mindy lunged. Darian darted to one side. "Vines!"

    Thick, strong vines burst out of the ground, tangling her feet. Mindy tripped, would have fallen, but she was already half-wrapped up in plant-ropes before she could even hit the ground. Eyes, narrowed, she pulled out a scroll. "Wind!"

    A powerful stream of air hammered at Darian. This wasn''t a gentle breeze sort of wind; this was a jet-stream burst designed as an emergency propellent for airships. Darian wasn''t dumb enough to try and block it; he leapt high, jumping over the directed stream and faced Mindy from six feet above ground level¡­

    BAM! Aeyrie struck. The Eagle Princess swooped down on Darian the way eagles do upon their prey. She rammed into him from behind, claws extended, but he was far too heavy for her to simply sweep away, and as a result, they both went flying forward, right into Mindy.

    Mindy saw them approaching uncontrollably, and her eyes fastened on the red crystal. If she could just get her hands on it, get that away from him¡­

    NOW! As they got close enough, Mindy made an all-out desperate grab for the crystal.

    BANG! Everything crashed together at the same time. Mindy had a bare moment to exult in successfully grabbing that crystal when Darian rammed straight into her uncontrollably, eyes wide, the two of them coming together face to face, lip to lip¡­

    She had a bare moment to realize that they really did kiss before their heads collided painfully, and everything went black.

    ***

    [Uh¡­ whoops¡­?] Aeyrie looked at the two humans lying unconscious in the tangled vine together and blinked. [What do I do now?]

    Well, they were here to see Gramps, right? Aeyrie hesitated over those two humans for a bit, but then she saw the guy wearing metal come out of the fog, and decided they were going to be okay.

    Since she didn''t have to worry about Mindy any more, all Aeyrie had to do was fly up the mountain herself. She might not be able to make it all in one go, perhaps taking breaks several times before she got close enough to call to Gramps psionically, but she could definitely fly up a lot faster than Mindy could climb.

    There was nobody to stop her any more. No Darian, no Har''es-dras, no Dad, nobody. Chirping happily to herself, Aeyrie went to see Gramps.

    ***

    Professor Alexei was dreaming of accidentally ending up in a steam bath together with a certain good-looking female lecturer at the College of Magi when he was very rudely and very suddenly snatched right out of his dream.

    "Wha¡­?!" Alexei gasped and breathed in clean air, caught up in claws that were far, far too big to hold just a single frail human being in their grasp. "WHOA¡­!"

    He looked up only to see that it was night-time, or something. Everything was entirely dark, those claws were all he could make out, talons large enough to hold a house in their grasp, almost gingerly carrying one little human being in a cage-like pinch.

    There was someone in the other claw, it seemed. Alexei couldn''t see him very clearly, but he wasn''t the only one being hauled away like this.

    But the shape of the claws and the fact that they were flying clued him in. The creature that caught him out of the fog was a bird. Gigantic didn''t even begin to describe it. The size of it! This bird totally blotted out the sky and the sun. Alexei had been outright convinced it was night time just a few moments ago.

    Then, just as suddenly, they swooped down and he was dropped. Alexei didn''t have time to scream before he landed in the mud, only then realizing that he''d been released just a couple of feet above the soft marshland.

    "Alexei!" Father Petrov was there, helping him to his feet. Nearby was one of the students, dropped into the mud like himself; Sir Ivan was helping him up. "You made it!"

    "What¡­ how¡­?" Alexei stumbled. "Where¡­?"

    "We''re clear of the Bog. It''s the Roc King. The Eagle Princess managed to ask it for help." Father Petrov explained. "But¡­ I''m sorry, Alexei. A few of us didn''t make it."

    "How¡­ how many?" Alexei asked.

    "Three. We lost three." Father Petrov said.

    Then there was a huge crash, and the whole earth shook, or at least that''s how it felt to Alexei. Whole trees fell over as a mountain-like figure descended and two monstrously huge claws sunk deep onto the ground.

    "What does it want?" Alexei gasped.

    "Um¡­" Father Petrov hesitated, turning to the Eagle Princess.

    "Chirp." She said.

    "I think he''s offering to give us a ride." Father Petrov told him.

 180 Beyond Mount Roc

    When Mindy opened her eyes, she had a dinner of grilled fish already waiting for her.

    Seriously, that was the first thing she noticed. It smelled delicious and she was hungry.

    How long had it been since she ate? It felt like a whole day. Glancing up at the sky, Mindy figured that most of the day had in fact already passed¡­

    She sat up, looked around for the food¡­ and then her head spun.

    "Ugh¡­" Mindy shut her eyes tight. Pain throbbed. "My head¡­"

    "Yeah, Ivan tells us that you and that boy went head-to-head in a literal sense." Father Petrov came over with grilled fish-on-a-stick. "Here."

    "He''s still here¡­?" Mindy took the fish, took a bite, and glanced around.

    "Tied to that tree." Father Petrov pointed.

    There he was, lying on his side, his hands bound behind his back with a few feet of rope leading to the tree. Darian wasn''t the only one tied to it. Vigil was too. They were both currently asleep, the wolfcat cub serving as Darian''s pillow. Ivan was standing guard over them, keeping watch while the others ate. Carrie and four other wolfcats were lounging around a stream nearby.

    Mindy counted. Along with Father Petrov and Alexei, only one of the students was there having dinner.

    "Where''s everyone else?" Mindy asked.

    "Didn''t make it." Father Petrov shook his head. "We lost three in the Bog, and one more when we landed. We''re on the other side of Mount Roc, by the way. Your eagle friend brought the super bird and it gave us a lift this far. But then, the minute the Roc left us, an oversized spider attacked. We couldn''t get to him in time."

    They were already across Mount Roc? Wait, before that¡­ "A spider attacked? Just how big was it?"

    "Not counting its legs, about the size of a cow."

    Oh. That explains it.

    So¡­ now what? Why didn''t ''Gramps'' Roc take them farther? Why only this far? Now they had to go the rest of the way on foot, and they didn''t even know how far ''the rest of the way'' was. They only knew it was going to be even more dangerous, and they were already in over their heads.

    Mindy sighed. "We should make a deal with Darian."

    "What?" Father Petrov blinked.

    "Do you remember how I asked the Professor to invite some other Adventurers on this trip?" Mindy mentioned.

    Father Petrov thought back. "He said there was no need and no time, that our crew was enough to handle whateer came, and if war started, people would be dying every hour¡­ I''m guessing you have some regrets about that."

    "It was his decision, but it was a very poor one." Mindy rubbed her forehead. "Our crew obviously wasn''t enough to handle anything we faced, and the way we are now, continuing on sounds like suicide. The smart thing about be to turn back. But we can''t, can we?"

    "I don''t think we can. We have come this far. The mana here is five times thicker than what I''m used to back at Ecclesia. We''re close. We can all feel it."

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    "The Wilds here are stronger than ever though."

    "The richer the mana, the stronger the wildlife will be. That just makes sense." Father Petrov nodded.

    "I''ll tell you what else makes sense; getting help from the strongest warrior in the Wildlands." Mindy jerked her thumb toward the boy and the wolfcat tied to the tree. "That''s him, in case you haven''t noticed."

    "Unfortunately, he seems to be bent on stopping us." Father Petrov grimaced. "Plus, he seems to have lost his red crystal. That would mean a drastic reduction of the fighting power he had shown us before. In fact, without that crystal, I''m not sure he''s even a match for Sir Ivan''s squire any more."

    "We could have them fight it out and see." Mindy mused. "But that can wait until after we find the Source of Magic."

    She went over to talk to Darian.

    "You want me to help you?" Darian yawned. "No. Not going to do it."

    "We''ll set you free." Mindy offered.

    "Then I''ll lose my excuse to take a vacation. I''ve been thinking, and in the end, well¡­ I think I''ll just stay tied up, thanks."

    "You call this a ''vacation''?" Mindy blinked.

    "Yeah, I rarely have a chance to go an entire day without training."

    "What''s so bad about training?"

    "Burning blood and freezing cold water, plus tons of lake pressure on top of me, to begin with. I''m really sick and tired of all the pain."

    "So quit. Stop following Doom and come join us. The fun is over on our side."

    Darian snorted a laugh. "Maybe one day. But not today. Today, I''m just going to chill."

    "We could torture you until you cooperate. You''re our prisoner, after all." Mindy threatened.

    "You wouldn''t." Darian stared at her.

    "Try me." Mindy pulled out a soft feather that Aeyrie had given her long ago.

    "That''s not going to work." Darian shook his head, and laid down. "Good night."

    Mindy stared, then started tickling his neck with the feather.

    A strange shimmer appeared around Darian, covering him from head to toe.

    "What''s that?" Mindy asked.

    "It''s a Silhuoette. Just a thin little layer, nothing to be afraid of." Darian yawned. "It''s great for keeping bugs away¡­ and ticklish feathers."

    Mindy scowled. "I''ll¡­ I''ll blast you with fireballs!"

    "And draw attention from the local Wilds? That sounds like a terrible idea."

    That was an excellent point. They really, really didn''t want the local Wilds after them.

    "Tell you what. You agree to drop the search, and I''ll escort you all back safely." Darian offered.

    "No way. Nuh uh." Mindy shook her head.

    "Don''t be so quick to refuse. Any time now, you''re going to wish you''d agreed." Darian informed her.

    "Oh, really? And why is that?" Mindy asked.

    "Because you people were cooking." Darian said, simply.

    Mindy frowned. "So?"

    "So every Wild for miles around can smell it."

    Mindy''s eyes widened. "Alert! Everyone! We have to¡­"

    ROAR! Too late. A scaly horned beast was already charging out from its cover where it had been stalking them. Sensing the rising alarm, it had decided that NOW was the time to strike.

    The ground shook. Mindy bounced off it, half-yelping, half trying to say something coherent, almost biting her own tongue. She landed and bounced a second time, a third, a fourth¡­

    At this point, Mindy was on all fours, gritting her teeth and just trying to stay on solid ground. She saw the enormous, lunkering beast trample Sir Ivan''s squire into the mud. It was on a full-on rampage. People were trying to cast spells, to run, to¡­

    "Ugh!" Mindy wasn''t sure what that student was trying to do, but whatever it was, the beast got to him before he could do it.

    There was a rough jerk, and Mindy suddenly found herself being pulled away through the air, then swept around in a tight semi-circle. When the world stopped spinning, she found herself standing with her back to the tree where Darian and Vigil were tied, except that they weren''t tied up any more, they were next to her, Darian''s back likewise up against the tree, Vigil in one arm, Mindy in the other¡­

    For a moment, one bare moment, Mindy considered throwing his arm off, but considering that he might need to grab her and run away in a hurry, she decided to let him save her life and keep her life safe, for now¡­

    So much for him being tied up. Those ropes must have seemed like a joke to him.

    "We''re going back¡­" Darian said decisively.

    "No¡­!"

    "You''re in no position to argue."

    Mindy growled. She sent her thoughts far, seeking out her friend.

    [Aeyrie! Help!]

 181 Chirpy 1

    Aeyrie had to drop her visit to her Gramps and rush to Mindy''s aid. Since it was urgent, she had to ask her Gramps to help her get there faster.

    [That area is the territory of the Flame Emperor. I shouldn''t enter uninvited.] the Roc King hesitated.

    [Gramps! My friend is in danger! She needs me!] Aeyrie was half-frantic.

    [Fine. I will take you there¡­ but I will not linger.] the great Roc decided.

    So it was that Aeyrie was rushed over, in mere minutes covering the distance the expedition took a day to sneak through. She was unceremoniously dropped off in mid-air and left to her own wings as her Gramps casually returned as if his intrusion upon the Flame Emperor''s domain was nothing more than a slip of the wind and the wing¡­

    Aeyrie meanwhile found Mindy in a queer sort of sneaking tug-of-war with Darian, a rope, a wolfcat cub, and a tree.

    [Uh¡­ should I come back later?] Aeyrie asked, undecided.

    [HELP!!] Mindy struggled. [He''s trying to take me home!]

    [Aww. That''s so sweet.]

    [Context, Aeyrie, context! I need to finish this expedition and he''s trying to stop me! Help me out here!]

    [I''d worry more about the Rhinotle rampaging around over there than the boy trying to keep you safe¡­] Aeyrie mentioned.

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    [Me too, but that''s besides the point! The expedition must go on! We can''t give up now! We''ve come so far already, we must be close!]

    [You''re already inside the territory of the Flame Emperor. Not even Gramps would dare come in this deep if I hadn''t begged him.]

    [Great. Thanks. Now, will you do something?]

    [What can I do? You''re too heavy for me to grab and fly off with. You know that. What do you expect me to do?]

    [I don''t know! Something! Anything!]

    [Fine!] Aeyrie pounced on the wolfcat cub and grabbed the little fellow right off his paws.

    "YIP!" Vigil yelped, suddenly caught away by the Eagle Princess.

    [Human! I have your wolfcat! Follow me if you ever want to see your friend alive again!] Aeyrie flew off to the north with Vigil in her claws.

    "Vigil!" Darian gasped. "She''s taking him hostage?!"

    "What''s it going to be, Darian? Waste time trying to stop me, or rescue your Comrade?" Mindy barked.

    Darian hesitated just a few heartbeats more, then growled, "I''ll be back!"

    He dashed off after Aeyrie and Vigil.

    Mindy seized her chance and ran for it. As quietly and as nimbly as she could, she headed for the thickest tree cover in the area, and all but dove into the undergrowth in seconds.

    All alone, she hid as the beast tore up the remains of the camp. Everyone else had already fled and scattered, but Mindy didn''t try to call out or look for them. It was just too dangerous right now.

    "I should have eaten more fish¡­" she whispered to herself, as she crawled her way through the bushes, stealthily heading south toward the increasingly dense mana.

    ***

    That night, Mindy slept under a pile of leaves in a hollow trunk. She was awoken, groggy and hungry and needing to relieve herself, by the sense of something approaching her hollow.

    Suddenly fearful, she sprang fiercely into defensive action, letting out as great a roar as she could manage, pouncing forward aggressively, desperate to scare away whatever predator intended to have her for breakfast¡­

    "CHIRP!!" the ''predator'' visiting her fell over backwards, fluffy wings flailing, both legs waving helplessly in the air. "Chirp, chirp!"

    It was a chick. A red one. Small enough to fit in Mindy''s hand, soft and fluffy and round, with a round head and wide, terrified eyes. It looked like it was about to faint, what with Mindy pouncing fiercely on it out of the utter blue.

    "Shh! Quiet!" Mindy shut its beak with her fingers, then looked around outside, eyes wide. "We don''t want to attract predators!"

    The little bird froze. It, too, glanced around nervously.

    But the morning was quiet. If Mindy''s yell had indeed drawn attention, maybe it hadn''t been enough to pinpoint her location.

    After a while, she relaxed and heaved a sigh of relief. Releasing the chick, Mindy sat back down and leaned against the inside of the trunk tiredly. "Whew."

    "Chirp." The fluffy red chick eyed her inquisitively.

    "Sorry. I thought you wanted to eat me." Mindy said, letting out a small chuckle. "But I guess you''re just looking for grubs and worms for breakfast." She gestured at the ground vaguely. "Go right ahead."

    The chick eyed her warily, studied the ground a bit, then turned back to her and looked at her up and down very, very curiously.

    "Stop that. I don''t have anything for you." Mindy said, feeling around in her pockets, wondering if perhaps she''d forgotten a biscuit or some crumbs or even a piece of fish in them¡­

    But no. All she had in her pockets were a compass, a feather and Darian''s red mana crystal. Looking at those three things in her hand, Mindy shook her head. "See? Nothing to eat."

    The little red chick came over, sniffing the feather warily.

    "It''s from a friend of mine. I didn''t steal it." Mindy said defensively. "Aeyrie gave it to me. We''re friends. Friends." She emphasized.

    The red chick looked at her. Mindy looked back.

    Then, as quick as lightning, the little thing pounced on the red mana crystal and ate it.

    ***

    "NOOOO!" Mindy yelped, hurriedly keeping the compass and the feather before the fluffy critter could eat those too. "Give it back! Spit it out! Bad bird! BAD BIRD!!"

    That was a red mana crystal! It contained as much energy as a hundred blue mana crystals, or ten thousand yellow mana crystals! That one crystal alone could power the entire Red Fang for months, maybe years to come! With the price of mana skyrocketing everywhere, she could have sold that crystal for millions and millions of Lir! That kind of money could be enough to buy an entire new Sky Galleon! Mindy even had thoughts that if the expedition truly failed, if they could not find the Source of Magic, at the very least, they would have found a resource of magic in that one crystal that could possibly have made it worth all their trouble in the end¡­

    But before Mindy could even seriously consider it, the crystal was gone. Disappeared in a quick gulp down the gullet of a little bird small enough for her to squeeze in her hands and choke to an untimely demise¡­

    As was currently the case.

    "Ch¡­ir¡­p!" the red chick gasped, flailing, face turning purplish, one wing tapping Mindy''s tightened fist in surrender. It let out a breathless plea. "Ch..irrrppp!"

    "Ugh." Mindy relaxed her grip. "I guess it''s already gone down. Maybe it''s better to let you live and wait for you to poop it out than strangle you now and later have to cut your carcass open."

    Plus, she didn''t have a knife. Cutting the bird open would be rather tricky without one. Were there any nice sharp pieces of stone nearby¡­?

    "Chirp¡­" the little bird breathed, flopping down in relief. Then, it made as if to leave the hollow.

    "Nuh-uh. You''re not going anywhere." Mindy said sharply.

    "Ch¡­irp?" the bird blinked at her, scared.

    "You''re not leaving my sight until you poop my crystal out! Until then, you''re coming with me!"

 182 Chirpy 2

    For quite a while now, Mindy had speculated about what it would be like when she finally explored the deep Wildlands. She imagined a great expedition, hundreds of adventurers, Remian and Tim and George at her side, and a whole fleet of airships at her command¡­

    Well, since seeing the Roc King, Mindy began to realize that bringing an airship or ten would have been a very bad idea. That one bird alone could easily have wiped out her entire fleet before breakfast and still need more exercise to work up a sweat. Roc aside, just the dragons at Dragon Lake were enough to ensure a fleet of airships never got past them. Har''es-dras proved that easily enough.

    But even so¡­! Compared with her dreams and expectations, this reality was just...

    Mindy shook her head and shook off that train of thoughts before she rode it right into the pits of despair. With a fluffy red chick in one hand and a compass in the other, she sneaked her way through every bit of tree cover she could find as she fumbled her way south.

    She was all alone. Well, not really, since she had a bird in her hand; wasn''t that supposed to be better than two birds in the bush?

    But at this point, Mindy would gladly have traded her one for two in the bush if it only meant she could get her red crystal back. If nothing else, that crystal represented a whole lot of firepower she could use to defend herself in the deep wildlands.

    During her crawl, Mindy came across quite a number of grubs. Maggots, worms, beetles, stuff she didn''t even know the names of¡­ she saw lots of them. Every time she found them, she offered them to the little bird that she unceremoniously named ''Chirpy''. "Here! Breakfast!"

    But always, Chirpy would turn away from those bugs, refusing to eat.

    "What kind of chicken are you?" Mindy scowled. "Chickens eat bugs, right? Stop being so fussy! Eat up and poop the crystal out already!"

    Despite its refusing to eat, though, Chirpy turned out to be more cooperative than she expected. For example, it didn''t try to run away any more, instead looking to her intently as if expecting her to produce even more red crystals for it to eat.

    More importantly, Chirpy seemed to know the area better than Mindy. Several times during their trudge, it warned her of danger ahead. Like most of the Wilds, Chirpy had at least a little bit of Psionic ability. While the thoughts of the little bird were nowhere near as clear or coherent as that of Aeyrie or Carrie, it was enough for Mindy to understand when something fearful was ahead.

    ***

    As one day passed into the next, Chirpy started to give her directions. It knew easier trails, safer passes, quicker ways south. Every time it did, the bird would look to Mindy pleadingly, as if hoping it had earned some merit in its favor.

    "Okay, fine. You have been helpful." Mindy admitted by the second day. "But that doesn''t mean I''m just going to let you off the hook! When are you going to poop out my crystal?"

    "Chirp¡­" Chirpy lowered its head apologetically.

    "Hey, don''t you go pretending it wasn''t your fault!" Mindy scolded.

    ***

    But on the third day, she relented.

    "Okay, so maybe it wasn''t entirely your fault. It might have been mine, too, holding out those things in my hand. You must have thought I was offering them to you." Mindy admitted grudgingly. "And then you mistakenly ate something you''re not supposed to. How would you know better, after all? You''re just a baby."

    "Chirp¡­?" Chirpy peered at her hopefully.

    "Yeah, yeah, okay. You''re forgiven." Mindy sighed. "Hello, Chirpy. I''m Mindy. Let''s be friends... but I still want my crystal back."

    ***

    Two days later, she got worried. "Hey, are you okay, Chirpy? You haven''t eaten anything for days¡­ is your stomach okay? Did the crystal get stuck? Is that why you''re not hungry? I still have some of that fruit we found earlier, and yesterday''s berries¡­ you should eat something, even if you don''t feel like it..."

    But Chirpy refused to eat. Not even Mindy''s cajoling could coax her.

    Yes, Chirpy was a ''her''. Mindy felt sure of it now. At least, her gut said so.

    And by this time, Mindy was glad for her company. Otherwise, she would truly have been alone, out here in the endlessly dangerous Wildlands, with no one to warn her of dangers ahead, or better paths to take. Mindy felt sure she owed her life to Chirpy several times over by now, and her well-being at least a dozen times over.

    "Chirpy, you have to take care of yourself." Mindy whispered. "Because I don''t know how to take care of you."

    ***

    The next day, they began to enter a thin fog. Mindy was worried, at first, sniffing the air cautiously, wary of falling into another Bog-dream. But this was no Bog; the ground beneath her feet was solid, often rocky and relatively dry. The fog smelled clean, and there was no way around it as far as the eye could see. If she was going to continue south, she would have to enter the fog.

    "Chirp." Chirpy sent her a direction psionically.

    "You still know your way around?" Mindy let out a low whistle. "If this fog gets much thicker, I won''t even be able to see my way around any more."

    "Chirp." The little bird said confidently.

    ***

    On the seventh day, Mindy found herself entirely lost in the immense fog. If not for the bird and the compass, she wouldn''t even be able to tell that she was still headed south. The mists were thick now, and strangely, getting warmer.

    Weren''t clouds supposed to be cold? She could understand lower clouds covering the mountain, and over the past week the terrain had generally been on an incline, so they had to be pretty high up above sea level, but¡­ why were these clouds warm? It was like she was surrounded by steam rather than mist.

    And then the worst thing happened.

    She began to smell something bad, and the farther they walked, the worse the smell got.

    "Hold up¡­" Mindy coughed, cleared her throat, and worked a bit of wind magic. It was a few minutes before she could breathe clean air, but filtering away the stench was going to be a steady drain on her mana. She''d have to be careful not to drain it all up too quickly, which meant breathing sparingly. "Let''s hurry, Chirpy. I''m not sure I can keep this up for long."

    "Chirp!" the little bird tugged at her urgently. "Chirp!"

    Trusting her new friend, Mindy stumbled through the fog, almost blindly fumbling her way across the mountain, not knowing what the smell was or why Chirpy chose the trails she chose, only that they were still heading south and that the mana density was still getting thicker, as was the fog and the weird yellowish colors starting to show in the steam.

    And then they broke out of the fog, into the open, and Mindy found herself staring down a sheer cliff at a huge pit of fire and lava.

    Oh, and one more thing.

    Staring straight at Mindy out from the volcano were a pair of eyes of a size comparable to the quarry at Kara-Goth, over a beak large enough to eat an entire Sky Fortress whole. Comparing the Roc King to the bird in the volcano was like comparing Chirpy to Aeyrie. Its very figure and feathers appeared to be formed of flame itself. It was actually hard to tell where this bird ended and the inferno all around it began.

    Mindy didn''t need anyone to tell her who this bird of fire was.

    It could only be the Flame Emperor.

    "Chirp!" Chirpy announced brightly.

    Then she jumped off the cliff and went straight down into the lava.

    "Chirpy!" Mindy gasped, instinctively grasping for the red chick in a valiant but vain effort to save her.

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    Too late. Far, far too late. Chirpy was already gone, disappeared beneath the magma.

    Along with, Mindy figured, all her hopes of ever getting the red crystal back.

    And then Chirpy burst out of the lava, completely on fire, growing in size right before Mindy''s eyes. Her wings stretched out, her body and tail lengthened, even her head shaped up as she matured visibly in moments¡­

    "C...Chirpy?" Mindy gaped.

    "Keaa!" Chirpy greeted her with a deeper voice, and then flew straight into the eye of the Flame Emperor.

    "Chirpy!" Mindy was completely slack-jawed by now. That bird had given her far, far too many surprises already but this had gone beyond mind-blowing.

    Yet even as she watched, Chirpy turned into a stream of flame and disappeared into the Flame Emperor''s eye.

    And then a Psionic voice that made the entire cavern visibly shake thundered in her head.

    The Flame Emperor said [Hello, Mindy.]

 183 Encountering the Source of Magic

    Ten days after the expedition to the south began, three bedraggled figures emerged from the steam and smoke of the Flame Emperor''s domain.

    One of them was limping along with the help of some makeshift crutches. One more had his arm in a sling. The third one was stumbling about in broken pieces of armor hastily cobbled together and on the verge of falling apart at any moment.

    Father Petrov, Professor Alexei and Sir Ivan had finally made it through the mountainous region.

    And before them¡­ was a land of death.

    "What¡­ what happened here?" Father Petrov stared, stunned.

    The land was black. Actually, more than half of it looked semi-liquid. There were blackened bones everywhere, skeletons of beasts that would take thousands of words to describe for no other reason than to increase this chapter''s word count. Suffice to say the variety was very wide, and even looking at the bones, these three men felt they had been fierce beasts.

    The important thing was that the skeletons were very, very large. The smallest ones were around Tier 4, and those were rare. The majority were Tier 5, easily the size of houses, and Tier 6, the size of a block of commercial shoplots. They were everywhere, the entire horizon was littered with bones as far as the eye could see.

    Very little plant-life covered these forms. It was like the plants around the wildlands just flat out refused to go anywhere near that plain of death.

    "I think it''s oil." Sir Ivan said, crouching over the ground and touching it hesitantly. "Black oil."

    "Nobody light a fire." Father Petrov said fervently. "Whatever you do, do not cast fire magic here!"

    "It''s okay, I think." Professor Alexei mused. "The oil has lain dormant over the ground for a long time. We won''t really have to worry about it all catching fire suddenly. It''s the fumes we need to worry about. That''s the stuff that catches fire. Unless a disturbance causes fumes to rise, there shouldn''t be anything to worry about."

    "But the mana density is coming from deep inside this death zone, isn''t it?" Father Petrov grimaced. "We''re going to have to walk right into it to find the Source. In other words¡­ we''d be that very disturbance you were talking about."

    "How much farther?" Sir Ivan asked. "Can we go around it?"

    Professor Alexei shook his head. "It''s very close now. Mana density here is ten times greater than that of Ecclesia. It''s so thick, I feel like I could fly without an airship, just using wind magic, if I tried. Looking at far how this field stretches, and how close the Source feels¡­ I get the feeling that the Source of Magic is somewhere inside that death zone."

    "Figures. It''s no wonder the legends say it''s evil." Sir Ivan muttered darkly.

    "What do you think happened out here? Did the Wilds fight each other over the Source of Magic?" Father Petrov hazarded a guess.

    "Who knows? Whatever happened, it happened a very long time ago." Alexei took a deep breath, braced himself, and walked right into the black.

    His footsteps squished as he walked. He sank almost an inch into the ground with every step he took. He turned around with a grimace. "About those fumes and the disturbance we were talking about¡­ we''re definitely going to stir things up. Absolutely do not start a fire."

    "Right." Father Petrov took one step forward, and paused.

    "What are we waiting for?" Alexei asked.

    "Me!" a voice called from behind. "Wait for me!"

    They turned to see Mindy emerging from the fog, looking very dirty, and very worn-out, but smiling brightly as she emerged and took a moment to bask in the warm sun. "Aah¡­ that feels good."

    "You have a sword?" Sir Ivan asked. Trust a knight to ignore all the other aspects of her well-being and notice her weapon first.

    "Kind of." Mindy shrugged, one hand on the hilt at her side. It was a short one, barely over a foot long, similar to the shape and style of the Iron Legion gladius, but judging by the shape of the sheath, just a bit broader. Also, the sheath was a dark red, almost brown.

    "Might I borrow it if the need arises?" Sir Ivan asked. "I have lost all my weapons during the course of the journey here."

    Ah. So that''s why.

    But Mindy shook her head. "Sorry, Sir Ivan. I would, but this one''s special. I can''t lend it out."

    Sir Ivan sighed. "Bone it is, then."

    He got to work on a nearby skeleton, something with bones not quite so badly blackened, and started to try and pull out a relatively straight, sharp piece. "Go ahead, I''ll catch up in a minute."

    "We''ll wait." Father Petrov insisted.

    Alexei grunted. "We''ve already waited this long. What''s another minute, eh?"

    Mindy cautiously examined the ground, the bones, the air, sniffing and peering and shaking her head all to herself with her hand on the hilt of her new sword. At length, she grimaced but said nothing.

    Father Petrov nudged her. "Hey. It''s good to see you again. I''m glad you made it."

    "Me too." Mindy grinned. "For a while back there, I wasn''t sure anyone would survive this trip at all."

    But here they were, on the edge of their destination, in a land where it seemed the Wilds dared not intrude upon.

    "Think there''s any last, hidden dangers around here?" Father Petrov squinted. "Other than gas fumes?"

    "Yep. Probably." Mindy figured. "We can''t relax just yet."

    "Got it!" Sir Ivan waved his new bone spear around triumphantly. "Now I am armed!"

    "Great." Professor Alexei held up his hand and before their eyes, a bluish form started to take shape. In moments, he held a gladius formed entirely of ice. "Me, too."

    "Wow. I didn''t know you could do that." Mindy said, eyes wide.

    "Normally, my ice magic is limited to chilling drinks with cubes and maybe a few shards, but the mana here is so thick¡­ so heavy¡­ I think¡­ maybe¡­" Alexei hesitated, then raised his other hand, and more ice began to form, crackling as a bluish buckler formed on his arm. "Yes. I can even manage that!"

    "Do you think maybe this is it?" Father Petrov asked dubiously. "That perhaps this is the evil Source of Magic we were looking for? A graveyard of dead Wilds, producing mana out of their decay?"

    "No. There is thicker mana ahead. I can feel it. It calls to me¡­" Alexei whispered, turning around and going deeper into the dead lands. "It''s close. So close."

    Ten minutes in, Father Petrov yawned. "Come on. Where is it? We should be right on top of it by now. You don''t think it might be buried, or sunk under the oil, do you?"

    "Shh!" Sir Ivan grasped his arm hastily. "Quiet!"

    Father Petrov blinked, and lowered his voice. "Why?"

    "There''s something moving in the oil." Sir Ivan pointed. "Something alive."

    Petrov gulped and stopped for a moment.

    "Keep going." Mindy whispered. "There''s nowhere to run. Just¡­ don''t cause a ruckus."

    They all but tiptoed forward as best they could, wincing with every squish and squelch of their footsteps despite their best efforts.

    Almost before they knew it, they crept around some particularly large skeletons and suddenly found themselves overlooking a deep crater.

    Father Petrov was visibly trembling by the time. Alexei looked enthralled, almost ecstatic as they reached the crater. Even Sir Ivan could sense that something was up with it.

    "We''re here." Alexei said. "This is the Source of Magic."

    "Where is it?" Sir Ivan asked. "I don''t see anything. Is it buried in that crater?"

    "No. It''s there." Alexei pointed.

    There, in the air, was a dim, faint line, crooked like a vein¡­ with odd, orange light gleaming from it.

    "What¡­ what is that?" Sir Ivan asked.

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    "That, my friend, is where all the mana in our world is coming from." Father Petrov grimaced. "The Source of Magic is a crack in space."

 184 Regarding the Source of Magic

    "This¡­" Alexei stared in disbelief. "How are we supposed to take this back with us?!"

    Mindy barked a low laugh. "You can''t. There''s no taking it away."

    Father Petrov eyed her. "You don''t seem surprised."

    "I made friends with a bird who told me about it. I just had to see it for myself. And so did you." Mindy admitted.

    "So¡­ what do we do?" Sir Ivan asked.

    Alexei was inspecting it. "This crack¡­ it seems to be a leak in some sort of seal. The mana we have now is just what''s leaking out from the seal."

    "Or its what came out before the seal was put in place." Father Petrov mused.

    "Well, you can''t do anything with it." Mindy shrugged. "I guess this brings our trip to its conclusion."

    "Not exactly. If mana is what it takes to stop the war, then¡­" Father Petrov hesitated.

    "Then if there were a way to remove the seal, mana would pour into the world undeterred and everyone would have so much mana, we wouldn''t need to fight for crystals." Sir Ivan said. "Something like that?"

    "That sounds great. Let''s do it. We''ll be famous." Alexei lit up. "At least then our efforts would not be for nothing. We''d be the heroes who saved the world."

    "Presumably." Father Petrov grimaced. "But that''s assuming the best. There are a lot of things that could go horribly wrong."

    "Like?"

    "Like removing the seal causes the whole world to get sucked out like water in a sink after you remove the stopper." Father Petrov suggested.

    Alexei shook his head. "Mana is coming in from there, and I don''t feel any suction. More likely it''s that other world on the other side that''s going to get sucked into ours. Assuming that it really is another world on the other side of that seal."

    "Which is just as worrisome. What if it''s not a world? What if it just leads to an endless ocean of mana, and mana just keeps pouring into our world until¡­"

    "Until what?"

    "I don''t know! Until we drown in it, or explode, or something!" Father Petrov grunted. "The legends claim the Source of Magic is evil. Haven''t you even been wondering why?"

    Alexei turned a bit red.

    "You haven''t?" Petrov stared. "Since discovering the seal, you didn''t even consider whether what kind of consequences could arise if we somehow unleashed a terrible evil upon the world?"

    "Unleash an evil¡­? That''s absurd." Alexei began.

    "That''s exactly what it sounds like you''re about to do." Sir Ivan cut in. "We don''t know what''s on the other side of that seal! If mana is so great and the Source is sealed up, then that Seal must be there for a reason! All the stories about evil at the Source must be there for a reason!"

    "Whatever it is, it''s beyond ancient! Whatever dangers our ancestors were so terrified of, the power of modern man and magic can easily handle it!" Alexei bristled.

    "We can''t even handle the Wilds." Mindy cut in. "And the Wilds themselves wouldn''t come near it."

    "If I didn''t have to, I wouldn''t want to enter these dead lands either." Father Petrov confessed.

    Sparks ignited. Mindy and Petrov turned to see Alexei raising both hands, purplish energy gathering in them as he chanted something in a low voice.

    "Alexei! Stop! We didn''t agree to this!" Father Petrov yelped.

    "Don''t do it! No!" Mindy jumped at him.

    Alexei''s eyes narrowed. He lowered his hands ¨C toward Mindy.

    Mindy halted, staring. She tensed, feet primed to dodge.

    Petrov grabbed at him. "Wait! Alexei! Think about it¡­!"

    Alexei snarled, flinging Petrov aside. Magical energy burst out. There was a clap like thunder; Petrov took the full blast of the gathered power and went flying, literally flying through the air.

    "Father Petrov!" Sir Ivan abandoned his ragged armor and leapt into the air to catch him. They collided painfully and went tumbling several meters over, but finally, Ivan managed to land on his feet, with his ward secured.

    Alexei turned his back on his old friend, and a sustained burst of writing purple energy began to bore into the Seal.

    Mindy laid her hand on her sword. "Don''t make me do this."

    "You think you can threaten me with a sword?!" Alexei scoffed. "Go play with your toys somewhere else, girl! Better yet, go home and do your homework, or I''ll have you in detention!"

    "What''s wrong with you?" Mindy barked. "You''re not thinking straight! Wake up, Professor! Something is wrong!"

    "Nothing is wrong! I am thinking more clearly than ever!" Alexei proclaimed. "I have never been so clear in my life!"

    "Is it the mana density?" Mindy gasped. "Professor, are you drunk?!"

    "Power! Everything comes from power! All the glory¡­ all the fame¡­" Alexei suddenly fell quiet. A tear actually dripped from one eye. "They''ll finally appreciate me. They''ll finally listen to what I say."

    "Professor!" Mindy shouted. "Wake up! This is no time for a drunken sob story! If you don''t stop casting, I''m going to have to draw my sword! The moment that happens, you''re going to die!"

    "Why?" The professor suddenly asked Mindy in a pleading voice. "Why do you still try to stop me?"

    "Because I promised my friend!" Mindy braced herself. "She told me about the Source of Magic! It is a great evil, and it was sealed away, and the Wilds always watch it with a wary eye! I promised her! We can see it for ourselves, but then we have to stop! We have to leave it alone!"

    "YOU promised? I must fail my life''s greatest ambition, because YOU promised? After coming all this way, surviving all the horrors of these wastelands, all for this hope of salvation¡­ and we must give it all up because YOU promised?" Alexei roared. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

    "No!" Mindy braced, hand gripping her sword hilt tightly. "Stop¡­ or else¡­ or else¡­"

    The air began to shake. The ground began to ripple. The previously invisible seal began to glow, revealing a large arch shape over the ground.

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    "It''s¡­ a gate." Father Petrov coughed.

    "It''s about to explode!" Sir Ivan turned and fled.

    "Ivan! Wait! Mindy¡­"

    "I can''t carry any more!" Ivan didn''t stop. "I''m sorry! But my job is you, only you, and there''s only so much I can do!"

    Meanwhile, Alexei was cackling madly. "Power¡­ such power¡­"

    But as for Mindy, she finally closed her eyes. She sighed, all the tension leaving her body. At last, she said, "I''m sorry."

    Alexei didn''t respond, as if ignoring her, but then Mindy drew her sword.

    And the world exploded in fire.

    ***

    There are a few important things of note at this point.

    First, they were standing in an oil field. Despite their best efforts, the movements they made, especially toward the end, definitely stirred up some fumes.

    Second, Mindy''s sword, like her information, could only have come from her new friend.

    Third, Mindy''s new friend was known as the Flame Emperor.

    So let us speculate; what kind of a sword would the Flame Emperor give to her new friend?

    The explosion that resulted when the sword was exposed to the fumes pretty much says it all.

 185 The Burning South

    FWOOM!

    The land had turned to fire. Black smoke covered the skies.

    Sir Ivan was running with Father Petrov dangling over his shoulder. He must have been using some sort of emergency speed boost technique; they covered ground much, much faster than Petrov dared to hope, faster than had ever seen him run before in his life.

    But it wasn''t fast enough. In no time, the conflagration caught up to the pair.

    "Light!" Father Petrov summoned a protective cloak around both of them just a moment too late to avoid harm entirely, but in time to save them from anything worse than blisters by the fires that instantly spread through the entire death zone.

    Still, he urged Ivan. "Go! It won''t hold for long!"

    Also, there was another problem. While they were protected from the heat, that sort of protection allowed air through so that people could breathe and talk and all that good stuff. In other words¡­ it didn''t keep out the smoke. Father Petrov only managed the one sentence before he choked on the smoke.

    Then, he passed out, while Sir Ivan ran for safety.

    ***

    When he came to, he and Sir Ivan were outside the death zone, near enough to feel some heat, but far enough to avoid getting burned.

    Professor Alexei and Mindy were nowhere to be found.

    "Alexei¡­ Mindy¡­" Father Petrov coughed. "No¡­"

    He got to his feet, took a wobbling step toward the flames.

    Sir Ivan grabbed him. "Sorry, Father. I can''t allow you to go back."

    "But¡­ I can''t just¡­ leave them¡­" Petrov coughed.

    "There''s nothing we can do." Sir Ivan shook his head.

    Father Petrov just stood there, staring into the fire and the smoke. Sir Ivan held on to him with a girm grip despite his own battered state. Time slipped away like sand through his fingers as he stared helplessly while the great flames raged and devoured everything they could in a frantic burst of activity and then began to fade away when they had consumed all there was to consume and there was nothing left to sustain their brief, forgotten lives.

    Then the great flames were gone, and only the small ones remained, the weak replacing the strong for no reason other than that they fed on less.

    The wind howled through the bones, like a mournful dirge lamenting the loss of such brief glorious lives, such that the world could not sustain them any longer. The smoke began to clear.

    "We should go." Sir Ivan said at last.

    "Not yet. At least¡­" Father Petrov lowered his head. "At least I should say the last rites for them."

    Sir Ivan nodded wordlessly as Father Petrov began. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust¡­"

    The words trailed off, as Father Petrov stood there, staring.

    "Father?" Sir Ivan prompted. Then, he turned to see what Petrov was staring at. "What the¡­?"

    Walking through the burning land as though on harmless grass, was a figure wreathed in fire. A vague outline could be seen, as if the flames surrounding that figure had taken on the shape of a bird, complete with wings. "Mindy?!"

    Mindy stepped out of the death zone and approached them, still wearing that bird shaped fire.

    Sir Ivan squinted. "Is that¡­ a protective aura?"

    "Mindy! Are you all right?!" Father Petrov asked.

    "Yeah." Mindy nodded.

    "And¡­ Alexei?"

    To that, Mindy shook her head wordlessly.

    Sudden light and heat flared overhead as a bird of fire descended upon them. It was a big one, with a wingspan of easily a hundred meters. Not quite as large as the Roc King or the likes, but still very big compared to a human, and more importantly, it actually seemed to be made of flames.

    "Run¡­!" Sir Ivan gasped, stepping in between Father Petrov and the bird.

    But Mindy went over and stroked it and spoke to it in a low voice without hesitation and didn''t spare a moment to worry about getting burned. "Calm down. This is my friend, Chirpy. Or at least, her avatar."

    "Her¡­ avatar?" Father Petrov blinked.

    "It''s like¡­ a piece of her mind. A wisp of her consciousness." Mindy scratched her head. "But it''s her. Chirpy, these are my other friends¡­"

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    But the fire bird completely ignored Father Petrov and Sir Ivan. In a voice of thought rather than sound, she spoke. [What happened?]

    "I''m sorry." Mindy lowered her head. "The professor went mad and started casting magic at the seal. I drew my sword."

    [You knew about the fumes. Wasn''t there any other way to stop him?]

    "I panicked." Mindy confessed. "I didn''t even think of an alternative."

    "None of us were thinking straight. Something about the Source affected our minds." Father Petrov consoled her.

    "But perhaps we were just overexcited." Mindy said, dubiously.

    "Perhaps. Or perhaps there''s a serious reason why the Source was called ''evil''." Father Petrov shook his head. "I knew Alexei for a long time. I''ve seen him excited before. That back there¡­ that was something else."

    There was a momentary stark silence.

    [I must see to the Seal. This explosion may have caused it damage.] the fire bird said grimly. [This could take me weeks to repair. There is no telling what might come through otherwise.]

    "Before that¡­ could you give us a quick lift out of here?" Mindy asked weakly.

    "Should we really just go home like this, leaving the damaged Seal to a bird?" Father Petrov asked. "I''m not an expert on magic Seals, but there might be something we can do."

    "We might just end up getting in the way." Sir Ivan pointed out.

    While they stood there in discussion, solemnly thoughtful, the fire-bird swooped up with Mindy on its back, swooped down and picked up both Sir Ivan and Father Petrov with a claw on each of their shoulders, and then soared into the open sky before either of them could so much as yelp.

    ***

    They were dropped off at the edge of the Roc King''s territory. By that time, Father Petrov and Sir Ivan were already in dire conditions, having been hanging from their shoulders uncomfortably. They were sore by the time they landed.

    "We should take a short break." Mindy wasn''t a stranger to long flights. Though their fire-bird ride was incredibly fast, the trip back was still going to take a while. She got off the firebird and stretched her legs a bit.

    Sir Ivan was checking his shoulders.

    "What are you looking for?" Mindy asked.

    "Burn marks." Sir Ivan said. "I was wondering how I didn''t get burned to a crisp being carried by a bird of fire."

    "Oh. She can control it. Don''t worry, she won''t harm you. For now."

    "I''d like to keep it that way."

    "You''ll be fine." Mindy said. "You can sit on her claws and hold on to her ankles. That should make the rest of the trip back more comfortable."

    "How far can your friend take us?"

    "All the way to Kara-Goth, I believe."

    "Is that really going to be okay? I mean, we''ll be crossing the Roc King''s territory and everything¡­"

    "Oh, don''t worry about that. They won''t cause any trouble. They won''t even complain at all."

    "How long would it take her to send us to Kara-Goth? What about the Seal in the meantime?" Father Petrov asked.

    Mindy glanced at the bird.

    [I have sent another avatar over to handle the Seal. I will handle it.] the fire bird said. [You just¡­ keep your mages away now on.]

    "That is not a job I look forward to." Mindy said gloomily.

    "It could be worse." Sir Ivan consoled her.

    "How so?"

    "You could have my job." Sir Ivan said. "I have to tell my squire''s family that he won''t be coming back."

    "That sounds bad." Mindy conceded.

    "Actually, there''s an even worse job." Father Petrov groaned.

    "What''s that?"

    "Who do you think is going to have to talk to all those other families?"

 186 Survivors

    Twelve days had passed after the expedition began. George was looking over some new design drawings for Kara-Goth, designs for shafts sporting mirrors and windows capped by glass domes for streaming sunlight in from the top of the hill, proper airship docking facilities atop Kara-02 rather than barebones mooring atop the clear space of Kara-01, massive balconies with glass sliding door access to the outside of the higher floors of the hill...

    Those designs came from a professional architect based in Ecclesia who had been called upon by Sir Ivan''s wife. Using them would certainly improve the quality of life in Kara-Goth. They looked downright luxurious. The problem was security. A fierce Beast Wave from flying Wilds, like the Eagle Lord''s, and they''d be hard pressed to defend the place.

    "I like the sunlight shafts idea, but those clear domes on top have to be made with some tough transparent material, like hardened decaquartz." George told Sir Ivan''s wife. "We can certainly set up a full-scale airport above Kara-02, but the entryways will have to be better protected. Also, I''m afraid balconies are out of the question. If we do have large transparent windows, we''ll have to make them out of tough materials, like the domes."

    Song Chen nodded. "Plus, during battles, we could set up firing teams with ammo carts at those windows. Better yet, bring up cart-mounted Scorpions, a sort of mini-ballista on wheels¡­ they could add a lot of fire-support, and depending on how the battles go, we could shut and bar those windows tight if necessary."

    "Bars." Sir Ivan''s wife stared at him as though he were mad.

    "That''s right. As nice as wide open views would be, surely a few safety rails are warranted." George said smoothly. Or at least, he thought it was smooth enough. Song Chen seemed to agree, but Madam Margerita looked somewhat peeved. "Nobody wants people falling right out the windows, after all. Merely a few sparse, stout bars horizontally across the lower half of those windows would do, just enough to block out any flyer larger than a Tier 2. Surely that wouldn''t ruin the views too badly."

    Unfortunately she disagreed. Strongly. "Bars would totally ruin the views!"

    "That''s too bad, then, because I have to insist." George had his bottom line too. "Security comes first. This is the Frontier and the dangers out here are very real. Either we secure the windows with safety bars, or we have arrowslits instead of windows."

    That was when word got in. "Report from the lookout post; they''re back!"

    "Who''s back?" George asked.

    "The Expedition for the Source of Magic! Mindy is back! And she''s riding a fire-bird!"

    "What?!" George dashed for the stairs and never mind the look Madam Margerita shot at his back.

    As fast as he was, others were faster. Father Petrov was already speaking to a gathering of shocked and moody people when George arrived.

    "I''m so sorry." He was saying.

    "H-how¡­?" More than one voice asked.

    Father Petrov did not answer, but Sir Ivan spoke up. "There were different ways."

    He turned to one woman. "Got lost in a Dream Fog and then eaten by a Bog Serpent."

    He went on to another person. "Ambushed by a giant spider."

    Sir Ivan glanced at a third harrowed face. "Trampled by a Rhinotle."

    "But Professor Alexei was with them!" A skinny man protested.

    "Professor Alexei! Where is he? What happened to him?" a woman asked.

    Father Petrov grimaced. "Died in an explosion at the Source of Magic."

    "So¡­ you found it?" the skinny man pressed. "Where is it? Show it to us!"

    "We found it¡­ but it is not an item. It is a location. We can''t take it with us. We can''t move it. We can''t do anything with it." Father Petrov told them.

    "Then what was it all for?!" the skinny man shouted. "Alexei''s death, this whole expedition¡­ what was all of it for?!"

    To that, Father Petrov had no answer.

    Mindy meanwhile, had slipped away from that mess and greeted George. "Hey. I''m back."

    "Welcome back." George slipped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "Whoa¡­ are you all right? You''re burning up. Is it a fever? We should get Phoebe¡­"

    "No, no, it''s fine." Mindy grimaced, then sent him a private message with thought-speak. [Actually, this is my new normal. I made a new friend out there. George, I made friends with the Flame Emperor.]

    [The what?]

    [You know that there are Kings above the Lords of the Wilds? Above those Kings are the Emperors. There are five of them, and the one nearest to the Source of Magic is the Flame Emperor. She''s my friend. Or my Comrade. Something like that.]

    [What do you mean, ''something like that''?]

    [I can''t give her orders, but I can use some of her power.] Mindy grinned. [It''s awesome.]

    George glanced about. "Somebody said something about a fire-bird. I don''t see one."

    "Yeah, it left. Mostly."

    "What do you mean, ''mostly''?" George had to ask again.

    Mindy hesitated, then slipped her hand into her coat''s inner pocket and took out¡­

    "A red chick¡­?" George blinked at it.

    "Chirp." The little bird greeted George cheerfully.

    "You rode THAT all the way back here?!" George stared.

    "Not exactly." Mindy grimaced. [Chirpy is just a wisp of the Flame Emperor''s consciousness. The form we rode back was a lot bigger, containing a much bigger piece. That one was way more powerful. This little fluffy here¡­ it''s almost nothing. My friend said that seeing things from Chirpy''s perspective is like dreaming.]

    [So this little bird¡­ is a dream of the Flame Emperor''s?]

    [Something like that.]

    "Say hi to Chirpy, George." Mindy invited, holding out the bird in her hand.

    "Hi, Chirpy." George said, very politely. Whatever the case, he felt it most prudent to never, ever be mean to the little bird.

    [Did you manage to talk to your friend about the Beast Tides, by any chance? Could she call them off?]

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    [Yes, I did, and no, she can''t. Sorry, those Tides are the work of the Stone Emperor, and he seems to be in deep hibernation.]

    [Any idea when he''s supposed to wake up?]

    [According to Chirpy, it won''t be long¡­ just another hundred years from now.]

    "A hundred years?!" George burst out loud, unable to keep it in.

    "Yeah, I had the same reaction." Mindy patted him on the shoulder and even left Chirpy on it for fun. "Anyway. Where''s Remian?"

    "About that¡­" George paused, glanced at Chirpy on his shoulder, then said simply. "Remian''s in the hospital."

    "What happened this time?"

    "This time? Remian died."

    Mindy tripped over her own feet and directly fell flat on her face.

    ***

    At this point, some explanation is in order. The whole situation might be blamed upon Song Chen, but the fact was, he was only trying to help. See, the theory was that martial experts could increase their lifespan according to their levels of cultivation. At the very least, strengthening his body could help Remian improve his health condition.

    Word got around and between one thing and the other, Remian''s friends all pushed him to practice cultivation.

    Remian tried it, under Song Chen''s enthusiastic guidance and much encouragement. They put together a rigorous programme trying to get him to advance through the basic Breath stage in two weeks.

    Remian had trouble breathing after one hour. By the second hour, he was gasping.

    And then he died. Just flat out collapsed in the middle of the practice yard. Heart stopped beating and everything.

    At that point, everyone thought it was over.

    But again, he surprised them.

    ***

    Nobody really understood what happened at that point except for Remian himself.

    Remian, upon dying, basically found himself tightly in Death''s grasp. Death cheerfully hauled him away from this plane of existence and brought him right before God before he could so much as protest.

    "Oh, come on! I can''t die now! I still have much to live for!"

    "You basically did this to yourself, you know?" Death pointed out.

    "Still! They aren''t ready; Mindy, Tim, George, even Darrian and Eriane... They''re not ready!" Remian protested.

    "Death¡­" God gave him a flat look.

    "What? I''m just doing my job!"

    "There is a proper time for everything¡­"

    "Fine." Death grouched. "But the pain? Do you really want to bear that?"

    "You can heal, right?" Remian glanced at God.

    "Death¡­" God gave him a look.

    Death sighed. "Fine."

    Then another voice sounded in Remian''s ears. "Clear!"

    Shock coursed through his veins. Remian opened his eyes and sat bolt upright suddenly.

    With a yelp, Phoebe, who had both her hands on his chest, slipped and stumbled.

    Still half-dazed, Remian made a grab for her, trying to save her the only way he could; with both arms around her waist.

    There was a stunned silence in a sudden awkward situation. Remian found himself sitting up in bed, both arms around Phoebe, who was half-sitting on his lap, both hands on his chest¡­ and everybody staring at them.

 187 First Date

    For a moment there, nobody said anything or moved a muscle. Everyone just stared.

    Then, Phoebe did something quite unexpected. She leaned forward and kissed Remian on the cheek. "Welcome back."

    "Uwaaa¡­" Song Chen looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Even Lydia''s jaw dropped.

    But Remian didn''t look surprised. His eyes were slightly glazed, and he had an almost silly smile on his face. "What a nice dream."

    Then he leaned down and locked his lips with Phoebe''s.

    "Whoa!!" George gaped.

    He had a bare moment to stare before Sabriane, Lydia, two nurses and Song Chen all jumped at him rushing to cover his eyes. "This isn''t something a kid should see!"

    "I¡­ but¡­" George squirmed, but there were five of them and one of him, and there was no getting past those hands. "Puah...! At least let me breathe!"

    "What a strange dream." Under the cover of those hands, George couldn''t see anything, but he heard Remian yawn, and heard a thump.

    "He''s asleep." Phoebe said then.

    "THAT''s all you have to say?!" Lydia spluttered.

    "That, and you need to leave. You all need to leave. This is a hospital. Patients need peace and quiet."

    "I think there was a distinct lack of patience back there¡­" Sabriane mentioned.

    ***

    "How long ago was that?" Mindy asked as she and George made their way to the hospital after he told her about it.

    "About six hours ago. Phoebe''s keeping him in the hospital for observation." George said as they entered.

    "That is correct. Unfortunately, there''s little else we can do for him at this point." Phoebe said, greeting them. "Welcome back, Mindy. How did the expedition go?"

    "Thanks." Mindy said in a sober voice. "We lost all the magi, and though we found the Source, we couldn''t do anything with it. So how is he? What have you observed?"

    "So far? The clearest observation I''ve made is that magi don''t seem to survive very well in the Frontier." Phoebe said seriously. "They just seem to die too easily."

    "You know, I''ve observed the very same thing myself." Mindy said, with a straight face.

    George facepalmed.

    "How is he?" Mindy asked.

    "A bit clumsy, but sincere." Phoebe said, nodding approvingly.

    Mindy stared. Then her face turned red. "I mean¡­ his health."

    "Oh. That? About as well as could be expected. He did actually die back there, so he''s not in shape to run marathons any time soon, but he should survive for now."

    "Is he awake? Can I talk to him?"

    "No, but you can try talking to him while he sleeps if you like."

    Mindy let out a small chuckle.

    "You''re not allowed to try kissing him while he sleeps though." George added helpfully.

    Mindy punched him in the shoulder, a light, awkward punch.

    POW! George went flying six feet across the corridor and then stumbled around flailing for another five more before he managed to catch his balance. "Whoa! Why the violence?!"

    "I¡­ I''m sorry¡­!" Mindy gaped. "I didn''t mean¡­"

    "Didn''t mean what?"

    "Anything!" Mindy flared, flustered, then ran out of the hospital.

    BAM! She crashed into someone coming in at the entrance.

    For a moment there, everything went black. Mindy found herself sitting on the floor in a half-daze, looking at at equally dazed Darian who had fallen on his tailroots after tripping backwards over the door frame.

    "I''m sorry! I didn''t mean¡­ I didn''t mean any of it!!" Mindy wailed, running away.

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    As she ran past Darian, a wisp of fire trailed in her hair. Darian reached out and caught it, blinking at it as it slowly faded in his fingers.

    "This is... what is this?" Darian stared. "I''ve never seen such high quality flames."

    ***

    That evening, a rather important conversation took place. Sort of.

    "I can''t stay here! I need to get some air."

    "You should stay at least the night. I need to keep an eye on you."

    "Well, why don''t you come with me, then?"

    "Was that you trying to ask me out?"

    "Uh... yeah?"

    "Not tonight. Tomorrow. Tonight, you need to rest."

    ***

    The next day, Mindy and George sneaked quietly around the corner trailing Remian and Phoebe out on their first official date.

    "What are they doing?" Mindy asked in a low whisper. For some reason, she brought her fire-sword with her and was constantly fingering it as they stalked- AHEM! ''Watched over'' Remian and Phoebe on their date.

    "Nothing, they''re just walking. They''re not even there yet." George rolled his eyes.

    "Where are they going?"

    "I''m not entirely sure." George confessed. "Song Chen gave them this list of the Top Five Dating Spots in the Frontier. I think it was supposed to be an apology for getting Remian killed."

    "Well, the way they''re going, I''m guessing one of the Top Five is at the waterfront."

    "Wait¡­ they''re stopping by Jana''s Grocery Store."

    "What? Why?!"

    "They''re buying something¡­ some sort of basket¡­ with a mat? Why are they picking up a mat?"

    Mindy risked exposure and popped her head out to take a look for herself. "Picnic basket!"

    Along with the basket, those two also picked up scones, juice, and muffins.

    "I guess one of the Top Five dating spots out here is a picnic on the waterfront." George surmised, as Remian and Phoebe set the mat and the basket down on the short grass by the river. Nearby, an old man was fishing, and two kids were playing with a ball.

    "What a mistake!" Mindy was chagrined. "He brought her here for breakfast?! They should have come packing a picnic dinner, with the sunset¡­"

    "I don''t think there''s anything wrong with eating a picnic breakfast by the riverside¡­" a third voice mentioned.

    Mindy spun to see Darian crouching behind them. "Darian? What are you doing here?!"

    "What does it look like? That''s my brother, you know!" Darian pointed out.

    "And mine!" sounded a giggle from above.

    Mindy glanced up to see Eriane crawling on the roof. "Eriane too?"

    Wait! Wasn''t that Lydia and Sabriane up in the balcony?!

    "How?" Mindy asked. "How did they know where to go?"

    "They must have asked Phoebe where Remian was taking her." George figured.

    "Chirp!" Chirpy laughed, popping her head out of Mindy''s pocket. She was in the front coat pocket today, and quite enjoying the waterfront view.

    "Yip." Vigil was there with Darian. He twisted his head to one side quizzically. "Yip¡­?"

    "Vigil, this is Chirpy. Don''t eat her." Mindy introduced her friend to Vigil. "Chirpy, this is Vigil."

    "Yip!" Vigil barked at Chirpy authoritatively.

    "Chirp." Chirpy answered seriously. One chirp. That was it.

    "Y-y-y-yiii¡­" Vigil stumbled back, shivering. "Yiyi?!"

    "Chirp!" Chirpy laughed, and then hopped onto Vigil and sat right on top of him. Then, she raised a wing and pointed. "CHIRP!"

    "Yip!" Vigil didn''t hesitate. He shameless ran forward in the direction she pointed without asking any questions.

    "Well! They got along fast!" Mindy exclaimed.

    Darian was left scratching his head as he watched the little bird riding the wolfcat cub like a cavalier off toward the river and could only say, "Don''t fall in, you guys."

 188 Intrusions

    Remian and Phoebe couldn''t help noticing. They hadn''t realized anyone was watching them earlier; there were Lydia and Sabriane sipping tea at their table on the caf¨¦ balcony, but they hadn''t thought much of it at first¡­

    But when a little red chick went gallivanting around the waterfront green on a wolfcat cub, chirping imperatively all the way, they just had to notice the four kids skulking around the corner.

    "Where did that bird come from?" Remian asked, frowning. "I sense¡­ a lot of things weird with it."

    "Sense later." Phoebe prodded him. "Picnic first."

    It was an idyllic scene, with children and elders at leisure, friends and family spying on the couple, and a red chick charging about on the back of a yipping wolfcat cub¡­ Remian almost couldn''t believe this peaceful place was really the dangerous Frontier or that he was able to set out a picnic on the waterfront without worrying about getting eaten alive from one minute to the next. The old man fishing and the boys playing nearby were completely unconcerned about safety.

    After all, why should they be concerned? There were airships on guard, patrols to root out minor threats, and every Wild in the vicinity was a friend or a Comrade. They had come a long way from the old Fort Spoas.

    Oddly enough, there was someone who didn''t seem quite so relaxed.

    "Remian! The cows are complaining! They''re threatening to go on a milk strike if cattle raising conditions aren''t improved by tomorrow!" Wulfgar gasped.

    "The cows can''t complain, Wulfgar. They''re not Wilds." Remian pointed out. "They''re just ordinary cows."

    "Really?" Wulfgar stared blankly. "But the horses¡­"

    "The horses are Wilds."

    "Still! The cows are acting funny. You should come take a look¡­"

    Phoebe prodded Remian. "Cows later. Picnic first."

    "Right." Remian agreed, and set down the picnic mat.

    They chatted about how things had developed around the Frontier for a while¡­

    Then Wulfgar came running. "Remian! It''s the cheese! There''s an absolute shortage across all of Kara-Goth! The warehouse staff suspect lynxmice theft!"

    Remian shook his head. "That''s between George and Tim. I think the lynxmice actually own most of the cheese in the warehouse, or something like that. You''ll have to ask George about it."

    "But¡­ but the price of grilled cheese has tripled! Half the Sea People refugees won''t buy it any more because they can''t afford to!"

    "That''s odd." Remian frowned. "I didn''t even know someone was selling grilled cheese."

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    Phoebe cleared her throat. "Cheese later. Picnic first."

    "Right." Remian said, and handed out the steamed buns.

    "But¡­!" Wulfgar began.

    "CHIIRP!" Chirpy charged into him with the full might of Vigil''s forward momentum, knocking him away to a distance of 2cm. The collision resulted in great kinetic impact (or at least, it seemed that way, based on how Chirpy and Vigil looked after the crash), and Wulfgar was immediately obliged to cart the casualties of the ''accident'' to the nearest emergency medic. "Help! Phoebe¡­! It''s an emergency!"

    "Emergency later." Phoebe waved with a steamed bun in her hand. "Picnic first."

    It went on like that.

    "Remian! The water supply¡­"

    "Water later. Picnic first."

    They sampled the best fruits from Three Pines.

    "Remian! The Eagle Lord¡­"

    "Birds later. Picnic first."

    They grilled a fish.

    "Remian! Reports of giant crocodiles¡­"

    "Crocodiles later! Picnic first!"

    They had pudding for dessert. Phoebe had some of it on her nose, and Remian almost casually flicked it off with his finger and licked his finger clean. Phoebe paused for a moment, then thoughtfully decorated Remian''s nose with twice as much pudding as he cleaned off hers.

    "Eh¡­?"

    "Oh my, you''ve got something there¡­" Phoebe helpfully cleaned his nose off the same way he did hers.

    To which, Remian could only stare blankly.

    "What?" Phoebe asked. "Too weird?"

    Of course, at that time, Wulfgar came running up again.

    "Remian! Attacks from the neighboring Pegasi because of the horses¡­"

    "Pegasi later! Picnic first!"

    And then they had strawberries and muffins for a second dessert while talking about their childhood foods.

    "Remian! The war¡­"

    "War later! Picnic first!"

    "Remian¡­! Eh?! Ghwuuurkk¡­!" suddenly, Wulfgar was overwhelmed by mysterious masked assailants from behind while attempting to make his report. They literally pulled his feet out from under him and stuffed a sack over his head, then started to tie him up right there in broad daylight.

    "Tighter!" Mindy''s voice drifted from the foremost assailant. "We can''t have him getting loose!"

    "Any tighter and his wrists will break!" Darian''s voice floated from the next assailant.

    "Shh! Get him out of here already!" George''s voice ushered them off from a third assailant.

    "Right!" the fourth assailant''s voice was Eriane''s. Each one holding a limb, the four assailants carried Wulfgar out tied up and making muffled sounds from under the sack.

    ***

    Way over at the balcony of the caf¨¦, Sabriane and Lydia were laughing into their tea, almost spilling their drinks out.

    ***

    Unknown to them, at that time, Talia was actually in quite a spot of trouble.

    "Mayday, mayday, we are under attack! Our airship is going down! Sky Galleon going DOWN!" Talia yelped into a crystal. "Do you copy? Wulfgar, can you hear me?!"

    Bolts of fire shot through the Galleon''s envelope; their shields had long ago been torn apart, and now the hull of the airship was taking direct fire. The airship was already burning, wobbling out of control, and the crew looked to her with wide eyes and clenched fists.

    "Abandon ship!" Talia ordered, and tossed a cable overboard. "All hands, abandon ship!"

    It wasn''t far to the ground. People easily rappled down the cables and set foot on firm ground without too much trouble. Talia''s crew were experienced adventurers, and the escape took place fairly quickly.

    As the Sky Galleon fell slowly from the sky, the airships attacking them turned and sailed away loftily.

    Talia and her crew exchanged grim glances as they looked around. On the one hand, they were safe, and relavitvely unharmed.

    On the other hand, they were stuck here, with no airship and nobody coming to pick them up, no clue whether or not their friends even knew where they were or that they were in danger.

    Talia and the crew of the fallen Sky Galleon were trapped in the middle of the war zone.

    ***

    After their picnic breakfast, Remian and Phoebe were going to do a ''safety inspection'' of the Encles settlement (*cough* tour *cough, cough*) and then have lunch at the new water reservoir on the hilltop of Kara-Goth. The site was right next to the airship docking platforms, and someone had helpfully set down benches around it¡­

    But then Song Chen came up.

    "Sorry to intrude, Remian¡­" Song Chen grimaced. "But Sir Ivan''s wife is up in arms and nothing I say is enough to appease her¡­"

    Phoebe opened her mouth, but Remian forestalled her. "Not this time, Phoebe. I''m sorry, but this sounds like it really can''t wait. Why don''t I meet you for lunch later?"

    "Fine." Phoebe rolled her eyes. "But it''s not a good sign, you know, that you''re too preoccupied with work to take time off to be with me."

    "I know, I know." Remian hesitated, but then decided not to say anything about certain weird things Phoebe had said and done recently. "Just¡­ order whatever restaurant takeout you like for lunch, and I''ll join you at noon. Okay?"

    "Fine." Phoebe snorted.

    ***

    The lunch bill came up to three hundred lir.

 189 Confrontations

    It was Mindy, in the end, who finally settled down Sir Ivan''s wife.

    The conversation went on for a long time while Remian and Phoebe went off for lunch at the reservoir. They chowed down some of Song Chen''s cousin''s best dishes one after the other in a six course meal that had to be carted by the Song Family Restaurant waitresses all the way to the roof of Kara-Goth, but of course, seeing as it was for Remian and Phoebe, Song Chen''s cousin was only too happy to oblige¡­

    To cut a very long story short, Mindy ended up having to send everyone home, including Sir Ivan''s entire household and Father Petrov, who seemed half-hearted about going back.

    "It''s such an interesting place, the Frontier¡­" he kept saying. "We should come back with a proper commission¡­"

    Mindy wasn''t sure what a ''proper commission'' meant, but she decided that if she was going all the way to Ecclesia on an errand, she may as well pick up as many magi as she could there and bring them back to the Frontier¡­ hopefully keeping them safe this time, no expeditions or anything. Kara-Goth could definitely use a few good, professional magi. They just had to keep the magi from going out there and getting themselves killed. At least not until they had the hang of how to survive.

    Therefore, on condition that Father Petrov would speak to the college to recruit magi on their behalf, Mindy agreed to take the arduous trip all the way to Ecclesia and send these bereaved people home.

    Remian and Phoebe saw them off from the reservoir benches.

    "Are you¡­" Remian hesitated.

    "What?" Phoebe prompted.

    "Thinking of going with them?"

    Phoebe blinked. "Why would I?"

    "You wanted to continue your studies, didn''t you? Life magic, medicine and even priestly duties." Remian thought back. "I remember you mentioned something like that, long ago."

    "That?" Phoebe mused. "I''m sure I could be convinced to forego religious duties. It does sound rather boring, and I hate boring."

    "But you do intend to further your studies, don''t you?" Remian pointed out.

    "Maybe." Phoebe said thoughtfully. "But you know, I''m already doing the work I wanted to do. This place has an endless line of slaves waiting to be freed. I think I could live out my lifetime here doing good work and never see the end of it. I have all the qualifications and skills I need for that already."

    "Does that mean¡­ you''re staying here? For good?" Remian perked up.

    "That depends..." Phoebe said slowly. "On what this place has to offer me."

    At that, Remian froze. Flat out, visibly froze.

    "Well?" Phoebe prodded.

    "Um¡­ I guess¡­ you could run the hospital. Or maybe¡­ Minister of Medical and Health Care?" Remian offered weakly. "You''d be in charge of all doctors and hospitals and such."

    "Is that all? A job in a backwater Frontier town?" Phoebe raised an eyebrow.

    "G-good salary, and¡­ lots of vacation time, whenever you like¡­ and¡­ and¡­" Remian gulped, sweating. "Actually¡­ um¡­ maybe¡­"

    Phoebe''s eyes narrowed and she peered at him directly. "What about you, Remian? What do you want?"

    "Me? I¡­ we¡­ that is¡­"

    "Remian." Phoebe''s voice was soft, now. "What do YOU want?"

    Remian closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath. "Of course, I¡­"

    A flicker of darkness drew his attention aside. Death was on his feet and began to pace up and down, to and fro, right behind Phoebe.

    Remian bit his lip. "I don''t even know how long I''m going to live."

    "That''s fine. Next time you die, I''ll just bring you back again." Phoebe offered.

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    "That''s not¡­" Remian half-shook his head, then changed what he was going to say. "Not certain."

    "Well, since you seem to be having trouble figuring things out, let me make it easier for you. The way I see it, I have two options." Phoebe told him. "Either I stay here, or I go to the warfront and help out as a medical officer in the war."

    "No!" Remian jumped. "Don''t join the war! It''s dangerous! Stay here!"

    "And what does this place have to offer that would be more important to me than saving many lives in the war?"

    "Freeing slaves isn''t enough?"

    "Compared to saving lives? I''d say not. Come on, Remian, it''s not hard to figure out. I want a personal reason."

    "But.. but I¡­" Remian trailed off. "I can''t promise anything. I can''t say what the future holds, or how long I will last, or¡­"

    "I didn''t ask you about any of that. I only asked you one thing." Phoebe cut in.

    Remian held his head in one hand. "And what was the question again?"

    "The question was," Phoebe said patiently. "What do you want?"

    Remian fell silent. "I want to live. Not just survive. Truly live."

    Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "I can help you with that. I could be a part of that. If you want."

    "I do want." Remian concluded simply.

    "That''s all I needed to hear." Phoebe said.

    Remian was going to say something else, something in reply, but it was too late. Phoebe had already made her move, and Remian''s lips were otherwise occupied.

    ***

    At that time, someone finally got the hood off Wulfgar.

    "Why¡­ what¡­ who¡­?!" Wulfgar shook his head. "Never mind! This time there''s a real emergency! Talia''s in trouble!"

    It took roughly five minutes and thirty-two seconds for word to get to Remian.

    "What happened to Talia?" Remian asked.

    Three minutes and thirteen seconds passed before he could get a coherent answer.

    "She was screaming for help in the communications crystal earlier. Wulfgar volunteered to take it to Remian, so the guy on duty passed it to him¡­"

    "Where is she? What was she doing?"

    "She was running a trade route to Itarim and helping out the Iron Legion."

    "Wait. Is Itarim one of the nations caught up in the war? Is the Iron Legion involved?!"

    "Probably."

    "Doesn''t that mean that¡­ Talia''s gotten herself involved in the war?!"

    "Pretty much, yes."

    "Using our Sky Galleon?"

    "Yep."

    "So¡­ we''ve already become involved in the war over mana!?"

    "Looks like it."

    Remian let out a long, heartfelt groan.

    ***

    At the time, Talia was crouching in the bushes, trying hard to make her way back toward the Itarim lines without being seen or raising too much noise.

    She didn''t quite make it.

    "Halt! Who goes there!" an officer called out sharply.

    Talia spun to find fifty crossbows aimed at her from covered locations all across the hillside.

    "Uh¡­ hi?" she waved. "Any chance you guys might be friendlies?"

    "That depends! Who are you and what are you doing here?" the man asked.

    Talia noticed the flag on his uniform. "La Vive¡­? We came from Itarim."

    At least he wasn''t from Germat. Those were the guys who shot the Sky Galleon down.

    "Itarim¡­? It seems you''re on the other side of this war." The officer said grimly. "Surrender, or die!"

    "What¡­?" Talia''s face fell. "Just how many sides does this war have?"

    She wasn''t sure, but it didn''t matter. Whatever side whoever was on, as of now, Talia and the crew of the Sky Galleon were prisoners of war.

 190 Embroiled in war

    Two hours after being captured, the camp was attacked by troops using magical weapons from Auria.

    "Get down!" Talia told her crew, and the lot of them crouched low, their hands over their heads.

    There was a lot of screaming and yelling and shooting on all sides, and then all of a sudden, a total silence. It was punctuated by a groan, and then the Aurian troops marched into what was left of the camp¡­

    "Can we go now?" Talia asked.

    Seeing the group of prisoners without uniforms, they asked, "Where are you from?"

    "We were working for Itarim¡­" Talia tried to explain.

    "Itarim?! They just switched sides this morning!" the Aurians growled. "You''re not going anywhere!"

    Switched sides? Was that even possible?!

    And why, of all times, did it have to happen this morning!? Couldn''t they wait just another day¡­ just one more day¡­?!

    But no. Talia and her crew were brought into an Aurian bunker hastily set up in a rocky area...

    Actually none of that mattered. Fifteen minutes after arriving at the bunker, the Aurians were attacked by a contingent from Ashdale.

    While it sounded rather dismal, the Aurian bunker was by no means properly fortified; it was hastily put together and resembled a heap of recycled junk than a defense structure. Also, the contingent from Ashdale had roughly five hundred troops in orderly formations. They were highly disciplined, their formation lines were clear and their movements crisp and precise¡­

    Basically, the Aurians were burned out of their bunker and shot dead on sight. Talia and her crew waited with baited breath for rescue, but then a Germat patrol arrived and engaged the Ashdalians from afar with artillery fire.

    Now, while the Ashdalians were indeed well-disciplined, and wouldn''t even balk at being fired upon, theGermat patrol was a very well equipped, highly organized and motivated military force. They not only had magic weapons the likes of fireball wands and mana shields, they had a trio of armored carriages equipped with fire-elemental cannons made of Fire Copper bought from the Frontier¡­

    "What are the odds that we sold them the materials for that cannon?" Talia asked her crew as they crouched low again.

    The Ashdalians returned fire with runic rifles, but that level of firepower barely made dents in the Germat armored carriages. In return, the Germat heavy armor rained fire on the Ashdalian lines.

    The Ashdalians pulled back. Despite vastly superior numbers, their weapons simply weren''t able to do anything to the Germat armored carriages. Rather, they spread out and surrounded the Germat patrol from all sides, and then an Ashdalian airship arrived and started dropping explosive barrels on the Germat patrol¡­

    The Germat troops pulled back, but not before losing two armored carriages to the airstrike.

    Meanwhile, Talia and crew were just crouching low, hands either over their heads or covering their ears, as the war raged on all around them. They didn''t so much as poke a head outside the Aurian bunker which by them were almost in ruins.

    "Just how many countries are involved in this war?!" Talia groaned. At this point, she couldn''t even tell who were her friends or foes any more.

    Right about that time, three squads of Bulraki Heavy Cavalry came charging in on the Ashdalian flank. They came out of nowhere, and coming down over the hill, they had a good deal of momentum on their side. The Ashdalians didn''t even have time to respond before the Bulraki cavalry crashed through their orderly lines, completely tearing up their formations.

    The Ashdalian airships switched targets and started blasting at the Bulraki instead, letting the Germat forces retreat as they engaged this new threat.

    "Uh¡­ which side were we cheering for again?" one of Talia''s crew asked.

    "Don''t cheer! Just keep your head down!" Talia barked.

    Just as quickly as they appeared, the Bulraki cavalry left. They rode around the corner and simply disappeared. The Ashdalians re-formed their lines, and waited in defensive formations, but after about ten long minutes of waiting, their airships reported an all-clear, and then they finally relaxed.

    "Who are you guys?" the Ashdalians asked Talia and her crew.

    "We work for Itarim¡­" Talia began.

    "Show us some proof."

    "What kind of proof do you want?"

    "Where are your orders?"

    "Huh? What do you mean?"

    "The order papers! Show them to us!"

    "What are order papers¡­? You mean, written instructions from Itarim? We have no such thing. We simply did as we were asked."

    "If you cannot confirm your identity, then, we must hold you as prisoners!"

    Great! Now even those guys supposedly on their own side were holding them prisoner!

    "Will no one help us?" Talia wailed. "Will no one just send us home?"

    But no. It seems everyone was much too busy with the war to take care of this suspicious crew that appeared out of nowhere.

    ***

    "What happened?"

    Two days, two hours, and twelve minutes later, Remian arrived at the warfront and asked a question of First Centurion Tiberius.

    Tiberius cleared his throat. "A great deal has been happening, Remian, you''ll need to be a bit more specific."

    "What happened to Talia and my people?" Remian asked.

    "That... I''m not entirely sure." Tiberius rubbed his chin. "They were out on a resupply run to one of our badly hit outposts, and never returned. The entire outpost has gone dark. Everything we have in that region has been silenced. No word, no signals, no survivors, nothing. We have no idea what happened."

    "Do you have any enemies in that area?" Remian queried.

    Tiberius burst out laughing. "We have enemies everywhere! That area especially, is one of the heaviest combat zones!"

    "Well, of the enemies in the area, who would have the power to do something like this?"

    Tiberius thought about that. "Just about everybody. Our forces seem to be quite badly outmatched in this war."

    "Forget this. Just send me their last known position." Remian growled. "I''m going to get them back myself!"

    Five minutes later, the Red Fang took off and headed into the deepest part of the war zone.

    ***

    By that time, Talia was hiding in a cave with the last nine survivors of her crew.

    She''d been captured sixteen times, ''rescued'' into another sort of captivity nine times, survived attacks that wiped out their captors five times, broke out of jail and fought their way out thrice, and sneaked out during the night while their captors were asleep twice.

    They''d been held captive by forces from Germat, Auria, Otta, Bulrak, Kuasa Besar, the Ira Caliphate, Mendev, La Vive, Ashdale, Bellas, a squad of nine magi from the Nine Mountains, a band of Sea People mercenaries, an observation unit from Libertaria, a curious lord from the Dragon Empire, and even some suspicious Centurion commanding the 10th cohort of the 9th Legion of the Iron Legion! The Iron Legion! Talia couldn''t even believe it when their own allies held them captive for questioning.

    Roughly two thirds of those forces were now dead. All survivors had been hit by some hostile force or the other and had scattered and fled to goodness knows where. Twice now, Talia found herself a fellow prisoner of someone who had been her captor just the day before. It was all very confusing, and every few hours, Talia lost another friend, another member of her crew to everything from honest mistakes to stray shots to deliberate cruelty...

    By this time she''d almost gotten numb to losing people. By this morning, she''d gotten numb to everything. She didn''t even duck when she heard the shrill sound of artillery flying through the air any more. She didn''t even flinch when explosions took place all around her yet again. All she felt was the pain of yet another shock, and tasted stone dust in the air...

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    At that point, she just walked out. Who was it holding her people captive this time? Talia wasn''t even sure any more. But she didn''t care. She just walked away, and whoever held her currently was too busy trying to save their own people. Her crew followed her out, and nobody even shot at them.

    They still lost two people to stray shots. A random blast of artillery fire took out the cook and the rear second-shift gunner in a flash, and there was nothing left of them. Now who was going to prepare their meals?

    Then again, there was no telling if any of them would survive till dinner time. Talia and her crew wandered the battlefield until they found a cave and huddled inside. It was too small to have held her entire crew back when they first got shot down, but now, they were few enough to fit.

    Twenty-two adventurers had left Kara-Goth with Talia. Only nine huddled here with her, and there was no telling if any of them would ever make it back.

    Talia would have cried if she could.

 191 Desperation

    "What happened?"

    Around that time, Phoebe also asked a similar question, but the person she asked was hooded and robed in dark brown.

    "You know the circumstances of the Iron Legion as well as I do, Amber Range. The three factions are struggling for supremacy even now. Aquila is hard pressed for support. Your friends'' aid was most timely for him¡­ too timely. Sepsius made a move, and thus, they are removed."

    "Removed? They were betrayed? By us?!" Phoebe glared.

    "Don''t look at me like that. Sepsius betrayed them, not I."

    "Yet you failed to aid them!"

    "We are short-handed as it is. The war does not go well, and Lupus'' faction is proven right by its course. He was the one saying we should stop trying to interfere with matters other than our own, abandoning all else outside of Itarim''s cause, including the emancipation of slaves and the protection of the roads."

    "But the Creed! The old oaths¡­!"

    "That is why our faction still holds some sway. Yet here we are in war, and we are losing badly. Stretched too thin, Lupus says. We should have focused on growing stronger, on improving our own strength rather than sticking our fingers in everyone else''s pies. His words now hold great weight in the council."

    "We did right by our code!"

    "Tell that to the gravestones littering Jupiter Hill. We had to bury others on Mars Hill. There is no more room on Jupiter Hill for new graves."

    "But that''s not the fault of the Code! It''s because¡­" Phoebe hesitated.

    "Go on. Tell me. Why is it that our armies suffer so?" the man invited.

    "It is because your equipment and your tactics are obsolete." Phoebe said in a low voice. "Physical fitness, weapon skills and all your fancy formation training would avail you little against an airship''s bombardment. Your magic cannons are the only real defense you have against the vehicles your enemies employ, and they are severely lacking in mobility. Fortified positions are your only real hope of a fighting chance in this war. Out in the open field, you''re easy meat."

    "So, studied some military tactics, have you?"

    "Not really. I''ve just seen a few battles out on the Frontier. Better equipment makes a lot of difference."

    "Equipment is a force multiplier, of little worth in the hands of the unskilled."

    "Then train your forces to handle them. Isn''t that what the Iron Legion is good at? Training?"

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    "It is not that simple. Such weapons are not where our strength lies."

    "You balk at upgrading your weaponry because your men are not skilled in the new arms?!" Phoebe wanted to throw something at him.

    "It is not that simple!"

    But it was. He spoke for twenty minutes straight talking about magic swords and different political agendas among the leadership of the Iron Legion but at the end of the discourse, Phoebe remained unconvinced. No matter what excuses he made, it all boiled down to the same thing; sheer stubbornness.

    "Forget it! I''m going to find my friends myself!" Phoebe stalked out of there in a huff, and never spoke to the hooded man again.

    ***

    Talia was captured.

    Again.

    How many times was it now? She didn''t know. Drudging her feet, marching in line with her eyes fastened on her feet, her face covered in dirt, she felt like she''d gone back in time, as if the past few months, these past glorious months, had been nothing more than a dream.

    As if she had returned to Fal''Herim, and her people were lifelong slaves to an uncaring king. As if today never mattered, nor had yesterday, nor would tomorrow, and the only thing to look forward to was the blissful oblivion of sleep at night. As if there was nothing more in the world than the ground under her feet, the harsh commands of those who held the power of life and death over her, and the next back-breaking, soul-crushing task they would demand her to do.

    It could be worse. Prettier girls, cleaner girls, might have ended up with different sorts of tasks set by these nameless, faceless strangers with weapons. But Talia was in a visual mess by this point, covered with dush, ash, and sweat streaks from head to toe. A more civilized girl might have tried to clean herself off, tried to bathe somewhere, somehow¡­

    But Talia was born a slave, and lived all her life at the whims of others. She knew how to keep her head down, how to avoid attracting attention, how to play dumb and to go along with everything as if she had never a thought in her head. It was safer; it was survival. It was the way she lived as a slave for endless years until one day, somehow, without warning or hope, everything had changed¡­

    Yet here she was. Back in the dirt. Back to trudging along wordlessly, voicelessly, soundlessly.

    "Bury them! Before their bodies stink up the camp!" that was the latest command given by their captors.

    Talia barely flickered an eyelid when she saw the corpses to be buried. More than half of them were girls or women. Cleaner girls. Prettier girls.

    Dead girls. Used, abused and abandoned in the dirt where she still walked, still lived, still remained untouched.

    "Wait, don''t!" the shout came from a familiar voice. There was the sound of whipping, and cries of pain.

    Talia didn''t so much as lift her head. Didn''t even stir. That was one of her crew being whipped. She didn''t know why, did not try to ask. She just kept her head down.

    Harsh laughter floated about amid the screams. Then, more screams from afar.

    "Airstrike!" someone shouted a warning.

    Talia lunged. Before she even raised her head, before she even stirred herself out of her self-induced stupor, she struck. "Now!"

    Behind her, men likewise leapt into action. Talia''s own hands wrested a knife from the belt of her latest tormentor. It was buried in his guts once, twice, three times before slicing out his throat. Talia herself didn''t even feel like she was fully awake yet, but she was desperate for time and opportunity, and would not waste even a moment of the chance.

    Her crew likewise attacked; other captives, emboldened by the sudden uprising and their own suffering, also jumped into the fray.

    "How dare you!" one jailor roared. "You scum just lie down and die¡­!"

    But they fought. They fought tooth and nail, tearing at their tormentors with whatever little they had, with all the ferocity of men with nothing left to lose. They didn''t stop to consider who they fought, how many, how well trained or equipped¡­ it didn''t matter. It didn''t make anyone hesitate. All they knew was that they had a fighting chance where before they had none. It was all they wanted. It was all they needed.

    Then the earth shook. Fire erupted all around them. Talia didn''t know what had hit them, whether it was a spell, a bomb, or shots from a magic cannon, only that there was fire and smoke, and a high-pitched buzzing in her ears. She stumbled, dizzy, for a moment disoriented, wondering where she was, where she was supposed to be¡­ because wherever it was, it certainly wasn''t here¡­

    [Kara-Goth.] The word stuck in her head when everything else spiraled out of coherence. [Dad. Mom. Izhan. Mindy. Remian¡­]

    Suddenly, there was a flicker. Somewhere, something responded to that thought.

    [Remian. Remian. Remian.] Talia echoed it, fumbling in the smoke, not knowing what she was doing, not knowing how, only knowing that somewhere, somehow, there was a resonance¡­ [Remian¡­?]

    A familiar voice without sound roared in her mind. [Talia!]

    Talia seized it. That single word, that familiar voice; Talia threw her very soul into grasping it.

    Sudden clarity flooded her. Talia opened her eyes to realize there were two men rushing at her with scimitars drawn. Around her were the bodies of friend and foe alike, none remained standing except for her. Her fist clenched around the handle of the knife she''d wrested from her dead tormentor. The world itself seemed to dim as she gritted her teeth. [If I die, I die fighting!]

    [Talia!] Again, a flood of clarity. She found herself responding, changing her stance, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet. She held up the knife like a sword¡­

    [Remian? Remian?! What is happening?] Mindy''s voice echoed in the empty air around her.

    [I¡­ I can''t¡­ break off! She''s holding on too hard!] Remian''s voice gasped. [I can''t see anything else¡­!]

    The men attacked. One on the left, one on the right, swinging at her from above, powerful strokes meant for her neck, for her waist¡­

    Talia stumbled back, trying to hop away nimbly, but tripping over somebody''s corpse. She fumbled, caught her balance with one hand on the ground, but the two men were closing in¡­

    Remian''s voice stammered. [I-I can''t help her! She needs help, NOW, but I can''t¡­!]

    Mindy''s voice roared. [Let me try!]

    Sudden fire lit up around Talia. Actual flames flickered in the air around her, surrounding her like a sphere.

    The two men fell back, befuddled, wary.

    [What do we do? What do we do?!] Mindy gasped. [She''s so weak¡­!]

    [Well, sorry for being weak!] Talia protested. [It''s not my fault I''m half-starved and exhausted almost to death!]

    [She''s outmatched. Physical strength, numbers, weaponry¡­ they''ve got the advantage in every area! How is she going to fight them off?]

    [What about technique? Song Chen¡­]

    [Song Chen isn''t here. Nobody here has the kind of martial skill it takes to overturn this situation¡­]

    [Wait, are you guys actually talking about getting help from someone else mind-to-mind?!] Talia protested. [How many of you am I supposed to have in my head?]

    [As many as it takes!] Mindy barked back.

    There they were, having no idea what was happening, how, or why, but that somehow, they were able to help her mind-to-mind. It was almost a natural follow-up to the circumstances that had them thinking of getting help from yet another mind somewhere else¡­

    [Is there a range limit? How far away is Talia right now?] Mindy wondered.

    There. She could sense them, sort of. They could sense her. Sort of. Roughly in that direction¡­ and painfully far away.

    [I can''t stretch any more! It''s all I could do to reach Talia, and I can''t let go¡­] Remian''s voice was pained.

    [Then let me!] Mindy flared.

 192 Linked

    Darian was grilling fish for dinner at Dragon Lake when the sky screamed, [HELP!]

    Darian jumped. [Sky¡­? No, wait. That voice¡­ that''s¡­ Mindy?!]

    [Song Chen? Song Chen, is that you?!]

    Darian''s face fell. [No. Sorry, wrong mind. Bye.]

    [No, wait! Darian! It''s Darian, isn''t it? Help us!]

    [Sorry, I''m busy right now, please try again later¡­]

    [Talia''s in trouble! She needs help!] Mindy burst out. [She''s going to die!]

    [Oh? Is she somewhere near Dragon Lake?] Darian blinked.

    [She''s¡­ she''s in the middle of the war, deep in the neutral zone between La Vive and Germat.]

    Darian snorted. [Too far. Can''t get there in time. Please try someone else.]

    [There is no one else! There has been no other response!]

    [Of course not! How many people around here do you think has the kind of Psionic power to reach all the way to the Neutral Zone?! You''re lucky you even reached me! How DID you reach me? Not even the Lords of the Wild have that kind of power! In fact, most of the dragons couldn''t have¡­]

    [I''ll tell you later! But first, you have to help us!] Mindy quickly sent over a burst of memory, detailing the situation in a split second.

    Darian growled. [You know, we''re all going to get really bad headaches after this.]

    [Darian!] Mindy protested.

    [Really, really bad.]

    [Please! We have to save her!]

    Darian scowled. [Fine! But you have to keep your word from earlier and tell me everything about your newfound powers!]

    [Uh¡­] Mindy hesitated.

    [Promise me!]

    [Fine! I''ll tell you! But you have to keep it secret! And you have to tell me something just as big in return so that you won''t blab it or I''ll blab yours too!]

    [Hey, are we saving Talia or what?]

    [Promise!]

    [Deal!]

    [Deal!] Mindy''s mind flared, and then, fire burned in Darian''s mind.

    Suddenly, he was on a field of corpses, and two burly men were trying to skewer him with scimitars.

    Didn''t these people know that scimitars weren''t designed for skewering? They were built for slashing.

    But the knife in his hand, now¡­ THAT was much more suitable for poking holes in people.

    Darian demonstrated. He side-stepped the clumsy skewer aimed at him, and quickly stabbed his own knife into the arm joint of the attacker on the left.

    What was with his body¡­? There was practically no strength whatsoever, and the balance felt weird¡­

    Darian spared a glance down and blinked. Eh? His body had become¡­ ''her'' body¡­?

    [FOCUS!] Mindy flared. [And hurry up! I can''t keep this up any more!]

    [Fine.] Darian threw the knife into the throat of the other attacker, then diverted the scimitar in the hands of the guy he''d stabbed in the arm earlier. He easily stole the scimitar from the bleeding arm, and then neatly cut the throat of the nearer attacker. [Done.]

    Then consciousness broke off. The world faded to black, and there was nothing in the world any more except a total blackness.

    [Not like that¡­ disengage properly¡­] Darian protested, but it was too late, and he could only sink into an endless dark.

    ***

    Talia stood shivering in place for a minute, stunned into speechlessness, until her legs gave way and she landed in a heap in front of the two dead guys who tried to kill her earlier.

    All around her were dead people. Fire, smoke, and debris too, but mainly dead people. Everyone¡­ everyone was¡­

    "T-Talia?" The voice snapped her out of her mire. "H-help¡­"

    "Holt?!" Talia scrambled to see one of her crew pinned under three bodies. He was waving a hand weakly at her.

    "I''m stuck¡­" Holt managed.

    Talia grabbed a body to wrest it off him, but then Holt gasped. "No! Gently! He''s hurt!"

    Talia blinked only to realize that the ''body'' she had grasped was one of her crewmen and that he was still alive. Bleeding, battered, and very much unconscious, but alive.

    Slowly, she tugged him clear, then the other guy under the heap. "Did anyone else survive?"

    "I think so. Probably." Holt hesitated.

    "Good. I''ll leave it to you then." Talia nodded sagely.

    Then she fainted.

    ***

    Mindy collapsed practically on top of him.

    "Mindy¡­? Mindy, are you all right?" Remian asked.

    There was no response. Mindy was out cold.

    "Phoebe! Emergency! Phoebe! HELP!"

    ***

    Phoebe, at the time, was writing a very sharply worded letter to the leaders of the Iron Legion. At Remian''s shout, she went over to see what the matter was, only to see him slump down over Mindy too. He keeled over and collased on the floor next to her.

    "Remian?!" Phoebe gasped. "If this is a ploy to steal a wake-up kiss from me, I have to tell you, there are better ploys to go with¡­"

    But there was no response.

    Phoebe did a quick check on them, both physical and magical. They were both drained, terribly drained, but other than sheer exhaustion, she couldn''t find the root source of the damage. It was not a physical problem, and it was not a magical problem, yet they were obviously hurt in some way, somehow.

    "Could it be¡­ psionics?" Phoebe frowned. "Is it a Psionic attack?!"

    If so, then staying in the region was a very bad idea. In an airship as visible as this, they were sitting ducks to an invisible, intangible attack. All of the Red Fangs shields and armaments could do nothing to help.

    But¡­ could they really just leave like this? Without even knowing what the matter was?

    Phoebe inspected the pair of them again. They did not seem to be in immediate danger, and even showed signs of recovering slowly. It could take them an hour or so to get back on their feet at this rate, but they were getting better.

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    "Take us up." Phoebe decided at last. "We don''t need to turn around and leave just yet, but at least let''s get ourselves higher to avoid trouble from the ground."

    Maybe that might help. Maybe not. Phoebe wasn''t sure.

    "And whatever you do, keep on alert. We might get attacked at any time." Phoebe instructed, then went to rummage around her herb cabinet.

 193 Ups and Downs

    The skies above the clouds were in a state of perpetual tension.

    Over on the left, three Battle Galleons from Ashdale hovered surrounded by a formation of La Vive Strike Frigates in escort. Across untold miles of open space, angular Germat gunships completely covered in plates of iron armor roved by in patrol squads of four. Over on the other side was a massive mothership owned by the Ira Caliphate, a veritable island held up by clouds of golden silk balloons. Much closer by and a little behind them was a cluster of flying mountains, or at least what looked like such.

    "Flying Mountains Formation." Phoebe recognized it. "That''s the trademark airship fleet of the Nine Mountains."

    Only they would be nuts enough to fashion airships that looked like mountains on purpose.

    Mendev Zeppelins hovered in the distance. High above, a Libertaria Observation Balloon made a little speck against the backdrop of the endless blue sky. In the horizon were a pair of Sky Dragon airships from the Dragon Empire, long, rakish airships plated with scales and adorned with heads shaped like dragons. More and more airships from more and more powers dotted the scene, most of them generally staying a safe distance from each other, but all quite capable of keeping an eye on everybody else at a glance.

    The skies above the clouds were filled with tension. There was no fighting here for the moment, but all it took was a single rash move and whole fleets would burn before the day was over.

    Talia stared in a daze for a long minute, and then another. Most of the airships around here were easily identifiable with one nation or the other. Given the looks of the Red Fang, the rough armor plating, the thick leather covering of the envelope, veils covering the openings to keep sand out, all colored red, orange and sand-like¡­ just about everyone would peg it as an airship from Fal''herim.

    "Incoming transmission. It''s an invitation from the Ira Caliphate." The comms officer on duty mentioned.

    Right. Fal''Herim was one of the Coalition of Six. The Ira Caliphate, the Saudara Nation, Paleres, Kuasa Besar, and the Rainforest Commonwealth made up the other five. It made perfect sense that they would be counted as friendlies by Ira.

    Phoebe hesitated. Flying with Ira would likely afford them some measure of protection; out here, their island-like mothership was clearly the largest airship in the skies. But Phoebe herself had a low impression of the Coalition of Six, particularly in light of their practice of slavery. Their airship might be from Fal''Herim originally, but the people on board were generally freed slaves who had fought against Fal''Herim.

    "Turn them down, saying we won''t be here long." Phoebe decided. "Helm, descend into the cloud layer."

    "Wait. What?" the helmsman paused.

    "You heard me. The cloud layer."

    "The cloud layer?! You want to fly blind in the clouds?"

    "There are other senses we can rely on other than sight."

    "But¡­ even so¡­ there''s no telling what we might bump into or¡­ or¡­!"

    "It would be safer than flying up here alone or worse, meeting the slavers."

    Still, the helmsman hesitated. But after a few long seconds, the airship began to descend back into the clouds.

    There. Soft, white mists thickly surrounded them. For a minute, they were at peace, completely isolated from the world in this little safe pocket of blind invisibility.

    Then¡­

    POW! The explosion took place overhead. Phoebe looked up only to see the envelope of their airship thoroughly pierced by two huge horns.

    Horns on an airship? The horned stealth ships of Bulrak?!

    Of all the things they could have crashed into within the cloud layer, that was the worst possible! What kind of bad luck would it take for this sort of thing to happen?!

    Actually, other than Bulrak''s horned airships, who else would be happily speeding around blindly in the clouds hoping to crash into somebody?

    The Red Fang''s gas envelope was protected by reinforced leather and magical wards, even a layer of mana shielding, but the Bulraki horns were heavily magicked, thoroughly reinforced and deliberately built for piercing armored airships¡­ for those horns to crash into the balloon part was just¡­

    "We''re going down!" The helmsman yelped, as the Red Fang lost altitude at an increasing rate.

    ***

    Remian woke up to a splitting headache, the sensation of falling and the sounds of screaming on every side.

    In a daze, what came to mind was a deep need for something soft to put his head into.

    A somewhat less groogy part of his mind also felt that everybody in this falling airship could use something soft to land into.

    "Pillow." Remian said.

    Soul-boost flared.

    WHUMP. The airship landed in something soft. Everybody inside barely stirred; the very air inside seemed to have turned into a cotton-like thickness. Even their screams sounded like they were traveling through thick pillows. Several things that should have fallen to gravity were even hovering in place, slowly sinking in the suddenly thickened air.

    And then everything went back to normal. All the fluffy thickness vanished, everything that should have landed on the floor immediately very quickly dropped at their usual pace.

    But that was about all Remian managed to register before he blacked out again.

    ***

    Mindy woke up to a pounding headache. Every heartbeat was accompanied by a deep throbbing pain in her skull as if her brains were hammering at a cage trying to get out.

    "Brains, please stop. I need you right where you are." Mindy pleaded.

    But unfortunately, her brains would not cooperate. This place was boring or something, they decided, and thus expended their utmost effort to burst out of her skull.

    "Mindy! You''re awake?" Phoebe was there looking somewhat battered and dirty, but clear-minded and clearly without a headache.

    "Can you knock me out? Please?" Mindy groaned. "My head is just¡­"

    Phoebe laid a hand on her head. Soft light glowed. The throbbing eased a bit. "Better?"

    "A bit. But I really don''t want to be awake right now."

    "Okay." Phoebe switched her palm for a fist, and then a sharp pain was felt on Mindy''s forehead.

    Then, blissful blackness.

    ***

    They landed on a sparse plateau. The airship was not in bad shape, and had fallen straight down. It arrived on the ground still upright, so rather than set up camp, everybody decided simply to stay on board the airship.

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    They took in the burst envelope hoping to fix it, then covered the top deck with camouflage; rock-colored canvas, branches, bushes¡­ by the time they were done, a casual glance from high above wouldn''t spot anything out of place on the plateau.

    "Everyone, get some rest, and fix up whatever you can." Phoebe instructed. "Set up a watch with hourly shifts. We''re in a war zone here, people, and we do not want to be caught unawares."

    "What about Talia?" one of the crew asked.

    "We''ll get her." Phoebe said. "But first, we need to make sure we don''t get caught ourselves."

 194 The Going

    Three days of observation from the highlands plateau gave Phoebe and the others a rough idea of what was what.

    First of all, the closest combating forces to the plateau were the Bulrak and Bellas forces. The Bulraki had a huge lot of cavalry, a great many of which were heavy cavalry, including their famous Bull Riders. They trampled just about everything in their path. The Bellai, on the other hand, had fortified positions up and down the entire highland range where their plateau was at. Tall, sleek guard towers dotted the hills, armed with ballistas and crossbowmen.

    To be honest, Phoebe had expected the Bulraki to wipe out the Bellai in short order. The Bulraki were generally a physically strong people, if a bit coarse in culture. The Bellai, on the other hand, were people of a country that was basically founded by beauty. An old emperor was so enamored of a beauty that he offered her anything she wanted, even up to half his kingdom, in the similar fashion as an old legend. Who knew she would immediately take him up on his offer and proceed to raise a country even more prosperous than his own? The new kingdom belonged to the beauty named Bella. It was Bella''s, and over time officially adopted the name of Bellas.

    The people of Bellas, therefore, generally valued beauty. Every Bellai soldier in the battlefield was handsome. Phoebe saw a Bellai woman in armor the first day, and even she looked handsome rather than beautiful. Having said that, their weapons were not lacking in power. Practically every crossbow and every ballista on those towers were magical, and they had magi magically monitoring the area for miles around. Despite the speed of the Bulraki cavalry, they were never caught off-guard. Not even once.

    The Bulraki, however, definitely had the upper hand in terms of numbers and mobility. They had cleanly cut off the Bellai supply lines and all attempts to resupply their slender forts were thoroughly trounced. Airships were rammed and went down as easily as the Red Fang had been. Wagons were raided from all sides. Out on the open field, Bulraki heavy cavalry easily outmaneuvered and overwhelmed even the most heavily protected caravans. The Bellai even tried sending trickles of hand-hauled supplies carried by dozens of small, sneaky squads. The Bulraki cavalry scoured the countryside with scout cavalry and caught just about all of them.

    Eventually, Bellas decided to stop sending supplies; every attempt they did to supply their forts only resulted in their provisions being stolen, and in a way, they were only feeding the Bulraki. With such numbers, the Bulraki supply lines were completely insufficient to provide for their forces. Most of them were basically living off raided Bellas supplies. With those supplies stopped, both the Bellas and the Bulraki were going to have to face the problem of hunger. In those three days of observation, the area had quickly been foraged clean. The war around here was turning into a contest of who could starve out the other first.

    "Who do you think will win?" Mindy asked on the third day, still nursing a terrible headache.

    "I don''t know. As long as they don''t come looking for our food, I don''t really care." Phoebe answered.

    Right. In terms of food supply, the Red Fang had enough to last everyone about a month. The armies out there, on the other hand, were already going around with hungry faces. The Bulraki were choosing which fort to attack based entirely on how much food they believed were in those forts.

    "If you''re worried about them coming for our food, why don''t we make a move now?" Mindy asked.

    "Same reason. This isn''t going to last much longer. Pretty soon, the Bulraki would have to move on." Remian told her, similarly nursing a bad headache. "That''s the way the Bulraki are. They come, they raid what they need, and then they move on. Since the supplies here have stopped, there''s nothing left here for them. They''ll move on soon enough, and then we can make our move much more safely."

    "Well, we can''t afford to wait much longer either. Talia''s not in good shape either."

    Right. Talia was in the next region, where Ashdale and La Vive were fighting Germat. The battle there was much fiercer, and the weapons employed were far deadlier. Around here, the Bulraki and Bellas were fighting with magic spears, crossbows, and ballistae. Over there, the armies were shooting cannons by the hundreds.

    On top of that, half of Talia''s surviving crew were badly injured. Trying to travel was a bad idea, much less skulk through the war zone. Their best bet would be for an airship pick-up.

    As of this morning, that possibility became feasible. With some patchwork repairs, the Red Fang was once again airworthy. While Phoebe wouldn''t dare to take it above the clouds or into strong winds, it was at least capable of limping its way back to Itarim.

    Oh, and one more thing.

    They had the prototype Wasp on board. While still very shaky and hardly dependable, in Phoebe''s opinion, it was still able to zip over to Talia''s location and ferry the wounded back. A second trip, and all the survivors could be here with them on the Plateau within hours.

    Assuming that is, that the Wasp wasn''t shot down en route. Even the Bulraki cavalry could launch their spears magically hundreds of meters into the air. Getting to Talia with the Red Fang was suicide; they would have to sneak their way to her at low altitudes to avoid detection.

    Obviously, sneaking across the highlands as they were now was a still a very dangerous proposition. That was why Remian wanted to wait until the Bulraki cleared out. They''d leave soon, he said.

    That was two days ago. He said the same thing yesterday, and he said the same thing today. But until now, they still hadn''t cleared out.

    "Tomorrow." Remian said at last. "If they don''t clear out by tomorrow¡­"

    "Then?"

    "Then I''ll make a move myself."

    ***

    The next day, a squad of Bulraki light cavalry had a strange encounter during one of their perimeter patrols.

    There was a lonely figure shuffling along the road toward the deepest part of the war zone.

    "Who are you?" seeing only one man, alone, the squad felt it unnecessary to report in until they had something substantial to report. After all, there were four of them, they were on horseback, they were fully armed, and there were allies within minutes of them. What could they have to fear from this shuffling, lonely fellow?

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    In response, the guy only looked them over, nodded to himself, and then asked them, "Why are the Bulraki forces still in this area?"

    The squad leader snapped, "WE ask the questions here, you¡­"

    "Quiet, you." The man said.

    The squad leader''s mouth kept moving, but no sound came out afterward. He blinked, coughed, tried to say something, but no sound emerged.

    "Someone else, tell me. Why are the Bulraki still here? There''s nothing left for you here. No food, no goods to raid. Why do you still linger?"

    "That''s none of your business!" the second rider snapped.

    "You, quiet." The guy said.

    The second rider, too, found himself strangely muted.

    "Someone else. Tell me, why?"

    "I have no idea." The third rider said honestly.

    Meanwhile the fourth one raised his spear and threw it at the weird guy.

    The weird guy raised a hand. "Freeze."

    They froze. The spear and the whole squad of riders were suddenly engulfed in ice, all at once, forming an odd ice-sculpture of four riders and a flung spear out in the open in broad daylight.

    "Whoops." Remian grimaced. "Now I can''t ask them any more questions."

    Never mind. Tiredly, he shuffled onward down the road into the heart of the world war.

 195 Strays

    Keeping an eye on the dust columns in the distance, Remian carefully made his way on the road, thinking to steer clear of Bulraki riders entirely.

    "Stop!" the voice calling him from the side was low and urgent. "Camp ahead!"

    "What?" Remian turned to see a young boy, very dirty and very worried waving at him from the bushes.

    "There is a Bulraki camp ahead! Don''t go that way!" he urged Remian.

    Survivors? "Who are you? Why are you out here on your own?"

    But the boy didn''t reply. He just turned around and ran.

    "Hey, wait¡­" Remian followed him. Meanwhile, he contacted Mindy. [Third checkpoint, hostiles suspected. Don''t come over yet.]

    [Understood. Shall we send backup?]

    [Stand by¡­] Remian huffled after the boy, carefully leaving a mark on a tree as he passed it. They went into the sparse woods, then around a hillock¡­

    "Freeze!" A long, rusted pike was suddenly pointed at him from the side. Remian turned to see a bigger, graying man there wearing a helmet and a baking apron with spoons sewn onto it as reinforcement.

    Remian didn''t freeze. Instead, he leapt aside, and drew his own weapon.

    To be fair, Remian''s weapon was even older than that pike. The long-hilted sword (c.f. nagamaki) was downright ancient. He triggered one of its three still-functioning runes; a shield of light flickered into being in between him and the pike.

    But the pike did not stab forward. The elderly man did not strike, or charge. He just narrowed his eyes. "That nagamaki¡­ it''s a runic weapon?"

    Remian didn''t reply. His senses spread through the area, finding several minds nearby filled with wariness and fear¡­ and two others which had gone completely numb and apathetic.

    None of them were warriors. None of them were Bulraki or Bellai. They all seemed to be in the same situation as the boy and the old man; denizens of the neutral zone caught in a war they neither asked for nor wanted.

    "I''m not here to harm you. I''m just passing through when your friend there showed up." Remian pointed out.

    "Why did you follow him?" the old man asked.

    "I just want to know about this camp ahead."

    The older man exchanged glances with the young boy, who was now looking rather guilty. Slowly, he lowered his pike.

    Remian likewise turned off his shield and put away his weapon.

    "So¡­ can you tell me about this camp?"

    ***

    Sandra, Gammie, and their Comrades (a wolfcat and a Feelo-Wasp prince leading his own entourage of flying hand-sized bugs) arrived as Remian got to know the survivors and their leader, the pikeman veteran Alex.

    They came from three different villages all located up this very road. When the Bulraki came raiding, they fled for their lives, and tried to make their way to the Bellai forts for shelter, but were crudely turned away and were basically just trying to survive by staying away from the fighting, foraging in the wild and praying that the war would be over quickly.

    "That doesn''t seem likely." Remian confessed.

    Then it was his turn to share information with them.

    "From what the Iron Legion told me, this war already involves thirteen nations on two different sides." Remian explained. "Germat, Auria, Otta, Bulrak, Ira and possibly Kuasa Besar are on one side. Ashdale, La Vive, Bellas, and the Nine Mountains are on a different side. Itarim just switched sides from the Germat-Auria side to the Ashdale-La Vive side, and the Sea People claim to side whatever side Itarim stands on, except I haven''t actually seen any of them around here yet. Mendev, Liberatria, Romania, Ecclesia, Ceres, the Rainforest Commonwealth, the Saudara Nation and the Dragon Empire all have large forces present in the region, but they have yet to declare a side and are mainly just observing. Everyone else is steering clear."

    "Any idea how long it will last?"

    "Not a clue. Last week, the Germat side was winning, but now Itarim has changed sides, and the Nine Mountains are going all-out, so depending on whether they can establish a strong momentum, the war could either be over tonight, or it could turn into a stalemate that lasts for years."

    "And you say you''re not on either side?"

    "I''m from the Wildlands. I''m just trying to get my friends out of here."

    "How do you intend to do that?"

    "We have an airship." Remian said, and left it at that.

    The survivors exchanged glances. "The Wildlands, you say? I hear it''s a dangerous place."

    "South of Kara-Goth, it is a very dangerous place indeed." Remian nodded. "But Kara-Goth itself is a fortress built into a hill. It has never been breached by the Wilds. Fort Spoas has fallen and every other human settlement in the Wildlands has fallen, but Kara-Goth remains underground and safe."

    "Underground?" the old veteran perked up. "How do you live there?"

    "Quite comfortably, actually. It''s built into a hill, and there''s a wide open space from above, we used to dock airships there, but now the new airport is being built¡­" Remian paused, trying to describe it. "It''s a town shaped after the largest malls in Ashdale. Even though it''s underground, we get plenty of sunlight. There are Sand People, Sea People, folks from Ashdale, Itarim, the Dragon Empire¡­ all sorts."

    "Do these people fight each other?"

    "Each other? I''ve only seen verbal fights between them, so far. Everyone protects each other against the Wilds when the Beast Waves come. But the Beast Waves have stopped now, so¡­" Remian trailed off.

    "The Beast Waves have stopped¡­ there is a town¡­ it''s got people of many cultures who live together in peace¡­" The old man began to tremble visibly. Tears actually began to streak down his face. "That¡­ that''s all I ever wanted¡­ I came all this way to the Neutral Zone, built my house with my own two hands, thinking that this was the place¡­ but now¡­"

    "Join us." Remian invited on the spot. "Come to Kara-Goth. I have some say there. I''ll personally make sure you have a place to live. There''s plenty of work, or you could even open your own business."

    "What about them?" Alex gestured at his friends. "Most of them are farmers¡­"

    "We have huge farms and could definitely use more hands." Remian assured him. "You''re all welcome. There''s fishing, and an Adventurers Guild, and mining, and lots of construction work that needs doing¡­"

    "And you''ll take us there? On your airship?"

    "If you want, yes."

    ***

    That night, Mindy received the Signal.

    [All Clear. Come on over.] Remian messaged her telepathically.

    "Here we go." Mindy breathed. With a flicker of power, the Wasp took off, flying low and quickly in the twilight, even as darkness covered her and afforded her the protection of night. She locked on to Remian''s position by sheer Psionic tracking, trusting in his word that the way to his position, at least, was clear of dangers.

    It was a short flight for the Wasp, barely half an hour. It pained Mindy to think that Remian would have taken the entire day to cover just this distance, without the help of an all too conscpicuous ME-frame.

    "I''m here." Mindy greeted him as she got off the Wasp. Sandra and Gammie, along with their Comrades, likewise got off and secured the aircraft.

    "Good. You have passengers." Remian gestured.

    Standing around the clearing were ten staring faces, three hopeful, five wary, and the remaining two completely uncaring. They were battered, bedraggled, and bruised more often than not, but they were alive, conscious, and very much capable of revealing their location¡­

    "Can you make two trips back to the Red Fang?" Remian asked. "We''re taking them with us to Kara-Goth."

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    "What¡­?!" Mindy stared. "But Talia¡­"

    "Her, too." Remian nodded. "So here''s what I was thinking. Bring these survivors back to the airship first, then come back here for the night. The Wasp is definitely capable of at least that much, isn''t it? We can continue on our way tomorrow."

    "The Wasp can do it." Mindy agreed. "But can we really trust them?"

    "They seem to be good people. Also, I think they saved my life." Remian shifted. Mindy wasn''t entirely sure she believed him, but she didn''t argue. "I owe them."

    Mindy grunted. [Are you sure they''re good people?]

    [Not entirely, from what I can sense. I''ve been monitoring their thoughts. They''re desperate enough to steal our food, but they won''t kill us even if they tried. The worst they''d do is grab a loaf and run. As long as you keep them well-fed, I think the promise of a better life would ensure their good behavior.]

    [They''d steal out of hunger, but they wouldn''t harm us. That''s about as much as we could ask of anyone.] Mindy conceded. "Fine. Let''s do this."

 196 Bigger Picture

    The second day, it was Sandra''s turn to scout ahead, and then later, Gammie''s. Mindy and Remian simply camped out and waited for their signals to move ahead, and then moved the Wasp farther along their route.

    In the meantime, he studied magic. Just before coming to the war zone, they had dropped off the families of the fallen magi from Ecclesia, Father Petrov, and Sir Ivan. Father Petrov started a recruitment desk at the academy for them with a slogan saying ''Come to the Wildlands ¨C We have Dragons!''. He also gave them access to the Church library, and pointed out the archaeological section pertaining to the Black Ruins¡­

    Remian brought back one particularly interesting little booklet from there entitled ''The Black Ruins'' Different Magic System''.

    The first line on the first page was enough to convince him of the value of this booklet. It said, "According to the Black Ruins Civilization, the magic that we practice today only accounts for half of their system."

    In other words, they used magic completely outside of the current system. It wasn''t a matter of different spells; the very system they followed was distinct.

    It was followed by a whole three pages of explanation on how expeditions in the Black Ruins have progressed over the world over the past decade or so, and then, how a group had put together their findings from seventeen different ruins, and concluded the following¡­

    ''The Black Ruins Civilization believed that there were in the end only two kinds of magic; Law, and Chaos. Law magic refers to all systems of magic that rely on laws; for example, the ever-popular fireball spell taught in the Magic Academy of Ecclesia uses the Laws of Fire and Movement. With a Sigil and an Incantation, and a burst of mana, the Laws of Fire form a shape and that shape is launched forward according to the Laws of Movement. In that sense, all magic taught in the Academy are Law Magics; all of them use Sigils, incantations, and Laws. Many of them even require formations.''

    ''Law magics are generally reliable in their outcome. As long as the system is followed, the result could easily be predicted with a reasonable margin for error. Chaos magics, however, are entirely different.''

    ''The results of Chaos Magic are often unpredictable. The reason for that is that they rely on variables, and that very reliance on variables is itself variable. For example, the practice of the forbidden ''soul boost''. The use of emotional resonance to increase the power of one''s spells is dangerous, and should never, ever be attempted on pain of disciplinary action according to Section 31.5b of the Civil Security Penal Code, and Paragraph 091 of the Bylaws To Ensure Domestic Safety¡­''

    Five pages of issues pertaining to laws and punishments regarding Soul Boost followed before it returned to the topic of Chaos Magic.

    ''Most intriguingly, Law Magic appears fully rooted in the natural laws and systems of this world; the environment, energy supply, the Sigil and the Incantation. Chaos Magic, however, seems to involve extradimensional factors; feelings, spirits, and apparently an entirely different space through which energy could be ''imported'' into this dimension¡­''

    Five of the members of the group who made the booklet agreed that the Draconian abilities to use Fire Magic that bypassed Sigils and Incantations was an example of Chaos Magic. The other three disagreed saying that Draconian Magic merely followed a different system of Law Magic, one pertaining to bloodline and their bond with dragons. They went on for three more pages to explain and discuss the risks and dangers of attempting to bond with dragons. Then the next five pages described nine different bloodlines with magic affectations, three types of eye mutations that also affected magic, the rumors of a Magic Hand, and the myth of a Magic Foot¡­

    Then it went completely off topic and into the stories told of each individual author about their own experiences in the ruins and what they so credibly figured out about the Black Ruins Civilization, as pertaining to Law and Chaos Magic.

    That completed the booklet. Throughout the entire thing, there wasn''t even a single spell or technique offered. Remian almost threw away the booklet in disgust.

    "That bad?" Mindy asked, as they piloted the Wasp to the Fifth Checkpoint that day.

    "Not entirely." Remian relented. "Most of it is rubbish, but I did learn a few useful things."

    "Such as?"

    "Such as the fact that the Black Ruins Civilization used both Law and Chaos Magic." Remian said. "Also, that they used Chaos Magic to acquire energy from another dimension. Like the weapons we got from there, these Runic Nagamaki. Do you remember talking about how we had to manually feed those runes, that they seemed to be designed to be powered by something else? There''s no slot or adapter for mana crystals, so¡­"

    "They were supposed to draw power directly from the Chaos Dimension?" Mindy guessed.

    "Or maybe they just had to be plugged in to recharge somewhere." Remian shrugged. "Something like that."

    "Actually, when you talked about importing magic from another dimension, something else came to mind." Mindy added, frowning.

    "What''s that?"

    "The Source of Magic. It''s a crack in space. You don''t think¡­" Mindy trailed off.

    "That maybe the Black Ruins Civilization tried to create an endless source of power and created it?" Remian guessed. "That would mean that the Source of Magic is not the source of magic, merely a man-made channel to the chaos dimension. In which case¡­ where does magic come from? Where does all the mana in our world come from, before the Crack was made?"

    "I don''t know." Mindy shook her head. "I don''t even know if the Source of Magic was made by the Black Ruins Civilization, or whether the Black Ruins Civilization figured out Chaos Magic by studying the Source."

    "We might find out the answer, if we keep studying the Ruins. There''s more of those in the Wildlands than anywhere else in the world, and they''re mostly unexplored because of the Wilds." Remian shifted. "If we could just convince the Wilds to let us through¡­"

    "It''s a miracle that we''ve made as many friends as we have already. I''m not sure how many more Wilds we''d be able to befriend." Mindy sighed. "When is the next Beast Tide arriving?"

    Remian shook his head. "I''m not sure. Whenever the death toll of the Wilds reach 10,000, I guess?"

    "What''s it at now?" Mindy asked.

    "I''m not sure. I kind of lost track." Remian confessed.

    Mindy closed her eyes for a moment. Then, she said, "It has been 71 days since the last Beast Wave. The current death toll is 6129. Yesterday, it rose by 226."

    "Wow! How did you find that out?" Remian asked in amazement. "Is it accurate?"

    "That''s Doom''s count, according to Darian." Mindy told him. "That''s the count that is going to spring the Beast Tide when it hits 10,000. I don''t know if it''s accurate, but that''s the count that matters."

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    "That it is." Remian agreed. "Up by 226 in a day¡­ at the rate we''re going, we''ll be facing the next Beast Tide in half a month."

    Half a month! Remian suddenly felt a chill.

    "Are you all right?" Mindy asked, seeing his face pale.

    "It''s just¡­" Remian shook his head. "I thought we''d have years, yet. Half a month is¡­"

    "Eighteen days, at the current death rate." Mindy calculated. "That''s not good. We better alert George and have them prepare defenses, try to reduce the killing."

    "I''ll leave you to it, then."

    ***

    Darian was snacking on Wyvern Berries, a rare fruit that grew up around draconic aura, when Mindy''s thoughts reached out to him. [Darian! I need some help!]

    [Again¡­?] Darian half-groaned.

    [At the rate things are going, the next Beast Tide is going to happen in eighteen days! Do you want that?] Mindy asked. [We have to reduce the death toll!]

    [Great idea. So go do that and let me eat in peace!]

    [But we don''t know what''s causing it! I remember George set strict rules on hunting Wilds. How did the death toll rise to over 200 in a day? That''s simply not possible!]

    [It''s not just hunting that''s killing the Wilds. It''s all human activity. This includes water pollution, losing their homes and dying without shelter, losing food sources and starving to death, poisoning due to eating human litter¡­ as long as it''s related to something a human did, the Wilds count it as a manmade death.]

    [Does George know that?]

    [Seeing the way the death toll is rising, probably not.]

    [Tell him! Tell him, quick, before things get worse!]

    Darian groaned. [It''s the middle of the week, I''m not supposed to go anywhere until the weekend, and on top of that, George is at Kara-Goth, not Three Pines.]

    [But you can do it. Ha''res-dras could probably make the trip there and back within hours. I''m days away even if I rushed back with the Red Fang right now!]

    [Within hours, you say? It''s going to take even him all night and half the morning! Plus, I don''t even know if I can convince him to bother!]

    [Just try! Please?!]

    [No promises.] Darian growled, half-regretting that he''d told her about the Count when she asked.

 197 An offhand though

    The next day, Remian once again took to the road.

    By now, they were already in the heart of the world war. All around them were thick columns of smoke; the sound of heavy artillery could be heard on every side. Remian avoided all the columns; each of them was clearly a military position, or else they wouldn''t have been fired upon. As long as he kept clear of any viable targets, he figured, he should avoid getting blasted by cannons.

    In any case, the fighting should have drifted farther to the west. Germat and Auria were pushing back the Ashdale and La Vive lines at a steady pace. Thinking back to the prices they offered for elemental metals just before the war, Remian wasn''t entirely surprised. It was clear that Germat had spent a premium in preparation for the conflict.

    In terms of combat ability, Ashdale boasted a lot of experience. Proven in the field over millennia against the likes of the Iron Legion, their military firing formations and drills were famous for their high levels of discipline and order. But Germat had focused more on heavy weapons, armored vehicles carrying magic cannons. With carriages bearing layers of elemental armor too strong to pierce, a robust crystal communication network and oversized cannons supported by specialist magi dedicated to their firing, the orderly firing lines of the Ashdale formations became like pretty targets set up for artillery practice.

    Remian came across one such battle early on in the day. A squad of Germat armored carriages met a full battalion of Ashdale musketeers. It had not been a fair fight, to say the least; even before long-ranged Germat artillery started bombarding the Ashdalian lines from afar, the armored carriages themselves were able to blast away at the Ashdalian soldiers with impunity, completely ignoring the measly fire their old weapons were scratching their armor with.

    At one point, Remian even felt a bit guilty. Judging by the glint of reddish yellow from the Germat armor, there was a good bit of Fire Copper alloyed into the mix. In other words, one of the reasons why Germat was able to put so much armor on so many carriages was because Remian and Mindy supplied them with Fire Copper.

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    But that was the way of the free market. Whoever offered the highest prices got the goods.

    It was La Vive who came to the rescue later on. A formation of chevaliers led by a paladin in golden armor came charging in from the opposite side, catching the Germat forces from behind. They had high tier runic weapons that practically flared with magic power. A single lance from the lead paladin was enough to pierce through the central armored carriage like a hot knife through butter. There was an explosion then, and the entire armored carriage went tumbling sideways, rolling over and over before coming to a miserable stop. The other armored carriages did not fare much better.

    Still. How many chevaliers did La Vive have on the field? How many Ashdalian soldiers were killed before they could arrive? How many armored carriages did Germat deploy? All of these questions could not be answered by Remian, but as he traveled deeper into the war zone, he could generally see Germat and Auria advancing while Ashdale and La Vive retreated.

    Remian had time to think and ponder as he made his way farther in. There were several ways that Ashdale could turn the tides. Mainly, their advantage was in air power. Germat had heavy armor, even on their airships, but while it was a huge advantage on the ground, it actually could be a problem in the air. More weight meant less maneuverability and less hauling capacity, so their logistics and their air combat abilities were going to be limited¡­

    On top of that, they favored heavy cannons. While those could be detrimental to large airships, a swarm of quick agile fighters could quite plausibly overwhelm them without too much trouble. If Ashdale turned their shipyards and industry produce light fighters instead of gigantic airships, they could very well turn the tide of the war based on logistics alone.

    Remian itched to make Ashdale an offer they couldn''t refuse and make a huge profit out of doing so. In other words, ¡­how much would Ashdale pay for the Wasp?

    He was thinking about making a visit to Ashdale when he heard the sound of gunshots in the distance. Remian immediately crouched low, activating the rune shield as he did so, but then realized that the shots were fired on the other side of the near rise. Cautiously, he slipped up and peered over the rise to see what was going on.

    There was a scuffle taking place. Unlike the previous larger battles where entire formations blasted away at each other, this was a much smaller scale brawl. Roughly a half-dozen men were fighting hand-to-hand in a valley. It was an unfair fight, two against four, but the two had guns, while the four did not.

    Remian did a quick sweep of the vicinity with his Psionic senses, and finding no other people around, he quickly nipped forward. "Light!"

    By then, three of the brawlers were dead and one was lying on the ground unconscious. The last two were at the crucial point. At an opportune time, a barrier of light appeared and blocked the strike of a desperate knife-wielder, saving a gunman from the attack. This gave him time to shoot his assailant at point-blank range, and the knife-wielder fell with a resentful look on his face. The fight that he should have won had been lost instead¡­

    The survivor turned to see Remian hobbling towards him. He glanced at his fallen companion, grimaced, and shot dead the last living attacker, the one who was lying on the ground unconscious. Then, he sat down on a rock and waited for Remian to arrive.

    "Thank you." He said simply, offering his hand. "Where are you from?"

    Remian shook his hand. "The Wildlands, actually. But I''ve had some dealings with Ashdale." With Germat too, but the soldier didn''t need to know that. He was Ashdalian, and the men he''d just killed were Germati.

    "So¡­ you''re a neutral?" the soldier shook his head. "Best get away from this place."

    "I would, just as soon as I find my friends." Remian assured him. "What about you? You had best get back to your people as well."

    "Certainly. But perhaps I should escort you and your friends to my base camp first. It''s not safe for neutrals out here." He said hesitantly. "You could come over for tea."

    This was a good man, Remian felt, to be so concerned over neutral parties, even while he was worried that Remian might be a spy and exposing the location of his base camp might not be the wisest choice he could make¡­

    "On another occasion I would be happy to come over for tea, but right now might not be the best time." Remian said diplomatically.

    "Oh, no, no, you should come. You saved my life, it''s the least I can do to repay you. I owe you one." Suddenly, the man ditched his suspicions completely.

    But Remian shook his head. "Now isn''t a good time. But I''ll tell you what; if you want to repay me, pass along a message to your higher-ups for me, will you?"

    The man hesitated, then nodded. "What message?"

    "Tell them that if they want small, agile air-combat aircraft, look for me and my friends in the Wildlands. We are based in Kara-Goth."

    ***

    At that time, Talia was already on the road heading towards Remian''s position.

    Yes, she knew she was supposed to sit tight and wait for rescue. Yes, half her group were severely wounded; had they tried to move earlier, one of the wounded would be limping along while she and Holt would have to carry the other two on stretchers one at a time. As of last night, however, they had found an abandoned hand cart and managed to haul it all the way back here. This cart wasn''t very big, but it would be enough to load both stretchers.

    She knew there were risks, but the fighting around her area was getting much too intense for comfort. After some discussion, she and her crew agreed that their chances of survival were greater if they headed out than in they stayed.

    Thus equipped, and supplied with a few days'' worth of foraged food from the wilderness, Talia and her crew set out to meet Remian on the way.

 198 Closer

    She wasn''t far now. Remian could sense her getting closer and closer. Just over the next rise, he felt. Talia was coming to meet him partway on this dirt road.

    He glanced about. The area here was an open space, sparse brush and hard dirt on either side of the road heading north. Ahead was a crossroads with a signpost. On the right, Germat and Auria. On the left, Ashdale and La Vive. To the south, Itarim, and to the north, Bellas.

    Talia was coming down this very road. Remian narrowed his eyes. Was that them? That little speck in the distance?

    [Talia?] Remian sent out a thought-burst.

    [Remian!] Talia lit up. Ahead, at the little speck, he saw movement. Someone was waving both arms frantically. [Over here!]

    [Talia!] Remian made a quick decision. [We need to find a place with more cover, enough for the Wasp. I don''t want to call the airship out here into the open.]

    [There''s no cover of that level on the north side. What about south?]

    Remian thought back. [There are a few sites we could use¡­]

    Just then, the ground began to rumble.

    [Cavalry coming!] Remian gulped. [Find cover!]

    There wasn''t much, just a few low bushes. Certainly nothing the Wasp could use. But for Remian alone, a few low bushes were sufficient. Talia, however, had a harder time¡­

    [Bulraki raiders.] Remian found out who was coming with just a quick Psionic scan. [Rougly two thousand of them.]

    Two thousand men on horseback. They were riding at full speed. There was no way Talia could make it to Remian or him to her before they arrived. Already they were pouring into the open over the rise in the horizon to the right.

    Wait. There was a response on the left. Remian sensed¡­

    Power. He recognized them. "La Vive''s Chevaliers."

    Cavalry on both sides were closing in on his position. Remian half itched to withdraw and just let them fight it out¡­

    But Talia was right there! Right there in front of him!

    Maybe it was best they both back off, let the war fight itself out first, then come together again later?

    Scrap. Remian sensed more arrivals. Behind the first thousand Bulraki was another thousand. And another. And another.

    But on the left, there was only the Chevaliers. It was like they were the only ones quick enough to respond in time.

    What was going on? Why were the Bulraki here now, in such force? Why did the Ashdale-La Vive side only have this unit of cavalry here in time to face them? Why even face them here? Trying to challenge these many Bulraki cavalry in an open space this big with just one unit of chevaliers sounded like a bad idea, no matter how elite or well-equipped the chevaliers were!

    Unless¡­

    Remian glanced up at the clouds. Could it be? Did the Chevalier have air support just waiting to pounce from above? A bombardment on cavalry in the open from either heavy artillery or airships could be devastating¡­

    "Thunder!" the shout erupted from the Chevalier formation. Remian turned to see that they had ridden in a magic formation, and were casting a group spell on horseback. A powerful roar rippled across the battlefield, crossing the distance at the speed of sound, visibly slamming into the Bulraki lines.

    The Bulraki horses and bulls went into a frenzy. The Bulraki were plunged into chaos.

    "Clouds gather!" the chevaliers cast another spell. The clouds above, previously thin and scattered across the sky, suddenly came together and took on heavier, darker forms.

    "Not good." Remian easily figured out what the chevaliers were going to do. [Talia! Get out of there!]

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    [But¡­]

    [We have to get out of here, NOW! Run for it!] Remian leapt out of the brushes and ran forward. [Mindy! Emergency evacuation! We can''t wait! We need to leave immediately!]

    [What happened?!] Mindy gaped.

    [Talia''s in the middle of a battlefield.] Remian told her. [And the entire place is about to be covered in magical storms.]

    [Storms? Remian the Wasp can''t manage bad weather very well!]

    [It''ll manage better than Talia and her wounded crew. But I''m not asking you to fly into a storm. There''s an abandoned farmhouse not too far up the road from my position. Set up camp in the barn and prepare to receive wounded. I''ll meet you there. The route to it from you is clear enough, just fly low to avoid being seen.]

    [Got it! I''m coming over right now!]

    As Remian and Talia rushed toward each other, there was another spell cast. "Rain!"

    While the Bulraki were still trying to regain control of half their mounts and urge them forward, the chevalier were changing the terrain of the entire battlefield. As rain began to fall, Remian was forced to slow down as the ground began to become muddy.

    Turning the ground to mud! That was the end of any glorious cavalry charges. As expected of the La Vive elites. They themselves were a cavalry unit, but they gave up their horseback style and fought like magi, completely disrupting the Bulraki speed advantages. It was a smart move; the chevalier were in heavy armor while the Bulraki were wearing leathers and furs; it was clear that the Bulraki had more mobility and far, far more numbers. A small unit of heavy cavalry couldn''t possibly stop, slow, or defeat the oncoming horde of light and medium Bulraki cavalry. But a circle of magi casting wide area of effect spells could.

    Remian would have admired them for it if it didn''t mean that he and his friends would likewise be engulfed in those wide area spells. The pattern the chevaliers used was straightforward enough. First, they stunned or hindered the enemy with the Tier 5 spell Wave of Thunder. Then, they gathered clouds (a basic Tier 6 spell) and made it rain (triggering already heavy clouds to rain was a Tier 4 spell). This caught the Bulraki in the mud while at the same time preparing the environment for the final and most important strike.

    They did NOT want to be here when lightning started falling out of the sky.

    [Run, Talia! RUN!] Remian staggered in the mud, trying to get to them, trying to reach them as the rain began to get heavier in heavier.

    "Storm winds, rise!" the chevalier cast another Tier 5 spell. Remian spared them a glance and saw that they had raised their lances like magic staves, waves of mana rippling from them into the sky, causing the clouds to stir, the invisible winds to pick up¡­

    Remian and Talia were nearing each other. He could see the desperation in her face, the urgency in her movements as she and her crew stumbled forward, trying to drag the hand-cast through increasingly thick mud¡­

    "Lightning Storm!" the roar filled the entire field with despair. With wind, rain and clouds in place, the chevaliers unleashed the Tier 6 spell without mercy, and lightning began to crackle in the clouds above.

    At that point, the chevaliers retreated. They did not look to be in good shape after casting so many high Tier spells in succession, but they had succeeded, and they had horses. It was well executed maneuver. Remian would have saluted them if he himself wasn''t presently caught in the mud and at the mercy of the lightning.

    "Talia!" they were close enough to shout at each other.

    "What do we do?!" Talia shouted against the wind as they met. "We''re not going to make it! What do we do?!"

    First things first. Remian raised a hand. "Light!"

    A barrier of light covered them from above even as lightning began to fall indiscriminately among the Bulraki ranks. "Can you still run?"

    "We¡­" Talia hesitated, panting, glancing at her crew.

    The man beside her was badly winded. The guy who''d been limping after them was already face-flat on the ground, lacking even the strength to crawl.

    "Not good." Remian frowned. "We''re going to have to take shelter here."

    "Here¡­? But¡­" Talia glanced about.

    Remian stepped off the dirt road onto the even muddier ground beside it. He laid his hand on the sparse grass. "Pit!"

    It was earth magic, a Tier 3 spell meant to dig a small hole large enough for a man to crouch in, but Soul Boost flared and the hole that appeared was easily ten times the expected size. Just as it formed, mud rushed in on all sides to fill it up. Remian cast more magic hurriedly. "Stone Walls! Rock Bottom!"

    The floor and the walls of the pit hardened to near rock-solidness. Four feet deep (having been so quickly filled by mud earlier) and roughly six feet across with sloping sides (again, thanks to the mudslides), it now looked more like part of a fortified trench.

    "Get in!" Talia ordered her crew. "Help the wounded in first!"

    "And then?"

    "Then we can use the hand-cart for a bit of shelter." Remian suggested. "And see if we can''t add a bush or two on top of that. Best to make it as comfortable as possible. We might be in there a while.

    "We will have to simply sit tight and wait out the storm."

 199 Dig

    Remian and the others hunkered down in the pit and prayed for it all to be over soon so that they could go home quickly.

    To those prayers, God gave a clear and swift answer; it was a resounding ''No!''

    After an hour of waiting while the storm raged on, they began to hear hoofsteps. There was a lot of sploshing in the mud, and the sound of horses neighing in complaint, but somehow, despite the weather and the terrain, the Bulraki were pressing forward.

    There was a swish of leaves, and even more bushes were piled onto Remian''s position from above. With that, the hoofsteps began to clatter over the overturned cart, shoes upon wood¡­

    "They''re using the bushes to pave the way. That''s how they''re able to move in the mud." Remian realized.

    "How long can the roof hold?" Talia asked, worriedly.

    "Earth." Remian whispered, reinforcing the cart above with archways of hardened mud. "Stone." He hardened the mud farther. "Extra hard!" Not satisfied with the current level of hardness, Remian hardened it until those stone supports rivaled iron. He added reinforcement to the walls supporting the stone beams overhead, and then the floor¡­ "That should hold them for a bit. Now, we have to get out of here."

    "What? But you just said¡­"

    "There are limits. For instance, did you notice that we''re actually sinking?" Remian pointed out. "Horse atop a stone structure means weight added upon weight, while the water slowly begins to affect the ground under this room¡­ we''re slowly sinking into the ground. Sooner or later, somebody is going to notice something."

    Actually, they would, but it wasn''t that the room was sinking, it was that the room was sinking too slowly in comparison to all the other bush-paved places. But Remian wouldn''t know that, and it wouldn''t matter by then.

    Anyway. Remian wasn''t going to sit around waiting. "Earth tunnel! Harden soil!"

    A new opening led towards Mindy''s position, the walls similarly reinforced. It was slow going, agonizingly slow, in Remian''s opinion, and while he was at it, the hoofsteps clattered overhead, and the wooden frame of the hand-cart creaked, and the room sank a little more¡­

    The storm ended after some hours, only to be replaced with the booming of heavy artillery fire. Evidently, the La Vive forces still intended to bombard the Bulraki one way or the other. The hoofsteps overhead clattered more loudly, more rapidly, and the ground kept shaking every so often whenever an explosion took place nearby. Cracks began to develop even in the reinforced stone, and the whole structure looked like it could collapse at the very next near-hit...

    But by then, Remian was a few hundred meters of tunnel southwards of their original ''room'' position. He magicked handholds at his position, tunneled upwards a little, and dared to peep topside under the cover of a newly hard-stone ''lid''.

    Yes. This was a good spot. There wer Bulraki ''bush-paved'' columns to either side, but none directly above.

    This then, was where he cleared out another open space large enough for the lot of them to rest in, hardened stone walls and floor and roof support beams, even several air holes in the stone ceiling. Then, after Talia and the rest moved over, he went back and softened up the structure they''d hid in previously, then collapsed the tunnels as mud behind him as he left.

    "This is as far as we go today." Remian told them.

    "Can''t we keep going?" Talia asked, biting her lip.

    "No. We can''t." Remian shook his head.

    "Why not?"

    "Because I''m exhausted." Remian said, sent Mindy a psionic update, and went to sleep just like that.

    ***

    Mindy didn''t take long to start tunneling from her end. Earth magic wasn''t something she was familiar with, but she tried her best and managed to make a little progress under the barn that night.

    A second day went by with Bulraki still crossing the field, now completely covering both sides. The artillery fire kept a steady pace, booming every few seconds without end. Thankfully, none of them hit Remian''s and Talia''s second position.

    The same could not be said for the cavalry. With the storm gone, and the ground drying, they once more spread all across the field. Several times, horses rode right over the hole-riddled roof sheltering the second room. Had Remian not reinforced it repeatedly with more and more supports, the whole thing might have caved in.

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    Meanwhile, he kept tunneling south, more quickly now that he didn''t need to harden walls or anything. Mindy kept tunneling north, both of them making a beeline for each other completely unseen by Bulraki scouts of La Vive lookouts.

    The third day, the sound of horse hooves were replaced with bootsteps and the churning of wheels.

    "That doesn''t sound like Bulraki cavalry." Holt mentioned.

    "That sounds like Germati armored carriages." Remian agreed.

    "Goodness, is the entire Germat alliance going to march over us?!" Talia hissed in a low voice.

    Remian could only grimace and tunnel onward. He contacted Mindy. [Not too far now. I think we can get to you by tonight.]

    In response, Mindy sent back loads of updates on the status of the barn (now thoroughly reinforced, protected by layers of traps, and highly camouflaged by Sandra and Gammie), the airship (completely repaired thanks to the help of two mechanics who happened to be amongst the survivors that Remian took in), and the general flow of the war (Ashdale-La Vive side retreating steadily).

    [How are you? Physically?] That was Mindy''s biggest concern. Not too long ago, he''d literally exhausted himself to death.

    [I''m doing my best.] Remian grimaced.

    [Don''t overdo it. Remember, you need rest. Don''t push yourself to reach me by tonight. We can just as easily meet up tomorrow.]

    [You say that, but we should really get back as fast as we can.]

    [Why? What''s the urgency?]

    [I''m worried Ashdale might come to find us.]

    [Ashdale? Why would they?]

    [Because I invited them to. I had an idea about the Wasp¡­] Remian explained his idea to Mindy. [So you see, I''m worried that they might already be on their way there, and if we''re not around to greet them, we might lose the opportunity entirely.]

    There was a short pause. Then¡­ [Remian? I think we might be able to get to you a lot quicker.]

    [What do you mean?]

    [You''ll see.]

    Suddenly, Mindy started increasing her speed. It was twice, no, thrice what it used to be. She was still underground, still on the same level as Remian, still making a beeline for him, but¡­ [How are you moving so fast?! What did you do?]

    [You''ll see.] Mindy repeated, and kept pace.

    Intrigued, Remian kept tunneling on his side, but for every ten steps he took, Mindy seemed to take fifty.

    How was she doing it? Did she suddenly discover a hidden talent in earth magic? Or maybe Sandra or Gammie did? Remian could only wonder.

    ***

    It wasn''t until two paws and a whiskered nose poked out through the last bits of soil between them that Remian finally found the answer.

    "Lyxnmice?! You brought Lynxmice?" Remian burst out.

    "Phoebe did. I told her what we were doing, and it turns out, there were about a dozen of these guys hiding around the Red Fang, so¡­" Mindy shrugged. "They came to help."

    "Great. Get the stretchers. I''ve had it with this war zone." Remian instructed.

    "Me too." Mindy agreed. "We''re going home."

    But of course, it wasn''t that easy.

 200 When Things Go Wrong

    "We''re going to be in trouble."

    That was the conclusion Phoebe came up with upon hearing the scout reports for the morning. Aurian forces were swarming all over the area. Surveyors were all over the highlands. Heavy construction machinery was starting to arrive one after the other at a new base site two hills away. Phoebe felt quite certain that Auria was intending to fortify these highlands, and the plateau where the Red Fang was sitting on was soon to be a building site. In a matter of hours, somebody, maybe one of those surveyors, was going to come up to the plateau and spot their airship.

    "What do we do? Do we fight or flee?" Alex asked.

    "We''re leaving." Phoebe decided. "But not without our people. We''re going to pick them up."

    "Is that even possible? They''re hours away even by airship, and there are soldiers all over the place."

    Phoebe turned to a lynxmouse. "I need you guys to steal something."

    "Squik?" [What is it?]

    "It''s a piece of cloth that looks like this." Phoebe drew a picture. "We need two or three. The bigger, the better."

    "Sqeek!" [On it!]

    Alex stared at the picture as the lynxmice scurried off. "That''s¡­ are you sure? I mean¡­ that''s really quite a risk."

    "I''m sure." Phoebe nodded.

    The picture she drew was the Aurian flag.

    ***

    That day, several sentries and base managers got into a lot of trouble. The general in charge of the area was particularly miffed when he ran an inspection of the base camps and found several of them neglecting to raise their very own flag!

    "But¡­ but it was right there!" was the common excuse almost all of them gave.

    He didn''t believe a word of it.

    One particularly creative manager said that mice had stolen the flag. Mice!

    He was punished double.

    ***

    A tense five hours followed, with a lot of tiptoeing and hoping that neither the Aurians or the Germat forces would notice¡­

    But at last, the two parties reunited and took to the skies hastily.

    "Shall we keep flying low?" Mindy asked.

    "No, we might get shot at by some desperate defender." Remian said. "Take us into the cloud cover¡­"

    Phoebe jumped. "No! There are Bulraki Horned Ships in the cloud cover! Take us above it! There are whole fleets in the skies above the clouds, but they''re all tiptoeing around each other and nobody''s shooting yet! We''d have better chances there!"

    "Okay!" Mindy darted in to captain the ship, leaving Remian and Phoebe on deck.

    Remian and Phoebe started their own private reunion, with a lot of catching up and planning and sharing hopes and fears about their trip back¡­

    They broke through the cloud cover and very quickly wished they hadn''t.

    ***

    At this point, it seems best to explain the circumstances that led to the circumstances before continuing any further.

    ***

    Asda had been enjoying the authority and respect of rulership when, over the past month or so, she began to realize she had been losing the authority and respect of rulership, and in fact, all other sorts of authority and respect while she was at it. Was it because she didn''t dress in a properly dignified manner? Was it because enemies were spreading lies and rumors behind her back? Was it a growing coup by some malicious cousin? Was it because she was a girl?!

    She made great efforts to root out the problem. The Fal''Herim Asda Intelligence Division worked overtime to quash rumors and rumor-mongers. Anyone speaking ill of her was brought in for questioning and thoroughly interrogated, their houses and histories searched. Her entire wardrobe began to be more and more ornamented with symbols of dignity and wealth, such as gold and jewelry. Half her known cousins (and a few she suspected were actually cousins) ended up exiled, the other half practically under house arrest. A large campaign to create literature and educate the masses on the power of girls, especially young girls, was spread throughout the country and all their allies, beginning with the theatrical play, ''Magical Transforming Girl Reina''. All future theatrical productions that lacked an overwhelmingly strong young girl character in the story was banned.

    There was one particular old advisor who advised her that all the above were really bad ideas. He was sentenced to death, but managed to escape capture somehow. He could never return to Fal''Herim on pain on death.

    Anyway. Asda tried all sorts of means to make herself more popular and more respected among her people, but they just kept giving her weirder and weirder looks. She made herself an actress, and fellow heroine in ''Magical Girl Reina''. She demanded lynxmice and all other sorts of mice be vilified in theatrical plays. She even went around offering free rat traps to all noble households in Fal''Herim.

    Nothing worked! In desperation, Asda remembered what her brother had been so focused on ¨C foreign aid and international reputation. Perhaps, if the kings of the world recognized and respected her, she would finally find honor among her own subordinates!

    So she went to war, insisting that an image recording crew and broadcast team accompany and record her. Sixteen airships left Fal''Herim to join the world war at the Neutral Zone. Fourteen of them arrived¡­

    What happened to the other two?

    "How should I know?" ¨C Asda.

    There, they found the great floating island that was the Ira Caliphate Mothership and happily joined up with their allies. Asda had just met the captain of the greeting party at the Mothership''s berthing ring, when she saw an altogether familiar airship appear out from the cloud cover below.

    "That''s the Red Fang!" she gasped, pointing. "It was stolen by bandits who live in the Wildlands!"

    "So¡­ what do you want to do?"

    "I want it back!"

    ***

    On the other hand, Mandy was there too. She was with the Ashdale Third Logistics Sky Fleet as a member of the ninth ''volunteer'' (paid, and rather pressured into enlisting) logistics corp (transport guards), under the command of Sir John Stout.

    Sir Stout, as he liked to be called, was speaking to Mandy in a soft and gentle tone that he always used with Mandy (and only with Mandy, ever since he met her) when a certain drab airship popped out from the cloud cover.

    "That airship!" Mandy gasped. She snatched up the spyglass in his hands and immediately looked at the figures on deck, marking two of them straight away. "That''s my ex-husband¡­ and his new girlfriend!"

    Sir Stout''s face darkened on the spot.

    ***

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    Remian was murmuring to Phoebe in a low voice about how smart she''d been and how well she had led the others so far, and Phoebe was starting to turn a little red, when the first shots started flying.

    "What the¡­?!" Mindy gaped.

    "Incoming fire! Ultra-Long Range Artillery! From Ashdale!" Sandra shouted.

    "What?! Ashdale?!" Mindy''s eyes almost popped. "Why are they shooting at us?! What did you say to them?"

    "I didn''t say anything!" Sandra yelped. "They didn''t even hail us! Why are they shooting at us?"

    "We''re still flying the Aurian flag! What do you think?!"

    "Evasive action! Skirt the clouds!" Mindy barked. "Focus barrier power on the Ashdale side!"

    "More incoming! Six frigates from the Ira Mothership! They''re¡­ oh, scrap, it''s Asda! They''re¡­ are those¡­ grappling hooks?!"

    Bombardment from the left. Boarding parties on the right. What to do?!

    "We''re dead! We''re so dead!" one of the Neutral Zone survivors whined.

    "Hard to starboard!" Mindy growled. "We need to get away from that artillery fire!"

    "What? But we''ll be boarded!"

    "At least then we''ll have a chance! If we can hold them off long enough, we might just get through! We have no such chance against artillery fire!"

    "But¡­ but¡­!"

    "Do it! All hands, battle stations! Prepare to receive boarders!"

 201 Boarders and Old Fears

    "Light!" Remian threw up a barrier as another volley of Ashdalian cannons hammered down on the Red Fang.

    From inside, Mindy exclaimed, "Fire!"

    The Red Fang''s cannons unleashed a broadside volley onto the nearest pursuing Frigate. Twelve Adventurers and three survivors on deck armed themselves for hand-to-hand combat. Phoebe had taken up Mindy''s Runic Nagamaki, but had put it down as she helped Remian put on his ME Suit.

    Despite taking on fire, a cluster of grappling hooks were fired out from the pursuing frigate''s cannons. Remian flicked out a hand on that side too. "Light!"

    Grappling hooks bounced off the light barrier, but one or two caught on the deck.

    "Lighten!" Sandra cast a lightening spell on one. Gammie grabbed it by hand and easily lifted it off the rim of the deck and tossed it overboard. As for the last one, Phoebe chopped at the attached cable with Mindy''s Nagamaki and¡­

    And nothing. That chop failed to cut through the cable. It barely even left a scratch.

    "Firebolt!" Sandra scroll-casted another spell at the cable on the other end of the deck, but it was no good. The cable wouldn''t give. "Wow! What is that thing made of?!"

    "Lighten!" Gammie resorted to tried-and-proven tactics. "Someone, toss it off!"

    Alex darted over, but he was too late. The cable was already pulled taut, the hook sunk in tightly. Trying to remove it now was no longer just an issue of weight. Grimly, he raised his new spear (compliments of the Red Fang armory) and prepared to repel whoever came up along that cable¡­

    "Uh, Alex, I don''t think that cable is meant for people to climb." Phoebe advised him.

    "What? Then what is it for?"

    "It''s meant to restrict our movements. Literally to hook the airship so we can''t get away." Phoebe explained. "Also, based on the habits of slavers, they won''t jump over until after they''ve gassed us."

    "What do you mean, ''gassed''?"

    He got his answer a moment later when scores of jars leaking thick green smoke flew over and landed all across the deck. A terrible, sickening smell arose; Alex found himself throwing up before he could even think about holding his breath.

    "That." Phoebe said, surrounded by a soft yellow glow.

    "Wind!" Remian''s magic surged, and a large majority of the smoke was blown off deck, toward the frigate that hooked them¡­

    But magic was also being worked on their side, and dozens of people were ''jumping'' over, crossing ten meters of empty air easily with the help of wind magic.

    They landed all over the deck, wearing gas masks and goggles, wielding scimitars and spears and maces¡­

    "Form up! Defensive formation¡­" Phoebe gasped.

    But there was no point. Everyone was spread across the deck thinking to throw off grappling hooks if they landed. Trying to gather them into a formation now, when the boarders were already surrounding them¡­

    "Melee!" Remian called a different order. "Pull back if you can! Mindy!"

    Mindy darted out, drawing her sword. Streams of fire suddenly burst out in five different directions, knocking a full dozen boarders right off the airship. She dashed forward. "Everyone, get back! I''ll cover you!"

    ***

    Mandy was watching the fight through the spyglass with a certain amount schadenfreude when she suddenly gasped. "Stop! Stop shooting! That''s my sister! My SISTER is on that ship!!"

    Sir Stout jumped. "Cease fire! CEASE FIRE!"

    ***

    At first, Mindy charged forward bravely. Streams of fire knocked boarders off their feet and often right off the deck. Many of them were set on fire outright. There were screams, there wer shouts¡­

    But she had a look of frustration on her face. In such close quarters, with friends all around and an airship that she really, really didn''t want to damage, Mindy had to be careful about how she fought. Rather than being ''held back'', it was better to say she could hardly move.

    And then the boarders started to throw chained nets around people. Alex, Sandra, and Gammie were among the first few to suddenly find themselves entangled in chain nets.

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    Seeing it, Mindy froze. Horror filled her eyes. "Slavers!"

    When it came to boarding airships, raiding settlements and taking slaves¡­ Fal''Herim had been rather famous in those matters. The Desert King''s forces had been more mercenary than military, more marauders than marchers, more slavers than soldiers. Asda, naturally, inherited the lot of them.

    "Mindy? Mindy!" Remian called.

    But Mindy didn''t respond. She looked dazed, as if her mind was in a far away place¡­

    Sandra''s and Gammie''s comrades leapt into battle, warding off the slavers. Alex had a pair of friends trying to free him¡­

    "Light!" Remian repelled several flung chains with barriers. "Fire!" He countered them and sent them flying off the ship.

    "The Mage!" Asda shouted. "Capture the Mage!"

    Remian snarled. "Freeze!"

    Nine slavers and a hapless Feelo-Wasp all froze in ice at the same time. The Wasp blinked, then gave Remian a plaintive look. ''Why me?!!''

    "Sorry." Remian apologized. "Didn''t mean to get you too."

    Then grappling hooks appeared on the left side as well, and then from behind, and in front. More raiders jumped in from three different ships on all sides.

    "We''re surrounded!" Alex blurted, just before both his friends found chain-nets falling on their own heads.

    Five different chain nets rained down on Remian at the same time.

    "Light!" Remian raised a barrier overhead, blocking the chains only to be tackled from the side by another slaver.

    Finally Mindy woke up. "Remian!" she screamed. Then, she looked around, and saw slavers on all sides, with chains and manacles, and¡­ and¡­ "NOOOOO!!!!"

    "Mindy!" Remian called.

    But it was no good. Surrounded by her greatest childhood fears, Mindy fled.

    "Capture her! Capture them all!" Asda shrieked.

    They tried. They really did. But Mindy was just too fast, and she literally flew through the air, blindly heading to the left.

    ***

    "Incoming!" the Ashdalian lookout yelled.

    "Hold your fire!" Mandy screamed. "That''s my sister! She''s coming to me!"

    "Your sister can fly?" Sir Stout was amazed, for once not using honeyed tones on Mandy.

    But Mandy wasn''t paying any attention to him. "MINDY! I''M HERE!! Over here!"

 202 Warped

    Mindy was flying, but she barely even noticed. She didn''t think about how she was doing it. She didn''t think about why she could do it. She just fled, blindly, instinctively, wanting only to get away from the slavers.

    As for where she was going¡­ that was instinct too. Or maybe she heard a voice, a voice that she recognized¡­ or a combination of the above.

    "Mindy! I''m here! Over here!" Mandy was calling her. Mandy was calling her away from the slavers. Mindy ran straight to her elder sister¡­

    Wait. No, that''s wrong. She wasn''t running. She was flying. How come she was flying.

    People were staring. Faces and eyes on the airships ahead were staring. Why were they staring? Oh right. Because she was flying. She was flying with Chirpy''s powers.

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    No, no, no¡­ they mustn''t know¡­ Mindy had to figure out some excuse, some way to hide it¡­

    With an inkling of an excuse in mind, she flew over the deck of the airship Mandy was on, and deliberately shouted, "Cancel magic!"

    Only then did she drop down onto the deck, putting away the Phoenix Sword and panting heavily. Straight away, she turned to Mandy. "Sis! Help us! We''re under attack by slavers!"

    Mandy hesitated and turned to Sir Stout.

    "But¡­ they''re flying the Aurian flag!" Sir Stout protested.

    "It''s a disguise!" Mindy said.

    "But even so¡­"

    "Help us!" Mindy kept pleading.

    ***

    At the time, Remian was fighting for his life.

    "Freeze!" One hand was stretched to the left, the other to his right. "Light!"

    Over a dozen raiders were already frozen over, chain nets were sprawled all over the deck, and more and more grappling hooks had sunk in the rims of the deck on all sides. The entire crew had come out to fight off the raiders (since the airship wasn''t going anywhere with those hooks on), and more than half of them had already been entangled at least in part.

    "Get them! Get them all!" Asda shrieked.

    Remian snarled. He pointed a finger at her. "Fireball!"

    Her guards reacted, blocking her off with shields, but even so, the explosion knocked them back into her. Bowled over by her own guards, Asda screamed and slapped at them in a frenzy. "Don''t touch me! How dare you! Exile! All of you! EXILE!!"

    Then she sat down and started crying.

    A sharp discussion began. A certain word was being thrown around by many voices. "Mutiny!"

    Meanwhile, Remian ducked under a scimitar, stabbing his nagamaki in response. The slaver dodged, as another slaver on the other side battered at his back with a club.

    "Oof!" that was the first word Remian had spoken in ten minutes that was not a spell. Pain wracked his back and left shoulder. "Freeze!"

    Both slavers froze, but another one jumped up from behind them, and two more from the right.

    Remian backed away, blocking a cutlass from the right with his teeth gritted. The shock and the impact of the heavy blade on his narrower weapon shook his arms. He braced his feet, trying his best not to stumble, to maintain his balance, but then he tripped over a fallen chain net.

    Six chain nets rained down on him instantly. He threw up his hands. "Light!"

    They covered him from all sides. Remian crouched under a dome of light under a dome of chains, his head spinning, his back aching, half blacking out from exhaustion and pain, and desperately thought of a way out.

    "Remian! Help! HELP!" That was Phoebe''s voice.

    Sudden coldness flooded his heart. What would slavers do with a girl like Phoebe?

    "Phoebe!" Remian roared, sudden shock and desperation filling his mind.

    Magic flared. He didn''t know what he was doing, how he was doing it, he only had one thing on his mind; Phoebe.

    There was a flash of light and Phoebe appeared. She was suddenly there, right in front of him, under the barrier of light with him, eyes wide and staring. "Wha¡­?"

    Sudden inspiration hit Remian. He raised his arms, and raised that barrier expanding it farther, farther, pushing the chains back, pushing the slavers back, pushing the chain nets on the floor back. "Sandra! Gammie! Alex!"

    Light flashed. The three of them suddenly appeared under the dome with him, all of them looking surprised and confused.

    More. More names. Remian called the names of every crew member he knew, and when he ran out, Phoebe supplied the rest. Light flashed non-stop, until the entire crew was under the dome with him.

    Still, he raised his hands. Still, he raised his barrier. It covered half the deck now, and had pushed aside everything that wasn''t the floor or inside the barrier itself.

    Horns were sounding. Shouts were heard on all sides.

    Remian paused, laid a hand on the deck, and said, "Break!"

    With a sudden SNAP! All the safety rims on the sides of the deck broke away, taking the grappling hooks with them.

    "Get us out of here!" Phoebe yelled to the crew.

    Remian finally let the barrier go, only to see the raiders had already fled the deck, leaving a lot of chains and weapons behind. As if by mutual agreement, their airships and his separated in a hurry.

    "What happened?" Remian blinked.

    "I think you scared them off." Phoebe suggested.

    Remian frowned. "No, I don''t think that''s it."

    Then he collapsed, panting heavily. Pain surged.

    "Remian!" Phoebe laid a hand on his chest. Light glowed. Warmth flooded him.

    But still, his head spun. Consciousness began to fade.

    "Wait¡­ wait¡­ I still¡­"

    But there was no staving off exhaustion.

    The last thing Remian said before everything completely went black?

    "Mindy."

    ***

    Mindy suddenly appeared on the deck of the Red Fang, eyes wide and wondering how the heck she got here.

    "Wha¡­?" she gaped.

    "I said the same thing." Phoebe agreed.

    "How did¡­"

    "He did." Phoebe pointed to Remian.

    "Remian!" Mindy gasped. "What happened to him?"

    "Overdid it. Again." Phoebe grimaced.

    Mindy looked around. "What happened to my airship?!"

    Phoebe''s grimace only grew more pronounced. She didn''t say anything.

    "And Mandy¡­" Mindy faltered. Then, "Take off the Aurian flags! Set course for the Ashdalian fleet!"

    "Ashdale?" Phoebe blinked.

    "We need repairs and rest." Mindy said decisively. "And my sister is there."

    "Oh."

 203 Off to Ashdale

    Sir Stout welcomed Mindy and the gang as they arrived carrying a stretcher with Remian unconscious on it.

    "That''s my ex-husband." Mandy pointed.

    "Right, right." Sir Stout nodded absently. "Aide, hand me your rifle..."

    "And that''s his new girlfriend." Mandy added, pointing.

    He looked up and totally forgot about the rifle.

    Sir Stout was a man who was accustomed to beautiful women. Born in the upper class of Ashdale aristocracy, he practically grew up around the daughters of the rich and powerful, girls with easy access to high quality cosmetics and skilled beauticians. He had seen, spoken to, met and¡­ interacted¡­ with hundreds of dolled-up beauties in his twenty-five year lifetime.

    But today, he took one look at a girl and froze.

    Dolled-up beauties thick with make-up and wearing jewelry might not be able to move him any more, but there in front of him was a battered belle marked with ash and soot, fresh from the battlefield with the light of violent combat still flickering in her eyes.

    She looked at him.

    BAM! Sir Stout was suddenly whacked in the head from behind by something somebody carried. His whole helmet rang with the impact. Whoever it was, the other guy simply wasn''t paying attention to where he was going any more¡­

    Sir Stout didn''t blame him. He himself was completely distracted and in half a daze, too stunned by her face to even look and see who had crashed his cargo into the commanding officer. Blood began to trickle down the back of his head, but he didn''t pay that any attention either.

    On the side, Mandy saw the dazed look on his face and snorted. "Hmpfh!"

    "Mandy! I brought my friends!" Mindy said, hopping over.

    "Mindy, how did you¡­?"

    "Remian did it." Mindy pointed.

    "Remian¡­?" Mandy blinked. "How did he¡­?"

    Mindy just shrugged. "I have no idea. But it''s Remian, after all. He''s really powerful."

    Mandy peered at the guy laid flat out on a stretcher. Powerful? "So¡­ what happened to him?"

    Sir Stout rubbed the back of his head. "Probably the same thing that happened to me, only he wasn''t wearing a helmet."

    It was a joke. That Girl seemed to get it. She smiled.

    The whole world disappeared, and the only thing left in his eyes was her smile.

    BOOM! Behind him, there was a loud sound and an Ashdalian Assault Frigate directly fell from the sky.

    "OOF!" Two gunners and a chef collided. Lunch spilled all over the deck. Someone stepped in it and stumbled sideways into the railing, almost falling overboard.

    "Sir Stout, I believe we have just found a potential Weapon of Mass Destruction." The commander''s aide told him in an awed voice.

    Looking at her now, Sir Stout suddenly felt that all those gussied-up beauties in their pristine palaces were boring. This valiant girl of the battlefield was far more exciting compared to those dolls.

    Mandy whapped his head with her sailor''s hat. "Sir Stout! Pull yourself together!"

    "I¡­ er¡­ what¡­ um¡­" Sir Stout scratched his head. "Right! Salvage the fallen ship! The one that just fell."

    "Sir, it''s regained altitude." The commander''s aide informed him. He was still holding out his rifle as if he expected Sir Stout to take it.

    "We need a place to rest and repair our ship." Mindy said.

    "Yes, yes, of course, we''ll provide you an escort to Ashdale." Sir Stout said, absently waving away the rifle.

    Mindy was startled. "Just like that? I haven''t even talked about the Wasp yet."

    "Just go with it." Mandy smiled, a little self-satisfied smile.

    "Right! Mandy can take you there." Sir Stout said suddenly.

    "What?" Mandy blinked.

    "She''s your sister, after all¡­" Sir Stout said, musing to himself. "You''re the most suitable person for the job. Take the third hospital ship; it''s almost full, and they should be unloading the wounded at a ground hospital soon."

    "But¡­" Mandy hesitated. "What about you?"

    "Me? I''m staying right here, of course. Off you go now, bye-bye." Sir Stout waved, and sauntered off whistling.

    He understood now what it was about Mandy that attracted him. It wasn''t actually her; it was her fighting spirit and battle-grime. Other than that, he actually didn''t like her, and she really didn''t have the social qualifications to match up with him anyway.

    Back home, finding girls like that would be impossible, but here he was on a world-class battlefield, and rumor had it there were actually a few good ladies who were keen on glory and battle. If he could find one, well then¡­ SHE would be a great match for himself. The names of three such rumored beauties that he''d met before flashed across his mind. He smiled to himself. Just imagining any of those three in battle-grime made his temperature rise. Class, dignity AND valor. Now THAT would be a girl for him.

    Oh yes. Far better than these stray girls from the Wildlands.

    But first, just one last look at Mindy''s gorgeous friend¡­

    "Thank you!" Mindy''s gorgeous friend said, seeing him turn.

    "You''re welcome!" Sir Stout said, feeling like he should be thanking her instead.

    BONK! With his head turned, Sir Stout walked right into a support beam head-first.

    ***

    "Are you okay?" Mindy asked Mandy as they headed out toward Ashdale together with the Third Hospital Ship and the Escort Frigate that had fallen out of the sky earlier.

    "Yes, of course, I''m fine. Why?"

    "You seem a bit¡­ peeved."

    "I''m not peeved! Why would I have to be peeved? Hmpfh!"

    They made their way to Ashdale while Mindy and Mandy caught up. Mandy had a great many things to say about the Ravens children and their academic accomplishments, their abilities and talents that have bloomed in Ashdale and her hopes and ambitions for their futures with support from Charlie''s family¡­

    "How has Charlie been, anyway? I haven''t seen him in a while." Mandy asked.

    "What?" Mindy blinked. "Don''t you live in his house?"

    "In his household, yes, but he never comes home." Mandy frowned. "It''s been months. It''s almost like he''s avoiding coming back. But he should be back soon. He should have heard by now that I''ve been hanging out with Sir Stout."

    She was using Sir Stout to make Charlie jealous? Mindy bit her lip from telling her. Charlie had definitely returned to Ashdale several times over the past few months, because he kept bringing goods and equipment from Ashdale. He just never visited Mandy.

    Mindy also had a lot of news for Mandy, plenty to say about Kara-Goth and Three Pines and her travels around Ecclesia and La Vive and whatnot. Mandy smiled and nodded and murmured in affirmation, but she didn''t really seem to be paying much attention, often frowning off into the distance.

    It took four hours for their damaged ships to limp to Ashdale''s borders, and then another hour or so to make their way to their favorite airport. On the way, they saw lines upon lines of ground traffic clogging up the roads on the ground.

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    "What''s going on?" Mindy asked.

    "The war''s going on, and Germat is getting closer every day." Mandy sighed. "People are trying to run away. Even in the upper class areas, Charlie''s neighbors are selling their mansions at dirt-cheap prices and fleeing the country."

    "Mansions at dirt cheap prices, you say?" Mindy brightened. A sudden smile appeared on her face.

 204 Negotiating for a house

    Mindy knocked three times on the heavy, ornate door.

    "In a minute!" someone called from inside, but really, it only took twenty seconds before the door opened. "Can I help you?"

    "Ma''am, I''m here to inquire about the mansion. Word has it that you''re selling?"

    "You''re one of those wild girls, aren''t you? The one staying at the Meadows House?" the woman inside peered at her. "Is it Mr. Meadows who wants to buy this mansion?"

    "Uh¡­ no, it''s not him¡­"

    "Is it Charlie, then? That boy must have struck it rich by now¡­"

    "Not exactly, it''s a friend of his¡­" Mindy wasn''t sure how to tell the woman that it was she herself who wanted to buy the mansion. "Anyway, could you maybe just tell me how much you want to sell it for?"

    "I''m afraid I can''t do that." She shook her head. "You''ll have to get your boss to talk to my husband directly."

    "My¡­ boss¡­?" Mindy winced. "Is your husband in?"

    "No, he''s at¡­" she hesitated. "Blackram Market."

    "Blackram¡­?" Mindy thought back over all the malls she''d been to in Ashdale. She''d never come across Blackram before. "Where is it?"

    "It''s¡­ under White Sheep Market." She hesitated. "Just look for the sign of the black sheep."

    "Right. That''s easy enough." Mindy figured. "I''ll¡­ go tell my boss."

    White Sheep Market¡­ that wasn''t too far away. It was a farmer''s market, really, a prime source of cheap agricultural produce. People also traded tools, livestock, practical clothing and the occasional snack from street stalls around a public square.

    Mindy found the sign of the Black Sheep easily enough. It was hanging above a tavern door at the square. The sound fo clinking glass and raucous laughter could be heard inside. "Uh¡­ maybe I shouldn''t go in there alone¡­"

    She came back an hour later with Alex, Gammie and Sandra.

    "What are we doing here, again?" Gammie yawned.

    "We''re protecting Mindy. Phoebe said she''d kill us if anything happened to her." Sandra said.

    "That''s nice of her." Alex grunted.

    "She also said not to let you overexhaust yourself. Remian exhausting himself into a coma is bad enough. If you do that too¡­"

    "I''m not Remian. There''s no need to worry too much about old me." Alex barked a laugh. "But if you''re so worried about my health, then why am I here? And why am I wearing all these fancy clothes?"

    "You''re our figurehead. We''re going to pretend that you''re really the buyer and we''re just accompanying you." Mindy explained. "Because I have the feeling that the seller simply won''t take me seriously."

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    Alex grimaced. "So¡­ I''ll have to take point, then."

    "Please do."

    "Right. Follow me." Alex went in.

    They walked into a tavern. It was a dimly lit place, with men dicing at a wide barrel table, drinking at another, and a pair of worn-out looking waitresses cleaning a third. Mindy looked around, then scratched her head. "We''re looking for a Mr. Thompson."

    "Right." Alex went over to the bar. "I''m looking for Mr. Thompson."

    The barkeeper frowned. Bald, big, and rather round, he puffed out his cheeks and said, "There''s no Mr. Thompson here."

    Alex hesitated, then pulled out a ten lir coin. "Are you sure?"

    The barkeeper eyed the coin, but didn''t take it. "Quite sure."

    Mindy slipped a 50 into Alex''s other hand. Alex kept the 10 and showed the 50 instead. "Could you just check, in case?"

    "Ask about the Blackram Market." Mindy whispered to Alex.

    "He''s not here." the barkeeper said, still hesitating.

    "What about the Blackram Market? Can you tell me how to get there?" Alex asked then.

    At that, the barkeeper glanced about, swiftly nabbed the coin, then said in a low voice. "Stairs at the back go down as well as up. Take the second door."

    "Thank you." Alex said politely and made his way to the back. Doing down a short way, there was a corridor with four doors on the right, and one more at the far end.

    Pushing the second door open, they found yet more stairs leading downward. Those stairs led to¡­

    "A waterway?" Mindy blurted when they reached the bottom.

    Yes, the stairs led to an opening out to a wide waterway, with some iffy-looking wooden structures piled up like a wooden village around the sides and across it. Mindy took one look and realized what those structures were. "Shops¡­? They''re selling weapons!"

    Not just weapons, but at this time, it seemed that at least three out of four visible shops were selling firearms, blades, explosives or armor of some kind. A few were selling scrolls and magic items. One was offering rune-crafting. Two more looked to be selling chemicals of some dubious nature. Others were selling stuff Mindy couldn''t even identify.

    The sign of the black ram, however, was only over the nearest shop, the one right at the foot of the stairs. It looked to be a continuation of a bar, except that it had three stalls all to itself, and only one of them sold food and drinks.

    The second one sold weapons. The third one sold tickets. There were a list of cities and schedule times listed on a board.

    "I told you, we only sell in bulk." The weapon-seller was saying to a thin, wary noble. "You''ll need to buy in lots. That''s one hundred rifles in a box."

    "What am I going to do with one hundred rifles? I only need twenty!" the noble grouched. "Do you know who I am? I am Lord Edmund Thompson!"

    "Right now, you''re just another black sheep looking for a deal, same like everyone else here. There are no identities. I don''t want to know who you are, and you don''t want anyone else to know either!" the seller said, eyes narrowed. "Is that clear?"

    Thompson bit his lip, turning a bit red.

    Mindy nudged Alex.

    Alex cleared his throat. "Well, it so happens that I actually know who you are, Lord Thompson. I came here looking for you."

    Thompson jumped, yelping, falling over his own feet. He flailed, struggling to pull out an ornate jeweled pistol¡­

    Mindy snatched it out of his hands and said, "Relax. We just want to buy your mansion. We came to ask how much you want to sell it for."

    It took a moment for the inquiry to register, and then Thompson snorted. "Hmpfh! You should have just asked! There was no need to scare the daylights out of me!"

    "Sorry." Mindy said apologetically. "So¡­ the price?"

    "Fifty million!" Thompson announced.

    "So much for the price being dirt cheap." Mindy shook her head. "We''re out of here!"

    "Wait! Wait, wait¡­ I''ll offer you a discount! Half-price."

    "Let''s go look at the shops around here." Sandra suggested. "They kinda look interesting."

    "I don''t know. I don''t want any trouble." Gammie said.

    "T-ten million! That''s very cheap already!" Thompson tried again.

    "What about this shop right here? Our troops still use crossbows. What if we bought them firearms instead?" Mindy suggested. "We could use a hundred rifles."

    "Five million! That''s as cheap as a commoner''s manor!" Thompson barked.

    "Do we have the budget for that? Rifles AND a manor?" Sandra scratched her head.

    "Actually, we have a sale on military surplus." The weapons seller now turned to Mindy, completely ignoring Thompson. "The Ashdale army wanted to modernize their equipment, so old-style muskets are going cheap!"

    "Muskets? Can I test one?"

    "F-four million! I''m not going any lower!" Thompson yelped.

    "Sure. Here you go." The weapons seller handed it to Mindy.

    "What kind of man hands a loaded musket to a teenage girl?!" Thompson gaped.

    "There are no identities here. Just black sheep." Mindy reminded him.

    "Girl after my own heart, that one." The weapons seller confided in Alex.

    Mindy aimed the musket at the water and pulled the trigger. There was a short pause, then¡­

    BANG! Splash! A small fountain erupted in the murky underground waterway. A piece of driftwood broke apart.

    "And how do you reload it?" Mindy asked.

    "Ball and powder¡­ make sure it''s dry, now¡­ use this rod to stuff it¡­" the weapons seller demonstrated.

    "That''s slow. It''s hardly worth the weight of carrying around." Mindy grouched. "Our runic crossbows reload faster, and hit with more punch."

    "Ah, but can you afford the bolts? This here ball and powder is cheap, and almost as good at killing." The seller pointed out.

    "Still. The reload time is too slow, the weight is too bothersome, and the accuracy is¡­ well¡­ I get the feeling it''s actually lower than a crossbow''s."

    "Three million! Three million, and the manor is yours!" Thomson sweated.

    "You want something lighter, more accurate, and easier to reload, eh?" the seller mused. "That''s basically a rifle, you know? We actually do have some of those old flintlocks in our military surplus¡­ but they''re going to cost more."

    "Range?"

    "Two hundred meters, easy. Four hundred, if you don''t mind a little inaccuracy."

    "Got anything better?"

    "Well¡­ we actually have a batch of Calishers. Know what those are?"

    "Not really. Can you explain?"

    "Those are rifles that are loaded from the back. Breech-loading types."

    "Can you show me?"

    "Like this." The man brought one out and demonstrated by loading it. "Pull back the handle to open the chamber, put the bullet in there, close it back, flick that, and you''re ready to shoot."

    "Range?"

    "I could hit a buck with one of these at three hundred meters. It usually hits with enough power for a kill shot. Rumor has it there''s a guy managed to kill someone at 1000 meters with one of these, but I can''t say if that''s true or not. It could be."

    "I like these." Mindy glanced at Alex. "Let''s get these."

    "Two and a half million!" by now, Thompson was all but tearing his hair out.

    "Hold on a second." Mindy requested, then turned to Thompson. "Make that two million lir, and you''ve got a deal."

    Thompson stared at her, eyes almost red. He didn''t say anything for a moment, then reluctantly stretched out his hand. "I want cash. Bank notes, up front. And I want twenty of those rifles."

    Mindy shook it. "You''ve got a deal. I''ll come by the house in an hour for the deed."

    Thompson walked off stiffly. Mindy watched him go, then turned back to the weapons seller. "How much for a hundred of these rifles?"

    "Three hundred thousand lir. That''s as low as I can go."

    "I want two hundred."

 205 Newcomers

    "Mandy! I need to show you something!" Mindy was so excited, she was basically jumping up and down.

    "What? Where?" Mandy wasn''t sure what to make of it as she followed Mindy down the road.

    "This!" Mindy said, taking out a runestone and tapping it on the heavy ornate doors of the mansion they were passing by¡­

    Wait. They weren''t passing by. Why weren''t they passing by? Why was Mindy¡­

    The doors opened.

    "Mindy¡­? What did you do? What did you DO?!" Mandy panicked. "You can''t just illegally enter people''s houses with home-made runestone keys! That''s trespassing! That''s burglary! That''s¡­ I don''t even know what that is!"

    "Relax! It''s fine!" Mindy said, taking out a sheet of paper. "See?"

    This was a heavily magicked sheet of paper, with a layer of mana protection, and sealed with nine different kinds of runes¡­ "What is this?"

    Title, area, registry number¡­ and the words ''Property Deed''. Mandy read the paragraph that followed. "This is to certify that¡­ Ardent Gale Mansion¡­ belongs to Mindy Summers¡­ as of the date¡­ today?!"

    "This is MY house!" Mindy exulted. "Like it?"

    "Mindy! What did you do? How did you¡­ Who did you¡­?!"

    "Hey, I didn''t do anything wrong! I bought it! I paid millions of lir for it, in cash!" Mindy told her, up front.

    "In cash?! Where did you get that cash? Whose cash did you take?!" Mandy demanded.

    "I earned it by trading with my airship, just like Charlie. Except I have more than one airship." Mindy told her.

    "Your airship?"

    "I have a Sky Galleon. And a military Frigate. I make tens of thousands of lir in profit every trip." Mindy said. "That''s why¡­ I don''t need to go to school to get a job or some such. I''m already a multimillionaire. This mansion is really mine. Oh, and the one next door too. And the one after that."

    "T-three mansions?!" Mandy gaped. "What would you ever need three mansions for?"

    "Oh, I''m thinking I could sell them at a profit once the war ends." Mindy shrugged.

    "But Ashdale is losing the war! Germat is getting closer every day! That''s why everyone''s running! That''s why people are selling their mansions for cheap! And even if you buy them now, after the war, their original owners are going to claim them back, and these are rich and powerful people, titled nobles and such! You don''t want to get into trouble with the likes of them!" Mandy barked.

    "Hey, I bought these mansions fair and square! If they want them back, they''re going to have to buy them back! At market prices!" Mindy insisted.

    "Do you really think they''ll be that nice to you? A little teenage girl with no background, no support, and no education? They''ll lawyer up and trample you into the ground! You''re playing with fire!"

    "Oh? Does that mean the Ashdale legal system is rubbish? That your beloved Ashdale won''t even honor its own title deeds?"

    "Ashdale is a good and honorable nation, but these are people''s homes you''re talking about, and the people involved are nobles! Nobles, Mindy! They''re far beyond the likes of you and me!"

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    "No, they''re not. There is nobody beyond the likes of me." Mindy said, suddenly dead calm and cold. Her hand stroked the hilt of the sword at her side. "You have no idea, Mandy. You think the nobles are powerful, but you have no idea what power really is. No idea at all."

    "Violence? Is that your answer? This is a civilized, developed nation, Mindy! You can''t just run around waving your sword and expect to get your way!"

    "Who''s going to stop me? The Ashdale army? The very one that''s being beaten by Germat and Auria?"

    "Never mind the army, the police alone are enough to put you in jail the rest of your life!"

    "For what? Defending my property? The property I fairly bought, and whose title deeds I hold?" Mindy snorted. "Some developed nation this would be, if that''s the case."

    "Mindy¡­" Mandy tried again.

    "No. I''ve had enough." Mindy''s voice was steel. "I thought to impress you, but you''re still thinking too small, too caught up in your own little fairytale of great Ashdale rescuing you the damsel in distress. Well, I''m not a damsel in distress, and I''m not afraid of everything like you! I''ve already made my own way in this world, and if a few mansions and airships aren''t enough to impress you, then I''ll jolly well just go and find something that does!"

    She stomped into the mansion ¨C her mansion ¨C and slammed the door behind her.

    "Mindy!" Mandy gaped, but Mindy did not reply. She stood there for a minute, staring at shut door of her sister''s house, before biting her lip and turning away. She returned to the Meadows household without saying anything more.

    Mindy watched her go, but there were no tears on her face. Instead, her eyes carried only a cold, hard glint.

    ***

    Days since last Beast Tide: 75. Current Kill Count: 7093 (250 since yesterday).

    Location: Kara-Goth.

    George stared at Song Chen in a daze as he heard the latter''s latest report. "The Fog Pegasus Lord did what?"

    "Declared war." Song Chen confirmed. "Also, he''s not the only one. The Rock Fist Ape Lord is demanding tribute that Aren already refused, so he''s threatening to attack, and his forces started gathering this morning. Plus, the Rain Pegasus Lord is the Fog Pegasus Lord''s brother and closest ally; we can expect him to jump in too."

    "Why the sudden hostilities?" George groaned.

    "Well, in the Fog Lord''s case, there was this brave stallion who liked a pretty mare in one of our farms¡­" Song Chen began. "As I understand it, he and the ranchers got into a disagreement and it turned violent. A squad of Defense Force mercenaries stepped in and ended it with the stallion''s death. That stallion turned out to be a rather well-loved nephew of the Fog Lord, and things basically just went downhill from there."

    George groaned. "We''re getting into war with the Wilds because of a horse romance, now? What about the Rock Fist Ape Lord? We don''t have any female apes in our farms, right? And don''t make any implications about Madam Domei!"

    "No, the Rock Fist''s problem is something else. He says we''ve expanded too far into his territory and cut down too many trees."

    "We did what? Since when?" George stared.

    Song Chen spread his hands. "That''s just the thing. We didn''t. We''ve been extra careful not to cross the river border between us and the Emerald Woods. We''ve never intruded into the Rock Fist''s territory as far as I can tell."

    "That''s really odd. Do you think maybe he just wants to fight and was just making up excuses?"

    "Could be. He''s got a reputation for being the violent type and loving fights. But if a fight was what he wanted, he didn''t need to make excuses. He could have just hopped over and started throwing punches."

    "That''s very, very strange. We should investigate. Send word to Three Pines. We could use some help from the birds."

    "Do we really need the Eagle Lord to send help? Maybe the wolfcats, or the lynxmice would suffice."

    "No, I don''t want to risk casualties. I want scouts far out of the reach of even the ape lords. That means, flyers."

    "Wasps, then. We can ask the Feelo-Wasp Queen. At least she works with us. The Eagle Lord isn''t quite committed to being our ally or friend as yet."

    "Fine. Wasps, wolfcats, lynxmice¡­ send a cow if you have to, but find out what''s going on, and don''t get hurt in the process!"

    Three hours later, they got their answer.

    "There''s a colony?" George stared blankly. "There''s really a bunch of people setting up a colony in the Emerald Forest?"

    "The Wasps aren''t too clear on who they are, but they''re definitely human, and they''re definitely cutting down trees and killing Wilds." Song Chen confirmed.

    "But¡­ but why? Why don''t they just come to Kara-Goth and live with us?" George frowned.

    "Maybe they just want to do their own thing rather than live under your rule." Song Chen shrugged. "It''s not like we have laid claim to the entire Wildlands. We can''t really stop them or anything."

    "But¡­ the treaties¡­"

    "Haven''t you noticed? There''s a world war going on out there. Enforcing old treaties in the Wildlands is going to be the least of anyone''s worries right now."

    George suddenly had a bad feeling. "They might not be the only ones. Send out more scouts. Scan the entire desert border. I want to know if there are any other new human colonies popping up around here."

    It was the next morning before he got his answer.

    "Five?! There are five new colonies?!" George groaned. "Who are these people? What do they want? Haven''t they learned anything from past mistakes?"

    Apparently not. There was a whole slew of new colonies in the Wildlands now, and the other colonies were not at all shy about killing Wilds.

    The Wilds began to attack them in earnest. They fought back. The kill count soared.

    Days since last Beast Tide: 76. Current Kill Count: 7547 (454 since yesterday).

 206 Destination: Kara-Goth

    As the world war raged on, a great deal of resources were expended on all sides. For the winning side, plundering their enemies might make it worthwhile. For the losing side¡­ a quick, cheap way to replenish their resources was vital.

    Was it really such a big surprise that they ended up looking to the Wildlands, then?

    In other words, the five new colonies were from the losing nations; La Vive, Ashdale, Itarim, Bellas, and the Nine Mountains, from east to west, in that order.

    The one cutting trees around the Rock Fist Ape Lord came from the Nine Mountains.

    On the east side, the one closest to Kara-Goth was the one from Bellas. They were just on the other side of the Storm Pegasus King, set up on an idyllic shore of the northernmost of the Five Lakes.

    Farther east, Itarim had set up their own mining colony in the hills in between the Storm Pegasus King''s Five Lakes and the Great Deep, supposedly the territory of the Lake Emperor. Did they know there was an Emperor of the Wilds in that lake?!

    Probably not. Ashdale didn''t seem to know either, because they set up their own colony on the other side of it.

    Then there was La Vive, who set up their new settlement in the territory of the North Wind King.

    "Are they being attacked by Beast Waves?" George asked.

    "Not as far as we can tell. But what does it matter?" Song Chen asked, puzzled. "Once the Beast Tide arrives, they''re all done for."

    "Haven''t we warned them?"

    "We sent messengers, yes. I don''t think they believed us." Song Chen answered. "Or maybe they just didn''t care. The Nine Mountains colony even sent back our messenger naked."

    George''s eyes narrowed. "Well, I''m not going to help that one, then. Tell the Rock Fist that we have nothing to do with those idiots. They can face the Wilds on their own."

    "The Itarim guys said that we were stealing their manpower and demanded we send all Iron Legion personnel over to them. Now, Markus says the Iron Legion doesn''t answer to Itarim, that they''re an international organization dedicated to protecting the entire length of the Road that just happens to be headquartered in Itarim, but the Itarim colony claims that we owe them manpower and some compensation."

    "Not helping that one either. The Iron Legion can go wherever they like. I won''t stop them. But there''s no way I''m asking them to leave."

    "The Bellas people think their fortifications are strong enough to handle a Beast Tide all by themselves." Song Chen went on. "Apparently, it''s a battle-proven design that has served them well throughout this entire world war. Something about a formation of how their towers are placed. I don''t get it, and the whole thing looks like it would collapse at the first rush of a Beast Tide, but they seem to believe in it very much."

    "That''s not going to save them when the Tide erupts. How many people are there? Would one Sky Barge be enough to evacuate them all?"

    "Probably."

    "Then maybe we''ll send a Barge over to pull them out once the Tide crushes their defenses." George mused.

    "Don''t you want all our Barges here, protecting our own people?"

    "No, I don''t intend to fight the Tide when it comes. I think it''s best we just huddle everyone in the mines and in Kara-Goth itself until it blows over."

    "What about Three Pines?"

    "They can hide in the trees."

    "Right¡­ is that why you''ve been emphasizing underground and treetop housing? Was this your plan from the start?"

    "Pretty much."

    "I like it." Song Chen nodded. "Anyway. The Ashdale settlement thinks that there''s a lot of potential and riches to be found in the Wildlands, and suggests that we could both increase our profits for lower costs if we worked together."

    "At least they''re friendly." George mused.

    "They''re also setting up factories that send up a lot of smoke. I don''t have high expectations for their longevity at this rate."

    "Ah, Ashdale." George sighed.

    "Then there''s the La Vive colony. They actually seem to want our help." Song Chen paused. "In fact, they kind of asked for food and materials."

    "Just how many of them are there?"

    "About a hundred people, I think? They seem more like refugees than pioneers."

    "Well, invite them over for lunch, then invite them to stay long term." George said. "We have enough room for a hundred more, I think."

    "The underground housing expansions have been THAT massive?" Song Chen asked, in a daze. "We already have about five thousand people around Kara-Goth, the farms and the riverside alone, not counting those at Three Pines or the mines."

    "Didn''t you know? We''ve holed out the nine hills from here all the way to the New Quarry, and the four on the Goth side near the river. We could fit in ten thousand, easy. So long as we have air access to long distance trade, we can hold out indefinitely."

    "You''re assuming the coming Beast Tide would be the same as the last one." Song Chen frowned. "But what if the next one has flyers?"

    There was a long, heavy silence.

    "We better stock up on supplies." George said at last.

    "Uhuh."

    ***

    Remian woke up under silky maroon sheets, and found himself staring at a ceiling painted with clouds and little winged angels.

    "Wha¡­?" He suddenly felt what the others must have felt when he warped them to him. "Where am I?"

    He took a look around. He was in a jaw-droppingly luxurious room, although he personally felt he should call it a ''hall''. It was really that big, adorned with gilded heavy furniture. Everything here seemed to be big, from the bedside table and lamp, to the sofa at the foot of the bed, even the bed itself had bedposts, a tent-curtain sort of frame and was easily large enough for six of him to roll around on.

    "What am I doing here?" was his next question, but again, it went unanswered.

    He tried to get up, only to have a wave of dizziness hit him like a punch. "Ugh. Maybe¡­ maybe I better just sit still for a bit."

    There was quiet as he lay back and wondered about his situation. There were vague noises in the distance, doors opening, some furniture scraping, a muted voice or two¡­ he wasn''t alone here. Was that a good thing, or a bad thing? Judging by the luxury in this room, he was probably among friends. It didn''t seem like a prison.

    "Hello?" Remian called.

    More voices rose up. Footsteps sounded, and then Mindy barged in.

    "Remian! You''re awake!" Mindy exclaimed.

    "I think so. Where am I? What happened?"

    Mindy''s face grew serious. "There''s good news and bad news. The bad news is, we aren''t guests here."

    Remian frowned. "What''s the good news?"

    "The good news is, I own this place." Mindy grinned. "Like it?"

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    "You own it¡­?" Remian stared blankly.

    "Yes! My very own mansion! Just up the road from Charlie''s house!" Mindy lowered her voice. "I bought it at rock bottom prices. It''s because of the war, you see. Ashdale is actually losing, and Germat is coming this way."

    "What? Then what are we doing here?"

    "Buying mansions, obviously. I also bought the one next door." Mindy informed him. "And the one after."

    "But why? If Germat''s coming¡­"

    "Oh, relax. I''ve already talked to Sir Stout about the Wasps. He says they''ll send someone over to negotiate with us about the sales¡­ just as soon as you wake up."

    "Why didn''t you handle the negotiations yourself?"

    "Because they wouldn''t take me seriously? I even had to ask Alex to front for me to buy these mansions." Mindy shook her head. "Oh, and by the way, I bought some guns and ammunition."

    "Great. How many, and what kind?"

    "Two hundred breech-loaded rifles." Mindy grinned.

    "What does that even mean?"

    "It means reloading them is a cinch. Five seconds is enough for me."

    "Any downsides?"

    "Getting bullets for them isn''t easy. I only managed to snag six hundred boxes. That''s sixty thousand rounds." Mindy grimaced. "It''ll do for Tier 3 Wilds, and could hurt Tier 4''s, but that''s it for stopping power."

    "Six hundred boxes¡­?! How long have I been asleep¡­?" Remian asked.

    "Four days." Mindy informed him. "Phoebe said you almost died nine times since we got here, but since yesterday, there was nothing to worry about any more. Oh, and she said to give you a message."

    "What message?"

    "She said, if you overdo it this badly ever again, she''s going to dump you."

    Days since last Beast Tide: 78. Current Kill Count: 8597 (552 since yesterday).

 207 Dealing with Wasps

    "This is Commander James Eddings of the Home Logistics Department, Sir Stout''s immediate superior." Mandy introduced the man that the Ashdale military had sent to talk about the Wasps."

    "Good to meet you." Remian shook his hand.

    "And I, you." James nodded. "I understand that I also have you to thank for saving the life of one Private Ryan from certain death behind enemy lines. He passed your offer up the chain of command, something about agile aircraft that requires us to go to the Wildlands to buy? It didn''t seem like a big deal at the time, but now Sir Stout has urged me to consider it, and here I am. I assume this is the very topic we are here to discuss."

    "Yes, it is." Remian nodded. "It came to my attention that Germat has a glaring weakness in their airships. They have heavy armor and heavy weaponry and taking them down with conventional airships is difficult and costly."

    "Thus, the agile, light fighter idea." James nodded. "But I have my doubts that a small craft could carry the firepower needed to strike down such a heavily armored target. Far better to bombard them at extreme range with heavy artillery."

    "You''d have accuracy issues, and they''d have interception spells to counter your artillery. The aircraft I''m talking about is fast, small, and capable of carrying explosives."

    "Explosives? Not magi and mana crystals?"

    "Aren''t you already fighting for whatever little mana is left? If you spend it all in war, what''s the point of fighting for it in the first place? No, mana crystals are too expensive."

    "But how do you plan to get explosives to strike distant targets in the air?"

    "They won''t be distant." Remian said. "That''s the beauty of these agile anti-air fighters. They''re supposed to get in close. Very close."

    "Close enough to plant explosives on the hull of a battleship?"

    "Close enough to drop them from above." Remian explained.

    "You''re talking about bombers." James mused. "Like the Mendev Zeppelin bombers."

    "Nothing quite so big. These craft should be smaller, faster, and cheaper. The bombs they drop shouldn''t be too large either, but they should be able to fly out there, drop their payloads on their targets, and return for another quick run." Remian took out some design drawings.

    James inspected them. "How fast can these airships go?"

    "Based on our current design? They''d cross a kilometer a minute."

    James did a quick calculation. The last airship battle he fought was an exchange of artillery and counter-artillery across roughly 3 km. "That''s 3 minutes to make a single bombing run, and 3 minutes more to get back, maybe a couple minutes to reload in between¡­ our Extra Long Range artillery can fire off eight rounds in those eight minutes."

    "But can they strike targets 5km out? 10km? 20?" Remian pointed out.

    5km was possible. 10 would require serious elevation advantages, would certainly be tricky and likely inaccurate. 20 was flat out impossible.

    "Besides, if you wanted to send magi instead of explosives, it''s a simple matter of swapping them." Remian added. "You could fit six people in there comfortably, nine if you squeeze¡­ or two people and a rather large bomb."

    "Has it been tested?" James questioned.

    "Not as a bomber, no. But we''ve used it as a shuttle and as a gunboat with a handful of crew and a turret. It''s worked out well for us so far."

    "So there''s no proof that it actually works." James frowned.

    "If it can carry people, it can carry cargo. That''s simple enough, isn''t it?" Remian shrugged. "How hard is it to drop a bomb out of the back?"

    "Or down a trapdoor. I think your design needs some modification."

    "That''s easy enough." Remian glanced at Mindy. Mindy nodded.

    These designs were already somewhat different from their own Wasp anyway. Changing a few more things wouldn''t hurt.

    After a long discussion, James and Mandy went aside to confer while Remian and Mindy sipped tea in her mansion''s main hall, pretending to relax while secretly listening in on their discussion with air magic.

    "So¡­" Mandy hesitated.

    "We''ll buy it." James said.

    "Are you sure? I mean¡­ something like this¡­ with just the idea, we can do it ourselves, you know? It would be much cheaper."

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    Mindy''s face turned grim hearing Mandy say that. ''Ourselves'', she said. And on top of that¡­

    "Of course we can. As soon as we get the first batch, we can take one apart and reverse-engineer it. In a week, we could have shipyards all across Ashdale building the same thing."

    "Then¡­"

    "But even with all our shipyards, we won''t be able to turn the tide of the war. Not at first." James said, pausing. "Not until we have enough of these Wasps, and that''s going to take some time. Bombers like these, capable of long-distance strikes, plus the ability to hit ground targets as well as air targets¡­ as long as we have enough of them, we can definitely turn the tides. Not only should we set all our shipyards to build them, we should contract out the production of these to as many manufacturers outside as we possibly could! Of course we''ll buy as many as your sister can make. We''ll buy as many as anyone can make¡­ until we have enough."

    "How many is enough?" Mandy asked.

    "A thousand? Ten thousand? Losses will need to be replenished." James thought for a bit. "Two billion lir to win the war is cheap, I think. Two billion lir to save Ashdale is nothing."

    "T-two b-b-billion¡­" Mandy was already stuttering.

    "That''s using Mindy''s prices. I think if we build our own, it would be even cheaper." James mused. "So yes, we''ll buy them."

    Remian let the magic fade as James and Mandy headed back. He glanced at Mindy. "Is this really okay?"

    "It''s fine." Mindy said, her face dark, but her eyes determined. "It''s something I drew up for fun just to see if the idea would work. I was planning to design a better one soon enough anyway. Given a choice, I''d design everything from scratch, build engines and components much more suitable for their roles than simply using commercial parts. But that would have to wait for the Mark III version. The Mark II that I''m planning is a smaller, faster, three man craft with a turret above deck, not in the rear. I''m not even sure if I would call it a ''Wasp'' any more."

    "And the Mark IV?" Remian asked, eyebrows raised.

    "The Mark IV¡­" Mindy hesitated, then whispered. "Doesn''t use mana."

    "WHOA!" Remian nearly fell over. "How¡­"

    "Hush!" Mindy said, as Mandy and James returned.

    They signed an open deal for ''Batches of 100 fully functional Wasp Bombers'' from ''Mindy''s Shipyards'' at 20 million lir per batch. The first shipment of 100 Wasp Bombers was promised to be due in a month, the second and third within two months. Mandy and James left Mindy holding a 60 million lir contract.

    "Can we really manage a hundred in one month?" Remian wondered.

    "I might need your help with that." Mindy said. "How''s the industrial zone in Fal''Herim coming along?"

    ***

    Taking a very big detour around the war zone, it took them a day and a half to reach Fal''Herim.

    There, Remian and Mindy set about adjusting, streamlining and renovating the entire industrial zone to the production of Wasp Type-A Bombers.

    As they were closing up for the day, Mindy was suddenly pulled aside into an alley by a shrouded figure. "Ack!"

    "Relax! It''s me!" a familiar voice said.

    "Tim?" Mindy blinked. "What¡­ why¡­?"

    "Come with me." Tim said in a low voice. "I''ve got something to show you."

    "Now? But¡­"

    "Trust me. You''re going to want to see this."

 208 Ravens

    The dry sands of Fal''Herim drifted in a low wind, covering everything in sight with a dull color as Mindy followed Tim up the road, past three factories, a warehouse, and a bicycle assembly yard.

    "What''s this about?" Mindy asked uneasily. Fal''Herim was all very well from the air, and in the markets, but this was a place where slavers had thrived for generations. Looking around, Mindy half-expected to see throngs of men, women and children in shackles and chains groaning under the whips of cruel taskmasters. She had seen that far too many times around this city and loathed to see one again.

    In fact, she wasn''t sure she could stay calm if she saw one now. Remian wasn''t here; they''d left him far, far behind. With just her and Tim, if she came across slavers at close range¡­

    Tim saw the look on her face. "Don''t worry. This is Remian''s territory. There are no slavers here. In fact¡­"

    "What?"

    "Four out of five people in this area are freed slaves." Tim told her seriously. "If a slaver ever tried to get near this place, they''d be beaten half to death. I''m not kidding."

    "Even if they''re customers?"

    "This is a production area. The goods are taken to the airport for export or to market to sell." Tim smiled as they rounded the corner¡­

    Mindy froze. They had come up upon a familiar sight she thought she''d never see again in her life. It was a small, somewhat shabby building with smoke coming out the back, and clothes hanging to dry in the yard, and the sound of quick footsteps tapping about, and a sign hanging out the front door, of black birds in a circle¡­

    It was a tavern. Tim yelled as they approached. "Guys! Look who''s here!"

    Voices responded. Those voices. Those VOICES!

    And then the faces appeared.

    "Isabelle¡­ Jamie¡­ Siti¡­ Juni¡­ Loh¡­ Karen¡­" Mindy shivered uncontrollably. "Gary¡­ Tamera¡­ everyone¡­ everyone¡­!"

    Faces she had never thought she''d see again. Different than they were, older, weather-worn, battered, and in some cases, scarred, but¡­ but¡­

    "It''s you!" Mindy half-shrieked, running right into the gathering crowd, trying to fling her arms around as many of them as she could.

    "Mindy!" They all but piled over her, burying her in an avalanche of affection.

    These were the children lost to betraval, the Circling Ravens who had been captured by slavers back when Simmons sold them out. "How¡­ how¡­"

    "It was Tim." Someone said.

    "It wasn''t easy." Tim told her in a low voice. "Even for me. But it had to be done. No matter what, I¡­"

    Mindy turned and grabbed him, unable to speak, unable to find the words. She just cried, surrounded by friends once lost, and didn''t care what anybody thought about it.

    ***

    George was looking through reports in his new office overlooking the Pit when knocking sounded. A dark-haired girl poked her head in. "There''s a merchant here to see you. He''s brought two guards and refused to enter without them."

    Her name was Raven. She was the girl who kind-of, maybe saved George''s life during a past Beast Wave. Her mercenary troop had been hired long-term for guests security, but Raven had a unique post as official liaison to Kara-Goth administration.

    Was it, perhaps, due to a certain special request from George himself? Hmm. Not telling!

    In any case, the world war was bringing in a large influx of visitors and settlers. Refugees were arriving by the dozen every day. Six new merchants had set up shop in Kara-Goth itself, and nine others paid a visit to buy and sell in bulk over the past week.

    George had to admit, the trading potential of five settlements far, far outstripped what Kara-Goth alone could manage in terms of attractiveness to long-distance traders. These traders from far away were their lifeline; even the floundering La Vive settlement managed to hold on and grow.

    There were airships visiting every day now, and the airport was constantly busy. Airships could land and pick up cargo from any of the five settlements, but only at the airport of Kara-Goth could they get servicing and drydock level maintenance. If this went on, they would certainly have to expand the airport¡­

    "George?" Raven''s quiet voice smoothly slid him out of his train of thoughts.

    "Just send them in." George said, still thinking about airport expansions. They had pretty much maxed out the top of Kara-01, but what if they used multiple hilltops and overarching structures to connect them¡­? Would they be able to withstand a Beast Tide? The current airport relied on Spike''s late grandpa''s shell to cover the whole thing, but Spike only had the one¡­

    A large brawny man entered, flanked by two other large brawny men. They wore heavy chainmail armor, and sported toothy grins when they saw George.

    "So you''re the guy running this place? I have a business proposition for you¡­ in private." The lead guy glanced at Raven.

    Raven shut the door behind her, but stood there in the room with them and George.

    "Raven, I think he means he wants to speak with me alone." George explained.

    Raven folded her arms.

    "Fine, fine." George sighed. He turned to the man. "What do you have in mind?"

    "Full control of Kara-Goth given over to me." The man grinned. His guards fanned out to surround Raven on both sides. "Everything will be mine, and you''ll have to follow my every order from now on."

    George grimaced. "One of those, huh?"

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    Raven lowered her spear with some hesitation, gripping the butt in her left hand, her right hand guiding it, pointing toward first one of the guards, then the other. The guards didn''t even seem to care. One of them licked his lips as he examined her from top to toe.

    "Get out of my chair, little boy, and call off the girl." The big guy said, straddling over. "This place is MY turf, now¡­"

    Raven killed him. From five feet away, she threw out her spear left-handed and impaled him straight through the throat before either of his guards even noticed she was making a move. Then, she dropped the left guard with a footsweep¡­

    George tossed a knife out into the throat of the guard on the right, still sitting in his chair, then idly cleaned his fingernails with another knife while Raven beat the living daylights out of the left guard. That was the one licking his lips at her earlier.

    "Idiots." George sighed. "Yet another bully underestimating children in the Frontier. How many does this make now?"

    "Five." Raven said.

    "Did they come in their own airship, or someone else''s?"

    "Their own."

    George rubbed his hands. "Well, then, thank you for your airship, and your cargo, Mr¡­? Sorry, I didn''t get your name."

    The dead body leaning on his desk did not reply.

    "Raven, did you know what his name was?"

    "Nope."

    "Ah, well. Never mind. Call for a clean-up and let''s go see our new airship."

    "It''s guarded."

    "So?"

    George and Raven left.

 209 How to Survive A Beast Tide 1

    Days since last Beast Tide: 80. Current Kill Count: 9917 (696 since yesterday).

    "We can''t just let you go, so¡­ you can either serve, or die." George summarized his offer to the guards of the dead bully''s airship. "What would it be?"

    Despite the clarity of the offer, half the guards actually tried to attack.

    "Fire." Song Chen instructed.

    Crossbows twanged on every side. A dozen men were riddled with bolts before they could make three steps.

    "Hey!" George protested. "That guy wasn''t even moving!"

    "He was holding on to a wand. He didn''t drop it." Song Chen explained. "The ones that surrendered dropped their weapons."

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    "Oh. Never mind, then. Empty the airship''s cargo, and load it with munitions. Prepare it for battle." George waved at it vaguely.

    One lynxmouse poked its head out from a side port. [Not much cargo. Just some food and munitions.]

    "Well, load up the crossbow bolts and get a crew on it." Song Chen instructed one of his subordinates. "Fifth Crossbow Squad, Ninth Crossbow Squad, you''re up."

    "The Ninth? Are they really ready for air-to-ground bombardment?" George asked.

    "They''ll have the Fifth with them. They''ll be fine." Song Chen shrugged.

    The airship was readied quickly, and then it took off slowly.

    "Is this the last airship in the airport?" George asked then.

    "Yep." Song Chen said, as the airship cleared the docks.

    "How are we doing for supplies?" George asked. "Can we hunker down until the Tide passes?"

    "If we close everything up and stay underground, we should be able to hold out for three weeks at our current consumption rates. Double that, if we ration."

    "I doubt it''ll come to that." George mused. "Two weeks is plenty. Any word on what''s coming?"

    "Word from Three Pines is there''s some debate going on as to exactly which King is leading the Tide this time. The Eagle Lord is betting on either the Storm Pegasus King or the Earth Lion King, but there are over thirty Kings who want the job because they want to tear us to pieces."

    "Thirty¡­?!" George gulped.

    "All we know for sure is that it won''t be Doom, and they''re not going to stop with just trampling our farms into the dirt." Song Chen added. "We''re going to lose everything we haven''t harvested, you know."

    "That''s not for certain. Something might survive. Especially if they don''t come after us specifically." George mused. "We''ve already destroyed Rocky Ford, so crossing the river to come at us would be difficult for land-based Wilds. I''m thinking we''d mainly have to worry about amphibians and flyers. Especially flyers."

    "Then we better hope it''s the Earth Lion King or something similar in charge rather than the Storm Pegasus, because otherwise, we''d be up to our necks in winged horses."

    "It could be worse." George mentioned. "It could be the Roc King."

    "No, that shouldn''t be a concern. According to the Eagle Lord, that won''t happen."

    "It''s so nice to have friends telling us of our inevitable demise and how it''ll occur."

    "Any chance Spike and Jujar might succeed in talking us out of this?"

    "The Earth Lion King has acknowledged Spike as the Lord of Craggy Falls, and the Great Ape King has acknowledged DD as the Lord of the previous Shadowflash Fief, but they''re still going to try to eat us for dinner tomorrow. If our Wild friends get in their way, they would be dinner too."

    "Not if I can help it. I want the wolfcats protecting herb valley. We''ll shelter all our people underground, and there are almost no structures on it, so now that we''ve pulled down those structures ourselves there''s no reason for the Beast Tide to attack the valley."

    "Wish we could save the farms like that."

    "There''s not enough time. There''s just too much to do, and the Beast Tide arrived much, much more quickly than we expected." George explained. "Speaking of arrivals, any word from the La Vive colony?"

    "They''re not coming." Song Chen grumbled. "They said they''d rather take their chances with the Ashdale Colony. Apparently the Ashdale settlement has a Level 6 Battle Mage."

    "What exactly is a Level 6 Battle Mage?"

    "It''s a mage specially qualified for battle. As I understand it, Level 6 is quite high." Song Chen took out a list. "From what we can tell, to qualify for level 6, the Battle Mage needs to be able to instant-cast Tier 1 and 2 spells, write ten-word Runic Sentences, employ permanent magic barriers while casting magic, and have three campaigns worth of real-life battle experience."

    "That sounds rather formidable." George admitted. "What level would Remian be, in such a system?"

    "I don''t know. I actually asked them once, but they said a mage who can instant-cast any spell of any Tier with one word doesn''t exist." Song Chen spread his hands. "Also, the highest level Battle Mage in La Vive is a Level 7. The highest in Ashdale is Level 8."

    "That means that Level 6 is actually very high up."

    "That''s what I just said."

    "George!" someone yelled from the air traffic control tower. "The Red Fang is coming!"

    "Remian and Mindy?" George perked up.

    "They''ll be here in ten minutes!"

    "Great! That means we have a Super Battle Mage on our side!" George exulted.

    "I''m not sure that''s how it works." Song Chen scratched his head. "Apparently Battle Mages have exams and certification and everything¡­ none of which Remian has."

    "Who cares about exams! Remian could wipe out that Level 6 any day, any time!" George insisted.

    Song Chen didn''t refute it. "Still. That sort of categorization could be useful. We have a lot of scroll-casting Adventurers going around who only think about earning Guild Points. Putting up a formal system of recognizing Battle Mages could have them pay more attention to increasing their magical combat abilities. It could be a good motivation."

    "Then we may as well categorize everything, not just magic. Marksmanship, melee combat, artillery¡­ all of it. We may as well categorize class types!" George snorted.

    Funny how an off-hand comment could affect so many people in the future.

    ***

    When Remian and Mindy arrived, a crowd had gathered at the airport.

    The first thing they did was to unload the rifles.

    "Nice gun!!" Eriane leapt up in excitement. Remian handed her one before she tried to snatch it and damaged something. Eriane held it confidently, easily hefting it and lining up a shot. She fiddled with the reloading system for exactly five seconds before she figured it out, and then she started to examine its insides¡­

    "She''s been learning about all sorts of rifles, including similar breech-loading types." Song Chen explained to Remian. "In fact, there aren''t many people around here who''s better than her with a rifle. Everyone here is familiar with bows and crossbows, but not many know what to do with a rifle."

    "They have one day to get familiar." Mindy advised him. "We have two hundred of these. In terms of reload speed, power, and range, they have every advantage."

    "Range isn''t the issue with this coming Tide." Song Chen pointed out. "We''re basically going to turtle up and huddle down in the mines. We won''t even fight the Wilds unless they manage to break in."

    "The sole exception would be the airport." George added. "So long as the Tide doesn''t have too many flyers, we can still use it to bring in supplies and people from the air. Also, we have a plan to close it safely when it''s not in use."

    "Really? How?" Mindy had to ask.

    "We''re going to use Spike''s grandpa''s shell, with Spike''s permission." George said. "It''s big enough to cover the whole airport like a cap."

    "Spike''s grandpa?"

    "He''s long dead, and the shell is much bigger than Spike himself. We brought it all the way here from Craggy Falls."

    "Excellent." Remian nodded. "What about the other mines?"

    "They''ve been prepared with underground housing long ago. There''s enough space for everyone and about a month of food and water. Don''t worry, Kara-Goth and the mines are well prepared for an extended underground stay. The only place I''m worried about is Three Pines."

 210 How to survive a Beast Tide 2

    "What about them?"

    "They''re not coming back." George grimaced. "Your parents and the others there are staying in the treetops with the Eagle clan and they said they''ll be safe, but¡­ can we really trust the eagles to protect them?"

    "Where is the Tide coming from?" Remian asked. "Would they pass through Three Pines in the first place?"

    "Wouldn''t they be coming from the same place as before?" George asked.

    "No. This isn''t a Beast Wave, and Tim has already taken out Fal''Herim''s Underground King. Any Waves and Tides that might come in the future won''t be coming from the route we''ve been used to." Remian mused. "What about these other colonies I keep hearing about? Are they coming?"

    "They said they''ll handle the Beast Tide on their own." George shrugged.

    "They''re all going to die." Remian said flatly.

    "Maybe." George paused. "They have real armies and Battle Mages and fortifications protecting them. They''re in much better shape than we ever were."

    "George¡­" Remian drew a deep breath. "This is the last time I''m going to give you instructions. Are you still willing to follow them?"

    "Of course!" George said immediately.

    "First; find out who''s leading the Tide, where it''s coming from, and when it''ll arrive here. If possible, try to influence it to someone more sympathetic toward us. We''ve been trying to befriend the Wilds since I met Vigil, and that has to count for something."

    "Understood." George whipped out a notebook and made a note.

    "Second; assuming we can safely use the airport, draw up an evacuation plan for the other five colonies. Make sure we have enough accommodations for everyone underground."

    "At worst, we''ll have to evacuate people to Fal''Herim." George mentioned.

    "I''m not sure Fal''Herim is going to survive this Tide." Remian shook his head. "The Wilds aren''t going to stop at the desert line any more. It''s likely they''ll charge all the way up the Iron Legion''s Road to the city and then some."

    "What?" Mindy yelped. "But what about the industrial center?! And the Wasps!"

    "Can they do that? Cross the desert?!" George gaped.

    "We don''t know." Remian said. He glanced at Mindy. "Tim will take care of the industrial center."

    "But¡­ but¡­" Mindy tore at her hair. "I''m going back there! I''m taking all my airships with me! Talia!"

    "No!" Talia shook her head vehemently. "I''m not leaving Kara-Goth again! Never again! I''m sorry, Mindy, but I quit!"

    Mindy grimaced. "I understand, but then who''s going to fly the Free Wings? My Sky Galleon needs a captain."

    Raven''s hand suddenly shot up. "Me!"

    "What?" George jumped. "But I thought you wanted to stay with me!"

    "Sorry, George, I quit." Raven said, plainly.

    "But¡­ but I thought¡­" George''s face turned red.

    "You''ll be fine underground. Plenty of other guards around." Raven said.

    "Are you sure?" Mindy asked Raven, looking at George''s red face. "It''s a job with a lot of travel."

    "I want to fly." Raven said simply.

    "You''re hired!" Mindy exclaimed at once.

    "Guess that means you''ll have to put up with me." Talia told George. "Since neither of us are going anywhere."

    George blinked, scratched his head, and asked Remian, "What just happened?"

    "Raven and Talia just swapped places." Remian explained. "Though I don''t think Talia is going to be your personal bodyguard. I''m pretty sure she''s more suitable for an administrative role¡­ which is what you need more."

    George paused, thinking furiously. The red slowly faded from his face and he nodded, a bit glumly, but he nodded.

    Remian lowered his voice. "Besides¡­ a job is one thing. A relationship is something else."

    George turned red all over again. Oddly enough, he glanced at Mindy, of all things.

    Remian turned away. "Everything else, I leave to you. Kara-Goth and Shadowflash Fief are all in your hands, now."

    "What about you? Where are you going?" George asked, still trying to rally his thoughts from where they had gotten lost.

    "I''m going to Three Pines." Remian answered. "Can you spare me a small airship? A Tug or something?"

    "You can take a Patrol Corvette. We have twenty of those, now. We can spare one."

    "Thanks." Remian nodded. He turned around. "Phoebe?"

    "I''m coming. Just give me half an hour to pack. You should get something to eat before we go." Phoebe advised. She glanced at George. "Are my supplies and supplements ready?"

    "The supplements¡­" George instantly thought back to Herb Valley. That''s right. Just about everything there was planted specifically for Remian. "We have them stashed at the hospital. I''ll get people to load them onto the corvette right now."

    "I''ll go see if we can find out anything about the King leading this coming Tide." Talia offered, and went to find Joshu.

    ***

    The Wildlands had Five Emperors and roughly fifty Kings. Of those Kings, thirty-six had expressed desire to lead the Beast Tide to trounce the humans in the Frontier¡­ and beyond.

    There was a Psionic conference on the issue. It was an uproarious clamor with no clear winner or anyone having an advantage since Doom bowed out.

    Far to the west, a terrible furry form stirred. The creature that lurked in an immense cavern let out a telepathic roar that drowned out the entire conference all by itself and sent hundreds of Lords and Lord-challengers reeling. [SILENCE!]

    [W-Wind Emperor¡­] a dozen feline Kings whimpered in acknowledgement and obeisance.

    [Dark Fang King!] the Wind Emperor called.

    From where he crouched in a jungle, a towering black tiger roared in response.

    [From my domain, I choose you! Everyone else, shut up!] the Wind Emperor ordered.

    [I obey!] Dark Fang answered.

    Nine of the applicant Kings bowed out. Of the Kings under the Wind Emperor''s dominion, only the Dark Fang King remained.

    Suddenly, the Flame Emperor stirred. [Bone King!]

    [I am here¡­] the hissing whisper sounded.

    [Of my domain, I choose you! Everyone else, stand down!]

    [I obey¡­!] the Bone King hissed.

    From the far north, the Deep Emperor stirred. [Storm Pegasus!]

    [I answer the call!] Storm Pegaus King neighed.

    [You are my choice!]

    [I hear and obey!]

    There was a short silence.

    [Wood Emperor? Stone Emperor? Are you guys awake?] Deep Emperor asked.

    There was a strong mental grunt from the Wood Emperor, and then a groan from the Stone Emperor. [It''s too early¡­ I still have about a hundred years to sleep¡­]

    [Mal''thor-dras, would you kindly just pick a candidate?]

    [Forget it. Nobody from my domain is going. Just let me sleep.] Mal''thor-dras, the Stone Emperor, replied.

    There was another long pause.

    Deep Emperor tried again. [Wood Emperor?]

    There was no reply. Not even a grunt this time.

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    [I guess he''s out too.] Deep Emperor sighed. [Very well. Dark Fang King, Bone King, Storm Pegasus King¡­ one of you three will lead the Tide.]

    [Or all three.] Wind Emperor growled. [This Tide shall be unlike the one before. There shall be no stopping at the Desert Edge! The Tide shall strike freely at the very lands of the humans! No mercy! No retreat! We will tear them all to pieces!]

    [All three, then.] Deep Emperor agreed.

    [Bone King, I assign you to the east of the Frontier. You strike at the three settlements on the east side.] Flame Emperor ordered.

    [Then I shall strike at the three on the west.] Dark Fang King decided. [And then strike north following that!]

    [Storm Pegasus, we will strike directly at the lands of man!] Deep Emperor murmured. [I will travel north myself, and open a river through the desert. Follow me and cross the sea¡­ all the lands of man are at your mercy. Show them none.]

    As the conference dispersed, the Bone King had one more issue to address with his Emperor [Wait. What about that treetop human colony? The one at the Red Cloud King''s domain?]

    [They live in accord with the Eagle Lord, in friendship with the Wilds. Leave them be.] Flame Emperor ordered.

    [As you command.] Bone King replied, and went to get ready for the Beast Tide.

 211 Mysteries

    "Thanks, Chirpy." Mindy said softly, with one hand on the hilt of the Phoenix Sword.

    Meanwhile, Raven had brought three younger children to Mindy. "Boss, these are my brothers and sister. Robin, Sparrow, and Dove."

    "You''re bringing them all on the Free Wings?" Mindy eyed them. Raven herself was eighteen, Robin was fifteen, Sparrow, twelve, and Dove was nine, about Eriane''s age.

    "Yes." Raven said.

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    Mindy waited, but that was all she said. "Are you sure? I mean, they could be in school, or safely in the mines, or Adventuring¡­"

    "I''m sure."

    Again, another pause while Mindy waited for Raven to say more, but Raven really didn''t say anything else.

    "My sister doesn''t like to talk much." Robin said, apologetically. "But we''ve always dreamed of flying. All of us, together, as a family. We want to travel the world and see other peoples and eat different foods, and look for our father¡­"

    Raven cleared her throat, and gave Robin a sharp glance. Robin winced, and subsided.

    Well, the school Barges were also mainly crewed by children their age. The Free Wings was a second-hand Deutero Sky Galleon, but it wasn''t that much more complicated than the Sky Barges, plus there were already experienced Adventurers on the Free Wings'' crew. They should be okay.

    Besides, Sandra and Gammie were both on the Red Fang with their comrades, and they were fourteen and fifteen. Sparrow was about the same age. All three of them were older than Mindy herself.

    Also, it seemed that Ruth and Xia wanted to come along on the Red Fang, along with¡­

    "Eriane?!" Mindy blurted. "Why are you here?"

    "Because there''s nothing to do here!" Eriane scowled. "They''re all huddling inside the mines, and closing everything up¡­ there''s nothing to shoot, unless they''re already inside, and that''s going to be a mess! I don''t want to sit around waiting just in case and then trying to get a clear shot when everyone''s crowded and fighting hand-to-hand in the tunnels!"

    "But we''re going to Fal''Herim to keep an eye on the industrial district. Remian said Tim will take care of it, but I don''t know how he''s going to protect an entire district from a Beast Tide! Chirpy said that after the Tide sweeps through the five colonies and Kara-Goth, they''re going to hit Fal''Herim next!"

    "That gives us about two days to evacuate the district." Sparrow mentioned.

    Raven frowned at him.

    "Evacuate? But we need that district to build airships! Otherwise, the contract¡­" Mindy trailed off.

    "Do you think we can defend it against a Beast Tide?" Sparrow asked. "Is the contract really worth losing lives over?"

    Mindy''s head lowered. "But¡­ Remian didn''t say anything about evacuating when we were there¡­"

    But Remian wasn''t the kind to do everything for them, or to solve all their problems. Remian left Fal''Herim to Tim. He left Kara-Goth to George. He left Mindy with her own airships and enough experience with long-distance trading and visiting new cities to run her own trading fleet. Whatever problems they faced, they''d have to solve it themselves. Whatever choices needed to be made, they''d need to make it themselves.

    Already he''d told George that it was the last time he would give George instructions. How long would it be before he said the same thing to Mindy, or Tim?

    On top of that, there was something more important in the Industrial District that Mindy needed to protect. There was a certain tavern staffed by children around her age¡­

    "We''re going to Fal''Herim to pick up some people." Mindy decided.

    "At a time like this? What''s so important about those people?" Sparrow asked.

    "They''re going to be our new crew."

    ***

    At that time, the La Vive settlement was already evacuated. They went over to the Ashdale settlement in a caravan, a row of carts loaded with goods and people. Those carts became part of Ashdale''s outer fortifications, just another layer of perimeter obstacles.

    Ashdale''s colony, under the command of a certain Sir Stout Senior, fortified their perimeter heavily with five layers of traps, obstacles, a moat and walls. Fifteen qualified Battle Magi led by a Level 6 Battle Mage laid down heavy runic formations in preparation for a long, drawn-out battle. A full battalion of infantry armed with revolver rifles took up positions and dug trenches, a newly popularized fortification style in the world war. About fifty volunteers of men and women took up spare rifles and trained last-minute for additional defense. La Vive''s incoming refugees added a full hundred such volunteers. Their additions brought the armed defenders numbers to nearly 600.

    Itarim had been building siege engines, from catapults to ballistae and the faster firing scorpions. The war front had not spared them any modern weapons like rifles or cannons, but they made do with those siege engines, pikes and crossbows. Given the lake on one side and a strong stockade on the other, they started to reinforce that stockade with bricks and mud layers. In the event of a Beast Wave, the entire colony would be involved in defense, two cohorts worth, their numbers almost reaching 2000. On top of that, they had a merchant airship presently docked and open for trade.

    Bellas had a complicated formation of defense towers manned with retired magi. Some of them were elderly, others were injured or traumatized by war, but for whatever reason, they ended up looking for a new start in the Frontier and got sentry jobs in defense towers. Following Battle Mage qualifications, most of them were around Level 3 or 4, though one particular old man qualified as a Level 5.He was positioned in the tallest, strongest tower along with a magic cannon and three squads of runic musketeers. A veritable maze of traps and bottlenecks were laid out across the entire southern approach, all of which were within range of every tower''s weapons and magi. They didn''t have much in way of standing forces, just four platoons on the ground, but those platoons were equipped with Tier 4 runic equipment. They also had three airships docked, two frigates escorting a galleon, all of them commercial-grade.

    Meanwhile, the 9 Mountains colony was already in constant combat, fighting against troops of monkeys every day. Literally hundreds of mercenaries had joined their defenses, and literally hundreds of them had already died. The Great Ape King had been sending Beast Waves for days, and nobody was quite sure who was winning or losing. Nobody was even sure who was in command any more. Frankly speaking, the fighting on that front was a total mess.

    Around that time, Ashdalian lookouts reported a most unusual sight; the fog over the Great Deep had lifted for a bit and in that short while they spotted what seemed to be a rocky island in the middle of the oversized lake. A small expedition was quickly planned and in three hours, a boat headed into the fog.

    But the boat never found the island. It went on to get lost for the rest of the day before finally making it back to shore with only half its original crew, having lost the rest to sudden water Wild attacks in the fog. Still, they never found any island.

    Then word from the Itarim settlement arrived.

    For some reason, it seemed there was a new river cutting right into the desert to the north¡­

 212 10,000 deaths

    The number of Wilds killed by humans or human activity in the Wildlands hit 10,000.

    With furious roars, the hordes under the command of the Dark Fang King, the Storm Pegasus King and the Bone King erupted into action. A massive flood from the left headed toward the western settlements, a wave that would hit the La Vive, Ashdale, and Itarim colonies simultaneously. A throng from the Five Lakes streamed north-east, found the river created by the Deep Emperor, and followed it north toward the lands of man. A third horde moved out from the far south, heading toward the eastern colonies of Bellas, Kara-Goth, and the Nine Mountains.

    By the way, just in case anyone was wondering¡­

    Asda was still on board the Ira mothership, having lost her entire fleet to mutiny. At this point, she was served and surrounded by Ira''s slaves, and none of the people or airships who had gone there with her from Fal''Herim remained. A good many of them joined Ira''s air fleet. Was that the plot of someone''s doing? Asda had no proof, but she had strong suspicions about everyone on board the Ira Mothership.

    Mandy did not return to the warfront. She returned to Ashdale and was involved in the coordination of fifty shipyards and twice as many manufacturers to build parts and assemble Type-A Wasp Bombers.

    Mindy, Raven, Robin, Dove and Sparrow went with the Red Fang and the Free Wings to Fal''Herim, and docked as evening approached. They planned to go to the Tavern in the morning to recruit the crew.

    By that time, the western horde led by the Dark Fang King was already halfway to the La Vive settlement. The Storm Pegasus throng was already in the middle of the desert, easily making their way north without getting lost thanks to the guidance of the river, plus they never had to worry about water. The eastern horde passed by the Nine Kings Range and gathered up numbers en route.

    Back at the world war, around midnight, the Germat and Aurian armies broke past the La Vive lines and charged through their national borders forcefully. The war that started over a mana vein in the neutral zone had escalated to the point of territorial invasion. This showed Germat''s and Auria''s true ambitions; they wanted more than that one mana vein. Once they defeated their enemies'' armies, they wanted to take everything. That was why they were willing to spend so much more on preparing for this war than Ashdale and La Vive; it was because while their opponents considered the costs of fighting over a mana vein, they were sparing no expense to conquer whole countries.

    As morning broke and the news spread, there would be yells of international outrage from many a country, but what could anyone do? La Vive''s defenses had already fallen, and their border towns were already occupied.

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    With their army in tatters, the outraged, proud citizens of La Vive began to form a secret Resistance.

    Upon hearing the news, Ashdale''s entire industry was given over entirely to military application overnight. Orders were sent for their entire population to be all but drafted into emergency labor and volunteer defense corps. Within hours, the amount of military spending skyrocketed, but the banks basically threw away the credit limits and the country began to spend in a frenzied manner trying to fend off the oncoming attackers.

    Also around that time, Germat began to roll out new vehicles, a sort of tracked armored carriage bearing armored turrets armed with heavy magic cannons on top. The first tanks were about to join the world war.

    Complete unknown to them, the Deep Emperor was headed straight for the warfront. He had already made it into the Midlands Sea, with the Storm Pegasus King and his share of the Beast Tide merely half a day behind him. Also, more and more Wilds from the Great Deep and the Midlands Sea were joining up on the Tide¡­

    ***

    When morning broke, Mindy brought Raven and her siblings to go meet her old friends and invite those old friends of hers to join her in the skies and travel the world.

    By that time, the Dark Fang King had the La Vive settlement in his sights. It was abandoned, everyone having fled to the Ashdale colony. He turned and led them eastward, while other, quicker elements of the vast Tide already began to surround the Ashdale fortifications.

    The Ashdale militia sounded the alert. Their troops and volunteers scrambled to battle stations. Itarim''s colony likewise was aroused, and quickly found their own share of the Tide almost within artillery range.

    It wasn''t hard to figure out. Just taking one look southward in the light of dawn was enough. The entire south was covered in a massive, teeming surge of movement. You couldn''t see a single bare patch of grass or ground any more. As far as the eye can see, across the whole horizon, one only saw Wilds.

    "The size of this Tide is already three times more than the last and getting bigger even now. Do you think maybe they''re overdoing it, just a little?" Darian asked Doom, way, way back at Dragon Lake, both of them monitoring the advance Psionically.

    "Considering how fast this Tide broke out after the last one? No, I don''t think so. I don''t think so at all." Doom answered.

    By that time, the quickest Wilds from the southern/eastern Tide had already reached Dragon Lake, and many of the wyverns around the place itched to join them. Doom did not say a single word to deter them from joining.

    Incidentally, the quickest Wilds in question were mainly Skeletal Serpents, a specialty of the far south. They mainly lived in or around the Black Fields around the Source of Magic. They were a rarity in that their bones covered the outside of their flesh and organs, rather than hiding inside. They were fast, they were tough, and they were absolutely ferocious, powerful enough to be considered in the lower Tier 5 despite being a lot smaller than most Tier 5 Wilds. They were some of the deadliest creatures in all the Wildlands, and they weren''t going to sit around waiting for the rest of the slow horde to catch up. About a hundred of these Skeletal Serpents hissed and like wriggling flickers of white bone, streaked toward the north. About twenty impatient juvenile dragons joined them. The bigger, older, less hasty adult dragons considered it, then slowly readied themselves to join the main southern horde when it passed by. All of them headed toward Kara-Goth, and the settlements in the north-east.

    "I''m going to Three Pines to keep an eye on it. Just in case." Darian declared.

    "They''re not going to be attacked. The Flame Emperor ordered so."

    "Still. Just in case. I''m going."

    ***

    Over on the west side, battle erupted.

    "Open fire!" Sir Stout Senior roared, then burst out coughing.

    Cannons boomed. From nine emplacements heavy magic artillery launched explosive globs of naphta, nasty, sticky, burning stuff. It was old, obsolete weaponry, but against scattered formations of oversized wildcats, they did the job well enough.

    It was just¡­ too little. Nine explosions lit up the early morning, but the sheer flood of Wilds coming at them was barely even scratched. Thousands of Tier 4 and Tier 5 Wilds covered the entire southern approach, and a good many of them were coming from the east too. Sir Stout Senior had his back to the desert, his other flank to the lake, and nowhere to go if this colony fell.

    Nowhere to go, but up.

    "Get the children onto the airship." He said quietly. "Set course for Fal''Herim and make sure they know enough to be able to get that far on their own."

    "Sir¡­?!" his aide was aghast. The battle had barely even begun and already he was evacuating the children.

    "Get them to safety, just in case. If there''s extra room, bring their mothers on board." He ordered. There should be a little extra room, just a little. Enough for a few mothers, surely.

    A handful of women and a half hundred kids on board an airship. It sounded like the beginnings of a disaster, but that was the best Sir Stout Senior could do at this point.

    What was this about little beast waves being no match for the disciplined Ashdale regulars? What was this about a score of Tier 3 and 4 Wilds running suicide raids during the night?

    Was this what they meant by twenty Tier 4''s? Sir Stout Senior wanted to choke his advisor to death. Can you even count the Tier 5''s in this mess, much less the Tier 4''s?!

    "Who was it that said Kara-Goth''s warning was an exaggeration? I want him shot!" Sir Stout howled, and then aimed his staff at the sky and started casting long-range magic at the incoming Beast Tide.

 213 Sir Stout Senior and the Ashdale Colonyâ€™s Last Stand

    BANG! The aide shot the advisor.

    "Was it him who said it?" Sir Stout Senior asked.

    "Yes, sir." The aide answered.

    "Wasn''t it you?"

    "No, sir." The aide said with a perfectly straight face.

    Still, Sir Stout looked at him sideways suspiciously.

    A trio of Wood Cougars had reached the outer perimeter. Furless and seemingly made of bark and branch, these feline forms could very well be mistaken for wooden carvings if they only kept still. Sir Stout wished they would; instead, they were darting all around at frenzied speeds, tearing into the spike barriers. Just these three alone were able to break through whole meters of the outermost perimeter, clearing the way for faster, furrier creatures to charge through.

    "Fire!" the disciplined lines of Ashdale regulars triggered their rifles and gunfire rang in loud chorus. Blood and bone splattered across the outermost perimeter, but where five fell, fifteen swarmed through, and where none fell, twenty surged.

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    The outermost perimeter was completely overrun. All the traps, spikes, and barriers were crushed and destroyed in less than a minute. The second layer of obstacles didn''t even seem to slow down the incoming horde. Tier 5 Wilds practically trampled those measly tricks underfoot, ignoring fake scents and drugged or poisoned traps, busting right through fire traps and crushing them as they passed, oblivious to any attempt to slow them down.

    Volley after volley of gunfire rang out; six shots in a row from the Ashdale regular defenders were quickly spent, and then they had to reload their revolver rifles. The 100 La Vive refugee volunteers and the 50 minutemen from the colony''s pioneers took up the slack, using older firearms that would have otherwise gone unused, but only managed a single round before needing their own reloads. They couldn''t possibly match the regulars'' rate of fire, and in those terrible few seconds in which everyone was reloading, the Wilds poured into the third layer of defense.

    "NOW!" Sir Stout shouted, and the Battle Magi triggered their runic formations.

    Fire and stone burst out of the ground, forming sudden double-layered walls that the Wilds couldn''t help crashing into. For a moment there, the air shook with heavy impacts and a hundred howls of pain immediately followed as the whole front row of Wilds were set aflame.

    "Second cast!" the lead Battle Mage ordered, and spells chants rang out. The walls of fire shifted form, and flurries of fireballs shot out into the incoming crowd. As they were spent, more flames replaced the gaps formed in the walls of fire, two separate groups working together to maintain a steady barrage, one to launch fireballs from the walls, the other to strengthen and replenish the walls themselves.

    "Fire!" the 400 Ashdale regulars had reloaded and once more sent shot after shot in rapid succession into the incoming Wilds.

    "Fire!" the 150 minutemen and volunteer mix likewise added their own firepower to the carnage.

    For a moment there, a single, glorious moment, the Beast Tide was pushed back.

    And then the moment was over, and the Wilds were ramming into the fire-and-stone walls again. This next layer had heavier cats, some of whom seemed metallic, and¡­ goodness, was that a stone rhinocerous?!

    "Target the rhino! Artillery¡­!"

    "Just ten more seconds!" Artillery yelped.

    "There''s no time! Hit that thing with whatever you''ve got!"

    The result of that was the stone rhino was bombarded with five globs of sticky stuff that weren''t lit. The Level 6 Battle Mage paused briefly and raised his hand. A fire arrow darted out and set the rhino on fire, just to complete the process.

    It didn''t stop the rhino. It barely even slowed it down. Now on fire, the burning stone rhino charged forward and slammed into the rock walls, causing cracks to form that were visible even on the defenders'' side.

    Only then did the remaining four artillery emplacements launch their own sticky blobs. Two of them actually missed but hit other Wilds coming in. The two that hit only added more fuel to the flames, but neither managed to slow down the rhino, nor harm it any more than the flames already did.

    Were the flames even harming it? Sir Stout Senior had his doubts.

    BOOM! Again, the burning stone rhino rammed the walls, and the cracks grew.

    "Change munitions! Just fire normal shots!" Sir Stout yelled at the artillery. "Shoot them as hard and as fast as you can!"

    The original plan was to use the burning sticky shots to cause fiery impediments on the horde''s path. But who knew they would be so ineffective? Weren''t Wilds afraid of fire? Why weren''t they even slowing down with all these fire-related obstacles in their way?! On top of that, they were so strong, the sticky stuff didn''t even slow them down!

    To be fair, it might have worked on Tier 2 or Tier 3 Wilds, but trying to glue Tier 4 Wilds to the ground with that level of sticky substance was simply a joke. Trying to hold down Tier 5''s that way¡­ it was useless. Completely useless.

    CRASH! The rhino burst through the stone walls, and various forms of wildcats poured in after it.

    SPLASH! The burning stone rhino went straight into the moat and immediately started sinking. The fires on it were put out and even the sticky stuff was washing off¡­

    Plus, the rhino started to swim.

    "WHY?!" Sir Stout Senior wanted to tear at his hair. "Why isn''t anything working?!"

    At least it seemed to deter the wildcats a bit. Cats didn''t seem to like water.

    But cats weren''t the only things coming at them. There were bears and lizards and snakes and all sorts of water-savvy swimmers among the Wilds. They took roughly twenty seconds to cross the moat, and on top of that, some digger-type Wilds appeared to be working hard to fill it in!

    "Fire!" the Ashdale regulars fired a third volley, six shots each.

    "Fire!" the minutemen and volunteers added their own volley.

    The Wilds that had emerged from the moat were shot down. But more emerged immediately after and the moat itself seemed to be falling in on itself, turning muddy with the efforts of the giant moles and rat-types digging at it. Even the previously burning stone rhino was making its way out now, having been previously overtaken by faster swimmers like lizards and snakes.

    "We can''t keep this up much longer!" the Battle Magi were gasping, having been unleashing fireballs into the horde without pause this whole time.

    "They''re almost to the last line of defense!" the aide yelped.

    "Prepare for hand-to-hand combat! All units, divide into forward half for melee and rear half for fire support!" There was no time for anything else. The Wilds were already ramming into the wooden walls that made up the final layer of defense.

    "Fire!" the regulars fired.

    "Fire!" the volunteers fired.

    "Fire!" the artillery fired.

    "Fire!" the Battle Magi cast their spells.

    "Fire!" out of nowhere, a volley of crossbow bolts rained down from above. Magic glowed on every bolt; with its addition, the Wilds actually floundered, their front lines stumbling in their charge.

    "What¡­?" Sir Stout looked up to see a rather drab oversized airship floating overhead. There were crossbowmen on that airship, and they appeared to be sending down rope ladders and smaller airboats.

    "We came to get you out!" Song Chen shouted from the Sky Barge above. Along with the Sky Barge, ten corvettes manned with crossbow units had come to provide escort. Six Type-0 Wasps and thirty rope ladders offered the settlers of the Ashdale and La Vive colonies a chance to get on board. "Are you coming or what?"

    "Evacuate! All civilians, evacuate! Soldiers, we will cover their retreat!" Sir Stout Senior shouted. "Hold the line! For as long as you can, hold the line!"

    They held as the Beast Tide crashed through the final layer. They held as they rammed into the front half of the units and fought hand-to-hand. They fired off everything they had as the front half was overrun in seconds, and then threw themselves into the melee immediately after.

    The minutemen and the volunteers weren''t so willing to charge into the fray. They attempted to retreat, to reach the ladders and the Wasps, to maybe get to safety¡­

    But they fared no better. The Wilds tore through the regulars, and then the minutemen too were forced to fight for their lives. After trampling the minutemen, the volunteers were next.

    Sir Stout Senior drew his sword at that point. The Wilds were upon him, a hissing giant red Boa on the left, a three meter long, scaly green lizard on the right. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Battle Magi furiously casting spells under a magic barrier upheld by their Level 6 leader. A quick glance back told him that the civilians hadn''t even fully evacuated yet, about half of them still couldn''t so much as reach the rope ladders.

    That quick glance back cost him his life. It didn''t matter, he supposed. He wouldn''t have lasted long in a hand-to-hand fight against the Beast Tide anyway. Did it mean anything? Did any of it even mean anything¡­? In the end, what was it all for?

    That was the last thought of Sir Stout Senior before he died, and the Wilds overran the last vestiges of resistance from the Ashdale colony.

 214 Passing by Three Pines

    In case anyone was wondering, Sir Stout had no idea his father died, or how, or even why. It would be a long time before he even thought to check. It wasn''t that he was unfilial or anything. It was just that this day would be very, very chaotic.

    ***

    At the time, the Itarim commander was laughing. His head was tilted to the sky as he roared his laughter madly.

    The Itarim colony had already fallen. In fact, their vaunted siege engines and artillery barely got off a single volley before they had fallen silent entirely.

    "What happened?" he had asked.

    "Sir, they''re already overrun!" his aide reported.

    "What? How? The Wilds haven''t even breached our perimeter yet!"

    "Sir¡­ they came from the lake."

    "From the lake?!" at that time, his voice was filled with disbelief.

    "Yes, sir¡­ they can swim."

    They can SWIM! Wilds from the water had struck out on land, amphibious types, poisonous frogs, blindingly fast newts, reptiles the names of which he didn''t even know¡­ the Itarim colony had counted too heavily on the protection of the lake, completely taken off guard when they were attacked by the Wilds who lived in it.

    In the end, all the Itarim commander could do was laugh, and laugh, and laugh as absolute chaos and destruction fell upon the colony all around him.

    ***

    Including the 50+ children and the handful of mothers in their own escape airship, the refugees rescued from the Ashdale colony numbered almost 200. In contrast to that amount, the number of refugees rescued from the Itarim colony was less than 20.

    "By the time we got there, the colony was already overrun. These twenty were just the lucky ones running out the north side." Markus explained.

    George had Song Chen and Markus side by side after both of them returned with refugees from the western colonies. Meanwhile, the Bellas colony was starting to seriously reconsider his offer and a full Sky Barge bearing two hundred of them had already arrived seeking shelter in Kara-Goth. A second and third Sky Barge was over there now filling up with refugees and their belongings.

    As for the Nine Mountains colony¡­ George didn''t know and wasn''t about to try and help them out any more after the way they had treated his messenger.

    "Any word on Three Pines?" George asked next.

    "They''re fine. Darian''s there. Remian too." Markus shrugged. "I hear the Beast Tide is just passing by. They''re not even being attacked."

    Song Chen mused. "It makes sense. Just about everyone there has a Comrade. There are more Wilds in their treetop settlement than there are humans. Plus, the Eagle Lord is friendly. Sort of."

    "Still. I can''t help worrying. It only takes one bloodthirsty Wild to try for a quick bite¡­" George muttered darkly. "Things could go very badly very quickly."

    ***

    To be fair, it already happened.

    "What is that?" Damien Vin asked, standing on the deck of his School Sky Barge with his two sons at his side. Darian was watching the Southern Tide pass by with him, while Remian¡­ seemed a bit preoccupied in conversation with Phoebe. As for his wife, Lisa, she was in the other School Sky Barge high, high above the clouds with the youngest and most vulnerable of their students.

    "Skeletal Serpent." Darian told his dad. "They''re even meaner than most far south Wilds and that''s saying something. But they shouldn''t attack, because the Flame Emperor ordered them not to. Just¡­ try not to provoke them¡­"

    BANG! Someone saw Phoebe''s face, missed a step, and crashed headlong into someone else, who dropped an entire crate on yet someone else''s foot.

    "Aargh! Idiot!" The third person with the smashed foot screamed. Blood trickled over the ground.

    Six Skeletal Serpents suddenly stopped and turned, hissing.

    "They smell the blood." Darian explained, as if teaching a class while all six of those Tier 5 Wilds came slithering at them at cheetah speeds. "It looks like they''re in attack mode."

    "Battle stations!" Damien shouted. "Everybody, to arms!"

    Remian, who had been chatting in a soft voice with Phoebe up to that point, turned around. "What happened? Why are they attacking?"

    Damien rubbed his forehead. "Bring Phoebe below, please. Just¡­ keep her out of sight for a bit."

    Remian nodded, then tossed a command over his shoulder. "Everyone! Into the trees! Fire at will!"

    Crossbows twanged all across the deck of the Sky Barge and from sixteen different trees near the ruins. People on the ground or in the settlement scrambled to climb trees. Many of them rode Tier 4 Comrades similar to Carrie. A few of them ran beside Comrades too small to ride.

    Would the Skeletal Serpents spare the Comrades because they were Wilds too?

    Of course not. Wilds ate other Wilds on any average day. Attacking Three Pines wasn''t a duty of the Beast Tide; they were just stopping for a little snack, a quick bite on the way to work¡­

    The Snacks in question had a good deal to say about that, but the Serpents probably wouldn''t listen, so crossbows it was.

    Word reached Lisa from communications crystals. Rather than feel upset about it, Lisa actually smiled smugly. "And THAT is why I brought everyone on board this airship far, far above to safety."

    Meanwhile, the first Serpent had reached the ruins and was quickly running down a rather round boy trying to flee to safety alongside a Tier 3 Blood Bunny.

    "Excuse me a moment." Darian said to his father politely, then leapt right off the airship.

    "Darian!?" Damien yelped.

    Darian didn''t say anything more. Falling out of the sky, light gleamed and took on solid form all around him. Wyvern wings and scales shimmered in a translucent image, forming a small draconic silhouette around him. Darian wasn''t ready for the large dragon silhouette that Doom employed, but he was quite able to pull off the silhouette of a small, juvenile wyvern.

    With a flap of those wings, Darian shot forward. He didn''t strike at the Serpent, didn''t use any of a half dozen long-ranged attack techniques that he knew. He just grabbed the boy with his silhouette''s claws, picked up the Blood Bunny with his ''tail'', and soared back into the sky.

    Suddenly deprived of its snack, the lead Serpent hissed at Darian, but it was already too late. In mere moments, Darian had climbed easily a hundred feet into the air, and was already halfway to the airship.

    "What were you doing down there?" Damien scolded the tubby guy as Darian arrived. "You shouldn''t even be on the ground!"

    "But¡­ but¡­" the tubby guy spluttered.

    "Save it! Just¡­ get somewhere safe first." Damien dismissed the boy without hearing his explanation.

    "Why are there still children on the ground? I thought we already picked everyone up and had everyone clear the area already." Darian asked.

    "We did." Damien frowned. "Or at least, I thought we did. I don''t know how that boy was still down there."

    Darian glanced around. "Most of the rest should make it, except for that girl, and those two teenagers¡­ what are they even doing¡­?"

    Damien grimaced. "Based on the state of their clothes, they wanted a little privacy and didn''t think they''d be in much danger."

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    "Idiots." Darian scowled. "I''m going to go save the little girl. That couple can go fend for themselves."

    Damien rubbed his forehead again. "Darian..."

    "Fine. I''ll get them too." Darian rolled his eyes. "But they owe me. They all do."

    "Understood." Damien agreed, and let his son do the rescue work.

 215 Tide Day One

    Days since the Beast Wave Began: 1. Current Kill Count: 374.

    In the north, the world war raged. Germat and Auria invaded La Vive with impunity, but as they ventured deeper into La Vive territory, their supply lines began to report having odd, unexpected problems. At that time, the Midlands Sea People began to evacuate La Vive refugees en masse.

    Bulrak tried to catch up and rushed into Bellas territory, actually bypassing the fortifications and defense towers trying to stop them. Three Bellas towns were overrun, plundered and reduced to rubble in a day, but the Bellas fortifications made them pay for each one dearly.

    Otta and Ira meanwhile were in a standoff with the Nine Mountains, having overwhelmed their ground forces in the Neutral Zone, but unable to advance into their highland territories. The brave Red Mountain clan held them at bay, utterly denying them the gains of even an inch of their mountain.

    Kuasa Besar attempted to help them, but simply couldn''t squeeze their forces through their hordes, and besides, they weren''t very keen on cold mountain weather in the first place. Neither were they keen on fighting naval battles with the Sea People. They wanted plunder, they wanted slaves, and there was little or nothing left in the Neutral Zone to provide either, and they didn''t want to step on Germat''s toes as Germat and Auria ransacked La Vive. There was a thought, a brief idea, of invading Ashdale, but Ashdale was the farthest country from their forces, and were already in high alert and full defense preparation. After consideration, they decided to just sit around, wait and see.

    As for Ashdale, they were busy building Type-A Wasps, Extra-Range Longbow Cannons, and trying to design a new, heavier armored carriage to stand up to Germat''s. Little did they know that the armored carriages Germat fielded were already practically obsolete in Germat''s own eyes. A full column of a hundred new tanks were already rolling westward in Ashdale''s direction.

    While all that was going on, the Deep Emperor was already halfway across the Midlands Sea. The Storm Pegasus King was almost caught up with him, and they were right on the verge of reaching the Midlands Sea People''s islands.

    As for the South Tide, the forward party had already reached Craggy Peak. The human settlement there had been completely abandoned, but they still decided to stomp it into wreckage, just as a matter of principle. The main bulk of the South Tide meanwhile passed Dragon Lake with the Bone King in the lead and a dozen full grown adult dragons idly decided to join the fun.

    While that went on, the West Tide, having already utterly crushed the western colonies, decided to head north toward Fal''Herim.

    ***

    In Fal''Herim, Mindy took a break from training her new old crew.

    "How are they?" Tim asked, coming alongside her with a cup of water.

    "It''s slow going, but I think they''ll be okay. What about you? How are things going on your end?" Mindy asked.

    Tim shook his head. "We''re trying to bring as much of the equipment underground as possible, but most of the space has already been taken up by housing. It''s all we can do to fit the people below. The Lynxmice are tunneling and expanding new caverns, but there''s just not enough time."

    "Is there really any point to tunneling more at this time?" Mindy squinted. "Just how many Lynxmice do you have working for you down there?"

    "On the tunneling job? Fifty thousand." Tim figured.

    "Pffft!" Mindy spluttered, spraying water all over Tim''s face then went into coughing. "S-sorry¡­"

    "That''s all we could spare!" Tim protested, wiping his face. "The rest are too far away, and they also have to take care of their own needs, food foraging, baby care, their own nests¡­"

    "That''s all? Fifty thousand is just part of your forces? Just how many Lynxmice clans have joined you?" Mindy gaped.

    "Uh¡­ all of them?" Tim scratched his head. "As far as I can tell, there''s only sixty three."

    "Sixty three north of Kara-Goth?"

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    "Sixty three in the whole world."

    "You took control of all the lynxmice in the whole world?!"

    "All those who are in the sixty three known clans, yes. It''s not that hard. Mainly, they''re quite willing to cooperate with each other to ultimately get more food."

    "Just how much food are they getting?! Can our farms even support that much consumption?"

    "Our farms? No way. But we have forage teams as far as Paleres, Ira and Kuasa Besar."

    "You''ve got operatives in other countries?!"

    "All over the world. I mean, you can''t beat the cheese in La Vive, you know? And the sausages in Germat are really something else!"

    "How did you even cross the Midlands sea?"

    "Uh¡­ there are six clans of lynxmice native to the sea. They''re all water-type breeds that can swim."

    "Variant breeds of lynxmice now?!"

    "They''re not variant breeds! They just¡­ evolved."

    "Lynxmice can evolve?!"

    "Most Wilds can, given the right food and conditions. Plus, they can pass their traits on to their children. It''s actually all very interesting." Tim said. "It''s incredibly helpful to have whole clans of lynxmice evolve rock-digging abilities overnight. Half of them fail and need a few tries, but we couldn''t have expanded the Fal''Herim underground to such extents as to accommodate all of Remian''s people and mine at the same time."

    A thought struck Mindy then. "When you said accommodate, are we talking about crowds of people standing shoulder to shoulder, or¡­"

    "Multi-storied dorms with individual beds. Everyone has their own space to sleep, though I can''t say much for privacy. Also, toilets on every floor are shared between roughly twenty people. It could get messy." Tim grimaced. "Not something we want to keep up for long, but I think we can hold out for a few hours, or a day."

    Mindy gulped. "You really managed to find space for everyone?"

    "Temporarily, yes. Some of my people have to put up strangers in their own homes, but I''ll pay them extra this month. We''ll manage."

    "When you say ''your people'' do you mean humans? As in, people who live underground?"

    "Well, yes. Didn''t you know? The title of ''Underground King'' isn''t for show."

    Mindy blinked. "Who''s the Underground King?"

    "Right now? I am." Tim shrugged.

    Mindy nearly spluttered water over his face again.

    ***

    Word came from the south. Mindy lowered her communication crystal and exchanged grim looks with Tim.

    "Two different groups? And the second one is stretched out over a long distance? In other words¡­ this isn''t going to be over in a day." Tim grimaced. "This could be bad. We can hold out for a few hours, but a few days? And it''s likely that Fal''Herim would be flattened afterwards. This could be really bad. Can we evacuate? Get people to safety elsewhere?"

    "With what? I have only these two airships. I can bring out maybe a hundred people at a time. How many people does Remian have here? How many people do you have?"

    "Remian? About six thousand. Me? Just two."

    "Two people?"

    "Two thousand."

    Mindy shook her head. "Even if we picked the nearest foreign country, there''s no way I can make eighty trips to Paleres and back in time. The West Tide is already crossing the desert. At most, I can make three trips, and I''m inclined to pick up the people on the surface, not those who already have shelter underground. People who aren''t part of Remian''s industrial district or your underground. People who would be willing to pay a lot."

    "That sounds profitable. Just bring back more food, will you? That should help ease the burdens of our foragers."

    "That''s all we need? Food? What about bedding and clothing and all that?"

    "Uh¡­ I guess? We could just raid the bazaar and warehouses for those after the first Tide passes, though."

    Mindy''s eyes narrowed. "Just how long have you been planning to plunder Fal''Herim in between the Beast Tides?"

    "The moment I heard there would be several waves?" Tim grinned.

    "You''re totally corrupted." Mindy fumed.

    "What''s the matter?"

    "You''re stealing! After all the hard work of traders and merchants, in the end¡­" Mindy shook her head.

    Tim just shrugged. "Don''t worry. It''s not your stuff."

    "But it''s still dishonest!"

    Tim smile slipped. He looked at Mindy and suddenly looked sad. "Yes. It is. But it''s what we need. It''s how the underground survives."

    Mindy looked back at him from mere feet away and for some reason, she felt as though they were suddenly miles and miles apart.

 216 Breaking Tide

    Directly south of Itarim, south-east of La Vive, east of Hispanol and west of Ceres, were a stretch of islands bearing small towns of short, white structures. These were the islands of the Midlands Sea People, who were currently allied with Ashdale and La Vive in the world war and presently filling up rapidly with refugees from La Vive.

    At nine forty-eight in the morning the day after the Beast Tide officially began, lookouts on the southernmost island reported seeing something most unusual; there appeared to be a new island to the south, and it had appeared practically out of nowhere.

    An hour later, a panicked report came in; never mind the island, there was a huge flock of Wilds on the horizon, and they did not look friendly. Red eyes, slavering at the fang, and all that.

    The hour after that, someone remarked that the new island that appeared seemed to be getting bigger, or perhaps, closer. But by then, everyone was too busy preparing defenses and screaming for help to really listen.

    By the third hour, the Sea People were able to make out individual Wilds in the horde of Pegasi about to storm their islands. Some people tried to get away by airship or seaship, but there were just too many people and not enough ships or time.

    At twelve fifty three noontime, an enormous tidal wave broke onto the shores of the southernmost island, and the ''new island'' slowly bumped onto the edge of the land. Hundreds of smaller Wilds streamed off it, while the skies were covered with flying horses who rained down and trampled through three seaside villages and a port town within minutes.

    It was at that point that people began to just dive into the sea regardless of whether there was a boat for them or not. They swam for the northern islands, but for all their desperation, they were instantly overtaken by the flying horses.

    Town after town, village after village, the entirety of the Sea People''s islands were overrun in a matter of hours. The number of people jumping into the sea overtook the number of people remaining on land before the disaster was half-done. The Sea People were generally skilled swimmers anyway; oddly enough, jumping into the sea was what saved more than half of the islands'' population.

    Everybody who remained on solid ground was quickly trampled, bitten, struck down with steel-hard wings, even blasted with razor-sharp winds. The Storm Pegasus King spared no human he saw on solid ground.

    And then he was past. The Storm Pegasus King, his forces, and all the flying Wilds with him had crossed over the Midlands Sea People''s islands, and were continuing north toward Itarim over the remaining stretch of water. Meanwhile, the islands were still overrun by amphibious Wilds and even Wilds who couldn''t swim and had come down off the back of the Deep Emperor.

    Those who could swim followed the flying Wilds north. Those who couldn''t, well¡­

    They never left the islands.

    Of the four islands in a row, three of them were accessible to each other through tidal fords. The northernmost one, however, could only be reached by swimming, flying or sailing. As the day passed, the Wilds spread out all across the three southern islands, while the humans ended up clambering onto the northernmost island. This was the island with almost no Wilds, since the flyers, swimmers and amphibians had all continued north, while those who hitched a ride on the shell of the Deep Emperor were basically stuck on the southern islands forevermore.

    As for the Deep Emperor himself, having successfully brought the Tide to the unsuspecting humans in their own lands, he turned around and went back home casually.

    ***

    Around that time, the Southern Tide''s forward group had passed Deadly Sands. Again, the settlement there had been completely abandoned, and again, they trampled everything into the dirt.

    Their main group approached Three Pines, and Darian pointed out one particularly large white figure. "Dad? See that big bony fellow over there? That''s the Bone King. He''s the Tier 7 in charge of the Southern Tide."

    "That''s one big skeleton." Damien grimaced. The Bone King was big enough to swallow his Sky Barge whole. He was the biggest, strongest, and meanest Skeletal Serpent in the world, comparable in size to the Roc King and Senior Dragons like Har''es-dras'' mother.

    Alongside the Bone King were a dozen adult dragons, twice as many younger dragons, and an uncountable horde of scaly, furry, bony beasts from the far south and everywhere in between. At least two hundred of them could fly.

    Damien grimaced and picked up a communications crystal. "George, the main group of the South Tide is passing by Three Pines. Bad news; you got flyers incoming. I''m seeing hundreds of flyers, at least thirty Tier 5, about a dozen dragons and twice as many bat and bird types. Better cap the airport."

    From the other side of the line, George sighed. "I was afraid of that. We''ll just have to make do."

    "On the plus side, they''re not attacking our airships around Three Pines. Also, I don''t hear my wife screaming." Damien added. "Which means that she''s not under attack at high altitude either. We still have room to accommodate people if you want to send some over at high altitude."

    "Understood. We''ll be sending all the children and as many mothers as we can fit. Your school is going to be a lot busier for a bit."

    "Go ahead and send the children to school. We''ll be fine."

    ***

    As the forward group of the South Tide passed the Black Depths Lake, George filled his entire airfleet with children, mothers and wounded, then sent them all off.

    "Make sure you stay above the clouds!" He ordered.

    "Got it!" Jim replied. "We''re also going to take a roundabout route! We''ll go around the Tide, not past it!"

    "Good! Stay safe!"

    So they left, and George watched them go.

    "All right, that''s it. Close the airport." George ordered. "Lower the shell!"

    "Lower the shell!" voices rang out, and the shell of Spike''s late grandpa, taken whole from Craggy Falls, was lowered over the exposed top of Kara-01.

    "Everyone, we''re closing up! All doors, windows and hatches, shut and locked! Full lids and camouflage over the windows! Everyone inside, NOW!"

    Actually, almost everyone was already inside. There were just a few squads left outside reinforcing the entrances or piling on camouflage or even downright burying a few access hatches.

    "FDF, report!" Song Chen barked.

    "Three more squads outside, on the way back!"

    "Kara Main entrance, five squads, ready for battle!" Two of those squads were armed with breech-loading rifles, two with spears, and one manned an XL runic Ballista.

    "Goth Main entrance, five squads, in position and ready!" Their loadout was similar to Kara Main''s.

    "Kara-01 upper accessway, three squads, fully armed and waiting!" One of those squads had rifles.

    "Kara-02 maintenance entrance, two squads, in position!" One of theirs had rifles too.

    "Kara-03, exit tunnel guard squad, ready!"

    "Enclave Underground Tunnels, four squads, ready!" Half of them had rifles.

    "Kara Reserves, five squads, ready!" These guys were meant to be sent in response to emergencies. Two of their squads were armed with rifles.

    "Goth and Enclave Reserves, five squads, ready!" Similarly, two of their squads had rifles too.

    "Camouflage Squad 2 has returned! Mission accomplished!" one of the squads previously outside reported.

    "Camouflage Squad 1, now entering Kara Main!"

    "Camouflage Squad 3, we''re almost to Kara-03''s tunnel exit! Just give us another minute!"

    "Excellent!" Song Chen smiled in spite of the circumstances. Given the amount of time they had to prepare, everyone in the FDF was well ready for this Beast Tide.

    "Mercenaries?" George called.

    "Sons of Sand, four squads, standing by." Salim reported.

    "Crescent Saber, five squads, standing by."

    "Moon Runners, three squads, ready."

    "Miscellaneous Mercs, four squads, we''re all here."

    "Iron Legion?" George asked next.

    "Six squads, all accounted for!" Markus replied. Three of those squads now had rifles.

    "Five hundred and fifty regulars ready for battle." Song Chen summarized. "Militia Volunteers?"

    "Almost ready!" Sabriane replied. "We just need to make sure everyone has enough ammunition!"

    "There''s never enough." George advised. "Just make sure everyone knows where to get more."

    There were two hundred militia volunteers, and fifty of them had rifles. That meant five squads of riflemen, the rest wielding crossbows or spears.

    Literally every weapon wielded today was at least Tier 3, even the volunteer militia''s. Every entrance had at least one Ballista rated at Tier 4. The two Main entrances and the Enclave Underground entrance also had XL runic Ballistae rated at Tier 5.

    Finally, George himself led a special squad of the best mercenaries, legionnaires, and adventurers outfitted with heavy armor. All of them were equipped with ME-Frames and upper Tier 4 weaponry. Several of them had runic weapons that could even harm a Tier 5.

    "Seven hundred and sixty-one defenders all accounted for." Song Chen breathed.

    "We''ve been preparing a long time for this day. Let''s hope it''s enough." George said.

    "Do you regret not putting up those traps?" Song Chen asked then. That had been one of the preparation ideas from early on.

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    "Nope. Let''s not provoke them." George said. "If possible, I''d rather we didn''t have to fight at all."

    Thus, the defenders of Kara-Goth turtled up and hid, hoping the Tide would pass them by without a single shot needing to be fired.

 217 Cracks

    "They''ve closed the airport! Once we get our passengers, we''ll have to set course to Fal''Herim!" Izak ordered on board the last Kara-Goth Sky Barge attempting to evacuate refugees from the Bellas colony.

    "Fal''Herim? But the Beast Tide is already almost upon us!" Izhan protested.

    "Then we''ll just have to go up, above the clouds!" Izak barked. "Now, keep an eye down there! The moment they call for help, we''re going in!"

    But Bellas wasn''t calling for help. They were already swarmed, their entire tower formation was already overrun with Wilds, their walls were broken, and just about all their people were barricaded inside their main fortified keep, but the defense towers were still standing, the tower guards were still shooting, and while the town itself was completely trampled, the people appeared to have taken few casualties.

    At least, until the first towers started to fall. A Tier 5 Bear swiped it with both claws and left gaping holes in the lower walls that the soldiers inside could see right through. More cracks spread out across the entire area and then the whole tower started to tilt over.

    Across the field, a Steel Rhino, another Tier 5, crashed into a whole line of towers, charging through four of them in rapid succession before it ran out of momentum. Two more towers were set aflame by Burning Bulls, and another one was chewed for lunch by a Mammoth Mole.

    The defense towers were falling, fast. People were already beginning to panic.

    But still, they stubbornly fought on. They refused to call for help.

    "We''re here! We''re right here!" Izhan shouted. "Just say the word! We''ll come get you!"

    "No!" the archer atop the nearest tower insisted. "We don''t need any help! Bellas people refuse to be damsels in distress!"

    That was the thing about Bellas. Given their origins, they somehow had also gotten the reputation of the stereotypical damsel in distress and many a Bellas traveler often received teasing on that score whenever they traveled to foreign countries. Over time, the Bellas people increasingly loathed such mockery and on that account were currently willing to reject all offers that even resembled chivalry to the point of death.

    Today''s battle was just one such case in point.

    "Well, let''s just grab them! Kidnap them if we have to!" Izhan snorted.

    "You want to kidnap them against their will? Force them to live regardless of their choices?" Izak frowned. "I can''t approve of that."

    "This is a matter of life and death!"

    "At what cost? You would deny them their freedom? Their right to choice?" Izak shook his head. "That''s just like the slavers who enslaved us! Don''t you remember what it was like when we were younger?"

    "I do remember! The slavers treated mom and dad and you terribly! They all kept looking at me like I was a piece of meat slowly roasting on a spit, just waiting until I came of age and they took a bite out of me!"

    "Ah, but you never felt that bite! You never understood what it was really like under the slavers! Fal''Herim at least had decent laws to prevent underaged slaves from severe work. Had we remained there for just one more year, you wouldn''t be saying what you''re saying now. The worst jobs you ever had under them was cooking and cleaning. The most you''ve ever suffered was a light caning. You''ve never felt a whip, or endured truly back-breaking work. You never knew what it was like to be forced utterly, to have no freedom, no choice in anything. I''d rather die than lose my freedom again!"

    "But at least you''re alive now!" Izhan barked. "At least you have a chance to be free! The dead don''t have any such chance! They won''t either, if they''re dead! We''re doing them a favor! It''s for their own good!"

    "What right do we have to determine what is good or not good for others?!"

    "We''re just trying to save their lives! It''s only going to be for a short while, just a matter of hours! Once we find someplace safe, they''ll be free again, and have many, many years of freedom left to enjoy afterward! Just a few hours of being kidnapped, in exchange for a lifetime of freedom! How can the cost be compared to the benefits?!"

    Izak shifted. "Fine! I''ve got a bad feeling about this, but there''s no time! If we''re going to do this, we have to do it now!"

    They swooped in and kidnapped two archers and a mage on the nearest tower. Simply dropped in from above, whacked them over the head and tossed them on board. They sent the crew down the tower and subdued the entire tower garrison floor by floor. Caught unawares from within while fighting the battle outside, the tower''s defenders all ended up lying in a row in the airship cabin''s first floor with bumps on their head.

    "That''s twenty! Next tower!" Izhan cried. "Hurry! Before it''s too late!"

    It was already too late for more than half the towers. By the time they cleared the first tower, the town was already thoroughly smashed, and their keep was already broken into. The defenders of the town''s keep were fighting at the gap where the gate used to be.

    "The towers are already done for. Go straight for the keep." Izak said shortly. "We''ll save more lives that way."

    "We should have taken action earlier, instead of arguing!" Izhan grouched. "We should have¡­"

    BOOM! An explosion took place beneath decks.

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    "What happened?" Izak and Izhan both shouted at the same time.

    Slowly, the entire airship started to tilt. The engines died. Their forward momentum suddenly slowed a great deal.

    Just then, a figure appeared in the entrance of the doorway leading below decks. It was one of the people they''d kidnapped. He did not look happy about their efforts to save his life. In his hands was a fireball, and without further ado, he threw it up into the airship''s gas envelope.

    BOOM! Another, louder explosion sounded.

    "We''re going down!"

    ***

    "They''re here!" the lookout reported from a small arrowslit in the wall facing south. "Skeletal Serpents, incoming!"

    Hissing sounded as the defenders hid quietly. Across all of Kara-Goth, the frontier''s men and women stayed still, tried to breathe quieter, wishing they could make their hearts beat softer in case the Wilds somehow heard it¡­

    Which, come to think of it, was entirely likely. Skeletal Serpents might not have much of an eyesight but when it came to hearing, they could challenge bats.

    There was a snarl, and then, a THUD as one Serpent slammed into the barrier of Kara''s main entrance. The troops stationed there quietly sent a signal.

    George saw yellow light appear on the indicator for the main entrance. Almost immediately afterward, four more yellow lights appeared on his desk.

    "Both main entrances, Enclave Underground and Kara-02''s maintenance entrance." George grimaced.

    "We expected as much." Song Chen said quietly. "Do you want to send out the reserves?"

    "Not yet. Wait and see a bit more."

    BANG! THUD! Snarl!

    The sounds of Skeletal Serpents attacking Kara''s main entrance increased several fold as more of them began to join the assault on the main entrance.

    The indicator for Kara''s main entrance on George''s desk turned from yellow to orange. The indicator for Goth''s main entrance turned orange half a minute later.

    "So much for hoping they would just rush past us." George sighed. "Send one squad of reserves to each main entrance."

    Three more yellow indicators blinked on, and the Enclave Underground entrance light turned orange.

    And then finally, with a crashing sound, the first Skeletal Serpent burst in through Kara''s main entrance barriers.

    The indicator on George''s desk turned red.

 218 Defending Kara-Goth

    "Fire! Shoot the Ballista!"

    TWHOOSH! A runic bolt slammed into the Skeletal Serpent at point blank range, causing it to roar and fall back, but where one withdrew, two more rushed in, and charged at the defenders'' formations.

    A chorus of gunshots rang out at the same time, but they barely made dents in the Skeletal Serpents'' carapaces. The creatures hissed, then charged.

    "Not good!" Max raised his shield as the tail of an attacking Skeletal Serpent rammed into him. The impact threw him backwards, squashing him against the formation of Legionnaires trying to hold their position against the smallest Tier 5 they''d ever seen.

    It did not go well.

    "OOMPFH!" Markus received a similar blow on his shield and likewise was hammered into their own formation, which itself was beginning to look rather shaky. Even with their trained muscles, even with heavy armor, their combined might flailed against the Skeletal Serpents'' overwhelming physical strength. A couple more hits like that and everyone might very well fall over.

    "Pull back!" someone from the newly arrived Reserves started to panic. They barely even joined the back of the formation before the next crash sent them reeling.

    "No! Hold the line! HOLD!" Markus roared, throwing a javelin at the nearer Serpent.

    His aim was true, but to no avail; the javelin didn''t even leave a dent on the bone carapace of the Skeletal Serpent. They weren''t kidding when they said these things were Tier 5. They were on the same level of power and defense as DD or¡­

    "Aargh!" the legionnaire beside Max was sent flying. Where Max had simply crashed into their formations, this guy was tumbling through the air in a broad arc high, high overhead...

    What were they thinking when they tried to stop Tier 5''s with formations of heavy infantry? Even with Tier 3 and 4 gear, the men themselves simply didn''t have the kind of strength it took to stand up to the likes of DD and Spike head on.

    It was their smaller size, Max assumed. They all thought they''d be easier to handle because they were smaller.

    Fat chance. With another heavy tail strike, the entire formation started to collapse. The two Serpents charged in head-first, fangs and teeth chomping.

    "Hold the line!!" Markus roared. "Reform!"

    "Pull back!" Max contradicted. "We''re getting killed out here! If we pull back to the tunnels, we''d be able to hold them off better!"

    "Don''t!!" Markus shouted. "We need time for the ballista to reload! It''s our only Tier 5 weapon¡­ we just need to hold out a little longer¡­!"

    The Serpent body-slamming five legionnaires into mulch made him eat his words.

    "We''re not going to make it!" Max protested, even while he tried to take up a position in the reforming line¡­

    BAM! This time he was headbutted. Shield or no shield, Max saw stars before he realized that everything had turned quite black and that he was actually rolling around on the floor.

    "Pull back!" George shouted. George was here? Why was George here? "That''s an order!"

    Markus protested. "But¡­!"

    "Clear the way!" George shouted again, and Markus started to feel rhythmic thuds, like a dozen heavy cavalry charging down the hallways.

    Wait a minute, they didn''t HAVE heavy cavalry! Then what¡­

    "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" George yelled then, a lot nearer than before.

    Markus'' sight cleared enough to see George and a dozen other guys in ME-Frames ram into the Skeletal Serpents. Frame-powered Tier 4 weapons crashed against the Serpents'' carapaces with sounds comparable to mining explosives. Warhammers, halberds, broadswords¡­ George''s unit all used the heaviest of weaponry, and the ME-Frames'' strength made great use of their weight.

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    Wait a minute, weren''t there over twenty of those guys in ME-Frames? Why were there only twelve or so around now? Where were the others?

    Max didn''t know it at the time, but the others had been sent to different breached entrances. Twelve mechanized troops were all they had to work with, and they were basically the only ones around here who were able to block the Serpents.

    At least, for a few more seconds.

    "Ballista ready!" the crew called.

    "Clear!" George sprang away from the Serpent.

    POW! The shot fired hit the Serpent right in the face. The Serpent screamed, and suddenly went berserk. It lashed out wildly, knocking George and several of his squad over in a matter of moments.

    "Pull back! Everyone get back!!" Now even Markus was running for cover.

    "George!" Max grabbed him and tugged him to his feet.

    "Max, get back! Everyone without a ME-Frame, protect the Ballista, but stay back!" George raised his glaive and charged the berserk Serpent.

    BAM! The Serpent''s tail slammed him face-down into the dirt before he could so much as nick it.

    POW! The other Serpent whacked George farther into the ground while the first one rampaged through the faltering ME-Frame Squad.

    As if recognizing that George was the one in command, the non-berserk Skeletal Serpent reared its entire body up, and deliberately crashed itself down on top of George.

    BOOM! The impact sent pieces of metal flying everywhere.

    "George!!" Max dashed forward, only to be swept aside with the flick of the Serpent''s tail.

    Blast it, he was totally useless out here! If he survived this Tide¡­ if they all survived this Tide¡­ Max swore he was going to save up and buy himself a ME-Frame! Against the likes of these Wilds, all the training the Legion put themselves through were as good as rubbish! What strength training? What stamina training? They couldn''t even hold back a single Skeletal Serpent! If not for the ME-Frames, Kara-Goth would already be overrun!

    In the end, humans were weak. It was by relying on their innovation, and by building tools and devices that they managed to prosper at all. Legion training might hype about independence and minimalism, but here, helplessly tossed about by a monster magnitudes of times stronger than himself, Max keenly felt just how important equipment was to mankind.

    To think they thought to build a kingdom in the Wildlands! How could they possibly have made it even this far without equipment? This was a land of the strongest creatures in the world, and they were but a kingdom of the weak.

    But it was this very weakness that spurred them to create strength for themselves, fashion tools and weapons and vehicles. It was this very weakness that urged them to join hands and put aside their differences and work together for common goals. It was this very weakness that, in searching for ways to overcome it, became the very strength of mankind.

    That strength would one day conquer the Wildlands. Max believed it from the bottom of his heart. They had wisdom, and they had inventiveness. They had the drive to improve themselves, and their equipment. It was only a matter of time, Max knew.

    Time, and enough ME-Frames to get the job done.

    Spitting out dirt from his mouth, Max rallied himself and got back on his feet.

    "I''m definitely going to have to get myself on of those!!"

    "Ballista!" Markus called.

    "Ten seconds!" came the reply.

    "George!" Max made another run to get him free.

    This time, four guys came in on all sides to help. The Serpent struck; its tail swept two aside, its head rammed one more into the wall.

    But of the five of them rushing, two of them made it to George. Max grabbed him, tugging the little guy right out of the wreckage of his broken Frame. The other guy jumped on the Serpent and tried to wrestle it down.

    The Serpent thrashed about, trying to get the human off its neck. Max ran for it, hauling George to safety despite having to literally drag him through the dirt.

    "Ballista ready!" the crew called.

    "FIRE!" Max yelped.

    "But there''s a guy on the Serpent''s neck!"

    "Not that Serpent! The other one!"

    TWHOOSH! The bolt nailed the berserk Serpent down, and with a terrible shudder, it suddenly fell still.

    The other Serpent hissed, backing away as the remaining six ME-Frame troopers surrounded it. Legionnaires with pole-arms supported them, forming a ring of threatening Tier 4 weapons all pointed at the weary Serpent. They left it only one way to retreat; that way was out.

    Having lost its prisoner and its allies, the last Serpent looked about, considered its options, weighed potential gains and risks, and finally backed away until it exited completely.

    "Barricade the doors." Max ordered as the last of the Serpent slithered out of view. "This is just the advance scouts of the Beast Tide. We may have fended them off, but the main bulk of the Tide is still yet to come."

    "We can''t hold them. We can''t handle another attack like this, much less a fiercer one." Max groaned.

    "We can''t." Markus admitted. "We''re going to have to use Plan D."

    "What''s Plan D?" Max asked.

    "We''ll have to destroy all the ground entrances. We''re going to seal ourselves in." Markus told him.

    Max gaped. "But if we do that¡­"

    Markus nodded. "From that point onward, there will no longer be ground access to Kara-Goth. The only ways in or out would be by air¡­ and if anything happened, if the worst would occur¡­"

    "If the worst happened, we won''t even be able to run. We would have literally no way out any more." Max summarized grimly.

 219 Out of the Wildlands

    In Fal''Herim, there was a silent gloom brooding over the city.

    Hurried footsteps scurried hastily across the unusually clear roads. Fearful voices spoke in hushed whispers. Doors were shut and windows battered on every street.

    They hadn''t exactly been keeping the Tide a secret. Word got around pretty fast. By now, the entire city knew there was a mass of Wilds headed their way. A great many decided simply to hunker down and hide under their beds. Tim''s people had gone around urging evacuation, but only about a tenth of the people in the city actually decided to leave.

    As for the Industrial District associated with Remian, it was all but emptied out. Everyone had gone underground with as much of the equipment as they could squeeze into storage without making things uncomfortable. They had plenty of supplies, and they had sixteen tunnels branching out to exits far from Fal''Herim''s underground. One of them even went out past the desert and into Paleres.

    "The Tide''s advance party has passed Kara-Goth. They''re headed this way." Mindy told Tim as they watched the last of the evacuees start to seal up the underground entrance. "Can they even make it through the desert?"

    "They have a road to follow, thanks to the hardworking Iron Legion. It''s almost complete, didn''t you know?" Tim pointed out. "What are you going to do? Are you coming down with us, or¡­?"

    "I''m taking off." Mindy shook her head. "I''m bringing my crew with me."

    Tim''s face fell. Most of his old friends had joined Mindy''s crew, wanting to see the world. "Where will you go?"

    "Ecclesia." Mindy answered. "We have recruiters hard at work there. I''m sure they''ll have passengers to bring to Kara-Goth by now. Also, my crew need magic training. That''s the best place for it."

    "How many more can you take? Other than your crew?" Tim asked.

    "With our current cargo, taking a single trip to Ecclesia, and people sleeping on the floor, well¡­ maybe another hundred?" Mindy guessed. "But it''s not going to be comfortable."

    "The people around here are going to die if they just barricade their houses." Tim shook his head. "Maybe they''ll be more willing to evacuate if you offer them a free ride on an airship. They deserve a choice, at least." Tim figured. "I expect this Tide to simply roll right over us and move on, but you never know if a few hundred Tier 5''s might just decide to stick around for good afterward. Fal''Herim might never be a safe place to live again."

    "Or, they might just rush past and leave you all alone." Mindy suggested optimistically.

    Tim snorted. "If you really believed that, you wouldn''t be here, and I wouldn''t be stuffing as many people underground as would listen to me. I''m still wondering why so many wouldn''t."

    "Maybe they''re just not scared enough. Do you think maybe more people will decide to pack up and run if I start screaming hysterically?" Mindy wondered.

    "You can try."

    "AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!" She actually tried it. "The Wilds are coming! THE WILDS ARE COMING!!!"

    "Shut up!" someone opened a window and threw a flower vase at her.

    "Yikes!" Mindy ran for cover as the vase smashed against the road and broke, fallen petals and pieces of shattered porcelain scattering over the hardened ground. "I guess not¡­"

    "You''ve done all you can here, Mindy." Tim grimaced. "The rest is already out of our hands. Go. Fly our friends to Ecclesia, and don''t look back."

    Mindy hesitated one last time. "Do you¡­ want to come with us?"

    Tim slowly shook his head. "Go, Mindy. Go. Don''t look back."

    Mindy left, but despite Tim''s words, she definitely looked back.

    ***

    Far to the north, the West Tide was rapidly approaching the shores of La Vive and Itarim. As the beaches and cliffs of the border between them came into sight though, the mass of flying Wilds suddenly stopped.

    Some people spotted them. Some people started running. Others just gawked. Nobody knew what was going on, why they were there, or why they had stopped and were just flapping around in mid-air for.

    But then, the sky began to darken. Clouds began to grow rapidly, so quick that one could visibly see them expanding. Winds began to pick up and before long, rain began to fall¡­

    In a minute, the rain had become a heavy downpour, and minutes later, the power of a full-blown storm hammered upon the shores. People really began to scramble at that point, many of them seeking shelter, but many still not entirely sure what was going on.

    It was only when the storm began to move inland that the Storm Pegasus Lord and his kin finally struck. Flying through the clouds, they gathered wind, thunder and lightning around them like auras and then struck down mercilessly. The explosive power of their landings resembled a barrage of heavy artillery in the war zone just to the north of that location. Communications equipment faltered under the magical and electrical might of the storm. They couldn''t even call for help.

    The people at the beaches, mostly military logistics crews shuttling supplies, stood little or no chance of stopping them. Poorly armed, caught off-guard, not expecting any threat worse than bad weather, the combination of a sudden storm and the power of the Pegasi in utilizing it quite literally blew them away.

    The Wilds were attacking! Since when they did even leave the Wildlands? Why would they come all the way here, across the Midlands Sea?! The sudden victims of the onslaught were full of questions.

    Thunder, lightning and Tier 5 hooves were all that answered them.

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    The Storm and the Wilds landed on the shores of men while men fought each other and men were trampled underfoot before they could so much as send a warning.

    Still unnoticed and unexpected by the vast majority of mankind, the Tide''s rampage continued north.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Max and Markus were rushing to seal up the maintenance entrance while three of George''s Frame Squad fended off a Skeletal Serpent.

    "We can''t hold it!" one of them said, as his Frame broke apart under the strain. "We''re dying out here!"

    "A little more! Just a little more!" Markus checked all the explosives in place, set the last wires, and then ran. "DONE! Run for it!"

    THUD, THUD, THUD! The footsteps of the ME-Frames pounded behind them. "The Serpent''s still coming!"

    "Hold! We have to hold!" Markus barked, turning around.

    "But we set it to blow in twenty seconds!" Max shouted.

    "We need a second line! Where''s our backup? Aren''t the other entrances done yet?!" Markus yelled.

    "There''s no time! Everyone run!" the trooper shouted, stomping ahead.

    "No, wait!" Markus yelped, but it was too late. With that trooper dashing ahead, only one Frame-equipped trooper was left to face the Tier 5 Skeletal Serpent charging down the tunnel. There was a brief, loud, painful crash, and then pieces of Frame and wounded human went tumbling towards Markus.

    "OOF!" Markus was bowled over and then pinned down while the Skeletal Serpent hissed and charged forward.

    "Eight seconds!" Max didn''t hesitate. He ran forward and grabbed at Markus.

    "There''s no time!" Markus stared at Max, his face pale. "I won''t make it. Go. GO!"

    "My left shoe, you won''t!" Max tugged at him, with the Serpent already looming over them.

    SNAP! The Serpent took a bite at Max. Max barely dodged it, and could feel the wind of its passing like the touch of death close to his neck. It swung its head, slamming Max into the wall.

    BOOM! The explosives went off, and tons of rock and rubble came crashing down to seal the maintenance tunnel. The Serpent hissed, spun, and slithered like lightning for the exit, but before it could make it out, the rubble collapsed on it.

    Then, there was stillness.

    After a minute, a white, serpentine shape broke out of the exit. Hissing once more at the collapsed tunnel, the Skeletal Serpent finally abandoned the place and followed its peers north.

    As for Max, Markus and the injured trooper¡­

    The rocks and rubble were still. On the entrance side, there was no movement.

 220 Stomped

    Over at the other main entrance, Song Chen had his hands full. To put it simply, he had the invading Skeletal Serpent by the tail.

    "WHOAAAA!!!" While his grip was firm enough, Song Chen himself wasn''t all that heavy. The Serpent was currently trying its utmost to throw him off and was flailing its tail every which way.

    "Keep firing!" the gunners took a few shots, but most of them were afraid of hitting Song Chen by accident, so only the ones with confidence dared squeeze off a round. "Ballista?!"

    "Almost ready!" the ballista crew yelled back. "Just hold on!"

    "What else CAN I do?!" Song Chen shot back somewhat crossly while he was being flipped around like an old shoe in a puppy''s mouth.

    Behind him was the corpse of one Skeletal Serpent. On the left, mercenaries armed with heavy polearms were trying to get in a hit or two. On the right, four heaps of wrecked metal bore mute testimony to the demise of George''s ME-Frame troopers. The most they managed to do before falling apart was buy Song Chen an opportunity to grab the Serpent himself.

    Thinking back now, that¡­ might not have been a good idea.

    "OOF!" The tail whammed Song Chen into the cavern wall.

    "OW!" The tail slammed Song Chen into the floor.

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    "WHAAAAA¡­!" The tail twirled Song Chen around in circles like a propeller ten feet above the ground.

    The tail swung him back and forth, left and right in rapid succession, barely leaving him a moment to gasp from one swing to the other. "Why¡­ did¡­ I¡­ ever¡­"

    BAM! The ballista fired, blasting the Serpent in the head. The Serpent dodged, or tried to, but the ballista scored a grazing hit on the side anyway. The bolt bounced off, but it left a jagged scar running up the side of the Serpent''s face.

    The Serpent hissed, snapped once, then keeled over.

    "Is it¡­ dead?" Song Chen asked, still suspended in mid-air.

    Abruptly, the tail collapsed, bringing him along with it onto the floor. WHUMP!

    For a moment afterward, the only sound to be heard in the cavern entrance was Song Chen''s groan.

    Then, cheers arose. "We did it!"

    People high-fived, cleaned up the place, and barricaded the entrance. Then, upon new instructions, they started to rig the tunnel to collapse.

    Then, they cleared out after setting a two minute timer.

    Once again, silence fell, leaving only the unconscious Serpent and a prone figure still under its tail.

    "Uh¡­ guys?" Song Chen raised his voice. "A little help here? Hello? Guys?!

    "GUYS!!"

    ***

    At that time, George was at the maintenance entrance trying to dig Max and Markus out of a pile of rubble.

    At that time, Remian and Darian were protecting Three Pines, picking stragglers of the Tide off whenever one of the Wilds decided to go rogue and try to grab a snack from the people there.

    At that time, Eriane was on an airship sniping whatever Wild she decided to take out as it passed beneath.

    At that time, Tim was sealing shut the Fal''Herim underground just as the first Wilds were fired upon by the guards on the city wall.

    At that time, Mindy was ascending above the clouds with the Ravens, Raven''s family, and Raven herself.

    At that time, Mandy was at Ashdale setting up shipyards to duplicate Type-A Wasps.

    At that time, the Deep Emperor was calmly watching off the coast of La Vive as thousands of Wilds poured onto the mainland to the north and tore anyone who stood in their way to pieces.

    At that time, the Wildlands Colony of Bellas was completely obliterated. Actually, other than Three Pines and Kara-Goth, all the other human settlements in the Wildlands were done for.

    At that time, the world war continued on heedless of the oncoming Tide. All they saw in the south was a storm. Germat''s tanks exchanged fire with Bellas towers which fell like timber. Bulraki hordes were slaughtered on the open field by Ashdalian artillery. La Vive''s forces were practically wiped out except for a contingent of cavalry led by Chevalier Du Pont.

    As for how¡­

    "You''re running away?!" ¨C Du Pont''s aide.

    "Of course!"

    "But what about the war? What about the glory?!"

    "What glory is there to be found in war?! It''s more gory than glory!" ¨C Du Pont''s most famous quote for generations to come.

    ***

    So there they were, over 400,000 humans spread across six different armies, all fighting in one form or the other across the neutral zone when the storm hit.

    At the time, great generals were busy discussing other great generals in the company of their fellow great generals and considering move and countermove and the costs of each. They did in fact notice the rain and the wind, but simply considered it as weather that would affect each other''s tactics.

    Oddly enough, an hour after the rain started, reports came in of animals gone hostile. Thinking it as a few wild dogs going mad due to the blood everywhere (or equivalent), the great generals paid it no mind and focused on what the enemy great generals might do next¡­

    Two hours afterwards, they started hearing the sounds of screaming. Perhaps some wounded soldier was going through amputation without anesthetic? No, there were too many voices. Why were so many people screaming? Nobody was under fire, the sounds of artillery and heavy cannon were far, far away¡­

    There was neighing. Why was there neighing? Well, of course, an army had horses. Lots of horses, in fact. Lots of horsewhips too¡­

    Nobody ever wondered if giant flying horses with the power to control the weather were to suddenly descend in the thousands. Nobody ever wondered if, perhaps, those flying horses might find the very idea of horsewhips to be offensive, regardless of how they were used. Very, very offensive.

    BOOM! A blast of lightning thicker than a man blew the Ashdale/La Vive command center to bits.

    POW! An explosion of thunder powerful enough to send out a visible shockwave detonated the entire Germat/Aurian command center.

    "The command center!" an Ashdalian captain gasped. "All batteries, open fire! SHOOT THEM!"

    Streams of firepower poured out from Ashdale''s sky fleet. On the ground, their highly disciplined and thoroughly drilled infantry milled around for a bit, but then a voice began to issue orders, and formations began to shape up under its instructions.

    That voice belonged to a Colonel D. Lloyd, off duty from the Command Information Center. It was usually his voice that relayed the orders of the four star generals onto the tactical arena, translating sometimes confusing instructions into clear standardized format. But there was no actual four star general giving orders right now; the entire command center was wiped out. Colonel Lloyd was, in fact, giving orders through the cafeteria radio station, which had been hastily modified by the also off-duty CIC technicians he''d been having lunch with.

    Regardless of the authority (or lack thereof) behind the orders, the disciplined Ashdalian troops formed their powerful formations and fired orderly barrages at the oncoming Wilds.

    Facing the quickly organized Ashdalian firepower, the Wilds temporarily held back and kept out of range, raiding the nearer Itarim camp, and the Nine Mountains fort. Gigantic flying horses surrounded by auras of thunder streaked down from high altitude and landed with explosive power on top of the fort''s roof, piercing through momentarily and then unleashing sonic and shockwave explosions inside.

    The fort was torn apart. The camp was in even worse shape. La Vive''s commanding officer, the prudent survivalist Du Pont, saw the demise of their unfortunate allies and decided it was the perfect time to run an emergency recon mission in person¡­ far, far away from here.

    His staunch followers, being followers, naturally followed him.

    Meanwhile, on their enemies'' side, the army of the Ira Caliphate was scattering, half of them running in every direction for their lives, the other half running straight into the hordes of Wilds and facing death fearlessly, screaming religious war-cries as they were trampled in the stampede. Some of them had been carrying explosives that ignited as they fell. Some of them hadn''t been carrying anyting at all.

    Bulrak''s forces were in worse shape; never mind the oncoming Wilds, their own bovines and equinines were going mad. The bulls and horses they were usually on top of were more often than not on top of them at this point, and unlike their usual mounts, Bulraki cavaliers did not do well when they were the ones being sat upon.

    Among their armies'' initial responses, the Otta men managed the greatest amount of damage to the Tide; a concerted salvo from three giant runic cannons blew holes twelve meters wide in the oncoming hordes. A dozen Tier 4 Wilds and a pair of Tier 5''s died, dozens more were injured. The rest of the horde pounced onto the Otta positions in retaliation and those cannons never fired again.

    Meanwhile, the Aurian infantry and the Germat armor columns were caught in mid-march as they were making their way toward the Ashdalian/La Vive line. The Aurian infantry decided to dig in, diving back into their defensive trenches to wait out the storm. The Germat armor columns made a quick turn and headed north. Both groups came under attack a minute after their initial responses, and began to suffer heavy casualties.

    At first, the Aurians suffered worse, as more and more Wilds hammered down on them from above. But then, the Germat tanks, running north, moved into the range of the Sea People''s fleet cannons. Seeing them present themselves so willingly for target practice, the Sea Peoples'' battle cruisers immediately decided to seize the opportunity. This led to the Germat armor column being bombarded by Sea People cannon on one side, and Wilds'' elemental powers on the other. Very soon, their casualty rates caught up and then surpassed the Aurian losses.

    "We must withdraw to the East! We must head back¡­!" one panicked colonel shouted into his corps tactical communications net.

    BOOM! A blast of lightning thicker than a man fell onto his tank, blowing a hole in it and killing everyone inside instantly. The tank''s heavy metal armor began to melt to sludge under the sheer power of that lightning as the Storm Pegaus King snorted and moved on to the next tank.

    Then, after blasting the column of tanks, he went on to the Sea Peoples'' fleet.

    The Sea People saw the tide coming straight for them and quickly made a decision for survival.

    "Abandon ship!!"

 221 Amber Gorge Opens

    Meanwhile, at Herb Valley, Vigil was actually getting bored.

    [Stop fidgeting.] Carrie told Vigil, yawning as she snoozed under the warm afternoon sun.

    Vigil whined, tail drooping, trying his best to entertain himself by ambushing a hapless flower growing by the side.

    Carrie rolled her eyes, rolled over, and went on snoozing in the sun.

    Then, she blinked, and her eyes widened. [What''s that?!]

    Vigil, gloriously relieved of boredom, looked up excitedly. [It''s an airship! It''s being chased! And it''s crashing down on us!]

    [Why is an airship crashing on us?!] Carrie protested.

    On top of that, there were about a hundred Tier 4 flying Wilds chasing it, plus a few Tier 5''s blasting away at it with powerful Psionic or elemental attacks. Holes were being torn in its hull, its envelope, everything. The airship was already falling apart as it tried to flee.

    [I think that''s one of Remian''s.] Vigil squinted.

    "Help!" a slightly familiar voice yelled down at the wolfcats. "Tell them to stop hitting us!"

    [I think we know that guy¡­] Vigil added, eyes narrowed.

    "We can''t last much longer! DO something!" the guy yelled again.

    Carrie and Vigil exchanged bewildered glances. [What does he want us to do with an airship?]

    Whatever the case, at least it wasn''t boring. Vigil''s tail wagged a little. Just a little.

    The airship came crashing down.

    [Uh¡­ I think it''s going to hit the herb field. That would destroy the herbs. George is going to be really mad.] Vigil added.

    [No, no, that won''t do! We can''t have that!] Carrie snorted. [Everyone! Blast that airship away from the herb field!]

    With a roar, a concerted volley from roughly three hundred wolfcats slammed into the airship from below, all but tearing it into two.

    "Not THAT!!" the guy shouting at them yelped.

    But it was too late. The airship broke into pieces, a small piece still held up by its envelope, and a trio of larger pieces scattering as they fell¡­

    [Keep those pieces away from here!] Carrie barked.

    Streams of wind stormed out at the pieces. The wolfcats weren''t having any of that in their vicinity, no way, and the Wilds above didn''t interfere. The pieces were blown northward, towards the Amber Gorge.

    Three pieces fell into the Gorge itself. One piece was shattered into yet smaller pieces that rained all over the northern slopes, almost but not quite reaching the herb fields. The last piece landed right at the edge of the Gorge.

    The Wilds above, eyeing it maliciously, decided to finish it off with a combined attack. A powerful glob of Psionic energy gathered, gathering in size and strength until it was roughly the size of the original airship, and then dropped down on that offending piece with much aplomb.

    BOOM! The airship piece, the chasm edge, in fact, the entire cliff at that end of the Gorge was downright smashed to pieces. Rubble, dirt, and crushed stone fountained in the air, then rained down on the poor, unoffending Gorge.

    Meanwhile, the last remaining piece of airship was also sinking to the ground, though much more slowly. The Wilds above considered it for a moment, then started blasting at it too.

    Cables and people hastily dropped out from the final piece. About five humans made it to the ground before the final piece was completely shattered. Three more fell heavily. One last human was caught in mid-air by a hungry Tier 5 wyvern and brought away for lunch.

    Vigil, Carrie, and the entire mass of wolfcats watched as the humans scurried away eastward while harried by a handful of bored Tier 4 Wilds. The rest of the flying bunch turned back to continue their rampage back at the west. This left only the wolfcats at the herb field to stare at the newly broken cliff and the sudden slope leading down into the Gorge.

    Carrie hesitated.

    [We should go take a look, see what happened to the airship.] Vigil said innocently. [There might be survivors.]

    [Survivors¡­ right¡­] Carrie frowned, then made an executive decision to ignore it and go back to snoozing lazily in the sun.

    [Come on! Let''s go explore! We''ve never been in the Amber Gorge before!!] Vigil protested.

    [Bring along a few others if you want to go explore.] Carrie yawned. [The Gorge is fine, but don''t go to far.]

    [Within howling distance.] Vigil promised, and dashed off to find a few friends to explore the Amber Gorge with.

    ***

    Vigil ended up cautiously crawling down the newly formed slope into the Amber Gorge with precisely two friends.

    Snaps was a brown Tier 3.2 cub just a few months younger than Vigil. He was named for loving to bite whatever he could get his teeth into; this included the shoes of many hapless human victims in Kara-Goth. As for why, he claimed he had itchy teeth. Vigil figured he was just hungry. Snaps was down here with Vigil looking for a snack.

    Other than Snaps, there was Cheery. Cheery was even younger than the two of them, and she had a queer shade of reddish-peach fur that bordered on pink. Cheery was named for her constant bouncy mood. She claimed she was just happily optimistic. Vigil wasn''t sure she understood what ''optimistic'' really meant, but she really did seem very prone to laughter and was even more easily bored than he was.

    He''d also tried to bring Chubs, who was another wolfcat cub friend of his, but Chubs was hopelessly difficult to wake up during his warm afternoon nap hours. Nothing short of the smell of a roasted meat dinner could stir him from his snooze during these times.

    The main thing Vigil and his friends all had in common was a refined taste for cooked food. In other words; they were all roast meat foodies. Vigil had first gotten caught by Remian long ago because he''d made a run for the roast. Snaps would have gotten caught with his teeth still in it. Chubs would have gotten caught slowly ambling his way there, and Cheery would have been caught trying to share it with Remian.

    Sadly, there was no roast meat to be found in the vicinity, and it was even less likely there would be any down in the Gorge¡­ unless, of course, there had been some in those pieces of airship that had dropped out of the sky¡­

    Which was, incidentally, exactly the reason why Snaps had jumped at this chance to go down there with Vigil on this exploration trip.

    [Let''s GO!] Cheery quickly took the lead from Vigil and dashed down the slope recklessly, heedless of the stones and debris her scurrying sent tumbling down the slope.

    [Cheery, wait, if we''re not careful, the whole thing will go down and then how are we going to come back up?!] Vigil protested.

    [Oh, we''ll manage!] Cheery said cheerily, and scampered down even more recklessly.

    Somewhere out there, entire human nations were battling with hordes of enraged Wilds, but here in the Amber Gorge, none of the three cubs scrambling down the slope cared one whit about it. They only wanted to have some fun and see if there was anything tasty to eat.

    The walls of the Gorge let off a dim orange glow as they went down into the chasm. Vigil sniffed as they ventured lower, smelling stuff he''d never smelled before, creatures he''d never before seen, met, or likely wanted to meet.

    For example, that Giant Centipede far over there at the side, the one with glowing yellow eyes and fire coming out of its mouth¡­ nope, definitely not a creature they wanted to meet! Vigil and his friends scurried past it and headed lower, where vague mists clouded the Gorge, and the sunlight above seemed to dim.

    Actually, that sunlight got dimmer and dimmer the lower they got. After a lot of scampering and scurrying and tumbling down, they got to areas where there was more light coming off the amber walls than there was from the sun above.

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    Until now, they still hadn''t found any pieces of the wreckage or anything tasty to eat, so they kept going.

    While Cheery cheerfully scrambled around sniffing and peeking at everything, and Snaps went about trying to eat every weird plant that grew on the ledges and slopes, Vigil kept his ears and eyes cautiously open, keeping careful watch on nearby denizens of the Gorge, who were mainly sleeping, snoozing, or otherwise minding their own business. Most of them were large, strong, and very nasty-looking, and some of them looking particularly hungry. Vigil shushed his friends and had them sneak carefully past those whenever they came across those guys.

    Deeper down, more weird smells came about. They passed whole nests of strange giant bug-type creatures easily a dozen times bigger than themselves. They fell into some huge bird''s nest and Cheery greeted the meter-tall hatchlings inside. [Hi!]

    [Food! Food?] The hatchlings enquired looking at them eagerly.

    [Sorry, we don''t have any. We''re looking for food too.] Snaps said sadly.

    But the hatchlings only looked at him more eagerly. One licked its lips hungrily. [Foooood¡­]

    [RUN!] Vigil yelped.

    They ran. Thankfully, the hatchlings didn''t chase them. They didn''t even leave their nest. But in their scamper, Cheery lost her footing and slipped down a long slope, yelping.

    [Cheery!] Vigil went after her.

    [Wait for me!] Snaps went after them.

    ***

    By the time they caught up with her, they had reached a level where they couldn''t see the sun or blue skies above any more. There was only the mist, and the glowing amber walls. All around them were the scents and sounds of big, scary creatures. On top of that, Vigil was sensing other, even more dangerous things, Psionic emanations that made him shiver just sensing them in the distance.

    There were extremely powerful Wilds down there. Not just in size, but in Psionic power, creatures on par with Spike and DD and Jujar. Creatures with the power to challenge the Lords.

    One, in particular, drew Vigil''s attention. There was something familiar about that emanation, something that called to Vigil, even as its power made him shiver in fright. Vigil was starting to tremble uncontrollably, yet his feet were inevitably drawn towards that power.

    [Vigil¡­ are you okay?] Cheery asked, nosing him.

    [I¡­ that power¡­ I just¡­ I don''t know¡­] Vigil said awkwardly, still marching inexorably forward.

    [Is there food?] Snaps asked, eagerly.

    [I don''t know. Maybe.] Vigil said, still shivering. [Anyway. I''m going to check it out.]

    [Then, me too.] Snaps decided.

    [Wait for me!] Cheery wagged her tail and romped after them.

 222 The Lost Lord

    Closer and closer they got to that power¡­

    Vigil began to sense more and more. His Psionic abilities were churning, going wild, sensing stuff he''d never thought he could sense. He could sense the walls, and the glow of the amber. He could sense the stone under his feet, and the hardness of the rock. He could sense the mist, and the slithering creatures hiding in them. He could sense the still, thick deadliness rolling off the power they were approaching¡­

    Except that now he could sense that it wasn''t a power. It was two powers, and they were locked together somehow. One of them was terrifying, and it made Vigil want to run away with his tail tucked between his legs.

    But the other one¡­

    The other one called to him like nothing Vigil had ever known. It was an attraction as great as gravity, a pull stronger than honey-roasted spare ribs, a closeness as familiar to him as his own scent¡­

    [This Psionic emanation¡­ I know it. I KNOW it! Somewhere¡­ but what was it¡­? Who was it¡­? Why do I feel¡­ ah!]

    They stumbled upon it before Vigil could even clear half his scrambled thoughts. Before he could even think of the question, the answer lay before his eyes.

    There in a hidden hollow was the hulking, dark form of an enormous and staggeringly powerful wolfcat.

    Vigil gasped.

    [PAPA!]

    ***

    Shadowflash, the Lord of the region where Kara-Goth lay, had been lost for years. Nobody knew where he went. Nobody knew when he went. Nobody knew why he went. Nobody knew anything about his disappearance except that by the time everyone noticed, he was gone.

    Well, now they knew exactly where he went.

    [Papa!!] Vigil pounced on him, tugging at his ear. [Papa¡­?]

    The figure stirred. One eye opened, spotted Vigil, and the big snout twitched. [Hey, little fella. I know you, don''t I?]

    [Papa! It''s me! Vigil!]

    The figure shifted. [I smell Carrie on you. I smell Carrie in you. One of hers¡­ and mine, it seems? Yes. I know you. I saw you when you were very little. You were the one with big, wide eyes. Vigil. I remember you.]

    [Papa! Where have you been? Why haven''t you come home?!] Vigil placed both paws on him.

    [Home¡­ no. I can''t. Not yet.] Shadowflash shook his head slowly. [I can''t let it run free! I must keep it here! I must protect my home!]

    [It? What is it? What are you fighting?!] Vigil glanced about, but there was nothing here except shadows and mist and glowy orange light. [Papa¡­?]

    [It is here. It is awakening.] Shadowflash glanced at Vigil grimly. [You should not have come.]

    And then the shadows moved. A lurking, hulking form even bigger than Vigil''s dad rose to its feet. They couldn''t make out a clear form, only that it had four thick, clawed legs, a large head, but no tail. [Sssshaadowflassh¡­]

    Vigil shrank back. This was it. This was the power that scared the wits out of him. This was¡­ this was¡­ [What is it!?]

    [This is a creature that should not be in this world. I don''t know how it came so far north, but it should not be here. But here it is, and it is my sworn duty to fight it.] Shadowflash let out a deep, low growl. [It is the sworn duty of every Noble, every Lord, every King, and every Emperor of the Wilds! No matter the cost, no matter the years, no matter the blood shed upon the Wildlands! We will stop them all!]

    [You¡­ have¡­ no hope¡­!] the creature laughed, a haunting, echoing laugh without sound. [You cannot killlllll me¡­!]

    [Even so.] Shadowflash said quietly. [I will stop you. Until the winds grow still, until the waves fall silent, until the land no longer bears to bear weight¡­ we will stand against you.]

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    Psionic power reared up. Shadow flared against shadow. Power clashed against power. The Spectral Beast surged, but Shadowflash stood his ground, refusing to back away, refusing to let it go.

    [It issss already too late! Haven''t you felt it¡­ the Rift¡­ is widened. Just a little bit¡­ just a little bit more of a crack¡­ but it is widened!] the Spectre hissed. [You cannot sssstop us all!]

    Shadowflash did not reply. He just growled, and his power suddenly towered.

    Instead, Vigil barked. [Stop bullying my dad!]

    A little bolt of Psionic energy shot out from his forehead, smacking against the Spectral Beast. It didn''t seem to do much. It didn''t seem to do anything, in fact, but it made the Spectre snarl, and Shadowflash barked a laugh. [See? Even our young know to fight you. You''ll never get past the Wilds. Never.]

    Vigil thought about the Beast Tide and thousands of Wilds leaving all at once and suddenly had a bad feeling in his tummy.

    Because of the mana shortage, there was a world war. Because of the world war, the humans risked settling new colonies in the Wildlands seeking more resources. Because of the new colonies, the death tolls rose faster than ever before, and so the Wilds sought vengeance, also harder and fiercer than ever before. This time, they didn''t stop at the edge of the desert. They went all the way across the Midland Sea, three Kings and even one of the Emperors went north¡­

    Also, it kinda felt like¡­ they weren''t planning on coming back.

    He''d have to tell Papa later. But first¡­ [Cheery! Snaps! Let''s help Papa!]

    [He''s not my Papa. Just yours.] Cheery pointed out.

    [Not mine either.] Snaps added.

    [Whatever! Just help!!] Vigil shot out another Psionic Bolt at the Spectre. Cheery tried the same, but hers was only half as strong. Snaps could barely form one.

    Still. Any help was better than nothing. Vigil threw his full efforts into helping his father against this otherworldly ethereal foe.

 223 Shadowflash Returns

    After half an hour, Vigil and his friends were exhausted and zonked out, barely able to remain conscious.

    Shadowflash barked a low laugh, more amused than anything else at their efforts. [All right, you''ve tried your best. Now go call the pack. Who leads it now?]

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    [That would be Mama.] Vigil answered.

    [Then go call her. Have her bring some of the Elders over.]

    To that, Vigil could only groan. All the efforts of himself and his friends didn''t seem to do any good at all. The Spectre didn''t even seem to notice. Only Shadowflash held it down, and only Shadowflash seemed to receive any of its attention. That was probably a good thing; had it actually struck out at the little ones directly, they probably wouldn''t survive. Then again, with Shadowflash there, how could it have reached them?

    The three little cubs made their painstaking journey back up the cliff, sneaking past many a deadly denizen, mentally exhausted from their earlier efforts, but bouyed with the excitement of finding Shadowflash and urged on with the hope of helping him out.

    Carrie was quite astounded at seeing Vigil when he finally reached her. He was thoroughly worn out, but thoroughly happy, seemingly even happier than Cheery for once, and he was all but bouncing in excitement. [Mama! We found Papa! We have to help!!]

    It took a bit of explaining, but after an hour of much-needed rest, nine of the most powerful wolfcats in the pack followed Vigil and gang back down the chasm.

    [Shadowflash!] Carrie leapt to his side the moment she laid eyes on him.

    [Carrie. You have come.] Shadowflash welcomed her with a warm nuzzle. [I have missed you.]

    [I''m here. We''re all here.] Carrie gathered Psionic power, as did the other eight elder wolfcats that accompanied her.

    [So many? You brought in the elders from the two Misty Mountains packs as well?] Shadowflash was amazed.

    [They have joined us now, since Remian¡­]

    [Who or what is Remian?]

    [I''ll explain later.]

    The combined power of nine elder wolfcats rose up like a tidal wave and crashed down on the Spectre.

    [Moooorreee¡­.?] The Spectral Beast howled. [You will regret this! You will never be able to¡­ to¡­]

    BOOM! A second combined crash slammed it face-first into the dirt.

    POW! Shadowflash added his powers to the third wave, crushing the Spectre beneath so much force, they left a small crater in the floor.

    BAM! Tired as he was, Vigil and his friends threw in their little cups of power, adding even their little bit into the tidal wave of combined might hammering down on the Spectral Beast.

    Combining powers like that was a feat not easily accomplished by most Wilds, but the ability to work together was an intrinsic part of wolfcat nature. It was sheer instinct for them to combine their efforts. It was their way, their culture, and their code to work together; it was true when they hunted, it was true when they fought. It was true here and now too.

    This was the strength of the pack. Before it, the strength and stubbornness of the Spectral Beast crumbled. As wave after wave smashed down on it, the creature let out a final roar of rage before it broke down, shattering into millions of tiny pieces that faded away and disappeared like smoke.

    Oddly enough, something of it remained. Like a little pulsing lamp, a small gray orb rolled to a stop at Shadowflash''s feet.

    Shadowflash considered that orb for a moment, then warned. [Nobody touch it! Don''t get too close.]

    [What is it?] Vigil asked.

    Snaps sniffed, cautiously inspecting it with a hungry look.

    [It is the Spectre''s Core. It is poison. Don''t eat it.] Shadowflash told him.

    [Would I die?] Snaps didn''t appear convinced.

    [Worse.] Shadowflash summarized. [Just don''t.]

    [Then what do we do with it? Are we just going to leave it here?] Vigil asked.

    Shadowflash shook his head. A wisp of shadow curled around the Spectral Core and then in a flicker, both the Core and Shadowflash himself was gone.

    [Papa¡­?!] Vigil gasped.

    [Up there. He''s already going up.] Carrie picked Vigil up by the scruff of his neck. [Let''s go back too.]

    ***

    Topside, Shadowflash was baffled by everything he saw. [What¡­ happened?]

    The Misty Mountains had herb fields, there were mining towns in the distance, crazed Wilds in a Tide surging over from the west, and signs of human habitation all over the place¡­ there were even pieces of airship wreckage right on top of the slope they used to exit the Gorge!

    [Is it the humans?! Are they attacking us?] Shadowflash growled.

    [No, no, they''re¡­ friends, actually.] Carrie grimaced. [It''s a bit of a long story.]

    But then again, sharing memories psionically didn''t take very long at all.

    Afterward, as they were sharing a meal together as a pack, Carrie asked, [What do you intend to do with the humans? Already, there is a Tide, and now that you''re back, we should be able to intervene one way or the other.]

    Shadowflash nodded. [I will indeed intervene.]

    [But what do you intend to do? Save them, or destroy them?] Carrie asked.

    Shadowflash paused. [I haven''t decided yet. I''ll know when I meet them for myself.]

    With a flicker of darkness, Shadowflash disappeared again.

    ***

    Let''s be honest. All things considered, George was having a bad day. A very bad day indeed.

    "Heave!" Equipped with ME-Frames, he and three others finally managed to haul the oversized rock pinning Markus down. "All together, now! To the left! MY left!"

    They were up to their necks in clearing rubble when the report came in. "The main body of the Tide is on us! They''re digging at the main entrances!"

    "Which one?" George asked.

    "Both of them!" the messenger reported. "They''re digging fast! It won''t be long before they get to the tunnels!"

    "How did they even know where to find us?" George groaned. "Status report!"

    "In deep trouble!" The messenger summarized.

    "Details! Casualties! How many troopers in ME-Frames do we have left?" George asked. "What is the condition of all the other squads?"

    "Casualties are roughly 20% dead, 70% injured. There are only five troopers left with functional ME-Frames! The condition of all the other squads is¡­ miserable!"

    George''s face fell. "Other than the two ballistae and the five ME-Frames, what do we have left that can stop a Tier 5 Wild?"

    The messenger hesitated. "I don''t think there''s anything else, sir!"

    "How many Tier 5''s are coming at us?" George asked then. "Leaving out those who ignored us and passed by, just those digging at our doors. How many?"

    "At last report¡­ about twenty, sir!"

    Twenty Tier 5''s against five ME-Frames and two ballistae. The odds did not look good. George didn''t even count the other squads. Everyone was already in ''miserable'' condition. Asking them to fight Tier 5''s at this point was likely asking them to throw away their lives for just a little more time. In George''s opinion, that sort of trade-off wasn''t worth it.

    "Just when we were doing so well, too!" George sighed, a long, deep sigh. "Ready the airport for emergency evacuation."

    "Uh¡­ sir, that''s really not a good idea." The messenger said.

    "Why not?" George asked, puzzled.

    "Because, sir, they have dragons." The messenger replied. "Tier 5 and 6 flyers are all over the place. It''s a death-trap out there."

    George paled. "Then, the tunnels¡­"

    Just then, there was a flicker of shadow, and a black wolfcat appeared by George''s side, sniffing at him, then sniffing at Markus who was lying unconscious half-under the rubble.

    "A wolfcat?" George blinked. "Hey, your pack''s gone over to the Herb Fields at Misty Mountain. You should go there too. We don''t want you guys to get caught between us and the Tide."

    The black wolfcat turned to regard him slowly.

    "You''re¡­" George frowned. "You''re not part of the Tide, are you? That can''t be. Wolfcats are our friends. You wouldn''t attack us."

    That last bit was said with certainty. George didn''t so much as consider the possibility of this wolfcat being hostile toward him. The fact that it wasn''t already attacking was proof enough.

    "Listen, I''m happy you''re trying to help us. Goodness knows we could use a good digger right about now. But the Tide is coming for us, you understand? If you stay here, your pack might get dragged into this too!" George warned the wolfcat again. "So, please¡­ don''t get caught up in our mess!"

    [And if I insist?] the wolfcat asked, sounding amused.

    "Uh¡­" George scratched his head. He turned to the messenger.

    The messenger shook his head. "Don''t look at me. I don''t know anything about this. It''s never happened before."

    The black wolfcat barked a laugh, and then there was a flicker of shadow and before anyone knew it, Markus was free. He was held in the wolfcat''s teeth, dragged right to George''s feet and quite clear of any rubble.

    "Markus!" George checked him over for injuries. He was still breathing, but a lot of his bones looked broken and he was bleeding all over. "Medics! One more for the infirmary! Put him in the bed next to Max!"

    That should assure Max somewhat. When they got him out, the last thing Max had said before falling unconscious was Markus'' name.

    "Thank you." George said to the wolfcat. "I don''t know how you did it, but you were awesome. We owe you one. What''s your name?"

    To that, the wolfcat barked another laugh. Suddenly, he swelled in size until he filled the entire tunnel to bursting.

    [My name is Shadowflash.] He introduced himself at last. [And I am the Lord of this Fief.]

 224 Behind the scenes 1

    "You¡­ you''re Shadowflash?!" George stared. "Where have you been?!"

    [I''ve been locked in Psionic combat with a Spectral Beast.] Shadowflash answered.

    "Really? It''s been over a year already. Half your Fief thought you were dead." George said. "And the other half wasn''t sure you were coming back."

    [That long¡­?] Shadowflash blinked. [I thought it felt rather long¡­ but over a year?! Why hasn''t the Earth Lion King sent help? Why did the King not come to my aid?!]

    "Why would he?" George asked.

    [It is the sworn duty of all Wilds!] Shadowflash protested.

    "Does he even know about that Spectral Beast thing you were fighting? Last I checked, nobody knew where you were, not even that King lion fellow."

    [I sent word!] Shadowflash protested. [I sent my son Daring to get help¡­]

    "Who''s that?" George asked. "I haven''t seen any wolfcat named Daring."

    There was a short, but heavy silence.

    "Shadowflash, I have a lot of questions, but right now my people are in danger. The Tide is really on a rampage this time, and they''re not letting up. If you''re the Lord of this Fief, then is there something you can do to save us?"

    Shadowflash paused, thought about it. [You have indeed treated my kin as friends. I have seen it, heard it, felt it. Therefore, I too, will treat you and your kin as friends¡­ but only those who are in your pack.]

    "That''s great! So, can you call off the Tide?"

    [No. That is beyond me.] Shadowflash shook his head. [But I can, at least, claim this den of yours as my own. They will not enter.]

    "And if they tried to enter anyway?"

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    [Then I bite their heads off.]

    "Good enough for me!"

    ***

    Shadowflash stood with George in the entrance of Kara-Goth as the Beast Tide amassed around the Pit. They hissed, they stirred, but with the Lord of the Fief standing there, none of them dared approach the place he designated as his den.

    [SShhaaadowflash¡­] a huge, white serpent rose up from the masses.

    [Bone King.] Shadowflash acknowledged with a slight nod.

    [Dare you stand in my way?] the Bone King hissed.

    [Every wolf guards his den. It is the code.] Shadowflash answered quietly.

    [What does your code mean to us¡­?] the Bone King snorted.

    [It might not mean much to you, but it means a lot to the Star Wolf King.] Shadowflash answered. [Would you like to take it up with him?]

    The Bone King withdrew, hissing. [This is a Beast Tide! Sanctioned by the Five Emperors themselves!]

    [And it''s doing remarkably well. Go on, then. Go hunt the men and destroy their dens. But you''re not touching mine.]

    [Do you think I am blind?!] the Bone King roared.

    [Yes.] Shadowflash said frankly. [That''s why you rely on your hearing, isn''t it?]

    There was a short, mollified silence.

    [Regardless! Those humans in your den must die!]

    [Those humans are my property. You are not allowed to harm my servants.] Shadowflash announced.

    [Your¡­ servants¡­?]

    [They clean my den and bring me food. Call them my pets, if you prefer.] Shadowflash barked. [Go on and find some other humans to kill. The ones here belong to me.]

    Abruptly, a little red bird flapped down from above and stood in front of Shadowflash. "Chirp! Chirp, chirp!"

    [What? You want the Tide to chase them out?!] Shadowflash stared. [I thought Mindy was your friend!]

    "Chirp! Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

    [No way! I''m not letting all those strangers into my den!] Shadowflash shook his head. [If you want them to move to Three Pines, you''ll have to convince them some other way. Leave my home alone!]

    "CHIRP!"

    [This isn''t your South Domain! This is the East Domain of the Wood Emperor Kor''ag-dras! You can''t order me around!]

    [You DARE!] the Bone King hissed.

    [Like I said. If you have a problem, take it up with the Star Wolf King.] Shadowflash snorted, and walked away.

    George hesitated, and then politely saluted the Tide and walked away also.

    For a moment there, the entire Tide milled around restlessly. The Bone King turned to the little red bird wordlessly.

    "Chirp." The bird shook its head.

    Gritting his teeth, the Bone King turned. [To the north! We shall cross the desert and bring woe upon the sand city!]

    [NORTH!] the Tide raged on.

    They left Kara-Goth behind in peace.

    ***

    Over on the northern continent, absolute mayhem was loose upon the world of mankind.

    [GO!] Storm Pegasus King ordered, and nineteen Lords and their hordes from all five Emperor''s domains spread out across the ''civilized world''.

    The nearest to where the Wilds made landfall, La Vive was hit by three Lords, a Pegasus Lord, a Crab Lord, and a Monkey Lord. First, they fell upon the unsuspecting Germat army who had been occupying abandoned towns all across the border. Within hours, the vast majority of those towns were reduced to rubble, every seaside town was under invaded by crustaceans, and the entire Germat military store of bananas had been thoroughly plundered.

    Why were the seaside towns (which run east to west) invaded when the border towns ran north to south? Well, the Crab Lord ran into a La Vive minefield and was blown to pieces before he could change his orders. Left to their own devices, crabs run sideways, you see¡­ it didn''t seem to bother them that they were soon spread too thinly too quickly to do much damage since the faster ones outpaced the slower ones and nobody stopped to properly wreck a town before moving on to the next one. As a consequence, the La Vive Resistance was able to save at least half the towns on the west half of the country and the governer of Pearl City held the biggest public crab feast the country had ever seen in decades.

    [Should we help them?] the Pegasus Lord asked the Monkey Lord at La Vive''s third town ruin.

    [How? It''s already taken everything we had to get them this far. If not for the Deep Emperor, they would probably be halfway to Libertaria instead of arriving here.]

    Five Lords descended upon Itarim. A Tiger Lord tore through the northern zones. A Snake Lord terrorized the southern beaches. Two Bison Brothers rampaged through the central cities. Whatever these four missed, the Grim Pegasus Lord wiped out. Itarim was left with pretty much no smaller settlements standing after the first day, and the Iron Legion headquarters was having its Last Stand.

    Two Lords crossed Itarim''s northern tip and stumbled into Auria. Bears and giant ravens started to tear up the countryside.

    Four of them marched into Germat. The Sabretooth Lord, the Scorpion Lord, and the Frog Lord engaged the Germat military along its fortified borders for an hour before the Elephant Lord charged through and left only pieces behind.

    Incidentally, the Elephant Lord had been charging through literally everything since landing on the shores of the northern continent. He and his troop simply went in a straight line through Itarim, the Neutral Zone, Germat, and then exited Germat in exactly the same fashion, smashing right into Bellas territory.

    An Elk Lord also headed into Bellas and joined in the ruckus.

    Two more Lords drove Ashdale right off the continent. Ashdale initially had a little territory on the edge of the northern continent, as well as their major lands being on the islands off it, but that territory had shrunk to a beach head as the Germat forces advanced, and with the coming of the Spider Lord and the Lizard Lord, they retreated all the way back across the Dalian Straits to their islands.

    The last two Lords remained with the Storm Pegasus King at the Neutral Zone. Both were sons of the Pegasus King and likewise led armies of flying horse-types. In addition to these two, the rest of the West Tide who followed the King (rather than their Lord) dominated the Neutral Zone with them.

    [How long are we going to stay here?] one of the Pegasus Lords asked his father as their hordes cleared the land of mankind.

    The Storm Pegasus King shrugged. [I don''t know. Maybe a day. Maybe a year. Maybe a hundred years.]

    Until then, mankind had been completely driven out of the Neutral Zone. A new frontier entirely dominated by Wilds suddenly appeared smack dab in the middle of six civilized countries and pushed all their borders back until it claimed a piece of land for itself bigger than any of their remaining turf.

    La Vive lost about half its territory, the Wilds rampaging unchecked as far as the border with Hispanol. Itarim lost more than half, retreating to just that highly defensible strip bordering Ceres and Auria. Auria and Germat pulled back most of their forces quickly enough to save their main cities, but each lost sizeable bites of territory and all their border forts. Bellas held out a bit better, but still had to retreat from their borders to a second line of defense set up farther north. Also, the elephants had charged all the way to their northernmost beaches and there milled around aimlessly, unable to proceed farther, while nobody dared to try to drive them away. Ashdale pulled back off the northern continent entirely, and still had to deal with lizards sieging their shores from the sea.

    Magic cannons fired and fired all day and into the night. Mana crystals were consumed endlessly. As the day passed, the treasurers and magi of the six countries began to sweat even more than the generals commanding the war.

    This entire war was fought over the Last Mana Lode, but none of the countries who joined the war were able to get their hands on it. Urgent letters petitioned their respective authorities to cut down on mana spending, but war took priority, and the Wilds were unrelenting.

    Desperate, these battered warring nations looked to even farther allies for help.

 225 Behind the Scenes 2

    Receiving no less than nine urgent petitions from as many different nations, the Dragon Emperor smiled as he stood upon the observation deck of the most powerful airship in the world.

    "It''s about time."

    Around him, six hundred battle cruisers of the Dragon Empire loaded troops on their decks. Dragon-forged steel rang in the hands of draconian warriors.

    But rather than inspect his forces, he turned to his aides. "Any movement from Ecclesia?"

    "They haven''t picked a side, my liege. Our people say they are worried about spending mana."

    "What of Libertaria?"

    "They seem to favor Ashdale."

    "Hmm." The Dragon Emperor tapped his fingers together thoughtfully. The tapping sounded like metal on metal. "Does Libertaria even have enough mana to join the war? I thought they barely had a few million green."

    "Most of their vehicles use steam power, my liege."

    "Steam power!" the Dragon Emperor snorted. "What good is hot water against magic? They are only good for those trains of theirs and they only go where there are rails."

    "Err¡­ word is, they have ships that use steam too."

    "Ships!" the Dragon Emperor snorted. "One gulp from Ti''ela or Sel''ea and that would be the end of them."

    The aide went pale and began to tremble. "T-the Sea Dragons are going to take action?!"

    The Dragon Emperor paused, stared at him blankly, then barked a laugh. "Right, right. I suppose not. This is a battle of humans, after all. Why would they?"

    Besides, Sel''ea was in the South Dragon Sea, directly south of his Empire. She would have no cause to leave that big ocean to fight in some human war around the piddling Midlands Sea on the other side of his continent. Ti''ela was even farther away, in an even larger ocean, far on the other side of Libertaria, beyond the lands where Nil''rak and Ra''oul slept.

    No, this war was entirely in his domain and at his whim. Zor''Khan smiled to himself again. Humans were so easy to egg on into war. How easily their greed was stirred¡­ and how even more easily were their spending habits ignited!

    He''d been preparing this for years. To the humans, that was a long time.

    But what was years to the Dragon Emperor?

    "Put up a hundred thousand red mana crystals for sale. The price for one red mana crystal is now set to a million Dragon Coins. The exchange rate is now set to a thousand lir for one Dragon Coin."

    Was the price too high? Today, perhaps. Tomorrow, though, was a different story. After all¡­ where else could you get mana any more? In a war like this¡­ their very survival would now depend on it. What was a thirty-three fold increase in price compared to annihilation?

    With this, the Dragon Empire would rise to such glory, Ecclesia and Libertaria and all the lesser countries would look like jokes in comparison.

    Let the humans fight their wars. There was no need for the Dragon Empire to shed blood. Without risking the life of a single one of its people, the Dragon Empire was going to own the world.

    ***

    Sir Stout''s gauntleted hand slammed on his desk.

    "One billion lir for a red mana crystal?!" he roared.

    Mandy trembled, half-covering her ears. Even though she wasn''t the one giving the report, even though she was just a bystander, as it were, in this scenario¡­

    In the Logistics Division, she knew better than most just how badly Ashdale''s military needed mana. She also knew just how much one billion lir was worth.

    One billion lir was the enough to upgrade all of Ashdale''s First Army''s 20,000 soldiers to Tier 5 weaponry. One billion lir was enough to buy 5000 Type-A Wasps.

    But instead of 5000 air fighters or 20,000 Tier 5 armaments, all they were going to get was¡­ one red crystal? It packed the mana of 100 blue crystals, or 10,000 yellow crystals into a single hand-held piece, but even so¡­!

    "How much as they selling blue crystals for?" Sir Stout asked. In terms of mass and cost balance, blue was Ashdale military''s preferred Tier.

    "They¡­ they''re not selling any other kind." The aide said, her voice shaking. "They''re only selling red crystals, and they''re only selling one hundred thousand."

    Mandy gulped. Does that mean that once this lot was sold out¡­ that was the end? No more mana?

    Just an hour ago, when word came that the Dragon Empire was willing to sell mana crystals, Sir Stout and the entire logistics division breathed a sigh of relief. Ashdale was really running low, and every other available source had either closed their doors or run dry as well. Dealers who had thought to have years worth of mana remaining suddenly announced that they were completely sold out. Mines expected to have tons of remaining crystals began to confess that they were down to their last dregs or actually already exhausted some time ago. Stores who had earlier reported at least half capacity sheepishly admitted that they had a hundred warehouses, and only one was at half capacity. It was like all the bad mana news in ten years had suddenly broke upon Ashdale in the same day. The Dragon Empire''s offer to sell them mana had been a huge boon.

    But now they were selling at sky high prices, and there was only a limited amount remaining?!

    Across the office, one of Mandy''s colleagues directly burst into tears.

    Sir Stout sank into his chair, his face dark, not even looking at the crying girl. He looked like he might join her at any time.

    "Is there¡­ any other source?" Mandy hesitantly asked. "Anyone else selling mana?"

    "You''ll have to cross the Atlantis Ocean for it, and even then there''s hardly any in Libertaria or Torres. Everyone else is buying."

    Cross the Atlantis Ocean to buy mana from Libertaria?! The very idea almost made Mandy laugh. The Atlantis Ocean was so big, it would take a week to cross on Ashdale''s cruisers, they''d have to brave really bad weather capable of ripping anything short of military-grade ships apart, and on top of that, mana crystals in Libertaria were few and expensive.

    "What about¡­ the far north?" someone dared suggest. "An expedition equipped for extreme cold¡­"

    "Do you know where, exactly? Has anyone even got a reliable map of the far north? It''s all ice and snow to me, and I can''t tell where the mana is at. Can you?"

    The guy grimaced and shook his head. While everyone was sure there should be some mana somewhere in the desolate frozen north, nobody knew exactly where and nobody stayed around long enough to find out.

    Then, a thought popped up in Mandy''s head. "Then¡­ what about the Wildlands?"

    "The Wildlands? Are you trying to get us eaten?! As if there weren''t enough Wilds around today!" Sir Stout shook his head. "We already tried an expedition to the Wildlands for resources. The entire colony has been wiped out, and now the Wilds who did it are here looking for more humans to eat!"

    "But there is still a colony that survived. It''s the same one that has survived all these years, long before the war began."

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    "Does such a colony even exist?" one colleague snorted.

    "It''s the one I came from." Mandy''s answer shut him up entirely. "Sir, I know for a fact that Remian found mana in the Wildlands and sold it to Charlie."

    BAM! Sir Stout''s fist hammered on his desk again, frightening everyone. Abruptly, he jumped to his feet. "Everyone, get busy. We''re going to the Wildlands! Full scale expedition, bring as many ships and people as we can! Call up the College of Magi! We''re going to find our own mana!"

    "Yes, sir!" sudden excitement spread through the office.

    "Are¡­ are you sure¡­?" Mandy asked, suddenly feeling hesitant.

    "By George, I''m sure!" Sir Stout swore. "If your ex-husband can do it, you bet your hat that I can do it too!"

    "My¡­ my hat¡­?" Mandy stammered, face turning red.

    "And call up your ex-husband! Tell him we''re coming to his town!" Sir Stout added. "And if he doesn''t like it, he can kiss his sixty million deal goodbye!"

    "But¡­ but that''s my sister''s deal!" Mandy protested.

    Sir Stout didn''t reply, roaring his orders as his stomped his way out.

 226 Rumor has i

    "They want WHAT?!" Remian coughed into the communications crystal.

    On the other side, George sighed. "Well, they say they just want to use Kara-Goth as a secure base, and they''re asking for our cooperation and aid, but I think in the end, they just want mana. If we can give them mana, they might just go away."

    Remian coughed again. "That''s never going to happen. George, if you give them mana, they''re going to keep coming back for more."

    "Really? I mean, we don''t really have much anyway, and we need all we have for our airships. Speaking of which, we might be about to run short¡­ think you could scrounge up another mana mine?"

    "I haven''t felt any mana around here, or around Kara-Goth. If I had, we''d have dug it up by now." Remian frowned. "With the war going on, can they even spare an airship to come all this way?"

    "The Tide has hit the northern continent, I heard. In other words, everyone''s too busy fighting Wilds to fight each other. I think the world war is on hold until the Wilds are cleared and everyone finds more mana to continue fighting."

    "Just how big is the Last Mana Lode?" Remian had to ask. "It must be huge for so many countries to make such a fuss over it."

    "About that¡­" George''s voice actually lowered. "I heard there''s miles of it, and¡­"

    "And what?"

    "Rumor has it, the crystals are purple."

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    Purple mana crystals! That was the Tier between blue and red. Each was worth ten blue crystals of equal size. Miles of purple crystals could be worth billions of yellow crystals. It was no wonder the countries nearby were going mad over it. They were spending the last of their mana reserves bidding in an all-or-nothing gamble.

    "So why is Ashdale coming here instead of trying to seize the Last Mana Lode?" Remian pondered.

    "Because the Storm Pegasus King is sitting right on top of it?" George pointed out.

    "And what about here? There are half a hundred such Kings and worse over here."

    "I''m guessing they don''t know that."

    "Did you tell them?"

    "Didn''t get the chance. I get the feeling it''s already too late."

    Remian sighed. "I guess they''ll have to see it for themselves to believe it. As if the destruction of their colony here wasn''t enough."

    "Back then, all they wanted was ore and lumber. Now they want mana. I think they''re going to be a lot more determined this time."

    "Right." Remian groaned. "Well, whatever. Maybe they''ll just go home after searching in vain for a few weeks. In the meantime, whatever you do, don''t tell them about what''s in the far south."

    "What''s in the far¡­ oh. Right." George suddenly gulped. "I better let everyone know."

    The message was clear.

    Do not, do NOT tell Ashdale about the Source of Magic.

    ***

    At that time, Mindy was arriving at Ecclesia with the Ravens.

    Father Petrov met them at the airport. "Hello, Mindy! I''m glad you''ve arrived here so soon. Your recruits have been badgering me about the Frontier."

    "Really? How many did we get? Did you tell them about the dragons?" Mindy asked, eyes wide.

    "Oh, yes! And there are a lot of them eager to see the dragons. There are over a hundred of them, in fact, many of them top geniuses!"

    "Over a hundred?!" Mindy stared. "Father Petrov, you didn''t tell them about¡­ you-know-what, did you?"

    "That? No, I didn''t say anything." Father Petrov said.

    "Then why do I have this really bad feeling about these new recruits?" Mindy asked, frowning. "You''re sure you didn''t tell them?"

    "Not a word."

    Huh. Maybe they really did just want to go see the dragons.

    "Chirp." From her shoulder, Chirpy looked at her quizzically.

    "Nothing, I''m sure it''s fine." Mindy said. "Maybe that bad feeling in my tummy is just hunger or tiredness. It''s been a long flight."

    "That it has. Come with me. I''ve booked you and your crew rooms at the airport inn. You mentioned something about enrolling new students into the Ecclesia College of Magi?"

    "Yes, we need to talk about that."

    ***

    Overnight, news began to spread that the world war had come to a complete and unexpected stop. Both sides had been beaten back by the Wilds and now strange beasts rule over the neutral zone, beating back every country''s forces into hasty retreats.

    The Ashdale-La Vive side had turned westwards for help. Rumor had it, Libertaria, Torres and Azte might soon get involved on their side.

    The Germat-Auria side simply regrouped and prepared for focused push into the Neutral Zone. Rumor had it, they were making deals with the Dragon Empire for mana and military support.

    Everyone was on edge to see how Ecclesia, the Dragon Empire, and Libertaria would move.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mindy brought her old friends and new crew to enroll in the Ecclesia College of Magi.

 227 Learning Stuff

    Mindy and her friends sat in a lounge-like area at the College''s reception hall trying to fill out application forms.

    A girl with extremely short (almost spiky!) hair pointed out a blank. Back at Fal''Herim, she had been a janitor for the arena and had gotten used to dressing like a thug, leathers, chains and metal studs. "Mindy, it''s asking us for our house address. What should we put?"

    "House address?" Mindy paused. "21 Emerald Dale Heights, Loredawn, Ashdale."

    "Is that even a real place?" Gary asked. Lanky and mischievous faced, rather wide black eyes examined Mindy as if wondering what sort of prank she was pulling this time. Back in Fal''Herim, he''d been enslaved and forced to live as a pickpocket.

    "That''s my mansion." Mindy told them. "I own it. There''s a room for each of you once you''re done here."

    "And when would that be?" Siti asked. She wore a headscarf that covered her hair and neck from chin downwards with a long gray dress that covered her entire body to her ankles. At Fal''Herim, she had been the cleaning and book-sorting slave of a district librarian.

    "You''ll need 36 credits to graduate as a college-certified First Circle Mage. The Certificate in Magic requires you to take 9 credits in Magical Knowledge, 3 credits in Magic Theory, and 24 credits in Magic Applications. Every course is worth 3 credits, so that means three subjects in knowledge, one in theory, and eight in applications." Mindy explained. "Classes run in three-month trimesters, or in two week block courses. We''re late for the trimester classes, so our targets are the intensive block courses. Thankfully, ECM has a policy of having basic block courses consistently for the public. There''s Introduction to Elemental Magic starting three days from now, and Introductory Mana Channeling takes place next fortnight. Foundations of Sigil Theory takes place a month from your first class. Rune-Reading happens right after that. Internal Mana Cultivation and Elementary Tool Casting are in your third month. These six are core subjects that must run in repeating cycles of two-week block courses. They are extremely popular and open to the public, including part-time students who learn for learning sake rather than certification."

    "Then why do we need certificates?" Loh grumbled, rubbing his knee where his leg ended in a wooden club. A gangster in Fal''Herim had cut it off and sent him to work as a crippled beggar on the southern streets. Every coin he''d ever successfully begged went into that gangster''s pockets. Loh had been in a very dark situation before Tim found him.

    "It''s because I want my money''s worth. If I''m going to pay your college tuition for all these subjects anyway, we may as well pick up those certificates while we''re at it!" Mindy answered. "Otherwise, Mandy would never talk to me again."

    "Are we really going to be okay?" Tamera asked, worriedly. Her head of honey curls running down to her shoulders shook from side to side. "We haven''t even gone to school! Are we going to be okay in college?"

    "You can read and write. Mandy made sure of that. That''s all you really need." Mindy said firmly. "The rest is studying, learning and practicing on your own. Whether or not you get the best grades is up to you. I learned these stuff from Remian and Sister Rhema, and it took me months and months. You guys have a chance to learn it from professionals and get certification on top of that. Don''t waste the chance."

    "But it''s expensive, isn''t it?" Juni prompted. Of all of them, Juni was the largest and roundest. He''d been slave to a butcher. "Can you really afford all of our fees?"

    "It''s an investment to train up my future crew." Mindy grinned. "Someday, we''re going to soar the skies and explore the world together."

    "Why someday? Why not today?" Isabelle snapped. She wasn''t being rude or nasty, she just had a clipped, quick way of speaking reminiscent of the insect shop where she''d been put to labor. Either that, or she really was being as snappish as the scorpions and centipedes she''d had to deal with every day.

    "Because everyone on my crew has to pull their own weight." Mindy said. "And we''re soon going to be in a world where mana crystals are in short supply. That means we''re going to have to fly our airships with mages supplying the mana power. Everyone on my crew needs to be a mage."

    "Are you going to be studying with us?" round-faced Karen asked, scratching at short brown curls.

    "No, I''m going back to Fal''Herim." Mindy said. "We have a deal with Ashdale that I need to honor, and then I''m going to pick up the others."

    "The others?" Jamie asked.

    "The others who are in Ashdale with Mandy. The plan is, three months from now, I''ll bring them over to study here, and pick you guys up when I do."

    "What about your other, other Ravens? The bird family?"

    "Them? They''re experienced Adventurers. They never had the chance to take professional courses, but they''ll get the job done. For now." Mindy shrugged. "If they prove to be good workers, I might bring them here someday too."

    Jamie picked up another sheet of paper. "They''re also asking us about what clubs we want to join. What should we put down?"

    "Join whatever you like." Mindy shrugged.

    Gary lowered his voice. "Are you sure you don''t have a preference? I hear the biggest clubs around here are all connected to magic guilds and they tend to quarrel a lot."

    "I''ll let you decide." Mindy said, and left them to it.

    ***

    Vigil wagged his tail as he followed his Mom and the other wolfcats into the main entrance of Kara-Goth. [So, this time, we''re here to stay? This is our new den?]

    [For us, it is.] Carrie nodded. [You, however, are going down into the Pit.]

    [What¡­?] Vigil stared blankly.

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    [Along with Cheery and Snaps.] Carrie added. [By order of Shadowflash.]

    [Why?! Is Papa mad because we went to the Gorge?] Vigil whined.

    [You''ll have to ask him.] Carrie said, and led the three of them down a scent-marked trail.

    They followed it down Kara-Goth''s mining tunnels, all the way into the Pit, then through the floor of the Pit to the other side, and then down another tunnel, deeper, and deeper, and deeper¡­

    It was when even wolfcats could hardly see anything in the dark any more that a shadow stirred to one side. [There you are.]

    [Hi, Papa.] Vigil said meekly, ears flat on the back of his head. [Are you angry with us?]

    [Angry? Oh, no, this isn''t punishment. This is an opportunity.] Shadowflash told him. [Or perhaps you could call it training.]

    [Training? What kind of training needs us to be down here?]

    Darkness flickered. Shadowflash brought out a familiar-looking orb. [The kind that nobody should ever see.]

    [Is that¡­ the Core of the Spectral Beast?] Cheery sniffed, tail wagging. [Hello, Core!]

    [You''re not supposed to befriend it.] Shadowflash warned. [You''re supposed to fight it.]

    [Fight it? How? It doesn''t look like a very good fighter.] Vigil observed.

    Shadowflash sent a trickle of Psionic power into the Orb, and¡­

    "ROAAAR!" a projection of the Spectral Beast erupted from the Orb, fiercely challenging Vigil and his friends, threatening to destroy them all at its whim¡­

    Except that it was just three inches big.

    [This is your opponent.] Shadowflash introduced. [No dinner for you until you destroy it.]

    [No dinner?!] Snaps gasped, eyes wide. [ATTACK!!!]

    They charged. They went at it with teeth, claws and fury¡­

    Only to find that nothing worked. It was like hitting smoke. The only things they hit was each other.

    [Psionic energy! We need to use Psionic Attacks!] Cheery gasped, firing off a quick but weak bolt.

    Finally, that seemed to do some damage. The mini-spectre stumbled, then roared back angrily.

    [Kill it! For DINNER!!!] Snaps went all out, throwing bolt after bolt of Psionic energy at it. Vigil and Cheery joined in with all the power they had¡­

    And failed miserably.

    Ten minutes later, they were exhausted, and the mini-spectre was fiercely trying to chomp down on their tails, roaring away angrily.

    Shadowflash observed for a bit, then turned away with Carrie. [Rest when you need to and keep at it until it''s done. Until then, you get no dinner.]

    To that, Snaps howled. [NOOOOOOO!!!!]

 228 Clubs

    In the Ecclesia College of Magi, whispers ran around the clubs about some of the new students.

    "Emerald Heights! These guys are Ashdalian nobles! Or at least, upper class!"

    "Who could have known! Look at that girl! She dresses like a street thug! But what if she''s actually a duchess or something?!"

    "Never mind her, look at the two at the back! The way they walk¡­ it''s like they came out from a brothel. But that''s what it''s like for ladies-in-waiting in the Royal Court, right? They''re basically fishing for powerful husbands."

    "No, wait! I heard they''re actually not from Ashdale! I heard they''re really from the Wildlands!"

    "The Wildlands?!"

    "Hush! They heard you! Look at that club-legged guy scowling at us! Oh, scrap! Run! RUN!"

    ***

    At the clubhouse of the Saturn Club, an esteemed guest came to see the Club President.

    After the required pleasantries commenced, the guest asked directly, "Have you any readings on these new students?"

    The Saturn Club President shook his head. "Not much to see. They have to aura of the shooting star. I don''t think they''ll be here for long."

    "This is a passing opportunity, then. Have you any interests in them?"

    "Maybe just one. The one with the narrow face."

    "What, does he have the aura of wealth on him or something?"

    The Saturn President''s mouth shut tightly.

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    "He does?!" the guest exclaimed. "How very¡­ practical¡­ of you."

    "Not all of us are backed by half the noble Houses in Ecclesia!" the Saturn President shot back. "We don''t have anywhere near the kind of funding that Club Crimson Star has!"

    "Says the Club founded by Guild Astral, the northern Continent''s Most Widely Patronized Astrologers!"

    "Astrology is expensive!"

    The only answer he got was a snort.

    "You better move quickly if you want your gold-boy, then. I hear Club Tian Di and Sacred Sigil are already making a move."

    "What? So fast?!" The President scrambled and ran straight for the dorms.

    ***

    At the time, there was a crisis brewing in the dorm that Mindy had reserved for all her friends.

    All her friends, together.

    "What''s the problem?" Juni asked. "We''re practically brothers and sisters."

    "But we''re NOT." Karen shivered.

    "We can''t just all sleep in the same hall like we did as children!" Tamera added, likewise blanching. "We''re not children any more!"

    "Since when did you care?" Gary asked, frowning.

    The two girls took apprehensive steps back. For some reason, they even seemed afraid.

    A silvery laugh cut into their dilemma. "If you like, you two can come stay with us."

    They turned to see a remarkably pretty girl approach. She wore a silky green frock, made of a smooth-looking material that clung to her shapely form, sleeveless and knee-length. She spoke in a warm, almost syrupy tone. "Hey, there. I''m Jessica, from Club Fairy Wing. Would you like to stay with us at our clubhouse?"

    "You want us to stay at your clubhouse?" Gary blinked.

    "Not you! It''s only for girls!" she laughed, but for some reason her laughter actually sounded inviting. "I meant your two¡­ friends¡­"

    "You''re inviting us to join Club Fairy Wing?" Karen figured out easily enough.

    "Exactly!" Jessica nodded, with a coy smile. "Come stay with us."

    Tamera looked at her, then looked at Gary and leapt for it. "Sure!"

    But Karen hesitated. "There are three other girls in our group¡­"

    Jessica shook her head. "I''m sorry. I was only told to invite you two."

    "Good, because we want the other two." Another girl stepped up. She was tall, and dressed in a white robe. Ignoring Karen, Tamera and Gary, she went straight to Isabelle. "I''m Nora, representative of Club Faith. We''re a club founded and supported by the Church of Light''s Sisterhood of Grace. I''m here to invite you and the quiet girl to join our club."

    "Me?" Isabelle blinked. "And¡­ Siti?"

    But Siti shrank back, shaking her head. "I¡­ I don''t want to."

    "Relax." Juni said, stepping up in front of her. "They can''t make you do anything you don''t want to do."

    "Oh, and we have an invitation for you as well." Nora said to Juni.

    "Me? But I thought you were an all-girl sisterhood or something." Juni protested.

    "We are, but we have a brother Club called the Sacred Sigil. They''re specialists in Sigils and Runes. You look like you have the body build for a Runesmith, so they asked me to extend their invitation to you. They were just too lazy to come over themselves." Nora said, scowling.

    "Runesmithing?" Juni perked up. "That sounds interesting."

    "Then I''m going there, too." Siti said from behind Juni.

    "Can she?" Juni asked.

    "Fine." Nora rolled her eyes. "There are girl Scribes in Club Sacred Sigil. She''ll be fine."

    "Hey! Wait up!" More Club reps appeared and made their invitations.

    In the end, Isabelle went with Club Faith.

    Siti and Juni went to Club Sacred Sigil.

    Gary joined Club Saturn.

    Jamie landed up with Crimson Star.

    Karen and Tamera left with Club Fairy Wing.

    Loh entered Club Tian Di.

    Little did they know that the trouble was going to start from Day One.

    ***

    For a moment there, Isabelle thought she''d gone to hell. "What kind of schedule is this?"

    "You are a member of Club Faith, now, and you must, absolutely, not embarrass us all! This study schedule is just the basic requirement to do well in your studies here at the college!" Nora explained. "We''ll book you solid block hours in the library''s private reading rooms, and arrange for private tutors for every subject during these next three weeks. Trust me, as long as you follow our plans, you will definitely score straight A''s!"

    "But¡­ but what about everything else? What about free time, and¡­ and¡­"

    "Who has time for any of that? We''re in college now, not some children''s school! We have to study, study, study!" Nora exclaimed.

    Isabelle went pale, but she lost even more color when she heard Nora''s next question.

    "By the way, what can you tell me about the Source of Magic?"

    ***

    "The Source of Magic?" Juni blinked at the Sacred Scribe guy carefully copying Sigils on a scroll. "Who wants to know?"

    "Oh, nobody. Everybody." The guy shrugged. "It''s just something I wanted to ask."

    ***

    The same scene happened at Club Crimson Star. Jamie stared blankly at the noble boy asking the question.

    "You want to know about the Source of Magic? Why ask me?" she asked back.

    ***

    "Why not you?" over at Club Saturn, the Saturn Club President had a similar conversation with Gary. "After all, our deductions say that it''s somewhere in the Wildlands. That''s where you''re from, isn''t it?"

    "H-how did you know?"

    "Come on. Everyone knows."

    ***

    "Well, there''s been a lot of rumors going around about the Wildlands and the Source of Magic lately." Jessica said to Karen and Tamera in a coquettish tone. "Come on. You can tell me. It''ll be a secret. Just between us sisters."

    ***

    "The interests of Club Tian Di are the interests of all its members. And you are a member now, one of our own brotherhood. So tell us." A student from the Dragon Empire nudged Loh.

    "Where is the Source of Magic?"

    "How should I know?!" Loh protested.

    ***

    Across all of their clubs, all of them were asked the same questions¡­

 229 Answers

    As to their answers, well¡­

    "The source of magic?" Isabelle repeated, thinking back. Right. Didn''t magic come from mana? What was it Mindy said? Something about a blue mana crystal mine? "It should be somewhere near Kara-Goth."

    ***

    "The source of magic?" Juni frowned. "I haven''t learned that Rune yet. Can you teach me? Where can I learn it?"

    "It''s not a rune¡­ it''s¡­ um¡­ actually I''m not sure what it is." The Sacred Sigil guy admitted. "Maybe you might? I mean, you''re from the Wildlands. Surely you should know better than me."

    Juni glanced at Siti. Siti thought about it.

    Something in the Wildlands? Something any kid from there should know about? Perhaps they meant some sort of book Remian used to teach Mindy and the others magic back at Kara-Goth? If there were such books or scrolls, then the place they''d be stored would be¡­

    "Maybe it''s kept hidden in the Adventurer''s Guild at Kara-Goth?"

    ***

    "You want to know about the source of magic?" Gary repeated, rubbing his hands. "Now, now, that sort of information is valuable. What are you willing to pay for it?"

    ***

    "Isn''t the source of magic your heart? Or your soul or something?" Jamie asked, puzzled.

    ***

    Karen stared at Jessica, and felt an odd shiver run up her spine. They way she spoke¡­

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    "You''re¡­ not talking about something dirty, are you?"

    ***

    "I have no idea what you''re talking about." Loh admitted right out. "What about you? Where does your magic come from?"

    "Most of us at Tian Di are best at Draconian Magic. It''s a special bloodline given to us by the Dragon Emperor!" the guy said proudly. "Watch this¡­!"

    With a shout, a fireball flew out of his mouth and hit a nearby sand-pit. It exploded, sending flames and sand across a few feet.

    "It''s from a special bloodline?" Loh squinted.

    "It''s draconian essence blood." The guy said in a low, conspirational voice. "If you work hard in our club, you''ll be able to get some too. Just the low level type, unless you become a Core Member and go to the Dragon Empire, but even the low level essence blood is good stuff. I bet it''s actually dragon blood!"

    Well, if the club got draconian magic from dragon blood, then¡­ "Are you talking about Dragon Lake? It''s a huge lake a few days south of Kara-Goth. There are many dragons there."

    The guy''s eyes widened. "Yes! Yes, that makes sense! Of course, dragons would be where the Source of Magic is! In fact¡­ what if dragons ARE the source of magic?!"

    "Aren''t they?" Loh asked, puzzled.

    "Of course! I knew it! I knew it all along!!" the guy ran off raving. "I KNEW IT!"

    ***

    But as for Mindy, she looked at her passengers and asked, "What are you talking about?"

    "The Source of Magic! Come now, everyone knows it''s in the Wildlands." The three girls confronting her chided. "If you tell us, we''ll give you premium membership in Club Fairy Wing! But you have to promise not to tell any other club! No matter what they offer!"

    "Wh¡­" Mindy felt her heart sink. From the sound of it, the word had already spread. "Who told you? Who told you about this?!"

    "That''s a secret!" one girl said, and winked. "Think about it, dear. You could gain a lot if you help us get a head start."

    A head start. In other words, these passengers she was bringing home weren''t hopeful settlers looking for a new life. They were competing treasure hunters in a race for the world''s greatest source of mana.

    Watching the three girls go, Mindy mumbled to herself. "Should I dump everyone overboard? Would that be okay?"

    But no. There was honor involved, as an airship captain and a representative of Kara-Goth. She couldn''t just dump her passengers after accepting their money and promising them safe harbor and a new life at Kara-Goth. That was just plain unethical.

    Besides, since the word was out, it hardly mattered who sent them there. One way or the other, these competing clubs (and whatever other interested parties) were all going to scramble for the Source. If not her, they''d find someone else to bring them. Simply denying them passage or throwing them overboard wasn''t going to stop the horde of treasure hunters.

    Half in despair, Mindy marched out of the airport, promising to be back in time for launch. She headed straight for Father Petrov''s place.

    But on the way, she stopped and stared at a sight that told her the answer she wanted.

    There, lazing in a beach chair, served by two maids by a private swimming pool on an expansive lawn of a newly built mansion was Sir Ivan''s wife. Sir Ivan himself was on the other side of the lawn, planting saplings in a newly dug garden.

    At first Mindy wanted to scream at him. ''Sir Ivan! How did you suddenly get so much money?!''

    But she didn''t. Firstly because she already knew the answer. Secondly, because she didn''t think it was really him who did it. Looking at him gardening and looking at his wife in the beach chair, it was plain to see which of them was the more comfortable with the finer things in life. Even now, Sir Ivan couldn''t give up laboring.

    No. It was her. Sir Ivan was just an unsuspecting beneficiary. Mindy felt it in her bones. SHE was the one who did it. It was Sir Ivan''s wife who sold information about the Source of Magic.

    For a moment, Mindy itched to blow the mansion to pieces. Fire her airship''s cannons at it, or cast a powerful spell on it, or have her arrested or something¡­

    But how? There was no contract signed or anything. She''d just thought better, trusted in the better nature and common sense of people¡­

    But common sense for the well being of the world was not the same as common sense for the well being of one''s own pockets.

    Mindy turned and walked away darkly. In these lands, there was nothing she could do about this.

    In the lands of man, she was just a little girl stomping her feet on the road.

    But when they got to the Wildlands¡­

    There, things would be a whole different case.

 230 Leaving Things To George

    Remian walked the halls of Kara-Goth in quiet contemplation.

    A whole day had passed since the Beast Tide went through here. The Beast Tide had fallen upon Fal''Herim, La Vive, Itarim, Ashdale, Bellas, Germat and Auria now. Kara-Goth and Three Pines had survived more or less untouched. The resource colonies sent by the warring nations and the Midlands Sea People islands could not say the same. The Tide had pretty much left them in pieces and then plopped down to stay.

    Also, the Wilds seem to have no plans on returning. Nine new Lords previously from the south now occupied the northern edge bordering the desert. Six new Lords had settled down in the Sea People islands. The Wilds who made it all the way to the northern continent showed no signs of turning around or leaving. Even the Deep Emperor had gone to stay in the Midlands Sea.

    All told, the Wilds were no longer contained in the Wildlands.

    On a happier front, Shadowflash had returned and was no longer contained in the Amber Gorge. The wolfcats now lived in Kara-Goth''s main lobby. The humans thought that they were practically pets or beasts of labor for the citizens of Kara-Goth. The Wilds thought the exact opposite.

    Whatever the case, both sides seem comfortable enough. George was happy to have the wolfcats provide some measure of round-the-clock security. Shadowflash was happy to have free food every day. It was especially beneficial for the cubs, he felt, to live in a safe place protected by both the super-pack and humans who would provide for their tummies and scratch their ears with soft fingers.

    The adults, however, went hunting with him last night. They brought back six Tier-4 carcasses. Song Restaurant took the hides and a 10% cut of the meat in return for cooking it for the wolfcats. That was the deal George set up for them, and Song Chen''s cousin, Song Chiu, seemed entirely happy to keep it.

    Speaking of George and deals, there he was now, dealing with Arnold at the Frame Workshop.

    "What''s this?" Remian asked, eyeing the new Frame that George was testing.

    "New design. I call it the Basic Frame." Arnold explained. "B-Frame, for short."

    "Is it a better design?" Remian inspected it. "It seems more like a Bare Frame to me. Doesn''t seem very strong."

    "That''s the beauty of it!" Arnold chuckled. "It isn''t! At least, not without Gear Sets."

    "What are Gear Sets?" Remian asked.

    "Those things!" Arnold pointed. "You see, the Basic Frame is designed to be able to fit different sets of equipment. That one over there increases kinetic output; that means more strength and more speed. The one next to it? That''s the Mining Set, including lighting, stronger arms, armored hands, safety helmet, and extra power reserves. The third one is Jim''s design; it actually uses steam power instead of mana, but it runs out of steam pretty quick. He said it should be hooked up to a steam generator, like a kettle with a tube running into the Frame''s back. Since we''re all running out of mana crystals, he figured the Steam Mining Set should last longer than a miner trying to channel mana into his Frame while digging at the same time."

    "I thought the main point of the Frames was combat." Remian pointed out.

    "It is." George said. "The B-Frame already have three different sets for combat purposes, one with heavy armor, a precision set for ranged weapons, and a strength burst set for fast and powerful attackers. The designs just need some tweaking and adjustments before production and testing begins."

    "What if I wanted something even stronger?" Remian asked. "Something that can fight Tier 6''s? Super heavy armor and super strength?"

    "That¡­ that''s going to be really expensive. And probably three times the size of our current Frames." Arnold grimaced. "You''re not¡­ serious¡­ are you?"

    "Actually, I am. Did you see the Wilds hanging around here?"

    "You mean the vestiges of the Beast Tide? There are six new Tier 6''s, aren''t there? They''re all qualified to challenge Lords." George nodded.

    "If those guys attack, how do you plan to fight them off?"

    "I figured Shadowflash would handle them."

    "I think you better not rely too heavily on others." Remian warned him. "But it''s up to you. Kara-Goth is your show to run, now."

    "In other words, you''re done giving me instructions, think it out myself?"

    "Something like that."

    Sighing, George handed Remian an envelope.

    "What''s this?" Remian peered inside. There was a stack of receipts for bank deposits.

    "It''s the net profits over the past few months." George explained. "Including all the mines around Kara-Goth. We banked it in to your account directly. I just wanted to hand you the receipts in person so you''d know I was actually doing a good job."

    Remian did a quick estimation. Given the amount of paper and the numbers on the first one, the receipts in the envelope could easily surpass a million lir. Looking through them, however, it seemed the latter numbers grew bigger and bigger, so the amounts totaled should be a few million. "How did you ever manage so much profit?"

    "Well, you own the entirety of Kara-Goth, you know. Everyone living here basically pays you rent." George pointed out. "Also, you have a cut of the businesses, and all of the profit made by the Adventurers Guild. In short, everyone in Kara-Goth makes you money one way or the other. Even the Wilds we befriended have helped increase productivity."

    "Even the wolfcats?"

    "Especially the wolfcats! You have no idea how much more people are smiling in Kara-Goth now that they''re here to stay. It''s like they''re living promises from the Wilds; everyone understands that as long as they''re with us, the Beast Waves won''t attack us any more. Plus, they''re clean as cats and constantly providing round the clock security. They make everyone feel safer. Just this morning, the Comrade registry listed fifteen new Bonds."

    "Bonds?"

    "That''s what we''re calling the friendship pact between a human and a Comrade. Nobody owns anyone else, it''s a bond of friendship."

    "It sounds like there''s been nothing but good coming from the wolfcats staying here."

    "Well¡­ if there was a downside, several people reported that they''ve lost their old Comrades today."

    "What happened?"

    "Um¡­ they got eaten."

    Remian stared at George blankly. "Eaten?"

    "By wolfcats. Most of them were rabbit-types. One was a goat." George grimaced. "I think we should advise everyone to avoid Bonding wolfcat-food types from now on."

    "You think?" Remian shook his head. "May as well just advise them to bond only wolfcats."

    "We could, but then the lynxmice would complain, and the Feelo-Wasps would feel left out. We actually rely a lot on the lynxmice for digging, and the Feelo-Wasps provide literally all of our honey. I wouldn''t want to offend them." George shifted. "Besides, I wouldn''t want to impose on anyone and tell them what they can or can''t bond. It''s just that¡­ this is wolfcat territory, and wolfcats eat smaller Wilds for lunch. That''s all."

    "Well, they won''t do any better at Three Pines. Eagles eat rabbits too. Maybe we need a third settlement for those who prefer to live with herbivore types."

    "I''ve heard of people starting settlements for mining, for housing, and for industry, but I''ve never heard of people starting one for the sake of rabbits."

    "They help with the burrowing, don''t they?"

    "In softer soil, sure, but their paws are no match for lynxmice claws when it comes to hard ground and rock. They also don''t have the lynxmice sonic attacks for rocky situations."

    "Sounds like we should put them on the farm."

    "Except then we''d lose a huge chunk of the farm produce. Plus, they''re still likely to get eaten." George sighed. "No, farmers prefer cattle-types. Pulled plows dig faster, and cows just survive better."

    Remian grinned. "It sounds like you''ve got it all figured out already."

    "No, I don''t. Nobody has! This sort of arrangement has never been done before!" George flailed. "When did people ever live with Wilds like this? It''s unheard of! There''s nobody else who''s done it before, and nobody to tell me how to do it! Nothing has been figured out! We''re all just groping our way in the dark!"

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    Remian''s grin grew. "Excellent. You really have figured it out."

    "Remian, have you even heard a word coming out of my mouth?! We haven''t figured out anything!"

    "Even so, I''m not worried. You''ll manage."

    "That''s just because it''s my job!"

    Remian barked a laugh. "You''re about to be more than a manager, soon."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean, George, that after today, Kara-Goth is yours. The ownership, the profits, the risks¡­ I''m leaving it all to you."

 231 Requiremen

    "L-leaving? No! You can''t! You can''t just give up and die like this!" George protested.

    Remian blinked. "Who said anything about dying? I''m just going south."

    "What does that mean, exactly?" George demanded.

    "More time with Phoebe, mainly. We''re going to investigate the Black Ruins all over the Wildlands." Remian paused. "Don''t worry. We''ll have the Eagle Lord for support."

    "Isn''t that¡­ beneath him?" George asked, weakly.

    "Actually, it''s more like his wife supporting us."

    "Ah. That''ll work." George suddenly thought of something. "This sudden retirement to the south¡­ it wouldn''t have anything to do with Mandy arriving tonight, would it?"

    Remian froze.

    "You''re running away!?" George blurted.

    "I''m not running! It''s just¡­ I''m going south. That''s it. That''s all."

    "Who are you trying to kid? You decided to drop everything and run the minute you heard she was coming to town! What are you afraid of? Your girlfriend has already met your ex-wife!"

    "I''m not afraid! I just¡­ don''t want to see her."

    "You''re still not over her?!"

    Remian whacked him over the head with a paper fan. "Whatever the case, that''s my problem. The paperwork is already done; Kara-Goth is yours now, so don''t mess it up!"

    "But¡­ but don''t you have three students? What about Mindy? And Tim?"

    "Mindy already has my airships. Tim now owns the industrial district in Fal''Herim. Not that he needs it. Last I checked, he practically owned Fal''Herim itself."

    "Then¡­ you''re really leaving? Just going to waltz off into the archaeological dusk and never come back?"

    "Well, my family is in Three Pines, so¡­ yeah, I''m mainly going to be resupplying there. Goodbye, George, so long, farewell, I might never see you again¡­"

    "Yeah, yeah, just go already, before I start crying!" George snorted and turned around dismissively.

    There was an extended silence. Then, George turned around again.

    But by that time, Remian was really gone. George suddenly had a terrible, sinking feeling.

    Then, he paused. On a hunch, George took out his communications crystal and called Remian.

    "Hmm?" Remian answered.

    "You''re still going to answer my calls, aren''t you?" George asked, hesitantly.

    "Sure. Anyway, I''ll be at Three Pines. You should come by for a visit sometime. Bye."

    Feeling somewhat more relieved, George sighed. "Bye."

    ***

    "It is done." Remian said quietly.

    Darian nodded. "Then, as we agreed. He''s waiting for you."

    That evening, at Three Pines, Remian had an important meeting with some Very Important People.

    Darian brought them together in a newly built balcony surrounded with leaves as if curtained away from the rest of the world.

    "Doom." Remian greeted Darian''s teacher.

    "Remian." Doom''s face was serious. "I hear that you''ve ended relations with Kara-Goth. That should be the last of your ties with polluting and nature-destroying entities. Are you sure that you and Three Pines are prepared to commit to friendship with the Wilds? Even if it means enmity against mankind?"

    "No." Remian said flat out, drawing widened and narrowed eyes from Darian and Doom. "I believe that friendship with the Wilds is for the betterment of mankind, not its detriment. I believe that living in harmony with nature is the right thing to do. I understand that people have needs and right now those needs tend to destroy nature the way you hate so much, but the thing about mankind is that we are able to learn, and develop and invent. Total harmony may be impossible; even Wilds eat other Wilds for food¡­ but I fully intend my people to live in the Wildlands as natives, not invaders."

    "How idealistic." Doom snorted. "Well, it''s a moot point anyway. I don''t have the authority to decide your fate on this matter."

    "Who does?" Remian frowned. "I thought¡­"

    "The Earth Emperor has made his decision. He refuses." Doom said directly.

    "The Earth Emperor¡­?!" Remian stared.

    "Among the Five Emperors, the Earth Emperor rules the center. His word and whim are law."

    "But¡­ but you said I had to¡­ to¡­" Remian spluttered.

    Darian held out his hand. "Wait. Let him finish."

    Doom cleared his throat, giving Darian a disgruntled look. He had been quite enjoying Remian''s reaction. "The Wind Emperor also denies you either friendship, sanctuary or citizenship and eagerly wants to have you for dinner. You would not need to plan a return trip."

    Remian blinked. "What does the Wind Emperor have to do with anything?"

    "The Flood Emperor wants to destroy all humans everywhere, not just those in the Wildlands." Doom continued.

    Remian paused, starting to see the picture.

    "The Flame Emperor finds humans interesting, as long as they don''t enter and mess up her territory, she doesn''t care what you do."

    Realizing where all this was going, Remian suddenly felt nervous. "And¡­ the Wood Emperor?"

    Here it was. Kara-Goth and Three Pines were both within the Wood Emperor''s domain. Based on the way Doom was speaking, this opinion, and only this one would matter.

    Because, at the end of the day, the Emperors, while united, were autonomous. They each decided what was what within their own territories. In other words, no matter how much the Deep Emperor wanted to destroy them, or how much the Wind Emperor wanted to eat them, as long as the Wood Emperor decided they could stay, they had a chance.

    "The Wood Emperor says that if you want to stay in these lands, you must live by our rules." Doom answered.

    "What does that mean, exactly? What does he want me to do?" Remian asked.

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    "You need to win your territory the proper way¡­ as a King of the Wilds."

    ***

    "A¡­ a King?!" Remian spluttered. "Not a Lord?"

    "Do you want Kara-Goth to be destroyed?" Doom asked, flat out.

    "Of course not!" Remian protested.

    "Then you want to protect a swathe of territory from the Eagle Lord''s domain all the way to Shadowflash''s domain. That much territory is the domain of a King. Unless you planned to protect only the settlements and not all your roads and mines and farms around them? Were you planning on ousting Shadowflash and the Eagle Lord to replace them as Lords?"

    "No, but surely having them as Lords are enough?!"

    "No buts. It so happens that there seems to be a few Kings who recently left these parts, and there are already about thirty challengers bidding for their turf. If you want that land, you''ll have to fight for it, and win."

    "You mean¡­ the Storm Pegasus King who went north with the Tide?" Remian guessed.

    "The Great Ape King left too. Right now, the only Kings around here are the Earth Lion King and the Star Wolf King. Technically, the lands you want belong to the Star Wolf King, but he''s interested in both the Emerald Woods and the Five Lakes region. Also, he''s Carrie''s dad, so he''s somewhat nonchalant about you. Since he wants to take a different territory, you can challenge the other thirty for the lands he''s leaving."

    "But¡­" Remian held his head. "Can''t we just leave Kara-Goth and Three Pines under his rule or whoever gets to be King?"

    "Do you want to make the final decisions for your people, or leave them at the mercies of Wild Lords and Kings?" Darian prodded.

    Remian grimaced.

    "Fine. Who do I have to fight?"

 232 One Week

    "The target is the Flaming Salamander Lord. He is based in Rocky Thorns, just east of Craggy Falls." Darian told his brother. "His physical abilities are low for a Class 6, but his psionic abilities are far beyond what most Lords can manage."

    "So¡­ I need to defend against Illusions?" Remian asked.

    "No, you need to watch out for fire. Salamanders have an innate pyrokinetic ability. Or at least that''s what Doom says. Me, I''m not even sure if it''s Psionic or magical, like Draconian bloodlines. Whatever the case, be prepared to face a lot of fire."

    "Great. A fire-wielding giant lizard. Why am I fighting him again?"

    "To challenge a King, you must first qualify as a Lord the proper way, by defeating a Lord. Compared to all the flying types, the heavy hulking types, and basically everything else out there, I felt the Salamander Lord was the easiest target for you to pick on." Darian shrugged. "Considering that your magic is your strongest point, you should be able to ward off his fire with your barriers and blast him to bits easily enough. He''ll definitely be easier to fight with magic than say, one of the Lion Lords."

    "I hear a ''but'' coming."

    "No, there''s no buts where the Salamander is concerned, except¡­" Darian frowned. "It''s what happens afterward that has me concerned. Whether in Psionic power or physical power, all the King Challengers outmatch you so severely, it''s not even funny. I don''t know if they''ll let you use a Frame or an airship or a runic cannon. Also, there''s the Star Wolf King to consider. Last I checked, he wanted the entire swathe of territory in the north-east, from the Amber Gorge to the entirety of the Emerald Woods. Now that Shadowflash is back, he might even have the power to hold it. And one last thing."

    "What?"

    "Lords duel for Lordship, but when you fight the King Challengers, you''ll be fighting their subordinates too."

    "WHAT?!"

    "The Challenger itself, plus two to five Lords who serve that King."

    "You want me to fight all of those Wilds alone?!"

    "No, of course not. You''re supposed to bring your own squad. Bring Song Chen and Markus and the best fighters you''ve got. You just need to introduce them as Lord Challengers."

    "And would the Wilds accept that? Or would they need to fight real Lords and take their places?"

    "They might have to beat a few real Lords." Darian admitted. "Or at least, a few Lord Challengers."

    "So we get our best fighters to challenge for the empty spots in the Emerald Woods." Remian figured. "Any idea when that takes place?"

    "You''ll have to wait and see what the Star Wolf King does. If he really does try for the Emerald Woods, I would advise against trying to challenge for it."

    Remian fell silent. "What if¡­ some other King takes it? Someone who doesn''t like us?"

    "Then you''ll have even more reason to fight." Doom shot over Darian''s head. "Leave it be! You need to worry about your own battles! Focus! You have to prepare for your fights!"

    "How?" Remian asked.

    "Train for it! Try sparring with Shadowflash or something!" Doom snorted.

    "Shadowflash? But¡­ but we just got back from Kara-Goth!" Remian protested.

    "Nobody''s saying to do it now. You have one week, and I''d hate to see you try to spar with Shadowflash without any preparation. You should do what you can to make yourself stronger."

    "Stronger? The last time I tried that, I outright died!"

    "There are other things you can strengthen than your body. Your magic, for example." Doom tossed in. "Brush up your best spells until you can instant-cast them with incantation bypass, or something."

    "He can already do that." Darian chipped in. "He can cast light barriers like they were nothing. No incantation, no sigils, just by pointing and saying it."

    "That''s good. If you can do that for high level ice spells as well, you''re good to go."

    "Um¡­ how high a level are we talking about?" Remian asked.

    "Strong enough to freeze a flaming Salamander Lord." Darian thought for a bit. "A Tier 6 Flash Freeze Spell might be good. That''s what I use against dragons. Set the field with a Tier 7 Blizzard first and it''ll be much stronger."

    Doom rolled his eyes. "Right. Just set up a Tier 7 Blizzard to set the field to cast a Tier 6 Flash Freeze, all while a flaming lizard lord is barreling down on you. Sure. Won''t he need twenty or thirty magi with specialized runic wands for that sort of thing?"

    "I could do it myself, given enough time."

    "And how would you get that much time?"

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    "I''ll just use a Silhouette and fly to avoid the Salamander and dodge the fire, or block off his fire with a barrier first."

    "Remian can''t fly!"

    "No, but I can do barriers." Remian mused. "Put up a couple layers of light barriers, call down a blizzard, and then hit it with a Flash Freeze. That actually sounds doable."

    "He can do it." Darian said confidently. "My brother is unbeatable with magic."

    "Now that, I have to see." Doom snorted, still not believing it. "Anyway. You may as well teach him some body-strengthening magic."

    "There''s such a thing?" Remian blinked.

    "Yes, but there''s a price to pay for it. The lower level stuff just needs mana, but the higher level stuff could kill you if you''re not careful." Doom warned. "But the lower level stuff won''t be able to help you against Tier 6 foes like the Lords of the Wilds."

    "Huh. No, I don''t think that''s the way to go. I prefer to stay far away from the target, thank you." Remian thought for a bit. "Any other suggestions?"

    Doom shrugged. "You could try a null-field. Like¡­ a null-fire field. The more specific you make it, the stronger it is and the easier to maintain. If you cast for null-yellow fire, for example, it will only try to keep out yellow fire, which would be only a tenth as demanding on you and would be at least four to five times stronger. That is especially important because doing so will pit you directly against the Flaming Salamander Lord''s power to control fire; it will all boil down to a wrestle between your powers and his. The more specific your null-field, the harder it will be for him to break it."

    "I''m going to need to brush up on elemental magic." Remian figured gloomily. Until then, he''d have to put his research on Chaos magic on pause.

    He was reasonably sure at this point that he was using Chaos magic without even thinking about it, so perhaps it was okay to leave it for later, since he could already use it effectively. What he needed to do now was figure out the best way to take down a fire-wielder. While he was somewhat familiar with elemental magics, he suddenly felt like he should study a whole lot more and learn as much tricks as he could in that field in order to face his opponent.

    Where could he learn all that? Ecclesia was a safe bet, but¡­

    "How much time do I have?" Remian asked.

    "The Gathering of King''s Challengers will take place a week from now. Before it happens, you need to qualify and to get your people to qualify." Doom told him. "You have seven days."

    Nope. There was no time to get to Ecclesia. He needed to do it all here and now. If he had to take a trip, the nearest city he could go to would be Fal''Herim.

    Hmm. Maybe he could ask Tim for help on that. Given the time it would take Remian to reach Fal''Herim, Tim might be able to gather a nifty pile of useful books by then.

    "Understood. Thanks, Doom, Darian. I''m going to need to call some people and have them prepare." Remian decided.

    "So, when are you fighting the Flaming Salamander Lord?" Darian asked.

    "Five days." Remian figured. That should be enough time for him to prepare, and then recover his magic afterward. "I''ll face him in five days."

 233 Prep

    Remian met him at the airship docks of Fal''Herim. "Hey, Tim. Sorry for asking for help so suddenly."

    "It''s fine." Tim waved it off dismissively. "So, you''re really going to challenge the Flaming Salamander Lord to a duel?"

    "Yeah, we can''t afford to offend the Wood Emperor. Kor''ag-dras was quite clear on his demands." Remian winced. "At least he gave us a fighting chance."

    "Literally." Tim rolled his eyes. "Well, if it''s books you want, I''ve got you covered. I have the best collection of magic books in all of Fal''Herim. In fact, it''s safe to say I have THE collection of Fal''Herim."

    "What did you do?" Remian asked, eyes wide. "Tim, did you steal everyone''s magic books?!"

    "No, I bought the national library." Tim answered. "It was going for cheap."

    "You BOUGHT the library?! Is that even legal?!"

    "Apparently Asda needed to raise disaster funds." Tim shrugged. "She''s started selling off a lot of public property. The national library, the airport, half the schools, the entire sewage system, and the southern bazaar were all, as of this morning, privatized in my name. Along with three more Industrial Districts."

    "Wait a minute. Didn''t you already run Fal''Herim?"

    "Operationally, yes, but owning it legally is a whole lot more satisfying."

    "Well, then, it sounds like you really made it big." Remian said. "With so many districts and utilities, your net worth must have skyrocketed."

    Tim coughed. "Actually, most of them are literally just piles of rubble at the moment. The national library is actually half in ruins. We might have to dig the books you want out of the wreckage."

    ***

    Thankfully, that wasn''t necessary. There was just one shelf specific to elemental magic, it had twenty-two books, and it was in an intact portion of the priviliged zone of the national library.

    "So¡­ that''s it?" Tim asked, as they packed the books up. "You''re just going to take the books back to study and then fight the Flaming Salamander on your own?"

    "Pretty much, yeah."

    "What about that other fight, the one against the King Challengers? Who are you bringing for that?" Tim asked.

    "Well, it''s a team fight against Boss Wilds, so I figured we''d do it like Adventurers." Remian shrugged. "A defender, a healer, a couple of damage dealers, and maybe a support mage. Markus and Phoebe will do for the first two. I haven''t figured out the rest yet."

    "Is Markus going to be okay? I heard he got buried under some rubble." Tim frowned.

    "He had a few broken bones, but Phoebe said they were on the mend. If we focus our healers on him, we could probably speed up his recovery time. There''s only so much mana to go around now, but I think we can give him priority."

    "Who do you have in mind for damage dealers?"

    "Joshu and the twins come to mind. They''re all skilled archers, but getting them to qualify against Lords would be tricky. Actually, getting Phoebe to qualify would be tricky too, but there seems to be some sort of allowance for a Challenger''s Mate."

    "Are Frames allowed?" Tim asked, right out.

    "¡­I actually don''t know. I guess we can let Markus try to use one and find out."

    "What about sending in Bellower and DD and all?"

    "Bellower actually was killed and eaten in that last wave. We had them all stay far away from us, but it seems that the Bone King got hungry." Remian said, darkly. "DD isn''t in very good shape either. He''s nursing a few broken bones. Jujar is just too slow, and Spike seems to be very nervous about the whole affair. Forget it. I''d rather bring in a team of well-equipped, experienced Adventurers."

    "What about Carrie? Or Shadowflash himself?"

    "Can''t. They''re fighting under the Star Wolf King."

    Tim thought for a bit more. "Are you sure you want to bring Phoebe? I mean, her superpowers won''t work on non-humans."

    "Superpowers? What superpowers?" Remian blinked. "But anyway, she''s the only healer who can get through with that Challenger''s Mate clause. Everyone else would have to fight to qualify, and I doubt Lydia could face down a Lord Challenger all by herself."

    "So¡­ you''re officially together, then?" Tim raised an eyebrow.

    "THAT''s what you''re concerned about?!"

    ***

    In the end, Remian decided on Song Chen and Spike for damage dealers. They would just have to deal with Spike''s nervousness as best they could. If not for that nervousness, the big fellow could actually do a better job as a defender than Markus, and then Markus could take a damage dealer spot. He also called Joshu to try to qualify, just in case he actually could.

    "I wouldn''t count on it." Markus grunted, and immediately set about preparing to fight as a defender. He went and had Tier 5 runes inscribed on all his armor, his tower shield, gladius, and javelins, fully sponsored by George. They even had his shield heavily reinforced.

    "Beef up his weaponry, too. We might need him to do some damage in the end." Remian told them.

    "Huh." George outright handed Markus his glaive. "Give it back when you''re done with it."

    Unwilling to settle, Remian had them reinforce George''s Glaive with Flaming Bronze and two Tier 6 runes. He actually wanted to add a third rune, but by then Fal''Herim''s top runesmith was already asking for overtime pay, extra vacation days, and threatening to quit due to excessive demands.

    Right. They were at Fal''Herim. All this wouldn''t be possible at Kara-Goth, which lacked high-Tier runesmiths, but Remian had the team assemble at Fal''Herim to prepare their gear for the big fights. George brought them over on an airship accompanied by a couple of dozen support crew.

    Fal''Herim itself was half ruins, but there were many survivors, especially those Tim brought to the Underground, and many of them were grateful enough to join Tim''s workforce. Tim had one of his new Industrial Districts focus on high-end personal armaments, and Remian''s Team served as his first customers. His people were scrambling all over the district building and renovating structures while gearing Remian''s team up at the same time.

    "What about Spike? What do we do about him?" George asked Remian.

    "I was thinking we''d give him a layer of armor on top of his shell and inscribe runes on that." Remian suggested.

    "Do we even have enough time to forge that much armor?" George grimaced.

    "What if it was chain mail? Just a layer of linked chains? With runes?"

    "You''d want large, flat surfaces for runes strong enough to cover all of Spike. Armor plates at least the size of Markus'' shield, I think." George mused. "But we probably don''t have the time for something like scale-mail. I''m thinking just a few plates over vital spots, linked together with chains. As long as they can hold the runes we want, they should do better solid armor."

    To the Top Runesmith''s relief, he was not asked to work on Spike''s armor. That work was left to lower level Runesmiths.

    Song Chen had to have a whole new spear made. In order to put together a Tier 6 spear, he had made a foray into the deepest part of the Emerald Woods and came back with a suitable piece of Ancient Emerald Heartwood for the haft. George offered Flaming Bronze for the head, but Song Chen preferred Misty Steel. It was a water-elemental metal on par with the fire-elemental Fire Copper, a whole Tier lower than Flaming Bronze, but Song Chen wanted something less noticeable, and better able to utilize those spear techniques that attempted to confuse opponents. But Misty Steel simply wasn''t up to the job when dealing with Tier 6 runes. George ended up having to trade five bars of Flaming Bronze for a single bar of Aqua Silver.

    "What about armor?" Song Chen asked.

    George wordlessly beckoned. One of the support staff pushed over a handcart filled with leather pieces.

    "This is¡­?" Song Chen trailed off.

    "Tier 6 leather. The best remaining parts of our old friend Bellower." George said, solemnly.

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    "Bellower''s leather?!" Song Chen grimaced. "I''m not sure I''m entirely comfortable wearing it."

    "Not the way it is now, no. But we''ll fix that." Tim said, and put his best leather-workers to the job.

    "That leather''s not going to hold runes very well." George added. "For the sake of the runes, I was going to suggest small plates of Fire Copper added to the armor, but since you went for Aqua Silver, we better change it to Misty Steel. Otherwise, you''d have an elemental dissonance between your Fire Copper and Aqua Silver."

    As for Joshu, Arnold had his own ideas.

    "Is this even going to be allowed?" George asked, eyeing the drawings.

    It was a customized Frame armed with a runic crossbow so big, it may as well be called a mini-ballista. The bolts for that mini-ballista were three feet long, and a whole inch thick. While carried around on the Frame''s back, and could be fired in the Frame''s hands in a pinch, it was really meant to be fired from a tripod which would take a bit of time to deploy. Other than that, the Frame emphasized mobility and a bit of armor.

    "It''s going to be a serious drain on mana, though. You could run it on your own mana for a minute, but if you''re going to use it to fight an hour-long battle, I suggest you power it with a blue crystal." Arnold warned. "Exhaustion is going to be your biggest problem. It might not be an issue if you''re fighting from a fortification with plenty of crystals and time to rest, but if you''re running around and dodging a Lord Challenger while you shoot, I strongly suggest you end it quickly. There are twenty bolts loaded onto the side quiver; but I suspect you''ll run out of energy and mana long before you run out of ammunition."

    "Would it really qualify as a Tier 6 weapon?" Tim asked dubiously. "I mean, the runic ballistae at Kara-Goth are easily ten times bigger."

    "It should qualify as the peak of Tier 5. As long as you hit a weak spot, it should do the job."

    Tim shook his head. "With an outfit like that, your fight is going to be over in a matter of seconds. Either you''ll take down your target with one shot, or you''re dead. Or both."

    "Is there a way we can put better defenses on it?" Joshu asked glumly. "I don''t want to be dead."

    "It''s already highly focused on precision and mobility. To ask for more defense¡­" Arnold shook his head. "I have some theories on how it could be done, but right now, we don''t have the time to experiment."

    "What about increasing the mobility? Put in a function to suddenly make him move quickly to one side?" Remian asked.

    Arnold hesitated. "I could install a jumper function. It would make the whole Frame even heavier, and even more power-draining, but it would let him quickly jump ten feet away and land safely."

    "Do that. It could be his only chance at survival." Remian said grimly. "Like Tim said; Joshu''s battle will be decided in a matter of seconds."

 234 Magic and Science

    Two days before his duel with the Flaming Salamander Lord, Phoebe found Remian pondering over a book.

    "What''s on your mind?" she rubbed his back slowly.

    "I was wondering about how scientific magic could be."

    Phoebe stared at him blankly. "Isn''t magic itself unscientific? Aren''t they in complete contradiction?"

    "Well¡­ not exactly. A lot of magic has to do with imagery and knowledge. What if you used magic in conjunction with scientific knowledge? Would that work?" Remian asked.

    "What are you talking about?" Phoebe asked, completely baffled.

    "No, no, it was just an idea. I was looking at three different elemental systems and thinking about how all of them work according to the understanding of different Magi''s understanding. One system supports four elements; earth, fire, air, water. Another says there''s five, from wood, metal, earth, water and fire. The other says there''s about ten, including light, sound, lightning, and ice being separate from water. Their understanding was what enabled their systems to work, so even if they all have different systems, they all work just fine."

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    "Your point is?"

    "Well, magic also works with the laws of physics, right? Some of it is in contradiction to physics, but then there''s a price to pay, usually in mana, which means an expenditure of energy. But the fact that ice is often used to counter fire is proof that it could work."

    "Could what work?" Phoebe''s eyes narrowed. "Remian, what are you trying to do?"

    "How about I just try it?" Remian asked. He pointed a finger. "Fireball."

    A head-sized ball of fire flew out and exploded, lightning a fire on the floor.

    And then he cast a single spell, something Phoebe had never heard of before, and instantly the fire died. Completely snuffed out, without so much as a flicker of protest.

    "That¡­ that works too?!" Phoebe gaped. "How much mana did it cost?"

    Remian checked and found himself stunned. "Almost nothing."

    Phoebe stared at Remian, jaw dropping. "Seriously?! But if that''s the case¡­ if this really works like it did just now¡­"

    Remian grinned. "Then the Flaming Salamander is done for."

    ***

    Darian came by to check and see how he was doing afterwards. "So¡­ I just spoke with Phoebe. She says you''re pretty confident."

    "I have a few ideas, yeah." Remian said, with a small grin.

    "Care to share?" Darian said, crouching with his hands up in a combat stance. "Hit me with an ice spell."

    "Which Tier?" Remian asked.

    "Try a Tier 5." Darian said, straight out.

    Remian blinked at him, startled. Hitting a human with a Tier 5 ice spell¡­ wasn''t that basically trying to kill them?

    "I''ll be fine." Darian said, snorting.

    "Put up some defense first." Remian said, after hesitating.

    Darian sighed, and a layer of shimmering light covered him. "There. Silhouette Armor. Good enough for you?"

    "More, please. I don''t want Mom and Dad yelling at me for hurting you."

    The shimmering grew to roughly three feet, surrounding him like a bubble. "Protective Aura. Is that enough?"

    "More."

    Darian frowned, and tapped his foot on the ground. A solid two-feet thick stone wall rose up, covering him up to his neck. "Still not enough for you?"

    "No, that''s good." Remian said, finally satisfied. He raised one hand. "Glacial Spike!"

    A huge shard of ice three times bigger than Remian shot out from nowhere and rammed into the barrier. There was a loud BOOM and the ground shook. The impact sent a burst of air in all directions, almost knocking Remian off his feet.

    "How''s that?" Remian asked.

    "Too weak." Darian snorted. "Got anything stronger?"

    "Oh?" Remian''s eyes narrowed. He raised both hands. "Avalanche Stream!"

    A surge of ice and snow twice as thick as the previous Glacial Spike blasted out at Darian''s wall. Darian ducked for cover as it slammed into his barrier, sending an explosion of white fountaining twenty feet into the air.

    "Stronger, please. You can''t even get through ONE of my defenses!" Darian yelled over the wall.

    "Now, you''re asking for it!" Remian scowled. "Instant Blizzard!"

    A dark cloud formed overhead, sending cold wind and snow directly downwards. But Remian wasn''t done yet. "Flash Freeze!"

    A sudden icicle appeared where Darian stood, completely covering him in ice.

    But it burst apart a moment later and Darian barked, "Was that supposed to stop me? That couldn''t even hold me for a second! You have to throw everything you''ve got at me!"

    Feeling irked and running out of ideas, Remian rolled his eyes and raised both hands to the sky. "Ice Everything But The Kitchen Sink!"

    Out of nowhere, an absolute flurry of ice spells flooded Darian''s position. Everything from single little snowballs to a torrent of ice shards to Twin Glacial Spikes, animated Ice Sparrows to giant Frost Golems¡­ even a whole freshly formed igloo went barreling at Darian''s wall, hammering down on it.

    Darian shouted. "That''s all you''ve got?"

    Remian''s eyes narrowed. He crouched and laid a hand on the ground. "Sink!"

    The ground under Darian''s feet suddenly softened, dropping him up to his neck in sudden quicksand.

    "That''s not the kitchen sink you left out!" Darian pointed out.

    So, for good measure, Remian yelled, "Ice Kitchen Sink!"

    With that, an especially large, deluxe style kitchen sink made of ice fell down on Darian''s position from above. It grew in size and weight as it fell, easily reaching twenty feet across as it landed.

    Darian caught it with both hands above his head. "Mmpfh!

    "Ice Kitchen Sink! Ice Kitchen Sink!" Remian called down two more right on top of the first. "And one more for the road!"

    A fourth sink landed on Darian. Darian gaped. "Wha¡­?! Even THAT works?!"

    Still feeling a little irritated, Remian threw in the finisher. "Giant Left Shoe Of Ice!"

    An absolutely enormous boot big enough to stomp the entire national library slammed down on Darian. It completely covered him and his wall, and the whole field to boot (pun belatedly intended).

    "Satisfied now?!" Remian called.

 235 Eve of Battle

    Meanwhile, the Flaming Salamander Lord snorted. [A humaaan¡­? A humaaaan wants to challenge meeeee?]

    The word had reached him three days ago. But he didn''t care. Snoozing in the sun, the Flaming Salamander thought for a moment of how roasted human might taste.

    [Hmm. Maybe better not use too much fire. I might burn the meat.] The Flaming Salamander Lord thought. [I think¡­ medium-rare would be best. Yeessssss¡­ medium-rare.]

    ***

    The day before the duel, Phoebe brought Remian to her quarters and said, "Take off your clothes."

    "What?" Remian blinked.

    Wordlessly, Phoebe handed him a thick and padded package.

    "What is this?" Remian opened it.

    Inside was a suit of leather armor.

    "Fire Wyvern leather, reinforced with dragon scales. Had to ask Darian for help to get the materials." Phoebe said shortly. "Might itch a bit. Try it on."

    "Dragon scales¡­ did some dragon die for this?" Remian eyed it dubiously.

    "Actually, they''re the sheddings from Har''es-dras. No dragon was hurt or killed in the gathering of these materials." Phoebe paused. "Though I can''t say the same for the Fire Wyvern."

    Remian sighed, slowly put both arms around her and laid his cheek on her forehead. In a low voice, he murmured, "Thank you."

    She leaned in. "You should also thank your brother and his Comrade."

    "Mmm."

    There was a short silence. Then, Phoebe said, "I''m worried."

    "Me too." Remian admitted. "And not just for my own sake. Everyone and everything here depends on this fight. I have to win it."

    "Any doubts?"

    "Plenty. I might win this and then what? Fight an even bigger battle against even bigger enemies? Isn''t there another way?" Remian barked a laugh.

    "Is there?"

    "Not without breaking the rules and the ways of the Wilds. This is already a better chance than I ever hoped for."

    "You''re determined to win this, aren''t you? And the next fight too?"

    "Lacking any better options¡­ yes."

    "Then win it." Phoebe whispered. "But win it safely and come back alive. Preferably without giving me too much work healing your injuries."

    "That''s what you''re worried about? More work for you?"

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    Phoebe whacked him over the head softly.

    ***

    "So¡­ are we going to do anything about Remian''s upcoming duel with the Flame Salamander Lord?" Max asked George as they inspected the Defense Force the day before the fight.

    "Of course." George said. "I''ve already made all the preparations."

    "Really?" Max blinked. "I mean¡­ I thought there was honor involved and all that. Pulling an ambush or interfering might be seen as a bad thing by all the Wilds."

    "Interfering?" George shook his head. "That''s not what I had in mind."

    "Then what are you up to?"

    "That." George pointed.

    Max turned around and gaped. "This¡­ you''re setting up bets?!"

    "And selling airship spectator seats. 100 lir per regular ticket, 300 for the premium tickets." George supplied. "I''m bringing two Sky Barges and six Corvettes."

    "Armed to the teeth, I imagine?"

    "Naturally. For all their talk of honor, there''s no telling what some random Wild might do in all the excitement. There could be trouble."

    "How about giving the Defense Force free seats?"

    "Actually, I was hoping to have three squadrons on deck fully armed and deployed in Frames." George explained. "With nine more handling every ballista we could load, all two hundred guns and plenty of ammunition."

    "Do we even have that many Frames?" Max was startled.

    "No. We had too many losses and took too much damage during the Tide. Almost all our older Frames are unsuited for combat use. It was all Arnold could do to equip one squadron with the new B-Frames." George sighed. "The other two will just have to make do with heavy armor."

    "That''s still pretty impressive, to outfit a whole squadron in one week."

    "Yeah, we''ve been pouring manpower, resources and equipment into his Frame factory. Something tells me we''re going to need Frames more and more in the coming days."

    ***

    [Are they really going to honor the duel?] Shadowflash asked Carrie casually while watching Vigil and his friends training.

    [I believe so. George is setting up bets.]

    [Really? What are the odds?]

    [2 to 1 in the Flame Salamander''s favor. Triple payout if they fight to a draw. 5:1 if the fight lasts more than one hour. 1:5 if it''s over within ten seconds.]

    [That''s hardly even worth betting on.] Shadowflash snorted. [Whoever wins, it''ll definitely be over quickly. Me, I think it''s more like 5 to 1 in the Flame Salamander''s favor. What do you think his odds are?]

    [Hmm. It really depends on his physical condition tomorrow. If he''s healthy, he could actually win.] Carrie figured. [But if he''s wobbling around on his feet¡­ then he''s dead. No odds. No guesses. Just plain lunch.]

    [And the odds of him being healthy or sick?]

    [Considering stress, tension and the unlikelihood of him sleeping well tonight¡­ I''d say, 3 to 1 in favor of him being sick.]

    ***

    Carrie, it turned out, would have won that bet if she''d made one such. On the day of the duel, Remian got out of bed after a restless, tense night, and decided to just get it over with.

    The first thing he did was throw up. Then, he washed up and went looking for breakfast.

    "We''re all rooting for you. All our preparations for the team fight would be useless if you flop here." Song Chen said as Remian and Phoebe had breakfast at his cousin''s restaurant.

    "Understood. Don''t stop the preparations." Remian told him.

    "Really? You''re that confident?"

    "Really. I''m going to win this."

    ***

    They went to meet the Flame Salamander Lord in the area known as the Rocky Thorns. It looked like a land of stalagmites, sharp pointy ''teeth'' rising up from all over the ground, as though the roof of whatever giant cavern formed them had somehow completely disappeared.

    Smack dab in the middle of those sharp teeth sat the Flaming Salamander Lord. As large as a row of terrace houses, the creature was constantly on fire and enjoying it. Seeing the airships arrive, it roared at them.

    [Humaaaan! You dare challenge me?! Come fight me on the ground!]

    [I was going to do that anyway.] Remian assured the lizard, eyeing the Rocky Thorns that gave the place its name. [Just a minute.]

    "Lower a rope ladder." Remian requested.

    "Are you sure? I mean, you could just bombard him from up here, right now. Nobody needs to know." George said in a low voice.

    Remian barked a laugh. "I''m sure."

    Below him, the Flaming Salamander Lord, similarly laughing at this human idiot who sent himself all the way here for his lunch.

 236 Duel with the Flaming Salamander Lord

    [Foolish human! You will soon fill my belly¡­] The Flaming Salamander Lord started a long-winded rant proclaiming his superiority and the general inferiority of humans.

    It really was long-winded. Remian was on the ground while the FSL was still going on about the flabby, tiny bodies of humans. He waited a few minutes while the FSL went on to boast about his powers, his body, his handsome, ruggish features compared to Remian''s pale, wan skin¡­

    Five minutes afterward, Remian yawned while the FSL threatened Remian''s family, friends, town, and generally everyone he ever met¡­

    [Look, are we fighting or not?] Remian grew tired of waiting at last and asked directly.

    [HAH! Speaking so audaciously! How bold! Strike the first blow, if you dare¡­!]

    Remian had had it. Raising one hand, pointed to the FSL and said, "Null Oxygen."

    That was the thing about magic and science. While magic seemed to bend the rules of nature, all the things that happened still largely took place in a world where natural law was established. Back when Doom and Darian were going on and on about ice as a direct counter-element to fire, Remian was thinking scientifically. When he learned null-fields, this was the first thing he thought; fire needed oxygen.

    Without oxygen, the Flaming Salamander Lord''s fire outright went ''POOF!''

    [Wha¡­?!] The FSL gaped.

    Remian stomped his foot. "Spike!"

    Instantly, a new Rocky Thorn emerged from right under the No-Longer-Flaming Salamander Lord. It skewered the big lizard right through his center, raising him fifteen feet into the air. "Fill your belly with THAT!"

    [Urghk!] dangling from the sudden stalagmite the lizard tried to struggle, but with his relatively stubby legs dangling five meters off the ground, it could only flail at the stone spear and fail to even scratch it with his stubby legs. It tried to light fire again, but Remian''s null-oxygen field was still in effect. [HUMAAAN! Ugharrrkk¡­]

    Two things the FSL used in combat; fire and his Tier-6 body. With both nullified, it was basically harmless.

    "Time!" George called.

    "Six seconds since the first spell cast!" Max announced.

    "Do you yield?" Remian asked the lizard.

    To that, the FSL snarled. [N-never y-y-yield¡­! You¡­! I will¡­ cook you¡­ medium-rare¡­]

    "Ice." Remian pointed. Maybe all that training in ice magic could come in useful after all?

    A chunk of ice froze up the FSL''s mouth. But that didn''t really stop him from continuing to rant.

    Nope. Ice training, still useless. At least, for now.

    Remian sighed, tapped the ground with his foot, and a block of stone rose up to present him a seat. He sat down, and waited as the FSL roared and gasped for air, Psionic threats flying every which way, now including the entire human race and every Wild who befriended Remian into the FSL''s must-kill list.

    But as minutes passed, the threats slowed. After about five minutes of gasping for air and bleeding out, the FSL finally said, [The Kings of the Wilds¡­ will never¡­ let you¡­ live¡­]

    [Actually, I think the Wood Emperor is giving me a decent chance for once.] Remian contradicted. [Otherwise, I wouldn''t even bother having to duel you for Lordship.]

    [Just what do you want?! My territory? There is no fertile land here for you to grow your food! There is no flat space to build your homes! There is nothing here for you!]

    [No, I just needed the Lordship to challenge a King. Then I need to establish a King''s territory for my people to live on.] Remian explained courteously.

    [You¡­ didn''t even want my territory?! Then why¡­ why me?!] The Flaming Salamander Lord asked weakly.

    [Because you were the easiest. Among all the Lords of the Wilds, you were the easiest target to take down.]

    [The¡­ easiest¡­] the Flaming Salamander Lord choked, and finally expired. Remian wasn''t sure if he bled out, died of suffocation, or whether he was angered to death.

    Or maybe a combination of all three.

    "NOW can we call it?" George asked. "Time?"

    "Twelve minutes, twenty-three seconds since the first spell was cast!" Max replied.

    "Mark it down! Everyone who bet on the ten-second fight has lost their stakes!" George declared. "Along with everyone who bet on the lizard! This fight is Remian''s win!"

    "Great. So what does that mean?" Max asked.

    "Other than that he''s now qualified to Challenge the Kings¡­" George paused. "As of this minute, the Frontier has a new Lord of the Wilds!"

    Darian applauded slowly. "Great! Now that you''ve qualified, who''s next?"

    "You mean, which King do I challenge?" Remian queried.

    "No, no, I mean¡­ who''s the next Lord and the next Challenger."

    "What? We still have to fight more Lords?" Remian stared blankly.

    "Well, yeah. You''re bringing a whole team to fight the King Challenge, right? Then they''ll all need to qualify." Darian pointed out. "Didn''t we already tell you?"

    Remian gaped. "H-how much time do we have?"

    "Two days." Darian reminded him. "In that time, everyone in your team, except for your mate, will have to qualify as Lords of the Wilds, or at least, viable Challengers."

    "Two days? Can we really make it in time?" Remian asked.

    Darian shrugged. "That''s up to you, not me. But if you want my advice¡­ I only have one word for you."

    "What''s that?"

    "Hurry."

    ***

    An hour and a half later, they were passing over the Blood Lands to the south of Rocky Thorns.

    "The land beneath us is particularly poisonous. It is ruled by the Scarlet Viper Lord, and to say that one bite from him is usually fatal to anyone beneath the level of a King is no exaggeration."

    "Pass." Song Chen decided. "Next!"

    Two hours after that, they reached the striped Highlands. "Ruled by the Thunder Hawk Lord¡­"

    "NEXT!" Song Chen didn''t even pause.

    "Bog Marshes, ruled by the Cyan Python Lord, especially famous for choking the life out of its victims¡­"

    "That''s the one!" Song Chen went for it.

    Meanwhile, Markus engaged in a massive battle against the Golden Lion Lord. Joshu went hunting the High Crown Stag Lord. Even Spike asked Shadowflash for a spar.

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    The first fight that ended that evening was Spike''s. Five seconds into the battle, he was literally flipped over on his shell and begging for mercy.

    Shadowflash laughed out loud for a five minutes straight.

    ***

    On the open field known as the Golden Savannah, Markus faced the Golden Lion King.

    The big cat yawned. [Do we really have to?]

    "This is a challenge for Lordship! Even if I can''t defeat you, I have to prove that I''m capable of being at least a Challenger!" Markus said.

    He was wrapped up in extra-heavy armor, supported by his new B-Frame with a Strength Mod equipped. George''s glaive gleamed and glistened with new runes in the fading evening light.

    [You''re seriously wanting to kill me?] the Lion Lord eyed Markus.

    "I don''t think I could, even if I tried." Markus confessed. "I just want to keep going as long as I can, and hopefully not get killed in the process."

    The Golden Lion Lord yawned. "Then why even bother. Oh well, come at me, then."

    Markus charged at the Lion Lord with all the power his body and Frame could muster. His extra-heavy armor added weight and momentum as he raised the glaive¡­

    With a sudden roar that terrified all the beasts in a kilometer''s radius, the Golden Lion Lord suddenly lunged forward and smacked at Markus with its paw.

    The impact felt like the mines of Kara-Goth had collapsed onto Markus all over again. For all the added weight of Markus'' armor and Frame, it was like a twig compared to a brick against the gigantic Golden Lion Lord. The beast was tons and tons heavier than Max, and that first, direct clash proved it painfully.

    Markus went flying back, blood spurting from his lips as he tumbled through the air and crashed in a metallic heap on the ground.

 237 Challengers

    Markus leapt to one side as the paw came crashing down again. The ground shook as it landed where he''d stood a moment ago, causing him to stumble as the Golden Lion Lord tried to paw him once more.

    Half-panicked, Markus dropped his sword and his shield, giving up on blocking entirely and focused on running. He dodged the paw, leapt aside as the ground shook from the impact, rolled as far and as fast as he could, only to fail to escape the next slam. Pieces of Frame went scattering across the field.

    Astonishingly, though the veteran legionnaire had the wind knocked clear out of him, as far as injuries went, Markus wasn''t all that hurt. Was his armor really that good? Markus had a moment of doubt before he glanced at the Golden Lion Lord and saw the big cat actually yawn.

    Looking at it from the lion''s point of view, Markus suddenly had a burst of insight and felt all the more miserable for it.

    The Golden Lion Lord was just toying with him! The big guy was just pawing at him lazily without being serious in the least! If he''d been serious, Markus would probably be dead by now, but as it was, he wasn''t even seriously injured. He was just tossed around like a cotton yarn for entertainment¡­

    In a moment, the outcome became clear as day.

    "I''m not going to win this¡­" Markus figured out immediately. "But¡­ but if the fight drags on long enough¡­ maybe I can qualify as a Challenger!"

    All he had to do was play along¡­ as the toy of a big cat. As long as the lion didn''t get too bored, he should be able to survive without losing anything important, like a limb or an eye.

    Except his dignity. That was already gone.

    [There''s a big difference between a regular Tier 6 Wild and a Lord Challenger.] The Golden Lion Lord yawned again. [Though it''s not as big a difference as the one between a Challenger and a ruling Lord.]

    The equipment Markus had could help him hold off a regular Tier 6 for some time, but a Lord Challenger was something else. An actual, ruling Lord was again something else entirely. This was a Lord who successfully defeated every Challenger out there or otherwise scared them away. Comparing the Golden Lion Lord to a regular Tier 6 was just laughable.

    Markus regretted it now. Tossed around like a plaything, pieces of Frame and armor flying every which way, all Markus could do was hope for the best.

    ***

    Joshu was similarly hoping for the best as he took aim at the High Crown Stag Lord from his hiding place in the bushes.

    There on the steppes of the Speckled Highlands, he hunted the Stag Lord and laid an ambush at his favorite drinking spot. After hours of waiting, the time had finally come; the Stag Lord was drinking, unawares, as Joshu readied his mini-ballista and took his shot.

    He did not hesitate, did not think twice about striking down the Stag Lord in such a manner. Was it dishonorable? Would it even be acceptable to the Lords that he hunted his prey like this? Joshu didn''t know, and this wasn''t the time to second-guess the plan. His entire focus was on his aim, and the heart of the Stag Lord in front of him.

    Joshu fired.

    Abruptly the Stag Lord raised his head suspiciously, sensing something. But it was too late. The bolt already hit him in the chest¡­

    And stuck. Three inches into the Stag Lord''s rib cage, the bolt halted, failing to penetrate deeply enough to reach his heart.

    It was a good shot, Joshu comforted himself. It was well-aimed, well-fired, and the ambush had been perfect. He had done everything right.

    But despite his best efforts, despite succeeding in all his endeavors, he failed to kill the High Crown Stag Lord. It was through no fault of his own. The Stag Lord was just that tough.

    "Now what?" Joshu grumbled to himself.

    The Stag Lord stared at him with reddening eyes.

    Joshu gulped, dropped the mini-ballista¡­

    And ran for his life.

    ***

    Song Chen, on the other hand, had a great many doubts and did a whole lot of second-guessing.

    "Why did I ever get myself into this?" he roared as he slammed George''s glaive into the scaled body of the Cyan Python Lord.

    Did he ever mention how much he hated marshes? Yet here he was in the middle of the Bog Marshes trying to cut a Tier 6 snake with a heavy weapon.

    While the glaive itself might have been modified and upgraded to Tier 6, there was another factor in determining whether or not it would successfully deal harm to its target; that is, the strength of the wielder striking with it.

    Song Chen himself was pretty strong by human standards. His martial prowess had attained the initial stage of Body Qi, that is, the seventh level of his family''s cultivation method. This was enough power to kill a Tier 4 Wild bare-handed. Given good equipment, he could even take down a Tier 5 Wild alone, or fend off a regular Tier 6 for a short amount of time.

    But to challenge a reigning Lord of the Wilds?

    It was ridiculous! The Cyan Python Lord hissed as the glaive chipped at his scales and then practically slid off without even drawing blood. Then the Python charged at Song Chen.

    "Get me out of here!" he yelled to the corvette that had dropped him off.

    Thankfully, he still had a hand on the rope that had lowered him, and it was still tied around his waist. Without further ado, his supporting crew hastily hauled him up.

    The Cyan Python Lord snarled, and lunged from below. Song Chen twisted, delivered as strong a mid-air kick as his martial training could manage, and managed a direct hit on the snake''s chin. While it didn''t seem to harm the Python Lord, Song Chen at least managed to kick himself a safe distance away from the snakes maw.

    Between that, the rapidly ascending corvette and the efforts of the rope-pullers, Song Chen managed to escape the reach of the Cyan Python Lord.

    "Whew." He breathed.

    [DIE!] the Python below suddenly spat out a glob of venom.

    "Dodge!" Song Chen grabbed two of his crew and pulled them down as the glob sailed overhead. "Since when did pythons have venom!?"

    Usually? They didn''t. But this particular Python Lord appeared to have unusual abilities outside of the norm of his species. That was somewhat common for higher Tier Wilds in the Wildlands.

    "You''ll pay for that!" Song Chen yelled downwards. "I''m going to come back and throw my own stuff at you and see how you like it!"

    "Are you sure¡­?" one of his crew asked.

    "It''s only fair." Song Chen grouched. "I went at him hand-to-hand, and he tried to kill me at long-ranged. In that case, I''m going to respond in kind and hit him from afar too! Call Kara-Goth and have them ready the fleet for battle. We''re going to rain fire down on this guy and see how he likes it!"

    "Isn''t that sort of¡­ dishonorable? Would you still be able to qualify as a Lord Challenger if you fight him with a whole fleet?!"

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    "Probably not. But It''ll definitely be satisfying."

    ***

    "So, basically¡­ you guys all failed?" George summarized.

    The day after Remian defeated the Flaming Salamander Lord, Markus, Joshu and Song Chen faced George with nothing to show for their efforts but broken equipment and sad faces.

    In Markus'' case, he could claim to have fought the Golden Lion Lord for the better part of an hour and came away with his limbs still intact. Or, he could just as easily say he''d been toyed with and pawed around for fun because the Golden Lion Lord was just too lazy to fight seriously.

    In Joshu''s case, he almost didn''t make it to his airship. The corvette that brought him back had suffered a good many sonic attacks from the Stag Lord and was going to be in drydock for a month.

    As for Song Chen, he was still mobilizing a strike fleet of twelve corvettes and sixty members of the Frontier Defense Force to bombard the Cyan Python Lord. Even if he didn''t win his qualification, he would at least exact his revenge!

    "But weren''t you the one who attacked him in the first place?" Markus objected.

    "Whatever!" Song Chen didn''t care. He just wanted to bomb the stuffing out of the snake.

    "This isn''t good! At this rate, Remian and Phoebe are going to have to fight the team battle on their own!" George frowned. "Unless¡­"

    "Unless¡­?" Markus prompted.

    "Hmm. I need to call Fal''Herim. We''re going to need help for this one."

    "Fal''Herim?" Markus blinked. "What''s in Fal''Herim?"

    "Mindy." George answered shortly.

 238 Mindys Figh

    "You want ME to go fight the Lords of the Wilds?" Mindy stared blankly at George. "But I''ve got airships to build! I have a 60 million lir contract to fulfill! Do you know how busy I am these days?!"

    "She really has been busy." Tim mentioned by the side. "She''s practically taken over four Industrial Districts already."

    "How many Industrial Districts do you have under your command?" George asked, in a daze.

    "As of this morning¡­ fourteen."

    "You''re really taking over all of Fal''Herim?"

    "Really."

    "Ahem!" Mindy cleared her throat. "I have to ask¡­ why me? Isn''t Song Chen and Markus and all those strong guys there with you?"

    "They already tried. Suffice to say¡­ it didn''t go well."

    "And you somehow think little old me would survive any better?"

    "Definitely. Since the last time we crashed into each other, I dare say that except for Doom and Darian, you''re the strongest human we have."

    "You''re comparing me with Doom and Darian? Are you nuts?!"

    "I''m serious! I don''t know if you''ve realized it yet, Mindy, but you''re strong. You''re really, really strong." That last bit came out as if squeezed from a tube of toothpaste. George felt his throat tight for some reason, and it was difficult to breathe.

    Tim cut in. "Why do I get the feeling that you''re not talking about emotional strength here?"

    "I''m not. I''m talking about actual, physical strength."

    "Huh." There was a short pause. Then, "Mindy? Punch this."

    "What? Why would you want me to punch a piece of wood?"

    "Humor me."

    BAM! "Ow!"

    "Tim! Are you okay? I''m sorry! I don''t know what just happened¡­"

    "Try punching that!"

    "What? That''s just an old desk¡­"

    "Humor me."

    BAM! There was the sound of wood splintering.

    "Whoa¡­" Tim let out a low whistle. "How about hitting THAT, then?"

    "Tim, that''s your carriage."

    "Yeah, I wanted to get a new one anyway."

    BOOM! There were a lot of yells and screams in the background.

    "Sorry, sorry! Just testing!" Tim shouted. "Everyone, back to work."

    There was a sudden silence.

    The silence continued until George started feeling uncomfortable. He tapped the communications crystal. "Tim? Mindy? Hello, are you guys still there?"

    "Still here." Mindy replied at last, breaking the silence.

    "But with super-strength." Tim summarized in afterthought.

    "You don''t need to look at me like that!"

    "Like what?"

    "Like I''m some sort of new factory machine!"

    "Aren''t you? Can you imagine how much faster your Wasps could be built if you took a hand in it personally?"

    "That''s not the way I was planning to build my airships!"

    "But it would be faster!"

    George cleared his throat. "Mindy? Hello? Remian needs backup when he fights the King Challenge. He''s going to be up against whole teams of King Challengers and Lord Challengers. If you don''t qualify by that time, there will be no one at his side except Phoebe."

    "Fine, fine. I''m coming." Mindy grumbled.

    ***

    As they flew south, Mindy was filled with doubts.

    Was this really okay? Was this really going to be okay? So maybe she was stronger physically, now. Having a bond with the Flame Emperor seemed to have given her more than just fire powers.

    But to fight a Lord of the Wilds, single-handedly?

    [Calm down¡­] Chirpy pecked at her cheek. [You are more powerful than you think.]

    [What do I think?] Mindy slowed her breathing. [I am an orphan abandoned in the Frontier. I''m just a little girl, not even a teenager yet.]

    [You are the builder of half a hundred airships. You are the wielder of the Flame Wing Sword. You have stood beneath the Source of Magic. You have flown across the Wildlands from north to south. And you are my Comrade.] Chirpy scoffed. [The Lords of the Wilds are already no match for you. There is no cause for you to fear them.]

    [You realize you''re telling a four foot tall girl that she has no cause to fear when she''s about to fight creatures easily fifty or a hundred times her size?]

    [So? Have a bit more confidence in yourself.]

    [Even so, I''m not too comfortable with the idea of challenging a Lord face-to-face.]

    [Then don''t. Hunt one the way the predator stalks her prey.]

    [You mean¡­ sneak attacks are okay?]

    [Hunting skill and awareness of danger are highly respected traits in Wilds.]

    [Well, then!] Mindy started rubbing her hands together. [Well, indeed!]

    ***

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    That day, calamity descended upon the High Crown Stag Lord.

    Jumping out of her airship from fifty feet high, Mindy drew her sword and turned into a ball of fire. She landed directly on top of the Stag Lord''s unsuspecting back.

    [WHAT THE¡­!] The Stag Lord was face-down in the dirt before he knew what was happening. The poor guy didn''t even know how he died.

    The guys in the airship didn''t know either. All they saw was a ball of fire landing on the stag and the victim getting fried to a crisp with a broken back.

    Of those present, only Mindy could really explain that she''d stabbed her prey through the heart from above. The rest of it was the power of her special sword and the connection she had with a certain Flame Emperor.

    It was the first time she was really fighting and using the power of that connection. Or at least, she called it a fight. If one asked the Stag Lord, he''d complain that it was merely bullying. For crying out loud, she struck him, a mere Lord of the Wilds, with power borrowed from one of the Five Emperors! How was that even fair!?

    But fair or not, the High Crown Stag Lord was killed in a single blow, and then turned into roasted venison.

    "Does that mean that you''re now the Lord of the Speckled Highlands?" George asked, hopefully.

    "I don''t have time to run this place! I have to work to do, and countries to trade with!" Mindy protested. She glanced around, and then pointed to a big owl that was staring at her, horrified, from one side. "You! Are you a Lord Challenger?"

    [I am¡­ was¡­ Left Advisor to the High Crown Stag Lord.] The owl responded hurriedly. [I am known as the Moon Owl Marquis.]

    "Yeah, well, from now on, you can run this place." Mindy waved casually as she leapt up straight toward her airship, wings of fire stretching out from her back. "Be good, now! I''ll come back and check on you soon!"

    [Yes, my lady¡­!] the new Moon Owl Lord said hurriedly.

    ***

    As they headed back with two Lord-level carcasses in their hold, Mindy''s airship met a whole fleet of FDF Corvettes armed to the teeth with runic ballistae and magi. Song Chen was in the lead ship.

    "Where are all you guys going?" Mindy called as they stopped to greet them.

    "We''re going to the Bog Marshes." Song Chen told her. "It''s time for some payback!"

    "Be careful out there!" Mindy waved, as they separated.

    "Will do!"

 239 Snake Hun

    "Target spotted!"

    "Ready all ballistae!" Song Chen ordered. "Range?"

    "Three kilometers!"

    "Keep me updated!" Song Chen studied the Cyan Python Lord through his spyglass. "Load explosive bolts!"

    "Explosive bolts!" the order was echoed from ship to ship. FDF personnel set bolts inscribed with explosive runes into the ballistae.

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    This was going to be an expensive affair. Explosive bolts, unlike those fitted with runes like Penetration or Impact, were one-use items. Once they hit their targets, they would explode and the bolts themselves would be shattered into countless shards. Song Chen hesitated for a moment, wondering if all this was going to be worth the cost, but George had been quite clear; spare no expense to take down the Cyan Python Lord.

    "Fire at five hundred meters!" Song Chen barked.

    "That close, sir? But the range of our ballistae can easily hit it from thrice the distance!"

    "That close! Those scales on that snake are strong! We need to get in closer, hit it with as much kinetic force as we can muster!"

    "Then¡­ should we go even closer sir?"

    "No, it can spit venom. We want to hit it as hard as we can while still being safely out of its range."

    "And if it chases us, sir?"

    "Kite it! We''re in airships, for crying out loud! Just fly straight upwards! Under no circumstances are you ever to put your ship, your crew, and yourself at risk in this operation!"

    The Cyan Python Lord seemed to notice them as they neared it. The huge snake reared up, hissing, eyes glowering at Song Chen.

    "Hey, hissy! Remember me?!" Song Chen raised his hand. "I''ve got a present for you!"

    There was a short, dubious silence. Song Chen turned around to see his entire crew looking at him sideways.

    "What are you waiting for?" Song Chen barked, feeling a bit embarrassed. "FIRE!"

    "Fire!!" yells rang out through the fleet, and then twelve ballistae launched explosive bolts into the body of the Cyan Python Lord.

    The explosions rang out in rapid succession, combined with a roar of fury and pain from the Python. Globs of venom went soaring upwards, but the FDF Corvettes all scrambled for altitude and managed to get out of range in time.

    "How high up are we?" Song Chen asked, once he saw those globs failing to reach them.

    "Six hundred and thirty meters!"

    "Good! Stay at this altitude! Ready second barrage!"

    "Another one, sir?"

    "Another one! Load explosive bolts!" Song Chen grimaced even as he said it. This attack was definitely going to cost.

    The ground shook. Smoke filled the air, almost obscuring the bleeding and torn body of the Cyan Python Lord. Its previously blue-ish scales now dripped red.

    "Is that enough, sir?" his crew asked.

    Song Chen shook his head. "Once more. Explosive bolts."

    Now even the crew had grimaces on. Everyone had at least some idea of how much explosive bolts cost, along with the fact that they could not be re-used.

    Still, they rained fire down on the snake.

    The snake roared at them, but it was visibly weakened now. Song Chen finally nodded. "Okay. It''s time. Load Penetrating Bolts!"

    "Seriously? On top of everything else¡­?" His crew gaped.

    "Fire!" Song Chen ordered. "Keep reloading Penetrating Bolts and fire at will! Don''t stop until I say so!"

    There were a lot more doubtful looks cast his way then, but the FDF did as he ordered. Bolt after bolt lanced down, spearing the snake until it began to resemble a hedgehog, and finally, it stopped moving entirely, just laying there as bolt after bolt nailed into it from above.

    "Stop!" Song Chen ordered at last. The FDF breathed a sigh of relief.

    "It''s finally over¡­" one of them said.

    "Ready the cocktails." Song Chen said, then.

    Jaws dropped. "STILL going to bomb it? With firebombs, no less?!"

    "Ready!" Song Chen raised a hand.

    Hurriedly, his troops scrambled to prepare the Molotov cocktails while Song Chen waited with his hand still upraised.

    "Rain fire!" Song Chen barked.

    Bottles of flaming alcohol rained down from the sky onto the already badly impaled and burnt snake.

    The python caught fire. It roared, squirmed, thrashed around in pain.

    "See? That''s why I said it wasn''t enough. That thing can still move!" Song Chen declared.

    To that, his crew could only shake their heads wordlessly.

    "Do we return now, sir?" one guy asked.

    "Return?" Song Chen blinked. "We''re just getting started."

    "Then what shall we do now, sir?"

    "Now, we wait." Song Chen said, eyes narrowing at the snake.

    They waited as the oversized barbecue went on below. The flames crackled on, and smoke rose up, and the crew of the airships could smell roasted meat¡­

    "Okay, wait for me. I''m going down there." Song Chen said, picking up George''s glaive.

    The rest of the operation was really more like butchery than battle. With most of its scales practically blown off, the snake was a lot easier to cut into with the glaive. Even so, given the size of the snake''s neck, Song Chen took quite some time to behead the creature.

    "Bring the carcass back!" Song Chen ordered. "We could use the scales and the meat. Some of it might be overcooked, but perhaps our wolfcat friends wouldn''t mind."

    ***

    Something similar happened to Mindy''s group on the way back.

    Out of the blue, Tim said, "Can you drop me off there and wait for me for about an hour?"

    "What? Why?" Mindy blinked.

    "Just trust me. I have an idea." Tim grinned.

    They set him down at the Blood Lands, then blinked as he sank into the ground.

    "Tim? Tim? Where are you? Hello?" Mindy called.

    But there was no response.

    "Fine! One hour! After that, we''re leaving!" Mindy grouched.

    Ten minutes later, a shady figure burst out of the ground right next to the Scarlet Viper Lord and stabbed it in the left eye.

    There was a powerful explosion, and then blood and pieces of snake eye went flying every which way.

    The Scarlet Viper Lord roared and went berserk, but by then, the shady figure had already sank back into the ground.

    "What was that?!" Mindy gaped.

    Tim would have to explain it later, but the short story was, he''d simply used some Sneaky Earth Magic and ambushed the napping Scarlet Viper Lord with a rather powerful sword. It was a rapier popularly known as Starburst, about a meter in length and equipped with high level explosive runes. Using it cost a whole blue mana crystal, which, in today''s prices, was expensive enough to make even Tim wince.

    Nevertheless, he paid the price not once, but twice. Ten minutes after the first attack, after a whole lot of thrashing around, the Scarlet Viper Lord stopped for a break, and suddenly lost his other eye to the same trick.

    This time the thrashing and roaring went on for half an hour, but at this point the Scarlet Viper was already blinded. Tim simply waited out the storm until at last, the big snake fell to the ground exhausted, bleeding from both eyeholes, miserable and distraught.

    Tim put it out of its misery with a direct thrust deep into the brain, straight through the left eye hole. For the third time, the explosive runes lit up.

    From then on, the Blood Lands belonged to Tim, the newest Lord of the Wilds.

 240 The Kings Challenge

    "Song Chen is disqualified." Doom said.

    "Hello to you too." Remian grimaced.

    They met at the border of the Golden Savannah and the Blood Lands. To the east, there were trees and marshlands. To the west, it was open grassland as far as the eye could see. To the south, the Speckled Highlands, hilly terrain. To the north, Craggy Falls, where a broken-looking cliff supported a towering waterfall.

    Remian, George, Song Chen, Mindy and Tim arrived on the Red Fang. Doom and Darian were already there, along with several hulking figures, and an especially intimidating dragon.

    "Is that¡­ Kor''ag-dras?" Remian stared.

    "No, that''s Tor''na-dras. Madame Tornado herself. But she is Kor''ag-dras'' granddaughter and she is here today to represent her grandfather in officiating this event." Darian explained. "She is one of the Elders of Dragon Lake. So unless you want a Tier 7 Elder Dragon to wipe out everything you have and care about, treat her with respect."

    "Is she¡­ a King of the Wilds?" Mindy asked.

    "She could easily be one, but she doesn''t want to leave Dragon Lake. That''s basically the same for the other dragons."

    Meanwhile, Song Chen had a dark look on his face. "What about Tim? He ambushed the Viper Lord too!"

    "He did so in single combat, with only his sword. The same goes for Mindy. The Lords and the Kings and Tor''na-dras all acknowledge them. But you shot down the Python Lord with a fleet of airships and an army. The Wilds do not acknowledge you."

    "Fine. I wasn''t a fan of this big fight anyway." Song Chen grumbled, and stalked off. "I''ll be watching from the Red Fang, with a ballista ready to fire if there''s any cheating on their side."

    "You do that." Doom snorted.

    "And if there''s cheating on ours?" Tim asked, curiously.

    "Do you see that dragon?"

    As if it was a signal, Tor''na-dras roared to the sky, and a pillar of purplish Dragon Fire as thick as a Sky Tree surged into the clouds. It cleared a huge open space above, as if the clouds themselves were running for their lives.

    [We shall begin.] Tor''na-dras announced.

    [But¡­ but two of the Challengers are not here yet! The Golden Lion Lord and the Scarlet Viper Lord¡­]

    [The Golden Lion Lord will not be coming.] the Elder Dragon said shortly. [Star Wolf King! I understand that you challenge for the north-east edge?]

    Out stepped an older, grizzled wolf that made Carrie look like a puppy. There was a patch of white fur on his forehead roughly shaped like a five-pointed star. [I challenge for the lands of the Emerald Woods all the way to the Misty Valley.]

    [I challenge the Star Wolf King!] a monstrously large baboon with blood-red fangs leapt up.

    [I challenge the Star Wolf King!] a Pegasus with lightning and fog crackling around its feet stepped out.

    Tor''na-dras nodded. [Also, a challenge has been reserved by the Scarlet Viper Lord, who is late...]

    The Star Wolf King hesitated. [Actually, the Scarlet Viper Lord¡­ won''t be making it.]

    [Oh? Why is that?]

    [A Lord Challenger has killed him.]

    There was a short pause. [Who then rules the Blood Lands?]

    "I do." Tim said, raising his hand.

    [Do you seek to challenge for the North-East Edge Region?] Tor''na-dras eyed him.

    Tim glanced at Remian. "Which region are we fighting for, exactly?"

    Remian glanced at Darian.

    Darian cleared his throat. "The humans seek to challenge for the Eastern Edge, from the Rocky Thorns to the Bog Marshes."

    That caused a stir.

    [That is a very big region.] Tor''na-dras narrowed her eyes at them. [Truly, the greed of humans know no bounds.]

    "But it is a legal challenge, and must be met in battle." Doom cut in. "If you are angered by it, express that anger in combat."

    [I challenge the humans!] a roar rose up from a lean, fierce lioness.

    [I challenge the humans!] a sharp-eyed hawk announced.

    [I challenge the humans!] a black, heavy gorilla thumped his chest repeatedly.

    [I challenge the humans!] a long-headed lizard hissed.

    [I challenge the humans!] a big blue snake added.

    "Is that¡­ a Cyan Python?" Tim asked Darian.

    "It is. In fact, it''s the brother of the one Song Chen killed, and he really, really doesn''t like us." Darian explained.

    Two other territories were contended for. Other challengers made their bids.

    [We will begin with the Challenge for the Eastern Edge Region, having four territories; the Rocky Thorns, the Blood Lands, the Striped Highlands and the Bog Marshes.]

    "Not the Speckled Highlands?" Mindy whispered.

    "No, that''s a whole separate matter." Darian whispered back. "That''s yours as a Lord, regardless of whether we win this Challenge. The Speckled Highlands is part of the region with Three Pines and Dragon Lake. We do NOT want to challenge for Dragon Lake."

    "I thought we were going for the region with Kara-Goth in it." Mindy added.

    "There''s no need. The Star Wolf King will take care of that. But we still need a valid kingship, and that''s the region where we''ve already taken three Lords down. That means, less Challengers for us to face."

    "There''s still five Challengers, though."

    "Only because we''re humans. Better five than eight."

    ***

    The lizard lord moved first.

    [The Flame Salamander Lord was my friend¡­!] he hissed. [You will pay for his suffering!!]

    "Actually, he didn''t suffer very long." Remian tried to explain.

    Unfortunately, that only seemed to trigger the lizard''s aggression. With a hissed command, three Lord Challenger reptiles leapt out at Remian''s group.

    There was no time to plan, no time to get into formation or any such thing. In an instant, a toothy lizard was jumping toward Mindy, a red-striped one was lashing a tail at Tim, and an oversized toad filled with boils flicked its tongue out at Remian.

    "Ice kitchen sink!" Remian instantly unleashed his special move, and a big chunk of ice slammed down on the frog from above. Seeing it pinned down, at least for now, Remian instantly got to work saving Mindy. "Giant Left Shoe of Ice!"

    BAM! A huge ice boot slammed down on the lizard before it could lay a single talon on Mindy.

    "Uh¡­" Mindy paused, her hand on her sword''s hilt, still not drawn yet. "Thanks, I guess? But what about Tim?"

    Remian glanced at Tim artfully dodging the lizard''s tail repeatedly. "Huh. I''ve already used the sink and the left shoe¡­"

    "So?" Mindy prompted.

    She had a point, he realized. Remian focused on the lizard attacking Tim. "Giant Right Shoe of Ice!"

    BOOM! Another ice boot hammered down on the lizard chasing Tim.

    The Lizard King Challenger stared at Remian. [Release them! Release them at once!]

    "Oh? You actually care about them? Are they relatives?" Remian blinked. "Well, then¡­"

    He raised the left boot off the lizard previously after Mindy.

    Instantly, the lizard snarled and leapt to the attack.

    "Left shoe!" Remian barked.

    POW! The ice boot descended with blinding speed. This time it fell with at least twice the speed and force of the previous time.

    "Phuark!" the lizard was flattened underneath the boot.

    [How DARE you! I will have your heads for this! Your whole family will..]

    "Threatening me, now?" Remian glanced at the other lizard and said, "Right shoe!"

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    The ice boot over the lizard after Tim rose up and even more swiftly crashed down again.

    "Uuwaaaakkk¡­" the lizard after Tim went splat.

    [YOUUUU!!!!] the Lizard King Challenger roared.

    Remian wasn''t done. "Left shoe!"

    BAM! "Pheeeeek¡­"

    "Right shoe!"

    POW! "Gufuooo¡­"

    "Left!"

    BOOM! "Ugmuuu¡­."

    "Right!"

    Crash! "Bhueeek¡­"

    "Left! Right! Left! Right! Left! Right! Center!!"

    This time, even the frog got squished. [Whyyy?! It''s not fair¡­!]

    It really wasn''t. The ones on the left and right had so many stomps, while the center only had two. So¡­

    "Center! Center, center, center, center, center¡­"

    [DIEEE!!!] the Lizard King Challenger couldn''t hold back any more and charged in to attack directly.

 241 Lizard Challenge

    The King Challenger Lizard was charging directly at him, bypassing the iced frog on the way.

    "Rise!" Remian stomped his foot on the ground.

    An earth spike reminiscent of the Rocky Thorns shot out of the ground and impaled the Lizard King Challenger through the throat.

    "Null oxygen field!" Remian added, for good measure.

    This lizard wasn''t using fire, but it still needed oxygen to breathe, so¡­

    The roaring suddenly stopped abruptly, as the Lizard King Challenger slammed its tail against the rock spike, and managed to free itself.

    "Earth Spike!" Remian stomped his foot on the ground again. "Rise!"

    This one stabbed the lizard through the center, like the time he''d speared the Flame Salamander Lord¡­

    But this was no ordinary Lord. This was a lizard five times bigger and many times stronger and smarter. Despite suffocating from a lack of air, and being utterly furious, it still had the presence of mind to free itself by wriggling to angle its body on the spike until it could claw and swipe at it with its tail¡­

    Tim suddenly lunged, stabbing his rapier out at the tail just after it swiped the spike. The lizard freed itself in that moment, falling to the ground¡­

    Tim''s sword ignited its runes. There was a sharp explosion and then the lizard''s tail fell off!

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    "Wha¡­?" Mindy stared.

    "Some lizards do that." Darian explained to her. "Their tails drop off as a defense mechanism. It was designed to do that, so even though Tim''s stab wasn''t all that powerful, it only needed to trigger that mechanism¡­"

    "Hey! My sword is the most powerful weapon in Fal''Herim''s underground!" Tim protested, dodging a lively jumping lizard tail more than thirty times his size. It was reminiscent of a lost lumberjack trying to dodge falling trees.

    "Bigger Earth Spike!" Remian called. "RISE!"

    This time, a spike three times bigger than the previous one stabbed the lizard in the lower guts, between both legs.

    "Rise!" Remian called again. Another spike lanced through the lizard''s chest, effectively hanging it like a hammock between the two newest, largest spikes.

    Tim took another stab at the lizard, this time aiming for the wound in its stomach that was dangling between the two spikes. There was another flash and an explosion, and Tim dashed away to avoid the spurting blood as much as he could.

    But despite its wounds, despite having almost no breath left, the lizard roared, summoned its strength and with a burst of power, broke free of both spikes and charged at Remian, completely ignoring Tim.

    Tim raised his rapier once more, wanting to take the opportunity to strike at it from behind, looking for a weakness, an opening, but the only hole in the armor that he could see was the location where the lizard''s tail fell off¡­

    Mindy''s face turned red. "Tim, if you put your sword there, I am NEVER going to talk to you again!"

    "But¡­"

    "No buts! And no pun intended!" Mindy yelled.

    Darian shook his head wordlessly as the oversized lizard barreled towards his brother.

    "Rise!" Remian coughed as another spike poked at the big lizard. His face was pale and his breathing was coarse, but he kept on. "Rise! Rise! Rise!"

    The lizard broke through the spikes one after the other in rapid succession, and then took a bite at Remian.

    "Drop!" Remian''s next move was the opposite of what he''d been doing. Instead of raising the ground, he lowered it, and himself, at a startling pace. This effectively dodged the bite and left Remian in a hole roughly six feet in the ground. [Guys, I might be six feet in the ground, but I''m not dead! DO NOT bury me!]

    "Aww." Doom put away a shovel formed of pure Psionic energy.

    "Hang on just a bit more! It''s almost down!" Mindy said, seeing the lizard claw at Remian while choking on a lack of oxygen. She raised her hands. Wings of fire erupted from her shoulders. "Sunstroke!"

    Sudden bright light and a wave of heat flared over the lizard. The lizard stumbled back, dizzy, shaking its head and trying to clear it, but visibly getting weaker by the second. It turned and glared at Mindy.

    Mindy leapt up, wings flapping as she rose fifty feet, a hundred feet, two hundred¡­

    Darian squinted upwards. "Nope. Not going to be able to reach her from where you are. Sorry, lizzie, it looks like you''re out of luck, out of breath, and out of strength. You may as well quit."

    The lizard fell over, twitching and glaring, but finally said, [I concede.]

    [The first challenge for the Eastern Edge Region has been won by the humans.] Tor''na-dras announced. [You have an hour to rest. Star Wolf King, you''re up!]

    [Who''s first?] the Star Wolf King asked, as he stepped out.

    Mindy and Phoebe tugged Remian out of his hole and withdrew with Tim. The wolfcats took the field. Alongside the Star Wolf King were five Lords and Lord Challengers; Shadowflash, Lockjaw, Bright, Darter and Brim.

    Against them were a bunch of baboons, six of them in total, all of them upper Tier-6 or Lords.

    Phoebe treated Remian while the wolfcats and the monkeys battled.

    "Who''s up next?" Remian heaved while Phoebe laid hands glowing with light on his chest.

    "The snakes, I think." Tim mentioned.

    "Don''t speak. Rest." Phoebe told Remian. "You overdid it just now. Maybe you should sit out the next fight."

    "But¡­"

    "Easy, take it easy." Tim patted his shoulder. "There are plenty of fights to come. It won''t do for you to faint in the middle of the second bout. Take some time to recover and save your strength for later."

    Remian groaned. "Is there no way to get Song Chen or Markus in¡­?"

    "Song Chen''s already disgraced and Markus is too embarrassed to come out and play." Darian pointed out. "You''ll have to make do with the people you have here."

    "But he can''t last like this! That was only one fight, and there are four more waiting¡­" Phoebe protested. "It''s unfair! Their forces will be fresh while ours would be exhausted! They should give him more time to rest¡­"

    "Unfairness was original design." Doom cut in. "A King needs to be strong enough to dominate several Lords at the same time. That''s the whole point."

    "We can manage without him for one round. That should give him more time." Tim suggested. "I mean¡­ snakes can''t fly, but Mindy can."

    "That''s basically offering you and Phoebe up on a silver platter." Darian shook his head.

    "Actually, I was hoping to let Phoebe sit the next one out too. Otherwise, I''m afraid she''d just get eaten." Tim coughed. "I have some skill with earth magic, so I should be able to hide underground until Mindy fries them from above."

    "That could take some time." Mindy grimaced. "I do seem to have some control over fire now, but it''s all still very new to me, and I don''t have a solid grasp over it yet¡­"

    "Well, there''s no time for you to practice any more. You''ll just have to practice on the snakes." Darian shrugged.

    "There''s never enough time for anything! I still have hundreds of airships to build¡­" Mindy grumbled.

    "I could bring Har''es-dras to come help you out a bit, tomorrow." Darian offered. "In exchange for our fill of prime beef."

    Mindy eyed him sideways. "Just how much beef are we talking about?"

    "Oh¡­ a hundred cows or oxen will do."

    "Har''es-dras eats that much?"

    "Hey, he''s a growing adolescent! As am I!"

    "You''re not even thirteen yet."

    "Neither are you!"

 242 Chain of Challenges

    Out on the battlefield, three monkeys were wrestling two wolfcats to the ground, Shadowflash was nipping at them from the flanks, while the Star Wolf King and the King Challenger Baboon were engaged in a lunging, snapping melee. One more wolfcat was already down and badly injured; three monkeys and a second wolfcat had withdrawn with less serious injuries.

    Abruptly Shadowflash changed his targets and scored a solid bite on the hamstrings of the Baboon King Challenger. The monkey stumbled; the Star Wolf King immediately pounced on the opportunity and clawed the throat of the Baboon Challenger as quick as a thought.

    [Halt!] Tor''na-dras roared. [The Star Wolf King wins the challenge! Everyone withdraw and recover!]

    Big plant-types sporting vines and flowers moved to the challengers, treating their injuries and stopping even the bleeding from the baboon''s throat.

    "Hey! How come we don''t have healers like that?!" Tim protested.

    "You have your own healer. Just make do with it." Darian advised.

    "You keep saying that! But there''s really very little to make do with, here!" Tim grouched.

    Darian simply nodded in agreement wordlessly.

    The challenges for the third and fourth regions went by very quickly. In half an hour, both regions were settled, and the winners won their kingdoms. Yet even after those regions were won, a lot of the Wilds stayed to watch the Eastern Edge and the North-East Edge Regions fought for.

    Or, simply put, they stuck around to watch the humans get beaten to pulp.

    Remian, by that time, had already fallen asleep. Mindy looked at him and hesitated. Phoebe held a finger to her lips and shook her head slowly. In a low voice, she said, "Don''t wake him. Let him rest a while more."

    "So¡­ it''s really going to be just me and Tim, then?"

    Slowly, Phoebe nodded.

    ***

    In the second fight for the Eastern Edge Region, Mindy firebombed the lioness and her pride from above. They snarled, and clawed, but except for a particular green lioness'' sonic blasts, none of their attacks could even reach her.

    As for that green lioness, Mindy charged down with her Flame Wing Sword aimed for her head. The lioness blasted Mindy with a sonic stream, but Mindy pushed her way through with her flame wings and finally hammered the lioness'' head with her sword.

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    The green lioness went down. The other oversized cats all lunged at Mindy from every side, but she zipped back into the sky and went on bombarding them from above.

    Unable to reach her and getting fried in the process, the lions gave up before they lost all their fur.

    ***

    The Star Wolf King went into battle with just three subordinates on his second round. Shadowflash, Lockjaw and Bright battled flying horses and land-bound unicorns to a standstill. At last, four horse-types conceded.

    By that time, Lockjaw and Bright had already withdrawn, leaving only the Star Wolf King and Shadowflash on the field, both injured but victorious. The North-East Edge Region was theirs.

    ***

    On the third bout, Mindy acted as a diversion while Tim ambushed the black gorillas from below. He tunneled under them, and all of them could feel the vibrations of his tunneling, but nobody could say for sure where he was.

    Then, all of a sudden, he burst out of the side of a hill and stabbed one gorilla in the armpit. The explosion nearly took the monkey''s arm off, before Tim himself slipped back underground and out of sight.

    [Get him!] the gorilla howled. [I don''t care how or what it takes! WHACK him!]

    This led to what looked like a massive whack-a-mole where all the gorillas were players and nobody could tell for sure where their target actually was. They feverishly blasted the ground until it was holy enough to go to church, and still couldn''t find him.

    Even so, he hit them when they least expected it. One by one, they fell or withdrew, until only their leader was left, and Mindy fried the last one with multiple fireballs from far above.

    By the end of the third fight, both Tim and Mindy were exhausted and barely able to walk. They flopped down for a rest just in time to hear Tor''na-dras say, [Having no other Challenges today, the next fight will, again, be over the Eastern Edge Region!]

    To that, both Tim and Mindy let out groans.

    "Remian? Are you up yet?" Phoebe asked, seeing no other options.

    "Yeah. I''m up." Remian tugged himself up, and went to battle.

    ***

    The fourth fight was against the Thunder Hawk Lord, who ruled the Striped Highlands.

    The Thunder Hawk Lord immediately took to the skies with his entire crew. [Give up, human! You can''t reach us up here!]

    Remian didn''t bother arguing. Instead, what he said was, "Blizzard!"

    Dark clouds filled the sky. Snow began to fall.

    [You think a little cold is going to stop us?] the Thunder Hawk Lord scoffed and went into a formation with his crew.

    "Let''s find out." Remian suggested, and snapped his fingers. "Flash Freeze!"

    Abrupt silence fell, along with four frozen birds bigger than his house.

    There was a short, wordless pause.

    [Anything more to say?] Tor''na-dras asked the Thunder Hawk Lord.

    [C-c-c-cold¡­!] was the bird''s only response.

    [Very well. I hereby judge that the Fourth Challenge is won by the humans!] Tor''na-dras announced. [This leaves only the last fight of the day, the Fifth Challenge for the Eastern Edge Region! Humans, you have five minutes to get ready!]

    "Five minutes?!" Mindy protested. "That''s not enough time! We haven''t even been able to rest!"

    [Blame that on your friend for finishing his fight too quickly.] the Elder Dragon snorted. [We have taken enough time today! Let us be done with it!]

    ***

    "Can we really manage?" Mindy asked, still breathing hard.

    "We have to. It''s just one last fight." Tim grimaced, recharging his sword runes with a yellow mana crystal.

    "One more fight. Just one more fight." Mindy drew herself up. "I''m not ready, but we don''t have any more time. Let''s do this."

    "Let''s do this." Tim breathed.

    Remian just coughed, and wobbled as he turned around to return to the battlefield.

    ***

    The last fight was against the brother of the old Cyan Python Lord.

    [Humaans! You will pay for what you did to my brother!!] the new Python Lord hissed.

    [Pay! Pay! Pay!] his three subordinates hissed in chorus.

    [You will suffer!]

    [Suffer! Suffer! Suffer!]

    [You will die!]

    [Die! Die! Die!]

    [Stop copying me!]

    [Copying! Copying¡­ eh?!]

    Whack! Before the fight even started the three subordinates took direct injuries to the heads inflicted by none other than their superior.

    Mindy also gave them injuries to the head. She dropped a rain of fireballs on them from a hundred feet above ground, just out of the range of their spitting venom.

    Meanwhile, Tim disappeared underground. They could feel tremors and they knew he was tunneling around, but they couldn''t figure out where.

    [Get down here!] the lead serpent roared.

    "No, thanks. Here, have another fireball." Mindy replied politely and dropped an extra-large one on his head. It nearly went down his open mouth.

    Afterwards, the lead serpent shut up, though the other three kept spewing threats.

    Tim decided to stop that, so he jumped out from the ground and stabbed one right in the mouth.

    BOOM! One snake went down with smoke rising from its head. The other two learned to shut up very quickly.

    BAM! A second serpent retaliated, slamming its head into Tim at point-blank range. There was a sound of cracking bones and a yelp from Tim as he went flying across the field.

    "YOU!" Mindy descended in fury, slamming her sword into the second serpent''s head with full-force. It tried to dodge and only partially succeeded. The sword cut deep into its neck and diagonally down its back, causing a great deal of blood to seep into the ground.

    The third snake whipped its tail into Mindy''s side, so that she went sprawling into the dirt.

    "Light!" Remian threw up a light barrier, but the third serpent just crushed it with its massive body. "Earth Spike!"

    The third serpent dodged.

    "Flash freeze!" Remian froze the snake, but without the blizzard for a setting, the power of the flash freeze was a lot lower than the one that took down the birds. "Ice boots, both together!"

    BAM! Left shoe and right shoes together stomped on the third serpent. The snake went down, but so did Remian.

    With all three fighters down, and three snakes down, this left only the Python King Challenger and Phoebe facing each other on the field.

    [Very well!] the Python Lord finally drew himself up smugly. [You have defeated my seconds! Now you can fight me!]

    To that, Phoebe''s only response was to lose all the color in her face. She glanced at Remian, Tim, and Phoebe, filling her hand with healing light, but it was obvious that they were in no shape to fight and even if she tried to heal them, they just didn''t have time.

    Seeing her dilemma, the Python Lord roared with laughter. [Stupid humans! After all your efforts, all your hard work, in the end, it will all only benefit me! How does it feel, to flag and fail at the very, very last minute, at the very edge of success¡­ if only there wasn''t me standing in your way!]

    The hissing laughter filled the sky. The Wilds cheering for someone, anyone fighting the human, let out approving roars. Doom looked over the cacophony and finally shook his head, sighing. "What a mess."

    To that, Darian nodded. "Yeah. A total mess."

    Doom eyed him glumly. Darian just raised an eyebrow in response. Doom sighed again.

    At last, Darian stepped out, and put a hand on Phoebe''s shoulder.

    "What¡­ what should I do?" Phoebe asked, numbly.

    "Take care of my brother." Darian advised. "Withdraw."

    "But¡­ but the fight¡­" Phoebe spluttered.

    Darian laid a finger on her lips, and smiled.

    Then, he turned to the huge snake.

    "Very well. You have defeated my seconds! Now, you can fight me!"

 243 Kingship

    The snake charged.

    Darian darted to one side, slamming his fist out at the snake as it passed.

    [You think your bare hand can hurt me¡­?] As quick as a thought, the snake''s scorn burst out psionically.

    Sudden blue light flared in Darian''s palm.

    [Uoogh!] the snake wasn''t even half-done charging forward yet when all this happened and its thought broadcast went into an incoherent scream of pain. Blood spurted as Darian zipped away fast enough to leave afterimages before the snake could retaliate. [Human¡­! HUMAAAAN!!]

    "Wha¡­?" Remian and Mindy said the exact same thing with the exact same baffled look on their faces.

    Darian, who had nothing in his hand before, now seemed to have an enormous blazing sword of blue light extended from his wrist. It covered his fist, and extended no less than five feet out, spread one foot thick.

    [What is that?] Tim''s question flickered across in a thought-burst. [It''s not magic.]

    [Second Stage Psi-Blade.] Doom explained. The concept of it was that it was simply a sword made of light. The First Stage Psi-Blade was only semi-tangible and usually didn''t retain a form very well. The Second Stage, like Darian''s, was totally solid. As for its size, that was simply a reflection of choice on Darian''s part. Something that big would be weightless, and powerful, but would prove quite costly on Darian''s Psionic power.

    [Forget ''totally solid'', for it to be able to pierce through the scales of a Tier 6 King Challenger is really¡­] Remian shook his head wordlessly.

    [It''s a waste, that''s what it is.] Doom shook his head. [A direct Psionic attack to the snake''s mind would have been much more effective and efficient. There was no need to physically attack its body.]

    [Isn''t this a duel? It''s supposed to be a brawl, right?] Tim pointed out.

    [There are other Kings who fought challenges using pure psionics. The Prism Butterfly King, for example, did not dirty a single foot.]

    [Could have told me that earlier!] Darian barked, while dodging the Snake''s snapping fangs. A sudden shimmer in the air rippled, and then the Snake froze.

    Abruptly, it turned around with a vicious snarl, snapping at the empty air. It twisted; it rose; it fell; it surged round and round and into loop of its own making¡­

    Remian, Mindy, Tim and Phoebe blinked in unison as they watched the Snake Challenger basically tie itself into a knot. [Ehhhh¡­?]

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    [Urghk!] the snake suddenly choked, half-strangled by its own coils.

    [See? That works so much better.] Doom nodded in satisfaction.

    [How did¡­?] Mindy stared. [I mean¡­ I thought the Kings of the Wilds were strong psionically.]

    [Strength is one thing. Wisdom is something else.] Doom snorted. [For all its brute force, that Snake proved remarkably easy to trick.]

    [What did you do? What did you trick it with?] Mindy asked Darian.

    [Nothing much. It already thought itself vastly superior to me, and that I was a weak puny human who would only flee from it, so¡­] Darian shrugged. [I used that. It simply believed what it wanted to believe. Trying to convince it of something it refuses to believe would have been extremely hard. Letting it deceive itself, though, was very easy.]

    [I guess Wilds are like that?] Tim pondered.

    [Humans are worse.] Doom snorted. [They would deceive themselves even without Psionic illusions.]

    Darian meanwhile, had gone over to the snake and asked, [Do you concede?]

    [I''ll tear you apart!] the Snake hissed.

    Darian stabbed it. [Are you sure?]

    [I''ll make you bleed!!]

    He stabbed it again. [Really, really sure?]

    The snake howled, and Darian went on stabbing, and stabbing, until at last, there was only silence. The Snake glared at him balefully, while Darian asked again, [Now are you ready to concede?]

    This time, there was no answer. The Snake didn''t make a sound.

    [Can I take silence as assent?] Darian asked Tor''na-dras.

    Tor''na-dras observed the knotted snake and considered. [I believe so. I''m calling it. The humans have won the Eastern Edge Region.]

    Rather expectedly, there was no cheering from the Wilds or anyone else for that matter.

    Thinking that there should be at least someone cheering, Tim acted.

    "Yay." He said tiredly, and slumped over, exhausted.

    ***

    As far as the Wilds were concerned, the King of the Eastern Edge Region was Darian. As for the North-Eastern Edge, the Star Wolf King had won it as his territory.

    From then on, the matter of humans living on their turf was entirely the business of these two Kings.

    "So, what''s the plan for your territory, your majesty?" Mindy asked Darian.

    Darian shivered. "Please don''t call me that!"

    Remian barked a laugh from where he lay recovering in bed. "Were you planning to seize power from the start?"

    "No, and I still don''t." Darian refuted. "I was just standing in to win the fight. You can do whatever."

    Doom cleared his throat. "Actually, he can''t. The Wilds are watching your every move. I''m afraid you''ll have to be at least a bit involved in the running of this Region."

    "What? But I''m busy enough as it is!" Darian protested.

    George picked up Darian''s hand and shook it. "Welcome to my life."

    ***

    In the following two days, Darian really understood what George meant.

    The Eastern Edge Region was the area between the Speckled Highlands and the Sea. It included the Rocky Thorns, the Blood Lands, the Striped Highlands, and the Bog Marshes. At least three hundred species of Wilds lived in those five areas, and those were only the ones that the Lords reported.

    Speaking of Lords, almost all the Lords of those areas were either dead or leaving immediately.

    The sole exception was the Thunder Hawk Lord. While wounded from the King''s Challenge, he adamantly refused to give up on his territory and remained the Lord of the Striped Highlands. While cooperative, he was not in the least cordial. His responses were curt and utilitarian. He promised to leave the humans alone, within reason, a promise which included his family and immediate subordinates, but gave no guarantee that the Wilds living on his turf would do the same.

    Also, there was an issue of Tribute. Darian instantly waived all the half-rotting carcasses the five Territories could offer, but he requested for valuable herbs and fruit.

    [He''s a Herbivore Lord.] the Thunder Hawk Lord snorted, and flew off before anyone else could add on more orders.

    As for the other Wilds¡­ they mostly just wanted to be left alone, and Darian thought that was just fine. All he did with them was to introduce them to their new Lords.

    ***

    [Remian¡­? What is a Remian? Is he a lizard?] the Salamanders of Rocky Thorns asked.

    [No, he is my brother.] Darian explained to them.

    [A monkey, then.] One Salamander Elder nodded sagely.

    [No, no, he''s human!] Darian tried to differentiate.

    [Does he eat bananas?]

    [Sometimes.]

    [He''s a monkey.] the Salamander Elder confidently told his kin.

    ***

    The Vipers of the Blood Lands were far less congenial. [What is this¡­ Tim? We do not acknowledge a human! We Challenge him for the Lordship!]

    Tim sighed. "Here we go again. I guess just killing one snake wasn''t enough."

    No less than six vipers, nine rattlesnakes, four pythons, two boas and five more snake-types that Darian couldn''t even identify all started challenging Tim one by one.

    "Once a week!" Darian cut in. "You guys can only challenge once a week! Otherwise, you''ll all just exhaust him to death."

    [Very well.] The snakes hissed grudgingly.

    "Thanks." Tim said dryly, looking at all the challengers he had to fight over the next few months.

    ***

    But that was nothing compared to the roaring outrage that Song Chen received at the Bog Marshes. At least the Challengers of the Blood Lands were willing to line up.

    The Wilds of the Bog Marshes rebelled outright. They absolutely refused to accept human rule or Song Chen or even Darian for that matter.

    "So¡­ what do I do?" Darian asked Doom.

    Doom shrugged. "What do the Kings of the Wilds do whenever they face a rebellion?"

    "Eat the rebels?" Darian figured.

    "There you go."

 244 Developing the Eastern Edge Region

    Contrary to George''s expectations, Darian''s life did not become as complicated as his. Darian simply left the Lords in charge of the Territories to handle their business and went back to continue his training at Dragon Lake.

    Remian immediately hired a whole army of prospectors and geologists over from the Deutero Company. Various mineral treasures were discovered within a week; small deposits of Misty Steel, Breezium, Earth Pulse Obsidian, a vein of Star Sardeinite, and heap loads of Celestial Salt. That last bit was somewhat controversial; Celestial Salt was considered a valuable cultivation resource in the Dragon Empire, a temporary magic-enhancement food in Ecclesia, and an expensive ingredient in luxury restaurants in La Vive, but was outright banned as illegal in Ashdale and nineteen other countries. The reason for this was that while this salt was mildly beneficial to magic and martial cultivation, it was better known for its rather intoxicating effects and addictive traits¡­

    The wolfcats, of course, did not care one whit about Ashdale''s laws and enjoyed a sumptuous roast Salamander dinner (marinated with just a little Celestial Salt in the mix) together with Remian.

    [We should share this with Shadowflash and the others.] Carrie mentioned, as she lay down with a satisfied sigh after dinner. [They would love it. Vigil too.]

    [How is Vigil, these days?] Remian asked.

    [He''s been busy training. His father tells me that he''s growing nicely.] Carrie said, a bit wistfully. [Shadowflash will let him out in another week.]

    [Then we can invite them over next week.] Remian suggested.

    [That would be nice.]

    ***

    Craggy Falls happened to lie within the borders of the Rocky Thorns territory. Remian had Spike act as his lieutenant to handle all the smaller issues with the local Wilds.

    He also called in Max and Markus. "So¡­ can we do it?"

    "Do what?"

    "Build a road from Kara-Goth to Craggy Falls, and then farther down to the Blood Lands all the way to the Bog Marshes."

    Markus'' jaw dropped. "We''d have to call in the entire Iron Legion for a project that big. What''s left of it, anyway."

    "Now that you mention it, I''ve hardly seen or heard anything from the Iron Legion lately. How have you been?"

    "Bad. The war pretty much wiped out the resources of the Legion. Most of what we can send out are what you see at Kara-Goth. Half of them are already part of the FDF." Max grunted. "The other half are finishing up the road to Fal''Herim. Beyond that¡­ most of the Legion''s completely set on trying to keep the Road in the northern continent safe. Between the war and the Wilds, it''s full of refugees and bandits. At this point, its an endless task. The few who aren''t guarding the roads are busy training new recruits like mad. There''s no manpower to spare."

    "So, basically¡­ that road''s not going to happen."

    "Sorry."

    Remian shrugged. "Well, then. We''ll just have to rely on airships."

    That simple idea began to grow big. Very big. By sunset that day, a massive project was planned at Craggy Falls. With a few grumbles from Spike, the Lord of Rocky Thorns had decided to construct the biggest airport in the Wildlands right next to the waterfall.

    That, plus a Guild Hall for the Adventurers Guild, and a sneaky training facility in the heart of Rocky Thorns surrounded by dangerous Wilds on all sides. All that was part of the plan on the very first day.

    And then he invited the entire host of La Vive survivors to come settle at Craggy Falls. As an incentive, he gave them exploitation rights to the Celestial Salt, taking only a 25% cut for himself.

    Then he brought over the Ashdalian refugees and let them mine the precious ores in a similar deal.

    "So, how about it, Max? Wanna run the Adventurers Guild Hall here?" Remian asked. "You won''t find Celestial Salt cheaper elsewhere."

    As a cook, and an adventurer, the notion was extremely tempting to Max. "What''s my pay?"

    "Why don''t you decide that?" Remian shrugged. "You can run a whole town here while you''re at it. How about it? Max for Mayor?"

    "That''s¡­ beyond me. I''ll just stick to the Guild and training young ones." Max backed away. "How about Markus? He''s the leader sort."

    "Sure, but if you want me in charge, I''m going to design the town myself!" Markus shot back.

    "Done!" Remian pounced on it.

    "Are you serious? The whole town is going to turn into a square box! Straight lines everywhere!" Max pointed out. "That''s how the Legion operates! In straight lines!"

    "That''s fine." Remian said. "I''m not going to be around here that much anyway."

    "Why not?"

    "Because I''m going to be busy investigating the Black Ruins." Remian grinned, a shark''s smile. "You said it already, Markus! You''re in for it now."

    And that was how the idea for an airship dock turned into building an entire town at Craggy Falls.

    ***

    "A whole town?" Tim grinned. "That''s great."

    "Why is it great?" Mindy asked, being the one to have brought him the news.

    "Because I''m going to turn this place into a farm." Tim explained. "This is absolutely perfect ground to grow nightshade and other poisonous herbs."

    "You''re growing poison?!" Mindy gaped.

    "Oh, yes. It''s going to be extremely valuable." Tim nodded. "There are a lot of medicines that actually rely on poisonous herbs. They just have to be processed right. Also some of them, like nightshade, is a precious reagent for enchantments. There''s even pesticides that rely on poisons."

    "But¡­ but¡­" Mindy shivered. "What if someone uses these poisons to kill people?"

    "If someone intends murder, they''ll manage it one way or the other. I just want to make sure the guys on my side can get the gear they needed more easily than the guys against me." Tim shrugged.

    "So¡­ you''re not selling it?"

    "I might. But it won''t be cheap."

    ***

    As for Song Chen¡­

    "I actually wanted to build a seaport." He admitted. "Huge docks capable of serving the few gigantic ships that dare to sail the seas around here. It would take a lot of infrastructure, and the mangroves don''t help very much, but there''s a lot of huge trees in these marshes, which means that theres plenty of excellent material on hand. We just have to fight our way through all the Wilds to get it."

    "Is that really okay?" Mindy asked, dubiously.

    "I''ve been fighting Wilds since the first day I arrived at Kara-Goth. It''s what I do." Song Chen shrugged.

    "You may as well turn this place into the FDF combat academy." Mindy sighed.

    Song Chen''s eyes lit up immediately. "That''s a great idea!"

    But he still wanted to build his Great Docks, if only as an excuse to have his trainees gain experience in defense as well as attack missions.

    ***

    Since she was in the area, Mindy went on to Three Pines Peak, which was right next to the Bog Marshes.

    By this point, Three Pines had turned into a total treetop town. Treehouses and wooden walkways ran through all three giant trees, and Frame-fitted Adventurers were running and climbing around loosely.

    Mindy had noticed recently that among her crew, the recruits from Three Pines were significantly better with estimating height and heading at high altitudes. Seeing the way everyone here ran around the treetops hundreds of feet above the ground, she wasn''t surprised.

    They docked the airship at the highest branch of the central pine, and then Mindy made her way over to the rope ladders leading down, down, down¡­

    "Hey, Mindy! Wanna try a shortcut?" Sandra asked, coming down off the Red Fang with her.

    "What shortcut?" Mindy was blur.

    "Gammie and I had an idea for a new business, last time we were here." Sandra said, with a wide grin. "Behold!"

    She held out a few sack-like heaps of cloth.

    "Uh¡­ what am I looking at?" Mindy blinked.

    "Air balloons." Sandra said. "Gammie!"

    Gammie nodded, opened a scroll, and casted a Wind spell directly into one. The balloon opened out, and Gammie casted another spell, this one without a scroll, using his own personal magic to evoke fire.

    This resulted in a hot-air balloon roughly the size of Mindy herself.

    "Nicely done! You''ve been practicing!" Sandra beamed at Gammie.

    Gammie just shrugged, scratching his head.

    "So¡­ am I supposed to wear this and float away somewhere?" Mindy eyed the harness tied to the balloon. It looked like a leather vest.

    "No, you wear this and jump down." Sandra explained. "The balloon should slow your fall so you land safely."

    "Ah." Mindy slipped the vest on and jumped.

    "Not here¡­!" Sandra screamed, but it was too late. Mindy was already dropping, at a slightly uncomfortable pace, but likely safe enough for most humans¡­

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    In her drop, she narrowly missed an old branch, but while she herself missed it, the balloon got snagged and then there was a slight tearing sound.

    "Uhoh." Mindy grimaced as hot air escaped the balloon and she went down at an increasing pace.

 245 Trees, Ruins and Settlements

    "Sandraaaaaa!" Mindy yelled as she went down faster and faster.

    "Sorry! You weren''t supposed to jump from here! There''s a clear spot farther down this branch¡­!"

    "Too late." Gammie summarized with a grimace.

    Speaking of clear spaces, it really was somewhat clear now that she''d gotten past that patch of branches. There was nothing beneath her for the next few hundred feet, all the way to the ground.

    If there was a branch of something, Mindy might have tried to grab on, but lacking that, and seeing absolutely no human way to save herself from this predicament, Mindy gave up entirely.

    "Forget this!" Mindy growled, and shouted up. "Sorry, Sandra, I''m going to have to destroy your business tools!"

    "What?" Sandra herself was already in a panic and didn''t understand what Mindy was trying to say.

    Mindy didn''t explain further. In a flash, wings of fire erupted from her back, and flapped once, twice, easily bringing her back up to the branch that offended her, then higher, back to the branch where Sandra and Gammie were staring at her.

    "That¡­ was NOT a good idea!" Mindy fumed. "A normal human would have died!"

    "Like I said! You weren''t supposed to go down from here!" Sandra defended herself. "You just jumped before we were ready!"

    Meanwhile, thanks to Mindy''s fire wings, the vest harness and indeed, the balloon itself, were on fire.

    "Even if it had gone down from where you said, even if it made it to the ground¡­" Mindy shook her head. "The rate of descent was increasing! The hot air cooled as the balloon went down, and by the time someone reached the ground, the balloon would be almost useless! You may as well give them a parachute!"

    "Ah, but that''s the beauty of it! A parachute can''t come back up!" Sandra cut in, once more in her salesgirl mode. "See, it takes one balloon to go down safely¡­ and three to come up!"

    "Come¡­ up?" Mindy got the idea immediately. With enough air balloons, a person could use them to come up the tree using that same shortcut. It was a simple idea birthed from living in a tree and working on an airship. Going down a tree was easy. Going up¡­ not so much. "But still! Safety is an issue!"

    "We can increase the heat inside the balloon. Maybe make it stay longer with runes." Sandra paused. "And we might need to give the balloon some protection, just in case. Plus, heavier people might need two balloons, not one."

    "Frames." Gammie pointed out.

    "Right. Two balloons for people with Frames." Sandra nodded thoughtfully. "They''d need five or six to come up, though."

    "Frames might actually be a basic requirement." Mindy told her straight out. "Most people around here use them anyway, and the landing is going to be very rough for someone without one."

    "Frames, then." Sandra agreed easily enough.

    "Also, you guys need some birds to help you out. Just in case." Mindy suggested.

    "But I already have a Comrade!" Sandra protested.

    "You could just hire them without bonding them. Or hire people with bird Comrades."

    "Right, right!" Sandra nodded repeatedly.

    ***

    Speaking of bird comrades, the Eagle Princess Aeyrie was over at her grandfather''s place today, so Mindy didn''t get to see her. Hmm. Maybe she should also go pay the Roc King a visit. The Red Fang was currently unloading goods, and she''d given Raven a list of stuff to pick up here as well, so they''d probably be here all day.

    If she wanted, she could tell them they''d leave tomorrow and fly herself over to see her friend and her grandfather. The Roc King probably wouldn''t try to eat her. Probably.

    After all, he wasn''t like the Eagle King who''d consider eating humans simply¡­ beneath him.

    Meanwhile, Mindy made her way to something else beneath the Eagle King, namely the Black Ruins at Three Pines Peak.

    "Ruth?" she called as she arrived at the tallest building overlooking the Ruins. Ruth and the folks there had set it up as their command post and watch tower. "Remian and Phoebe are coming back in a couple of days."

    "Good to know. How long are they staying this time?" she asked.

    "I can''t say for sure, but I think they intend to stay for a long, long time." Mindy thought back. "I don''t remember them making any plans to leave."

    "Huh. Forget about preparing a room, then. They''ll want a house." Ruth mused. "Maybe¡­ that one?"

    She pointed to an elaborate, dignified building that might very well have been the old town hall.

    "I''m thinking they''d prefer something a bit more discreet. Like¡­ that one." Mindy pointed to a small cottage by the side of the road.

    "No, no, that won''t do!" Ruth immediately shook her head. "Maybe¡­ that one¡­?" she pointed to an aristocratic looking villa.

    "Maybe that?" Mindy pointed to something in between her cottage and the villa, a two-story town house around the corner.

    "That''s not even fully repaired yet! It''s still missing half the roof and a back wall, hasn''t been cleaned and doesn''t have any intact furniture to speak of! It could take us a week to fix it up properly."

    "Well, I think they might want to fix it up themselves when they arrive. I''m pretty sure they''re not looking for anything too fancy or troublesome to maintain."

    "We could always hire them some help."

    "No, I suspect they''re going to want their privacy."

    "Oh."

    ***

    As it turned out, Remian actually agreed with Mindy''s first choice; a simple, small cottage.

    Unfortunately, Phoebe sided with Ruth and almost went for the villa.

    In the end, like Mindy and Ruth, they settled on the townhouse.

    With a dining hall, a kitchen, a toilet and a store room on the lower floor, a study, two bedrooms and a washroom and a toilet above, the place seemed more suited for a family than a couple, but Remian liked the study, and Phoebe liked the garden space out front and at the back. Besides, the extra bedroom could be used as a guest room whenever Mindy or Tim or someone wanted to stay over.

    Most of the time, though, Remian would be investigating relics at the excavation headquarters, while Phoebe would help out at the field hospital. Or at least, that was the plan.

    Whether the plan would hold or how long it would last, nobody could guess.

    After a few days of helping them clean house and settle in, Mindy headed back north to Kara-Goth.

    ***

    Kara-Goth had certainly become more and more industrious as time went by. Mindy saw more and more tunnels and homes and workplaces than she ever thought could squeeze into the hills of Kara-Goth. There were so many people there, it was even starting to feel crowded.

    Unfortunately, not all the changes were good.

    "What are you doing?" Mindy asked a certain thug who held a knife to a stammering shopkeeper.

    The thug barked a laugh. "I''m teaching you all a lesson! A lesson that''s going to make me rich for teaching?"

    "Oh? And what lesson is that?" Mindy asked, more curious than anything else.

    "That the quickest way to get rich is to rob and kill!" the Thug laughed in an ugly manner. "All you na?ve people, so secure in your ignorance! This place is a gold mine full of unguarded riches! I''m going to¡­"

    BAM! Mindy''s fist hit his head before he could even finish his sentence. The impact slammed that very head directly into the ground, the left cracks in both.

    "This place isn''t for the likes of you." Mindy said in a voice suddenly filled with steel. "Didn''t you know? I grew up in a town filled with people like you. Haven''t you noticed? None of them are here any more."

    But obviously, the brigand did not notice, or even think to find out.

    "George?" Mindy made a call.

    "Hmm?"

    "I have some trash for pickup on the second floor."

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    "Mmm. I''ll send someone over. Just how big a heap are we talking about?"

    "About¡­ five feet five, slightly chubby, with short black hair and eyes, and a lot of blood over his head. Oh, and a knife he was extorting a shopkeeper with."

    "Ah. THAT sort of trash. Got it. I''ll send a security team."

 246 Forced March

    Filled with self-confidence in her newfound strength, Mindy returned ''home'' and went to see George.

    But he wasn''t in his office. "George, where are you?"

    "I''m busy right now, Mindy. I''ll come find you later, okay?" George said.

    Something in his voice sounded suspiciously evasive. Mindy frowned.

    Did he really think he could keep secrets from her that easily? Tightening her lip, she closed her eyes and spread her senses. A flicker of flame drifted out from under one eyelid.

    There! At the airport, third dock.

    Mindy dashed up and burst onto the scene with a triumphant, "Surprise!!"

    There was George, with a bunch of people in weird robes. George''s face was red at first, but then he saw her arrive and then his face turned pale.

    "So this must be the girl." A dry, cold chuckle sounded from a very wrinkled old man in a very polished white robe. "Misty, wasn''t it?"

    "Mindy, your excellency." One of his people supplied.

    "Yes. Mindy." The dry old man smiled a death''s head smile.

    Between the creepy smile and the horror on George''s face, Mindy suddenly started to have a bad feeling about barging in.

    "Now that she''s here, the problem is solved. She will lead us to the Source of Magic."

    ***

    His name was Exel, known as Exel the Excellent. Throughout his long and illustrious life, he had put in great efforts to live up to his name and nickname and through his efforts, found much success. He was a Cardinal of the Church of Light, the very one overseeing Club Sacred Sigil, among other things.

    With his trademark effort, he had put together an expedition faster than any other branch of the Church of Light, faster than any other interested organization in Ecclesia, faster than even his brother and the Temple Knights. Having two of the Frontier students in Club Sacred Sigil was a big help; by the time the other clubs managed to learn the name ''Kara-Goth'', Exel already knew that the Source of Magic was far, far to the south. Before the other organizations could even put together a list of what an expedition might need, Exel had already applied for an edict from the Church Council that would grant him authority over every other Church expedition that followed by virtue of being the first high ranking officer on site. Before they could decide on whether to send a military expedition or a commercial one, Exel already had a hundred men boarding an airship.

    That very airship was the one docked at the Kara-Goth airport right now. It was a military-grade Galleon comparable in size to the Sky Fortress guarding this place, but it was far, far better armed. Also, since their crew had left in such a hurry, it had been required of six trailing Frigates to carry supplies and equipment, including basic living necessities. Roughly half the Galleon''s crew had left in such a hurry, they didn''t even have time to pack a change of underwear¡­

    But thankfully, Exel had a large budget, which he had wisely enlarged for himself. Those smaller ships had easily managed to procure the necessary goods from towns and cities along the way as they passed by. All daily necessities were well-supplied, and in the case of soap, due to a bad miscommunication, over-supplied.

    "By the way, you wouldn''t happen to be in the market for excess soap, do you?" Exel asked Mindy.

    "Soap?" Mindy looked at him blankly. "Well, I guess I could use some¡­"

    His aide cleared his throat. "Your excellency¡­"

    Exel coughed. "Yes! Well, hygiene products aside, we are here for the Source of Magic. You will take us there. We leave immediately."

    "What? No! And you can''t make me!" Mindy said, looking proud.

    Exel''s eyes narrowed. "Do you have any concern for this settlement?"

    Mindy blinked. "I guess. Why?"

    "Because if you don''t cooperate, we''ll raze it to the ground." Exel told her, flat out.

    Mindy glared. "I won''t let you!"

    George stepped in. "Mindy¡­"

    "No, George! I won''t let them! Don''t worry! I''m strong! You have no idea how strong!" Mindy cut in.

    "But¡­"

    "Stronger than Song Chen! Stronger than Markus! I think I''m even stronger than Remian!"

    George shook his head. "Everybody and his uncle is stronger than Remian."

    "True. But that''s not the point! The point is, they can''t force me to do what I don''t want to do. Nobody can!" Mindy proclaimed. "And they can''t bribe me either! Not for all the sweets and candy in Ashdale!"

    Exel turned to his men sternly. "Who offered the little girl sweets and candy?!"

    "We didn''t do it!" his aide protested volubly. "It wasn''t us!"

    "Too bad." Exel grunted. "I was going to promote whoever did."

    His crew were aghast.

    "Anyway. Let''s go." Exel said, gesturing.

    "I''ll stop you!" Mindy growled, eyes narrowed. She put her hand on her sword hilt.

    Someone grabbed it. Mindy turned to see a helmeted figure in full Temple Knight armor with golden insignia on the shoulders. She drew her sword anyway, determined to fight it out¡­

    And failed. She couldn''t draw her sword. She couldn''t even budge her hand an inch. She turned to look at the armored figure grasping her hand. "What¡­?"

    "Mindy¡­" George grimaced. "Meet Jared of Ecclesia¡­ Doom''s teacher."

    Doom''s teacher?!

    Mindy gulped, still trying to free herself, but that man''s grip was completely immovable. For all her strength, the likes of Doom and his teacher was clearly beyond her.

    Overconfidence! Mindy suddenly regretted stepping into arrogance.

    "You three, handle it." Doom''s teacher shoved Mindy into the hands of three other Temple Knights.

    Mindy saw her chance and leapt for it. She threw them off¡­

    Except they didn''t go flying. They didn''t even stir. All three had a hand on her, and not even one so much as twitched.

    "H-how¡­?" Mindy stared. How were these guys all so strong? Were all Temple Knights this powerful? That was impossible! In the past, Sir Ivan was nowhere near this tough!

    Unless Jared did something to her¡­ weakened her¡­ or¡­ or¡­

    "So, I hear Doom is around." One of the helmeted knights chuckled. "It''s been years since the four of us gathered in one place."

    "Decades." Another of the three said. "But finally, the Sure-Die Quattro will reunite."

    Mindy suddenly had a very strong suspicion. "George¡­ are they¡­?"

    "The three of them are fellow students of the same teacher as Doom. Apparently they were famous back in their time." George grimaced.

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    "Fel, Fate, Doom and Damnaith. We never failed to live up to the name of the Sure-Die Quattro¡­ until Doom left us some years back. Then we became the Sure-Die Trio." The third knight mentioned.

    Mindy was starting to understand that for all her strength, there were, in fact, even stronger people in the big wide world.

    "Let''s go. We have wasted enough time here." Exel ordered.

    "Where to?"

    "To the south! The Source of Magic awaits!"

 247 Piling On

    "But¡­ but what about lunch?!" Fel protested as Exel led his crew back on board their airship.

    They left George staring at their back on the docks with a sinking feeling in his heart.

    "I couldn''t stop them. I couldn''t even protect her¡­" George muttered darkly.

    "George! I got them as soon as I could!" Alani came running up. "We have thirty-nine people now!"

    "Thirty-nine?" George''s face fell. "I asked for a hundred¡­"

    "But¡­ but there aren''t many people who can channel magic!" Alani protested. "I tried my best! I really did!"

    "I know. I know you did." George sighed, rubbing his forehead. "It''s not your fault. It''s just¡­ without mana crystals, we need people to power the airship engines magically. Thirty-nine people are barely enough to move one Sky Fortress."

    "Or nineteen Corvettes. Twenty, if you count yourself in."

    "Twenty Corvettes." George shook his head. "That''s not going to be enough to stop a military-grade Galleon and six Frigates. We''d just be giving them target practice."

    "You want to stop those guys?" Alani stared. "Why? How?"

    "Why? Because they''ve practically kidnapped Mindy and they''re likely to cause all sorts of trouble with the Wilds. The same Wilds that we JUST managed to reach a peaceful accord with! If they provoke the Wilds and we start fighting again, then¡­ then everything Remian just fought for¡­"

    "Okay. But would shooting them down really stop them? I think they''re just going to send more and more people if you do that." Alani observed. "Speaking of which¡­ there''s another fleet incoming. Only three airships, but all three are Galleons."

    "Ugh." George lowered his head into his hands. "What are the odds that they''re here looking for the Source of Magic too?"

    Alani shook her head. "I''m not taking that bet."

    ***

    The second fleet came in for a landing, three High-grade Galleons outfitted for mobility rather than combat. High-grade airships were the middle ground between Commercial-grade and Military-grade. Where Commercial-grade ships aimed at value-for-money, and Military-grade ships sought to have cutting edge combat ability, High-grade ships tried for quality without breaking the bank.

    That is, to say, this second fleet was a lot cheaper than the military fleet that just left. However, in terms of power, three Galleons could likely overpower one Galleon and six Frigates, and in terms of speed, these ships were outfitted for mobility rather than combat. If it came to a race and a tussle over the Source of Magic, they were definitely capable of challenging Exel''s expedition for it.

    "We''re just here for a short break." The leader of the new fleet was a woman better described as handsome than beautiful. She was dressed smartly in a military uniform, though George really couldn''t recognize any of the insignia she wore.

    "Where are you from?" George asked. What he really wanted to ask was, ''who are you?'', and ''what can we do to make you leave?'', but he held back.

    "We''re from Bellas. We''re with Fantasia. Ever heard of it?" she asked, with an expectant smile.

    "Uh¡­ no¡­?" George winced.

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    "You''ve never bought our products?" she stared, disbelieving. "What about Club Fairy Wing? We''re their sponsors!"

    Alani tugged at George''s sleeve. "Mom uses their facial cream."

    "Ah. So you''re here for¡­?"

    "The Source of Magic." She said openly.

    George let out a sigh. "Of course you are. Anyone else coming?"

    "We have some reinforcements and supply ships on the way, yes." She nodded. "Please take care of them for me."

    Why the heck would I do anything for you?! George wanted to yell it, but again, he held back.

    "George! More ships incoming!" one of the airport crews yelled.

    "More of yours?" George asked the Fantasia leader.

    "Not mine." She said, peering into the horizon. "Those ships¡­ they seem to be from the Dragon Empire."

    George let out a long, heartfelt groan.

    ***

    Indeed they were. Oddly enough, they were led by an older teenager.

    "Hi. I''m Wu Lin. Thank you for having us." He saluted George with clasps fists and a short bow. "We''re students from Club Tian Di. We''re here on a Field Trip to tour the Wildlands and study the Source of Magic."

    "Students?" George eyed the bearded, burly men on board the nine Frigates they''d brought.

    "Yes. Those older men are our bodyguards. We have some friendly relations with the Seven Sects Alliance." Wu Lin said, by way of explanation. "Whenever we go someplace dangerous, we like to ask our seniors for help."

    "But you''re basically all from the Dragon Empire, aren''t you?"

    "Of course."

    So¡­ three expeditions in one day, flying the flags of Club Sacred Sigil, Club Fantasia, and Club Tian Di, but really, they may as well say that Ecclesia, Bellas, and the Dragon Empire were all racing for the Source of Magic.

    "I don''t suppose this is all the people you''re bringing along?" George glanced over the nine Frigates.

    "Well, we do have supply ships and some friends coming along later¡­"

    "Uhuh." George just plain didn''t know what to say any more. He turned to Alani. "You handle it."

    "Me?" Alani gaped.

    George walked away without another word.

    Behind him, Alani gulped, and said, "Toilets are that way, and there''s a cafeteria over there. Also, we have classier restaurants downstairs¡­"

    ***

    But the biggest expedition came from a coalition of ships from Ashdale, La Vive and Itarim. Thirty ships arrived, including five Galleons of varying classes. They said they were a refugee transport, but then four of the Galleons, nine of the Frigates and five Corvettes only stopped for a resupply and a break before they took off again and headed farther south.

    "And where are they going?" George asked the refugees who got off.

    "We heard there''s another nice settlement called Three Pines to the south. Maybe they like trees more than tunnels?"

    George didn''t believe it for an instant.

    ***

    And then twelve airships from Germat arrived. And three from Hispanol. And nine from Ceres. And four from Auria. And¡­ and¡­

    As the day went on, more and more airships arrived. Twelve from Germat. Three from Hispanol. Nine from Ceres. Four from Auria. Sixteen of various sizes from the Coalition of Six, especially the Ira Caliphate. There were even airships from Port Gale, Bulrak, Romantia, Mendev and¡­ goodness, there was even one from Libertaria!

    "The whole world has found out about the Source of Magic and everyone wants it." George gave up trying to count the ships and nations represented at Kara-Goth by dinner time.

    "Well, hopefully it''s all over now." Alani offered helpfully.

    But by breakfast the next day, airships from Torres, Hyung, and Yakh arrived. By lunch, there was even one from Embris Erie and one from the Yellow Empire. By dinner time, ships from Veles, Brazon, Azte, Incares and Rizonia had reached Kara-Goth. When a final late Frigate arrived all the way from Kiwi Ko while George was at supper, he wondered whether it was possible to call together a proper convention of nations at the Source of Magic since it seemed basically every nation in the world he ever heard of was present.

    Those, on top of the reinforcements and supply ships following the expeditions from Ecclesia, Bellas and the Dragon Empire.

    "Should we expand our airport? We''ve totally blown past the point of full capacity today." Arnold observed.

    "Don''t. Just don''t." George groaned. "Right now, I''m starting to regret ever building the thing in the first place!"

    ***

    At that time, Remian was completely oblivious to all the trouble starting up. He was studying ancient artifacts, devices he couldn''t make head or tail of, and had finally reached what seemed to be a crown that had been broken, a loop that ended in a jagged gap instead of closing a full circle. But the material was odd and undecorated, made of some blackish, almost flexible stuff, and it seemed a little big to sit on his head right. Holding it in his hands, he turned it about until it was vertical.

    Seeing Remian holding it, Phoebe barked a laugh. "You know, when it''s broken like that, that rather looks like a girl''s hairband."

    "You mean... like this?" Remian joked, putting it on vertically, the way a girl would put on her headband.

    Suddenly the whole world disappeared.

 248 Forbidden

    Everything was black all of a sudden.

    "Uh¡­ Phoebe? Someone? Hello?" Remian looked around. "Where am I?"

    "Tu belna rakeo, nosh vontai subane." A clear feminine voice suddenly answered from nowhere.

    "What?" Remian blinked. "I don''t understand."

    "Qiu zhen meishu li, mu tau."

    "Uh¡­ I still don''t understand." Remian tried a different language. "Bahasa boleh, tak?"

    "Ginoskeis? Drak nakour raz faus?"

    Remian grimaced. Dumping language entirely, he tried to send out a Psionic broadcast in pure concept. [Who?]

    And pure concepts returned. [Aide. Helper. Assistant.]

    [Where?] Remian asked next.

    Another concept replied, and then he started to understand.

    This was a sort of illusion space meant for teaching. The ''being'' that spoke to him wasn''t actually real, and only existed here. ''Her'' job was to help the user of this illusion space.

    [So¡­ you can teach me? You can tell me all about the Black Ruins?] This was asked in concept, not actual words. In doing so, Remian already ''explained'' his limited understanding of the Black Ruins to the ''aide''.

    [Not recognized. Unable to assist. Checking online reference. Online access failed. No accessible network detected. Hardware damage detected. Warning: power drain critical.]

    [What?] Remian was suddenly flooded with a whole lot of strange and complicated complex, but that last one blared like an alarm in his head. Basically, the power source of this strange device was almost drained and the device would fail to function soon. [How do I recharge you?]

    [This device is already running on user''s mana. Drainage parameters will soon reach legal limits. Please rest and return when you have recovered your mana.]

    [Wait¡­ so you use MY mana? And it''s me that can''t supply you enough power?] Remian realized.

    But at that point, the blackness receded, and Remian found himself staring at a worried-looking Phoebe back in the real world.

    ***

    "I don''t like it." Phoebe said. "What if something happens to you?"

    "What could it do? It''s just an illusion." Remian explained. "At most it''ll tire me out, but even that has safeguards, like the one that turned it off before I was drained too badly. I think it''s meant as a teaching device, like a book. Unless I drop it on my foot physically or something, I don''t think it''s going to harm me."

    "But the way you read this book is directly with your mind. It''s sending thoughts directly into your head. What if something goes wrong? You could be hurt mentally." Phoebe objected. "And I can''t heal mental damage with life magic!"

    "Okay, so maybe there''s some risk." Remian conceded. "But think of the possibilities! How much could we learn from this one device? We could find out what all of these other things are, what happened to the Black Ruins Civilization, and even stuff about the way they used Chaos Magic!"

    "Is that what you''re after? Chaos Magic?" Phoebe frowned.

    Remian froze. "No!"

    But even as he said it, he felt that he might have answered a bit too quickly.

    "Well, maybe a little." He relented. "I mean¡­ it''s not something I can learn about just anywhere and I seem to already be using it without knowing. That being the case, I may as well try and figure it out properly. Right now, I don''t really know what I''m doing, and I''m half-afraid to use magic as it is. To me, learning about it is safer than not learning about it and using it wildly."

    Phoebe paused, hesitating, then said, "Let me try."

    Wordlessly, hoping he wasn''t putting her in danger, Remian handed her the headset.

    After a minute, she took it off. "I can''t understand what it said."

    "You have to speak wolfcat." Remian explained. [Like this.]

    [Ah.] Phoebe put on the headset again.

    After another few minutes, she took it off. "Remian, I don''t think this device was meant for children."

    "What do you mean?" Remian asked.

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    "Well, it seems it''s part of a set and the rest of the set is missing. It doesn''t have information about the ancient ruins or anything. It only contains information about the last thing it was supposed to teach about." Phoebe told him.

    "And what''s that?" Remian asked, feeling disappointed.

    "That¡­" Phoebe grimaced. "It''s a spell that I''m not sure I would dare to attempt. It seems very complicated, and definitely not something children should try. I''m pretty sure it uses Chaos Magic."

    Remian perked up. "Really? What does it do?"

    "It opens up a space." Phoebe said in a low voice. "Out of nowhere."

    "Space magic?!" Remian stared. As far as he could tell, only the most powerful mages dared to dabble with space. "Like the spacewarp drive used on the Cloud Nine? The one that supposedly twists space a bit to make a long journey shorter?"

    "No, that one tries to form brief tunnels of space squashed together so that the Deutero Mothership flies around faster. This one seems to form a permanent space in thin air." Phoebe said. "It seems to be used for secret storage."

    "Wow. But what''s the point of storing anything there? Once you stop casting, it''s all going to go poof, right?"

    "That''s just the thing. It doesn''t, or at least, it''s not supposed to. It''s supposed to stay there forever." Phoebe said. "That''s why¡­ I think it''s Chaos Magic. It doesn''t draw power from you. It needs a lot of power and it''s supposed to draw that power from somewhere, just not from the caster."

    "An unlimited supply of power?!" Remian gaped. "That¡­ that does sound like Chaos Magic!"

    "Then I guess you''ve found what you''re looking for¡­ if only a small part of it." Phoebe handed the headset to him.

    Remian''s hand tightened around the headset as he took it. "This¡­ this is priceless! Can you imagine? If I could learn that spell¡­ maybe I could figure out some of the principles behind it¡­ and then¡­ apply it to other uses! Imagine that! Everything that uses mana could potentially use Chaos Magic! Think about how badly the whole world wants to find mana right now!"

    "I don''t think it''s that simple or that easy." Phoebe shook her head. "In fact, I have a bad feeling about it. I mean¡­ just look at what happened to the Black Ruins Civilization. Something very, very bad happened to them, and I''m starting to think it might be a secret reason as to why Chaos Magic is taboo."

    Remian thought it over. "I think you''re right in that the downfall of the Black Ruins Civilization had to do with Chaos Magic. I also agree that it''s probably one of the reasons why modern magic laws in just about every country forbid Chaos Magic. But those laws don''t apply out here in the Frontier, and the need for mana has gone ballistic. The whole world is so desperate for mana right now, it''s practically apocalyptic."

    "And you think that just with this device, you can figure out the secrets of Chaos Magic quickly enough to save the world?"

    "I think I could try to learn a little, at least. I make no promises as to how long it would take or if I would ever succeed. But I could try."

    Phoebe bit her lip. "Just be careful, all right? And don''t overdo it. Your health is¡­"

    "My health was never good to begin with." Remian acknowledged.

    Phoebe paused, then said, "George has some ideas on that. If I started feeding you a lot of herbs everyday, would you take them?"

    "Herbs? Sure. I''ll eat whatever you feed me." Remian grinned. "Especially since your cooking has been improving."

    Phoebe snorted a half-laugh. "You said it! No matter how bitter!"

    "No matter how bitter." Remian said, wincing.

    "Okay, then." Phoebe nodded to herself.

    "So¡­ when are you starting this herb feeding?" Remian asked.

    "Actually, I already started." Phoebe told him with a grin. "It''s just been done discreetly. Now, however, I don''t need to disguise anything any more. You asked for it!"

    "Uh¡­ okay¡­" Remian was already started to regret unleashing Phoebe on the herbs issue. "I''m¡­ gonna stop here for today, go to sleep early tonight, and recover some mana. I''m taking the device with me. I can start learning the spell tomorrow."

    Phoebe nodded. "I''ll let Ruth know."

    ***

    "Why?" Alani had to ask the question when the next day dawned and more and more ships bringing supplies and reinforcements kept arriving at Kara-Goth.

    "Thirty-five million lir." George answered, with his head in his arms.

    "What?"

    "35,000,000 lir. That was the lowest price a purple mana crystal was sold for at the Fal''Herim''s recent auction. It''s come to a point where except for the Dragon Empire, nobody''s selling mana crystals openly any more. Everyone''s either trading privately, or not at all. Mana''s been used all across the world for so long, people are already panicking over the shortage. In some places, there''s been rioting."

    "What''s the point of rioting? If they don''t have mana, they don''t have it." Alani pointed out.

    "Ah, but everyone''s pretty sure that their governments do, in fact, have mana, and are hoarding the crystals away somewhere for military use or something."

    "That¡­ does make sense."

    "But even if their governments handed out all their secret stashes, what then? What happens when those stashes also run out, and everyone wants mana, and nobody has any, and nothing works any more?" George asked.

    Alani scratched her head. "They either have to buy from the Dragon Empire at a million Dragon Coins (which means a billion lir) per red crystal, or they''ll have to power everything themselves. Use their own magic power."

    "Which is going to be very difficult and falls far short of everyone''s usual consumption. Look at our own situation. We have dozens of airships now, but we''re only able to power a few. It''s the same everywhere else, except that more developed nations have been using mana to fuel all sorts of machinery, not just vehicles and transportation. At the rate this is going, it won''t be long before floating islands start to fall and a lot of sacred lands are flat out going to disappear."

    "That sounds bad."

    "A lot of our mining and factory equipment use mana crystals too. We''ve been powering them manually, and relying more on the Wilds recently, but without the Wilds¡­" George shook his head. "More than half our mining operation would have already collapsed."

    "If that''s the case with us¡­ what about the rest of the world?" Alani asked. "What have they been doing without Wilds?"

    George summarized it in one word.

    "Collapsing."

 249 Revelation

    "They took Mindy?!" Remian woke up to the bad news the next morning before he could even start studying the spell.

    "I''m afraid so. I''ve been trying to talk to their reinforcements, but¡­"

    "Why are you trying to talk to their reinforcements?" Remian asked, puzzled. "You should be talking to ours."

    "Ours?" George''s question came back over the comms crystal even more baffled.

    "You should be talking to Doom and Darian." Remian told him. "You should be talking to Tor''na-dras and all the Kings of the Wilds. You need to prepare for battle! You should already be rushing to the rescue!"

    "War?! But¡­ uh¡­ I mean, I want to rescue Mindy too, but¡­"

    "What does Shadowflash say?" Remian cut in.

    "Shadowflash? What does he have to do with any of this?" George asked.

    "Technically, he''s the ruler of your region. As far as the Wilds are concerned¡­ he''s your boss."

    "He''s my boss?! I thought he was my pet or something!"

    Remian rubbed his forehead. "What exactly have you done about this wave of treasure seekers and kidnappers?"

    "Uh¡­ supplied their ships and hosted their crews?"

    "Why are you even letting them pass?"

    "Why not? I mean¡­ it''s got nothing to do with us. They''re just stopping by on the way to the south."

    Remian let out a long, heartfelt groan. "George, I think we need to discuss a serious shift in your thinking."

    "What''s wrong with my thinking?"

    "You do understand that some of us are now considered Lords of the Wilds? Including me?"

    "Yeah?"

    "And Darian is considered the King of the Eastern Edge?"

    "Yes, I got that."

    "What is our relationship with the Wildlands, then?"

    "Uh¡­" George paused. "I guess we''re¡­ friends?"

    "Friends? Friends don''t get kingships in their friends'' lands."

    "So¡­ we''re¡­ part of the Wildlands now?!" George gaped. "Which means¡­ we''re Wilds?!"

    "Pretty much. Given that mindset, how does this treasure hunt relate to us?"

    "Treasure hunt¡­ the hunt for the Source of Magic¡­ if we''re Wilds, then¡­ they''re coming to steal our stuff!!" George gasped.

    "Why are you already surprised? They''ve already stolen Mindy. I thought you liked her."

    "They¡­ they¡­! They''re hunting our treasure! They''re kidnapping our girls!!"

    "Now you get it. So, what should be our response?"

    "Sound the alarm! All hands, battle stations!" George shouted. "Bring out the wolfcats! Call out the dragons! This means war!!"

    ***

    "Are you sure about this?" Phoebe asked, somewhat worriedly.

    "Sure about what?"

    "You basically got George to declare war on the whole world."

    Remian shook his head. "It''s not like that. We''re just clearing out some pests. I doubt it would come to actual war."

    "George seems to think it would."

    "We can explain it to him later. Right now, I don''t want to dampen his enthusiasm."

    "Is it really wise to offend so many countries, though? Even if they''re not officially representing their nations, we''d be essentially getting in between entire countries and their hopes for mana."

    "We can ask our airship crews to evict them politely. Maybe they won''t be so offended if we kick them out nicely."

    "I somehow got the idea that George was more likely to shoot them with cannons than tell them off."

    "I''m actually more worried about what Darian might do."

    "You mean Tor''na-dras and Doom, don''t you?"

    "Them too, but mainly Darian. He''s my brother after all. I worry he might get himself into more danger than he can handle."

    "Well, then, you better talk to him and make sure he brings an army of dragons with him if he wants to go on a rampage."

    ***

    To that, Darian only said one word in response, one word that meant everything.

    "Understood."

    It was spoken in a voice so cold with anger, Remian wasn''t even sure it was his brother for a moment.

    ***

    As for Mindy, on her part, she wasn''t exactly feeling kidnapped.

    [I could be there in ten seconds.] Chirpy offered, though neither her little bird form or her full giant form were anywhere in sight.

    Mindy hesitated, then answered. [No, not yet. There are other human airships chasing us. If you act now, they''ll see you. Just wait. We''re outpacing them and heading straight for you. Soon enough, we''ll be too far ahead of the rest to see, and right at your doorstep. You can freely take action then.]

    [You need not be concerned about the rest of the humans. None of them will be leaving these lands alive.]

    [Uh¡­ Chirpy¡­ some of those humans might be my friends. I''m pretty sure they''re coming for me.] Mindy mentioned.

    [Then tell them to bring their Comrades so we know who they are. Otherwise, we will kill them all.]

    Mindy gulped. [Is that really necessary? I mean¡­ if you kill all the humans here, more are going to come looking for them, you know?]

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    [Even more will come if we do not. Doing nothing will only invite endless waves of catastrophe. Maybe fear will make them relent. See how accommodating even your people has resulted in such an invasion! If we do not teach them a lesson, they will think they could walk all over us as if they own our lands.]

    Mindy grimaced, but she couldn''t refute that. [Still¡­ I''m not sure that even fear will be enough this time. The Source of Magic is much too big a temptation.]

    [Then we will simply have to increase the fear until it is enough.]

    [Is there any way I can talk you out of it?] Mindy tried one last time.

    [This is the way it has always been. We have made exceptions only once, for your people, our Comrades, and look - it has already resulted in this audacity! No more! This is the unanimous decision of all Five Emperors.]

    No chance, then. Mindy directly gave up trying to persuade the Wilds otherwise.

    [Just be careful, all right? There are some ridiculously strong people here. These guys aren''t like the humans before. These aren''t some refugees or exiled criminals or hopeful pioneers. These are elite knights, the likes of Doom or even stronger.]

    [How many of them are there?]

    [Four, that I know of. I don''t think there''s anyone else here on that level.]

    [That''s fine then. I will have the Nine Kings meet them. If necessary, I''ll make a move myself.]

    [No, don''t! If you make a move, everything here is going to die! I don''t think it will come to that. Just the Nine Kings would be a lot already, thanks¡­]

 250 Doubtful

    One bright-eyed maid came to fetch Mindy in the evening. "Dear guest, you have been invited to dinner with Lady Knight Fel."

    "A dinner invitation?" Mindy blinked.

    "Oh, yes. We are not barbarians." That was said with a giggle that left one somewhat in doubt. "Despite everything Sir Fate might claim."

    "Really? I have to say I wasn''t expecting¡­ dinner."

    "No, you were expecting dungeons, chains and whipping, weren''t you?" Another giggle left one even more in doubt.

    "Uh¡­ anyway! I''m hungry! Let''s go eat!" Having missed lunch, Mindy decided to go along with the dinner plan.

    Fel, it turned out, cleaned up rather nicely once she took off her armor. Under her helmet, she had a tanned, narrow face and a short ponytail. Tonight she wore a white ceremonial military uniform, complete with coat and pants. Rather than beautiful, one might be more accurate to call her handsome-looking.

    Actually, the roast chicken on the table looked better-looking than the lady preparing to eat it.

    "Lady Mindy." Fel greeted her.

    "Um¡­ your knighted ladyness¡­?" Mindy wasn''t sure what to call her.

    "Please. Just call me Fel, or Sira Fel, if you must."

    "Sira¡­?"

    "Sir for knights, Sira for lady knights." Fel explained. "I coined the term myself."

    "Did you?" Mindy was yet even more doubtful.

    "Oh yes. You might as well get used to it." Fel said, sitting down presumptuously. "I believe you will be in our company for a very long time."

    "I''m not so sure." Mindy said tartly.

    "You expect to be rescued?" Fel raised an eyebrow. "By that motley crew of corvettes?"

    "What?" Mindy blinked.

    "We detected a fleet of patchwork-class airships coming in fast from the north. I believe you call them¡­ corvettes?"

    "Really? I mean¡­ are you sure?" Mindy had enough doubtfulness at this point to let it all show on her face.

    " I took a look with a telescope myself." Fel assured her. "Your friend George is on one."

    "George? He''s coming here to rescue me with a bunch of Corvettes?!" Mindy couldn''t believe it. "But that''s suicide! We''re in a military-grade Galleon!"

    "I actually agree." Fel nodded amiably. "So let us dine and wine as we enjoy tonight''s fireworks¡­"

    Mindy grimaced, suddenly losing her appetite at the thought of such fireworks. "Surely there''s no need for that. He''s just a boy. He''s just worried about me."

    "But he looks rather aggressive. They''re using Jet Boosters, you know. The disposable kind." Fel added. "Plus they''re mounting some homemade sort of rocket launchers, practically bundles of fireworks with added powder for increased explosiveness. They look desperate and crazy enough to actually try something, and Sir Fate would not risk harm on his beloved airship."

    Mindy laid her head in both hands and groaned. "George¡­"

    Psionically, she sent him a message, a wordless, questioning, angry blare.

    [Hang on, Mindy! I''m coming to save you!] came his earnest reply.

    [You shouldn''t have come here!]

    [I''ll do whatever it takes¡­!]

    [Don''t! I can handle it!]

    [You haven''t been handling anything since you met Sir Jared.]

    [Just trust me, and back off! I have everything under control! Don''t mess things up!]

    [But¡­!]

    [No buts! You''re going to get killed for nothing! Stop! Don''t do it! It''s suicide!]

    [I can''t just leave you here like this!]

    [Like what?!]

    [Kidnapped!]

    [I can break out at any time!] Mindy refuted. [I''m just waiting for the right time! If you make a move, what''s going to happen to Kara-Goth?]

    [Remian says we''re already in a state of war.]

    [Remian? You went and got Remian involved, now?!] Mindy half-cried. [Why didn''t you just leave him peacefully in retirement? I can handle this without him! I don''t need him to keep saving me all the time!]

    [But here we are! We''ve already come so far! You can''t just ask us to leave now!]

    [You have to! Even if you tried, your nine patchwork-grade corvettes are no match for a military-grade fleet of Galleons and Frigates!]

    [Our airships are industrial-grade, not patchwork-grade!]

    [Only in your eyes! In the eyes of the Temple Knights, you''re barely above junk!]

    [And in yours?]

    Mindy fell silent. [It doesn''t matter. If you attack the knights'' fleet with them, they''re all going to turn into wreckage.]

    [Ah, but we have our secret weapon, you know.]

    [I don''t know! What sort of secret weapon is a bundle of amped-up fireworks?]

    [Oh, that? That''s just for fun. Our real secret weapon is Remian.]

    [You brought Remian on this mad hunt?!] Mindy almost swore.

    [What else could I do!?] George half-exploded in return. [They''d kidnapped you, and like you said, nine corvettes are nothing against airships with that kind of power! We''d be like throwing eggs against rocks, attacking dogs using roast venison! We''d get chomped up in no time! We all know it! But if we had Remian, then¡­]

    [Then all bets are off.] Mindy considered it briefly. [But at what cost? How much of his lifespan would be shortened because of this?]

    [How much of yours would be shortened if we didn''t?]

    [George¡­] Mindy sighed, exasperated. [I''ve been in contact with the Flame Emperor this whole time. We''ve already made arrangements. Please steer clear. I''m afraid you''d get caught in the crossfire.]

    [Oh. So those dragons are hers?]

    Mindy blinked. [What dragons?]

    Then, from hundreds of meters almost directly below her, Mindy heard a Psionic shout. [ATTACK!!]

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    Mindy''s jaw dropped. "What the¡­?"

    That was Darian!

    The airship shook from a sudden impact.

    "Red Alert! All hands, Battle Stations! The dragons are attacking!" Someone screamed from above.

    Accompanied with that yell were more impacts, and a heavy swerve that sent the chicken literally flying off the dinner table, plate, gravy and all.

    [The chicken!!!] Mindy only had a moment for heartfelt regret.

    [What chicken?] George was still linked up with her telepathically and was quite confused.

    But Fel suddenly leapt out and made a heroic grab at the plate. Gravy spewed, but her hands caught on firmly. "Saved!"

    "Great!" Mindy exulted.

    Meanwhile, the escort airship off to their starboard exploded in flames as streams of fire crisscrossed the sky while the airships swerved and dodged as best they could.

    Fel grimaced. "Not so great¡­"

    Whatever! Before anything else could happen, Mindy hastily grabbed a drumstick and took a bite.

 251 Shove Off

    Hanging on to her chicken drumstick as if for dear life, Mindy followed Fel as they darted out to see what was happening.

    "W-why did they attack?" someone was screaming. "They never showed any interest in us before!"

    "Who are they? Who''s attacking?" Fel, lacking Mindy''s advantages, was completely in the dark.

    "Reporting to Sira Fel!" the bright-eyed maid stumbled across the corridor as the ship swerved and tilted. "A swarm of dragons are attacking us! It''s the one that we spotted this afternoon."

    "We knew about them?" Fel stared. "Then why didn''t we evade or strike first?!"

    "But they didn''t seem to pay any attention to us! They were just flying past at low altitude, and we''ve been passing by Wilds like that everywhere, and none of them even came close¡­"

    It was like how a naval ship might ignore a school of sharks swimming past deep underwater. Mindy understood it. This was the Wildlands, and there were powerful Wilds in large numbers everywhere. This group just happened to have a flight path that passed by underneath. Clearly nobody expected them to suddenly attack.

    After all, why would they? The knights'' fleet was no easy pickings. They were strong, and they weren''t bothering each other, so why would there be any sudden hostilities? Each group was just flying along, minding their own business¡­

    BOOM! A particularly loud explosion added to more screams suddenly led to a whole lot more shaking all across the airship.

    "Did someone do something to provoke them?" Fel spluttered.

    Did they? Mindy almost snorted. Hearing Darian''s Psionic broadcast was all the information she needed. [Darian, what are you doing?]

    Darian''s reply was curt. [None of your business.]

    [What?!] Mindy protested. [I''m on the airship your dragons are attacking!]

    [So? It''s not like you''re in any danger.] Darian shot back. [Fire wouldn''t harm you.]

    That¡­ was true. Mindy had to admit it. But she did still feel a bit vexed that he appeared completely unworried about her well-being in this situation. [Look, I appreciate that you''re trying to rescue me, but¡­]

    [Rescue you? This has nothing to do with that.] Darian refuted. [We''re just teaching these intruders a lesson.]

    Screams echoed throughout the ship.

    [But I don''t think they''re going to survive long enough to learn it.] Mindy protested.

    [Somebody else will.]

    [But they''re humans, Darian! You''re human too! Don''t forget that!] Mindy cut in. [There''s no need to kill them all. Just chasing them away is enough!]

    [Haven''t you heard? This is war.] Darian''s voice was cold. [This isn''t about race or species. This is about territory, and this territory is ours.]

    Mindy grimaced. Darian was getting more aggressive and more and more sophisticated as he continued learning from Doom.

    She darted up on to the deck and did a quick count.

    Goodness! The force attacking the knight''s fleet was far beyond her expectations.

    Darian had come with twenty dragons! TWEN! TY! DRAGONS!

    Just one of them was enough to burn an escort Frigate to nothing. The biggest dragon out here was Tor''na-dras herself, a Tier 7 Elder Dragon at least thrice the length of the Galleon, if not as fat. There were a handful of Tier 6 Senior Dragons literally ripping the envelopes of the airships apart with their bare claws. A dozen Tier 5 Adult Dragons were bombarding the gondolas with streams of dragon fire. The smallest one in sight was Har''es-dras, still a Tier 4 Juvenile, and one strange-looking dragon seemingly made of shimmering blue light¡­

    That''s Darian! Mindy realized the reason none of the knights discovered a human in the swarm was because Darian was using a dragon-form silhouette.

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    So that meant¡­ they''d have no idea who was really attacking them. The way Darian was disguised, nobody would ever think a human was involved. As far as anyone could see, this was an attack by Wilds¡­

    But then there was George. [Mindy, I''m coming to save you!!] His Psionic voice was decisive, throwing caution to the winds.

    [NO!!!] Mindy blasted back urgently. [Don''t screw this up! Back off!]

    [But¡­]

    [NO BUTS! Get out of here before you make an unnecessary mess! We''ve got everything under control!]

    [But that''s a battle zone out there! There are knights and dragons and airships fighting all over the place!]

    [Just trust me and GO!]

    BOOM! The knights'' airship caught fire.

    POW! One of the many envelopes above containing lighter-than-air gasses burst under a dragon''s claw.

    "Fire!" a command was shouted. Gunshots rang out in chorus. Dragons roared in pain and fury.

    Resounding roars replied from below, from above, from the left and from in front. Abruptly, dozens of large, angry Wilds rushed in from all sides.

    [Mindy!] the Roc King was also arriving with the other Nine Kings.

    [Here.] Mindy grimaced, knowing full well that this mess was only going to get messier, but there was really nothing she could do to stop it. [Bring in the chaos. Darian! The Flame Emperor''s forces are here.]

    [Good!] Darian really didn''t seem to want to talk much right now. He was ripping into an escort frigate''s forward batteries, all three decks of heavy magic cannons torn into and set aflame in moments.

    The Nine Kings appeared from directly ahead, and they brought friends. Lots, and lots of friends.

    "Holy statue of the Cardinal!" Fel''s maid shouted. "So many Tier 6 and 7 Wilds¡­!"

    "Wait till you get farther south! There''s where the really strong ones are!" Mindy shouted back.

    "It gets worse?!" Fel''s maid gaped. "How could it get worse?!"

    "Just now, it was twenty dragons. Now there''s two hundred Wilds coming who are about as strong as them. What do you think is waiting farther south?" Mindy demanded.

    Fel''s maid paused. Then she wailed. "I''m not good at math!"

    "Two thousand!" Fel smacked her over the head with a roasted chicken wing. "Ready our yacht! We''re leaving!"

    "On our own?!" the maid gasped.

    Fel bopped her another one. "This ship isn''t going to last much longer! We have to get to safety! Pack our dinner, and don''t forget the clothes you left out to dry." She handed the chicken to the maid.

    "Yes, Sira Fel!" the maid scurried off.

    Mindy cleared her throat. "Well, then, Sira Fel, I bid you farewell¡­"

    But Fel wouldn''t have it. "You''re coming with!"

    ***

    They dashed down the corridors of the airship as it tilted and swayed and shook every moment. Accompanied by the sounds of things breaking or exploding, Fel and Mindy stumbled their way to the rear through a great many confusing passages and rooms that looked near identical to Mindy.

    "All hands, abandon ship!" Jared''s voice was shouting through some loudspeakers. "Abandon ship!"

    "Come with me! We''re getting out of here!" Fel called out to every crewmember and knight she crossed. Hearing the order to abandon ship and seeing that Fel seemed to know exactly what she was doing, they formed up behind her and pretty soon, there were dozens of people following Fel toward the ship''s rear.

    At last, they broke into a tight hangar where four smaller corvette-sized airships were waiting.

    "Sira Fel!" two other uniformed maids bowed to Fel as they arrived from the third corvette.

    "That''s my yacht!" Fel darted for it, one hand on Mindy''s collar, leaving greasy chicken stains over it.

    "Fel!" Sir Fate arrived, with a pair of men-at-arms trailing.

    "Greetings, Sir Fate." Aboard Fel''s airship, the twin maids bowed in unison.

    "Bro! You''re here! Good! You coming with me, or taking your own ship?" Fel asked.

    "Uh¡­ I''ll take my own ship." He gestured, and his men darted to the second airship berth to prepare his corvette.

    "Well, then I''ll see you in the skies. All aboard!" Fel barked to the crowd following her. "Prepare to shove off!"

    "You managed to gather that many people?" Fate gaped. "Any more coming?"

    "Wait for me!!" Fel''s first maid showed up, loaded with two lunch boxes and a basket of laundry.

    "You even had time to get your laundry?!" Fate gaped.

    "Hurry up and get off this ship already!" Fel scrambled on board, and then ordered. "Shove off!"

    "Heave!" several tag-along knights and crewmen took up poles and did as she bid while the airship''s engines hummed to life and Fel''s Yacht glided out from the berth of Jared''s flagship and out into the open air.

 252 Okay, bye!

    Out in the open, the battle was in full swing.

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    With a roar, a red dragon nearly crashed directly into Fel''s yacht, but Fel whacked it with a greatsword about as big as herself, batting it aside long enough for her airship to slip past. She took one glance at the chaos ensuing all around them and shook her head.

    She called out to Sir Jared, still battling three dragons on deck. "Chief! We gotta go!"

    "No! I will not abandon ship! I will stand my ground to the bitter end!" Sir Jared proclaimed bravely in a voice like thunder. "To the very last!"

    "Okay, bye!" Fel replied cheerily, and her airship zipped away from the thick of the fighting.

    Sir Jared spluttered, but then a concerted charge by two dragons bowled him over and he went rolling right off the deck of his airship.

    Stubbornly, he pulled a little grappling hook from his belt and threw that over the deck railing. He tugged himself back onto the deck, dashed over to where he''d dropped his sword, and took it up again. "You will not move ME!"

    The third dragon crashed into him with a roar and knocked him back, but he slammed his blade into the deck itself, steadying his footing, and roared back. "I shall stand until the end!!"

    Fel observed from afar as they made their way to safety. "You know, I think a shield would work better in his case."

    "Or a cannon." Mindy said thoughtfully. "A cannon would work better on flying targets."

    "Everyone''s a critic." Fel''s maid rolled her eyes. "Shall I set the table for dinner again?"

    "Not yet." Fel said, taking the airship in a tight turn. "Not until we''re clear¡­"

    RIP! The sounds of something tearing brought their gazes up. There above them was a glowy little dragon tearing into the airship''s envelope.

    [Darian¡­] Mindy grimaced. [I''m on this airship, you know.]

    [Of course I know. Why do you think I''m sinking it?] Darian pointed out.

    [Great. Just great.] Mindy sighed. [Sunk by my own rescuer.]

    "We''re going down!!" Fel''s maid yelped, as Fel leapt up and swung her sword at the dragon Silhouette.

    "Everyone hang on!" Fel barked, struggling to keep the ship under control. It teetered to one side, and Mindy half-expected the whole thing to spiral, but Fel held on with a death grip, white-knuckled, and¡­

    The ship spiraled out of control anyway.

    "Waaaaa¡­!" Fel''s yacht dropped out of the sky in a tight circle accompanied by the wail of Fel''s maid.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Sir Fate was trying to reach Sir Jared despite all the fighting. The flagship was already burning, half its envelopes torn apart, more than half its gondola broken and tilting to one side. Sir Jared was trying to fight off a fourth dragon on top of the previous three now, and doing so with only one hand because he needed to hold on to the railing with the other. "Back! GET BACK!"

    But he was only one man and it was a big airship. He could only cover so much of it.

    Fate narrowed his eyes and raised one hand. Psionic energy coalesced into a bolt in front of his palm, and then shot out, slamming into the nearest dragon¡­

    The dragon snarled, and narrowed its eyes. A similar Psionic bolt formed in between its horns and blasted right back at Sir Fate. The two bolts collided in mid-air and splashed into nothingness simultaneously.

    "Nope. Not going to work." Fate grunted, and drew a Sigil in the air. "Lightning!"

    Out of the clear sky, a streak of electric current flashed. It jolted the targeted dragon, causing it to flinch¡­

    And that was all.

    "That''s it?!" Sir Fate was incredulous. "Just one flinch?!"

    The dragon roared back, sending a veritable curtain of sonic energy onto the deck of Sir Fate''s airship.

    "Haah!" Sir Fate shouted back, countering sonic energy with his own shout¡­

    BOOM! The dragon''s roar blasted right through Sir Fate''s shout and slammed into everyone on deck.

    "Guaah!" Sir Fate''s crew went flying like pins in a bowling alley.

    Strike! No, wait, Sir Fate himself was still standing. Spare!

    The dragon eyed him then angled for a second shot...

    But then another dragon swept in and physically hauled Sir Fate off his own airship in its claws.

    [Hey! I was going to hit that!] the dragon roared in protest.

    [Too slow!] the girl dragon scolded.

    [Fine¡­] The first dragon grumbled, and went back to the business of tearing up Sir Fate''s airship.

    Meanwhile, Sir Fate was trying to slash his greatsword into a dragon that was dragging him straight up into the sky with enough velocity to black out most normal knights. "Why¡­ did they¡­ have to make¡­ my sword¡­ so heavy?!"

    [It''s not that heavy.] the girl dragon said modestly. [But I guess this is high enough.]

    "High enough for what?" Sir Fate asked.

    And then he wished he hadn''t.

    The dragon dropped him. [Whoops! Actually, no¡­]

    "Uwaaaa¡­!" Sir Fate fell out of the sky with a yell of almost the same tone and pitch as Fel''s maid.

    ***

    At that time, Lady Knight Damnaith was sitting gloomily in a gunner''s chair trying to angle for a shot from a sinking airship.

    "We''re going down." She said gloomily to an empty station. Everyone else had already fled and abandoned ship, but she still sat there still trying to shoot something, all by herself.

    Around that point, the ammunition caught fire and exploded. There was a terrible shake, and then the ship''s descent really sped up.

    Despite the obvious fall, Damnaith didn''t look scared or even particularly excited. She just looked melancholic. "We''re all gonna die. It''s so sad."

    The world spun around her. The entire gunnery section broke apart, ordinance scattering in all directions and exploding more often than not. One of those explosions actually set her on fire.

    "Ow." Damnaith said in a steady, slow voice as she slapped out the fire calmly. "I guess this is the end. Goodbye, cruel world¡­"

    Then there was a terrible crashing sound as the airship met the ground and the wreckage blew apart in a spectacular series of explosions.

    ***

    Fel''s airship fared little better. It, too, crashed around the same time, along with Jared and Damnaith on their flagship, and Sir Fate fell right out of the sky.

    In rapid succession, the Sure-Die Trio and Sir Jared all reached the ground in rather violent and uncomfortable ways.

    Slowly, the dust began to settle.

    "Is everyone okay?" Fel asked indiscriminately.

    Multiple groans answered her.

    "This is disaster! Disaster!" one maid shrieked.

    Fel''s first maid lowered her head. "Sira Fel, I''m sorry. I can''t set the table for dinner."

    "Why not?" Fel asked.

    "All the dishes are broken."

    "AARGH!!" This proclamation was accompanied by a furious roar from Sir Jared. Not to imply that it was in any way connected to the fate of the dishes.

    Speaking of Fate, Sir Fate himself was stuck headfirst in the ground nearby, half-buried up to his waist. One foot twitched sideways.

    "Just use napkins or carve out wooden dishes or something." Fel sighed. "And this time, set the table for five. My teacher and fellow disciples will be joining us, it seems. But wash up first, you and the others."

    "Yes, Sira Fel." The maid bowed, her face still charred.

    "Knights, anyone who can still stand, help me get Sir Fate out of the ground." Fel strenuously pulled herself to her feet. "And somebody, go call Sira Damnaith for dinner!"

    "Um¡­ where is she?" one of the knights asked.

    "She''s still sitting in the middle of the wreckage." Fel grimaced. "Go get her to come over before she starts burying herself."

 253 Hostage Situation

    The survivors of the Temple Knights Expedition gathered around an odd dinner table laid out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by wreckage. Sir Jared, Sir Fate, Sira Fel, and Sira Damnaith were sitting around the table with Mindy, each looking sorrier than the last, and none as gloomy as Damnaith. But that last part was normal.

    Bright side? The chicken survived more or less intact. Fel''s maids were serving it to their guests with pride and gusto and much cleaner hands.

    Also, one of them managed to find a jar of cranberry jam to go with it. It was actually meant for turkey, but at this point, nobody was complaining.

    All around them, the knights'' survivors made camp. And around the camp¡­ well¡­

    They were surrounded. Tier 6 and 7 Wilds had encircled them and bared fangs were on every side. On occasion, if a soldier got too close, or if one of them felt like it, they''d take a snap or two, often almost taking a good bite out of somebody.

    But those were just random occurrences. Generally speaking, the fighting had come to a pause.

    Darian appeared in human form, having released his Silhouette.

    "Stay back, or she will suffer for it." Sir Jared said straight out.

    "Better listen, boy. She is our prisoner and we are holding her hostage against your Wilds!" Sir Fate emphasized.

    "Whatever happened to a knight''s honor?" Darian asked, narrowing his eyes.

    "Forget honor - at this point, we''re a bunch of desperate, shipwrecked survivors with our backs to the wall." Fel explained. "If push comes to shove, Mindy''s safety and well-being cannot guaranteed."

    Darian paused, glancing upwards to where a little flotilla of nine corvettes remained in the sky, the only human airships still in the air. [Any thoughts on this?]

    George''s thoughts were calm. [Right now, she is a guest and visibly treated to dinner. Clearly, rescuing her is not an urgent matter. Attempting rescue would put her at risk.]

    Darian considered it. [So¡­ after dinner, then?]

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    [Yeah, that should do it.]

    ***

    Interestingly, as Mindy and the others ate chicken with cranberry jam, the other expeditions began to react very strangely.

    Half the foreign expeditions turned around outright. A few more scattered to steer very, very clear of the battle site. Two ascended to absolute maximum altitude and pushed the limits. One more decided to land and make camp for a while.

    All of them avoided the battle site and the besieged Temple Knights camp like the plague.

    [Why doesn''t anyone want to come over?] George wondered out of curiousity.

    [Probably because you''re still up there.] Mindy rolled her eyes. [You and those scary nine corvettes.]

    [Haha. Very funny.] George snorted.

    [No, I''m serious.] Mindy told him. [You have no idea how all this looks to everyone else.]

    George paused and considered it for a moment. [Care to explain?]

    [Think about it. A powerful fleet of knights left Kara-Goth, and then a little squad of nine corvettes chased them. Ordinarily, you''d think those nine corvettes would be crushed, but when you finally do catch up, you see the scenes of a huge battle, and the entire knights'' expedition has been wiped out¡­ while all nine corvettes are still intact, and hardly even look scorched.]

    Darian burst out laughing, but he didn''t dispute her words.

    [And I suppose about a hundred Tier 6 and 7 Wilds don''t factor at all?] George mused.

    [Wilds seem to be more of a natural hazard. I''m afraid the other expeditions view them as vultures and jackals circling the fallen after the battle.]

    [So¡­ they all think WE did it?!] George groaned. [There goes our trade exports¡­]

    [Relax. This could be a good thing for Kara-Goth''s image.] Mindy consoled him. [At the very least, it could be a deterrent to piracy.]

    [Just being in the Wildlands is deterrent to piracy. Or any sort of human activity.]

    [You know what I mean. Having a reputation of a powerful military force can only be good for national security. Less people would dare muck around with a force that''s so powerful.]

    [There is indeed so powerful a force out here. It''s just not us.] George grimaced.

    [Doesn''t matter. Any sky pirates out here would probably get sunk all the same.] Mindy shrugged. [So, I''m about done with dinner. Any plans to rescue me? Or shall I just get the Flame Emperor to rain fire and fight my way own out?]

    [About that¡­ you might want to brace yourself.] George advised.

    [Why?] Mindy asked.

    At that, the ground disappeared.

    "Urghk!" Mindy shrieked, as she fell straight down a deep, deep hole, chair and all.

    ***

    "Mindy?!" Fel blinked.

    "Where is she?!" Fate was on his feet.

    "We''re doomed!" Damnaith cackled. "The earth is going to swallow us all!"

    "I don''t think that was the earth''s doing." Sir Jared frowned. "I''m sensing magic. But it''s¡­ deep. Very deep down."

    Sir Jared, of course, had never heard of Tier 6 Land Wyrms, the very same kind that tunneled right under Kara-Goth and through the pit long ago (or maybe not that long ago). Using such a Wyrm to tunnel under Mindy and rescue her would normally be a tricky venture, but then there was Remian, and he took care of the more sensitive details like the last layers of soil below Mindy, and catching her, and quickly spiriting her away down the giant wyrm tunnels atop the back of a grinning Carrie.

    Once they were past, the Land Wyrm helpfully collapsed the tunnels beneath them, causing a tremor than shook the dinner table and then a sudden land sink that had everyone except Damnaith yelping and leaping to safety.

    "The earth knows I''m already dead! It knows I should be buried!" Damnaith moaned as she sank deeper and deeper into the ground. "Farewell, cruel world¡­!"

    "Get out of there and stop being lazy." Sir Jared scolded his student.

    Darian cleared his throat. "Now, let''s deal."

    "Deal? With what? We just lost our hostage!" Damnaith cackled almost hysterically.

    "Exactly! But we haven''t." Darian said.

    "What are you talking about?" Sir Fate frowned.

    "I''m talking about you guys." Darian pointed out. "Send a message to Ecclesia warning them off our territory for good. Have them sign a treaty, or you and the other knights here are going to get it."

    "I get it! This is a whole new hostage situation." Fel exclaimed.

    "That''s right." Darian nodded. "From now on, until that treaty is signed, you guys are our hostages!"

 254 Heroism

    Sir Fate glanced at Sir Jared. "What do you think?"

    Sir Jared grunted. "It''s a bit early, and it''s a bit far, but it looks like we have no choice."

    Hearing that, George relaxed a bit, but Darian, on the other hand, tensed up. "What are you planning?"

    "Isn''t it obvious?" Sir Jared shrugged. Turning to his knights, he said, "Attack!"

    With a roar, sixty knights in various states of injury immediately charged at the surrounding Wilds.

    "What the-?!" George blinked.

    "They''re trying to break out!" Darian leapt aside to avoid a brandished broadsword, kicking it clear out of the attacking knight''s hand and seizing it for himself. Before he could counter, a nearby tiger chomped down on the knight, biting off one whole arm entirely, and then a python lunged atop the fellow and had him for dinner, armor and all.

    Darian got clear and took one glance at the berserker knights. "It''s a diversion!"

    While the knights charged mindlessly in every direction, the leaders of their expedition were focused on a single course; directly south. Sir Jared, Sir Fate, Sira Fel, and Sira Damnaith fought their way through the southern perimeter of the encirclement and broke free of the siege in moments.

    "Don''t tell me¡­ they''re still going for the Source?!" George gasped.

    "Duh." Darian drew up his dragon Silhouette and roared. [All dragons, those four are making a run for it!]

    [Stop them!] twenty dragons charged for the leaders running for the south.

    But Sir Jared and his disciples were incredibly fast. They were so fast, even Darian couldn''t catch up to them. Of the twenty dragons, only a half-dozen had the speed to match, and even they would take some time to close the gap.

    [Not good!] Watching from afar, Doom himself joined the chase, but he wasn''t that much faster either. [Flame Emperor! They''re headed right for you!]

    There was an earth-shaking cry, and then from a great mountain far, far ahead, beyond the Nine Kings Range, there was an eruption that lit up the evening. Huge columns of smoke immediately followed along with a fiery outpouring of lava.

    And then, from the top of the mountain, a colossal bird''s head was raised and glared at the four Grand Knights with narrowed eyes.

    The Flame Emperor was finally making a move with her real form, and the world was covered in fire.

    "Scatter!" Sir Jared ordered, as he charged straight for the Flame Emperor.

    But nobody left his side.

    "What are you guys doing? I said, SCATTER! I''ll hold off the big bird, you guys get to the Source of Magic!" Sir Jared barked.

    "But¡­" Sir Fate protested.

    "He''s right, you''re not going to survive it." Fel gave it to him straight.

    "Then don''t let my sacrifice be in vain! Scatter! That is an order!!" Sir Jared charged. "For mankind!"

    Sir Fate grimaced and cut across toward the left. Sira Fel sighed, and headed to the right.

    "Uh¡­" Damnaith looked left to Fate, right to Fel, straight ahead to Jared and scratched her head. "Then which way am I supposed to go?!"

    Predictably, nobody answered her.

    Gloomily, she turned around and raised her sword. "Oh well. We all knew we were going to die out here in the first place. We knew it the moment we left home. We were all expecting this a one-way trip from the start."

    With that, she leapt straight into Doom''s path and swung her greatsword at his head. Doom batted it aside, intending to dodge her, but she dropped her sword and grabbed both his feet, yelling, "I know I''m going down, but you''re going down with me!!!"

    [Blast it! Someone get her off me!] Doom fought to free himself, but it would take time, and time was one thing they did not have in abundance.

    [I''m coming!] Darian closed in. [Dragons, split up and stop Fate and Fel! Leave Sir Jared to the Flame Emperor! Doom and I will handle Damnaith!]

    Eventually, they would win, of course. Right in the depths of the Wildlands, Tier 6 and stronger Wilds were without number, and hundreds of them were converging on the battle site from all sides. It was only a matter of time before this expedition and all other expeditions were halted, crushed or otherwise wiped out.

    But time was suddenly against them. Abandoning all hopes of survival, abandoning all their friends and their teacher, Fate and Fel charged straight for the promised Source of Magic in the far south at speeds that Mindy''s previous expedition couldn''t even dream about.

    Only a scarce few could catch up to them. Other Wilds were trying, throwing themselves in the way of the two Grand Knights, but Fate and Fel dodged, slipped past, cut their way through, or otherwise just plain bulldozed everything in their way. They were fast, they were powerful, and they didn''t care one whit about injuries or pain. With the Flame Emperor and Doom delayed at the ultimate cost, they were unstoppable.

    "No¡­" George gasped, but it was a weak voice much, much too far away for either of the Grand Knights to hear, and it presented a concept that was already completely thrown out of their vocabulary. No matter what anyone did or said, they were absolutely determined to find the Source of Magic!

    In minutes, they were within sight of the black zone. In a quarter of an hour, they were at its edge, and were able to sense the inflowing mana easily enough to make a beeline straight for the Source.

    At that point, the six fastest dragons had already caught up to them. One managed to clench both jaws around Fel''s left foot, and refused to let go, dragging her back and slowing her immediately.

    "GO!" Fel shouted, reaching out to grab the next two nearest dragons and slamming them against another two, then desperately closed her own teeth around the last of the six pursuing dragons. All by herself, she fought to hold them off with everything she had. [GO, Fate, GO!]

    Fate, meanwhile, had a baffled look on his face as he neared the Source of Magic at about twice the speed of sound. [What¡­ what am I supposed to do with THAT? It''s a crack in space! We can''t take that away!]

    For a moment, nobody answered. Nobody knew what to say or do.

    But desperation being what it was, Sir Jared wasn''t about to quit. He threw everything he had into this expedition, and he would end it as such. With a roar that could be heard all the way across to where Sir Fate was closing in on the Source, he detonated his own life force. "FOR MANKIND!!"

    A brilliant light lit up the evening accompanied by the sound of thunder. The explosion made even the Flame Emperor flinch.

    "Mankind¡­ mankind¡­" Sir Fate muttered as the distance closed to zero. At last, he put his hand on the crack in space, a tiny, wavy-lined crack in reality itself, and shuddered. "For mankind¡­ what I should do¡­ is¡­ is¡­"

    Magical power surged as Sir Fate had reached his final conclusion.

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    There was a great flash of brilliant light accompanied by the sound of thunder.

    And then there was silence.

    ***

    In moments, George began to feel the difference.

    "Mana¡­ the mana in the air is thickening." George whispered. "Fate¡­ what have you done? What have you DONE?!"

    Grimacing, Darian finally managed to tug Damnaith off Doom. She''d stopped fighting since the second explosion and the change in the air. She was laughing, laughing hysterically, and it likely wasn''t because she had just been, for all practical purposes, extremely friendly with Darian''s teacher a moment ago.

    "He did it!" Damnaith cackled into the grim silence. "He''s given mana to everybody!

    "Fate has opened the spatial crack!"

 255 Breach

    "How did that happen?" Mindy protested as they climbed out of a hole.

    "Think of those Grand Temple Knights as Tier 7 humans." Remian suggested. "That should give you an idea of how strong they were."

    "That strong?" Mindy gaped.

    "Don''t look so surprised. You''re not too far off, yourself." Remian pointed out.

    "But I have a bond with the Flame Emperor, and we''re rather close to her location right now. Also, she''s currently awake, which means I''m more powerful now than ever. They¡­ how did they get so strong?" Mindy asked.

    "Darian should know better than me. He''s as strong as you are, and he doesn''t have any such special bond that I know of." Remian pointed out.

    "How DOES he get so strong? Comparing Darian to the likes of Max and Marcus is like¡­" Mindy shook her head.

    "Comparing Tier 6 to Tier 4 Wilds? Exactly." Remian nodded. "My little brother is growing up¡­"

    "Your little brother is tying up a girl with ropes." Mindy pointed out.

    Remian blinked, then turned to see Darian and Doom restraining Damnaith.

    "Kill me!" Damnaith shrieked. "Just let me die! I''ll be remembered as a hero! Or a heroine! Yes, heroine is better!"

    "You seem to have an awfully light opinion of death." Darian growled.

    "Temple Knight teachings include a rewarded afterlife. Judgment according to what you did in life and all that." Doom explained. "Damnaith, in particular, seems to have a thing for death¡­"

    [I like her, too.] Death chipped in, right on cue.

    Remian glanced over his shoulder. It had been so long, he hardly noticed Death hanging around any more. [Can you give me a bit of space? You''re getting uncomfortably close.]

    [But of course.] Death hobbled back a bit. [Nobody wants death so close, right?]

    Remian froze. [What is that supposed to mean?]

    Death chuckled in a tone that made shivers run down Remian''s back. [You''re about to find out.]

    [Breach! Intruder alert!] a Psionic broadcast flooded across the horizon from the south. [Spectral Beasts have entered our world! The Rift has been opened! They''re coming through!]

    [Stop them!] The Flame Emperor turned.

    Psionic screams flitted through the air. [They''re too strong!] [Call for reinforcements!] [Get back! We need to surround them¡­!]

    The Flame Emperor raised her wings. [All of you, get clear!]

    [RUN! The Flame Emperor is about to make a move! Everyone RUN!!]

    A Psionic Blast shot out, a blast so powerful, Remian almost blanked out when it appeared. For a moment there, the whole world turned blurry and started to tilt around ever-so-slowly¡­

    [We GOT IT!] a Psionic cry was jubilant.

    [Great! Wait¡­ what''s that!]

    [Oh, rabbit poop, that''s big! That''s BIG!]

    [Everyone, get out of there!] the Flame Emperor roared, and fire started to rain down from the sky all over the south. [Pull back to Nine Kings Range!]

    [RUN!] thousands of Wilds immediately sprang into action. [It''s coming through!]

    There was a heavy tremor in the ground. Then another.

    "Are those¡­ footsteps?!" Mindy gulped. "What IS that?"

    "That''s the reason why we never wanted to open the Source of Magic wider." Darian grimaced.

    "Not entirely." Doom refuted. "There''s more where that came from. That there is just one of them."

    Mindy''s face paled. Meanwhile, the Flame Emperor went into full battle, but even then none of the Wilds fleeing slowed down for even a moment.

    "We''re all gonna DIE!" Damnaith cackled.

    This time, nobody shut her up.

    ***

    They ran for it. George picked up Remian, Carrie and Mindy while Doom and Darian went with the dragons, hauling Fel and Damnaith away as their prisoners.

    Now in the lead corvette of a nine-corvette fleet headed north, Mindy turned to the south where fire and smoke covered an earth-shaking battle as the Flame Emperor battled an as-yet-unseen opponent, something that only showed up vaguely through the smoke in glimmers of yellow light towering high, easily matching the height of the Nine Kings mountains, if not the Flame Emperor''s volcano.

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    Something with a very large hand tipped with claws the size of a Tier 4 wolfcat. They knew, because it reached out towards the corvette out of the smoke, and made a grab at them from hundreds of meters away.

    "Go! GO!" George was yelling as the airships poured on speed.

    "We¡­ can''t! Mana¡­" the crew panted heavily.

    "Here!" Mindy pounced on the conversion unit and poured mana into it.

    "Light!" Meanwhile, Remian threw up a barrier.

    Sparks erupted as the claw hit the barrier, light meeting light, and shook in mid-air.

    [Get back here!] Fiery wings flapped, and the hand was jerked back into the smoke where more explosions and fire hammered at the vaguely-seen giant form.

    Remian squinted, raised one hand.

    "Don''t use ice! Chirpy''s powers are fire!" Mindy yelled a reminder.

    Remian nodded. "Fireball!"

    It shot out and¡­

    Well, presumably it exploded, but there were so many explosions going on in there, it was hard to tell which one was the fireball.

    "Something a little stronger, maybe?" George suggested. "You barely made a dent in there."

    "There was a dent?" Mindy blinked.

    "Fire lance!" This was a flame spike several feet long and easily a foot wide at its thickest. It soared out into the battle toward the vague yellow light-shape. Then it disappeared, just another one of a myriad of explosions.

    "Bigger!" George encouraged.

    [Quit using fire, yours is pathetic! Your light powers work better!] the Flame Emperor hinted.

    In the eyes of the Flame Emperor, clearly his fire was lacking.

    "Light!" Remian threw as much desperation as he could feel into the spell, trying to repeat the first ultra-spell he''d ever cast, the one that scared away the first Beast Wave in the first battle he''d ever fought in the Wildlands so long ago.

    A beam of light shot out, but while it was a lot more than just a little illumination, it still fell far short of that Soul-Boosted blast in the past.

    Remian grimaced. "I''m going to need to work on attack spells. Something with a lot more firepower that doesn''t use ice. Or fire."

    "I''m not sure attack spells are going to be much help here." Mindy grunted, still pouring mana into the corvette''s power supply. At this point, their corvette was already leaving the others behind. "Chirpy says that up till now, the Wilds have fought Spectres with Psionic power, not magic."

    "Psionics? You mean, like the way Wilds talk to each other? The stuff Darian and Doom uses?" George perked up. "Hey, since we can talk to Wilds¡­ doesn''t that mean that we, too, use Psionic power?"

    "Yes, we do." Mindy confirmed. "But probably not to the levels needed to fight the Spectres."

    "Spectres? That''s what they''re called?" George eyed the yellow glimmers in the distance. "What about plain old arrows? Would Ballistae help? Runic bolts?"

    "Who knows?" Mindy shook her head.

    "I guess we''ll find out soon enough." Remian said grimly. "If I''m not mistaken, those things down there are Spectres too."

    He pointed. Other than the giant Spectral Beast fighting with the Flame Emperor, about a dozen or so smaller forms had run out from the south and were now scattering across the Wildlands.

 256 Spectres Incoming

    One Tier 7. Four Tier 6. One surprising Tier 5.

    [STOP THEM!] this was the gist of the Psionic chorus from the crowds of Wilds.

    A mass of Psionic attacks flooded the field. The Tier 5 Spectre basically disappeared as it was engulfed.

    The other Spectres roared, a roar without sound, and those soundless roars left waves in the air that visibly struck everything they came across.

    "Get down!" Mindy tugged him as she ducked under another Psionic barrage from a particularly enthusiastic bear.

    The Tier 6''s were battered backwards, but the Tier 7 surged forward.

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    In the distance, loud roars shook the air as the Tier 8 and the Flame Emperor fought, filling the skies with smoke and the ground with tremors. Closer to their position, the Tier 6''s were battered back and flailed against the barrage of Psionic power from the assembled Wilds. Remian focused on the oncoming Tier 7, which looked somewhat like a semi-transparent scaly jackal with tusks roughly the size of ten elephants.

    "Double Ice Boots!" Far away from the Flame Emperor''s fight now, Remian was able to throw one of his hardest hitting spells at it without fear of interfering with the Big Bird''s fires.

    The impact knocked the Tier 7 back for a moment, but then it surged forward, actually passing through the ice as it restarted its charge.

    "It''s incorporeal?!" George gasped.

    "Not entirely." Mindy grunted, gathering Psionic energy into a ball the way the Wilds did. "The ice did hit it. But it''s not entirely solid either. It''s¡­ half-corporeal! Semi-corporeal! Something like that!"

    "Is it a ghost?!" George had to ask.

    "Don''t talk about ghosts!" Mindy shot the Psionic bolt out. It hit the Tier 7 Spectral Beast, making it stumble. "Just hit it with Psionic power!"

    "I''m not that strong Psionically!"

    "Every little bit helps!" Mindy gathered another bolt with enough power to rival the Kings.

    George gritted his teeth and gathered one too.

    Mindy''s face fell when she saw George''s efforts. "Even Vigil can do better than that¡­"

    "Vigil''s been training under his father! Who do I have to train me?!" George grumbled.

    "Yourself!" Mindy fired off her next bolt, which hit the Tier 7 like a slap in the face. Remian had to admit, she was getting good at it. "It doesn''t take much! Just practice mind-talking with the Wilds! George, you need a Comrade!"

    "Easy for you to say! Where would I have time to feed, groom and play with a Comrade?" George struggled to form his second bolt and make it stronger than his first. He fired it off and started forming his next.

    "You have time to play around with those clunky Frames, don''t you?" Mindy shot off another bolt many times the size and power of George''s.

    "That''s different! It''s important!" George began to enlarge his third.

    "How so?" Mindy fired off her fourth almost casually.

    "It''s a major part of Kara-Goth''s development! I have plans for mass production and export!" George glanced at her, his third still collecting power. "It''s basically our economic trump card, the one thing that everyone in the world could use but nobody else seems to have tried to seriously make and sell!"

    "Who would need that sort of thing when we have martial cultivation and magic?" Mindy asked, firing off her fifth and raising her other hand, then gathering her sixth and seventh with one hand each.

    "Everybody! Even magi and martial artists!" George said grandly, finally firing off his third.

    "I hate to break it to you, but now that ambient mana is thickening in the air, magic''s about to become a lot easier for everybody. I''m not sure if that''s a good thing for your sales of Frames." Mindy fired off her sixth, and then her seventh a moment later. She gathered another two more in her hands.

    "It is since the cost of fuel is about to drop drastically." George grinned, starting to enlarge his fourth. "With ambient mana this thick, if we could inscribe runic formations that gather mana into the Frames¡­"

    "Free fuel?!" Mindy gasped. She fired off her eighth and ninth, gathering another two more before they even reached their target.

    "Exactly!" George shot off his fourth. "Also, the same concept should work for industrial machinery. Think of how high productivity is going to skyrocket with that sort of machinery in our factories!"

    "That sounds great, George, but right now, I think we should be building military armaments rather than industrial machinery." Mindy grimaced. She fired off her eighth and gathered her tenth, then fired off her ninth and then suddenly started firing off bolts continuously from one hand and then the next. "Have you forgotten that we''re fighting the Spectres?"

    Meanwhile, Remian called down a cold combo. "Blizzard! Flash Freeze!"

    But the Tier 7 barely slowed. Heck, Mindy''s continuous Psionic bolts were having more effect slowing it down than Remina''s Flash Freeze. The other corvettes were also blasting away at the Tier 7 with ballistae, crossbows, and ice magic. Someone was even trying wind magic on it. Despite all their efforts, though, the Tier 7 was still slowly getting closer.

    Thankfully, the Wilds were having better success with the Tier 6''s. One by one, the Tier 6''s fell and faded into nothing, like fog dispersing in the sun.

    But just as Remian was starting to think things weren''t going too badly after all, another wave of Spectral Beasts appeared, half of them Tier 5''s, a few Tier 6''s and a second Tier 7.

    "Oh, scrap!" George grimaced. "All ships, slow withdrawal! Where are our reinforcements?!"

    "Where''s Darian and his twenty dragons?!" Remian asked suddenly.

    Mindy glanced around but didn''t see them. [Darian? Where are you?]

    [Halfway back to Dragon Lake. We need to report to the Elder Dragons and such. They need to know what''s coming!] Darian''s thoughts flowed back. [The Wood Emperor and the Earth Emperor need to know!]

    [Great! But meanwhile, we could really use twenty dragons out here!] Mindy sent back.

    [What, all the Flame Emperor''s forces can''t hold back a handful of Spectres?]

    [Another bunch of them came through. Something tells me there''s more yet to come.]

    [All the more reason we need to rouse the full might of the Five Emperors. Also, Doom says we need to send word to the Great Dragons.]

    [Speaking of Doom, why isn''t he here helping us?]

    [He''s busy trying to talk sense into Fel and Damnaith. Now that they''re surrounded by dragons, they''re a lot more willing to talk.]

    [Oh? How''s that going?]

    [Not great. But they''re at least willing to communicate.]

    [They''re willing to have a conversation?]

    [Sort of. It''s more like they''re yelling at each other. Even the dragons are steering clear. But I think we can at least get them to agree to help fight off the Spectres.]

    [They should! They''re the ones who caused this!]

    [Doom said the exactly same thing. That''s when the shouting match began.]

    Mindy hesitated. [Can you get word to Tim? We might need a whole lot more firepower in the days to come. We''re going to need really ramp up production in the industrial zone.]

    [I''m still a bit out of range. But I''ll send word to Three Pines. I might be close enough by then.]

    "Okay, that''s it for me." George slumped down on the deck. "I''m dizzy."

    Remian glanced at the other corvettes. The spells and firepower flying from them were sporadic and sparse. "Looks like the rest of the fleet can''t go on much longer either. I think it''s time we pull back. You all need a break, and this isn''t going to be over any time soon."

    "Speak for yourself. You look even paler than he does." Mindy pointed out, looking at Remian. "You need to go get some rest too. I''ll stay here and try to hold them off a bit more."

    Remian glanced down and realized that he was physically trembling. Only now did he suddenly feel the exhaustion. "But¡­"

    "Go. I''ll be with Chirpy. We''ll pull back when we need to." Mindy assured him. "Go get us as much reinforcements and firepower as you can."

    "Right." Remian hesitated for one more moment, then said. "I''ll hold you to it, now. No heroics. Pull back when you have to."

    "I promise."

 257 A Crazy Idea

    "Now that we''ve figured out the logical solution, how about a crazy idea?" Remian asked.

    "How crazy, exactly?" Mindy perked up.

    "Get me to the Rift and I''ll try to close it." Remian told her straight out.

    "That''s crazy!" George yelped immediately.

    "But it''s a great idea!" Mindy contradicted. "It''s just that¡­ well¡­ how are you going to close it?"

    "I''ve actually been studying space magic." Remian paused. "I can''t promise to succeed, but at the very least I can take a look, and then we can go back and figure out a way to close it for good. Otherwise, the Spectres will just keep coming through."

    George grimaced. "But considering the circumstances¡­"

    Remian shook his head. "The circumstances are as good as they''re ever going to get. Right now, our enemies are few, and our friends many. It''s still possible to break through or slip around them. Later, when there are more of them and the fighting has stopped, it would be much, much harder."

    George gritted his teeth. "Okay. We''ll go in at high altitude¡­"

    "You''ll do no such thing. Your fleet is exhausted. You''re in no shape for a fight or a sprint." Mindy cut in. "I''ll take Remian there myself."

    George considered it, then finally sighed. "Be careful, all right? Bring him back safe and sound."

    "No problem." Mindy grinned, flashing a thumbs up.

    She would regret those two words for the rest of her life.

    ***

    See, the thing about Mindy is she had total faith in Remian. If he said he could close the Rift, she didn''t doubt for an instant that he could. So maybe he couldn''t do it right now, maybe he needed to take a look first and then they''d all huddle and figure out how to close it together afterwards. Maybe it would end up being an expensive affair. But never once did it ever cross Mindy''s mind that it could not be done. As long as Remian said it, she believed it.

    For all her experience, for all her accomplishments, in the end, Mindy was just a tweenage girl. Having faith in her ''elder brother'' was just natural.

    George lowered her and Remian to the ground, and Mindy took him in from there. At the height of her powers, her fiery wings at full speed, Mindy hauled Remian by the scruff of his Frame''s neck around Flame Emperor mountain, and in a circular route to the Source of Magic.

    "There it is." Mindy saw it as they closed in. The cracks in space had grown visibly now, and space itself seemed wobbly. Flaps of broken space fluttered as if in some unearthly wind, opening gaps to somewhere filled with reddish light. Smaller Spectres were slipping in through those gaps, Tier 3''s and 4''s trickling in every moment, with the occasional Tier 5 and 6.

    There was a sudden pulse, as if the Rift was suddenly boiling over. The cracks yawned wide, offering a huge opening, and in came another Tier 7.

    "How many minutes has it been? How many Tier 7''s have come in during so short a time?" Remian tried to calculate, but Mindy''s speeding over had quite messed up his sense of time.

    "Too many, too fast." Mindy summarized for him without bothering to calculate. "How close do you need to be?"

    Remian squinted. "How about right on top of it?"

    Mindy grimaced. "I was afraid you''d say that."

    "Can you do it?"

    "I can, but we won''t be able to stick around."

    "Just give me a few seconds. I want to try something." Remian said, looking at the incoming Spectres grimly. "It might not work, but if it does, it could leave a patch on the hole."

    After all, the spatial magic taught by the headset was about opening a private space out of nowhere, and it was a stable sort that could store stuff for a long time. Remian''s idea was simple; if he could cast the spell and form such a stable space right in the middle of the biggest crack, he might very well be able to at least block it up enough to keep the tier 8''s out, maybe even the Tier 7''s too.

    As to whether it would last very long, or whether the Spectres would be able to find it and destroy it, he couldn''t know. Even so, if it worked, then they''d at least have an inkling of how to re-seal the Rift for good. If it didn''t, well¡­ at least he tried.

    "Well, then, here goes¡­!" Mindy took a deep breath. [Chirpy, I''m going in! Cover us!]

    [Wilds! Forward!] Chirpy sent out the signal.

    The Wilds all around them surged, drawing the Spectres'' attention.

    [Now!] Chirpy sent, even as she poured fire and Psionic havoc upon her opponent.

    "Hold tight!" Mindy warned Remian and charged.

    Remian coughed in Mindy''s grip as the world sped past. "Cross your fingers and hope for the best¡­"

    He worked magic, gathering mana, using thought in place of incantations, Soul Boost instead of tools, touching the fabric of nature with Chaos Magic rather than through devices the way modern magi would¡­

    This was, he assumed, the way the Black Ruins Civilization worked chaos magic. It was different, vastly different from the way modern magi functioned. Remian himself wasn''t too comfortable doing things in such an uncontrolled, loose manner¡­ but push had come to shove and he made a move in desperation.

    "We''re here!" Mindy dropped Remian off right on top of the Rift. "Do it!"

    "Just a second!" Remian scrambled, then tried to form that space inside the Rift¡­

    There was a Resonance, like the Rift and space itself were recognizing each other. There was a ripple in reality, and then¡­ and then¡­

    Remian vanished into nothing.

    ***

    Mindy stared. "R-Remian?"

    He was gone.

    Mindy blinked, searched for him with her eyes, her ears, her mind. Shock filled her, almost paralyzed her. "REMIAN!"

    There was no answer.

    [REMIAN!] Mindy screamed it Psionically. But try as she might, even her Psionic senses could not find him.

    Remian was well and truly gone.

    [Mindy! Watch out!] Chirpy''s awareness flooded her despite her shock. Danger sense flooded her consciousness, and Mindy reacted on instinct that wasn''t hers, her wings straining in a desperate bid for the safety of the skies.

    Below her, the Spectres churned, aghast at losing their prey. Above her, the blue sky beckoned beyond a veil of sorrowless clouds.

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    Her eyes blurred. Her vision was marred by tears.

    [This way!] Chirpy intervened.

    Guided by her Comrade, Mindy flew toward safety.

    Alone.

    ***

    As for Remian¡­

    "What in the world¡­?" Remian blinked looking around.

    The black lands were gone. The fiery battles were gone. Everything around him had suddenly made a total transformation.

    Around him were Black Ruins. Above him, two robed men flew with their feet on large swords. Just around the corner, a worn-out looking woman sat with her legs folded, her eyes closed, seemingly asleep in a sitting position.

    Remian gulped. Something told him that he wasn''t in the Wildlands any more.

    [That''s the wrong question to ask.] Death advised. Remian turned to see him still there over his shoulder.

    [Then what question should I be asking?] Remian queried.

    [How about¡­] Death paused. [What world am I in?]

 259 Steps to take

    Tim was spying on Asda from her attic when word reached him via long-range Psionic messaging.

    [Remian WHAT?] Tim blinked at Mikai.

    Far below them, Asda was crying and complaining to her kitchen staff. "But I haven''t had cheese in MONTHS!"

    "None of us have, your majesty. We''re all very aggrieved about it." The chef said apologetically. "We keep ordering more and more, but the deliveries all just¡­ disappear."

    Tim shot Mikai an accusing look. Mikai only replied with a sheepish grin, half-guilty, half-sympathetic. Poor Asda. If anyone understood a hopeless yearning for cheese, a lynxmouse would. Mikai even looked sorry for her.

    [Maybe we should go easy on raiding their cheese. Just once.] Tim scratched his head.

    Meanwhile, there were the other concerns to consider. Tim thought it over, ran ideas of Spectres and Wilds in his head, pondered over how to stop a Tier 8 Spectre and then consulted the experts.

    Turning to Mikai, he asked, [Why can''t the Five Emperors handle the Spectres?]

    [They can.] Mikai assured him. [They already did that in the last Great War! They suffered grevious injuries and now spend much of their time sleeping to recover, but they definitely have the power!]

    [What about other Wilds? Are there any other Tier 8''s who can match the Emperors in power?]

    [There are, indeed! They are known among your kind as the Great Dragons! Your people swear on them. But they, too, are in recovery. Those who survived the last Great War paid a great price to seal up the Rift.]

    [Those who survived?] Tim repeated, realizing something. [Then how many didn''t survive?]

    [The majority of them.] Mikai scratched one year. [More than those who survived, but we don''t know how many, exactly. Nobody counted. Sorry.]

    Tim ran a quick list of Great Dragons in his head and wondered, [Can we even count on the Dragons helping us humans out this time?]

    [Don''t know.] Mikai shrugged. [Actually, you can''t count on the Emperors either.]

    [Why not?]

    [Because the Deep Emperor and the Wind Emperor hate humans. Very much.]

    [But aren''t they sworn to fight the Spectres?]

    [Everybody is sworn to fight the Spectres. But nobody promised ''when''.]

    [So they want to wait for the Spectres to wipe us out, THEN fight them?]

    [If the thought could occur to me, it could occur to everyone.]

    Tim sighed. [Fine. It looks like we have no choice. We need to make a trip to the deepest depths of the Underground. It''s time to raid the Labyrinth.]

    [The Labyrinth?] Mikai''s ears folded back sorrowfully. [But there''s no good food there!]

    [We can get food anywhere.] Tim waved the objection aside dismissively. [The Labyrinth, though, is the only place to get what we need.]

    [And what''s that?]

    [The secrets of Fal''Herim and its relationship to Khar''al-dras.] Tim answered. [I want to see if we can learn how to awaken a Great Dragon and get him to fight on our side without destroying the whole city in the process.]

    To that grand, stirring statement, Mikai twitched a little, scratched his tailroot, and said, [Oh.]

    Tim half-laughed sheepishly, seeing how unaffected Mikai was. [As for Remian and space magic, well¡­ that''s not something I know how to handle. I''ll leave it to Mindy and the Magic Academy or some such. Hopefully they''ll find a good expert who can seal the Rift and get Remian back. I''ll just send them some money to help ease the process.]

    [You''re sending them your own money to help?] Mikai looked touched.

    [Not mine.] Tim glanced at Asda. [Hers.]

    [Ah.]

    ***

    At the time, Remian was tied up by a girl and trussed like a turkey.

    Suffice to say the chase did not last very long. It basically went like this;

    "Light!" Remian threw up a hand instinctively.

    Nothing happened.

    [Good luck trying to cast magic in a world without mana.] Death gave him a shark''s grin and a thumbs-up.

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    The woman charged.

    "I''m sorry! I''m lost! I needed help¡­!" Remian yelped while running for his life.

    "Mongrel! Scum! Pervert!" the woman shrieked, slashing at him with her sword.

    "I didn''t mean any harm! I just want to go home and needed someone to point out the way!" Remian yelped, dodging and almost losing his fingers in the process. "Please! I''ll compensate you somehow! But¡­ I don''t know what kind of money you use¡­ I''ll work for you! For a while!"

    For a moment, the woman hesitated, her eyes narrowing. Then, she suddenly leapt forward at blurring speeds, her feet whirling. One foot slammed toward Remian, who ducked¡­ and the other clipped Remian in the side of the head.

    Remian went down, and the woman proceeded to beat the snot out of him.

    At least she didn''t use her sword. After pummeling him black-and-blue, she tied him up and then wrapped him in a net tied to a staff and slung that staff over her shoulder.

    With Remian as added luggage, she went on her merry way while he sat in the net miserably with Death guffawing at him over the next couple of hours.

    "Senior Sister! Have you succeeded in your breakthrough?" a younger girl asked, as the woman arrived at a campsite.

    "No¡­ and it''s HIS fault!" She tossed Remian onto the ground. "He interrupted me during my cultivation and not only did I fail, I suffered internal injuries! I almost went into deviation!"

    "You!!" the girl took it from there and beat even more snot out of him.

    Then she trussed him up like a turkey, thus the current state of affairs.

    Remian groaned in his pain. That little girl was about Mindy''s age and strong, but thankfully not as strong as the older woman, much less Mindy. Still, another beating on top of the previous bruising was not something he was proud of or wanted to write home about. It was not funny, no matter how hard Death was laughing while holding on to his sides.

    "Oh dear¡­ that was priceless!" Death wiped tears of mirth from his eyes.

    "Let''s kill him." The girl said, tired out from her exertions.

    Death brightened.

    "No. I have plans for him." The woman said. "He must pay for what he''s done."

    "All I did was say ''hello''!" Remian groaned.

    They completely ignored him. The girl perked up. "A slow death, then? Death by a thousand cuts?"

    "Little Li, you shouldn''t be so bloodthirsty. The pure pursuit of dao is free from mortal strife." The woman intoned seriously.

    "I''ll pursue dao later. Right now I want vengeance." Little Li decided.

    The woman sighed. "More to the point, I want to use his special ability to disrupt Zhao Heng."

    Little Li suddenly beamed. "That''s right! In the upcoming Cloud Mountain Tournament, only he can pose any challenge for you! Now that you''re injured, he would undoubtedly win, unless he is likewise injured or worse! Striking pre-emptively would level the playing field! That''s fair!"

    "I honestly question your concept of fairness." Remian coughed.

    "You have no right to question anything! You swore to pay me back by working for me, remember?" the woman prodded him with her foot.

    "That was before you beat me up, and you beat me anyway." Remian pointed out.

    "That doesn''t matter." She decided unilaterally. "You will do as I demand, or else!"

    Remian cautiously refrained from asking details on what ''or else'' meant.

 262 Ongoing

    All told, Remian was having a very bad day.

    It started off reasonably enough. They had him outfitted for leather armor, had him try a few weapons, of which he was most familiar with the sword, spear, and crossbow. Among the three, Big Li easily settled upon having him take a crossbow, because, she said, at his level of skill, trying to use a sword or spear in battle would have him killed in no time.

    Remian gritted his teeth and bore it all while wondering, [Is this what my world would have been like without mana?]

    [Very likely.] Death agreed.

    They also had him carry some equipment specific to Man-Eating Vinetraps, specifically some salty-smelling dough in a tightly sealed urn. Oddly enough, nobody else seemed to be weighed down with bait. Hesitantly, he asked about it.

    "We all need to do our part." Big Li said, shrugging. "You don''t seem suitable for any other role, so¡­"

    In other words, he was useless in a fight, and thus he was the bait.

    [Blast it, if this world had mana¡­] Remian grumbled to himself gloomily.

    [If this world had mana, you''d be a superhero and everyone else would be dust at thy awesome feet.] Death snorted. [Or perhaps you''d find yourself in world where every mage was more powerful than you, and then you''d be embarrassed to cast a single spell.]

    Remian hesitated. [Is there such a world?]

    Death shrugged. [Maybe you''ll find out, one day.]

    ***

    Two hours into their Treasure Hunt, Remian wished to God that he''d never heard of such a venture.

    "Sis¡­ maybe we should take a break." Big Li saw Remian huffing and puffing and half-swaying on their hike and had to express her concerns.

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    Why didn''t they take horses? Well, because apparently, horses were smart enough to shy away from the Red Mist Forest and refused to go anywhere near the place. Being so near the city, none of these young martialists thought it worth the trouble anyway.

    "Nonsense! He needs more exercise!" Little Li raised a finger to the sky as if discovering the secrets of the Dao.

    As if on cue, the other two men on this expedition immediately added their expert opinions. They were spoken with much pomp, aplomp, and scorn. The words spoken were enough to fill half a chapter and supply lots of filler paragraphs, but we all basically already know how it goes, so let''s skip all that.

    Incidentally, the two men in question had very low opinions of Remian, high opinions of Big Li, and higher still opinions of themselves. That Big Li seemed to appreciate their appreciation and return their interests somewhat was an issue of absolutely no concern to Remian¡­ though for some reason, both her suitors seemed to think otherwise.

    There was Zhao Feng, a relative of Zhao Heng, apparently the son of some general or the other. He was already in what Remian translated to be the early stages of Earth Qi, and often had a cold demeanor when viewing anyone or anything other than Big Li. He brought two swords, a large saber, a halberd, three javelins, a flail and a claw gauntlet over his left hand although according to Little Li, he actually didn''t need any of them.

    There was Mu Hou, who was from the Definitely Richest Family in town, a family of Alchemists. He was actually weaker than Big Li, being only in the middle stages of Innate Qi (Big Li was in the latter stages of Innate Qi), but he seemed to be an expert on drugs, poisons and herbs. From time to time, he''d stop at some plant or the other and extract or collect something, and store it away carefully. He brought two baggage handlers, two guards of the Earth Qi level, and a chef.

    As for Big Li and Little Li, apparently their clan actually ran shops and inns around the city, but were proud of their reputation for maintaining safety and security at their inns with martial force. Both sisters were of a side branch, not of the main family bloodline, but in terms of looks and popularity (and the fact that the main branch didn''t have any daughters near their age), they easily won more fame for their clan than the main line in the current up-and-coming generation. Little Li, especially, having won first prize in the tournament while still only in the early stages of Innate Qi, had brought their parents much basis for bragging.

    Nevertheless, it was Big Li who maintained the attention of the boys the entire time. In terms of face and form, Little Li was sadly completely outmatched.

    Even Xue Wushuang was unable to compete with Xue Yueli in terms of sheer figure. Not that she cared; she was what they called a ''martial maniac'', and looked more like a vagabond than a cultured girl. While Big Li went about in a dress with tight-fitting scale armor that only emphasized her physical assets, Wushuang went around in patchwork hide armor that looked thick, heavy and even bloodstained. Being of a generation older than Big Li and her suitors, she was already at the middle stages of Earth Qi, and was arguably the strongest martialist in their party. She brought a spear, just one spear ¨C that was all.

    "Aren''t you going to bring anything more?" Little Li had asked.

    "What for? It''s just a short trip." Wushuang shrugged.

    "But¡­ it''s going to be a week!"

    "Like I said; a short trip."

    Yeah, Wushuang was like that.

    Their cousin aside, Big Li and Little Li also brought a trio of baggage handlers, a pair of guards and a whole pile of camping supplies.

    "How come you didn''t have guards when I first found you guys?" Remian asked, curious.

    "That time, we were out for self-tempering. This time, we''re looking for resources, not training. It''s different." Big Li explained. "Basically, the Red Mist Forest is just that dangerous."

    "Ah."

    Little Li nudged Remian. "Let''s be honest. Big Sister doesn''t want to bother about things like security and danger when she needs to concentrate on the boys."

    "Oh."

    "Xue Mengli!!" Big Li roared in outrage.

    Little Li let out a yelp and started running. Big Li chased Little Li around in mock outrage for a bit.

    Remian didn''t pay them any mind. He was glad just to have a break.

    "Don''t relax too soon." Wushuang advised him. "We''re not far from the Red Mist Forest. Pretty soon, it will be time for you to get to work."

    As if all this hiking wasn''t work enough?!

    "Great." Remian groaned. "I can hardly wait."

    ***

    Meanwhile back at Kara-Goth, reinforcements and replies began to arrive from afar.

    Deutero sent five battle frigates and two Sky Galleons loaded with supplies and three bands of mercenaries to aid the defense.

    The Midlands Sea People, having recently been displaced by the exodus of Wilds to the north, warmly received the Encles'' Settlement''s invitation and decided to move south en masse. They began to arrive by the hundreds.

    Libertaria sent word that they would most certainly move out in force, soon. Very soon. The Dragon Empire replied with an ''investigation fleet'' consisting of fifty airships from Galleons to Corvettes.

    And Ashdale¡­

    Ashdale sent one ship.

    "What?" Mindy stared, seeing the battleship arrive.

    To be sure, there was nothing to complain about the battleship itself. It was an old, highly respectable warship with a long and dignified history of service. It was fierce, and powerful, and had more firepower in its three decks of cannons than just about every other airship in the Wildlands right now.

    But it was just the one airship. Ashdale didn''t even send ground troops.

    "It''s all we could spare." Mandy, apparently, had become the official liaison between Ashdale and Kara-Goth. "It''s the war, you see. After all the fighting, Ashdale''s forces need time to regroup and reorganize. Also, the threat of the Wilds in the Neutral Zone is getting worse. We need most of our forces back home. Besides, I''m sure you guys can handle things over there. You''ve got the Wilds on your side, after all."

    "These Spectres are on a whole order of magnitude worse than the Wilds!"

    "Maybe. Maybe not." Mandy was evasive.

    A weird thought struck Mindy. "Sis, you''re not thinking of siding with them against the Wilds, are you?"

    "That''s just speculation."

    "You didn''t answer the question!"

    "It''s not my place to answer it."

    Mindy gaped. "You hate the Wilds that much?"

    "It''s not up to me." Mandy said quickly, much too quickly.

    But Mindy had an inkling that the Ashdalians might actually have thoughts of using the Spectres one way or the other.

    After all, from where they stood, it was the Wilds threatening their homeland, not the Spectres. The Spectres were someone else''s problem. Theirs were the Wilds.

    For a moment, Mindy reconsidered selling them those Corvettes¡­ but a deal was a deal, and they were paying good money. That money could come in handy in the fight against the Spectres.

 266 Treasure

    "From now on, everyone do what Lem Yan did." Hou instructed the surviving guards and carriers.

    "What I did?" Lem Yan¡­ err¡­ Remian... blinked.

    "Grab a torch, and carry some oil with you." Hou instructed. "If a giant vine tries to grab you burn it! If burning it a little isn''t enough, throw the oil on and burn it even more!"

    "Uh¡­ right." Remian didn''t want to tell them that it wasn''t oil that made his fire flare up and all. Actually, come to think of it, what Hou was saying was exactly what he should have done. His instructions were not wrong.

    Hou''s instructions in general were sound. In terms of command and tactical thinking, he was actually clearer minded than the others, an In-Charge sort while the others were more of Charge-In types. Too bad he was a greedy, murderous lecher.

    It was the morning after the night ambush. The group had collected fifteen gourds full of Trapvine sap and were now about to track their attacker back to its lair.

    They found it easily enough. It was a shallow pit filled with vines, many of whom started moving as they arrived, but so slowly, Remian could avoid them all just by walking.

    "All right. Let''s start gathering them. Cut the tendrils, and stash the cores." Hou instructed.

    "You guys, I''m going out on patrol." Wushuang offered.

    "I''ll come with." Big Li added.

    "Then, me too!" Little Li jumped.

    "And I will accompany you also¡­" Zhao Feng added.

    "Hie! We can''t all go!" Hou said, looking rather grumpy. [It should be me going out with Big Li alone! Why is everyone wanting to go along?!] "Somebody needs to stay and keep watch!"

    Big Li hesitated, exchanging glances with Wushuang, then grimaced and said, "Very well, I will keep watch."

    "As will I." Zhao Feng said smoothly. Too smoothly.

    "And of course, I will supervise." Hou added, glancing at him darkly.

    This set Xue Wushuang and Xue Meili (Little Li) to go out on patrol, leaving Big Li and her two suitors to keep watch and oversee the workers. Remian himself hesitated.

    "Uh¡­ I don''t think I''ll be of much use here. I think my abilities are better put to use on patrol." He offered.

    "You can stay here and keep watch. It would be tiring for someone in your condition to walk around on patrol." Big Li offered.

    Both Zhao Feng and Mu Hou shot dark looks at Remian. Their eyes stared daggers.

    "Uh¡­ no, it''s okay. I''ll¡­ go patrol¡­" Remian hastily bade a quick retreat.

    Yet it seemed going on patrol presented problems on its own.

    [This is going to be troublesome.] Wushuang thought as they headed out. [How are we going to reach the treasure with Lem Yan tagging along?]

    For a moment there, there was a flash of killing intent. Dead men tell no tales.

    Caught between a rock and a hard place, Remian slowed down, and then stopped entirely

    "What''s wrong?" Wushuang asked him in a casual tone. Too casual.

    "I¡­" Remian grimaced. [I don''t want to die!] "I think you guys better go ahead. I''ll just¡­ wait here."

    "Aww. Poor Lem Yan, tired already?" Little Li scoffed.

    But Wushuang just nodded. "Fine. You wait here. Get some rest." [Good. Now we can get to the treasure without him causing problems.]

    Remian sat down just around the corner from where Big Li was having a very intense and playful conversation with both Zhao Feng and Mu Hou. He tried his best not to hear their thoughts and voices, but a lot of those drifted by nonetheless.

    Trying not to pry on their romantic/murderous entanglement, he focused on keeping tabs on Wushuang and Little Li as they darted through the forest, totally not on patrol, always heading directly towards the very thickest part of the Red Mist.

    "So that''s it!" Remian snapped his fingers. "That''s how they find their way around! They''re using the density of the Red Mist itself as a compass. Everyone here practices martial arts with enhanced perceptions. All of them can tell which way is the densest Red Mists easily."

    And in the case of Wushuang and Little Li''s ''patrol'', they were making a beeline straight for the thickest parts. There, Remian guessed, lay the Treasure that the Xue Clan was so secretive about.

    A particularly strong thought from Hou wafted over. [I''ve decided! I will use my great wealth in the auction to win Li-er''s affections! It will be costly, but once I have her, I will easily gain control over the Xue Clan, and quickly profit from my investment!]

    Meanwhile, Zhao Feng was going [What is she hiding? I must press harder! What is she really up to?!]

    While Big Li thought, [Why is Feng-feng suddenly being so pushy? He''s jealous, isn''t he? It''s because Hou promised to buy me so many things in the auction. Maybe now he''ll finally relent and ask his family for support! Feng-feng on his own can''t afford much, but the Zhao family, that''s a different story! This could be very, very beneficial for me!]

    Half-cringing, Remian steered his attention as far away from their thoughts as he could, focusing on Wushuang, following her Psionically, though he stayed right where he was physically.

    He could almost see her running ahead of him, brushing past thorns and bush and leaving frosted plants to the left and right¡­

    A thought floated up. [That berry looks juicy. Can I eat it?]

    Eh? Wait, no that''s not Wushuang''s thoughts! That''s¡­ Little Li!

    Then the sight of Wushuang running through the forest is¡­ what Little Li was seeing? [I''m seeing Wushuang through Little Li''s eyes!]

    Remian felt a stab of surprise and wonder at how his Psionic abilities were growing. It was like ever since they started on this expedition, his Psionic senses and strength had been improving at a rapid pace. Was it just practice, since he was using it so much? Or was there something more going on?

    He glanced at Death questioningly.

    [I didn''t do anything.] Death shrugged. [It''s got nothing to do with me. But if I had to guess, I''d say it has to do with where you are.]

    [Where I am? In a different world¡­? Or¡­] Remian glanced around at the Red Mist. [The Red Mist Forest?]

    Death didn''t elaborate further, but Remian frowned and peered at the Red Mists with narrowed eyes.

    What was this Red Mist? Why was it red? Why was it mist? Did it affect him somehow?

    Then a burst of joy from both Wushuang and Little Li drew his attention.

    They had found it! The Treasure that the Xue Clan kept secret was in front of their eyes! Remian saw it as they saw it, gleaming metal in the sunlight¡­

    Wait. What? This¡­ this was¡­!

    Remian found himself looking at a fallen airship.

    No, wait. That wasn''t right. It looked like an extremely powerful airship, but for some reason, Remian was feeling something more from it. His Psionic senses were detecting vibes and reverberations from it that told him a secret.

    This ship indeed flew through the skies, but it was unlike the kinds of airships Mindy built, the kind Remian was familiar with, the kind that used lighter-than-air containment for buoyancy. This was like the heavy military-grade airships used by the largest militaries, the kind that used pure power and immense amounts of mana to fly through the air. On top of that, the vibes coming from the ship told him that keeping the ship airtight was essential, absolutely vital.

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    There was a reason why the hull was meant to be airtight. There was a reason why this ship ran on pure power rather than lighter-than-air containment.

    The reason was because this was a ship meant to sail through the air, or upon the waters. This was a ship meant to sail the void between the stars.

    [This is the wreck of a spaceship.] Remian gulped. [And it''s where all the Red Mist is coming from.]

 267 Fires

    While Remian was watching Wushuang and Little Li salvage small pieces of metal from around the spaceship (at the same time trying very hard NOT to hear the scheming and romancing going on around Big Li), Darian was awakening to a whole new world.

    "What¡­ happened?" Darian glanced about. "Where am I?"

    [You''re at the Nine Kings Defense Line, Central Command Camp.] Har''es-dras yawned beside him.

    Darian had been laid down on his flank under a large tree at a camp that was still being set up. There were cookfires and tents spread around for hundreds of meters, and several towers being built on the hill nearby. There was Arnold, trying to tinker around with a newly made tank, and George was farther away, with a group of engineers trying to set up what looked like a huge catapult.

    "Is there really any point to all this?" Darian gestured around him. "I mean, one Tier 8 Spectre alone could probably wipe out all the fortifications without much effort."

    "But the Tier 8''s are not alone. They brought an army, and their army is rapidly growing." Mindy came up from the side. "Good to see you awake, Darian. How are you?"

    "Me? I''m fine." Darian frowned. "Why?"

    "Because you''ve been asleep for three days." Mindy pointed out.

    Darian gaped. "How long has it been since the Rift was opened?"

    "Almost a week?" Mindy guessed.

    "Just one week." Darian frowned. "But everything''s changed so much."

    "Changed? What''s changed?" Mindy asked blankly.

    "Everything." Darian gestured vaguely. "The air. Space. Time. Gravity. Everything is different."

    Mindy looked at him sideways. "Darian¡­ are you okay?"

    "Me? I feel fine. I feel great! I feel fierce! I AM STRONGER THAN ANYTHING!" that last came out as a roar. After which, Darian found himself gaping. He scratched his head in embarrassment. Where did THAT come from?! "Uh¡­ sort of."

    Mindy giggled. "Did you eat something funny before you went to sleep?"

    "No! I was¡­ I was¡­" Darian paused, thinking back. "I was flying here, with the dragons¡­ and¡­ and¡­ Kor''ag-dras. He said something¡­ did something¡­"

    Darian suddenly realized he could feel the Wood Emperor. He could point straight to that Tier 8 Great Dragon with his eyes closed. He could¡­ he could¡­

    "I can borrow Kor''ag''s strength." Darian blinked. "I could¡­ I could¡­"

    Experimentally, he blew a puff. Out came a ball of dragon fire.

    "Whoa!" Mindy blocked it with her bare palm. Then, she blinked at her own hand. "Wow. Even I felt that. I haven''t felt that fire was hot since I bonded with Chirpy."

    Since she bonded with the Flame Emperor¡­ bonded with¡­

    "No way." Darian gulped. [Kor''ag! What have you done? What have you DONE?!]

    [ME? It was YOU!] Kor''ag''s thoughts suddenly flooded all of Darian''s senses like an ocean. [I gave you an inch and you took a mile! What have YOU done?!]

    [An inch? A mile? What happened?] Darian had to ask.

    [I offered you a bit of dragon essence, and you¡­ you¡­!] Kor''ag''s growl suddenly filled the air. [I can sense you in my head! I can see you with my eyes closed! I know exactly how you are, what you feel, and what you''re thinking! What is this?!]

    [I thought this was something you did!] Darian protested. [I had no intention of Bonding you!]

    [Nor I, you! Yet here we are!]

    Darian scratched his head awkwardly. [Is there a way to break it? Dissolve the bond?]

    [This has never happened to me, or my kind, ever!] Kor''ag-dras fumed. [Only your kind Bond with other species like this! Ask your own people!]

    [This? THIS is the Bond we share with Wilds? I thought it was like me and Har''es-dras! We run together, and eat together, and fight side by side as friends, and Comrades! But this¡­ this is¡­] Darian sat down with a groan, hands on his head. [I don''t even know any more.]

    The whole world now felt different. Looked different. Smelled different. Heck, Darian himself felt different.

    On impulse, he blew on his own hand. He didn''t cover his hand with a Silhouette or a protective aura or anything. Dragon fire licked at his fingers.

    He felt the warmth, but there was no pain.

    "Huh. I''ve become immune to fire." Darian mused.

    "Let me try!" Mindy raised one hand and a stream of fire blasted out from nowhere.

    Really, what was he thinking, playing with fire in front of the girl Bonded with the Flame Emperor!

    Darian caught fire. His clothes were on fire. His hair was on fire. Everything was on fire.

    "Well, this is hot." Darian said, starting to sweat. His sweat evaporated into nothing. "But it doesn''t really hurt. It''s just¡­ heat. And dry."

    But Mindy was staring at him with her face turning red.

    "Are you okay?" Darian blinked. "Did you use too much fire? Did you eat something weird?"

    "You''re the one who ate something weird! Your whole family ate something weird!" Mindy suddenly burst out and ran away.

    "What''s up with her?" Darian was left staring at her back.

    [No idea.] Har''es-dras snorted.

    Arnold glanced over and yelled at him. "Hey, Darian! Put on some clothes!"

    Darian glanced down and suddenly realized that Mindy''s fire had burned away everything he''d been wearing. "Oh."

    Including his pants.

    So THAT''s why Mindy''s face was so red.

    ***

    The first thing Remian thought when he saw the spaceship wreck was ''Is there a way I can use that to go back to my world?''

    But then again, thinking about, it didn''t seem likely. Remian came here through a spatial rift and tinkering around with space magic that he totally hadn''t understood. That spaceship seemed to have arrived through much more ''conventional'', i.e. scientific means, plunging through the atmosphere from outer space and crashing head first into the ground. Looking at the wreckage and pieces that were left, Remian didn''t think there were any survivors.

    Wushuang and Little Li didn''t seem to worry about such things anyway. They merrily went around the wreckage trying to peel off bits and pieces of it, or pick up small pieces of broken metals.

    Their intentions weren''t hard to determine for someone who could read their thoughts. [They just want the metal. Apparently it''s called ''celestial iron'', and they''ve found a way to forge it with much difficulty. A little bit of that stuff added to the tools they made were what made Xue Clan blades the sharpest and most durable in the market, and their pots and pans the most sturdy kitchen tools¡­]

    Wait, what?

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    Right. The Xue Clan weren''t actually able to forge strong weapons. They forged kitchen knives aplenty, but the closest thing they made to a real weapon would be the gardening machete. Other than that, they made kitchen utensils. Their most valuable product to date was the gem-inlaid silverware chopstick set that was ordered by the Royal Butler. That set also used a little bit of Celestial Iron dust.

    To produce a master smith able to forge weapons and obtain a national license to forge and sell them was the dream of the current Xue Patriarch. There was a great deal of opposition from the families currently dominating the weapons markets, though, too much for that little dream of the Xue Clan to ever come through.

    That is, unless something drastic happened and they garnered a great deal more support.

    Something like, for instance, a daughter marrying into the Zhao family, and gaining the support of a father-in-law general and an uncle-in-law of a city lord.

    Or, possibly, marrying into the Mu family. In some ways, that would mean even more potential for economic growth and impact in the markets.

    Big Li, Zhao Feng and Mu Hou all understood this. They had each picked and chosen the steps that brought them to their current situation very deliberately. As for where they went from here on out, only about half of it was up to them. The other half was up to their higher-ups.

    Actually, according to Big Li''s thoughts, there were other families even more suitable for bringing the Xue Clan dreams to pass, but those were much stricter on their young ones. Big Li did NOT want to marry into those families. Unlike hers, where she was given choices and the freedom to make her own decisions (as long as they were in line with the family agenda and responsible to their needs), those stricter families made all the decisions and the young ones were left with no choice but to follow them to the letter. Unwilling to lose her freedom, Big Li steered well clear of those types, and focused on those families that offered similar freedoms and privileges like the Zhao and Mu families.

    Until then, the Xue Clan merely opened shops, ran inns, and sold kitchen tools with material advantages. They kept pouring more and more resources into raising strong security forces, and into metal-crafting, hoping that one day, someday soon, they would make a breakthrough in the political arena and obtain the rights to build weapons, at which point, putting blades reinforced with Celestial Iron into the hands of their blooming forces would make them a power to be reckoned with in a matter of weeks¡­

    Remian wondered about this Clan of theirs that didn''t seem to feel that relying on scraping metal pieces off an alien shipwreck was anything weird. That they used it for kitchen tools, and have been doing so for generations, and have yet kept the secret of their pots, pans and knives was nothing short of astounding.

    For crying out loud, that was an alien spaceship! And all they were doing with it was taking broken pieces to be reforged into forks and spoons! Remian himself had to suppress an urge to run over there and take a look at its engines and weapon systems.

    But then, what did these people know of spaceships and engines and weapon systems? To them, that wreck was little more than a wondrous rock that fell from the sky. The material was special, and that was good enough for them to call it a Treasure.

    Even now, they simply never realized or understood its true value.

 268 Moving Ou

    Behind Remian, Mu Hou was really upping his game. "My dear Li-er, your eyes are as beautiful as the star lilies, and your hair is like the black lotus itself! What other adornment could match you other than the Blue Phoenix Hairpin being auctioned off the day after tomorrow?"

    "Aww! How sweet! Feng-feng! Feng-feng!" Big Li prodded Zhao Feng, in a spoiled tone. "Can you say something nice like that?"

    "You smell good." Zhao Feng said shortly.

    Big Li whapped him over the head with a blush. [Do I really smell?! Oh dear, I''ve been all sweaty all day¡­]

    Mu Hou had to fight to keep his face from turning darker. [Keep cool¡­ don''t show your jealousy¡­ don''t show it¡­ don''t! But why? Why is it that I have been scoring points all this while yet she still seems to be paying him more attention?!]

    Yueli noticed that the more she tried to flirt with Feng-feng, the harder Mu Hou tried to grab her attention, adding promises upon promises.

    Zhao Feng, meanwhile, was actually losing interest in Xue Yueli. What he wanted to know was that secret that had been bugging him all this time. He spoke in a direct manner with Yueli, but she kept playing coy and acting spoiled. [One quick dagger thrust to the throat should be able to kill him quietly. If I grab Yueli and run for it, we should be able to reach my villa before anyone could suspect anything. After that¡­ cooked rice cannot be uncooked. As my wife, surely she would cover for me. Otherwise, she need not live either. At the same time, surely the secret would be mine. It would be killing two birds with one stone.]

    Mu Hou, on the other hand, was considering something remarkably similar. [It is good that my men are the ones in charge of dinner tonight. Poison for Feng, and aphrodisiac for Yueli. That should be perfect.]

    Hearing their thoughts, Remian had had it. "I''m getting out of here. I''m going after Wushuang."

    Were they serious? Maybe. Just because they entertained a thought, though, didn''t mean they were actually going to do it. As much as they wanted to kill each other, the guys were usually well-behaved and had decent reputations in society. Chances were, they were only going to exchange verbal jabs and spend a whole lot of money in the end.

    That, and drive him mad. In order to preserve his sanity, Remian headed into the Red Mists on his own.

    Yes, it was tiring. Yes, it was dangerous. But he could sense the creatures lurking about in the mists, and could avoid them quite easily while making his way toward the Treasure shipwreck.

    Up ahead, Wushuang and Little Li were loading up larger and larger pieces into their backpacks. "We can throw out the rations and camping gear to make room for them. After this, we''ll notify Yueli and head straight back."

    "You might be able to do without camping gear, but what about me?" Little Li pouted.

    "Then you can stay with the group and use theirs."

    "But then I''ll be lugging this stuff with me all the time!"

    "Yep. You have three options, but mind you, we don''t get many chances to salvage Celestial Iron."

    Mournfully, Little Li emptied her pack, ditching camping gear, a fluffy pillow, and five packs of snacks. Wushuang blinked at the stuff that came out for a moment, then wordlessly shook her head and stuffed in pieces of Celestial Iron.

    As he tread carefully through the mists, Remian studied the shipwreck through Wushuang''s and Little Li''s eyes.

    To be frank, it wasn''t a whole spaceship. It was more like half a spaceship, or maybe just a piece broken off some whole of unknown size. For all they could tell, it might be really just a broken-off corner. What he did know was that it was roughly shaped like a half-oval, and the only things alive inside were rodents. There were faded markings on the walls; writing of some sort, Remian guessed, though he couldn''t recognize any of it. There was also a big snake living deeper in, practically underneath, an Acid-Spitting Python that Wushuang did not want to fight. Using the metrics of his own world, based on Wushuang''s thoughts, that Python should be a Tier 6, something on par with the Lords of the Wilds.

    Wushuang saw nothing of value in that wreck other than the shell itself. But Remian eyed it and wondered. [Is that a turret? That means that long piece of bent metal was some sort of cannon. That looks like a socket¡­ something that fits a diamond-shaped object. That looks like a console, probably a gunner''s station¡­

    And then Remian saw something that made him jump, something that almost made him want to run straight over.

    [Is that¡­ a small spaceship?!]

    It was a rock-within-a-rock, to Wushuang, but Remian instead saw something different. He saw a smaller craft berthed in a docking bay, the way Mindy''s fighters were berthed in a carrier. But this one was stuck, caught under some fallen pillar or the other. It looked like a cracked egg.

    Remian frowned. He didn''t see anything on it that looked like a weapon. [Maybe it''s not a combat vessel. Maybe it''s just for transportation or cargo.]

    Even so, other than the cracked shell, there was still a possibility, a tantalizing possibility, that inside that ''stone'', there might be, maybe¡­ an intact component or two.

    ¡­Or maybe everything had turned to dust after all this time. That was a possibility too.

    Actually, no, that was a probability. An overwhelming probability.

    Nevertheless, Remian was interested to find out for himself. He just had to evade the Xue cousins.

    That shouldn''t be hard. They were about to head back, making a direct beeline for Big Li''s location. All he had to do was veer off a little to the left or right¡­

    Remian voted left. There was something sleeping on the right, something rather large, and he did not want to disturb it.

    Silently, he crept over, and waited as Wushuang and Little Li hurried past, completely oblivious to his presence in the mists. They were trying to sneak, he felt, rushing as fast as they could while trying to be quiet. It didn''t matter to him. He could hear their thoughts buzzing around like bees.

    As for himself, he made his way into the heart of the Red Mists.

    ***

    Battle erupted upon the Nine Kings Mountain Range again.

    "Three packs, two on the left, one on the right!" the lookout shouted. "Led by Tier 7''s!"

    "Artillery on the left!" George glanced at Arnold. "Now''s the time to test your new tank! Head to the right!"

    "Got it!" Arnold and Jim whooped and dove into their newly built combat tank. This would be the first real battle they''d test it in.

    With a chugging sound, the tank started up and started rolling to the right. Heavy tracks left trails as obvious as daylight in the grass as it led a mixed mass of Wilds and heavy infantry to the smaller combat arena. Ten of George''s corvettes swooped low overhead to provide air support.

    "Targets in sight! All along the ridge!" Jim reported from the turret above.

    "I see them!" Arnold had to peer out from a narrow window while seated at the driver''s seat below. "Fire at will!"

    Jim charged up the cannon from a mana converter installed on his right, waited for the charge to build up as they neared, and aimed the cannon carefully.

    "Firing!" he reported, and blasted out a magical surge.

    A mana bolt flew across the distance and splashed against an incoming Tier 6 Spectre.

    Then, there was a short silence.

    "What¡­ that''s it?" George''s voice chirped through the communications crystal. "That''s all your tank can do?"

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    "The tank is built as a mobile armor, not artillery!" Arnold grouched. "It''s not like we have mana crystals to spare! We can barely get this thing moving as it is!"

    "Where did you get the mana for the tank anyway?"

    "We had some magi manually charge up the tank. I mean, the tank''s tank. Arrgh, you know what I mean!"

    "You guys are running on stored energy? Not a converter?"

    "The converter''s for the cannon!"

    "And yet that''s the best it can do?"

    "On broken shards of yellow mana crystal? Yeah, that''s about it. Try giving us a red mana crystal and things would be different."

    "Do you have thirty-five million lir lying around?" George asked tartly. "Because that''s the price the last red mana crystal sold for."

    "But surely the price has dropped by now since the ambient mana is increasing day by day!"

    "Not yet, it hasn''t. Nobody is even sure how long this mana flow is going to last."

    "Hate to break it to you, Arnold, but that level of firepower isn''t much better than having a mage scroll-cast that same spell on foot!"

    Jim fired again. "They''re coming! They''re coming at us too fast!"

    BAM! Something powerful slammed onto the tank from the left. Metal squealed as the wall buckled, and horrifyingly, something semi-tangible appeared, a shimmery claw that had moved slowly right through the armor like it was jelly.

    "WHOA!!" Arnold wrestled with the controls, bringing the tank about in a desperate turn.

    "Watch out! There''s a dead elephant in front!"

    There was a crash, and then the tank tried to roll over the body, but it was no use. In a moment, they were stuck.

    "That''s it! We''re out of there!" Arnold kicked open the bottom escape hatch. "This tank is useless!"

    "We''re done." Jim agreed, hopping out and away from the tank and then running for his life.

    Experimental tank; FAILED!

 269 Not An Egg

    In a crater, there was a shipwreck.

    In the shipwreck, there was a docking bay.

    And in the docking bay was a smaller craft. There were also lots of rodents around, plus a big snake underneath, so Remian was careful to tiptoe his way in without disturbing anyone too much. Several mice-lizard creatures complained anyway, but did not do anything to disrupt his sneaking.

    "Is there a way in¡­?" Remian examined it, but that ovoid shape just sat there like the stone everyone else had mistaken it for.

    No visible doors or windows¡­ lots of etchings and lines and markings that could actually be openings, of a sort¡­ but none that Remian knew how to open or trigger. Hmm¡­

    All around him, Psionic Emanations echoed, like signboards of a language he could hardly make out. If he wasn''t certain before, he was sure now; the fellows who built this spaceship were strong Psionics and Psionics were part of this ship''s design and function. Maybe it worked as a control mechanism, so that people could fly it with their thoughts alone? But then, what happened when someone''s thoughts strayed? That would be so dangerous¡­

    That could also be why the ship crashed¡­

    Shaking his head and ditching speculation, Remian examined the docking bay, wondering if there was some sort of key kept nearby he could use to access the vehicle.

    There were rodents. Lots of them. There were nests, and eggs, and¡­

    Wait. Remian frowned. One particularly large egg looked very much out of place in that rodent''s nest. In fact, it didn''t look like the other eggs in it. It looked like¡­

    An alien egg?! Remian gulped, but then shook his head. No way. Nothing alive could have survived this long. At best, it was just a dead alien egg, fossilized over time.

    He eyed it, picked it up, sniffed it, tapped it and listened to the clinking sound of his fingertip against what felt like stone, and swept his Psionic senses over it, just for practice¡­

    "Bo-beep!" with a whirring sound, the egg came to life. It began to float in the air on its own as Remian backed away hastily. Two arms opened out to either side, and a sudden light blinked on at its back. The ring of light hovering in the air an inch behind it started whirring, and Remian felt something¡­ some sort of energy flow¡­

    There was a shower of sparks, and then the little armed orb fell a couple of feet before catching itself in mid-air and stabilizing slowly. That ring of light slowed, everything the egg did slowed, and then it carefully turned to Remian. "Meikwo zagugb rnusi?"

    "Uh¡­ what?" Remian''s mind was in a whirl, trying to comprehend the thoughts of the flying orb rather than the words themselves.

    "Zub-zub." The orb said politely.

    Ah. It was asking for orders. This orb seemed to be happy, even eager to serve him.

    "Can you tell me what you are? Where you''re from?" Remian asked.

    There was a pause. More weird sounds came out, but sensing the thoughts of the orb, Remian could barely make out a few concepts.

    First, it was a constructed device meant as a sort of smart tool.

    Second, it was made in a very, very big factory belonging to a group of elite crafters.

    Third, if he wanted to buy more of this model of utility drone, he could contact his local Interstellar Exchange Center. All new units came with a three Nsubain Years'' guarantee. Payment by installments is possible.

    "Right¡­" Remian felt like the world was slowly tilting to one side and spinning slowly. Concepts and thoughts were swimming around in a confusing haze. He needed time to adjust, but the important thing was, this utility drone was friendly toward him and wouldn''t harm him. He could afford to sit down and take things slow. "Uh¡­ why don''t you¡­ just do whatever you want¡­?"

    "Nsu!" the drone said happily, and zipped around, sending waves of light in every direction, and then carefully began to examine the vehicle with several beams that swept over various surfaces. "Dwuoi enismi noteu!" [Repair shuttlecraft?]

    "Uh¡­ sure¡­" Remian allowed.

    Psionic Resonance flared. Emanations swept out from the little orb, trying to make contact with the shuttle. But the shuttle remained silent, immobile. Dead.

    Unperturbed, the drone let out a few more scanning beams, then zipped away to a larger stone not too far from where Remian sat and then let out a much stronger, much hotter and coherent beam of light.

    "Whoa!" Remian backed away hastily. That¡­! Was that a weapon?!

    His thoughts went out to the drone and it replied.

    No, actually, that was just its cutting tool¡­ and it was proving insufficient for the task. [Could you please provide me with energy?]

    [Uh¡­ I''m actually quite tired¡­] Remian backed away slowly.

    [You seem to have abundant Psi reserves.]

    Wait. It wanted Psionic energy? Not physical energy? Remian mulled it over, and then frowned. What would happen if his Psionic energy was drained?

    [Rapid unconsciousness.]

    So¡­ he''d faint? [But you''d protect me if I was unconscious, right?]

    [This unit''s function is maintenance and cleaning, not combat. What do you need protection from?]

    Remian glanced about. [Those rodents, perhaps?]

    [Cleaning away the pests are next on my agenda after repairs. They will be no problem.]

    [Great. Then I''ll be counting on you to keep them away from me.]

    [Keeping pests away from masters is a recognized basic function.] Orb acknowledged.

    [Then go ahead. Take what you need.] Remian took the gamble and braced himself, hoping he wasn''t about to make the biggest mistake of his life.

    [Initiating Level 3 Psionic Link¡­]

    "Ugaaa!" Remian suddenly felt like he was whirling in black empty space with lights flicking everywhere, every light a thought, every ''where'' a notion, and every notion an amusing concept of happiness because being programmed to be happy means always happy and always happy means more sales!!

    It was over in a moment. Or at least, that was what it felt like. Remian opened his eyes to realize that they''d been closed and found himself staring at the ceiling of the shuttlebay.

    Eh? Something felt different? Remian wasn''t sure, but this place suddenly seemed just a bit more familiar, as if he was starting to understand what was what. He was even starting to make out the signboards. For instance, that one there said, ''No Wet Sneezing Allowed''.

    Great. Fat lot of use that was.

    By the way, that shuttlecraft? It was an escape pod. Plus, it was practically fossilized. Even with the the drone''s best efforts, it was unlikely to ever be anything other than a decoration in the future.

    Also, the drone was usually tasked with cleaning the shuttle, not repairing it. It just didn''t have the parts or the power.

    "At any rate, it''s good we understand each other better." Remian concluded after a bit.

    [Indeed. Now please stand back. You might get dirt on your clothes.] Orb warned.

    "There''s already a lot of dirt of me." But Remian stepped back anyway.

    Orb suddenly drew together the Psionic energy taken from Remian and a burst of light erupted in front of it, forming a blade of energy that it quickly swept over the surface of the ''rock''¡­

    Wait. That was a locker. Or it used to be. That meant¡­ Orb was trying to take something out¡­

    There were still things inside?! Remian looked forward to it eagerly.

    Indeed there were. Sitting in the locker were six purple diamond-shaped crystals. Orb handily took one out and zipped over to the pod''s fuel intake port.

    Right. Orb was using the crystal to power up the pod!

    There was a clinking sound, and then Orb sent out a Psionic Emanation. The Pod started to hum and then lights began to flicker around the lines covering it. Abruptly, the Pod opened up on all sides, from above, below, the front, the back, the left and the right. Everything opened up at the same time, and out came broken pieces of stone, a whole lot of dust, and about a hundred angry bugs.

    Orb and the Pod communicated, then Orb turned back to Remian.

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    [Repairs¡­ could take a while.]

 271 New Tricks

    When he got back, Zhao Feng had been poisoned and Mu Hou had been stabbed.

    "How did this happen?!" tucked away in the Pod, Remian observed the going-ons around town from a safe distance while eavesdropping on the thoughts of several specific people.

    It started with dinner at the Paramount Chalice Restaurant. Little Li had her steamed fish. Mu Hou ordered the best wine, and had the waiters slip a little special something into Zhao Feng''s and Big Li''s cups¡­

    Unfortunately, the kind of poisons the restaurant had were nowhere near potent enough to truly harm someone of Zhao Feng''s strength. The best they could do was a drowsiness drug, but that was too risky. Mu Hou opted for the next best option; a powerful laxative.

    Thus Zhao Feng soon found himself getting remarkably familiar with the restaurant''s toilets.

    As for Big Li, she only sipped a little of her wine before Zhao Feng got back roaring with rage. The following conversation basically went like this;

    Mu Hou: "So, how do you like your new favorite seat?"

    Zhao Feng: "I''ll make it so you won''t HAVE a favorite seat!"

    With that, a dinner fork was stabbed into Mu Hou''s left backside and he hadn''t been able to sit down since.

    "Uwwooooh!" Mu Hou was three feet in the air with both hands to his left buttcheek before anyone knew what was happening.

    Meanwhile, Zhao Feng rushed back to the toilet.

    Outwardly, Big Li was fuming at the guys'' tussle, but behind their backs, she and Little Li were giggling uncontrollably. Even Wushuang had to fight to keep a straight face.

    It was a valiant effort, but in the end, Wushuang lost and had to bid a hasty retreat before she burst out roaring with laughter.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Remian parked the Pod in the shallows of a river flowing not far from the city''s side entrance, the Pod looking for all the world like an innocent rock. With it half-submerged in the water, Remian was reasonably sure nobody would take too close a look at it.

    Tomorrow, he''d only need to get out from the top hatch, make a short hop to a fallen log stuck onto the riverbank, and walk through some sparse woods a few minutes to the city gate.

    But as for tonight, he may as well stay in the pod. It was actually very comfortable, and there was no risk of Little Li barging in to bully him or anyone killing him out of hand for some mistaken ideas about Big Li''s regard for him.

    He was just a little hungry, and sharing Little Li''s memories of how the steamed fish tasted was not helping in the least.

    Pod offered him a solution; it had a food processor that could simulate steaming, and the river it sat in provided an easy source of water, but Remian would have to catch the fish himself.

    So he went out, Psionically sensed for fish in the water, then picked one of the kind that the Xue Clan guards had caught and cooked for them to eat before. With the feeling of hunger and a eagerness of anticipation in his heart, he pointed to it and said, "Freeze!"

    Power slipped into this world from somewhere, he didn''t know where, but at his word, the fish and the water around it suddenly froze solid. Remian hastily picked up the ice chunk, fish and all, and brought it in. He stuck it into the food processor at the left wall behind the Pod''s seat, and asked, [Will that do?]

    [That would do nicely.] Pod said. [That frozen water will also be processed, cleaned, and used for the steaming.]

    Leaving it to the Pod, Remian leaned back and let the Pod handle the steaming.

    Unfortunately, the Pod was nowhere near a good a cook as the chef at the Paramount Chalice. In fact, it wouldn''t be wrong to say that the steamed fish turned out to be a failure.

    Frankly speaking, instead of steamed fish, what Remian got was boiled fish. Plus, there was a distinct lack of sauce or seasoning. It was a rather bare, nowhere-near-as-tasty-as-Little-Li''s meal, but it filled his stomach, and it wasn''t actually bad, if boring.

    No, Remian was actually more excited about something else.

    [I can use magic. Sort of. As long as the element is already around, anyway.] Remian couldn''t help smiling. [If there''s already fire, I can manipulate that fire. If there''s already water, I can manipulate that water. This world has no mana, but I can bring it in from elsewhere. Chaos magic is awesome.]

    Didn''t that mean that air magic would be best in this situation? Earth magic too, but air, especially. Remian thought back to what Zhao Feng used on the Trap Vine before. That technique he called a Gale Slash.

    [I just need a sword. If I copy the movement, say the same words¡­ who would know that it''s any different?] Remian mused.

    Plus, there was that thing Orb did to cut the locker open. That blade formed of Psionic Energy.

    Darian could do that too, Remian remembered. That Psi-blade¡­ Remian hadn''t thought he himself could do it, but his Psi powers were remarkably increased after that trip into the Red Mists, and the Psionic energy that Orb used to form the blade were actually from Remian himself.

    In other words, he should be able to do it too. That sort of out-of-nowhere blade could be a great secret weapon in close combat.

    Other than that, he''d also have to figure out space magic. Before, he didn''t think it was possible, but the space magic he''d been trying to learn was from the Black Ruins Civilization and they used chaos magic to import power all the time. Maybe trying to learn it without any other source of mana would actually be beneficial. After all, this was the way the Black Ruins Civilization did it.

    With that, Remian got busy and spent a very, very long night nestled in his new old Pod.

    ***

    The next morning, Remian woke up late and hungry.

    There were footsteps coming in above his head. Someone was standing on top of the pod.

    There was the sound of whistling, and then a soft splash. Remian frowned, sending his Psionic senses up.

    It was a fisherman. A hobbyist, really, an off-duty guard deciding to go fishing to relax and forget about his troubles with a few hours on the water. Finding this large smooth rock in the river, he''d opted to take a stand on it while he put his angling skills to work.

    Remian watched him, studied his thoughts and waited somewhat nervously, but the fisher never had the slightest suspicion about the rock he stood on. He just went on fishing and thought about nothing but fishing and fishes¡­

    In the process, Remian actually learned quite a bit about the fishes supposedly found in this river. He learned which were edible, and which were valuable and which ones the Paramount Chalice Restaurant bought at a premium for their steamed fish dishes.

    They''d pay extra for fishes kept fresh, either alive or frozen in ice.

    "I wanna eat it." Remian admitted to himself. "I wanna eat their steamed fish with hot rice¡­"

    He was hungry. It was late in the morning and he hadn''t had breakfast, and there was no food to speak of inside the Pod.

    [The food processor can form basic supplements using the nutrients extracted from the waste parts of last night''s fish.] the Pod offered. [The nutrients will not be balanced, an excess of calcium is to be expected.]

    "What exactly do you mean by ''waste parts''?" Remian asked worriedly.

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    [Bones and scales.] Pod clarified.

    What resulted was basically a stack of calcium pills. Remian tried a few. They weren''t very filling and tasted like powder, but at least they were able to take the worst edge off the hunger.

    "Can you really make food out of anything?" Remian asked.

    [Nutrient extraction and processing is a basic survival function within my design.]

    "So¡­ I can basically just throw in some tree branches and you''ll make pills out of them?"

    [Nutrient paste, yes. Not all forms of nutrients can be solidified into pills.]

    "Nutrient paste¡­" Remian made a face. "That doesn''t sound appetizing at all."

    [It is a survival measure. Most people would prefer tastier forms of sustenance.]

    "Huh." Remian made up his mind to do his own fishing just as soon as the guy overhead left.

 272 One mans work

    That afternoon, Remian earned 30 Black-grade spirit crystals by selling two frozen fish to the Paramount Chalice Restaurant.

    "This¡­ doesn''t seem like much." Remian knew that the fisherman before him received three times more for twice as much fish (counting by weight).

    "Ah, but we already have ample supplies for today." The staff at the kitchen said.

    "Can''t you give me as much as the last guy?" Remian asked.

    The staff''s face fell, but grudgingly, he raised the offer to 40 Black spirit crystals.

    That still wasn''t very much, but at least it was better. Remian sighed, and decided that fishing was never going to supply him enough money to pay for a Jade Vitality Pill.

    One of those pills would cost hundreds of Earth-grade spirit crystals! One Earth-grade crystal was worth a thousand Black-grade crystals! In short, if he tried buying that pill with Black-grade spirit crystals, he''d have to save up millions!

    With a sigh, Remian looked to his other ambition. "How much is the steamed fish dish that Little Li likes so much?"

    "Forty-nine, fifty." The staff answered immediately. "In Black."

    Remian gaped. "49.50 Black?! In other words, 49 Black-grade and 50 Yellow-grade spirit crystals?"

    "Yep."

    "But you only paid me 40 for two of those fishes!"

    "Yep."

    "That''s daylight robbery!"

    "That''s business. If you don''t like it, go steam your own fish."

    Remian grimaced. He''d already tried that, and it had not tasted anywhere near the same. He should know; he had Little Li''s beloved memories to compare with.

    "Hey, if you''re done here, can you move out of the way?" A hunter in leathers came up with a cart bearing a four-tusked boar carcass. He turned to the kitchen staff. "How much for this one?"

    The kitchen staff eyed it. "Two hundred Black."

    "What?!" Remian spluttered. "That''s it! I''m done fishing! I''m going to hunt me a boar¡­"

    He had a pretty good idea where. The hunter''s thoughts had three different good locations where these four-tusked boars were commonly found. As to how to hunt them¡­

    Pit-traps, net traps, weighed spears, bait¡­ the hunter''s plans and methods were laid out like a book for Remian to read. Remian sorted them out, compared them with the Gale Slash¡­ and decided on a bait and netting combination. Gale Slash or a good spear could do the rest.

    But first, he should check in and collect his share of the earnings from Big Li before they declared him dead and split his share among themselves.

    ***

    An hour later, he gave up all thoughts of hunting boars.

    "Five hundred Black!" Remian gaped at the notes in his hand.

    It was a stack of bank notes from the Soaring Empire Bank. These were exchangeable with the actual crystals at any branch all across the transcontinental Soaring Empire, of which Soaring Crane Country (and thus, Scorched Earth City) was a part of. Each bank note was sewn with crystalline threads containing wisps of high level Qi from specific bank managers. There was something special about that Qi, Remian gathered, that made it practically impossible to counterfeit unless you knew the exact techniques, which were a top secret of the bank.

    Each of these three notes were for 100 Black-grade spirit crystals. Compared to this, his earnings from fishing were only 40 Black.

    "This is my share from the trapvines?" Remian stared. "After dividing everything between over a dozen people?"

    "It is a tenth of the Xue Clan''s share, which is one third of the reward." Big Li clarified.

    So that was how they divided the proceeds; divided three ways between the Xue Clan, the Mu Clan and the Zhao Clan. From there, the Xue Clans share were divided between himself (10%), Little Li (10%), Big Li and Wushuang, with half of it going to Big Li.

    In other words, the venture actually earned 15,000 Black. After all that effort and working as their lookout post, receiving roughly around 3% of the total somehow felt like he''d been cheated.

    "Hey, at least it''s better than what the guards got." Little Li consoled him.

    "What did they get?"

    "One of them got killed. The other got wounded. That''s it."

    "That''s it? No money?"

    "They have their usual monthly pay."

    Remian clamped his mouth shut before he started on the topic of the world being unfair.

    But the Xue girls were ready for a fight and just waiting to hear him complain before they unleashed a barrage of criticism on him.

    "Fine." Remian turned and walked away before anyone could say anything more.

    As he left, he picked out the thoughts of Big Li and learned where she sold the vinetrap cores.

    [This time, I''m going to do it alone!]

    ***

    At that time Tim was walking into a volcano alone. He left everyone outside, mice and men alike, and entered the new lair of Khar''al-dras with nothing but a loaded cart.

    During this trip, Tim was wearing some odd-looking robes, sand-colored but reinforced and padded with leather, and an emblem of a dragon wing on each shoulder pad.

    Going right up to Khar''al-dras, he unloaded the cart, taking down a few roasted boars and barrels of wine. He opened the barrels, then went up to the Great Dragon and said softly, "Sior Kri Zaun, Khar''al-dras."

    One huge draconic eye opened and glared at Tim.

    "Your breakfast." Tim gestured behind him.

    "Oh? A proper awakening, this time? You even remembered to bring my breakfast." Khar''al-dras paused. "You''re not Draconian. You dress like one, and you follow the proper procedure, but you do not smell like one."

    "Does it matter? I guarantee the food is good." Tim shrugged. "I''d swear on the sands and your own name, but we both know you''d eat me if you''re dissatisfied regardless of whether I swear or not."

    "True." Khar''al-dras rumbled, and the whole volcano rumbled with him. "So tell me, what is it that demands my attention so greatly? You did not come here just to bring me a meager breakfast."

    "We''re being invaded by Spectres." Tim said outright.

    "Spectres?! Didn''t we mostly seal the Rift?"

    "It''s been breached."

    "What''s the strongest Spectre that came through so far? How long have they been coming through?"

    "Tier 8. It has been over a week."

    "Mmm." Khar''al-dras mused. "Then it is not entirely breached. If it has been more than a week already, surely a Tier 9 would have entered if it could."

    "Tier 9¡­?!" Tim gaped. "Is there even such a thing?"

    Khar''al-dras barked a laugh. "Even in this world there''s a reason why Ti''ela doesn''t dare enter the Deepest of the Deep. There is a reason why Zor''khan''s domain will not spread to the west, nor mine to the east. But you, of all species, shouldn''t be asking one of my kind about that."

    "Humans? You''re saying there are humans who are Tier 9?!" Tim gaped.

    "Not exactly human." Khar''al-dras shook himself and stared outwards in a dignified manner. "No matter. They are not here, and they have no obligation to help you in this. The Spectres are the burden of the Wildlands, and to some extent, the Endless Desert. It is ours to handle."

    Tim muttered under his breath. "Why do you sound as though you''re eagerly hoarding away your favorite toy so that others can''t play with it?"

    "Did you say something?" Khar''al-dras turned to him.

    "Nothing!" Tim said immediately.

    "Very well. Wait for me outside. I will dine, and then we will go to war." Khar''al-dras said solemnly.

    "Sure." Tim hurriedly left the cave.

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    As he left, he heard an excited roar behind him.

    "A fight! Hahahahaha! At last!! I''ve been so bored!!"

 274 Meanwhile Back At The Battle Line

    Eriane was sitting in a sniper''s nest atop a brand new guard tower at 9KCCC (Nine Kings Central Command Camp) when George climbed up the access ladder to join her.

    "How is it?" George asked.

    "Hot." Eriane complained. It was in the middle of the afternoon and the guard tower only had a few bare branches overhead for shelter.

    "Sorry. I''ll see if I can get people to put more work into the guard towers, but everyone''s busy right now." George winced.

    Eriane thought about that for a while, then nudged George. "How you?"

    "Me?" George shook his head. "I''m fine. Feeling a bit useless, but I''m healthy."

    "Useless?" Eriane''s head twisted to one side quizzically.

    "Well, because there''s not much I can do to help." George explained. "We have plenty of experienced and skilled commanders, and even better fighters than me out there. I just approve the receipts and pay for what little I can pay and keep writing letters to ask for help."

    Eriane considered. "Help is good."

    "It is, but that''s something anyone could do. I''m sure others could do that better too." George mused. "So, yeah, I''m feeling kinda useless."

    Eriane thought some more, then helpfully offered George her rifle. "You shoot?"

    George barked a laugh. "Not like you can. I''m afraid I''m not very good with rifles or bows. I''m more of a spear or halberd guy."

    "Then go poke." Eriane suggested.

    "I''m not that good in a battle either. Using my Frame, I can take out a Tier 3, maybe take on a Tier 4 a little, but that''s about it. Compared to all the Tier 5 Slayers out there, that''s not much. I''m basically just one more soldier in an army. There are thousands of others out here who can do the same." George stretched. "Meanwhile, Darrian and Mindy are charging straight into the thick of battle and nobody raises a word in protest. They''re tearing into Tier 6 Spectres on their own, not to mention their Comrades. I need a big Comrade."

    "Tim." Eriane said.

    "Tim? For a Comrade?" George blinked.

    Eriane shook her head and pointed. "Tim. Dragon."

    George turned and suddenly saw a massive creature covering the sky in the far horizon. He gulped. "Tim is sitting on a Tier 8 Great Dragon! Is that¡­ Mal''thor-dras? No wait, Darian said Mal''thor is still sleeping, and Tim was investigating the labyrinth at Fal''Herim. That means¡­ Khar''al-dras?!"

    Below them, someone else noticed the incoming creature. "DRAGON!!!!"

    There were shouts and screams erupting almost by instinct, but George yelled, "It''s a friendly! That dragon''s on OUR side!"

    As if to emphasize his point, Kor''ag-dras raised his head from where he rested and roared.

    In response, Khar''al-dras roared back as if in greeting. The two roars shook the air and the guard tower almost fell over.

    "We definitely need to fix up the towers better." George grimaced, sweat dripping from his face as the tower stabilized.

    ***

    With the arrival of Khar''al-dras, the advantage once again swung towards the defending team. Four Tier 8 Emperor-class Wilds stood in the way of the three Tier 8 Spectres and plotted how they might eliminate one or two from the conflict entirely.

    On the lower Tier arena, the fortifications and artillery built up around the Nine Kings range were sufficient to hold off everything below Tier 6. For the middle Tier, there were roughly two dozen Kings, a hundred Lords of the Wilds and Lord Challengers massed up to handle the Tier 6 and 7 Spectres.

    Now that the high Tier defenders outnumbered the high Tier invaders, things were actually looking up for a change. At least for now.

    But of course, there was no telling when a fourth, fifth or more Tier 8 Spectres might show up. Worse, the Rift seemed to be in a state of flux and might very well just yawn open one day and let a Tier 9 through.

    If that happened, all hell was going to break loose.

    "We need to close that Rift." George said at a meeting roughly half an hour after meeting Khar''al-dras formally. "Any word from Ecclesia?"

    "Not much." Mindy grimaced. "Our formal channels get very polite replies that basically mean nothing, while our old friends in the Academy have very little access to space magic. There''s only one student in the whole group in a Club who specializes in that."

    "Who is it?" George asked.

    "It''s Gary. He''s in Club Saturn. They have backing from Guild Astral and they seem to be concerned with astrology, sun, moon and star magic. He says they have a training camp coming up, and there''ll be access to restricted magic in it. He''s signed up for that camp."

    "We don''t have a lot of time here. When does the camp take place?" George asked.

    Mindy calculated, thinking back, and counting days.

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    "Right now."

    ***

    Back at the Ecclesia Academy, Gary was half bored trying to learn magic.

    "What?" Siti exclaimed. "But it''s so much fun! Look, if you only changed the third stroke of this Sigil to be a bit bigger, the result of your spell''s trajectory¡­"

    Gary yawned. He just couldn''t help it. Studying little details like strokes and angles were just making him fall asleep.

    Still, he toughed it out. He went to the very last place in the whole Academy that he really wanted to go to and did the very last thing he really wanted to do.

    Frankly speaking, Gary was sitting in the library with a stack of books trying to study.

    No, it wasn''t because he was forced to. This was, in fact, his free time.

    So why was he doing something he really didn''t want to do during his free time?

    Well, there was only one reason, really.

    Siti was here. And if she was here, then he wanted to be here too. Even if it meant studying.

    He''d come every day if he could, but today was actually the last time they were going to be able to study together like this for a while. Siti had an Intensive Study Camp coming up with Sacred Sigil. For the next few days, even if Gary came here to see her, she wouldn''t be here.

    As to why Gary was closer to Siti than all his other emancipated friends, well¡­ suffice to say that since discovering her working in the library, he''d enjoyed more success plying his trade in that place than any other.

    Okay, fine, so pickpocketing wasn''t a trade. It was an art. It was a test of skill and observation, of timing and patience, and evaluating those who could be good marks.

    See, Gary had been reading in libraries long before he entered the Academy. He especially liked to sit down and read next to bags carelessly placed on vacant seats beside sleeping patrons. Fairly often, those sleeping patrons would wake up later to find their entire bags missing¡­ and nobody seemed to notice anyone stealing their bags. When Gary got up from those impromptu reading sessions, he''d simply picked up the bag in the seat next to him and walked out with it¡­

    Unlike Loh, who had been found unsuitable for work and had a limb cut off to be sent to beg, Gary kept every limb and every digit. His previous owners found fit not only to keep him in good health, but in good shape, including feeding him and teaching him various exercises to keep him nimble. One of the reasons Siti didn''t mind Gary prowling around her library was that he was very, very quiet. Most of the time, she wouldn''t even hear his footsteps or his breathing. The other reason was that he never stole books and always put them in the sorting cart properly after he was done.

    Then again, Siti didn''t own the library or anything.

    "There he is!" someone called. "Hey, Gary!"

    "Hi, Cooper." Gary greeted the President of Guild Astral with a wave.

    "Hey! Quiet in the library!" Siti called, almost automatically.

    "Sorry! We were just leaving." Cooper said. "It''s time. Let''s get to Camp before we''re late!"

 275 Rather Stay In Bed

    "I thought you were trying to force Yin to come. I don''t see him here. Is he coming?" Gary asked.

    "He is." Cooper said grimly. "No matter what!"

    Oh, by the way, because of the upcoming contest between the Cosmic Guild branches, Cooper was dead set on having the rather-stay-in-bed genius Tang Yin join the training camp.

    He was serious. Gathering three other guys from Club Saturn, they went to hunt¡­ err¡­ cordially invite Tang Yin the sleepyhead over to the Compulsory Camp That Everyone Must Go To!

    "Spatial Lock!"

    "Paralysis!"

    "Shock Stun!"

    "Living Chains!"

    "Binding Vines!"

    "Wind Whip!"

    "OW!" Tang Yin spluttered. "What''s with the whip!?"

    But nobody answered or apologized. They simply hauled him out of there bodily. They bundled him into a carriage and rode off into the sunset¡­

    Actually, no, they went to a large observatory on a tall hill just outside Ecclesia City. It took them roughly an hour, during which Tang Yin couldn''t so much as scratch an itch.

    "Someone help me scratch my nose!" Yin was half-begging by the time they arrived.

    They dashed into the lowest floor of a tower and then shut the doors behind them heavily.

    "Finally! Everyone''s here!" Cooper glanced about. "That''s the full forty-six members of Club Astral! The Training Camp officially begins!"

    "Let me go already!" Tang Yin barked.

    Cooper gave his five captors a nod and they finally released him. Yin scratched his nose with vehemence, looking around grouchily. "Fine! I''m here! So what do you want me to do?"

    "Climb to the top of this tower." Cooper said, simply. "Same like all the rest of us."

    "That''s it?" Yin stared. "Where''s the stairs."

    "Right. About that¡­ there aren''t any." Cooper explained. "You''ll have to ascend by passing the trials. Also, there are no exits below the fourth floor."

    "Ah." Tang Yin said. "One of those."

    "What?" Gary blinked.

    Cooper explained. "This is a trial tower. It''s for us to learn and test out our understanding of celestial powers. On every floor there are priceless scrolls and books on Sun Magic, Moon Magic, Star Magic, and Astrology. The most basic and easiest ones are on this floor. The most powerful magics are secreted away at the topmost floor. As to how high you''re able to ascend, that depends entirely on your abilities."

    Gary''s face fell. "So I have to study your magic to climb up every floor¡­ all the way to the fourth floor."

    "Fourth floor, minimum." Cooper nodded. "There''s no other way out. Also, there''s no time limit, but people tend to get hungry, eventually. We brought enough food and water for everyone to last a week, but beyond that¡­"

    Gary gulped. He surreptitiously glanced at the door they just came in through.

    "And that door''s sealed from the outside once it shuts. It won''t open again till next year." Cooper concluded.

    "So¡­ study or die." Gary grimaced.

    "Pretty much." Cooper agreed.

    ***

    Keeping in mind Mindy''s urging on space magic, Gary found himself staring at Tang Yin as everyone scattered to study.

    [I can''t help her. Even if I started studying Space Magic like crazy now, sealing the Rift or finding Remian just sounds impossible for me. There''s no time, and I don''t even know where to start. I can''t help Mindy no matter how much I want to.]

    [I can''t help, but¡­ I think maybe¡­ he can.]

    Tang Yin was already a legend in Club Saturn. He was always sleeping in class, always goofing off somewhere, never wanting to study¡­ and yet scoring high grades in every test he ever took, whether paper test or practical. In terms of magic theory, there was one time a teacher tried to call him out and punish him for making him sleep in class, and somehow ended up debating magic theory for the better part of five hours with no decisive winner. That teacher quit the next day.

    Most importantly, he supposedly managed to open a mini-moment teleportation gate one day and dropped a water balloon on the head prefect from fifty meters away. It was barely hand-sized, and lasted only an instant, but that was all it took to leave the prefect soaking wet in front of his latest fling.

    Tang Yin himself was a bit on the chubby side. He wasn''t especially tall either, and had the front half of his head shaved clean for some reason, the rest of his hair tied back in a tight long braid. He was unusually fair, and while he read, his eyes darted around like hail in a storm.

    As Gary watched him, he threw the scroll in his hands halfway across the ground floor. "This is rubbish!"

    "What?" One of the five captors from the ''hunt'' jumped. That captor was named Alan. He''d been the one to use the Wind Whip for lack of anything better in his repertoire.

    "This scroll! Everything it says is nonsense!" Tang Yin fumed. "It''s saying the sun and the moon are opposites, that they balance each other out with some yin and yang magic power that orders the whole universe!"

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    "That''s a very old theory from the Dragon Empire¡­" Alan shrugged.

    "Let me see." Gary went over. After a brief run through, he grimaced. "It''s rubbish! The sun is a giant flaming ball of gas millions of miles into space, and the moon is just a lump of dirt going in circles around our planet! To say that they were equal and opposite is just¡­ nonsense."

    Alan snorted. "Keep thinking like that, and you''ll never get any magic done. At the very least, with so little respect for the moon, I daresay the chances of you achieving anything great with moon magic are nil."

    "But science¡­"

    "One book says it''s white. Another says it''s black. Who''s to say what is what?" Alan asked.

    "Telescopes! Aren''t we in an Observatory?!" Gary shot right back. "The Night Flight of the Upper Heavens Zeppelin! The Flying Magic Lenses Recordings!"

    "All of which are great for science, but useless for magic!"

    "How could the truth be useless for magic?!"

    "Magic is a system of belief and imagination! To demand scientific proof for magic¡­ isn''t that just a form of self-destruction?"

    "Then what do you call blindly believing in falsehoods? Self-delusion?"

    "Wow, it looks like SOMEBODY is well-read! If you''d just read magic books instead of those science stuff you''re spouting, you''d be a top class mage in no time!"

    "Who the heck wants to be a top class mage in nonsense!?"

    "That''s a rich, wealthy and highly respected top class mage in nonsense to you!"

    "Alan¡­ do you even believe any of these yourself?!"

    "No. But I don''t need to believe it to make use of it!"

    Gary stared at him. Then, he turned back to Tang Yin. "What about¡­"

    But Tang Yin was already on the floor, hands clasped, eyes closed and letting out a soft snore, heedless of both his opponent and the guy who''d somehow gotten into an argument on his behalf.

    ***

    Around that time, Remian was hanging out not too far from the Alchemist Guild entrance, enjoying some tea at a street corner coffee shop, waiting for the two hours to pass until Mu Hou''s shift finished.

    While he sipped tea and considered money making possibilities, a ruckus started up in the middle of the street.

    There were shouts. "Stop that slave! Thief!"

    "Stay away!" that voice was high-pitched, fear filled and very young.

    The ruckus was coming down the street, and would soon reach the coffee shop where Remian sat quietly enjoying his tea.

 276 I hate this world

    There was a dirty little girl running for dear life with a loaf of bread in her hands. Behind here were two burly men with snarls and knives, and¡­

    "Earth, hold them." Remian whispered to the ground.

    During his time harvesting cores, he''d learned a few things about ''using magic'' in this world.

    First, he couldn''t make something out of nothing. He could only affect things that there were already around. For this reason, fire had become the least available, while earth and wind were usually in abundance.

    Second, he had to tell them what to do. He couldn''t just say ''earth'' and expect what was in his mind to occur. The rules in this world required him to specify what he wanted. Rather than ''spells'', it was more like he was giving out commands.

    Third, whatever he wanted, he had to say it out vocally. It didn''t matter if it was loudly or softly, he could whisper it if he wanted, but there had to be a spoken word into the atmosphere for something to happen.

    Why? He had no idea. Everything he learned so far was the result of trial and error; he was basically fumbling his way around in the dark and only knew what worked and what didn''t.

    Anyway, a command like ''hold them'' wasn''t as elemental-specific as ''burn'' or ''freeze'', which were obviously only do-able by fire or water. Therefore, Remian specified how he wanted those men held; he wanted the earth to do it, not the air, or anything else.

    "Whoa!" With a yelp, both men fell flat on their faces before they knew what was happening. Remian noted how the ground had basically grabbed their feet and buried them in little humps so that they were held in place out of the blue. Their feet broke free momentarily, but not before they''d tripped and met the ground face-to-face.

    Without pausing or anything, the fleeing girl darted right past Remian''s place and zipped off into the crowds. By the time the pursuers got to their feet, she was long gone.

    There was some cursing and some swearing and a whole lot of bad language, but ultimately the men were unable to resume the chase and turned back empty-handed. Meanwhile, Remian just sat there idly sipping tea as if all of it had absolutely nothing to do with him.

    When the time came, Remian watched as Mu Hou left the Guild Hall in a hurry and headed over toward the Xue Clan. Then he went back in and told the receptionist he wanted to sell medicinal ingredients. He took out his token and waved it at her.

    This was, thankfully, a different receptionist. Clearly, the changing of shifts included that post as well. Without question, she directed him to Conference Room 1.

    There was a different guy there, an older uncle who introduced himself as Mu Yun. He made a simple offer of 40,000 Black for the forty cores in Remian''s sack, no questions asked.

    "If you can bring in one hundred in a single batch, you''d have achieved a trade of at least 100,000 Black and qualify for Level 4." He mentioned as the deal concluded. "I can promote you on the spot."

    "Does that mean you''re an Elder?" Remian guessed.

    "Just a lower hall elder, but yes, actually I am." Mu Yun said with a small grin.

    "Thank you, Elder Yun, it was nice to meet you." Remian said politely and bade him farewell.

    He went around buying supplies, mainly food and cooking ingredients, then carefully headed for the city gate.

    Outside the city, he traveled down the road, turned the corner, and then stopped with a sigh. "You''re still following me?"

    There was no response, no sound, nothing to indicate a follower of any kind.

    Remian turned and looked straight at a bush behind him. "You can come out now. I won''t hurt you."

    Slowly, a frightened, dirty face rose up from behind the bush. It was the runaway slave girl who had stolen the bread.

    "You can''t keep following me around. It''s dangerous out here." Remian told her.

    But she didn''t leave. Didn''t turn away. Didn''t say anything at all. She just stared at him, wide-eyed and frightened. In her mind was a jumble of thoughts mainly about what he might do to her and how she might suffer¡­ but also a feeling of desperation and a simple, strange fact.

    That he was the guy who had helped her earlier.

    "How did you know?" Remian blinked, taken aback.

    It was such a small movement. But at that moment of fear and panic, her perceptions had been sharpened to a razor''s edge. She had noticed that among everyone watching the chase, only he made any movement in response.

    And the result¡­ was that she was saved.

    Having nowhere else to go and not knowing what else to do, hoping for maybe just a bit of kindness or maybe some direction, she followed him. She waited outside the Alchemist''s Guild as he completed his transaction. She followed him around when he replenished his supplies. She trailed him even after he left the city, all the way up to here.

    This was already halfway back to the Pod. Remian shook his head. "Girl, you better not follow me. Go find your new life elsewhere. Find someone kind, who''d maybe take you in. I can help you look for a family to adopt you. How about that?"

    But she shook her head, touching a branded mark on her forehead. Fear upon fear piled up in her mind, along with a dark, resigned sorrow.

    This was it. She was done. She already had nowhere else to go. This world had no place for her. This was the end.

    Remian frowned, troubled in his mind and heart. Half in jest, he said, "You know, if you follow me, you''d have to leave your entire world behind."

    He wasn''t sure if she understood him in the first place, but amazingly, she replied, "I hate this world."

    From her thoughts, Remian gleaned a few things.

    First, that slave-mark meant she would always be treated as a slave. No family would take her in, nobody would offer her aid. Most likely they''d sell her off, or return her to her previous masters for a reward. Either that, or enslave her themselves.

    Second, she was, by the standards of martial cultivation, crippled. She couldn''t cultivate, and thus had no prospects of a future in this world. This was because an enemy of her tribe had, upon destroying that tribe, taken great pains to make sure every man was dead and every woman and child of her people crippled and sold as slaves. As for who that enemy was or why all this happened, she actually had no idea.

    Third, the little kindness Remian had shown her earlier today was the most she''d ever gotten in her life ever since.

    "Fine. Come with me." Remian sighed. "But you can''t tell anyone what you see or hear, okay?"

    "I can cut my tongue out." She offered. "Then I won''t be able to tell."

    "No, that''s not necessary. Just don''t get me in trouble." Remian grimaced, hoping he wasn''t about to make the biggest mistake of his life.

    ***

    "I''ve got it!" one of the guys in the center of the room suddenly shouted. He was fiddling with a magical diagram in the center of the room, one of the room''s tests.

    CREAK! The ceiling opened up, like an eye in the center of the roof. The test, and the test-taker went floating upwards to the next floor. The eye shut after they passed through, then after a minute reopened as the test descended back to the ground floor without its earlier passenger.

    So that''s how you go up?

    "I''m going too." Cooper announced, heading over to the test. "Someone keep an eye on Tang Yin. Make sure he survives and gets out of here on his own power."

    "Don''t worry. He already has a new best friend." Alan snickered, looking over at Gary.

    Gary paused. "Fine. I''ll keep an eye on him, but no promises."

    "Great." Assured, Cooper sat down to take his test.

    Gary considered for a moment, then decided to let Tang Yin snooze a little as he went on to look through other scrolls, other books in the shelves on the bottom floor. He skimmed through them, snorted and ditched them right back in the shelves without bothering to study them, much to Alan''s chagrin.

    "Have some respect!" Alan yelped.

    "They don''t deserve any! They''re all nonsense!" Gary snorted. "Except those three. Those three books are somewhat okay."

    Alan glanced at them. One was about space. Another was a copy of the Night Flight of the Upper Heavens Zeppelin. The third one was on star charts observed by this very observatory''s telescope.

    "Well, at least you believe in SOMETHING." Alan grumbled, going back to take another test.

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    Over the next few hours, the ceiling frequently opened while the club members took tests and Gary sorted through every single book in the lowest floor. At the end of it, only a fourth book joined the approved stack; a record of falling stars from outer space hitting the world.

    Alan shook his head. "You''re never going to be an astrologer or a lunar mage."

    "That''s just fine with me." Gary snorted, reading through his selection.

    More and more people went up, until only three were left.

    "Are we done yet?" Tang Yin sat up suddenly. "Can I go home now?"

    "There''s only one way out, Tang Yin. That''s the lift to the next floor. There''s supposed to be an exit on the fourth floor." Gary reminded him. "You''ll have to take a test and pass it to go up."

    "Right, right¡­" Tang Yin yawned, and sat down to take the test without even studying anything.

    Gary and Alan exchanged bewildered glances as they watched him work his fingers through diagram after diagram.

    Before even twenty minutes were up, the ceiling opened and Tang Yin ascended on the lift successfully.

    When it closed, only Alan and Gary were left, stunned and staring at the ceiling, all alone on the ground floor below.

 278 Big Li and Little Li meet Little Yan

    When he went to buy stuff this time, Remian loaded a small hand-cart with sacks and crates. He doubled his foodstuff calculations to include Little Yan''s needs, got extra wooden dishes and utensils (they used chopsticks), herb-gathering tools, a second set of bedding (otherwise he''d be sleeping in the chair again tonight), two hats, three masks, four scarves and five sets of clothing at roughly Little Yan''s size.

    "Two sets of tunic and pants; three casual plain robes." Little Yan hugged her new clothes when he showed them to her. "Thank you! I love them!"

    Remian breathed a slow sigh of relief. He''d been worried she''d ask about skirts and dresses, all of which he basically knew nothing about. The clothes he''d gotten her were functional, almost utilitarian, and there was nothing particularly pretty about any of them, but they were clean, new, and well-made (at least he thought so).

    Big Li or Little Li would be horrified to wear such poor, plain clothes, but Little Yan beamed as though she''d just been given treasures.

    As Little Yan tried on her new clothes though, Remian thought of something and realized he''d slipped up. With his back to the girl changing clothes, he said, "We need to get you new shoes too. Yours are almost falling apart. What''s your size?"

    There was a pause. "I can go with you. I can wear a hat and go try them on myself."

    Remian thought it over. "That would be good. Shoes must fit comfortably, and simply telling me your size is risky. Best to try them on yourself."

    In order to hide the slave-brand, Little Yan wore a headscarf, and a mask, and then added a bamboo hat on top of that. Hesitantly, almost shyly, she followed him out and back to the markets of Scorched Earth City.

    Who knew they''d bump into Big Li and Little Li.

    "Lem Yan?!" Little Li gasped. "Where have you been?"

    "Lem Yan?" Big Li gaped. "Who''s your girlfriend?!"

    Zhao Feng and Mu Hou were actually also there. From Big Li''s thoughts it was easy to see that they had beaten out, outspent, or outright bought out the other three of the competition.

    "She''s not¡­" Remian began, then hesitated. Just how was he to explain Xiao Yan? Sister? Employee? Pet??

    "Master, are these your friends?" Xiao Yan asked suddenly.

    Just to clarify, based on her language, the word ''Master'' here addresses him as her teacher, not her owner. In other words, she was claiming to be his disciple.

    "Oh? She is your disciple?" Big Li immediately lost interest.

    "Oh? You have a disciple?" Zhao Feng suddenly started paying attention.

    Uhoh. What did we do to draw the eye of this homicidal calamity?

    "Do you have other disciples?" Zhao Feng asked.

    "Um¡­ yeah?" Remian said, thinking of Mindy, George and Tim.

    "Are they all capable of using the same abilities you have, to sense danger in the mists?" Zhao Feng pressed, intently.

    Remian frowned. "Um¡­ I don''t think so? Maybe one or two of them might have picked it up on their own. But it''s not something I teach them."

    "What DO you teach them?" Little Li asked.

    "What did I teach them¡­?" Remian scratched his head. "First, I taught them how to roast meat. Then I taught them how to wash dishes properly. I guess you could say it''s mainly survival skills, and a bit about how to hunt and fight."

    "How to fight? You?" Big Li burst out laughing. "You can''t even fight Little Li!"

    "Hey, at least they can cook." Little Li defended Remian.

    My dear aunt, if that''s what you call a good defense, please don''t defend me!

    "It must be hard¡­ seeing as she''s a cripple. She can''t cultivate either." Zhao Feng observed. "A cripple teaching a cripple¡­ I''m almost curious. Almost."

    Mu Hou suddenly cleared his throat. "Ease off. He''s probably just tricked her along for cheap labor."

    "Labor? Whatever for?" Big Li asked, eyes wide. "Do you know what he''s been up to?"

    "Of course. I know everything!" Mu Hou said expansively. "Remian came in to the Alchemist Guild to sell trapvine cores on his own the other day. Tell me, Remian¡­ has your harvest increased since you have a free helper at your side now?"

    Remian didn''t think there was any reason to hide it. "Definitely."

    "Ah." Big Li suddenly look enlightened and just a little more approving of Remian.

    "Ugh." Little Li, on the other hand, looked a bit disgusted.

    Zhao Feng, on the third had, completely lost interest.

    As for what they were thinking¡­ Remian was trying not to hear it, but he heard it anyway.

    Mu Hou was thinking, [Big Li looks impressed! I should really increase my intelligence network and keep a closer eye on the going-ons about town!]

    Zhao Feng was thinking, [So, they''re not a potential military asset. If he could train a cohort of scouts able to sense danger ahead of time, he could have been invaluable, but like this¡­ forget it. This is a waste of time.]

    Big Li was thinking, [Looks like Lem Yan is not a total empty-head. At least he knows how to exploit others for profit. Perhaps he''s not entirely hopeless.]

    Little Li was thinking, [I can''t believe he''s not paying her for her work! That''s not fair!]

    All told, nobody questioned her identity as his disciple. Nobody even thought about whether or not such a claim was true. A disciple following her master around town¡­ what could be more natural?

    Of all their thoughts, it was Little Li''s that triggered Remian the most. [She''s right. I should give Xiao Yan some spending money as a reward for her labor. Otherwise, she might grow up with a warped sense of the value of money. But not too much, not yet. Giving her too much early on could be disastrous.]

    "Hey, come work for me instead! I''ll pay you for your work!" Little Li suddenly offered Little Yan.

    "Can you sense dangers in the mists?" Little Yan asked.

    "Uh¡­ no?"

    "Then we''re going to die." Little Yan shook her head. "Sorry, but no."

    Big Li and Mu Hou were laughing at the side.

    "What a direct refusal!" Mu Hou chuckled.

    "But it''s such a valid reason!" Big Li laughed heartily.

    "But¡­" Little Li hesitated. "But he''s a guy! He might¡­ do something to you."

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    "Oh? Such as what?" Little Yan asked, peering at her with narrowed eyes.

    Uhoh. Now Little Yan seemed to be irritated. Remian suddenly detected a slightly mean streak in his new disciple.

    "Um¡­ he might¡­ make you do things¡­ you don''t wanna do." Little Li had a slight blush in her face.

    "Oh?" Little Yan''s mood turned dangerous. "You mean¡­ like tie me to a chair, and tear off all¡­"

    "WHOA!" Big Li clapped both hands around Little Li''s ears in such a hurry, it happened with enough speed and force to almost knock her younger sister unconscious. "Lem Yan! What have you done with that girl?! What have you DONE?"

    "Nothing like that!" Remian protested. Such words¡­ such ideas¡­ to Big Li and Little Li, those were taboo, nothing proper girls like themselves should even consider thinking about, especially not in public!

    But coming from Xiao Yan, Remian almost felt his heart drop. Considering her time as a slave-girl¡­ was she speaking from experience?

    Remian jumped into teacher-role, and turned on Discipline mode. "Xiao Yan! Where did you hear such words from? Who was it you heard such things from? Tell me!" [Yan-yan, would you please not get me into trouble like this?]

    Xiao Yan froze, then lowered her head and stepped back as if sheepishly. "T-those men yesterday¡­"

    Zhao Feng shook his head disapprovingly, but at that point, Mu Hou was almost rolling around on the ground laughing.

    "You are never to speak to them or go near them again!" Remian said in as righteous a tone as he could muster. There. That should make it clear that such things did NOT come from him. At least, not where Xiao Yan was concerned. Hmm. What if Phoebe¡­

    Big Li must have seen a queer look in his eye at that particular moment. "Lem Yan! What are you going to do with her?"

    "Me?" Remian snapped out of his thoughts in a hurry. "I''m just taking her shopping for shoes."

    "And then?"

    "Then we''re going to look for more trapvine cores."

    "And then?"

    "Then¡­" Remian paused. "I''m going to take her to a place where there is no slavery!"

 280 Possible Cures

    "There it is." Remian said, as he and Little Yan approached the old herb garden he''d learned about in the Alchemist Guild Hall. "Pod, land in the middle of that garden."

    [Confirmed.]

    "Little Yan, hand me the crossbow." Remian said, squinting. "There''s a Blue Fang Ferocious Wolf hanging out around the edges. I don''t want it chomping us down for dinner."

    Little Yan carefully picked up the black assassin''s crossbow that cost them their entire earnings from their first foray together and handed it to Remian. Even with heavy bargaining, the best Remian could do was lower the selling price from 120,000 to 100,000 Black. They not only emptied out everything they earned from selling the cores to Elder Yun, they had to fork out more money to buy Tier 4 ammunition for the crossbow. After all the spending, Remian was pretty close to broke.

    But looking at that wolf now, he felt it was worth it. That was a Tier 4 wolf, and Remian didn''t want to engage in a long, extended fight. Using Gale Slash to fight it could take some time, and draw a whole lot of attention from its pack. Remian did NOT want attention; these mountains were the territory of Beasts, and he did not have any Red Mists cover advantage.

    One shot, one kill. That was the way to go. Remian suddenly felt like he''d turned into an assassin as he prepared his shot.

    "Help me turn this." Remian said, winding up the crank-turning system.

    Once it was prepared, Remian took careful aim while keeping a watch on the wolf''s mind. It was hungry, eagerly waiting for some prey supposedly coming down the mountainside later¡­

    TWANG! The shot hit the creature in the back of the head. The Blue Fang Ferocious Wolf didn''t even know it died, much less how.

    "We should load up the wolf carcass. It could be worth a lot." Remian told Little Yan. "Although¡­ we might have to cut it up a bit first."

    A Tier 4 wolf was easily ten times the size of Little Yan. That was something comparable in size to Carrie, somewhere between the size of a cow and an elephant. For the likes of Remian and Carrie to haul that into the Pod was just asking too much.

    Actually, could they even fit that thing into the Pod? If they did that, there''d be so little space, Little Yan would have to sit on Remian''s lap on the pilot''s seat.

    "On second thoughts, forget it." Remian sighed. "Just take the claws and the teeth. Do you know how to skin a beast?"

    Little Yan shook her head helplessly. "We could try anyway. We could also try cooking some of the meat and see how it tastes."

    They did exactly that.

    ***

    Over the course of the following few days, Remian and Little Yan tried all sorts of wolf-meat dishes while experimenting with the Food Processor. They tried it roasted, boiled, stir-fried, deep-fried, steamed, braised, stewed, smoked, mud-baked, flour-baked, microwaved, thermal-cooked, electro-seared, plasma-baked, ion-charged, photonic-threaded, nano-fried, particle-acceleration roasted, quantum-excited, even psiorin-effused. That last one seemed to require Red Mists, of which the Pod had a startlingly full store.

    "I like wood-roasted." Little Yan concluded in the end.

    "Not barbecued?" Remian blinked.

    "The wood-fire roast tasted better than emulated charcoal."

    "They both come from wood, you know."

    "I know. I''m the one who put it in!"

    During that time, they were of course harvesting the entire herb garden. It had entire plots of Tier 3 herbs. There were even more plots of Tier 2''s and Tier 1''s to be cleared. All of them were chock full of weeds, and if Remian hadn''t gained the memories of so many herbalists and alchemists, he would have had a very hard time differentiating what was what.

    But in the end, they came back with a very bountiful harvest.

    "92 Tier 3 herbs, 211 Tier 2, 399 Tier 1¡­" Elder Yun counted when they finally met him after their week of labor. "Total payment is 1,809,500 Black. It looks like I have to promote you to a Tier 5 Affiliate after only one week at Tier 4!"

    "Wait, we also killed a Blue Fang Ferocious Wolf¡­" Remian took out the last sack. "We took back the head, some claws, meat and bones¡­"

    "We normally wouldn''t take any of those here, but since it''s you guys, and you''ve already reached Tier 5, I can handle the arrangements with the Hunter''s Guild¡­" Elder Yun said generously. "If you leave them with me, I will have the proceeds ready by next week."

    "Next week¡­" Remian frowned. "I''m not sure if we''ll still be around next week."

    "You''re leaving?" Elder Yun looked somewhat disappointed.

    "Maybe." Remian said slowly. "We''ll have to discuss it. More importantly, I need a Green Jade Vitality Pill."

    "Ah, yes. That''s right. Your condition¡­" Elder Yun hesitated. "I would like to invite one of our top physicians to take a look at you. It could be costly, but the costs are nothing compared to what you''ve just earned, certainly nothing compared to your life."

    "Please do." Remian agreed. "Also, if he could take a look at Little Yan¡­"

    "I''ll invite him right now." Elder Yun assured them.

    ***

    It could be said that Physician Qing Lan had become something of an expert in battlefield medicine after many years practicing his craft in Scorched Earth City.

    It wasn''t his fault! Practically every day someone would be brought to him bleeding and more often than not, dying from wounds inflicted in battle. People around here just kept fighting each other, fighting fierce beasts, fighting queer traps both natural and man-made¡­ they fought over treasures, over resources, over girls, over pride, over the most absurd reasons and pretenses! It was ridiculous! After fifty years of studying medicine, leaving his school and venturing into the field, roughly ninety percent of his extensive learning was practically irrelevant to his everyday work. It came to a point that when he was called to the Alchemist Guild for a VIP consultation this time, he hesitated on whether or not to bring along his full kit or just pack bandages, splints and his surgical kit.

    "Whatever, since this is the Alchemist Guild, I should make a good showing. I''ll just bring everything." Qing Lan sighed and had both his assistants haul along his traveling diagnostics case along with his surgical kit and the ever-popular bandages. "Let''s go see which rich clan''s young brat has gotten himself sliced this time."

    The Alchemist Guild was really rather good to him. They had allotted a house for him inside their compound, offered a steady supply of herbs and medicines made by their people at discount prices (compared to their standard retail demands) and even had a carriage prepared for him to load his luggage and ride all the way to the Guild Hall (which would have been almost an hour away on foot).

    Upon arrival, he was somewhat taken aback to find that he couldn''t recognize the patients. "Who is this?"

    "This is Sir Lem Yan, a Level 5 Affiliate." Elder Mu Yun introduced. "And his disciple. They are our suppliers."

    Realizing that he was meeting the people who risked life and limb to collect precious herbs for the very medicines he used, Qing Tan suddenly felt a rush of friendliness towards these brave strangers. "What seems to be the problem?"

    "I''m told we''re crippled and can''t cultivate, but that there might be a way to cure that." Remian told him flat out. "Is there anything you can tell me?"

    Qing Lan paused. He''d heard these brave herb-gatherers often encountered great dangers on their forays, but he''d never seen anyone get crippled in the field and come back alive before. Straight away, he suspected poison¡­

    But when he inspected them, checking pulse, breath and internal state, he was startled to find that they weren''t poisoned at all. Rather, it looked like they had been cripped deliberately, as if someone practicing Death Qi martial arts had withered their meridians on purpose.

    "This¡­ these are old injuries. Very old." Qing Lan said grimly. "Had we treated such injuries immediately, it would have been much easier, but as it is¡­ for Lem Yan, nothing short of a total rebuilding of the meridians is going to fix them. Xiao Yan''s case is less severe, but not by much. She can still patch her meridians up with high Tier medicines, but her potential would be dismal even so. For her to reach even average potential in cultivation, she would need roughly the same treatments as Lem Yan."

    "Can you list specific cures?" Remian asked directly.

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    "Your best bet is the Tier 9 Meridian Rejuvenation Elixir. Short of that, you''d need Ancient-grade pills, the likes of which our alchemists today can no longer be refine, only found by the very lucky." Qing Lan shook his head. "Something like the Sunrise Rebirth Pill or the Phoenix Tear Life Consolidation Pill."

    "Green Jade Vitality Pills are not good enough?" Remian sighed.

    "Those can boost your vitality and keep you alive past the year, but not by much. A few more years, perhaps. But as you keep consuming them, they will lose their effect and eventually, they would no longer suffice."

    "A few more years sounds great right now. I don''t want to die this year, thank you." Remian grimaced.

    And then a transmission from Pod almost made him fall over.

    [Emergency Medical Diagnosis, comparing with others of similar species; internal insufficiencies, extensive organ disfunction, marrow deficiencies, blood vessel mutations, irregular heart constitution detected. Recommended: 57 specialized diagnostics, 42 interim sustaining patches, 19 purchaseable >80% proven solutions to specific problems now available on our online store and be always happy, because always happy means more sales.]

 281 On Second Thoughts

    [I can buy stuff online?!]

    [Error: Datalink failed. Running internal diagnostics. Communications Equipment damaged, patchwork repairs detected, only rescue beacon and theft report functions are available.]

    Rescue Beacon?! Remian hesitated. What would happen if he called for a rescue? Would he be able to find a way for this alien civilization to cure him? Would they be friendly? Or would this gamble end up destroying both him and this Qi World?

    Thinking about the people who built the Pod, Remian felt assured that they were unlikely to destroy this world off-hand. It was much more likely they would try to sell the locals their products in an Always Happy manner because Always Happy Means More Sales.

    Then again, doing so would change this world forever. Was it worth it?

    Everything to gain for him, but this world''s destiny would be changed irreversibly.

    Oh, come on, that wreck in the Red Mists meant they were coming here already anyway, or may already be on the way searching for their fallen ship. It''s possible, even likely¡­ no, downright probable¡­ that the Always Happy aliens would eventually come here and set up shop.

    Or they could enslave the entire population of ''savage'' locals and sell them off as cheap domestic labor. After all, to an advanced civilization, the low-tech people of this world could be seen as tribal barbarians, always fighting among themselves at the drop of a hat, and the most prevalent form of government this world had was outright tyranny. This was a world where might made right openly, and the greatest law was the whim of the greatest power.

    Anyway. To send out the beacon or not. Just what would happen to this world if he did¡­.?

    [A local wouldn''t hesitate.] Death noted in amusement. [Only you would be morally worried about consequences to everyone else. A local would only care about the benefits to himself and his own.]

    [Well, I''m an alien here, you know.] Remian sighed. [If I do this, I will have to do it in a sparsely populated area, try to avoid affecting the locals as much as I can. I''ll fly the Pod back to the Red Mists forest and send the signal from the shipwreck''s location.]

    ***

    Meanwhile, Remian bought five Green Jade Vitality Pills at a Tier 5''s affiliate''s discount price. He ate one immediately, washing it down with nano-filtered, quadruple-processed water from the Food Processor (though contained in a locally-fashioned stoppered gourd that tasted mildly like winter melon).

    Those pills were bought at 320,000 each. After buying more supplies, more clothes for himself and Xiao Yan and giving Xiao Yan some spending money of her own, Remian was left with a little over 210,000 Black in his bank account.

    Oh, that''s right. The Alchemist Guild set him up with a bank account and he even had a crystal bank card to go with it. He still carried a few thousand Black around in bank notes, though.

    "Are we planning a long trip?" Xiao Yan asked as they hand-carted more and more supplies to the pod.

    "Yeah."

    "How far?"

    "I''m told it could take years if we go on foot. That''s why we''re flying."

    "And how long would flying take?"

    "If we were Sky Qi experts? One day will do. But I don''t know how fast Sky Qi experts fly compared to the Pod, so I''m expecting anything between a day and two weeks."

    "Where are we going, really?" Xiao Yan really wanted to know now.

    Remian broke it to her. "We''re going to the Grand Luo Continent."

    ***

    Meanwhile, back on Remian''s home world, from the west a fleet from Libertaria arrived. Led by a mothership the size of the Flame Emperor, the thirty ship fleet docked only briefly at Kara-Goth then made their way to the Nine Kings Range Battlefront.

    From the east, the Song Clan from the Dragon Empire sent word that they, too, were sending in a fleet. Seeing Kara-Goth overburdened with the Libertarian fleet when they arrived, Song Chen directed them to his own territory, the Bog Marshes in the Eastern Edge Region. He shared with his clan his ambitions to build the Great Docks of his dreams.

    At the same time, Tim sent a horde of Lynxmice and men over to the Blood Lands to start his Nightshade Farm. Lynxmice weren''t much help in a fight against Spectres, after all. They were much better at digging holes and planting farms.

    As for Remians airport and training center at Rocky Thorns¡­ the town was built, the airport was ready and in fact, received and repaired many airships damaged in the fighting, but the training center saw no progress whatsoever.

    Kara-Goth itself was ramping up heavily on mining. Arnold''s Frames Workshop was given an entire hill overnight and was forced to expand exponentially with the skyrocketing demand for Combat Frames. Agility and magical barriers were the top requests of everyone ordering a Frame, and the orders were backlogged three years.

    A lot of guest magi on the way to the warfront stopped by Three Pines to take a look at the Black Ruins relics, to see what they could see, learn what they could learn, and maybe take a little something worthwhile if they could take it without causing too much trouble. Unfortunately most of them simply couldn''t make heads or tails of what they examined. Of those who made discoveries, one accidentally blasted himself into ashes, one ended up nailing his foot into the ground, and the third one completely disappeared and had not been seen since.

    As for the war itself¡­

    The tides turned again with a fourth Tier 8 Spectre emerged. Once again, the Tier 8 Spectres and Emperor-level defenders were matched in number. The defenders'' advantage was lost. The Flame Emperor called upon the Deep Emperor to come back from the north and help out, but received no response. As for the Earth Emperor, Mal''thor-dras had only just woken up and promised to come help quickly.

    Three days later, he still hadn''t arrived. Reports from younger drakes coming from Dragon Lake indicated that Mal''thor-dras had not even left Dragon Lake, in fact. He seemed to have woken up very hungry and spent the entire past few days eating breakfast. At his fearsome rate of consumption, the youngsters were worried that Dragon Lake could run out of Tier 5 fish.

    By then, the number of Mindy''s new fightercraft built in Fal''Herim brought to the warzone for ''quality testing'' reached three hundred. Had they all been fielded at the same time, Kara-Goth simply wouldn''t have enough volunteer pilots to man them all. But over a hundred of them had taken damage from long-range Spectre attacks and required downtime to repair, repairs which the limited facilities at Nine Kings Mountain Range were ill-equipped to serve. With the bigger, slower airships taking to Remian''s Rocky Thorns Airport and Kara-Goth''s Airport for repairs, they ended up limping all the way back to Fal''Herim to get fixed.

    "Too slow." Mindy shook her head every time she considered her little fighters and their performance. "The fighters are too slow. The repairs are too slow. Pilot training is too slow. Everything is too slow!"

    Two days following, the Libertarian fleet arrived at the Nine Kings Range.

    "Give us the area with the heaviest fighting!" Admiral Campbell requested.

    "Uh¡­ that would be the middle." George managed, trying his best not to feel overawed by the military staunchness he was sensing from all these army officers.

    "You''re the commander-in-chief?" Campbell''s eyes narrowed.

    "Um¡­ there isn''t really one." George half-wilted. Then, he brightened. "Would you like to volunteer?"

    Song Chen frowned at him, and Mindy grimaced, but Campbell simply nodded as if it was all to be expected. "Certainly. I want a detailed list of military forces and a space three times the size of this tent to set up a proper command center."

    "Uh¡­ we''ll see what we can do¡­" George hesitated.

    "On second thoughts, forget it." Campbell straightened. "Lieutenant! Send out my orders! I am taking command of the entire defense force, and will be commanding from the flagship!"

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    Darian and Tim glanced at George. "You know the dragons won''t listen to him, right?"

    George gulped. "They won''t?"

    They really didn''t.

    Neither did the rest of the Wilds.

    "Come on, guys! Forward, like he said! We''re all on the same side, here!" George tried to coax them.

    But none of them would move. In fact, George noticed a distinct trickle of wounded Wilds limping away from the warfront entirely.

    "Why¡­? Why can''t everyone just work together?" George asked. "The whole world is at stake¡­"

    "Then where''s the whole world when the danger is here?" Mindy scoffed.

    "At least they''re here!" George raged. "Why can''t you see that? At least they came to help!"

    "Thirty ships? One mothership, five cruiser-class, ten galleon-class, and fourteen frigates." Mindy shook her head. "Doesn''t Libertaria have hundreds of airships? They didn''t even send one hundred."

    "That''s a lot more than what everyone else is sending!" George spluttered.

    "And I''m thinking we should stop shouldering so much of the burden and let everyone else send more before we resume the fight." Darian said darkly. "I''m tired of bleeding and seeing our subordinates die while everyone else just sits back and do nothing. Now these clowns jump in and try to boss us around¡­ even I won''t have it, much less the Wood Emperor! I''m out."

    "Out?!" George gaped. "Darian! DARIAN! Come back!"

    But of course, he wouldn''t.

 282 Big Movements

    George tried to talk sense to the other side. "Admiral, a direct attack was pointless, we still have no way to Seal the Rift! Admiral! Admiral!"

    But which great Admiral would listen to a child? "All forces forward!! For glory!"

    "What are we going to do?" George was half-tearing at his hair in frustration.

    Tim sighed. "I''ll take the west side."

    "What? What do you mean? What''s going on?" George blinked.

    "See that?" Tim pointed to Darian''s back. "That''s East."

    "So?" George still didn''t get it.

    "I''m going that way." Tim pointed in the other direction.

    "Why?" George was still blur.

    "To raise a ruckus and draw the Tier 8''s out to fight us. Otherwise that Libertarian fleet is going to run right into a wall of Tier 8''s and get themselves slaughtered." Tim explained. "We have to draw their attention away from that fleet."

    Mindy jumped up. "Chirpy and I will join you. We''ll let the Wind Emperor back Darian up."

    "But the Admiral¡­"

    "You want us to fight the Tier 8 Spectres in the middle of that expeditionary fleet?"

    "Uh¡­ no."

    "Right. Just being too close to the fight will kill them all. Tim''s right. We have to draw them away."

    To their credit, the diversion succeeded. All four Tier 8 Spectres and half their lesser forces were drawn away from the center where the Libertarian fleet was charging in.

    But even so, that fleet was slaughtered.

    ***

    In man-made history, it was recorded as the first major conflict between mankind and the Spectre Incursion.

    Bravely, the airships of mankind sallied forth into the dark unknown.

    "Give me liberty or give me death!" Admiral Campbell shouted as the battle commenced.

    Those were the words engraved on his tombstone ever after, one of the most famous last words ever heard from a military commander. Thus recorded Libertaria''s historians.

    The battle itself lasted roughly fifty minutes. In terms of asset comparison, the situation was, according to history books, as follows;

    The valiant humans had, on their side, the forces of Libertaria leading a loose coalition of allies; one military-grade mothership, nine cruisers, twenty galleons, fifty-one frigates, and roughly three hundred corvettes. On the ground were roughly 400 heavy infantry and 600 light infantry supported by thirty artillery emplacements of varying sorts including catapults, ballistae, and a heavy magic cannon.

    On the enemy side, in the air, two mothership-level (Tier 8), forty cruiser-class (Tier 7), roughly two hundred galleon-class (Tier 6), almost a thousand frigates (Tier 5) and enough lesser flyers to form a veritable cloud. On the ground were two Tier 8 super-beasts, fifty Tier 7 monsters, at least four hundred Tier 6 beasts and at least three thousand Tier 5''s, not to mention an uncounted amount of lesser Spectres.

    In terms of weaponry, Libertaria used firearms; guns and cannons firing balls using gunpowder. In terms of defense, they relied upon masterwork armor using composite alloys which were envied worldwide, but no mana barriers or energy shields of any sort.

    The Spectres, on the other hand, were semi-ethereal and higher Tier types employed pure energy attacks at long range; bolts, beams, claw- and fang-shaped energy discharges that were all semi-ethereal and apparently capable of phasing through solid matter, including Libertaria''s composite alloy armor.

    The fight would have ended in less than a minute if a bird, a tiger, two boys, a girl and two dragons hadn''t engaged the Tier 8 Spectres directly. But there is little military wisdom to be gained from such a side note, and thus these local resistance efforts were basically ignored. Also ignored were how the enemy forces were distributed during the battle and how many of them the fleet were actually fighting.

    Aside from the Tier 8 engagements, the rest of the battle was a very sad and dismal one for the human side. Since the history books are mainly intent on preserving lessons of military usefulness, some very pointed and painful lessons included; the necessity of acquiring information on enemy armament before sending out forces, the wisdom of evasive tactics over head-on attacks, and five different brilliant ways to hastily vacate the battlefield of a lost fight.

    With the huge losses suffered in battle, Libertaria righteously took up the cause of asking everybody else to get off their butts and help, with lots of vocal support and many discount deals offered from the Deutero Company to back them up.

    At this, the Midlands nations who had just been at each others throats during the recent world-war suddenly raised a unified voice saying all human nations should join forces against all non-human threats, like the Spectres and the Wilds that had attacked their unsuspecting human colonies unprovoked and even now kept expanding the neutral zone and bullied all their forces into withdrawing their borders farther and farther away from the world''s last mana lode.

    Most of the powers in the Eastlands, however, remained silent in the face of this political uproar, making no new moves, but before this period of time, the Song Clan had already begun to ship large amounts of men and materiel to the Bog Marshes of the Wildlands Eastern Edge Region. These plans had been laid long ago, as these Marshes supposedly belonged to a warrior of their very own Song Clan, and officially had nothing to do with threats from Spectres or Wilds whatsoever.

    Likewise, the industrial zones of Fal''Herim taking over roughly one quarter of the city in a robust expansion was due to the demand and potential profits in selling machinery of a secret nature for overseas exports to Ashdale, for example. Again, nothing to do with a minor otherworldly threat coming from the south, according to the history books of mankind.

    That both of these bases would end up becoming vital in the warfare to come was a matter of pure luck and circumstances, the history books agreed. Pure blind luck. Yep. That''s it. Uhuh.

    Anyway, with that first ill-fated battle, mankind finally decided that this Spectre threat was maybe just a bit serious. Even though they weren''t grabbing guns and rushing to the warfront immediately, the big powers of mankind began to make moves in preparation to investigate this alien threat.

    ***

    While the big boys were still making preparations to investigate, Mindy and company were facing the real threat in a very real sense in the very real field. Nine Kings Mountain Range was in tatters, lines already broken, fortifications torn apart, breached and letting Spectres through like a bucket full of holes.

    The Libertarian charge not only collapsed, it prompted a massive counterattack on the Nine Kings Range. Mindy, Darian, and the Wilds tried to hold the fort, but after several hours of getting hammered, George figured it was time to pull back.

    Darian and Kor''ag-dras held the rear guard as the retreating defenders stomped away. As for Mindy, she insisted on being among the last, if not the last to leave.

    [Mindy, enough. Let''s go.] Chirpy told Mindy.

    "Where?"

    [If you can''t bring Mal''thor to the fight, bring the fight to Mal''thor.] Chirpy shrugged. [Let''s gather at Dragon Lake. Maybe then he''ll finish his breakfast faster.]

    So, breakfast notwithstanding, the Tier 8 defenders of the Wildlands abruptly increased in number from four to five. Mal''thor-dras was amazed to find that he had almost all Five Emperors and even his younger brother around Dragon Lake suddenly joining him for breakfast. [H-hey, that''s my fish!]

    [Eat faster.] Kor''ag-dras snorted back.

    "Aeyrie, I need a favor from you." Mindy told the Eagle Princess at that point.

    [Yes?] Aeyrie perked up.

    "I need you to send word to the Moon Owl Lord at the Wood Speckled Highlands. Tell him we need a whole lot of space to nest a great flock. A very great flock."

    [How much space? How big a flock? What kind of birds?] Aeyrie perked up.

    "Oh, I''d say about¡­ three hundred Tier 4 nests. As for the kind of birds¡­ they''ll be the mechanical kind."

    [On it!] Aeyrie nodded and leapt into the sky.

    "Wooo!" Eriane shrieked happily.

    "She was still on Aeyrie''s back?!" Mindy gaped, startled to realize it too late.

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    "She never got down." Darian shrugged.

    ***

    On the other side of spatial rifts, in a different world, a young man and a little girl walked into a Guild Hall of the Open Sky City Alchemists Guild. Similar to the Scorched Earth City Alchemist Guild, this Guild Hall was also at the entrance to their Guild''s compound, and likewise had a reception area, except this one was roughly three times the size.

    Arriving at the receipt and meeting the doubtful gaze of the receptionist, the young man didn''t bother to say anything. He just whipped out a token.

    "Tier 5 Affiliate!" the receptionist jumped. "H-how can I help you, good sir?"

    "I want to learn arrays and formations." Remian said straight out.

    "Uh¡­ right! R-room 3, if you please, sir! I''ll notify an Elder straight away!"

    Ten minutes later, there was a meeting, and then the Elder called for a package. The package was delivered to the young man''s hands, and the young man and the little girl left in a timely manner.

    "What¡­ what did you sell him?" the receptionist asked the Elder, who was perhaps a little bit (or a whole lot) closer to her than they revealed to the public.

    "That was just our own Alchemist''s Basic Guide to Formations. I sent him on to Headquarters with a recommendation letter for a proper training."

    "Do you think he''ll succeed?"

    "No idea. But at the very least, I sold two Basic Guides for 1,000 Black each!"

    "Wow! What a profit!"

    "I know, right?"

    ***

    As for Remian and Xiao Yan, they had actually reached the Grand Luo Continent after days of flying in the Pod. This Open Sky City was a beachside town; the Headquarters of the Alchemist Guild was in Mystic Herb City, deep in the heart of the Continent.

    That journey took them another couple of days.

 283 Basic Formations

    "In this world of martial dao, the levels of arrays are denoted according to the power of their output, not their complexity. Therefore, both Lee Kee''s Shrieking Array and the Sandstone Raising Array are considered Level 1 Arrays, even though the Shrieking Array only consists of two layers while the Sandstone Raising Array requires nine." Remian was reading the Alchemist''s Basic Guide to Formations.

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    "However, generally speaking, the more power an array employs, the more complex it needs to be. Simple yet powerful formations are the dream of every array master, but are few and usually held very secret and very precious by those who know them and are not easily learned."

    Remian took a break. He glanced over at Xiao Yan, sitting next to the Food Processor. "How goes your reading?"

    They had actually bought two copies of the same book so they could both read at the same time.

    "I''m still at the components." Xiao Yan rubbed her head. "Core, supports, catalysts, stabilizers, accelerators¡­ and all these are just one layer?!"

    "Yep. But it actually gets simpler when you think of multiple layers each doing a single task rather than trying to squeeze it all into one layer. For example, if you laid a fireball trap; you could have one layer as the trigger, so it would activate if someone steps in it; a second layer would store the power for the fireball; the third would target the person who triggers it; a fourth would launch the fireball at the target. This would be a simple four-layer fireball trap formation." Remian explained. "If you want it to recharge itself from a natural power source, or even ambient energy, you could use a layer for that too. Or if you want more firepower, you can add a second layer to store power, and have the launcher layer draw the power from both layers when it happens. Or you can make it rain ten fireballs instead of one. As long as your layers don''t conflict with each other, everything should work out."

    "As long as they don''t conflict?! How do they not conflict? They''re almost always laid right in the same place!"

    "Best bet? Use compatible materials." Remian pointed out. "I think talismans are the easiest shortcut for that. They usually get along well with other mixtures, and as long as the talismans themselves are reliable, they should be able to squeeze more power into less layers than raw reagents like herbs and beast blood. Oh, but liquid and powder reagants have the advantage of being spread into the links of the formation themselves rather than occupying a node¡­"

    Xiao Yan stared at him. "You really never learned formations before?"

    "Nope. I got the book the same time as you did."

    "Then how come you already understand it well enough to teach me?!"

    "Because in the end, its just studying. I have experience with studying, so¡­" Remian shrugged. "Comprehending the general idea isn''t difficult. The hard part is in the details; the symbols, and the diagrams, and all the memorization work that goes with countless possible reagents."

    Of course, Remian didn''t tell her he had the advantage of comparing this world''s arrays and formations with his home world''s Sigils and Magic Circles.

    "I don''t think we really need to memorize all those endless lists of reagants and herbs and stones. We just need to keep things simple." Remian added. "Like¡­ use spirit crystals for power instead of whatever special elemental magic stone out there. I think if we''re not too fussy, we can get away with using talismans and spirit crystals for everything. In short, all of it can be bought."

    "What are we learning all of this for, anyway? What do you want to do?" Xiao Yan asked.

    "I want to go home. That means figuring out a formation in an ancient ruin and trying to get it to work in reverse to send me back where I came from." Remian said. "So you see, I just need to understand formations, I don''t need to make a profession out of it. As for the rest, I just have to trigger it, maybe provide it with energy or something. Since spirit crystals are so compatible with most formation power needs, I figure I just need enough of them to go home."

    "Then that means¡­" Xiao Yan stared. "I don''t have to learn any of this?"

    "You could if you liked. I think it will be of benefit to you one way or the other." Remian said patiently.

    Xiao Yan hesitated. "But¡­ there''s no hurry, right?"

    "No hurry."

    "Then I''m going to take a nap!" Xiao Yan instantly ditched her studies and went to snooze.

    "Too late." Remian prodded her.

    "Why?!" Xiao Yan wailed.

    "Because we''ve arrived." Remian said, laughing softly. "We''ve reached Mystic Herb City. Do you want to go explore the city or not?"

    "I want!!" Xiao Yan leapt to her feet, suddenly totally energetic and eager to go for a romp.

    ***

    Unfortunately, Remian could not get formations off his mind. Since learning of them, he suddenly had a hyper sensitivity to what he learned about. It seemed everywhere he looked, he now saw formations.

    "This is so interesting!" Remian said, stopping by a random house on the street as he examined a formation in the garden. "This formation¡­ I think it''s meant to water the plants at sunrise every morning automatically!"

    Xiao Yan, on the other hand, had already zipped halfway down the road toward a street stall. "Is that¡­ roast meat skewers? I want some!"

    "You''ll have to use your own money!" Remian reminded her, and then turned back to the formation. "Nicely done¡­ two layers to gather dew at night, and then one for timing, one for detecting sunrise linked to another one for triggering¡­ then two for turning it all into mist and the last layer to spread it across the whole garden. I don''t recognize the ingredients, but the diagrams are quite obvious¡­"

    Perhaps most interestingly, several principles of those very diagrams were similar to the magic circles in Remian''s own world. His learning speed wasn''t about a genius memory or some such; it was that he already knew them, or very similar patterns to them.

    But magic circles in his world were all meant to support or direct magic controlled by magi. These formations were all supposed to do things on their own, very often triggered by external stimulus or timed. As for long-term functions like that back home, they usually used Runes, which were basically permanent (or at least long-lasting) Sigils. Sometimes the lines of runes could get ridiculously extensive.

    In comparing Formations to Runes, Remian felt it was like comparing pictures to written words. Both had advantages, both had drawbacks.

    As if to test himself, Remian squatted down by the roadside and started to draw in the sand. Every so often, he''d look up, scrutinize the plant-watering formation, and then draw some more. He didn''t use any reagents or crystals or anything, so there was no power, but the drawings themselves were copies of the plant-watering formation.

    "Is that formation really so interesting?" a man asked him.

    Remian almost jumped. He hadn''t notice someone arrive. "Oh yes, I just started learning about formations, so I was quite impressed¡­"

    The middle-aged man behind him laughed, a merry, pot-bellied laugh. "If you think that is impressive you should see the Grand Theatre''s Main Hall! Fourteen Level 5 and 6 Formations set together in a full-sensory Illusion Array!"

    "Wow!" Remian felt like there were stars in his eyes.

    That impressed look seemed to please the middle-aged man. "Well, I was going to raise hell for you doodling around in front of my house like that, but seeing as you''re such an earnest student, I''ll let it go. Good luck, young man! Study hard!"

    "Uh¡­ thanks¡­" Remian said, sheepishly realizing he''d nearly gotten himself into trouble. That middle-aged man was actually the owner of the house.

    ***

    As they went about, Remian saw more and more formations to study and learn from. On the walls, on the lamp posts, on rooftops, in devices of all shapes and sizes¡­ formations were everywhere in this city!

    Xiao Yan likewise had a lot to look at and enjoy. Meat skewers, different flavors of pies, bakery after bakery full of buns and confectionary, hand-sized cakes of at least twelve different kinds, sweet desserts of endless assortments on street after street after street¡­

    "You''re going to get fat, eating like that." Remian said, wondering how much longer Xiao Yan''s money could hold out, the way she was spending it.

    "I never get fat." Xiao Yan snorted in reply.

 285 Student Progress

    Gary went shopping with aplomb.

    "I want that house!" he picked a spacious bungalow close to the Academy.

    "I want that horse!"

    "I want that necklace! It should fit Siti¡­"

    Of course, Gary wouldn''t be so irresponsible as to ignore the actual reason why he had sudden unlimited shopping funds, and he wasn''t crazy enough to spend Mindy''s money until she was broke. Just a few million Lir for the sake of a better future with Siti¡­ most of it had to be spent properly, on the things they would need for their trip to the Wildlands and the investigation of the spatial anomaly.

    For example, the minute Tang Yin heard that they had funding, he started scribbling a long list of lab equipment he wanted. This included at least ten blue mana crystals bought directly from the Academy''s Emergency Stores, each of which came at the escalated cost of 200,000 lir. Adding in the rest of the equipment brought Tang Yin''s bill up to nearly five million lir.

    Gary also brought in Juni and Siti. The two members of Club Sacred Sigil immediately set about buying magical equipment from their Club, starting with rune-scriving kits, inscription kits, plenty of empty magic scrolls and blank jade plates, and a whole kilogram of mana dust for each of them.

    "Who else is coming?" Siti asked Gary.

    "Everyone." Gary shrugged. "Including Tang Yin, that''s nine of us in total."

    So they went out and got nine sets of Tier 5 Runic Armor directly from Juni''s Eldest Senior Brother in Club Sacred Sigil. This was light leather armor made from the hide of an Iron-Hoof Ox. Apparently the beast had been bigger than Gary''s new house, so there had been plenty of leather for that Eldest Senior Brother to practice his craft on. They bought Tier 3 fireball wands and mana shield projectors for each of the nine of them, three Tier 4 Staves of Fire Wind, three Tier 4 Staves of Lightning Bolt, three Tier 4 Staves of Glacial Spike, and even tried to auction for a single Tier 7 Scroll of Inferno, but quit when they realized that the competing bidders were all teachers that they really didn''t want to offend.

    The wands cost about 10,000 lir each, and the staves were ten times that. The mana shields were priced at 20,000 lir apiece, and Tier 5 armor cost a grand total of 2,700,000 for the nine sets.

    Within half a day, Gary''s shopping bill ran up to 12,870,000 lir, and he was only just getting started. The wands and the staves were just for clearing out lower level Wilds, sort of everyday-use weaponry. For stronger Wilds, they needed Tier 5 and above firepower.

    That sort of firepower wasn''t easily bought by students, however. The auction where they tried to bid for the Tier 7 scroll was practically their best bet already. As far as the Academy shopkeepers were concerned, Tier 4 staves were the limit for students.

    "Is it really a problem?" Loh asked.

    "I think so." Gary sighed theatrically. "What we have is fine for pest control, but if we go up against the serious Spectres, we''re going to need bigger guns."

    "Then why not just get bigger guns?" Loh asked, directly.

    Gary''s eyes suddenly popped wide open. "You''re right! You''re so right! What was I thinking, trying to buy high Tier weapons in school supply shops?!"

    This directly led them to the shipyards where Gary spent another four million lir on a Strike Frigate.

    The Strike Frigate was a commercial Ecclesia Heavy Industries airship designed for skirmisher tactics; hit-and-run jobs. It had one big gun and one very big engine, and little space for anything else. Dash in, blast away at maximum effective range, and then run for your life; that was the style of the Strike Frigate. It wasn''t much for long-range voyages, and had little space for crew or cargo, but it was a favorite of small escort groups and anti-bandit rescue teams.

    "We''ll make you a one-time offer." The dock foreman told Charlie over Gary''s comm crystal. Charlie was handling the purchase over the comms since Gary was likely not going to be able to buy something of that level. Gary himself just stood there and held the comms crystal for them to talk. "For an additional 500,000 lir, we''ll upgrade the cannon to a ThunderBlast 600. That''s a runic cannon rated at Tier 5.6!

    "Make that 400,000 and you''ve got a deal." Charlie offered.

    But the foreman shook his head. "No discount. Sorry."

    "We should get it. I don''t think Mindy would mind." Gary voiced out.

    "Fine. Let''s get the upgrade." Charlie concluded.

    Thus the airship plus the upgrade added another four million lir to the shopping bill.

    ***

    Now in a Strike Frigate registered to Deutero Company''s Charlie Meadows, Gary, Tang Yin, and the rest of the gang followed a Deutero convoy headed for Fal''Herim. Charlie''s arrangements had it so that they were actually running escort duty for this convoy, but thankfully, they arrived at Fal''Herim without incident.

    "We''re going to need to refuel." Gary observed. "Someone call Charlie. We''ll buy fuel from Deutero."

    There were no more mana crystals on sale, and even mana-dust soaked in high conductivity solutions were starting to cost thrice as much as it used to. A full tank cost them two thousand Lir.

    From there, they headed straight for Kara-Goth following the road the Iron Legion built in the desert. Halfway to Kara-Goth, they were overtaken by six flights of Type-A Fighters headed south for their ''quality testing''.

    "I thought we were fast!" Gary protested. "How did they overtake us so easily?"

    Jamie, at the helm, cleared her throat. "We could speed up, but that would drain the power even faster. How much money do you want Mindy to pay for our fuel?"

    Gary subsided with a sigh.

    As if to comfort him, they also overtook a fleet of airships headed south. "Are those¡­?"

    "Airships from the Dragon Empire." Loh observed. "Didn''t Mindy mention something about a Song Chen guy bringing his family from there? Those are probably them."

    "That''s a lot of ships for one family." Gary noted, counting.

    "Fifty Sky Galleons." Isabelle was already done counting. "It says a lot about the size and wealth of the Song Clan."

    "I''m seeing kids our age and younger. Did the entire clan come over?" Tamera gaped. "Is this a total clan migration?"

    "Who knows?" Loh shook his head. "I rather doubt it, though."

    Anyway, the Song Clan was headed south-east, not directly south. It was plain to see that they were going directly to Song Chen''s territory.

    "Well, we could just stop by and ask¡­ oh, hang on." Isabella suddenly paused and took out a comms crystal. "Hello? Yes, Senior Sister. No, we''re fine, we''re crossing the Endless Desert, and we''re almost at the Wildlands now. Thank you for your concern. Yes, I''ll call you when we reach safely. Bye."

    Gary wasn''t the only one blinking at her.

    Isabella saw them all gaping and grimaced. "That¡­ my Senior Sister wanted to check on me and make sure I was okay."

    "Huh. That''s¡­ odd¡­" Gary mused.

    "What''s so odd about it? My Senior Brother wants us to keep him in the loop too. He''s especially concerned about the performance of our armor in battle." Juni shrugged.

    Gary frowned. "Does that mean both Club Faith and Club Sacred Sigil are keeping tabs on us? What did we do to draw the attention of the Church of Light?"

    "Calm down. A couple of friends want to know that we''re all right. What''s wrong with that?" Juni asked.

    "No, I actually think there''s more to it." Gary said, frowning. "I just have this feeling. It''s a gut feeling."

    "I think what you''re feeling is hunger." Tamera snorted.

    Siti wordlessly offered him a sandwich.

    Gary examined it. "Sardine? Where did you get this?"

    "I made it, just now." Siti explained. "Anyone else want lunch?"

    Six hands were raised and lunch immediately commenced.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Remian was thrilled to make an earth-shaking discovery in the Alchemist Guild Headquarters Library.

    There was a book entitled ''Ancient Formations'', and it had pictures of the formations people discovered in ancient ruins all over the map!

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    Remian turned the pages, searching almost feverishly for the one he most earnestly needed to study.

    There! It was there! The book had it! Page after page of clear, detailed pictures! Remian almost let out a whoop of exultation right there in the library.

    "Oh? You look excited. Care to share?" A kindly teacher in the Formations section stopped by.

    "Teacher! Can you help me figure this out?" Remian instantly leapt at the opportunity with both hands, both feet and his whole heart.

    "This¡­? Mmm. Well, I''m not an expert in this field, but I can tell you that this symbol here? This is a stabilizer for something. I''m not sure what." The teacher said. "Also, these five symbols seem to be newer than the others. If I had to guess, I''d say those were the control runes."

    "Control runes?" Remian blinked.

    "That means, by changing those five runes, the general result of the formation''s effect is changed."

    Remian understood easily enough. Assuming that he''d come in through a Teleportation Array, those runes were likely the ones that determined where he''d go if he used it to leave.

    "You might want to check with a few other teachers. They''d know more." The teacher said, and voiced out a string of names.

    Remian hung on to those names for dear life, jotted them down on three separate notes, kept them all safely in different places, then made a fourth copy and started looking for those teachers one by one for consultation purposes¡­

 286 Young is not a problem here

    Meanwhile, the defenders at Dragon Lake received bad news.

    "A fifth Tier 8 Spectre?!" Mindy quailed. "But we just managed to get the upper hand!"

    With Mal''thor-dras added to their ranks at Dragon Lake, the defenders had been able to breathe easier, as their top defenders outnumbered the four Tier 8 Spectres. They''d had room to maneuver, time to recover, even took opportunities to advance against the incoming incursion.

    But with the appearance of a fifth Tier 8, that numerical advantage was lost once again.

    "They''re just going to keep coming. More and more of them are just going to waltz right through that Rift, and there''s nothing we can do to stop them." George mourned.

    "There is!" Mindy cut in. "Gary is bringing the spatial magic specialist over. They''re already on the way. Once they''re here, we need to escort them to the Rift. Then¡­ then¡­"

    "Then they seal up the Rift for good, and the war is over. The Spectres are done for, whether or not they manage to flee through the Rift before we seal it." Tim said smoothly.

    "But¡­ but what about Remian?" George frowned. "He''s still out there, somewhere, on the other side of that Rift! If we seal it, then¡­ then¡­"

    There was a grim, extended silence. Nobody wanted to voice out the probability of Remian stuck on the other side, unable to come home.

    "It could be tricky, but let''s try to get him back before we seal the Rift shut." Tim said optimistically.

    "Uhuh. Right. Sure." George agreed hurriedly, as if covering up for a mistake. He surreptitiously glanced sideways at Mindy.

    Mindy didn''t say anything. She didn''t move. She just sat there with a dark cloud hovering over her head.

    Hope was all very well, but Mindy spent day after day on the front lines of this war, and every day she battled with her life on the line. As much as she wanted to daydream of saving Remian before sealing the Rift, time and circumstance simply wouldn''t wait. They HAD to seal it as quickly as possible, she understood that, even if she wanted to rail and scream just thinking about it.

    "Mindy¡­ are you all right?" George asked, hesitantly.

    "I want to get him back. I want to save him." Mindy said slowly. "But I don''t know how. I just don''t know how."

    Nobody said anything then. The words ''so we''ll do what we can'' was on the tip of George''s tongue, but seeing the gloom on Mindy''s face, he just couldn''t bring himself to say it.

    "Come on." Darian stood up. "It''s time we went and found out what that fifth Tier 8 is like."

    ***

    By that time, the Sky Fortress from Kara-Goth had been modified beyond recognition. Most of the cargo space had been taken up by magic cannons, ballistae and catapults, all of whom were previously employed at the Nine Kings Range as fixed emplacements. When the defenders pulled back to Dragon Lake, they had a quick debate about where to put down the big guns and finally decided to simply leave them where they were and modify the Sky Fortress to shoot them all.

    This required a whole lot more structure for stability, including recoil-compensation platforms that employed a great many springs. The Sky Fortress'' frame quickly doubled its original weight, and many cheaper materials had to be swapped out for lighter, stronger stuff. Goodness knows where the Lynxmice found it, but they somehow brought in a whole lot of Tier 5 and Tier 6 bones that were suitable for the job. Tim only said that they found those bones ''while tunneling''. For the sake of world peace, however, nobody dared mention those bones out loud anywhere near the dragons or the Eagle Lord.

    This was the first of what came to be known as the Sky Fortress Mk 2. George loved the design so much, he ordered the other Kara-Goth Sky Fortress to match. This time, the engineers were given more time but less ready-made weaponry, and they were specifically instructed to build it with the Spectre Incursion in mind; every weapon on board needed to be able to harm, hinder or outright kill Spectres.

    The end result would be an even slower and more heavily armed weapons platform than the prototype; George wasn''t sure if they could even call it an airship any more, it could barely move even with the help of three Tugs. The prototype Mk 2 was already being hauled around by four Tugs. The upcoming full version looked like it might need six.

    "We need better Tugs." George muttered.

    Also, Kara-Goth was going to need replacement cargo ships, but right now more and more airships were visiting and trading at their airport, so George didn''t actually need to worry about exporting their ores just yet. If there was ever a silver lining to the dark cloud of the Spectre Incursion, it was that it made Kara-Goth a lot more popular. There were even whole groups of new immigrants who''d learned from recent disasters that starting their own colony in the Wildlands was a really bad idea. Kara-Goth''s population was booming every day.

    Now, if only these spies, reporters, inspectors and investigators would directly take up arms and help fight the Spectres¡­

    Then again, it was more important that they send word back to their bosses for serious military aid. George could only address them with as much politeness and patience as he could.

    But then there was this one airship among all others that, upon arriving, received the most heartfelt welcome George had offered in ages.

    "Isabella!" George shouted as he waved. "Juni! Loh! Tamera! Gary! You guys! You''re all here!"

    "Is that the boss?" An unfamiliar guy wearing clothes from the Dragon Empire asked Gary.

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    "Uh¡­ sort of." Gary paused. "But that other guy there? He''s also kind of the boss."

    He was pointing to Tim. Back at Fal''Herim, it was Tim who found them, saved them, housed them and employed them.

    "So he''s the one paying the bills?" the Dragon Empire guy queried.

    "Uh¡­ no, the one paying the bill is her." Gary pointed to Mindy.

    "Right. So she''s the head honcho¡­"

    "Uh¡­ no, technically, the King of the Eastern Edge Region is Darian¡­" Gary pointed.

    Finally, the guy sat down and stared at Gary. "I am confused. Just who am I supposed to listen to?"

    Mindy cleared her throat. She pointed to herself. "Me. I''m the boss of the mission you''re hired for. Tim is the long-term boss of everyone else on your airship, but right now they''re on my mission. Darian is boss of this Region we''re in, don''t break his rules. George is boss of the army, please follow his directions to get to the Rift safely."

    "I am?!" George gaped, bewildered. "How come it''s me? Shouldn''t it be Darian?"

    "Everyone knows you. Nobody knows me." Darian shrugged. "Besides, I''m too busy fighting in person to command anything."

    "Four bosses." The guy sighed. "Greetings. I am Tang Yin."

    "Spatial magic specialist." Gary said emphatically.

    "I know I look young, but I know my stuff." Tang Yin added in a tone that indicated this was a phrase he''d repeated all too often.

    Mindy looked at him blankly. "So? We''re all about the same age or younger."

    Tang Yin froze, blinked, and suddenly realized it. All four of these ''bosses'' were Gary''s age, probably younger than him by a year or two.

    "See? Young is no problem." Gary said, putting an arm around Tang Yin''s shoulder. "Not around here."

    ***

    The plan was to sneak past the Spectres. One Strike Frigate escorted by a wing of fighters and a dark green Great Dragon would attempt to slip over the Spectres'' heads using cloud cover at night.

    "Why can''t I go?!" Mindy fumed.

    "Because a giant bird of fire would attract too much attention!" George explained. "Mal''thor''s golden color would likewise be too visible. It''s got to be Kor''ag-dras or Khar''al-dras, and between them, dark green blends into the night better than bronze."

    "We can bring some Pale Dragons for extra support." Darian added, thoughtfully. "Among the clouds, they''re the hardest to spot. In fact, I still think we should all just ride dragons."

    "You want me to load delicate lab equipment onto a dragon?" Tang Yin stared.

    "Forget it. Also, if you''re bringing Pale Dragons, we can keep the fighters here." George mused. "The fewer we send, the less attention it would draw."

    "Speaking of attention, we could run a diversion. Mount night raids on both flanks or something." Tim suggested.

    "Better not. Let''s just keep tonight quiet." George shook his head. "Let''s not alert the Spectres in any way."

    "How about we stand by just in case?" Mindy suggested. "We only move out if we need to, just in case the team needs us to divert attention away from them all of a sudden."

    "Fine." George paused. "You''re sure you''ve got everything you need?"

    "Not at all." Tang Yin admitted. "Nobody''s ever done this before."

    "Then congratulations and good luck." George patted him on the back.

    Gary chuckled. "Great. If we get killed, you can put that phrase up on his tombstone."

 287 So much for stealth

    They were attacked ten seconds after they reached the Spectre lines.

    "But¡­ but we have perfect cloud cover!" Gary protested, as Loh brought their airship into a tight swerve to avoid a blast of ghostly energy from a Tier 7 Spectral Beast.

    "Well, that proves my theory." Tang Yin mentioned, holding on tightly to some safety netting.

    "What theory?"

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    "Spectres don''t use eyes."

    Gary stared at him, gaping for the better part of five seconds as Loh sent the airship into crazy maneuvers to avoid more and more Spectral blasts. "SAY THAT EARLIER!"

    "It was just a theory!" Tang Yin said defensively.

    BOOM! The airship took a direct hit from one of the smaller Spectral Blasts. This one came from a Tier 5 Spectral Flyer that had swooped in close. It had triangular wings, three tails, claws on the wingtips and feet, but only a three-tentacled mouth for a head. There were no eyes, ears, or any such sensory organs visible on the opaque beast.

    A thunderous roar shook the air as Kor''ag-dras swooped in between them and the Spectre. Dragon fire filled the air, and sonic waves swept through the skies from the meeting of roars and roars on all sides. Claws, wings, and fire met. Shockwaves ran around rampantly.

    "Everyone hold on!" Loh gasped, trying his best to avoid the worst of it.

    "Mindy!" Gary was already yelling into the comms crystal. "We''re under attack!"

    ***

    "Already?!" Mindy blurted.

    Tim didn''t wait to ask questions. He and Khar''al-dras already launched into the air. "Wind Emperor! We''re moving out!"

    [What? What''s going on?] The Wind Emperor woke up and looked around in confusion. [Is it another attack?]

    "This time we''re attacking them! You coming?"

    [Great!] the Wind Emperor leapt up and joined Tim as they sped off towards the west side.

    Mindy glanced about and realized that it was up to her and Chirpy to open another front on the east side. This wouldn''t help the team directly, but it would surely take a lot of pressure off them. [Chirpy!]

    [Ready.] the great fire bird slowly raised her head and exhaled. Waves of flickering flames swept out into the night air. [Let''s go.]

    Mindy leapt onto Chirpy''s back and then the night shot as quickly as if shot from a cannon.

    Already twin roars rose up and two colossal figures reared up directly ahead of them.

    Two Tier 8''s?! Mindy wasn''t sure how the largest Spectres had distributed themselves, but facing two at once was going to be dangerous and difficult for herself and Chirpy.

    "I''ll take the one on the left." Mindy decided, grimacing.

    [Then I shall hold off the one on the right. Do not over-extend yourself.] Chirpy warned her. [The moment it becomes too difficult, withdraw!]

    Mindy and Chirpy together was more than a match for the weaker Tier 8 Spectres, even able to stand toe-to-toe with their strongest, but apart, Mindy herself could only delay a weaker Tier 8, at best.

    Especially now that it was night. There was no sunlight, no warmth radiating from the sky. There was only the cold, and the dark, and the somewhat romantic gleam of the moon¡­ none of which would help her strength one bit.

    Her power came from Chirpy, the Flame Emperor. Sunshine and afternoon heat would have been helpful. But like this¡­ Mindy was afraid she was going to have to drain Chirpy dreadfully in order to stand her ground.

    "Sorry, Chirpy¡­" Mindy winced, and drew as much strength as she dared.

    Flame erupted around her, forming wings even as she drew the fire sword. Covered in her burning shroud, Mindy looked like a smaller fire bird as she darted forward and slammed her blade into the face of the easternmost Tier 8 Spectre.

    A single claw rose up and blocked her. The impact nearly made her black out just from the shock alone. Four claws closed in around her, trying to grab her.

    Mindy dropped, just plain fell out of the sky and out of the grasp of that claw. She slid forward, slicing her blade cleanly straight down. Firelight and blade light swept out in a towering arc as if to split the Spectre in two.

    But of course, that, too, was blocked. That same claw descended and suddenly closed around the fiery bladelight as if they were equally tangible. The bladelight shattered, and then another claw swiped at Mindy from the side.

    Mindy hopped back a clean ten meters, avoiding both the second claw and the immediate follow-up third claw that would have hit her if she''d tried to drop farther.

    "It''s Three-Arms, isn''t it?" Mindy recognized this Tier 8 Spectre now.

    It wasn''t the first time they''d fought. This particular Spectral Beast had three arms, and four legs. It also had a comb of thin hairs at its rear that were probably supposed to be a tail, or maybe some sort of antennae¡­ or maybe that was its head? Mindy wasn''t entirely sure. Nobody could really see a Spectre clearly anyway. They could only see their vague figures shimmering about and guess.

    Anyway, as far as Tier 8 Spectres went, Three-Arms was actually one of the weaker ones. Mindy felt somewhat relieved that it wasn''t Sharphorn. If it was, she would already have started running.

    [How are you doing?] Chirpy asked.

    [Not bad. I got Three-Arms. You?]

    [Not so lucky.]

    [Why?]

    [I got Sharphorn.]

    Mindy''s face fell. [Are¡­ are you going to be okay?!]

    [I''ll try my best.] Chirpy said grimly.

    Mindy dodged the Spectre''s next attack, and the next, unwilling to face it head-on, not daring to draw more power from Chirpy than she absolutely needed. [Darian! You guys need to hurry up! We can''t hold them for long!]

    [There''s¡­ too many!] Darian sent back. [That tin can of an airship isn''t helping at all!]

    [George!] Mindy called grimly. [We need help!]

    [I know.] George''s reply was even more grim. [We''re coming.]

    [Who''s coming?]

    [Everyone who can walk!]

    It was the first time the defenders at Dragon Lake left their fortifications and sortied to the south in an all-out advance. Putting aside their typical policy of hunkering down and holding out, they actually charged forward in an attempt to draw attention to themselves.

    [It''s working! Half our assailants are leaving!] Darian reported.

    [Tim! How are things on your end?] Mindy asked.

    [No problems. Wind Emperor''s fine too. Yours?]

    [We¡­] Mindy gritted her teeth. [We''re holding out for now.]

    There was a short silence.

    [Are you sure you''re all right?] Darian asked, suspiciously.

    [Just get that airship through!] Mindy said swerving tightly to avoid attacks. [That''s all that matters!]

    [But¡­]

    [No buts! Remian aside, we need to seal that Gate!]

    On that point, there was no argument.

    ***

    Speaking of Remian, he''d pretty much covered his entire bedroom wall with papers, notes, diagrams and formation symbols.

    "Halfway there." He told Xiao Yan. "At this rate, we might not need to ask all the teachers on the list for help. Just a few more and we could be done."

    "Or, we might get stuck and the rest of the teachers might prove to be no help." Xiao Yan yawned.

    "Don''t jinx it." Remian shuddered. "We don''t have time to spend years in research here. I have the feeling that I really should get back as fast as possible."

    "Well, I won''t argue with that. I want to go see your world." Xiao Yan said agreeably.

    "You will." Remian promised.

 288 Fall of an Emperor

    [Tim?]

    [Yes, Darian?]

    [Can you go check on Mindy? I have a bad feeling.]

    [She said she''s fine.]

    [She always says she''s fine. Do you always believe her?]

    [Usually. She''s a tough girl.]

    [I know, but¡­]

    [Darian, in case you didn''t notice, I can''t fly. Without Khar''al-dras, I''m just about useless in a fight of this level. Even if I went over and left Khar''al-dras here, there wouldn''t be much I could do.]

    [Bring the dragon.]

    [And leave the Wind Emperor alone without any correspondent? Are you serious?!]

    [Okay, that would be a bad idea. He''s liable to comandeer the entire defense line and have them all charging the enemy blindly.]

    [You mean, like George is doing right now?]

    There was a short, awkward silence.

    [I''ll bring the dragon.] Tim concluded.

    [No, don''t. Keep an eye on the Wind Emperor. I''ll go see if George can muster up some backup for Mindy.]

    ***

    [Backup?] George repeated in disbelief. [You want me to send backup? To Mindy?!]

    [Yes. Is there a problem?]

    [Isn''t it more likely that she''d be sending backup to me? Where''s her fighter swarm?]

    [I have no idea, but right now, I have a bad feeling about her fight. There''s no Tier 8 out here, I''m just basically swamped with Tier 7''s, which means¡­]

    [Mindy''s facing two Tier 8''s on her side?!] George gulped. [I''ll¡­ see what I can rustle up.]

    There wasn''t much, really. Any airship going out there would be wrecked in moments, even the Sky Fortresses. Big, small, it didn''t matter. No, only the Wilds would have any chance of survival. It was agility, not armor, that could keep them alive.

    And the most agile forces he had around were¡­

    [Eagle Lord! I need your help! It''s not beneath you, I promise!]

    ***

    [Watch out! It''s coming!] Chirpy warned.

    Mindy dove for the ground, avoiding a sudden, terrifyingly quick charge from the Spectre that had been half-tangled with the Flame Emperor just a moment ago. She turned only to see it spin in place¡­ [Chirpy, watch out! It''s coming right back at you!]

    Chirpy leapt for the skies as Sharphorn rammed the empty air under her.

    That was the scariest part about Sharphorn. This particular Tier 8 Spectre was notoriously hard to pin down. Even tangled up with it, with someone half-caught in its murky semi-tangible substance, this fellow could still suddenly turn and charge in a moment''s notice. Whether on land or in the air, it didn''t seem to matter; Sharphorn would charge anywhere, anytime, and two seconds of letting down your guard nearby was enough to have you gored to death before you knew what was happening.

    "Chirpy!" Mindy aimed her sword, primed her wings¡­

    Only to see a big Spectral claw descending on her. Three-Arms was after her, and she simply couldn''t afford to turn her back on one Tier 8 to help Chirpy with the other. Mindy swerved, dodged one arm, ducked under the second, and had barely enough time to block the third with her sword.

    The impact sent her spinning through the air. Mindy flailed to regain her balance before she went crashing into a mountain.

    Meanwhile Chirpy blasted Three-Arms with a pillar of fire from above while zipping around Sharphorn''s latest charge. Three-Arm glanced up and roared, then lunged after Chirpy.

    "Chirpy!" Mindy flapped her fire-wings almost frantically, trying to get back up, to get back in the fight before¡­ before¡­

    Three-Arms grabbed Chirpy. Chirpy tried to get away, avoiding two of the arms, but the third grasped her leg. She clawed, snapped, and blasted at Three-Arms furiously, but it was too late; Sharphorn was already charging straight for her.

    "No!" Mindy shrieked, and her voice condensed sonic waves into a direct sound attack.

    To no avail. Spectres were only lightly affected by such sound attacks. They didn''t use ears either.

    There was a thunderous crash and flames burst out, scattering everywhere. Mindy stared in horror, her heart sinking as the Flame Emperor''s huge form exploded.

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    "Chirpy!" Mindy screamed.

    [Mindy! We are coming!] Aeyrie called.

    Mindy turned to see what looked like the Eagle Lord''s entire clan coming to help. Hundreds of Tier 5 war eagles ready for battle swooped into formation, joining their psionic powers for a single vengeful blow.

    At this time, Sharphorn was reeling, and Three-Arms was missing all three arms from the power of the Flame Emperor''s final explosion. The Eagle Clan''s combined blast hammered Three-Arms heavily, passing right through it, and then smacking into Sharphorn with the remainder of its power.

    [Again!] the Eagle Lord ordered.

    Mindy gathered psionic energy too, joining the formation and adding her power to theirs. Absolute fury filled her eyes and her heart and when she finally unleashed her psionic might, she held nothing back.

    The next blast hit Three-Arms like the wrath of the very skies. Three-Arms was torn apart, five different pieces scattering in the air, as they trailed along the path following the psionic wave. It hit Sharphorn next, sending it reeling back.

    Sharphorn retaliated. Even reeling, he was able to prime itself and charge towards the Eagle Clan formation.

    [Scatter!] the Eagle Lord yelped.

    The birds zipped away in every direction, getting as far away from the incoming charger as they could¡­

    But Mindy didn''t move. She just smiled, a small, rueful smile as Sharphorn came barreling down on her. Her wings trembled slightly; the world was slowly spinning on one end.

    [This is it for me, guys.] Mindy let out a faint message. [I''m done. I''ve got nothing left. This is my time.]

    [What are you saying?!] Darian gaped.

    [Mindy! No!] Tim yelled over from the other side.

    [M-Mindy?!] George too, wasn''t sure what to say.

    But someone else did.

    "Hang on!" Out of nowhere, Eriane and Aeyrie appeared. Eriane grabbed Mindy as Aeyrie sped through the danger zone, barely slipping out of the way as Sharphorn rammed past them. The wind of his passing hit the three girls with a glancing blow, sending them spinning out of control. "Hang on, Mindy!"

    But Mindy said nothing, did nothing. She did not hang on. Slowly, she slipped out of Eriane''s grasp, and fell off Aeyrie''s back. Eriane tried to grab her again. Aeyrie tried to nab her with her claws. But it was no use; they were spiralling madly, unable to regain equilibrium, much less aim properly.

    Aeyrie and Eriane went flying in a dizzying spin far away and Mindy dropped out of the sky in a free fall.

    A single wisp of flame zipped out of the sky and went after her.

 289 Pierce

    [Guys¡­ I''m sorry.]

    [Mindy? Mindy!] Darian called.

    [Darian. They''re coming. Two Tier 8''s. Sharphorn and Three-Arms are headed straight for you.]

    [Blast!] Darian would have spewed bad words if he hadn''t been considerate of Mindy''s state of mind. [Gary! Hurry up!]

    [We''re going as fast as we can!] Compared to Mindy''s mental voice, Gary''s was tiny, like a little squeak.

    [Kor''ag! We''ve got incoming!] Darian warned.

    Kor''ag-dras roared, filling the skies with fire, but it was already all he could do to hold back the swarm of Tier 7 flyers. Adding another two more Tier 8''s on top of all this¡­ [Tim! George! We need backup!]

    [We''re already throwing everything we''ve got at them!] George''s answer was filled with frustration.

    Then, there was a short silence.

    [Tim?] Darian dared ask hopefully, even as Three-Arms and Sharphorn approached.

    [I''m sending over the Wind Emperor.] Tim said at last.

    [Can you manage?] Darian was amazed. [Two Tier 8 Spectres with just Khar''al-dras?]

    [We don''t have a choice.] Tim''s tones were grim and deathly quiet. [The airship must get through. Everything depends on it.]

    [Tim¡­ what do you intend to do?!] George spluttered.

    [I intend to last at least as long as Mindy did.] Tim answered. [And hopefully not embarrass myself.]

    [Mindy! Can you still fight?] Darian asked.

    There was silence.

    [Mindy? Mindy! Are you all right?!]

    The only reply was the howling of the cold, indifferent wind.

    [Mindy, hang on! We''re coming!] George sent out. [I''m sending the Red Fang for you!]

    In the meantime, Sharphorn had already arrived. Leaving Three-Arms in his dust, the fiercest of the Tier-8 Spectres charged headlong toward Kor''ag-dras.

    Darian dove down from above and slammed his sword into Sharphorn''s back with all the power he could muster.

    A material sword might not have harmed Sharphorn very much. Weapons of solid matter just didn''t affect Spectres that badly.

    But Darian''s sword was a blade formed of pure Psionic energy. It poked through Sharphorn''s back, and caused a massive fluctuation of energies where it pierced. Sharphorn roared, spasmed, his charge suddenly swerved, throwing Darian far off as the both of them went tumbling through the air.

    [Not enough!] Darian thought regretfully as sky and land spun around him. [Not deep enough! I need more force, more power, more¡­ everything!]

    As massive as the fluctuation was, Tier 8''s were far, far bigger. That stab was little more than a sting to Sharphorn. But even a sting helped to buy time.

    [More!] Darian poured Psionic energy into the night sky, filling it with a glow like a pillar of starlight. [More power! More size! More force!]

    He lost control of its form, unable to keep it solid. The energies quickly warped, twisted, even as Darian fought to maintain some sort of containment. Instead of a blade, the Psionic energies swirled around in a spiral. Doom would never let him hear the end of it, but Darian didn''t care. [If I can''t manage a blade, a drill is fine! I just need the power!]

    Sharphorn had regained his balance and had turned around now. He glared at Darian and let out a snarl. One hoof pawed the open sky, scattering the clouds.

    [He''s coming.] Darian''s eyes narrowed, and then he lowered his arm, lowered his aim, and pointed a three hundred foot Starlight Drill at Sharphorn in an open challenge.

    Sharphorn roared and charged. With all the speed and power of a Tier 8''s rage, he barreled down towards Darian in a fury.

    [This is for Mindy.] Darian felt his heart turn cold. He felt a sudden deep sadness, and a calmness that bore the passing of ages without care. A deep green glow began to shimmer around him. [This is for Chirpy.]

    Sharphorn approached with blinding speed, but to Darian, it seemed as if everything was moving slowly.

    [This is for you!] Darian roared psionically, the mental shout distracting Sharphorn for a bare moment.

    One moment. It was all he needed. Darian suddenly dropped out of the sky, and the Starlight Drill dropped with him a clear fiftyfeet. This dipped the psionic energies pointed at Sharphorn well below the previous meeting point of his horn, below his chin¡­

    [DIE!] Darian charged, ramming the point of the Starlight Drill into Sharphorn''s throat.

    By himself, he''d never have managed enough force, but Sharphorn himself was in a full-on charge straight at him. Had the Spectre been material, Darian would have been totally crushed, but as it was, the result of their meeting was¡­

    Sharphorn was speared through the throat with the Starlight Drill! It stabbed through the Tier 8''s form all the way to Darian''s arm, three hundred feet of deadly Psi-Energy in whirling devastation causing fluctiations that pretty much tore Sharphorn''s throat apart.

    As for Darian himself¡­

    [Urghk!] The impact sent him flying. Even immaterial, facing a head-on charge by a Tier 8 was no joke.

    Wind and sky sped past, and then Darian knew no more.

 290 Forward

    "Forward!" Max shouted. With Marcus and Gaius injured and recovering in the Medical Tent, tonight it was his shift for command. "Iron Legion, forward!"

    "Ho!" Surrounded by untold numbers of hostiles, even the Iron Legion was flagging. Even as they ran forward, they did so cautiously, and thus, lacked the full might that should have been in their charge.

    Like this¡­ mankind''s central forces failed to make any headway into the Spectres'' army. With a single glance back Max could see George at the end of his wits.

    As the battle wore on and the Flame Emperor fell, even more people began to hold back, and withdraw, and skirt the edges. Some squads even fell back.

    Max finally raised one hand, clenched into a fist. "Iron Legion, halt!"

    "Ho!" the Legion stopped.

    Max gritted his teeth. This could not go on. In that moment of silence, Max grimly held out his shield, and beat the flat of his sword against it.

    Clank! The sound was a lonely one in the night.

    But again, Max beat his sword against his shield. Clank!

    This time it was accompanied by a scattering of others at his back. First a few, then more of the Iron Legion joined Max in timing and rhythm. Clank! Clank! Clank!

    ***

    George was watching, half-tearing his hair out, when the clanking started. "What is he doing?"

    Beside him, Father Kairos narrowed his eyes. "Based on what I know of the Iron Legion¡­ he''s issuing a taunt."

    "A taunt?"

    "It''s like he''s saying ''come get me!'', or something like that." Father Kairos observed.

    Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! The sound of iron upon iron was a wordless challenge to the Spectres.

    That seemed to draw their attention. Hundreds of Spectres turned toward them, hissing, snarling.

    Still, they went on. Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!

    "Excelsior!" Max roared as they finished.

    "Excelsior!" the Iron Legio roared back, now completely fired up.

    George glanced askance at Father Kairos.

    "Ever upward." Kairos translated.

    "Excelsior!" Max raised his sword.

    "Excelsior!" the Legion responded.

    At that, Max marched forward. He didn''t issue any commands. Did not make any speeches. He just marched forward, alone.

    Then he did something even more puzzling.

    Taking up his sheathe in his left hand, Max threw it away.

    "Why?" George could only ask Father Kairos.

    Father Kairos'' face was grim.

    "Because¡­ he would need it no longer."

    With a wordless roar, Max charged. The Iron Legion charged. Their sudden ferocity stunned allies and enemies alike. The force of their advance slammed into the front of the Spectres and very nearly let out shockwaves.

    "Excelsior!" the Iron Legion roared and rammed into the Spectres'' ranks.

    They cut into the horde, ripping their way straight toward the very center of the enemy forces. The Spectres absolutely could not ignore them at this point, and powerful figures began to converge on them. Dozens of Tier 6 Spectres equivalent to Lord Challengers began to tear at their flanks, and stood in their way.

    "Excelsior!" the roar resounded as the Iron Legion charged onward, bursting past rows of Spectres, bypassing Tier 6s, heedless of the larger Spectres closing in on all sides.

    BOOM! A Tier 7 Spectre on the level of King Challengers suddenly leapt in their way. Six monstrous limbs hammered at Max and his troops.

    "AWOOOO!!" a wolf howl erupted, and then a flicker of black slammed into the Tier 7.

    "Is that¡­ Shadowflash?" George stared.

    Kairos narrowed his eyes. "No, I think that''s the Star Wolf King. Shadowflash''s dad."

    Right. This wolfcat was bigger, plus he had a white star on his forehead.

    All around it, a hundred feral shapes suddenly lunged into the fray, tearing at the Spectres, blasting surges of Psionic energy in a flood. The Spectres fell back.

    The Iron Legion advanced.

    "All airships! Concentrate everything into fire support for the Iron Legion!" George ordered. "Move forward!"

    "Forward!" The shout rang out on the entire human front. "Forward!"

    ***

    Gary was nearly panicking as their escort dragons fell in rapid succession. Kor''ag-dras was flailing, the Pale Dragons were falling like flies, and more and more Spectres around and below were taking potshots at the airship. Several hits already tore holes in their hull, and it wouldn''t be long before the entire thing fell apart.

    But then, all of a sudden, the onslaught faltered. Easily half their attackers turned elsewhere. Loh was able to pilot the airship through the thinning bombardment, dodging Spectral blasts with difficulty, but at least now it was possible.

    "What just happened?" Gary asked, stunned, as less and less Spectral blasts came their way. It was still dropping, down to one third what it was just now.

    [They''re going all-out.] George said, sounding uncomfortably pained. [They''re really¡­ really going at it.]

    [But that''s good, isn''t it? Isn''t it?]

    [It''s¡­ going to cost us. Badly.] George grimaced.

    Gary sobered. [I''m sorry.]

    [Just get that space mage through. That''s all that matters.] George said shortly.

    Gary paused. [How is Mindy?]

    [We lost contact. We''re sending a crew to find her, but¡­ are you the religious type?]

    [Not really. Why?]

    [Because at this point, all I can do is pray for her.]

    ***

    Mindy felt her powers fading even as the remnants of the Flame Emperor dispersed into the cold, unfeeling night. "Chirpy¡­"

    "Chirp." It was a pained sound from the small, flickering flame she held in her arms. Once more in her little bird form, Chirpy lay weakly in Mindy''s palm, unmoving.

    They fell out of the sky together, fire and strength draining away by the moment. Mindy concentrated, doing her best to slow their fall.

    There. That patch of trees. The foliage was thick. Mindy aimed for it, tried to control their fall a bit more¡­

    "OOF!" she crashed straight into a thick mess of branches that hit her like a hundred canes. She broke through all of them at once, and then bashed into another few branches until at last, everything came to a stop in a battered mash of leaf, branch, and fallen warrior.

    Time seemed to stop, and then Mindy let out a deep, heartfelt groan.

    "Chirp." Chirpy said consolingly.

    "Chirpy¡­" Tears began to drop down Mindy''s face. "I''m sorry. I''m so sorry."

    "Chirp." Chirpy answered weakly.

    "It wasn''t just the power, you know. I liked having someone I could always talk to, someone who really knew everything I''d go through each day." Mindy said. "More than my source of power, you were my friend."

    "C-chirp¡­" Chirpy answered feebly.

    "You were my best friend. You were always there¡­ I never told you how much you meant to me¡­" Mindy choked, sobbed.

    "Chirp." Chirpy managed.

    Above her, the last flame remnants faded into nothing. Mindy felt her powers droop to a trickle, and laid her head into Chirpy''s feathers, crying into her tiny wings.

    "Chirp." Chirpy said softly, as the warmth faded from the sky.

    Mindy cried. She sobbed. She dripped tears and snot. She left both liquids all over Chirpy''s little chick form.

    Wait a minute. What?

    Mindy suddenly raised her head, blinking at Chirpy.

    Chirpy lay in her palm, somewhat sticky, looking weakly but still there.

    "You¡­ you''re not dead?" Mindy blurted.

    [Not unless you drown me first.] Chirpy said, grimacing at being covered in snot.

    "T-then¡­ you''re not going to disappear?" Mindy scarcely dared to breathe in hope.

    [Not as long as you''re still alive. The bond goes both ways.] Chirpy explained.

    "You''re alive!" Mindy shrieked, and then hugged Chirpy''s tiny form tightly.

    [Urghk! Too tight! I''m dying¡­ I''m dying¡­!]

 291 Cos

    In the skies above the central zone, Mal''thor-dras brawled with a shell-like Tier 8 Spectre spouting a dozen tower tentacles.

    To one flank, Tim and Khar''al-dras skirmished and tried to evade two Tier 8''s all by themselves.

    To the other flank, Mindy and the Flame Emperor had already fallen and the Red Fang had gone off to rescue them.

    The advancing party had Kor''ag-dras and roughly ten surviving Pale Dragons tangled up in a dozen Tier 7 flyers, Three-Arms and about one third of the ground Spectres'' adding their long-range attacks. While at that altitude the lower Tier Spectres simply couldn''t reach them, anything above Tier 5 still posed a deadly threat.

    Meanwhile the on the ground, the Iron Legion drove deep into the Spectres'' ranks and were engulfed. To George, it was almost as if the massed ranks of Spectres were a single huge beast that had opened up its maw and swallowed the sortie forces whole.

    He almost called them back at once, but thinking of the mission, he gritted his teeth and stood his ground. [This is bad. Max is surrounded. We''re going to pay a really high price for this if we can''t send him backup and break through their lines! Tim! Do you have any forces you haven''t sent out yet?]

    [All I have left are the lynxmice on digging duty, but they''re not going to be much help in this situation. Spectres don''t wear pants.]

    [What do pants have anything to do with lynxmice?]

    Who else could he call on? There were the forces of other nations, but they were already engaged and fighting to hold their lines. Nobody was pushing forward like Max and nobody seemed intent on trying to reach the Iron Legion. The airships of Kara-Goth and Three Pines were providing bombardment support, but they couldn''t stop the Spectres from surrounding the Legion completely.

    Frankly speaking, George had nothing left. He didn''t have enough military strength to help Max, and the forces he had just didn''t have enough firepower, didn''t have enough equipment, there weren''t enough Frames to outfit everyone, or¡­ or¡­

    "If we survive this, I''m going to build up a huge military." George swore. "And we''ll be sure to equip every last man with Frames and high tier weaponry!"

    Meanwhile, the battle raged on and the Iron Legion was completely engulfed and overrun with Spectres.

    "Max, come back! MAX!" George yelled into the comms.

    But the Iron Legion did not turn back. Max knew the need as much as anyone.

    "Max, stop, it''s too dangerous! We''ll find another way¡­" George tried, but even then he faltered.

    Was there any other way? They were already committed, already halfway through. To pull back now would render all their sacrifices worthless.

    But¡­ but at this rate¡­!

    "Don''t die, Max." George half-chanted. "Don''t die. Don''t die. Whatever you do, don''t die¡­"

    The Iron Legion vanished completely from his sight, cut off from all friendlies by a deluge of Spectres.

    ***

    "Almost through!" Darian gritted his teeth, literally pulling a Spectres tail in an aerial tug-of-war. He was outsized by easily ten thousand to one, outmatched in just about every way, but hanging on to the Spectre like this, he managed to distract it and occupy its attention while Loh''s airship slipped away.

    By this point, nine Elder Dragons had joined the fray, along with a host of smaller dragons all trying to draw the Tier 8 Spectres'' attention. Practically half their number had been slaughtered in the ensuing fight, and almost all the pale dragons that set out with the airship earlier had been wiped out. The four survivors were literally tugging the airship along with Har''es-dras and a handful of his friends, trying to hurry the process along as much as they could.

    This was a costly battle for Dragon Lake. Darian winced as he thought about what Mal''thor and Kor''ag would have to say about losing so many of their kin. But to be fair, it wasn''t Darian''s call. These dragons had lunged into the fray without anyone asking them to.

    A sudden drop made Darian grimace. The Spectre he was holding on to was reluctant to attack for fear of hurting itself, but finally, it had an idea of how to throw this little human off.

    In simple terms; the Spectre was going to slam its tail, and Darian, into the ground.

    "Blast it, I can''t hold on much longer." Darian finally let go before he was smashed into the dust. He struck out with psionic power surrounding his fist, but the Tier 8 Spectre retaliated, and then Darian went flying, spinning through the air as he tumbled higher, and higher, and higher.

    Dizzily, Darian fought to regain some semblance of control to his flight, but the world still kept spinning round and round. At this point, he wasn''t sure if he was flying straight any more...

    BAM! He didn''t know what hit him, or why. All he knew was there was a terrible impact, and he blacked out for a second, and then the next thing he knew, he was crashing through the trees, and then ramming straight into a tough tree trunk.

    Darian''s flight and fight came to a sudden, abrupt end just like that.

    "We''re through! Descending on the black grounds now!" Gary''s voice came through the comms.

    "Start the scans!" Tang Yin put his instruments to work.

    "How long will it take?" George''s voice asked.

    "Ten minutes, at least! An hour, to be safe!" Tang Yin replied.

    There was a long, grim silence.

    "Whatever it takes." George said finally, sounding like death itself. "We need to seal that rift. We''ve already come this far. No matter the cost¡­ get it done."

    "Do we really have that much time?" Gary gulped.

    "You''ll have your time." Darian coughed, wheezed, and got back on his feet. "We''ll hold them."

    Half-wishing he''d never gotten out of bed this morning, Darian leapt back into the skies and into the fray.

    ***

    One hour later, the dragons returned bearing the scanning team on their backs.

    "We made it! We''re coming back!" Gary announced.

    "Where''s the airship?" George asked.

    "We had to abandon it. Sorry, Mindy."

    "Do you have a solution?" Darian panted, dodging whip-like Spectral tentacles.

    "We have two, but you''re not going to like them." Gary warned.

    "What?" George, Tim and Darian all asked at the same time.

    "First, we cover the whole thing in concrete. A few large airships and about a thousand tons of concrete should do it. Just drop the loads on the site, and we''re done."

    "Whats the second option?" Tim asked.

    "We set up a complicated formation that shapes the Rift into a tight loop. Anything coming in would end up getting turned around and going back where it came from. Tang Yin says it''s going to be costly, but with enough high level magi helping out, we can reshape the Rift that way, and it would be permanent."

    "Can it be undone? Is there a way to seal it so that it''s possible to open it back up when we want to?" Tim asked.

    "A temporary block? It''s not likely. The Rift is constantly in flux. We could try to patch the hole in space at great cost, but it''ll stretch and bob and the patch would tear in minutes. Even the Dragon Empire''s Thunder Dragon Seal likely wouldn''t hold more than half an hour, and that''s a seal that costs three Red Mana Crystals." Gary paused. "Tang Yin said this was an unstable planar wormhole, and I''m not sure what that means, but the point is, short of burying it, we can''t think of a way to block it in a controllable manner. Redirecting it is our only other option. I''m sorry, but I don''t think we''ll be able to rescue that Remian guy."

 292 Cost to come

    Meanwhile, Remian had run into a most typical problem.

    "I need a what, now?" he stared blankly.

    "The Nine Dragon Jade Cauldron." Professor Qin smirked. "Buy that for me, and I''ll give you the cipher."

    That cipher, incidentally, was the fruit of Professor Qin''s thirty years of research into the ancient formation''s symbols. It was practically a dictionary and covered the remaining one third of the symbols that Remian hadn''t managed to decipher with the other professors'' help.

    Well, fine. The man wanted payment for his work? Remian could accept that. "Where would I buy something like that?"

    "That''s the thing. It''s only available in a students auction, and teachers are not allowed to participate." Professor Qin explained. "Otherwise, I''d have bought it myself."

    "Can''t it be found elsewhere? Another city, or some global delivery service?" Remian asked weakly.

    "A what?" Professor Qin blinked, then shook his head. "This cauldron and all its kind were made by Professor Chan himself, and he absolutely hates my guts, so¡­ no. There''s nowhere else, and no other way."

    Remian paused. "This is going to be really troublesome, isn''t it?"

    "Very likely." Professor Qin agreed.

    "It would likely make me a lot of enemies, wouldn''t it?"

    "Almost definitely."

    "There''s some arrogant, hostile, unreasonable high status students who is going to swear vengeance on me and try to rob me afterward, isn''t there?"

    "Six of them, at least."

    "And if I fought them in a bidding war, the cost is likely going to be all I could afford or more, isn''t it?"

    "For sure."

    Remian let out a long, long sigh. "Where and when is the auction?"

    "Tomorrow night, East Market Square, Golden Chariot Hall."

    "And who are these six in question?" Remian asked.

    "Why?"

    "I was rather hoping not to run into them at the auction." Remian shrugged. "Wouldn''t it make things a lot simpler for me if they simply¡­ didn''t turn up???

    ***

    That night, hoarse screams rang out in dorm after dorm throughout the campus.

    "What''s going on? Are we under attack?" A worried guard shouted.

    "It¡­ it''s fine! Just a nightmare. A nightmare¡­" someone sheepishly called back.

    Remian frowned and redoubled his efforts.

    Bloodcurdling screams rang out throughout the night, and the next morning, more than half the student body showed up at the cafeteria with pale faces from lack of sleep.

    "What happened to you?" A particularly sound sleeper asked.

    "Some guy next door was screaming his head off. Couldn''t sleep all night."

    "And you?"

    "Got interrupted during cultivation. Internal damage."

    "What about you?"

    "Was so frightened by the screams, I stole my roommate''s ear plugs, and he beat me up when he found out."

    As the day went by, Remian kept an eye and an ear on those particularly troublesome six people.

    We could spend a whole chapter on how bad these people were, but frankly speaking, they weren''t actually important or anything so let''s just skip all that.

    Goodness, they really were arrogant, bullying, trouble-raising brats. Even after such a horrific night, they were swaggered around blatantly robbing, cheating, hurting, and in one case almost killing the less privileged students around. Four were guys, two were girls, and all six said they were still going to the auction tonight regardless of their strange dreams last night.

    Not good. Remian frowned, and upped his efforts some more. He went out and got some special herbs, and then set to work.

    Another entire chapter could be devoted to the tension and sneakiness and preparation of Remian''s, but again, not important, so never mind that.

    This time, he targeted the kitchens and kept his psionic senses on the cooks and kitchen staff. Then, during an opportune moment when they were all away, he slipped in and added a little something to a few dishes.

    Within an hour after lunch, no less than forty percent of the sleepy students decided to take a nap. They slept well that afternoon, surprisingly well, even considering the sleepless night before. In fact, they slept like they had been drugged or something¡­

    Four of those six arrogant brats were still asleep when the auction doors opened. The fifth barely woke up in time to rush to the auction as it started. The sixth had eaten lunch outside and hadn''t slept at all.

    Even more amazingly, one of the four sleepers had a few of his henchmen drag him to the auction even when he wasn''t fully awake.

    "Not good." Remian grimaced. Time was running out. The Nine Dragons Jade Cauldron was set for lot 17, and was the third last in the list. Scanning the thoughts of the three arrogant brats who made it, all three of them were eyeing the cauldron as a ''must buy''.

    Yet more chapters could be spent on the environment of the auction and the tension building up and how these brats swaggered and boasted among themselves and looked down on that poor-looking chap who kept sneaking glances at them likely out of jealousy¡­

    But again, not important.

    Suffice to say that by the time Lot 09 ended, the bids were running as high as 20,000 Black, as each item was more valuable than the last, and prices were already beyond what about half the students in the hall were able to reasonably afford.

    As for Remian, he was sitting tight with a little over 200,000 Black in his account. In a private room at the back and on the left, Chen Ho, one of the six brats, had roughly half a million Black in pocket money to spend at this auction if he wanted. Ming Ye, on the right, wasn''t planning to spend more than 100,000 Black, but if something interesting popped up, he could go as high as one million. Wu Tian, in the room directly behind Remian, had 600,000 ready but was tight-fistedly not spending anything yet.

    All three of them were waiting for the good stuff to come up at the latter parts of the auction. At this rate, when lot 17 came up, any of those three could easily outbid Remian and take away the prize.

    There was no way Remian was letting that happen. That cauldron was practically his ticket home. Remian was dead set on acquiring it by hook or by crook, and right now, crook seemed to be the way to go.

    When lot 10 appeared, Remian detected a heightened interest from Ming Ye and immediately pounced. Psionic power whirred, bolstering that interest, making the Spiraling Fires Fist in Lot 10 seem more and more appealing in Ming Ye''s mind.

    "Fifty thousand Black!" Ming Ye bid, doubling the previous offer.

    Sudden suspicion and jealously bloomed in Chen Ho''s mind¡­

    Remian pounced, stirring up that jealousy.

    "Fifty-one thousand!" Chen Ho shouted.

    Sleepily, Wu Tian was actually wondering if all this was worth getting dragged out of bed for. He didn''t have interest in fist techniques at all¡­

    Remian quietly slipped in a peaceful notion and the nice, soft enjoyment of the couch¡­ slowly, Wu Tian started to drift off¡­

    Outside, Chen Ho and Ming Ye were bidding against each other.

    "Fifty-five thousand!

    "Fifty-six!"

    "Fifty-nine!"

    "Sixty thousand black!"

    This was already triple the auctioneer''s expectations. Much to his delight, the two snobbish boys kept fighting each other.

    "Seventy thousand!" Chen Ho''s cry sounded enraged by that time.

    But Ming Ye wasn''t of mind to give up. Remian was still stirring up his thoughts. "Seventy-five thousand Black!"

    Suddenly, Chen Ho''s thoughts came to a jarring stop. As much as he wanted to stomp on Ming Ye''s pride, the auction still had many more things for sale and there were things out there that he actually wanted. This fist technique simply wasn''t one of them and wasn''t worth spending that much upon.

    "Seventy-five thousand Black, going once! Going twice! SOLD!" the auctioneer roared.

    With a grin, Remian watched as Ming Ye forked out 75k of his 100k intended budget¡­

    But in his mind, Ming Ye raised his spending limit to 500k, and reserved some of it for taking Chen Ho down a peg.

    "Lot 11, Five Elements Crysal, starting bid 30,000 Black!"

    Wu Tian suddenly woke up despite Remian''s mental lullaby. "Thirty-thousand!"

    "Thirty-one¡­" someone in the crowd yelled.

    "Forty thousand!" Wu Tian instantly shot back.

    "Forty-one¡­" Chen Ho called.

    "Fifty thousand!" Wu Tian was insistent. This crystal meant a lot to him, it seemed.

    Grinning, Remian added oil onto fire, boosting the importance of that crystal until it totally filled Wu Tian''s mind.

    "Fifty-one thousand!" Ming Ye said.

    "Sixty thousand Black!" Wu Tian stood tall.

    There was a short silence.

    Remian''s eyes narrowed and slipped Chen Ho a little suggestion. Abruptly, Chen Ho brightened. He didn''t actually want this crystal for himself, but since Wu Tian seemed so keen on it, perhaps he could make the guy pay a higher and higher price¡­ "Seventy thousand!"

    "Eighty thousand!" Wu Tian shot back immediately.

    Ming Ye, too, suddenly got the idea, and abruptly, the two rivals of the previous bidding suddenly became co-conspirators in depriving Wu Tian of his money. "Ninety thousand!"

    "One hundred thousand Black!" Wu Tian didn''t hesitate for a moment.

    "One hundred ten thousand!" both Ming Ye and Chen Ho voiced at the same time.

    There was a moment of confusion, but then Wu Tian made a bid that rendered the point moot. "One hundred fifty thousand!"

    At that point, Ming Ye was starting feel a bit bad. Even for him, paying that sort of price for a five elements crystal was going to hurt. But Chen Ho kept at it. "One hundred sixty thousand!"

    Abruptly, Wu Tian''s thoughts shifted and anger blazed. "Fine! Take it!"

    Chen Ho froze. Ming Ye froze. Even Remian froze. None of them had expected Wu Tian to suddenly quit on the item he''d been so insistent on earlier.

    Remian checked on Wu Tian''s thoughts.

    So that was why. Wu Tian was thinking he could buy that crystal at the First Qilin Pavilion for a little over a hundred and twenty thousand when he went back to Crimson Dawn City next week. Also, the look on Chen Ho''s face had clued him in; all this had merely been to make him bleed. Therefore, Wu Tian decided clear and early on to make Chen Ho bleed instead.

    It was a fierce, and effective move. Chen Ho immediately paled, but a bid was a bid and had to be honored.

    With that, Chen Ho''s available funds dropped by another hundred and sixty thousand.

 293 Rising Costs

    As lot after lot was auctioned, the bids rose ever higher.

    "Three hundred and forty one thousand!" That was the concluding bid of Lot 15.

    "Sold!"

    By the time Lot 16 came around, Chen Ho had basically already spent his entire budget. Ming Ye was down some 375,000 Black and by his own estimates, had 125,000 Black remaining to spend. Wu Tian, however, since raising his earlier spending limit, still had some 300,000 Black available. This made him the only remaining threat to Remian winning Lot 17.

    Hmm. Maybe he could just sit back and let things be¡­ chances were, Wu Tian would pass over lot 17 and save the remainder of his already-extended budget for the Most Important Final Lots.

    Then again¡­ was it worth the risk? Remian sensed out Wu Tian''s thoughts. The guy had no intentions for Lot 16. He wanted to save his money for the later lots. Did those later lots include Lot 17? Remian had no idea, and apparently, neither did Wu Tian. He was going to wait and see.

    In other words¡­ it was still a risk.

    "Starting bid, one hundred thousand! Anyone?"

    There was a short, awkward silence.

    Remian paid close attention to Wu Tian''s thoughts.

    Wu Tian was telling himself, ''No, absolutely not, I really can''t¡­''

    But somewhere in that resolution was a twinge of pity. It really was a good spear being auctioned, reinforced with sixteen ancient runic formations, long-lost arts the likes of which nobody in the world today could replicate. One hundred thousand for that spear was a steal¡­

    Keenly, Remian pushed that thought, encouraging it and protecting it like blowing on the embers of a barbecue charcoal. [Come on, now, it''s a good investment, with your contacts, you could easily sell it off for twice that price¡­]

    [But¡­ but¡­] Wu Tian was struggling against the temptation. [The Nine Dragons Jade Cauldron is up next! And the Nobles Karma Scripture is after that! And then¡­! A Seedling of the Tree of Boiling Blood Fruit! Any of those three would benefit my clan for generations to come!]

    Thus thinking, Wu Tian suavely warded off temptation. [I''m already going to extend my budget to the absolute maximum for those three! If I must spend one million today, so be it!]

    Remian sat stunned, frustrated for once. The Wu Clan was a nouveau riche family that had only recently stumbled into wealth. Their foundations were lacking in comparison to the older, bigger clans like the Chens or the Mings. This was why Wu Tian had the potential for extending his budget if he found worthwhile deals, items with potential to strengthen and benefit the clan for generations¡­ like a young Tree of Boiling Blood Fruit! Every practitioner in the Body Tempering stage would go crazy over those fruits! To bring back that tree would change the fate of low-level martialists in his clan forever!

    Remian paused, then finally decided to change his tactics. Instead of pushing the thought of the 16-runic formation spear, he shifted his efforts to the Sapling of the Tree of Boiling Blood Fruit. [That tree! Must buy! At all costs! No matter what!]

    Suddenly, Wu Tian had a desperate urge to save up every bit of his remaining funds for the all-out bid on the final lot.

    Remian pressed it. [That''s right! Forget the spear! Forget the cauldron! Even the scripture is a gamble, at best! But the tree! The tree is a definite must-buy!]

    That was right. Wu Tian agreed. Weapons and tools could be bought anywhere, any time, by anyone. Techniques and cultivation scriptures could be bought elsewhere too. But a once-in-a-million chance like the tree sapling was an absolute find!

    Had he not spent so much earlier, Wu Tian could tried for the others too¡­ if his budget were just higher¡­

    Remian hurriedly pressed. [No! Don''t lose focus! Everything depends on this now! Save all your financial strength for the tree!]

    The truth was a very strong persuasion. Without further second thoughts, Wu Tian was finally resolved. He would completely give up on the next few lots for the sake of that final prize.

    With the three greatest bidders suddenly silent, other, less flamboyant buyers finally raised bids on the lot. The price went up to 190k Black before being bought by a local clan.

    Finally, Lot 17 came up. This was it!

    "Starting bid, 120,000 Black!" the auctioner called.

    "One hundred and fifty thousand!" Remian shot out at once. This was the first time he placed a bid in the entire auction.

    "One hundred and sixty thousand!" Chen He barked.

    Remian froze. What?! How¡­ why¡­?

    Chen Ho''s thoughts were sinister. [What a cheapskate! I forked out so much money already, these other guys aren''t getting off so easy! From now on, I''m going to make them pay a high price for whatever they buy!]

    Remian felt his heart sink. Chen Ho wasn''t actually intending to buy the cauldron, he just wanted to make others pay more. That was mean, and selfish, and¡­ typical of that sort of arrogant brat.

    Still linked to Chen Ho psionically, Remian groaned to himself and said something out loud that he probably really shouldn''t have.

    He said, "Oh, crap."

    Suddenly, Chen Ho''s thoughts shifted. Pain filled his mind.

    Eh? What?

    Then, from the back room where Chen Ho lurked, there came a very distinct high pitched sound. People sitting near that room started to sniff, and then grimace. Several of them immediately left the auction.

    On top of that, a rumbling, bubbling sound emerged.

    "Was that a bid?" one blur student asked, puzzled.

    Then there was a shout of horror, and Chen Ho dashed out yelling, "Toilet! Where''s the toilet! I need the toilet, NOW!! Anyone who gets in my way, dies!!"

    Footsteps faded away in a hurry, and Chen Ho was gone from the auction hall.

    That sudden event was followed by a stunned silence.

    "Uh¡­ any other bids?" the auctioneer asked gingerly.

    "One hundred and seventy thousand?" Remian offered, also feeling rather stunned.

    Again, a long, awkward silence.

    "Sold." The auctioneer said, at last, still looking somewhat flabbergasted. "Uh¡­next up, we have Lot 18, the Nobles Karma Scripture¡­???

    Remian ignored it, and only applauded politely as Lot 18 went for 230k Black. Lot 19 came up and Wu Tian instantly bid 300k for it, the highest single bid called out all night. Even then he had a short fight but won it for 420k Black. This was still feasible with his extended, extended budget, and he went away with the Sapling of the Boiling Blood Fruit Tree satisfied.

    As for Remian, he followed the auction staff to a back room, paid for the cauldron and took it to Professor Qin straight away. Professor Qin gave him the cipher and about half an hour''s worth of explanation.

    Coming out from Professor Qin''s place, he ran into a trio of thuggish students who looked at him greedily. "Well, here''s our rich cauldron buyer! What do you have in your hand, eh? Something good?"

    In answer to that, Remian grimaced and said, "Oh crap."

    And with that, a low rumbling sound was heard, followed by a high pitched sound. Suddenly, all three thugs lost all interest in Remian and gained immense interest in finding the nearest toilet.

    "I can''t believe that works!" Remian shook his head dumbfoundedly as he went to find Xiao Yan and prepared to make the long trip back to the Ancient Formation.

 294 Leaving

    Of course, it wasn''t as simple as packing up and saying goodbye.

    For instance, there was a very indignant Student Affairs Officer who rattled off something about required courses and assignments and field work to complete¡­

    Remian wasn''t actually trying to become a qualified formation master, so he totally ignored all that from the beginning. Was it important? Maybe, but he was a lot more concerned with going home.

    Not that he told that to Student Affairs.

    There were other issues to settle. Dorm fees, exit permit, traveling rations, souvenirs that they wanted to buy¡­

    Actually, no forget all that. Whatever would he need a permit for? What was the academy going to do, penalize his grades?

    Remian simply slipped out with Xiao Yan that evening, summoned the pod from its hiding place, and set course for Scorched Earth City.

    ***

    Meanwhile, George had all his allied forces retreat. With Tang Yin''s group safely back at Dragon Lake, the battered veterans pulled back behind their fortifications and the warfront returned to a stand-off.

    "Damage report." George called for it, and braced himself for the worst.

    "The Flame Emperor has fallen." Mindy grimaced. "She''s down to just little Chirpy mode and it would take her a very, very long time to recover. Years, maybe decades."

    "We lost more than half the dragons. Almost two thirds." Darian grimaced. "The Pale Dragons are almost wiped out, and can no longer participate in the war for fear of extinction. Kor''ag-dras is hurt badly, and all the Elder Dragons are injured. Mal''thor-dras is in better shape, but even he took some hits."

    "I lost four gangs and two sub-clans of Lynxmice. Khar''al-dras is injured." Tim added. "He''s exhausted and is already wanting to go back to sleep. He claims he shouldn''t even have awoken this century based on the dragons'' timetable and he''s already woken up twice in this decade."

    "Mal''thor could say the same, but you don''t see him complaining." George grunted. "What of the Wind Emperor?"

    "Lost two streaks of tigers and three times as many lesser cats. Also heavily injured." Mindy reported. "He''s very grumpy about it, and already threatening to pull out. The Roc King and the other forces of the Flame Emperor all report heavy casualties. One third of the flyers, and roughly half the ground Wilds."

    "Other than the dragons, the Wood Emperor and the Earth Emperor lost about one third. I guess casualties are lighter in the center, thanks to the Iron Legion''s charge." Darian mused. "Speaking of which, how are they?"

    George glanced about. "Someone call them in. Is that Marcus coming this way?"

    "Marcus!" Mindy gaped. "Are¡­ are you all right?"

    The look on Marcus'' face said he wasn''t. The blood running down his armor said he wasn''t. Why in the world did Mindy ask such a question, George couldn''t even say.

    But still, he had to ask. "How is the Iron Legion?"

    Marcus wordlessly shook his head. "Broken. Almost entirely wiped out. Of those who charged out to battle today, only a handful returned alive. As for those who did not charge out¡­ those are the ones in recovery in the medical tents."

    George''s face went pale. "And Max? Is he all right?"

    Marcus'' face grew even graver. "We lost Max."

    "What¡­ what do you mean, we lost him¡­?" George stared.

    Marcus told it to him straight. "Max is dead."

    ***

    It was very clich¨¦ of many tales of daring-do that a hero would charge out at the forefront of battle, achieve many great feats of glory through valor, and return into the warm arms of a waiting beauty or otherwise to fame and reward, or at the least, a hospital bed and a long period of rest and recuperation.

    Alas, tales and truth had a disagreement on the outcome of such heroism.

    That evening, a mass memorial was held for the dead. It was a brief one, and only those off-duty were able to attend, everyone else still on high alert and manning the defenses.

    In the center of the rows and rows of boxes was one wreathed in iron.

    This coffin was Max''s.

    Father Kairos cleared his throat. "The rites are usually held by an Iron Legion chaplain, but those who are here with us are lying in boxes, so¡­ I have been asked to hold the rites for the Iron Legion in their place."

    Next to him, Marcus stood silent, wordless. Slowly, he gazed from coffin to coffin.

    Max, Gaius, Tiberius¡­ those three were merely the nearest familiar officers at the very forefront of the rows and rows before him.

    George was muttering, "I told them to turn back. I told them¡­"

    But of course they would not. It was not the way of the Iron Legion to turn back before the job was finished. Every patrol they sent out would properly reach the end of the road before they considered their patrol complete. Either that, or it would end when they were dead.

    Softly, Father Kairos raised a candle and began to sing a hymn shared by the Iron Legion and the Church of Light alike. "In articulo mortis¡­" (In the moment of death)

    In the grave quietness of the memorial, his voice carried easily and was joined by the deep throated voices of the surviving men. "Caelitus mihe vires." (my strength comes from God)

    "Deo adjuvante non timentum in perpetuum." (God helps me, no fear forever)

    Like the rushing of waves onto the beach, in low, rustling like a myriad of whispers held in secret, they sang. "Dirige nos domine, ad augusta per augusta." (Direct me, Lord, to glory upon glory)

    "Sic itur ad astra." (Such is the way to the stars). Father Kairos ended. "Excelsior." (Ever upward)

    And then there was silence. A deep and long silence.

    Father Kairos covered Max''s coffin with a cloth and began to do the same with coffin after coffin.

    And thus was the funeral concluded.

    George was there in his Frame. He laid one hand on Max''s coffin and said only two words.

    "Goodbye, Max."

    And then his throat clenched tight and he could say no more.

 295 How to Seal a Rif

    "What do you need to seal that Rift?" This was the biggest question on everyone''s minds as they met at a grim dinner that night.

    Tang Yin ventured an answer. "A couple of red mana crystals would be great¡­"

    "We don''t have any of those. Blue is as good as you''ll get and only a few are on hand." George grimaced.

    Tim spoke up. "I have some, but we''ll have to fetch them from Fal''Herim."

    "That would be great." George said, in relief.

    Tim nodded and sent a message. "Then there''s the other question."

    "What question?"

    "How long would it take?"

    "Four hours? Give or take." Tang Yin suggested.

    "Give or take what?" Gary prompted.

    "Give or take another four hours."

    Faces fell. The mood, already gloomy, dropped further.

    "Are we going to have to go through that again?" George groaned.

    "No, the scanning is already done. We don''t need those delicate intruments any more." Tang Yin assured him. "You just need to get me there alive and able."

    "In other words¡­ we sneak through on land." George rubbed his hands. "Four man adventurer squad should do the trick. A front line fighter, a long-range shooter, a mage, and a healer¡­"

    "Five man squad. Those four, plus Tang Yin." Tim threw in. "And a few other squads spread out to draw attention. How many adventurers does the guild have now?"

    "Well over a hundred." George mused. "More than half of whom are in recovery or unavailable. I think we can call on thirty, maybe forty of them at most."

    "Five squads ahead, keeping in close contact. They should help you feel your way through." Tim planned out. "Arrowhead formation with Tang Yin''s group in the center. Three more squads to cover your rear."

    "Isn''t that going to be obvious? To have them right in the middle of a formation of squads¡­ it''s clear as day that they''re an important group being protected." Darian pointed out.

    Tim shrugged. "To a human, it would be clear. But Spectres?"

    "They might. We don''t know for sure how intelligent they really are. Just because they fight like a mass of insects it doesn''t mean they''re entirely thoughtless." Darian shook his head. "I''d rather just grab Tang Yin and fly him over by myself. If I''m fast enough and quiet enough, they might not even notice."

    "If you want quiet, we may as well ask the lynxmice to tunnel through all the way there." Tim snorted. "They''ll never see us coming."

    "And how long would that take?"

    "Three days, maybe?"

    "What if we used a river? Went partway underwater?" Gary queried.

    "That would be nice if a river went the way you want to go. As it is, that idea wouldn''t even get you halfway there." George pointed out.

    "We could all wear bushes and pretend to be trees." Siti snorted a laugh.

    Abruptly, she stopped laughing when she saw their faces.

    "You''re not serious!" Siti protested.

    But they were. They totally were.

    ***

    An hour later, it started raining trees and bushes.

    "What''s going on?" Marcus had to ask. "Did we run out of ammunition? Is that why the airships and the dragons are throwing trees at the Spectres?"

    "Not sure. It''s something about sneaking people to the Gate disguised as trees." Joshu said. "I wasn''t entirely clear on how it worked, but the point is to make the Spectres think less of random trees and bushes appearing out of nowhere."

    "By throwing random trees and bushes at them?" Marcus marveled. "Whose idea was that?"

    "Tim''s, I think? This is exactly the sort of sneaky thing he''d think up."

    "Well, if it''s attention they want, they certainly got it." Marcus grimaced. "The Spectres are moving."

    "Moving?" Joshu turned. "Oh, cripes."

    What was meant to be a diversion had totally gained the Spectres'' full attention. For some reason, they did NOT seem to like having trees thrown at them.

    "Is it just me, or do they actually seem¡­ angry?" Joshu gulped.

    "It''s not just you." Marcus said even as roars began to rise up from Spectre after Spectre. Within seconds, the sound began to thunder across the entire horizon. "It''s definitely not just you!"

    The roars were so loud now, it seemed the very air was shaking. How did this happen? How did a bunch of branches and leaves cause so much ruckus? Marcus wouldn''t have believed it if he weren''t seeing and hearing it right now.

    The Spectres were really, really mad this time.

    "Sound the horns!" Marcus shouted. "Red alert! All forces to battle! Everybody watch out!"

    But then again, there was no need for him to tell them. They could all hear it themselves. If anyone had been sleeping in before, they were definitely woken up by now.

    Even so, the horns were sounded for war, and the alarm rang out through the camp.

    "Formations!" Marcus called.

    "No time! They''re charging! They''re charging now!" Joshu blurted.

    "Hold! Everyone, just stay alive!" Marcus scrambled to put on his armor.

    The defenders had never really let down their guard, being on the front as they were. One third had always been on guard, and one third on stand by, with their weapons within each reach. Only the last third were allowed to properly relax and recuperate, and therefore in this sudden charge, almost two thirds of the defenders were able to respond quickly enough to face the incoming horde fully geared up.

    "Call for reinforcements!" Marcus instructed Joshu. As time went by and the war raged on, exhausted warriors would retreat from the front and rest at Three Pines. In a pinch, they could be called upon for emergency assistance though it would take them some time to deploy. It was for those warriors that Marcus now called.

    "Blast it, why now?" George stomped out of the command tent fully geared in his Frame. "Tim, how long would it take for the crystals to arrive?"

    "A day, at the least! Even the eagles can''t make that distance so quickly!" Tim protested.

    "So we can''t start the Sealing Plan now?"

    "Not without the crystals!"

    "Where''s Mindy?" Darian asked.

    "She''s¡­ still in recovery." George grimaced.

    Darian glanced to Tang Yin. "Go join her. We won''t be able to spare any strength to guard you. The safest place you''ll be is by Mindy''s side."

    Or in other words, because none of them had the heart to urge her to battle, they''d give Mindy the excuse to sit this one out by having her ''guard'' Tang Yin. Nobody even breathed a word about Spectres not targeting Tang Yin specifically in the first place.

    "Everyone, if you have friends you can call on for help, if you''re religious and you have a God you can call upon, now''s a good time to call them! Call them all!" Marcus shouted.

    Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Father Kairos doing exactly that, speaking into a crystal while at the same time, kneeling down to pray.

    Marcus raised his sword and glanced about at the tattered remnants of the Iron Legion. "Legionnaires!"

    "Ho!" Tired and wounded and spent as they were, the Iron Legion responded with a shout.

    "To arms!" Marcus once more led them to war.

 296 Adventurers Raid

    While the battle raged on at the front, Mindy and George held a private conversation at the back.

    "You want me to do what?" Mindy stared at George blankly.

    "Get Tang Yin safely to the Rift and guard him for eight hours." George repeated.

    "Didn''t we just do that?"

    "That was to scan the Rift. Now we need to get him there to seal it. Him, and enough crystals to support a spatial loop." George explained.

    Mindy hesitated, then looked away. "It''s better to ask Darian or Tim. Someone with a Tier 8 comrade and enough power to get the job done."

    "They''re busy fighting the Tier 8 Spectres. We don''t need overwhelming power for this job. We need stealth, and we need someone with knowledge of the terrain." George paused. "That means you."

    "But¡­ but I''ve lost most of my powers. I''m not much stronger than an average Legionnaire and far less skilled with weaponry and Frames and¡­ and¡­!"

    "It''s not about combat ability." George shook his head. "It''s because you''ve been there before. You''ve made the trip on foot."

    "And with the Spectres around, it''s not likely I''d be able to get Tang Yin there alive!"

    "You won''t be alone." George assured her. "We''ll send adventurers with you."

    "Adventurers? A four-man team?" Mindy asked cautiously.

    "We were thinking to send nine or ten small teams, spread out and in communication." George said. "With yours in the center."

    Mindy thought it over. "Better to send a full raid."

    Adventurers normally moved around in teams of 3-8, most commonly four, dividing the three main roles of offense, defense and support as needed between them, with a fourth commonly being recon. Such groups usually stuck together long-term. A raid , though, was a short-term affair, a single job or hunt with three full groups of eight going after a single target together.

    "But wouldn''t it be harder to sneak in with such numbers?" George queried.

    "Sneaking in wouldn''t work anyway. Spectres don''t use eyes." Mindy pointed out. "Thinking back on our battles so far, there have been several skirmishes where whole platoons of troopers fought without any major fuss on their side. Since they''re somewhat accustomed to groups of that size already¡­"

    "They might think you''re just another military patrol." George realized. "I see!"

    "I''m thinking that we''ll still have to fight our way through some Spectres, but it won''t be their main force." Mindy figured. "Just whatever has it in mind to try to stop us."

    "That might just work." George was getting more and more convinced.

    "Also, we should try to use wood." Mindy went on.

    George stared, blankly. "Huh?"

    "Metal doesn''t seem to hurt them very much." Mindy explained. "Magic and fire works better, but I''ve never seen a reaction from the Spectres as big as what just happened when we threw wood at them. It''s possible that maybe¡­ they have that as a weakness."

    "Wood? Spectres are weak against wood?!" George felt incredulous, but then thought back on the black area the Spectres occupied. It was truly bereft of all vegetation. All plants and trees had been deliberately wiped out by the Spectres.

    "Actually, there''s more to that idea." Mindy hesitated. "I think maybe¡­ it''s water."

    "Water?!" George stared.

    "B-because!" Mindy hurried to make her case before George sent her to a mental asylum. "They won''t go near the sea! They''re coming up north because they can''t go south, or east, or west, because that''s the sea, and it''s water, so¡­"

    "Every plant has water. Even animals and humans have blood¡­ is that why they''re trying to kill us?" George gaped. "Because they hate water?!"

    "Uh¡­ maybe?" Mindy just felt relieved he wasn''t pointing at her and calling her crazy.

    "But¡­ but the whole world is filled with water! Even the air¡­! If they hate water so much, then why do they even come here?!" George protested.

    Mindy shrugged. "I have no idea, but there must be something they want. Maybe it''s like a dangerous training grounds for their young? Or maybe they want something in the ground, or the air, even¡­"

    George froze. "The air? They want our air¡­?"

    "Or sunlight." Mindy said. "Like plants."

    "They want to kill us for sunlight?!" George gaped.

    "I think it''s more like they want to make this world suitable for themselves." Mindy guessed. "Water and water-based creatures are just nuisances they want to remove from it."

    George gulped. Removing water and water-based creatures basically meant wiping out all the native life on their world.

    "Anyway, I may be wrong, but that''s the best theory I could come up with." Mindy shrugged.

    "It''s possible. Plausible. Even probable." George mused. "It''s a good theory."

    "But irrelevant. Whatever the reasons, they want to kill us, and they''re much stronger than we are, so we have to seal up that Rift." Mindy summarized. "Before the Rift gets big enough for a Tier 9 to come through. Any word from Tang Yin about how long that could take?"

    "By his calculations? Roughly one week from yesterday." George paused. "That''s the bare minimum."

    "Minimum is all they need. We must seal it before then." Mindy closed her eyes. "It''s just¡­"

    "Remian." George grimaced. "He''s not back yet."

    "We can hope."

    "We can hope." George agreed. "But¡­ we can''t wait."

    Mindy hesitated. "Maybe just a little¡­"

    "Not even a little. We must seal the Rift as soon as we can. Even if a Tier 9 can''t come through yet, another Tier 8 could, and even one more, at this point¡­" George''s face was grim.

    The Spectres still had four Tier 8''s active. Khar''al-dras, Kor''ag-dras, Mal''thor-dras, and the Wind Emperor were able to hold them off, but all three Emperors were already in bad shape and needed more and more support to do so. Already, the Wind Emperor was nearing his limits, and Mal''thor-dras probably wouldn''t have interrupted his recovery to join the fight if it wasn''t literally on his doorstep. Kor''ag-dras was in better shape, likely because of Darian''s support, and Khar''al-dras was in yet better condition, but Tim had nowhere near the kind of power that Darian had.

    If even one more Tier 8 Spectre came through¡­

    "Darian can handle one more on his own. He''s done it before." Mindy frowned.

    "For a short while, maybe, but he won''t be able to last in a prolonged battle like the big guys." George shook his head. "That''s why he had to take terrible risks and end the fight quickly last time. It''s a gamble with his life on the line to go up against a Tier 8 Spectre, and there''s no telling if he would win or lose next time. If he loses, it''s likely he dies, and all of us with him."

    "That, or Doom would step in and save his dear student and solve everything just like that."

    "Doom''s not even here. I think he and the other Grand Knights went off to Ecclesia to try to get them to come and help." George sighed.

    "Fat lot of good THAT has done." Mindy scowled.

    "It should. They said they were coming." George frowned. "Except that we haven''t seen a single glimpse of any of them so far."

    "I''ll believe it when I see it." Mindy snorted.

    ***

    They gathered at Darian''s old hut at Dragon Lake. Together with Mindy and Tang Yin, twenty-seven Adventurers divided into three full teams of eight, and two forward scout groups of five.

    "We want to go too!" Gary spoke for the other orphans who studied at Ecclesia.

    "You guys can be the rear guard." Mindy directed them. "Watch our backs."

    "Err¡­ I thought we''d be in the middle¡­" Gary hesitated.

    "You don''t qualify." Mindy said shortly. "This isn''t a picnic."

    Gary''s face fell. "Uh¡­ then maybe we better not go at all¡­"

    "Great. That''s even better." Mindy turned away, ignoring him completely.

    Gary stared. "W-what happened to her? She never treated us like this before."

    "Maybe you spent too much of her money?" Siti suggested.

    Gary shook his head. "She didn''t even ask about how much I spent."

    "I think she''s just upset." George consoled him with a pat on the shoulder. "It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the Flame Emperor getting hurt. Don''t take it personally."

    "But I''m a person, you know. How do I NOT take it personally?!" Gary protested.

    "Just¡­ don''t mind it. If you''re willing to do support duties, we could always use extra academic hands inscribing more scrolls."

    Gary didn''t seem entirely happy about it, but what else could he do? As Mindy said, their skills and abilities were dreadfully lacking for a raid like hers.

    "If anyone starts moping around saying they need to get stronger, I''m going to throw a pillow at you." Gary threatened.

    The others wisely held back.

 297 Gearing Up

    In order to take revenge on Mindy for her curtness, Gary went shopping.

    The phrase ''Mindy said she''ll pay for whatever'' was as good as gold at Dragon Lake. Gary found that he could pick up just about anything he wanted without taking out his own coin even once, all at Mindy''s expense. So far, since arriving here, he''d only been sending Mindy the bills for food, lodging and medicine, but now, he was going to get serious.

    "I want eight Armored Frames." Gary told Arnold. "The very biggest and best you have!"

    "You mean, the kind George uses?"

    "Yes, exactly!"

    Arnold stared. "Can you guys even manage that kind of Frame?"

    Well, it wasn''t hard, really, but to be honest, Gary felt rather uncomfortable with the lunkering, heavy movements of the Armored Frames. The kind of Light Frame that Remian and many Adventurers took up was much more comfortable, easier to use and nowhere near as hot and stuffy.

    "Isn''t there some way you can combine them?" Gary asked, exasperated. "Make it so that the Armored Frames are as easy to use as the Light Frame?"

    "I''ve been working on that, but I have a lot of demands and very little time. Plus, I have a budget, and the purchase of the required materials and parts themselves are expensive enough that I really can''t spare much for experimental designs¡­"

    "We''ll fund it! Put it on Mindy''s tab!" Gary lunged at the opportunity to spend Mindy''s money on a productive and worthwhile cause. Even she couldn''t complain about that, right?

    "Even so, it''s going to take some time, days, or weeks, even¡­"

    "That''s fine!"

    Until then, they bought Frames for themselves, Light Frames for most of them and Tang Yin, with the exception being Juni, who opted for an Armored Frame.

    "I thought we weren''t going on the Raid." Siti whispered to Gary.

    "We''re not. But we should at least gear up so that we''re not completely helpless here at the warfront." Gary said.

    "Didn''t we already buy weapons and armor?"

    "Frames are different." Gary hesitated. "And the only weapons we have are magic wands."

    It would be somewhat reasonable to claim that Frames were more like vehicles. They were means of mobility, and most Adventurers in Three Pines wouldn''t dream of taking a long trip outdoors without wearing one. Climbing a tree the size of the Pines was near-impossible for most of them without a Frame. Most Adventurers had Frames as well as light armor.

    Together with the leather armor from Sacred Sigil that they bought earlier, the Magic Academy Squad basically had the same set-up as the vast majority of Three Pines Adventurers; light armor and Frames. The difference was in their weaponry.

    The only ''weapons'' they bought were magic wands and staves. These were limited-use items, eventually to be spent and discarded. Each of them, including Tang Yin, had Tier 3 Fireball wands and Mana Shield projectors. There was also a shared armory of Tier 4 staves; three of Fire Wind, three of Lightning Bolt, and three of Glacial Spike.

    All these weapons were suited for students of the magic academy and given the low rate of conflicts requiring the use of deadly spells, usually lasted students their entire academic lives. But here on the war front, wands and staves like theirs could be used up in a single day, possibly even a single hour. Such expensive magic tools were usually kept for contingencies, and not everyone''s day-to-day implements.

    Which was why they started buying crossbows. They were the easiest long-range weapons to use, and word was that the Spectres were weak against wood, so wooden quarrels were all the rage for the beginning crossbowman around here. Gary especially liked the popular Ebony Bolts, heavy black wood with barbed heads. He was tempted by the more expensive Violet Kingswood and Camelthorn Bolts, but the shopkeepers refused to sell such precious ammunition to amateurs like them.

    "Actually, I think Ebony is harder than Kingswood. It just doesn''t have that nice purple color." Juni mentioned as they were turned away.

    "What about Camelthorn?"

    "That¡­ should be about the same as Ebony. Maybe just a little tougher." Juni shrugged. "Actually, I think we should go to that stall. The one specializing in verawood."

    "Verawood?"

    "It''s as tough as Ebony or Camelthorn, but a bit lighter." Juni said. "Most importantly, it''s a lot cheaper."

    ''Cheaper'' wasn''t what Gary was looking for, but though verawood looked much more common, in terms of performance and hardness, a quick test proved its toughness was as Juni described. Accordingly, they bought crossbows from that stall for Isabelle, Siti, Karen, Tamera and Loh, dividing two hundred bolts between the five.

    Jamie, unlike the other girls, picked up a staff-mace and Juni almost went and bought an oar. Gary managed to dissuade him and pointed out a big wooden two-handed greatsword instead. It was originally meant to be a practice weapon for greatsword users, but as far as Spectres were concerned, its wood was deadlier to them than metal.

    As for Gary¡­ he went for knives, imagining a cool looking image of himself dual-wielding knives backhanded. A full set of twelve went for only 50 lir, even with the prices of wood weaponry inflating rapidly due to sudden demand.

    Then they went to the practice field and started to take lessons from grizzled, half-crippled veterans¡­

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mindy had a full raid on her hands. Compared to the bills for the wooden ammunition and weaponry for the Adventurers on her raid, Gary''s spending went almost unnoticed.

    It wasn''t just weapons. A lot of the Adventurers needed armor repaired or replaced. Mindy also had Arnold prioritize Light Frames and Armored Frames for her raid members before starting his research. Since she was the one really paying for it, Arnold was quick to comply and promised the Frames ready by the next day. This was possible mainly because more than half the Adventurers already had their own Frames and just needed repairs or maintenance done on them.

    Rations, medicine, camping equipment, strong drink¡­ the Adventurers had a lot of requests and Mindy didn''t hesitate to fulfill most of them.

    As one day passed and the next dawned, Tim''s crystals arrived on rushed delivery. Raven''s crew had forwarded their supply run and brought the Red Fang all the way from Fal''Herim with the goods two whole days before schedule. They even bought crystal dust fuel to speed their journey south. All of this rushing was costly, but again, Mindy didn''t even blink at the cost.

    "Is this enough?" Mindy asked Tang Yin, as Raven and her siblings all but collapsed from exhaustion around her.

    "I think so. Probably." Tang Yin surmised, eyeing the bag.

    George took out another two purple crystals he''d been holding in reserve for an emergency. "Now?"

    "Yeah. We should make it. Barely."

    Darian pulled out another purple crystal. "Now?"

    "Definitely." Tang Yin nodded. "All of this together is more than two red crystals can offer."

    Tim shook his head, wearied after yesterday''s battle. "There were hundreds of blue, green and yellow crystals in the bag."

    "The green and yellow ones hardly amount to much." Tang Yin snorted. "Just one purple crystal is worth a hundred green ones combined. In fact, I could basically leave the hundreds of yellow crystals untouched and it wouldn''t make any difference. One purple crystal is worth a thousand of those."

    "Then leave us the yellow crystals. We could use them for water scrolls." George decided. "Let''s see if we can make it rain."

    "Even if it rains the Spectres are simply going to raise aura barriers, you know."

    "I know, but it should be enough to keep them off our backs for some time." George glanced at Tang Yin. "I''m hoping it would be enough to keep them off yours too."

    Yours and Mindy''s. But again, he didn''t voice that last bit out loud.

    "So¡­ are we ready?" Mindy asked around.

    "I think so, yes." Tang Yin answered. Other Adventurers voiced their assent.

    ??Then let''s go." Mindy stood up. "Recon teams, move out! Everyone else, get into formation."

    Five teams of Adventurers headed south at her direction, bringing Tang Yin, the crystals and the best hope of mankind to seal the Rift with them.

 298 Playing with water

    "Who do we have on active duty?" George asked, as Mindy''s raid went out.

    "Our own? Almost nobody, today. Everyone''s on break." Marcus commented. "The La Vivans and the Ashdalians are on patrol until lunch time."

    "Dragons?"

    "In really bad shape and worse mood. I''d rather not go anywhere near them right now."

    "Other Wilds?"

    "Took heavy casualties in that last crazy battle. Many of them already want to withdraw."

    George closed his eyes. "Artillery?"

    "Down for emergency maintenance. That last fight took almost everything we had and several ballistae have broken down."

    "Airships?"

    "Mostly exhausted. They can still provide air support, but its best not to ask too much of them." Marcus paused. "Their crews are all human, you know. Since most of them can''t afford to buy crystal fuel, they''re manually powered by their own magi. Every cannon shot and turbine on all the airships are powered by magi, and those magi are exhausted."

    "So¡­ if we provided crystals¡­" George glanced at the pile of yellow crystals at his side.

    Marcus shook his head. "Yellow crystals would hardly make much of a difference. If you had a hundred blue crystals, we could have all our airships blast away at full power non-stop for hours, but four hundred yellow ones could barely afford a few shots from a military-grade cannon."

    "Better to use them for water than fire." George mused.

    "What about your big friends?" Marcus asked.

    "If our Tier 8''s make a move, theirs will too. Best to let them rest, and not provoke their big guys."

    Tim raised his head. "I have an idea."

    George turned. "What is it?"

    "Let''s NOT provoke the Spectres." Tim suggested.

    George nearly facepalmed. "Tim, I''m trying to support Mindy''s raid here¡­"

    "But we can do it without provoking a hostile response, can''t we?" Tim asked. "We just have to do something that grabs their attention but doesn''t make them angry."

    "Such as?" George raised an eyebrow.

    "Such as digging ditches." Tim shrugged.

    George stared. "How does that help?"

    "It''s a measure of fortification." Tim said. "Especially if¡­"

    "If¡­?"

    "If we fill them with water."

    ***

    It worked. It really did. Tim''s lynxmice went to work by the hundreds and dug a ditch five feet wide crossing the entire battle range from one end to the other. A layer of mortar was laid by Iron Legionnaires, dried and hardened with magic. A connection was dug directly to Dragon Lake and water began to fill it up.

    The instant water started to fill the ditch, the full attention of the entire Spectre horde was drawn to it. They roared and stamped their feet, and several of them instantly started to attack.

    "Mindy''s theory is becoming more and more believable." George muttered seeing the Spectres'' reaction to the line of water. "At this rate, water hoses might soon become our best weapons."

    "It looks like it''s time to stop building ballistae and build catapults instead." Marcus sighed.

    "Catapults¡­? Are you thinking what I''m thinking?" George asked.

    "Buckets of water? Pretty much, yeah." Marcus nodded. "It might not get through the shields raised by higher Tier Spectres, but it should help us hold off the lower Tier masses."

    George snapped his fingers. "We should build a pool around the Rift! Surround it completely with water! That way, Remian could still come back. He''ll get soaked, but he''ll get through¡­"

    Tim cheered. "Great! And how do you stop the water from flowing through the Rift and draining out the pool in the process?"

    George''s face fell. "Maybe¡­ dig a lake under it? So that the Rift is hovering over a huge lake?"

    "Spectres won''t let us, and even if they did, they''ll probably just vaporize it later."

    "Sink the whole region into the sea!"

    "That¡­ might actually work." Tim mused. "But again, we can''t get close enough to do it with tools, so we''d need to blast the whole region from afar. Do you happen to have that kind of firepower hidden around somewhere?"

    George sighed. "What you see is what I''ve got. Except for the remaining defense force guarding Kara-Goth, all the firepower I can muster is already here."

    "I could say the same, except I have some half-built magic cannons being built at Fal''Herim. I think we can convert them to magic water cannons without much trouble." Tim said. "But they certainly won''t be enough to sink the entire Dead Lands Region."

    "Isn''t the Dead Lands covered with black oil? Isn''t that liquid? How is it that the Spectres don''t have a problem with that?"

    "It''s flammable liquid. The Spectres might even be consuming it as a sort of fuel." Tim shook his head.

    "It sounds like they''re some sort of fire-beings¡­ but¡­ isn''t wood flammable too?"

    "Wood seems to be contrary to their nature. They''re not exactly fire-beings. They''re more like¡­ energy-beings? I guess."

    "If the oil is beneficial to them¡­ you think maybe if we gave them the oil, they''ll stop coming after us?" George suggested.

    "If that were the case, they''d have stopped by now. The oil is already all within their territory. But they''re still coming." Tim shook his head. "We don''t really know what they want or why they''re trying to kill us all, and we have no way to communicate with them. Mindy''s theory is as good a guess as it gets. All we can do is fight them off."

    "With wood and water?"

    "With wood and water."

    ***

    They started building water pumps at Dragon Lake and importing hoses by the ton. Half of George''s airships left the field to trade magic cannons for water cannons and ammunition stores for water tanks.

    Among the defenders, warriors traded metal swords for wooden staves. The martial quarterstaff instantly became a popular choice, but even that was soon outshone by the demand for oversized wooden warhammers. Meanwhile, wooden armor also became immensely popular, especially the Sea People''s bamboo splint mail.

    Among the Wilds, the elephant clans suddenly found themselves highly valued and in-demand. Just last week, eagles were the Comrade of choice. Today, everyone wanted an elephant at their side.

    The price of water magic scrolls suddenly doubled, then tripled from what it used to be. The previously unpopular water ball spell, often seen as a child''s toy or a lazy way to put out a small fire, shockingly became the top choice for all scroll-casting mages and warriors at the Spectral War front. More powerful magi put aside their aspirations for fireballs and lightning bolts and suddenly began to develop their skills and affinities for the spell known as Glacial Spike.

    All this activity around water definitely seized the Spectres'' attention. There was much gnashing of teeth and snarling to be heard, and several times in that single day, there were sudden incursions. They were fought off with wooden weapons and water hoses and more and more people saw the efficacy of such weaponry against the Spectres and they, too, went to garner their own. As the day went by, the entirety of the defense forces were thoroughly convinced that wood and water were the best ways to fight the Spectres off.

    Meanwhile, barely noticed by the horde of Spectres, Mindy''s raid slipped by and made their way to Nine Kings Range.

 299 Costly Journeys

    While Mindy''s raid was crossing the Nine Kings Range, Remian and Xiao Yan were arriving back at Scorched Earth City.

    Xiao Yan, at that point, was having some doubts. "Do you¡­ do you really think I''ll be okay there? In your world?"

    "Of course! I''m kind of a big deal there, you know." Remian assured her.

    They stopped by Scorched Earth City to make a big withdrawal of Black Crystals, then made their way directly to the formation where Remian first appeared, landing the entire Pod on it.

    "Wait in the Pod." Remian told Xiao Yan and studied the inscriptions on the formation.

    There. That should be the destination sigil, and the empty space was for him to fill. That board offered a list of choices, with symbols to depict each choice. Remian couldn''t make out what most of them said, but one of them he recognized.

    It was the symbol sequence for ''home''. It had a price tag associated with it; 130 Black.

    "That one!" Remian confidently filled in the blank, then piled up the 130 Black Crystals at the formation''s power supply. Carefully, he activated the formation, and hopped back into the Pod before it worked its magic.

    There was a stirring of wind and a pulsing of power, and then in a flicker, the Pod was gone.

    ***

    At that moment, Mindy was still halfway between the Nine Kings Range and the Dead Lands Zone.

    "Any word from the second recon team?" she asked Joshu, who was one of the Adventurers at her side.

    "Nothing." Joshu said grimly.

    She fell silent, having no words left to say on the matter. What else could be said? If they hadn''t reported back by now, and the raid team looking for them couldn''t find them, chances were that they were goners.

    "The whole team." Denise sighed. She, too, was among the adventurers out on this long shot.

    They weren''t the only ones who were lost during this venture. Half of the first raid team was already done for, as well as almost that many in the second and third raid teams. The first recon group was down to three people, and now it seemed the second recon group had been completely wiped out.

    "Time to regroup." Mindy decided. "From now on, the third raid team is to replace the second recon group. Call in the second raid team to combine with the first. We will advance in one hour."

    The raid had started with about thirty people in five teams. They were now down to half that number in just one main raid team and two recon groups.

    "Two Tier 5''s incoming from forward left, crossing our path." Recon Group 1 reported. "Wait for a bit to avoid them. They should pass by."

    "We wait." Mindy did not want to fight any more Spectres or lose any more people.

    "One Tier 6 coming up from behind." Jans warned from the back. "It''s tracking us. We can''t wait!"

    "Six Tier 3''s coming around the right side." Called Wulfgar from the right.

    Yes, they were all there in Mindy''s raid.

    "We can''t wait." Mindy grimaced. "Recon 1! Can we make it if we rush straight forward?"

    "Not likely. They''ll catch us." Recon 1 reported.

    "What if we swerved left? Can we avoid them after they pass?"

    "Maybe?"

    Swerving right was a bad idea. Not only would they get caught by the two in front, they''d meet with the six from the right.

    "We have to move, quick. The Tier 6 coming up from the back is getting close." Jans whispered.

    "Go left! Prepare for combat!" Mindy grimaced.

    Going back, whether directly backwards, to the left, or the right, was guaranteed to result in an encounter with the Tier 6 Spectre. That battle had a fair chance of wiping out her entire raid. Mindy grimaced, feeling keenly the loss of her powers. If she had the kind of strength she had before when the Flame Emperor was whole, she could have tried to blast right past that Tier 6 by herself, but right now, she was too weak. Any average Tier 6 would be able to stomp her into the ground and all her raid members with her, no problem.

    Blast it, even weak old Remian would have been able to put up a decent fight against a Tier 6! Anyone with the power to take down a Lord of the Wilds could do it! But Mindy, right now, couldn''t even confidently challenge a Tier 5 by herself, much less a Tier 6.

    Recon 1 hesitated. "Should we engage and distract the Tier 5''s?"

    "No, do not engage. We''ll handle them." Mindy answered. "Keep scouting ahead. Find us a place to rest and recover afterward."

    "Understood." Recon 1 sounded reluctant, but did not argue.

    Gritting her teeth, Mindy prepared for battle. "Almost there. Just a bit more. Almost there."

    But ''almost'' was actually more like a whole day away at the speed they were traveling at. Even with Frames, having the avoid Spectres every other step of the way was taking up a lot of their time.

    Maybe it wasn''t so bad. Maybe taking a long time to reach the Rift was a good thing. That way, Remian would have more time to find his way back and she wouldn''t have to face the agonizing problem of having to seal him out.

    Actually it wasn''t her problem, because it wasn''t even her choice to make. Even if she was there, she couldn''t stop it from happening. She no longer had that sort of power.

    But she could delay. She could make this journey as slow as she liked¡­

    Except that she wouldn''t. Not when every hour wasted meant more lives lost that could have been saved. Like it or not, Mindy had to admit the truth. They couldn''t afford to wait and hope uncertainly for Remian to return.

    Neither could they go rescue him. As much as Mindy wanted to, the fact was, she just didn''t know how. Nobody did¡­

    "Rawwrr!" a claw nearly took Mindy''s head off while she was griping to herself over Remian. Mindy ducked as Joshu fired his bow over her head.

    "RAAH!!" Wulfgar charged in, an oversized wooden hammer in his hands. He smashed it into the Spectre''s face while Joshu, Denise and Jans fired arrows into it from near point-blank range.

    "Spread out!" Joshu called.

    "No, wait!" Mindy gasped. "Stay close! Don''t grab any more Spectres attention!???

    "But¡­"

    "Wulfgar!" Mindy barked. "It''s all on you and Herman!"

    Herman was the other front-line defender. Like Wulfgar, he had brought an Armored Frame, and sought to hold the attention and aggression of the two Tier 5 Spectres.

    Jans put aside her bow and took out a scroll. "Water ball!"

    A sphere of water splashed into the nearer Spectre, resulting in a howl.

    "Water ball!" three different voices chorused behind her. Mindy turned to see three younger scroll-casting adventurers following Jans lead, spending the scroll she bought them earlier. She understood the need; they had to finish this quickly and were better off spending the scrolls than spending more time in this dangerous situation.

    Of the three, two of them were actually Rhema''s students, somewhat familiar with healing magic. The last one was a specialist in fire magic, actually, named¡­

    AUM! One Spectres'' teeth came down hard on that last guy.

    Oh, never mind his name. He''s gone now.

    Mindy noted how clinical her thought was and how little she felt anything about it. When had she gone so cold, so numb? She wasn''t sure. When the Flame Emperor fell it was like all the warmth and heat had gone out from her life. There was nothing left but cold and sorrow.

    [Heart, Mindy. Take heart.] Chirpy tried to cheer her up.

    But it didn''t stir any great emotions. Mindy just felt cold and tired, even as she lit her sword with her weak fires and stabbed the Spectre with it.

    Such weak flames barely seemed to trouble it. Even the water balls fared better against these foes. Mindy hated how pathetic her efforts were becoming.

    WHAM! A spectral tail slammed into Mindy''s side, bowling her over. She tumbled and quickly righted herself, back on her feet as fast as she could manage¡­

    Only to see Wulfgar and Herman together hammer one Spectre''s head in between their matching hammers. The other one was tearing up one of the scroll-casting healers.

    "For goodness'' sake! Spread out! You''re supposed to keep them off the rest of us!" Mindy snarled.

    "I did!" Wulfgar protested.

    "We did." Herman agreed. "Or at least we thought we did. That second Spectre suddenly turned around and attacked when we thought we already had its attention."

    So they said, but all Mindy saw was the other healer guy getting killed momentarily by that last Spectre whose attention they both claimed to have already gotten.

    "Kill it! Just kill it!" Mindy flared, slashing down at it with her sword.

    Sudden pain flared up from her left thigh. Mindy looked down, stunned, only to see that the Spectre she cut had bit at her at the same time. While her sword descended, its teeth had closed in.

    "My leg¡­!" Mindy gasped, and then pain exploded and she let out a scream.

    It hurt! All this time, protected by the Flame Emperor''s aura, she''d never gotten injured like this. She''d seen people hurt, she''d seen people die, but now, for the first time¡­ she herself¡­!

    It really hurt! For crying out loud and skies beyond, it hurt!

    "AARGH!" Mindy let out one scream before a Spectral tail smacked her in the face and the world turned black.

 300 Unexpected Results

    Things were not going the way Remian expected.

    "This is your home?" Xiao Yan marveled as she looked around her.

    "Uh¡­ no. It''s not." Remian grimaced.

    Only when it was too late did Remian realize his mistake.

    ''Home'' referred to the homeworld of the guy who made the formation, not Remian''s homeworld. This was¡­ this was¡­

    "I had been wondering where the Black Ruins Civilization disappeared to. Now I know." Remian mused.

    Indeed the truth was just too obvious to miss. They (still in the pod) were in a large black hall built in the exact style of those ruins. Unlike the ruins, this was filled with light and there were people visible through a long glass window above. One in particular was looking at them, a rather annoyed looking guy who kept staring at Remian with a frown, waiting expectantly, but not saying a word or making any move for the time being.

    Cautiously, Remian opened the Pod and stepped out.

    A voice came out over some speakers. "Slotho! Snuzi ramah keraso????

    It was the frowning guy, and he looked impatient.

    "What?" Remian blinked.

    "Oh? You are Corpo-man?" the man changed language. "Open doors! Full decon!"

    "Huh?" Remian stared blankly. Lacking any better ideas, he tried to glean the man''s intentions from his thoughts rather than his words.

    Only then did he understand.

    Every ship arriving would be scanned, as their were and the scanner had found a great deal of alien micro-organisms on Remian''s Pod, many of whom were undesirable and even downright illegal to bring into this world. The Pod, himself and Xiao Yan all had to go through some decontamination process.

    "I guess we have to get cleaned up." Remian understood, and sent the Pod a Psionic command. Main doors, ports, bays¡­ everything opened up.

    In moments, jets of hot steam filled the arrival chamber. Beams of different colored light swept through in rapid succession. One such light sweep made Remian feel like he''d been toasted. Another felt slightly electrifying. Others made him feel weird in ways he couldn''t even express and did not have the time to fully sense. There was vibration sweeps and then a bare moment in which all the air in the room seemed to disappear and he had the sensation that he was going to be swept out into sheer nothingness for a millisecond before suddenly air flooded back into the room and he staggered sideways before regaining his balance.

    "Waa!" Xiao Yan yelped.

    "Relax! It''s okay! It''s okay." Remian assured her quickly. "We''re fine."

    But the man said, "Five hundred Cua!"

    Remian''s face fell. Clearly he was asking for payment. "Uh¡­ I don''t have any Cua¡­"

    The man frowned impatiently. "Equivalent!"

    So other currencies worked? Remian hesitantly took out a Black Spirit Crystal. "This?"

    The man sniffed. "Five Black!"

    Whew. At least that was recognized. Remian didn''t know what he''d do if neither lir nor spirit crystals were recognized as currency here. Apparently, a Cua was of equal value to a Yellow Spirit Crystal.

    The man rolled his eyes at Remian. "Corpo-man no Cua, only have Empire money. Lardi-nas!"

    Oh? So the Corpo-faction guys didn''t use crystals for money, they used Cua. It was a different faction, some Empire or the other, that used crystals as currency.

    Regardless, both were galactically recognized¡­

    Wait. What?!

    Remian suddenly felt stunned. While on Xiao Yan''s world, he merely felt like he''d entered a secret land of sorts, never really feeling the impact of what he''d done¡­

    But now, he really felt it. In the arrival hall of a much older, much more advanced civilization and facing concepts like factions who were known across the entire galaxy, Remian finally felt it for real.

    "I really did leave my entire world." He gulped.

    ***

    Actually, the arrival room staff didn''t know that much about the galaxy either. The Quarin (previously known in Remian''s mind as the Black Ruin Civilization) were just one of the 41 nations among the Class 6 human factions, and though they were an interstellar community, they were just a minor group in the bigger galaxy, nothing compared to the Orion Empire that used Spirit Crystals for currency, or the Blue Star Conglomorate, which often sent their Corporation Men (corpo-men) to Quarin worlds on business.

    That much, the staff guy (named Sreso) knew because he was an Arrivals Keroa (the word was specific to the man''s job scope which was a mix of greeter, janitor, and guard. Often it meant he was mainly there to scan arrivals, run decon, and make sure they paid their fees) and it wasn''t his first time ''greeting'' corpo-men. The Quarin received a lot of business from other factions, even other species, mainly for the sake of mana.

    "Mana!" Remian jumped.

    That''s right. The Quarin were experts when it came to mana. Their use of mana crystals and magic tools was at the very forefront of the Class 6 human factions. Remembering the Black Ruins and the devices they''d found, Remian felt like he should have guessed as much.

    "Go regi!" Sreso the staff guy pointed to the door, which now had a soft green light outlining it. In farewell, he said, "Always happy!"

    Remian''s eyes widened. He responded, "Because always happy means more sales!"

    Suddenly he felt like he had a pretty good idea who the corpo-men were. Between that and the reference to mana, Remian abruptly felt like this world wasn''t quite so alien after all.

    ***

    Remian''s first priority was trying to get back to his own world.

    The second was to bring back as much mana as he possibly could! Remian thought about how badly his world needed mana. If he could bring back a lot of it, he could very quickly become extremely rich.

    This was especially true since he had about 30,000 Black remaining. How much mana could 30k Black buy? But he had to be careful not to overspend. He still had to find a way home first, and there was no telling how much that cost.

    But abruptly, Remian felt himself turning extremely heavy.

    "Uwaah!" Xiao Yan fell to the ground, and looked like she was pinned down. Even the Pod started to creak.

    "What¡­ what''s going on?" Remian gasped.

    To that, Sreso''s voice sounded out again. "You¡­ are under arrest!"

    "What? Why?" Remian protested.

    "Scans report. That Pod was lost 349 years ago! You are not the rightful owner! By Quarin Law, that Pod was stolen!"

    Remian gulped. "I found it in a shipwreck! And isn''t it just an Escape Pod?"

    There was some hesitation. "Quarin Law says¡­ but Corpo-men Law¡­"

    It was clear he was facing a rather complicated dillemma.

    "Anyway! We must hold you and call Corpo-men!" Sreso decided. "You talk to Corpo-men when they arrive!"

    ***

    Mindy slowly opened her eyes to see a dwindling campfire.

    "You''re awake?" Jans was there, looking bruised and battered, but alive.

    "Ugh¡­" Mindy slowly stirred. "Where are we?"

    "We''re almost at the Rift." Jans pointed.

    Slowly, Mindy looked around. They were camped right at the border of the woods and the dead lands, separated from the blackened ground only by a few trees and bushes. Ahead of them, hiding behind a few bushes, Wulfgar and Joshu were eyeing the Rift.

    As for the camp itself, Tang Yin was asleep to one side, Denise was by the fire with Jans on another and Mindy was lying down at a third.

    "Where''s¡­ everyone¡­?" Mindy asked thickly, trying to think through the throbbing pain in her left thigh.

    "This is everyone." Jans told her slowly.

    Mindy froze. "This¡­? Herman? The Recon group?"

    Jans shook her head wordlessly.

    "What about Remian?" Mindy asked.

    "No sign of him."

    Though she felt like crying, a dark bit of humor had Mindy ask, "The Spectres?"

    To that, Jans pointed. "Over there."

    Indeed, there they were. Five Tier-3 Spectres that looked remarkably familiar were lurking around the Rift, directly between them and their destination. "Are those the ones we tried to avoid earlier?"

    "We tried to avoid them yesterday, yes."

    Yesterday, huh? It was already a whole day ago. All things considered¡­ "If that''s all, we''re not too badly off."

    "Actually, that''s not all. There''s more on the way." Jans told her.

    "Great." Mindy grimaced. "What are our chances of survival?"

    "Pretty low." Jans admitted.

    Mindy got to her feet. "Do you have anything to live for? Anyone?"

    "I have a sister." Jans glanced over at Denise. "Joshu and I have been dating. Does that count?"

    "It counts. So try to stay alive." Mindy ached all over, and ached inside, but she gripped the hilt of her sword tightly. "Even if it''s hard. We have to try."

    For a moment there, she felt like she was back at the Ravens Tavern in Fort Spoas, with Mandy whispering these very same words to her during the hard times.

    "We have to try to stay alive." Mindy said looking at the Rift. "And we have to seal that thing up."

 301 Judged and Sentenced

    "Mister Remian, right?" A man in a black-and-gold formal suit-mixed-with-armor offered a weird kind of gesture with one hand.

    "Uh¡­ yeah." Remian didn''t know what that gesture meant. Was it some sort of salute?

    "Huh." The man looked him over, then glanced about the room. It was reasonably comfortable for a holding cell, plain black walls, with a bed, a small table, chair, and two stalls in the corner for washing and biological excrement, though they held both familiar-looking equipment and strange items Remian couldn''t identify. The cell even had controls for light and ventilation. In the end, while bare, it wasn''t altogether torturous. "They seem to treat you well."

    "They seem to think I''m one of your people." Remian grimaced and admitted. "I''m not."

    "No, you''re definitely not. According to our scans and database, you''re not registered to any interstellar faction we know." The man cleared his throat. "In fact, your genetics indicate a very low level of technology, and there are traces on your body of both a Class-2 and a Class-3 civilization."

    Remian rubbed his head. "I''m not sure what that means, but I just want to go home. If you claim that Pod is yours, maybe I can buy it or something. Also where''s my friend?"

    "The girl? The scan results imply she''s never even been to a Class-3 civilization before now. She''s clearly from a Class-2." The man frowned. "I need to know who you are, who she is, and where you''re both from because you two are certainly not from the same place."

    That took a bit of telling.

    "So you''re from a world that''s been abandoned by the Quarin¡­" the man summarized. "Fell through a Spatial Rift while attempting to seal it to stop some Spectral beings from invading, and ended up on that girl''s world where you found the Pod¡­ our judge wants to find that shipwreck. We built that ship for the Estruaga family, and they want to investigate that wreck and find out what happened to their people."

    ???The who, what now? Wait, there''s a judge?!" Remian was bewildered.

    "Ah, right. You can''t see them. You actually have two trials ongoing concurrently, one from the Conglomerate, and the other is Quarin, and they''re both connected, but you can''t see them because you don''t have an ARD."

    "A what?"

    "An Augmented Reality Device. You don''t see anything else around you other than the bare walls, do you?" he nodded to himself, as if answering his own question. Then, he took out a little black crescent. "Hmm. I happen to have a cheap one on me right now, its yours for just 100 Cua."

    "What is that?" Remian blinked.

    "Here." The corpoman stuck it around his right ear, and suddenly it extended a narrow band around his head, fitting according to his shape, and then lowered a veil-like clear screen and¡­

    Instantly, the entire world seemed to burst in color and images. Noise from dozens of sources asked him questions at the same time, especially that one about private settings¡­

    "Oh wait, here, let me configure it for you." The corpoman took the visor off Remian, put it on himself, linked it with that bracelet thing of his, and then made some adjustments and returned it. "Here, try it now."

    Remian put it on and suddenly seemed to be seeing multiple halls and backgrounds overlapping his holding cell. There were people watching, people just lazing around doing nothing, and most importantly, each overlapping hall had someone at the front and center looking very dignified and very hassled with the current meeting. One of them was seated in front of a pennant bearing the symbol of a winged black staff in what appeared to be a busy courtroom. The other one sat at a glass desk in what looked like a private office, with a blue star and a constantly shifting projection of light like a fountain behind him.

    The man in the private office setting spoke. "Due to the necessity of the investigation, the Blue Star Conglomerate has no choice but to appropriate the Pod. According to our Codes of Commerce, we shall, of course, compensate the holding party at salvage rates."

    "He says we''ll buy your Pod." The corpoman with Remian explained. "Current salvage rates value the Pod at 950,000 Cua."

    "That''s not too bad." Remian blinked. He couldn''t stop them from taking the Pod, but it was nice of them to at least pay him for it. 950,000 Cua meant 9,500 Black¡­ which was a lot lower than what he felt it was worth, but they were buying it as salvage, so¡­

    One of the people seated in the ''private office'' stood up. "The Estuarte Family demands fair compensation for the unlawful appropriation of the vehicle and usage of it."

    The man at the desk nodded gravely. "The Estuarte family are awarded one business month''s rental fee of the vehicle according to Underdeveloped Territory Expedition prices."

    "One month?! Your honor, I request terms more specific to the actual usage of the vehicle! Two weeks, at most!" the corpoman protested.

    "The Estuarte businesses only rent out vehicles by the month!" the Estuarte guy said.

    "Denied." The judge at the desk said to the corpoman calmly. "Rental plus a small fine for misappropriation is hereby set at 2 million Cua."

    2,000,000 Cua! That was 20,000 Black! These guys were demanding payment more than double of what he was getting for the ''salvage''!

    The Estuarte guy spoke up, demanding more compensation, but to that, in exactly the same tone and same manner as before, the Blue Star Conglomerate Judge just calmly said, "Denied!"

    "But¡­"

    "Case closed. Next." The private office suddenly shimmered and vanished from Remian''s point of view.

    "Uh¡­ that''s it?" Remian blinked.

    "That''s it from the Conglomerate''s court. You pay up, and you get paid. That''s business." The corpoman shrugged.

    "The Quarin impose jurisdictive penalties." The other courtroom judge said then.

    "Following the specifics you outlined earlier, we have no objection." The corpoman said.

    "What specifics?" Remian asked nervously.

    The corpoman shrugged. "Word is already going around about you, and some think you''re a thief, others say you''re a salvager. Some people even assume you''re a member of the Conglomerate since you speak our language. All these uncertainties and rumors have put some pressure on the court. Basically, the Quarin would lose face if someone accused them of letting a thief loose, so¡­ they''re going to jail you for a bit. On the other hand, since our court let you off with a fine and a payment, the Conglomerate would lose face if they punish you too strictly on top of that. Therefore, a light sentencing is to be expected."

    "Ten years imprisonment!" the Quarin Judge boomed. "Without datanet access!"

    Gasps of shock and horror rose up all around the courtroom and audience.

    "Ten years?!" Remian yelped.

    "I push for Virtual Acceleration!" the corpoman shot back. "With educational programs!"

    "Granted!" the Quarin Judge hammered his gavel. "Case closed! Next!"

    With that, the courtroom disappeared. Remian was left staring at the walls and the projections around him, mostly indicating offers and information.

    "What¡­ what just happened? Ten years¡­?!" Remian gulped.

    "Don''t worry. We''re going to accelerate it virtually." The corpoman said cheerily. "Up to the maximum that your Psionic abilities can sustain. From what the scans tell us, you''re quite strong in Psionics. I think we can manage a hundred times acceleration at the least, very likely more. It would be ten years to you, but in reality, you could be out of here in a Quarin month."

    "That''s¡­ I can''t waste a month here! My home world is facing a war¡­!"

    "Then we''ll just have to see how much acceleration you can stand." The corpoman shrugged. "Anyway, the real punishment is that you won''t have datanet access. That was a really cruel move, but I managed to at least get you educational programs."

    "What does that even mean?" Remian asked.

    "You''ll at least be able to learn something instead of wasting your time bored to death." He explained.

    Learn something...? "Such as?"

    "Whatever you want that our system deems you qualified for." The corpoman shrugged. "You can pick and choose as you like later."

    "What¡­ what about Xiao Yan?" Remian questioned.

    "She has the same verdict. Oh, but don''t worry, we won''t charge you double. The payments only happen once, but she, too, will be imprisoned for as long as you are, under the same conditions." He explained.

    In other words, Xiao Yan would be learning whatever she wanted too.

    "Do you want to protest the verdict? There are human rights groups that would be willing to jump in to fight a sentencing that severe." The corpoman added. "Ten years with no datanet access is inhumane. Given an option, some people would rather accept a death sentence."

    "It doesn''t sound that bad to me." Remian mentioned. "It actually sounds like a bonus to have ten years squeezed into one month to learn whatever I want."

    "I hoped you''d see it that way." The corpoman smiled, nodding. "Let''s see just what acceleration you can handle."

 302 Seconds and Years

    They tested it out. Ten times acceleration. One hundred times acceleration. Two hundred times acceleration! Three hundred times acceleration!! Four¡­

    "Stop! Stop! That''s too much!" Remian''s head was spinning and he felt like the whole world was tilting.

    Three hundred times. That was his limit. Even the Corpoman let out a low whistle. "That level of Psionic Power¡­ if I didn''t know better, I''d suspect you were a Human Ascendant, or a Revanan. But that''s impossible. You''d have been registered long ago if you were either one."

    "What''s an Ascendant?" Remian asked, holding his head.

    "A member of the Human Ascendancy. Like me. The Ascendancy consists of the Io Republic, the Blue Star Conglomerate and the Orion Empire. Members of any of our factions are called ''Ascendants''. Not to boast, but we''re almost the most powerful human factions in the galaxy."

    "Almost?"

    "There''s the Human Supremacy, but they usually don''t mess around or get involved with others." The corpoman paused. "You can learn all about them when you start your sentencing."

    At three hundred times acceleration, the ten years that Remian would spend imprisoned would, in real-time, take just a little over 12 days.

    ***

    "We can''t wait." Mindy decided, drawing her sword.

    "I''ll draw their attention. You guys hit them as hard as you can." Wulfgar stretched, and dashed out. "URAAA!"

    He bowled directly into the center of the five Tier 3 Spectres. Joshu, Jans and Denise started shooting just as the Spectres were scattered.

    Ten seconds into the fight, Mindy stabbed a Spectre in the side...

    ***

    Ten seconds for Mindy was 3000 seconds for Remian.

    In these five hours, he found himself stuck with the most basic of basic beginner lessons available in Blue Stars Educational System.

    Seated in the Edu-Sphere that was set up in his holding cell, Remian learned.

    One of the first subjects he took up was Intro to Galactic Stellargraphy. In short, who the main powers in the galaxy were and how they were qualified.

    According to the system, civilizations and interstellar factions were determined by Class according to their capabilities. At the very beginning, a Class 1 Civilization was qualified when they became a Tool Making Society, typically with wooden or stone tools for most basic purposes like farming or cooking. They were promoted to Class 2 as soon as they harnessed energy in any form, most commonly with the use of a waterwheel or windmill.

    Class 3 Civilizations or Factions were reached when they were able to access all of their world''s habitable zones. The exact definition of what was ''habitable'' remained in debate, but commonly this was achieved by motorized travel. Some more exploratory groups achieved it earlier, other more placid ones did so later, but generally they''d all achieve it roughly within that same century.

    Class 4 happened when they colonized local space. Whether for resources or living space, when a civilization started building orbital space stations for cities and mining local asteroids for resources, they were considered to have left their native planet and begun to be a space civilization. Often this occurred with the help of their first Space Elevator or Electromagnetic Rail Launcher or something similar, depending on what sciences or technologies they advanced quicker. There was even one legendary civilization that advanced into space with botanical sciences, using what amounted to a colossal beanstalk that enabled them to build orbital cities where their people grew to giant proportions due to the lower gravity.

    But a real space-faring civilization were Class-5; the ones who managed interstellar travel. Whether they did so by gravitic drive, use of natural or artificial wormholes or the popularized Warp Gates, they were able to travel from star to star within their natural lifetimes (as well as often extending such lifetimes). These were considered ''young'' human civilizations, of which there were hundreds listed in the Blue Star Conglomerate''s database.

    The human civilizations that other interstellar species usually interacted with, however, were the Class-6 factions; the 9 clans, 5 institutes and 41 nations who mastered Warp Drive. These were the ones developed enough for their people to privately own starships (spaceships capable of interstellar travel at warp speeds). The Estuarte Clan was one of the Nine.

    The current rulers over the human factions, however, were the three Class-7 Factions; that is, the alliance known as the Human Ascendancy, consisting of the Io Republic, the Orion Empire and the Blue Star Conglomerate. There was a lot of boasting about how much effort the Conglomerate put into bringing these factions together into a peaceful mutual-defense pact and how it helped all humans greatly ever more¡­

    To qualify for Class-7, a civilization needed to achieve controllable energy-to-matter conversion. The fact that there were three such factions among human powers was already amazing.

    Yet there was yet one more human faction more amazing still. This one had achieved the venerable ability to harness the power of a star. This group was known as the Human Supremacy, but they were rarely even seen or heard of, and there were people who even debated whether or not they even existed. The Blue Star Conglomerate, however, had concrete evidence that they did in fact exist, as did the Dyson Sphere they used to harness their star''s energy. This was humankind''s only Class-8 civilization.

    Information on Class-9 civilizations was restricted. The system only explained that the qualifier for it was the harnessing of Chaos Energy.

    Wait. Didn''t the Quarin already do that?

    Not entirely, no. A waterwheel could turn with the help of flowing water, but it did not control the water itself. There was a big difference between a plant that could grow using sunlight, and a Dyson Sphere.

    As for Class-10, even the theories on what it was or how it could be achieved were being debated academically.

    What was most astonishing was that there had been traces of extremely advanced civilizations found that were already destroyed, remnants with power far beyond what the Class-8 Human Supremacy had shown publicly. Some scholars theorized those remnants could be from destroyed civilizations that would have qualified for Class-9, possibly being on the verge of reaching Class-10.

    All this, Remian learned in a few hours and his head swam as he thought and pondered on what he''d learned.

    ***

    On Mindy''s side, the fight had only just begun.

    "Get down!" she tugged Denise downward as a Spectre leapt for her throat. Mindy countered, stabbing it in the midriff and twisting her fire sword, pouring out as much fire through her sword as she could.

    Joshu and Jans were back-to-back, having no space or time to shoot any more arrows. Joshu blocked one Spectre''s attack with his bow. That bow broke instantly, but he followed it with an arrow in his hand, shoving it directly into the Spectre''s throat. Behind him, Jans was staving off another Spectre with her own bow, having already broken its string, but still whacking the Spectre like a cane.

    Wulfgar meanwhile was engaged in what seemed to be a tug-of-war with a Spectre having bitten on to his axe with its teeth.

    As for the fifth Spectre¡­ that one had already been killed. Tang Yin didn''t hesitate; he went straight up to the Rift and started weaving magic.

    Ten more seconds passed.

    ***

    Over the next five hours, Remian started to study languages, particularly the ones used by the Human Ascendancy. These were the ones most recognized by all interstellar human factions. Most of them should already recognize the language the Conglomerate used, since they basically sold stuff to everybody, the same languge Remian was accustomed to, but there were enough exceptions that Remian decided it was best to learn at least a little bit of all three. Enough to recognize them, and greet or bid people farewell.

    While Remian was studying languages, Xiao Yan was learning formations and arrays. That was what she''d been learning when they left her home world, and she figured she may as well continue.

    To be frank, the formations and arrays she was learning from the Conglomerate was far, far more advanced than what she had learned back on her home world¡­

 303 Good stuff to bring home

    Xiao Yan, it should be noted, did not have as high an acceleration rate as Remian. She, too, had been in the Red Mists and had some practice with Psionic communication plus she had also eaten Psiorin Infused foods. Her own Psionic abilities were actually far above average, but even she couldn''t manage something as crazy as three hundred times acceleration.

    Since there was no requirement for her to serve out a ten year sentence, merely having to accompany Remian during his twelve-day period, she actually didn''t need to use an acceleration at all. Just for the sake of having more time to learn, though, she opted for it and thus learned at 100x acceleration, at least for the first few minutes (5-6 hours in accelerated time).

    By then, Remian was starting to dabble in other subjects. A little bit of metallurgy, a little of science, a bit of mechanical engineering¡­

    He was exploring subjects, not mastering them. He wanted to see what he could make use of before committing time and attention to the topics at hand, so he could pick and choose what he felt could be useful.

    One of the fields in which he felt he should definitely spend time in was Psionics. He was tempted to study magic, but thinking back on how his world was already running out of mana, he felt that doing so might not be worthwhile in the end.

    What he was looking for was ways to improve productivity and standards of living that could be managed by a Class-3 civilization. He didn''t need to learn warp theory or how to create artificial wormholes; even if he managed to learn it, his home world simply wasn''t advanced enough to use such knowledge. They first needed to develop the tools and power sources step by step until they could reach that point. Remian alone wouldn''t be able to catapult his entire world into advancing that far so easily.

    It would be different if he could throw open the interstellar doors and grant his people consistent access to the wider galaxy as it were, but there was simply no telling if he could ever come back here, much less enable others to do so in the future. He could only take whatever he could get in these twelve days and then find his way home.

    Actually, Remian hadn''t been told, but he was going to take more than twelve days to finish his ten year sentence. The reason for this was that the acceleration would not be on forever; eventually he would need to rest, and sleep wasn''t accelerated. In fact, due to the stress of the acceleration on his mind, he was going to sleep longer and more heavily than ever.

    But who would notice the passing of days in this windowless room? The lights would be on and brighten or dim according to the controls. It was altogether too easy to lose track of day and night if not for his new visor''s internal clock, and real time hardly applied to Remian who was going to be perceiving time in an extremely accelerated pace.

    To the people watching, Remian basically went into Virtual Acceleration for mere minutes before he stopped it in exhaustion and went to sleep. To him, it had been over twelve hours and he was truly worn out and needed to rest. A quick scan indicated that he was going to sleep for at least nine hours.

    "Make sure he''s well fed." The corpoman spoke. "This man is, for all practical purposes, innocent of any crime. Take care of him properly. The Conglomerate will be watching."

    "We''ll send in a high nutrition breakfast when he wakes." The prison guard assured him. He turned to the other guards. "Turn on sleep enhancement. Let him have as good a quality sleep as we can manage."

    This cut his expected sleep time from nine hours to just one.

    ***

    By this time, Mindy and her crew had taken down three Spectres and her leg hurt like crazy.

    "Fireball!" she casted the spell from a scroll, too tired and in pain to walk over to the last two Spectres to fight them.

    Of the two, one wrestled with Wulfgar while the other had gotten surrounded by Joshu, Jans and Denise. The three of them only had broken bows and arrows at hand, but oddly enough, these wooden weapons proved as threatening to the Spectre as Mindy''s sword of fire. Mindy''s first spell was aimed at the one wrestling Wulfgar.

    Her second was aimed at the one surrounded by the hunters. Keeping that sequence, Mindy hurled spell after spell at first one and then the other Spectre while her friends whacked them with everything they had.

    As for Tang Yin, he was setting up some sort of formation under the Rift.

    And the Rift itself was stirring slowly. Something was coming through.

    "Hurry! We have to finish these two off and then deal with whatever is coming through!"

    They hurried, but the Spectres still held them off for a few more minutes. In that time, a Spectral leg ad already set foot through the Rift.

    "Tier Five!" Joshu groaned.

    They surrounded it on all sides, whacked at it with broken bows and tree branches, scroll-casted spells, Joshu even took out his water canteen and threw his water at it. It raised a fuss, roared in outrage and fought them off for the better part of ten minutes before it finally fell.

    Tiredly, they sat down to rest while looking out for any more incoming Spectres.

    "Can you hurry it up?" Mindy asked Tang Yin.

    "This is a very delicate operation! I can''t rush it, or bad things could happen!"

    "How bad?"

    "Very, very bad!"

    So they waited and guarded Tang Yin and fought off the occasional Spectre that chanced by.

    Hours passed.

    ***

    After waking up to a heavy breakfast of stuff he couldn''t even recognize, Remian finished scouting around the subjects and started to learn in earnest.

    He went straight into metallurgy and kept at it for ''thirteen hours'' straight. Then he went back to sleep, woke up an hour later, and continued to study.

    Once he was tired of the subject, he started to study electrical engineering, thinking of how Jim was working on electric motorization. Then, he went back to metallurgy to consider materials. Eventually he moved on to power storage, focusing on stuff he could put together with his homeworld''s level of technology or just a bit higher.

    Abruptly, he stopped and called for the guards. "Can I have some paper and pen or a pencil? Something to write on that wouldn''t freak out people in a Class-3 civilization?"

    "Paper? Like¡­ real wood pulp sheets?" the guard blinked in astonishment.

    "Yes, exactly!"

    They gave him a stack of slightly yellowed paper and a graphene ''autopencil''. Remian knew now what to call all the black stuff the Quarin used. It was graphite and was basically interwoven carbon. Remian''s world was still quite a ways from being able to manufacture it, unfortunately. As it was, his best hopes for his people in the field of metallurgy were titanium and vanadium steel.

    For energy, there were a good many ways to develop it, but Remian didn''t like the idea of using polluting fossil fuels. He much rather preferred to study hydrogen and thorium.

    As for power storage, Remian favored Lenisu Bulbs. He did study chemical batteries just in case, but if he could just bring back some Lenisu seeds, those living batteries would be far more efficient.

    In fact, keeping in mind the Wilds'' feelings, Remian was more inclined to study Biotech than electronics.

    Six hours after he started his sentencing, the Corpoman came to visit. That was when Remian asked for what he wanted.

    "You want to buy plants?" the Corpoman blinked. "And agricultural tools? Genetic sequencers? Nanotech¡­ no way! Yours is a Class-3 civilization! We can''t just bring devices of our technology levels to your world! There are laws against such things!"

    "Just seeds, then? Surely you wouldn''t begrudge fellow humans a bit more variety in our food?" Remian pleaded.

    The corpoman relented. "Fine. Just commercial foodstuff. There will be no medicinal or drug related plants of any kind!"

    "That''s fine!" Remian leapt at it.

    The reason for that was Lenisu Bulbs were actually eaten as common dessert by the Draconian race and were thus qualified as commercial foodstuff. Also, Mankri Kelp was commercialized food in most of the 41 nations, and that seaweed alone had immuno-boosting properties that might very well clear out about half the common sicknesses in Remian''s homeworld.

    "Flereo Mint?" Remian asked, hesitantly. It was more like seasoning than food, but more importantly, it had a great deal of effect on dental health. "What about Steakfruit?"

    "Mint is fine, but Steakfruit is patented."

 304 Sealed

    As night fell, Tang Yin needed to take a break.

    "Just a few more hours. Just a bit more." He said, as they sat down for dinner that night.

    "It was ''just a few hours'' from the very start!" Mindy gritted her teeth, trying her best to put up with the pain from her leg.

    At least she still had both legs, though one had been badly injured. Wulfgar had flat out lost both of his in the battle against the Tier 5. Mindy had cauterized the remaining stumps, but he still looked to be in extremely bad condition and might not survive the night.

    They could try to bring him back¡­ but the mission was too important. The Rift had to be sealed, no matter the cost.

    Even if it meant locking Remian out.

    "Hurry back, Remian!" Mindy whispered into the night. "Hurry back!"

    ***

    But Remian was too caught up in studying to hurry anywhere. He was dabbling into architecture now and learning about structural support, stress and tension.

    Afterward, he started drawing up designs for an underground arcology, with the hills of Kara-Goth in mind. This took him several hours. In accelerated time, he''d been working on it for months.

    Kara-Goth was already pretty much an underground town. Remians plans were to enlarge it almost tenfold, going far deeper underground while using mirrors and lenses to bring sunlight to even the lowest floors. Using sunlight for solar thermal heating, and bring in water through underground pipes from the river, put them together into man-made hot springs at the very bottom of the city¡­ rising steam could be directed to nurture aeroponic gardens stretching up in glass colums at the sides of the central open area¡­

    Would any of it even work? Remian didn''t know, but he figured it was worth a try.

    It should be possible. All of these were within the means of a Class-3 civilization. Even if they didn''t have the technology to accomplish it now, they should be able to do so within a century, especially with Remian''s imported knowledge.

    Later that day (real time, not accelerated) he asked about Xiao Yan.

    "Oh, she''s fine. She''s been studying formations at one hundred times acceleration." The corpoman answered. "She''s already completed Grade 1 in formations studies."

    "That''s great." Remian said, with relief.

    Then, he felt a bit perturbed. Xiao Yan was going to get a good deal more powerful with this. What about himself?

    "I''m going to study Psionics!" Remian decided and went back into time acceleration.

    That evening he spent more of his dwindling funds.

    "Vitality treatment?" the corpoman blinked. "Organ rejuvenation? Can you even afford that?"

    "Only the most basic treatments." Remian admitted. His finances were at an all-time low, and the costs of medical treatments from the Conglomerate were cringingly high. Still, he set aside 10,000 Black to pay for his medical treatments. While not enough to cure him completely surely they could extend his life by a decade at least!

    Remian picked up a combo deal priced at 9,300 that used the combination of consumables and a mobile service that actually visited him in jail and set up their equipment in his holding cell. He took that time to sleep as the treatment went on, and by the time he awoke, it was all done.

    Thus ended his first day in his sentence. In virtual acceleration, more than nine months had passed.

    ***

    In the morning, Tang Yin went straight back to work. Mindy, Joshu, Jans and Denise had to clear the area of unsuspecting Spectres while Wulfgar moped at the campsite over the loss of both his legs.

    "It''s fine. We''ll get you a specialized Frame like Loh''s. You''ll be able to walk with that." Denise assured him. "You just have to hang in there and survive long enough to make it back."

    So he hung, and so they fought, and Tang Yin worked on the Seal.

    Finally, he was ready. By that time, Mindy was already done limping around and was basically sitting on a rock scroll-casting every which way. Joshu and the others had used and broken at least ten branches and spent every arrow they had. Joshu himself almost lost a hand. Jans nearly died thrice, and Denise twice. Even Wulfgar almost got eaten before he realized he was under attack at one point.

    Tang Yin didn''t wait for anything or anyone. As soon as the formations were ready, he activated them. "We''re done! Let''s get out of here!"

    "How long will that seal last?" Mindy asked.

    "Two years, at least! I''ll come back a year from now to maintain it."

    Mindy didn''t even have the chance to ask him to wait for Remian, wait just a little longer¡­

    It was already too late. The Rift was sealed. There would be no one coming in through it now, no Tier 9 Spectres, no Remian, nothing.

    "Let''s go." Mindy said tightly, and offered a little prayer for Remian, wherever he was.

    ***

    At the time, Remian was still in his second day of the Sentence.

    "Congratulations on qualifying as a Class 2 Psionic." The corpoman greeted him at dinner time that evening.

    "It''s only Class 2 and only according to Conglomerate Standards." Remian brushed it off.

    "That''s already as good as most Conglomerate school students can manage, even after training and studying for years."

    But it wasn''t that big a deal to Remian, compared to Lenisu Bulbs.

    The next day, he qualified as a Class 3 Psionic, then took a break and studied early computation.

    Then he went back to training Psionics, and took the qualifying test for a Class 4 Psionic before he went to sleep that night.

    He passed.

    ***

    Mindy called for a pick-up on the way back.

    There simply wasn''t any choice. Wulfgar couldn''t hang on any longer and Mindy herself was suffering every other step of the way. Everyone was exhausted and injured and they were not likely to make it back alive at the rate they were going.

    "I''m coming." Darian promised, and cut the link.

    Two words, but it was enough for Mindy. It didn''t matter where they were, or what condition they were in, or what hostiles and problems might be in between them. If Darian said it, he would be there; end of story. If Mindy were to pray, her prayer would merely go like this; Darian was coming and God help whatever got in his way.

    There were in fact quite a few Spectres and obstacles¡­

    It didn''t matter. Darian stopped for no one and nothing. There was thunder and there were screams, and then he was there and Spectres were raining from the sky, often in several pieces.

    "Let''s go." Darian said, and his Silhouette appeared in the form of a dragon the size of Ha''res-dras. They got on ''his'' back, and he brought them home without saying a single word more.

    There, they found Phoebe up to her arms in blood after a lengthy operation, and gave her even more work to do.

    Phoebe washed her hands, threw away her gloves, then took off her surgical mask to vent some rage and give them a piece of her mind.

    In the thirty seconds in which she had taken off her mask, nineteen accidents occurred around base camp. Men walked into walls, doors, pillars, Wilds, each other and even women. One particular nurse was surprisingly kissed lip-to-lip by sheer accident. Six heavy items, a goldfish bowl, and the captain''s dinner were dropped by younger people stunned by her beauty. Three machine operators nearly blew themselves up.

    Anyway.

    "Any sign of Remian?" Phoebe asked at last, as she put a fresh surgical mask on.

    "I''m sorry." Mindy said, her head lowered. "We couldn''t wait."

    Phoebe sighed. "I''m sure he''ll turn up soon. Don''t worry."

    So she said, but the crease in her forehead never left all night, not even when she slept.

 305 After Two Weeks In Jail

    As the week passed, Xiao Yan graduated from Grade 3 Formations with flying colors. Remian qualified as a Class 6 Psionic on top of studying everything else he was interested in, especially Biotech. He even relented and dabbled a bit in magic and mana control. After a short converation with Xiao Yan who came to visit, he also took some time to study formations and arrays that she spoke about.

    Then he dove into runes and inscriptions. Then he even tried to study Chaos Magic, but the many differing theories and schools on that were too confusing and he soon gave up. "I''m nowhere near ready for that!"

    By the time two weeks were up and Remian''s sentence was fully served, Xiao Yan was about ready to take the tests for Grade 4 formations, and Remian himself was halfway to Class 7 as a Psionic.

    As the Sentence was coming to an end, the Conglomerate Judge called the Corpoman privately. "Is it wise, sir? This man paid us only 20,000 Black, and we paid him salvage fees of 9,500 Black. This is already a loss on our part, but not only did we not squeeze him for all he was worth, we even spent outrageous sums to provide him with Virtual Acceleration for free. No matter how I look at it, this whole operation was a tremendous loss."

    The Corpoman shook his head at the Judge''s words. "This man is innocent of any crime, yet we sentenced him publicly as a criminal. He did no offense against us, raised not a word of complaint, and this entire time I was watching him, he only thought of the good of his people and his own self-improvement. Without reservation, he cares for a stranger he saved from misery and poverty, consistently asking about her every day and taking up responsibility for her who is no relative of his. To tell you the truth, I am ashamed, deeply embarassed to treat him like a sinner just to maintain our good relations with the Estuarte family. Spending a few crystals to power Virtual Acceleration for him seems like a rather small price to pay."

    "A few hundred million Cua is not a small price, to most people, sir."

    "I am not ''most people''." The Corpoman''s face hardened. "And I will hear no more on it."

    Grimacing, the Judge lowered his head. "Yes, sir."

    With that, the call ended.

    ***

    They asked him to draw out a rough map of his planet''s surface, as much of it as he could rememeber. Then they did a search using that image.

    "Filter; terran planets with Quarin ruins." The corpoman added.

    Six possible matches were found. Remian glanced through all six, discarded four, compared the last two, and frowned. "I''m¡­ not sure."

    "Any other distinctive features?" the corpoman asked.

    "It''s¡­ running out of mana." Remian grimaced.

    One of those two, the one on the left, was suddenly highlighted. The corpoman glanced at it, read some symbols that showed up, and explained, "This planet was abandoned by the Quarin some ten thousand years ago due to depletion of natural mana, and¡­ eh?"

    "What?" Remian asked half-nervously.

    "The Draconians were advancing. It''s well within Draconian territory now." The corpoman frowned. "The entire star system has been taken over by the Dras clan."

    "Dras¡­? Like¡­ ''Zor''khan-dras?''?" Remian jumped.

    "Yes, exactly. Do you have a dragon on your world with such a name?"

    "We have many!" Remian gaped. "I didn''t know the dragons were a space-faring race!"

    "The adult ones are. This planet here seems to be a nursery." The corpoman paused. "Are you sure this is your homeworld? How are the Dras family treated there?"

    "The Great Dragons are venerated. People swear by their name." Remian explained. He described them to the Corpoman.

    "Based on their size and sleep cycles, the Dras siblings on your world sound like a few young adults." The corpoman nodded. "Their broods are small, likely just starting out. I saw a really big brood once, it covered several star systems. It''s a bit of a pity, really."

    "Why is it a pity?" Remian blinked.

    "Because the Draconians, the Quarin and the Tuskans in that sector are losing ground against the Mitigok infestation. At the rate they''re going, you only have a couple hundred years before your world is in the path of their advance."

    "W-what are the Mitigok?" Remian gulped.

    "Think of them as a swarm of space-faring insects. A very big swarm of very big insects whose only interest in other life forms is having us for dinner." The corpoman hesitated, then said, "You might not actually have anything to worry about. The Draconians, the Quarin and the Tuskans have signed a mutual defense pact against the Mitigok. They''re working together to hold off the swarm."

    "How is that going?"

    "Not very well, so far. But maybe they''ll figure it out soon, maybe in time to save your world." The corpoman shrugged. "Or maybe they''ll fail spectacularly and all of you will die sooner. Except the dragons. I expect the Dras Clan will pull them out before they are endangered."

    "Can they pull us out too?" Remian frowned.

    "The Draconians? Whatever for? You''re not dragons."

    "I meant, the Quarin. They''re human too, right?"

    "If they still occupied your world, maybe. But they abandoned it after depleting its mana. On top of that, they''re already busy pulling out their own people. It doesn''t seem likely they would devote any of their remaining resources to rescuing yet more refugees."

    He made a good point. The Quarin were the type who''d deplete a world of mana and then abandon it. They didn''t seem like the especially charitable sort.

    "I''d say your best chance would be with the Scavengers." The corpoman figured.

    "The who, what now?"

    "It''s like this; star systems facing an imminent, inevitable disaster like a supernova or a Mitigok Infestation are classified as ''salvage''. Such places are golden opportunities to Scavengers who could legally swoop in and take whatever they find to be of value while they still can, including livestock."

    "L-livestock?!" Remian gulped. "I don''t want to become livestock!"

    "Then you might want to figure out a way to get your people to safety yourself. After all, it''s not like you''ve never traveled to other worlds before. Just saying."

    Remian froze, a glimmer of a plan or six arising in his half-panicked mind.

    That''s right. They already had a Spatial Rift capable of sending him to Xiao Yan''s world. If he could find a way to stabilize it, perhaps he could bring a whole lot of people through.

    "Two hundred years¡­" Remian gritted his teeth.

    "You probably won''t survive that long." The corpoman added quietly. "Not without longevity treatments. There''s a lot we could do for you, but we''re a business, and we have to be pragmatic. If you want our help, you''ll have to pay for it, and based on where you are, the cost will be extremely high."

    "I can do that? Pay for your help?" Remian was startled. For a minute there, he thought such a thing was impossible.

    "If you can find resources we would value enough to buy, yes. But they have to be really valuable, because that area your world is in is a high risk zone."

    "Can you give me a list, or something?"

    The corpoman had one printed, listing out the top ten items based on their database and old scans. At the top of the list was ''Colossal Kraken'', found roughly 8,000 meters below sea level. Sky Trees¡­ didn''t the Eagle Lord mention those at one point? Remian couldn''t remember. Five Auspicious Beasts, Full Set? What were they? Azure Dragon? Vermillion Bird? White Tiger¡­ cripes, isn''t that the Five Emperors?! Forget it. There was no way he was selling the Five Emperors to the Conglomerate.

    Dark Silver Ice¡­ Flaming Star Ruby¡­ Red Mana Crystals (or higher)¡­ Celestial Grade Wood Essence¡­

    "I don''t even know what most of these are." Remian groaned.

    "Take ten seconds." The corpoman advised.

    But it was ten seconds in Virtual Acceleration. For Remian almost an hour passed while he learned about everything on that list one by one.

    At last, he was done. "Okay. I''m ready. How do I get home?"

    "You came in with a formation. You may as well use one to get back."

    But there was a problem.

    "There''s a what?" the corpoman blinked.

    "Spatial loop seal. It''s temporary, likely won''t last more than a couple years, but until then, anything getting through on that Rift is going to come right back out." The technician explained. "Unless we close off our side, in which case, you''d be doomed to wander round and round the loop for the next two years."

    Remian winced. "Is there¡­ is there a better way?"

    "You''re a Class-7 Psionic, right? I heard some really strong Class-7''s can already open Warp Rifts. Can you?" the technician asked.

    "Not yet. I''m only halfway to Class-7. And isn''t an interstellar Warp Rift something a Class-9 or higher is supposed to be able to do?"

    The Quarin Technician shrugged. "Don''t blame me for your lack of talent."

    The corpoman held out a hand. "We''ll do it."

    "Huh?" Remian blinked.

    "I''ll get someone to send you home." The Corpoman promised.

    ***

    Somewhere in an open field on Remian''s homeworld, a strange phenomenon appeared.

    It looked like swirling mist, but any human getting close to it would feel a throbbing headache and complain about echoes of his or her own thoughts. Meanwhile, a fire mage passing by nearby said that the swirling mists were actually mystical energies of a sort he couldn''t recognize.

    But before any investigation could even begin, there was a flaring of light, and then the swirling energies disappeared. In its place was a boy and a girl dressed in comfortable traveling robes.

    They looked very normal. Two eyes, one nose, one mouth, each¡­ their features were normal too. Dark hair, dark eyes, somewhat tanned skin. In fact, they fitted right in with everyone around them.

    "This¡­ where are we?" Remian glanced at Xiao Yan with a gulp. This wasn''t the Wildlands.

    But one glance around showed him the familiar sight of a Deutero Company Sky Galleon docking at a distant port. That sight told him that this was, at least, his homeworld.

    The faces, skin colors and costume of the people around him, though, told him he was nowhere near Ceres or Ashdale. This was¡­ this was¡­

    That boy running down the road was carrying a steamed bun in his hand. The nearby fire mage wore a robe embossed with climbing dragons, and there was a jade token on his belt¡­

    "Tian Di Sect." Remian confirmed with a sigh. "We''re in the Dragon Empire."

 306 Priest Leading A Charge

    "Are you sure we''re not on my world?" Xiao Yan asked, suspiciously.

    "Yes, I''m pretty sure." Remian said, pointing. "Your world doesn''t have airships from the Deutero company."

    "But it looks the same." Xiao Yan said, with some disappointment. "People are still people, and dirt is still dirt."

    With a short laugh, Remian turned toward the nearby town. "Come on. I''ll get in contact with my family first, and then bring you around to see other kinds of people and places."

    ***

    At that time, Mindy, George and the others were having a bad day.

    As the sky turned red and the sun began to set upon the day and the sons of man alike, the weary defenders of Dragon Lake heard once more the horns of war.

    With earth-shaking roars, the colossal titans they battled stood tall, casting long shadows upon the land. Nine Tier-8 Emperor-class Spectres surrounded by the countless forces of their kind. On their own side, the Emperors and Great Dragons had fallen or withdrawn, too badly exhausted and hurt to fight any more. The other Great Dragons were far away, and the nations of the world were silent, offering no word of hope.

    Since the Rift was sealed, even their allies, such as they had been, had gone home, saying the job was done and the rest was up to the locals to handle. The unity of man had utterly failed.

    So the remaining locals stood alone before Dragon Lake, holding the fort to prevent these ghostly assailants from reaching the heart of the Wildlands, the nests and nestlings of the Earth Emperor and the Wood Emperor. If they fell here, if they lost Dragon Lake¡­

    Mal''thor-dras and Kor''ag-dras together declared that if they lost their home the humans would too. Everything in Kara-Goth and Three Pines, everything Remian and the others had put together, would be destroyed.

    And the response of their dear ''allies''? ''Local problems should be dealt with locally''.

    George held his helmet in his hands, needing to put it on, but unwilling, his heart unable to move his hands to begin the sequence of actions he''d long gotten used to every time he stepped onto the field of battle. What did those ''allies'' of theirs care about the local community? Nothing. They were all too happy to see them annihilated beneath the remaining Spectres and then swoop in afterward to take everything left behind.

    "In the end, it''s come all the way back to us, just us, defending our home." Mindy said, on his left.

    "Even so, we''re not the same children we were back then." Tim said, on his right.

    "I wasn''t even here." Darian offered, on the other side of Mindy.

    "Me neither." Tang Yin added.

    "Me three." Eriane chirped in from behind.

    Chirpy also added her chirps to the conversation. [Me four!]

    [You were here from the start!] Mindy shot back.

    But her heart wasn''t in it. Her heart wasn''t anywhere.

    "Any good words, Father Kairos?" George asked. "Something to lift our spirits?" One last time?

    Father Kairos sighed, taking up his Bible. "My friends, I am a speaker of truth. Here, on this dark day, what more can I say that you have not all already understood in your hearts? Shall I speak of hope? Of such I have not the courage. Therefore, I can only speak of courage, and then hope for the best."

    "Oh? And what courage can you speak of?" George asked, perking up just a little.

    "Ours." Father Kairos looked around, and slowly put down his Bible. He looked on the faces of the people beside him, into the eyes of those at his back, and the backs of those who stood in front. "I will speak of the courage of those who stand here today. I see survivors who still stand despite all odds. I see the children of forgotten families, bound together in a family of their own making. And I see warriors of old, the likes of which the world has never had the luck to see again. I see the Iron Legion."

    "Ho!" The weary shout was one of acknowledgment, and appreciation, a wordless thank you for being remembered. They, like George and the others, like Kairos, had long since considered themselves ''locals'' and not a foreign expedition.

    Father Kairos took a deep breath, and went over to Max''s Memorial. "Sorry, Max. I''m going to need to borrow your stuff one last time."

    Max''s picture fluttered in the wind, as if in response.

    With a sudden leap, Kairos heaved himself into Max''s Frame.

    "Father Kairos?!" Geoge blinked.

    But Kairos didn''t answer him. Instead, he turned to the Iron Legion and roared, his voice enhanced by Max''s Frame''s Loudspeaker Rune. "In articulo mortis!"

    "In articulo mortis!" a scattered response of grim voices arose. "Caelitus mihi vires!"

    Father Kairos shouted. "Deo adjuvante non timendum!"

    ''Deo adjuvante''! Coming from Father Kairos, it suddenly meant something more.

    "In perpetuum!" this response rose up like a wave. "Non timendum in perpetuum!"

    ''We will not fear, not ever!''

    Suddenly, they knelt. Two hundred fourteen survivors of the ancient Iron Legion went down on one knee in unison, no longer voicing an anthem but sincerely joining a Priest in prayer.

    Would they have so willingly joined their hearts with any other Priest, robed and proper and Bible-thumping? Unlikely! But here, on this field of Battle, they joined hearts and faith with this one.

    And what a Priest! Father Kairos stood there in Max''s Battle Frame, blood-stained and covered in sweat and grime as much as any of them. When he voiced their anthem, it became a prayer. Holding up Max''s sheathed sword in clasped hands, he intoned. "Dirige nos domine, ad augusta per angusta!"

    "Sic itur ad astra." The Iron Legion chorused together with him.

    "Excelsior!" Kairos suddenly drew Max''s sword and raised it high.

    "Excelsior!" The Iron Legion roared, their voices now shaking the air.

    "Excelsior!" Mindy, Darian, and the defenders of Kara-Goth shouted in accord.

    "Excelsior!!" Kairos turned to face the oncoming tide, and charged forward alone.

    He did not turn back. He did not look to the left or the right. With a wordless roar, he ran full-tilt directly ahead, and as he ran, he threw away the sheathe. [For I shall need it no longer.]

    Like a wave of sound, his voice was joined with the roars of the Iron Legion, an utterance of the last battle-cry as the clanking of falling steel sounded like rain; together with Kairos'', hundreds of sheaths were thrown aside. "EXCELSIOR!!"

    Then out of nowhere, as if all the world were shaking in response, there came the ring of a thundering bell. Once, twice, three times it rang¡­

    "Is that¡­ a church bell?!" George blinked.

    But what a church bell! How did it get so loud? Where was it coming from? It sounded like it was coming from everywhere! From the ground, from the sky¡­

    "There!" Mindy pointed directly upwards.

    In an instant, the clouds cleared. The sky split open, and from above appeared a gleaming structure George had only seen in pictures. "T-the Basilica?!"

    An ear-numbing chorus of church bells sounded together then, as hundreds of the same sound rang out in response on all sides. Bursting out from the clouds above them, hundreds of gleaming white airships descended onto the battlefield. In perfect timing, they rang together like a heartbeat.

    Mindy recognized those airships. "Ecclesia! The Church has come!"

    The Bells rang for a seventh time, and then beams of brilliant light shone down like rain covering the earth. They fell upon every warrior of the field, every charging Frame, and surrounded them with a protective energy aura. George could feel the power of the aura around him. It felt like he could walk right through lightning unhindered.

    "Attack!" said a voice from above, and then the skies were flooded with light.

    Sunset turned to high noon as the massed firepower of Ecclesia''s battle fleet blasted into the forward ranks of the incoming Spectres.

    George half-swore. "If this was what it took, we should have gotten a Priest to lead the battle charge from the start!"

    His comms crystal was beeping, someone was trying to call him, but George turned away. "Not now! We''re busy!"

    ***

    The same thing was happening with Phoebe''s crystal, Mindy''s, Tim''s, Darian''s, Eriane''s, Sabriane''s, Remian''s mom Lisa Vin, and Remian''s dad Damien Vin. All of them, however, were in the middle of battle or otherwise fighting a medical battle to save someone''s life, to save a casualty of that same war.

    "What''s going on?" Remian was bewildered. "I can''t reach anybody."

 307 Bee Hoon and Kuey Teow

    Thankfully, Deutero banks were far more available than his friends and family. Within minutes of reaching the local branch, Remian was able to access his account.

    "F-fifty three million lir?!" Remian gaped.

    "Is that a lot?" Xiao Yan asked dubiously. "If you''re low on cash, I still have a few herbs we might be able to sell¡­"

    "It''s a lot! It''s a huge lot more than I expected!" Remian cut in hastily. "I knew I was getting income from the Industrial Zone and Mindy''s shipyards and everything but it''s way more than I thought¡­"

    How long had he been gone? About a month? Something like that?

    That was actually Tim''s fault more than Mindy''s, but let''s not tell Remian his rise in income was primarily the responsibility of Fal''Herim''s Underground King.

    Especially do not tell him that Tim''s factories had all but stolen Arnold''s Light Frame designs and were mass-producing them using them, and selling them to select customers in Fal''Herim at exaggerated prices.

    Actually, never mind, he''d find out soon enough anyway.

    Even though he''d been through ten years in Virtual Acceleration, Remian was acutely aware that only a few weeks had passed since he accidentally warped himself through the Spatial Rift. Coming back to such a huge bank account was a very pleasant surprise indeed.

    "So¡­ we can buy stuff?" Xiao Yan asked, hesitantly.

    "Oh yes. What do you want to buy?"

    Naturally, the first thing she point at was the roadside cart selling steamed buns (pau). Then the one next to it selling soybean pudding (tau foo fah). These were foods familiar to her and similar to those from her world, except that the soybean pudding here employed black syrup instead of white soy milk like that did where she came from. The buns, likewise, had more varieties of sweet paste fillings rather than meats compared to her world''s.

    But otherwise, they were pretty much the same. The buildings, the clothes, the people, their names¡­ all of it would have fit her world quite naturally.

    Remian saw it and began to suspect that her world, too, was somewhere within the territory of the Draconians.

    Come to think of it, the term ''Draconians''¡­ before, he thought of them as ''Servants of the Dragons'', but since his jaunt to the Quarin world, he found out that the galaxy at large thought of Draconians as ''Dragons and their kin'', which of course included all their staff and servants, but more importantly included semi-dragons and various serpentine creatures and clans.

    In that understanding, the entire Dragon Empire could be considered Draconians, not just the select few clans who had a bond with one or the other Great Dragon. In fact, most people on this world seemed to think that ''Draconians'' were a sub-race of humans who enjoyed special powers due to their bonds with Great Dragons. Actually, since they were within their territory, the whole star system could be considered Draconian.

    Speaking of which, their star system was actually named after a plant that grew everywhere on this world early on when the Quarin first found it. Believe it or not, their planet and following that, their whole star system was called Sorrel (a common salad vegetable or kitchen herb).

    Standing here in Bee Hoon town, Remian could actually believe it (Bee Hoon being a thin sort of noodles). The Dragon Empire (and the Quarin) apparently had a strong appreciation for food.

    To be fair, the people here did seem especially skilled in making bee hoon. There also seemed to be a disproportionate amount of restaurants selling Bee Hoon in various, often hitherto unknown styles and flavors. Remian settled for a relatively common Bee Hoon soup with fishballs and vegetables for lunch. Xiao Yan tried something adventurous and ordered spicy prawn noodles.

    Actually, Remian wasn''t a fan of thin noodles like bee hoon. He''d rather preferred the thicker sort called kuey teow.

    Thinking of how the town was named, Remian had an odd inkling of how it would feel to have a star system named after thick noodles. Imagine walking up to the Conglomerate and saying ''Oh, I''m from Star System Kuey Teow!''

    That idea alone made Remian choke. He nearly spluttered bee hoon all over the road of Bee Hoon town.

    Having bee hoon splattered over their streets was NOT why they named the town such!

    Anyway, the important thing was, he was back, and returning home required but a bit of time and some airships. Having access to his bank account, hiring an airship or outright buying one was no problem at all.

    ***

    While Remian was thinking about bee hoon and kuey teow, George and the others were wiping the floor with the Spectre Remnants.

    "There goes Three Arms!" Mindy exulted fiercely as a concerted volley of airship fire and Darian''s Starlight Drill tore the Tier 8 Spectre to pieces.

    Three Arms was the last surviving Tier 8 Spectre that came through the Rift. With it gone, the champions of the Spectres were done for.

    George finally relaxed, thinking he could take a break and leave the rest to the Church. "Someone call Father Kairos and the Iron Legion back before they get themselves killed for nothing."

    "I''ve already got them to stop, but I think it might be a while before they come back." Tim said, with a wince.

    "Why?" George asked.

    He soon saw why. The entire Iron Legion were scrabbling through the wilderness looking for the sheathes they had so valiantly thrown away.

    "Is this my sheathe?"

    "I don''t know. I''m not even sure this one is my sheathe."

    Thing was, the Iron Legion was formed shortly after mass-production became a thing, and their adoption of it was one of their strong points early on.

    In other words, for the most part, all their equipment looked exactly the same. Except for a few Legionnaires who had marked their gear somehow, the hundreds of sheathes on the field looked pretty much identical.

    Sorting out that problem was going to give the Iron Legion a headache all day¡­

    But at least they were alive. At least they survived. And they won!

    "I''m amazed the Church came to save us." George said, his mouth twisting. There were words he didn''t'' say, with the Church fleet practically overhead.

    Words like ''where were you last week?!'' and ''what do you really want?''

    Words like ''they must have been waiting for us all to die, so they could sweep in and take everything for themselves!''

    But despite his bitterness on the matter, the truth was, they hadn''t waited. They had come in, at the last minute perhaps, but still in time to save them. Kara-Goth''s owner was still alive. Three Pines'' populace still lived. The Church could not very well come in to loot their place claiming their original owners had already died. So, if it was easy loot they wanted, saving the locals was the wrong thing to do.

    In other words, they weren''t after the loot. So, what were they after, then? After all these weeks of battling and trying to pry a bit more aid from callous ''allies'', George was suspicious.

    Dark suspicions aside, the current situation was only good for everyone here, so there was no cause for strife, and badmouthing them would simply be uncalled for.

    As George was thinking, an elegant shuttle swooped down from the Basilica, picked up Father Kairos, and swooped back to the flagship of the Church of Light.

    There goes the best person George could have asked on the matter¡­

    Meanwhile, except for the Iron Legion who were still searching for their sheathes, everyone else was celebrating.

    "We won! I can''t believe it, but we won!"

    "Thank God! No, wait! Thank the Church!"

    "As the Church would say, praise God, not men! Go ahead and thank God!"

    "Yeah!"

    This¡­ it couldn''t be some publicity stunt, could it? That they would send this whole fleet here just to pick up some easy goodwill and reputation?

    Actually, if that was all they wanted, George was inclined to give it to them with both hands. After all, it wasn''t like it would cost them anything. No, the biggest fear he had now was that the Church might make some unreasonable demands backed up by their overwhelming firepower.

    They would just have to wait and see.

    So George waited, but surprisingly, what he saw was the Basilica and the bulk of the bigger airships turn around and leave the Wildlands.

    That¡­ that''s it? They came, they shot down the Spectres, saved us, and then just left? Just like that?

    No, not exactly. One of the Cruiser-class airships still stayed behind, as did a few Galleons and half a hundred Frigates. George would have to ask Kairos as to what it all meant, but it seemed the Church felt their main fleet''s job was done and only a small crew was necessary for the mop-up.

    It was then that George heard someone scream from the other side of the command post.

    The scream came from Lisa Vin, Remian''s mother. She was holding a communications crystal in her hand. "Remian! REMIAN! Where are you?!"

    There was a brief paused while everyone and everything around them seemed stunned.

    "The Dragon Empire?! Ao Yun Province?! Bee Hoon Town!" she gasped.

    "We''ll come right over!"

 308 Uhâ€¦ urgaâ€¦ woo gu?

    Word spread very quickly.

    "Remian''s back!" one guy exclaimed.

    "Remian''s back? Aww, blast it. I thought I finally had a chance with Phoebe¡­" Another moped.

    "In your dreams!"

    "Who''s Remian?" a confused newcomer asked.

    "Remian is back!" the shout rang out through the camp.

    "Awoo!" An enthusiastic wolfcat joined the hue and cry, just for the heck of it.

    Phoebe dashed out of the medical tent, a syringe still in her hand. She tugged off her facemask. "He''s back?!"

    Seeing her unmasked face, somebody tripped over flat and even ground, landing almost facefirst into a pile of Wild poop. "Ugaah!"

    "Ow!" Someone else walked into a pillar, knocking an innocent tent down.

    "UWOO!!!" Somebody else stepped on a bear''s tail. There was a brief moment as startled man and angry bear looked deep into each others eyes and then the man ran around screaming as he was chased by the bear for the next three minutes.

    ***

    Mindy barged in at that point. She didn''t mean to barge in, really. She actually wanted to knock, but for some reason, between her shock and her eagerness, her light ''knock'' on the door ended up breaking the entire door off its hinges, and sending Mindy stumbling through.

    She didn''t care. She looked at the communication crystal in the hand of Remian''s mother and yelped. "Remian? Remian, is that you?"

    "Hi, Mindy." Remian sounded like he was wincing. "How''s the war against the Spectres?"

    "We''re winning! We''re doing much better, since we Sealed the Rift. I thought¡­ I thought you¡­" Mindy choked.

    "Yeah, I had some trouble thanks to that Spatial Loop Seal. Good job on that by the way." Remian added.

    "Oh, and¡­ and¡­! Also because we found the Spectres'' weakness!" Mindy exclaimed. "It''s water! And wood works well too!"

    "Water?" Remian blinked. "Great! We''ve got plenty of that!"

    "I know, right!"

    "And even if we didn''t, we could magick up some more!"

    "I know, right?!"

    "In fact, we have specialized airships designed for firefighting right here¡­" Remian added.

    "I kn-¡­ huh?!"

    "Yeah, apparently the Dragon Empire has firefighting airships. They respond to urban fires independently and I''m looking at one spraying water down on a whole housing block at the same time." Remian added. "I wonder if I can buy one."

    "Could you? That could really help us out." Mindy said. Plus, she would be able to steal¡­ um¡­ Admire And Learn From their design.

    "I''ll see what I can do." Remian promised.

    ***

    Phoebe had a very private conversation with Remian, then George jumped at his turn with a burning list of questions all but exploding in his head.

    "Remian! Are you all right? Are you healthy? Where did you go?"

    "Yes, in fact, I''m more than all right. Did you know, I went to a world that didn''t have mana? And I ate this pill there that increased my vitality¡­"

    "Great! That''s great! That''s¡­ so great¡­" George suddenly found his mind blank of everything he''d wanted to ask.

    "Then I went to a much more advanced world where I got arrested but they still let me use the earlier world''s money to pay for treatments, and I got those too! It was Quarin world! Oh, the Quarin are the Black Ruins Civilization! I saw the real ones, live and very obnoxious! They always look like they''re staring off into the distance, daydreaming, or otherwise gesturing in the empty air, but they''re actually not, it''s because they wear visors and see stuff on them and do things you can''t see without a visor. It''s such a pity I couldn''t bring you guys there. Actually, no, there''s a chance I could still take you there, but we would need to sell something valuable enough to get the Conglomerate to come pick us up¡­ except that those things are really hard to get¡­"

    "O-other worlds¡­?" George''s already blanked mind completely froze.

    "Oh, I brought back a girl named Xiao Yan, she''s younger than you, so please take care of her... she''s from a Class-2 civilization, which means they''re even less advanced technologically than we are¡­ but their martial traditions are far more firmly established, it''s like everyone in their world practices martial arts or something, like there''s always some sort of war going on between themselves¡­ oh, speaking of which, our whole world is in danger. We have some two hundred years before some terrible interstellar swarm of giant insects come and gobble up all other life in this sector¡­"

    "Wha¡­" George felt like the ice in his brain was cracking to pieces, dozens of tiny, whirling pieces that laughed madly and randomly for no sense at all because all sense had cleverly given up at this point.

    "Oh, and treat the dragons politely, will you? Apparently, the Dras Clan are the current owners of this planet, this whole star system and the star systems nearby. George? George are you there?"

    "Uh¡­ urga¡­ woo gu?" George''s brain was already gone past the point of being able to articulate.

    "Your friend is weird." A young girl''s voice sounded on the other side of the communications crystal.

    Tim burst in. "Remian! When are you getting back?"

    "Um¡­ I''m not sure. I''m in the Dragon Empire now, if you guys could send an airship to pick me up, that could help¡­"

    "There''s no need to wait that long. The Song Clan are sending airships over to the Bog Marshes. They''re helping Song Chen build the Great Docks, and they said something about the Dragon Empire sending a fleet of some sort to fight the Spectres¡­ except that we''re still waiting and they still haven''t arrived."

    "Song Chen''s Bog Marshes? That sounds good. It''s closer to Three Pines than Kara-Goth. Can Song Chen get me an introduction or something?"

    "I''ll get Song Chen!" George said, his thoughts finally coherent, and dashed out, leaving Tim to talk to Remian.

    "So¡­ how are things with you?" Remian asked Tim.

    "Other than the war with the Spectres, it''s going great. We''ve completely taken over Fal''Herim, and everyone and everything in it listens to me, including Khar''al-dras himself." Tim assured Remian. "We get to hire anyone we want, build and sell whatever we like, and sell at whatever price we like. It''s awesome."

    "Khar''al-dras? Since when did you get involved with dragons?!"

    "Since we needed more power to fight the Spectres. I investigated the underground Draconian ruins and found out how to properly ask him for help. Actually, it''s just waking him up nicely and getting him breakfast. Otherwise, he''ll be grumpy."

    "Not grumpy is good. The last time Khar''al-dras woke up grumpy, he destroyed half the city. Question is what would happen once the Spectres are cleaned out. Do you know how to put him back to sleep?"

    "He''s already itching to do that." Tim assured Remian. "As long as the threat is over, he''ll just happily go back to sleep. There''s also a bit of a ritual for that, but I know exactly how to do it. Don''t worry."

    "Ritual? You mean there''s some magic phrase?"

    "Yes and no. Like the phrase to wake him up, there''s also a phrase to help him along the way to dreamland."

    "Great! I''m actually surprised it''s a secret. You''d think something like that was important enough to share around with everyone."

    Tim chuckled. "Oh, it''s not really that much of a secret. In fact, I dare say everyone at Fal''Herim knows what the phrase is. They use it all the time."

    "Really? What is it?"

    Tim solemnly spoke it. "''Fal''herim, Khar''al-dras''."

    There was a short, stunned silence. A phrase that everyone there knew, indeed!

    Tim went on. "In Draconian tongue, it really just means ''rest well'', or ''good night''. There''s no magic or anything, it''s just being a pleasantry."

    Remian sighed. "Of course. The phrase was so important, they named their whole city after it. There was absolutely no way anyone would forget it then! They just forgot what it was for."

    "Only the royals knew what it was really for, and the last Desert King died too suddenly to share it with anyone." Tim surmised. "Keeping it a secret from the rest of his family was probably his way of ensuring his own power."

    Tim went on to tell Remian about the war, such as it was, including the Flame Emperor''s fall, Max''s death, his old orphan friends he found that Mindy brought to the Academy, Tang Yin, the Seal, and the Church battle fleet.

    "Goodness, you guys have been busy." Remian managed at last.

    Then again, he was one to speak. All they had gone through, they did in a matter of weeks. He, on the other hand, had been studying for ten years.

    Finally, George arrived, pushing Song Chen in a wheelchair.

    "What happened to him?" Tim asked George.

    "Broken legs, broken arm, and more bruising than I ever want to see." George summarized. "Song Chen, Remian is in the Dragon Empire. Could your people bring him along with the next batch that comes over?"

    "I''m not sure." Song Chen said slurrily. "There are too many people, not enough airships."

    "Your Clan is that big?!" George was astonished.

    "Not just Clan. Hired workers. Builders." Song Chen managed.

    "Well, I was going to buy a firefighting airship anyway. I could simply join the fleet for the trip." Remian suggested.

    "Yes¡­ need more airshis¡­" Song Chen slurred. "More peoples¡­ lesh time¡­ pleash¡­ elp."

    "I think he''s done for." George observed him. "Lydia gave him something for the pain, but it seems to make him drowsy."

    "Ah. Right. He should be sleeping. Just tell us who Remian can talk to and how to join up."

    "Song Han¡­ Capital¡­ say phrase¡­ thrumming melody."

    "Find Song Han at the Capital, and tell him the phrase ''thrumming melody''. Got it." Remian said. "Thanks."

 309 A Week In The Dragon Empire

    Upon hearing that he was coming from the Dragon Empire, Remian''s parents both gave him shopping lists.

    "School supplies?" Remian blinked. "You want me to bring books and stationery from the Dragon Empire?"

    "Yes, we''re almost at the point of scribbling on leaves here." Lisa Vin''s voice came back patiently over the communications crystal.

    "School, huh." Remian thought for a bit. "Dad, Mom, there''s some stuff I''d like everyone to learn. I think we should make some changes to the school and the learning systems."

    "Great. Let''s have a meeting when you get back." Damien Vin''s voice replied. "Just hurry back, all right? I don''t think your Mom or Phoebe can stand to wait much longer."

    Phoebe, it seems, had become a lot closer to his parents while he was away. With a rueful half-smile, Remian finally ended the call and put down the communications crystal. His hand had been holding it so long, it felt numb.

    Then, looking at the crystal, Remian shook his head. "How are we ever going to get along without mana?"

    The ambient mana here in the Dragon Empire was extremely thin, thinner even than he remembered. Didn''t mana come through the Rift when it was opened? Surely a lot did. But how is it that none of that seemed to have reached these parts? Was it all exhausted before it even got this far?

    To be fair, Bee Hoon Town was far from the Wildlands, for mana to travel from there to here, it would have to cross the middle east region (Paleres or Ira or one of their neighbors) and easily half the Dragon Empire which covered over one third of the eastern continent. This town was on the northern side of the Dragon Empire, close to the border with Mendev, the second largest country on the eastern continent, two thirds the size of the Dragon Empire.

    But of course, Mendev lacked many things which made the Dragon Empire powerful. For example, they didn''t have Zor''khan-dras as an Emperor. Having the Great Dragon of Lightning as Emperor, a member of the Dras Clan that ruled this whole sector, definitely gave his people a great many advantages. That wasn''t even mentioning their lands; Mendev was half ice and snow while the Dragon Empire was full of fertile lands, mountains rich in ore, many rivers and farms, thick ancient woods¡­

    In the past, Remian thought that the Dragon Empire dominated the world due to overwhelming military might. Their fleets and armies were flat out unmatched by any single nation in the world. Speculators suggested that it would take all the military might of the midlands and the middle east together to stand any chance of stopping them.

    Having come from the Rainforest Commonwealth, vassals of the Dragon Empire, Remian had long ago felt that the Dragon Empire''s greatest problem was poverty. The vast majority of the people in the commonwealth and a huge portion of those in the Empire were struggling to make ends meet. Families with both parents working a main job and a side job were common. Young couples starting their own families were unable to afford housing and had to stay with parents, and generally avoided having children if at all possible until they could buy a place of their own. The honored phrase ''three generations under one roof'' used to imply a prosperous household, such as a housing estate with many residential wings capable of hosting an entire clan, but when it applied to a cottage, things looked a lot less honorable.

    But surely that problem would pass since the Dragon Empire was becoming wealthier very quickly. They were selling Red Mana Crystals for hundreds of millions every week. Surely, surely, the people would be richer¡­

    Looking around, Remian frowned. Here in Bee Hoon Town, the locals were actually bargaining with the restaurant staff for their meals. Five lir for a meal was average, three lir for the cheapest possible meals, and yet people were asking if they could pay later or some such.

    Where did all the money go? Fifty million lir for a red mana crystal, and what happened to all the money?

    There were dark rumors floating around the place where Remian grew up. Whispers spoke of how dragons loved to hoard wealth, sleeping on piles of gold as it were.

    Thinking back now, Remian wondered if it was true, after all. Humans didn''t seem all that important to Draconians, and the Dras Clan basically owned this world, which was on the verge of getting eaten by the Mitigok anyway, so in a grim manner, it did sort of make sense to squeeze the planet dry of whatever they could get and leave quickly.

    But while two hundred years might be a brief nap for the Great Dragons, for humans it would be entire lifetimes. Millions of people would live their entire lives downtrodden, suffering the exploitation and uncaring demands of their rulers. That was one of the reasons Remian left and sought a better life for his family in the Frontier.

    Was it, though? Was it really a better life for his family in the Wildlands? After fighting the Wilds for so long, they finally won peace and greedy people brought on the Spectres. His parents were living in separate airships, with the sound of gunfire as their daily background noise. Eriane was flying around with the Eagle Princess and a sniper rifle every day. Sabriane had so many patients needing emergency medical attention and so much work at the hospital, she didn''t even have time to say hello when he called home. Darian was at the very forefront of battle, risking life and limb in constant battles toe-to-toe against the very strongest and most powerful foes. In what way were they better off there than here?!

    Maybe¡­ maybe Mandy was right. Maybe she had chosen the better path, choosing to live in peace.

    At least now that the world war was over, she had that much. Right? Right¡­?

    "I''ve never seen that look on your face before." Xiao Yan observed suddenly. "What were you thinking about?"

    Remian grimaced. "My ex-wife."

    "Oh."

    ***

    They boarded an airship for the trip to the Capital, a city so large, Remian couldn''t see the end of it, even from an airship''s decks. It was evening by the time they got off at the airport, so Remian went looking for decent accommodations.

    There was no shortage of choices, from the extravagant to the ramshackle, but Remian ended up in a Deutero Travelers Inn an hour from the airport by carriage, in the district neighboring the Song Clan. It was night by the time they arrived, and they opted for a quiet dinner at a restaurant opposite the inn thinking to visit the Song Clan and find Song Han in the morning.

    For some reason, both of them felt awfully hungry. Despite the over-salted fried kuey teow (by Remian''s estimation, Xiao Yan seemed to find it delicious), they ate a lot of it, and went to sleep with exceedingly full stomachs.

    "Let''s not rush to wake up tomorrow." Remian suggested as he picked one of the beds in the room. "It''s fine to sleep in and rest up."

    "Great!" Xiao Yan yawned and all but collapsed on her own bed.

    Stretching out, tired and full, Remian went to sleep that night thinking of all the things he would do the next day.

    But he would never do those things.

    The next day, Remian did not wake up.

    ***

    Actually, it was to be expected. No matter how good the technology of the Quarin Sleep Enhancement was, going through Three Hundred Times Virtual Acceleration was bound to put an incredible strain on even the toughest and most talented Psionics.

    Xiao Yan was in better condition but the fact remained; the pair of them slept right through the next day, and the next, and the next¡­

    Five days into their unexpected hibernation, Xiao Yan woke up hungry. Seeing Remian still asleep and remembering that he had wanted to sleep in, she considerately left him alone and thoughtfully took his money to go shopping¡­

    By the time Remian woke up, two days later, Xiao Yan had already spent over two hundred thousand lir.

    ***

    "What''s all this?" Remian stared at the piles of stuff in their room in a daze.

    "These are school supplies, the ones listed by your parents." Xiao Yan pointed to one stack of packages. "That chest contains a few mana crystals for Phoebe. That''s Dragon Empire food, mainly dried noodles of various sorts. Those smaller packages on top are spices, Song Chen especially asked for Southern Imperial brand curry powder. Did you know the Southern Imperials are dark skinned? A lot of them are practically black."

    "I remember curry. We used to have that around the Rainforest Commonwealth too. But we could never afford something as pricey as Southern Imperial brand. Our neighbor basically made her own style and traded some with us in return for papaya from our tree."

    "What''s papaya?"

    Remian got up. "It''s a fruit. Let''s see if the restaurant has some on the menu."

    "They don''t open for breakfast. But don''t worry. This inn provides breakfast for all staying guests at the diner downstairs."

    "There''s a diner?"

    ***

 310 With the Song Clan

    The Song Clan estate was more like a separate town than a housing compound. It had its own shops, its own hospital, and several restaurants all of whom were open to the public at the entrance plaza. It also had its own school, its own library, and its own herb farms, among other things, which were not open to the public.

    In between what was open to public and what was not (sometimes physically) was the Song Estate Security Force. The captain of that security force was a grizzled veteran named Song Han.

    This was the guy Song Chen told Remian to look for.

    He eyed them with a frown. "Oh? What brings you to the Song Estate Security Center? You''re not just running in here from the rain, are you?"

    "I rather like the rain, actually." Remian mused. "It''s like it has its own thrumming melody."

    There was a short pause. Then, a small smile appeared on Song Han''s face. "Well, then, it seems little Song Chen has been making friends."

    "How did you know it was Song Chen?" Remian marveled. "Does everyone have a different password?"

    "Every branch has its own, and every generation has its variant. But Song Chen is the only heir of his generation within his branch, and thus, yours is rather specific to him."

    "I see. I''m Remian Vin. This is Xiao Yan."

    "Song Han, just as you asked for. Now, what can I do for you?"

    "I want to join the next convoy to the Wildlands."

    "That¡­ could be difficult." Song Han scratched his head.

    "I''ll bring my own airship. I''ll even help you take some cargo along."

    "Welcome aboard!" Song Han instantly concluded. "The convoy leaves tomorrow morning. Please have your airship at our Song Estate docks ready to go by sunrise."

    "Wow, that''s early." Remian half-yawned thinking of how early he would need to wake up. Even after a week of sleep, he felt unusually groggy.

    "It''s a long trip to the Wildlands, and we plan to stop at the borders of the Empire for a night." Song Han explained. "Then the next day, we go around the middle east region, avoiding their land and their airspace. That way, we avoid conflicts, tolls and all sorts of complications."

    "A two day trip? Wow, that''s fast." Remian mused. It had taken him a week the first time he made the journey from the Commonwealth. Then again, his earlier ride had stopped many times to pick up and drop off passengers and cargo.

    So agreeing to meet them the next day, Remian asked about airships. Song Han generously offered to bring Remian to the Nobles Shipyard.

    It wasn''t that simple, of course. There was this arrogant snob called Song Ming who was not at all fond of Song Chen, and he started to cause trouble for Remian¡­

    But never mind. He went running off to the toilets in short order and was kept thus occupied for the better part of the day.

    Meanwhile Remian went to buy airships. Among the things Xiao Yan had bought, there were a few things on his list that she simply could not get. Airships and sophisticated medical magic machinery were among them.

    ***

    "This is the Kelpie." Song Han introduced him to a sturdy red Frigate outfitted for putting out fires in a hurry.

    They were at the Nobles Shipyard, the second best air shipwright in the Capital. Barring the Imperial Shipyard which served only the Imperial Family and its forces, the Nobles Shipyard was frequented by the ranking aristocracy, the richest private citizens, and the biggest companies and guilds.

    Despite the name, however, the fact was the Nobles Shipyard was also owned by the Imperial Family. To be precise, it was owned by the Third Prince, Sior''khan-dras as was the Imperial Shipyard, and the Industrious Shipyard, which was a mass producer of simpler, cheaper designs, including the airlifted carriages actually never flew and relied on wheels. Within the Capital of the Dragon Empire, the Third Prince controlled all the shipyards.

    The military? Why their airships were all built by the Imperial Shipyards, of course. All military forces in the Empire were directly under the control of the Emperor. Even the Imperial Police were directly under the Crown Prince Zar''khan-dras. Like the military, they too, bought their airships from the Imperial Shipyards.

    Sior''khan-dras even owned a naval shipyard. The Dragon Empire actually had a small navy (small in comparison with its air force and ground armies, but much larger than anything the Eastern Sea People nearby could manage) which was the Naval Shipyard''s biggest customer. Not many dared traverse the sea, but with Ti''ela-dras and Sel''ea-dras for an uncle and aunt, it sort of made sense that Sior''khan-dras wasn''t as afraid of the sea as human sailors.

    Maybe that was why the Kelpie was designed to be seaworthy as well as airworthy, and most importantly, be able to transition between both. This airship was capable to quick dip runs to pick up tons of water from the sea and rush over to the burning sites to spray that water. It was had magic water cannons capable of focused streams or wide-spread sprays.

    The downside, of course, was its fuel. Mana-dust fuel was very expensive these days, and these Kelpies were built for quick response, not fuel economy.

    "What about Tugs?" Remian asked. On defense, the Kelpies could quickly move to intercept Spectres when alarms were blaring, but if used on offense, say, to hunt them down, perhaps using mage-powered Tugs would suit better?

    There were a few for sale. Song Han suggested one in particular, the Mastiff Frigate. It could be manned by up to twenty magi working in concert and was famous for safely and securely Tugged every Galleon that ever crossed Imperial skies.

    Both the Mastiff and the Kelpie had a bulky, muscular look to them. Remian was starting to wonder if this was simply the Third Prince''s tastes, or it was meant to inspire confidence in anyone looking at them. Despite knowing that their locomotive power was actually reliant on internal components rather than external looks, Remian couldn''t help feeling that these two vehicles were strong and reliable.

    Both of these were Commercial-grade Tier 4 Frigates. Remian was about to confirm the deal when he heard shouting outside.

    "No more wasting! Save our mana!" the chant sounded.

    "What''s going on?" Remian blinked.

    "People are complaining that these airships waste mana unnecessarily. They''d rather save our limited remaining mana for important things like medical machinery, food refrigeration, and their home air conditioning." Song Han explained wryly.

    "Is this normal? How long have they been doing that?" Remian asked. "Standing out there and shouting?"

    "About¡­ twenty seconds?" Song Han coughed. "I''m sorry, Remian, it seems someone had seen fit to stir up trouble and leaked information about your purpose here."

    Someone¡­ like Song Ming, most probably.

    Again, he wasn''t important and not likely to ever appear again, so Remian basically ignored it and bought his airships. With a few crewmen borrowed from Song Han, they flew off into the afternoon sky, free and far away from crowds of hired protesters.

    As for wreaking righteous vengeance, well¡­ who was he to stop the Song Clan from sharing some of their wealth with their less fortunate neighbors? If they wanted to pay people to shout, Remian saw no cause to get in their way.

    ***

    In the end, Remian brought four airships with him on the convoy, two Mastiff Tugs and two Kelpie Firefighting Frigates. The amount of cargo he could help the Song Clan bring was rather low, since the Tugs did most of the work and the Kelpies were little more than cargo themselves¡­ but Song Han didn''t complain, and even offered Remian free rations and a bit of crystal dust fuel.

    Thus they sailed directly for Song Chen''s Bog Marshes, specifically the construction site for what should later become the Bog Marshes Great Docks.

    ***

    "Remian! You''re back!"

    "Urghk! Phoebe! Too tight¡­ too tight! Can''t¡­ breathe!!"

    Ten minutes later¡­

    "By the way, guys, where''s Mindy?"

    "You didn''t see her? After one week waiting and you didn''t show up¡­ she took Loh and went to the Dragon Empire to look for you."

    Unknown to them, while the Song Clan Convoy sailed south-east by the coastline, the Red Fang had hurriedly made its way over the clouds to Bee Hoon Town.

    There was a bare moment, just a sliver of time, in which Mindy and Remian could possibly have turned spyglasses at each others'' airships and seen each other there, but the clouds were heavy, and traffic was too, and neither of them saw fit to thorougly investigate every airship that crossed their paths.

    So it was that Remian and Mindy passed by within two kilometers of each other.

 311 New Goals

    Three hours after landing, reuniting and chatting with his parents and Phoebe, Remian finally sat down with George for a serious conversation.

    "You want me to plant¡­ what?" George stared blankly.

    "These. They''re the seeds of Lenisu Vines. They''ll take about three years or so to mature before we can harvest Lenisu Bulbs." Remian looked at him seriously. "These Bulbs are extremely important, George. I honestly believe they are the future of our world."

    "Are they good to eat?" George asked doubtfully. "Or some sort of medicine?"

    "Better. They''re an energy source, like mana crystals."

    George gaped. "We can grow mana crystals?!"

    "Not exactly. They produce electricity, not mana. Think of them as super-lemons."

    "What do lemons have to do with electricity?"

    "Uh¡­ someday, I''ll have to show you with a couple of wires. Just don''t try it with Lenisu Bulbs; you''ll die."

    "But these¡­ these are alien plants, aren''t they? Can they even survive on this world? Can they survive competing with the local plant-life?"

    "I think so. Actually, I''d be worried that the plant-life of our world might not be able to survive them."

    George shuddered. "Perhaps you''re asking the wrong guy to plant these."

    "What do you mean?"

    "This sort of dangerous plant is best grown on islands. Tim is nearer to the Midlands Sea. There are islands there¡­"

    "Half, then. I''ll give Tim half, while you handle the other half. We need lots and lots of these vines, George. We need entire forests of them, enough to supply the entire world."

    "But¡­ but the Wilds¡­!"

    "I''ll talk to Mal''thor. He''ll love the idea."

    "He will?"

    "Trust me. He''ll even love the taste."

    "The¡­ taste?!"

    "Apparently Draconians love snacking on these Bulbs."

    Then the subject turned to architecture and underground (or built-into-hills, more like) colonies with lots of sunlight and open spaces. Considering the locations of the Iron Mines, the Gem Mines, and the Misty Steel Mines, they discussed building subterranean arcologies until night fell.

    And then Arnold got kidnapped. There was no other way to describe what happened. Despite all his protests, Remian practically hauled him away in the middle of the night and started filling his head with ideas about metal that were literally out of this world.

    That conversation lasted until morning, after which, Arnold was seen walking around in a speechless daze for the better part of an hour.

    By that time, Remian already had his hands on Jim¡­

    ***

    Mindy, at the time, was beating up three guys who were local spoiled brats. Thinking the world of themselves and very little of that tired and dirty Wildlands girl wandering around the airport asking about some guy, they made the mistake of provoking her in three different ways.

    One guy insulted her as dirty and cheap and unworthy of his attention even as a loose woman very quickly gained a mouthful of loose teeth. He was also introduced to the first-hand experience of what being dirty really felt like.

    Seeing that, a second guy tried to proposition this strong and pretty girl into being his personal, intimate maid, the kind who could handle his attire and undress him¡­ he very quickly landed up hanging from his belt at the top of a flagpole while Mindy showed her abilities of handling his apparel. Bereft of most of his clothing, he spent half the day shaking in the breeze together with the proud flag of the Dragon Empire.

    Then their friend the third guy threatened her with his well-recognized status as the son of some noble or the other. This guy ended up even higher, joining the well-recognized adornments atop the town''s bell tower, his ears ringing with the bells upon every hour that passed until lunch time.

    Mindy might have lost most of her powers, but she was definitely more than capable of handling some local silkpants young masters and their entire entourage of bodyguards with only a little effort.

    Having thus laid low one guy and exalted two others (one at 30ft, the other at 50ft altitude above sea level) Mindy thereafter left the inquiries to the cleaner, better-dressed Loh, who was able to tout the identity of a Member of Tian Di (Club, not Sect, but don''t tell them that!). She herself finally went to an Information Broker thinking to buy the information she desired, only to find that they couldn''t sell it to her no matter what she paid; they''d never heard of Remian, never heard of anyone who returned from other worlds or some such. Several of them suggested she look for him in some good, entertaining fantasy novels.

    At last, George called her and told her Remian had already arrived. As to his condition, he seemed to have his head in the clouds and kept talking about all sorts of weird, new ideas, but physically he seemed fine and better than he''d been when they last saw him, in fact.

    Following that, after a lot of unfair raging and shouting at her communications crystal, Mindy quit abusing George''s ears and finally allowed herself to relax. Putting down her worries after all this time, she crawled into bed with a small smile on her face, a wordless apology to poor George, and went to sleep.

    Afterward¡­ maybe she''d just stick around the Dragon Empire for some fun, since she was already here¡­ or something. Maybe. She''ll figure that out when she woke up. For now, she just needed sleep.

    Of course, before the day was over, a whole gang of thugs burst into her inn looking to cause her trouble on behalf of certain embarassed young masters who shall not be named. They interrupted her sleep.

    Consequently, it was they who went to sleep soon after¡­

    ***

    After completely blowing George''s, Arnold''s, and Jim''s minds, Remian had a long discussion with Tim.

    Tim left that conversation half-stumbling around in a daze, as if he''d looked Phoebe right in the face for at least five seconds. He called his subordinates in Kara-Goth and even called Mandy back at Ashdale. All of a sudden, he wanted to buy the very latest, most advanced industrial machinery the world had to offer¡­ just to make even more advanced industrial machinery.

    "You want to build a what?" Izhan scratched his head, not knowing what to make of Tim''s sudden ambitions.

    "An Arc Furnace! We''re going to use lightning instead of fire!" Tim tried to explain from his limited understanding of what Remian was rambling about.

    This was the easier method, Tim believed, compared to the other one Remian talked about, the one where lightning was not released and remained trapped inside ''induction coils''. He said that an induction furnace was like an induction cooker, only for metals¡­ Tim had no clue what that even meant. Using arc lightning in a furnace was about as far as his imagination and understanding could safely take him without crossing over into the realms of madness.

    "B-but¡­ to cast lightning magic¡­ that much mana¡­"

    "No, no, we won''t be using mana."

    "Then?"

    "At the beginning, we''re going to be getting some help from the Deepsilver Lord."

    "The Lord of the Black Depths?"

    "A super electric eel, in short." Tim paused. "But that''s our long term goal. More urgently, we need to raise our production of copper."

    "Copper? Whatever for?"

    "For conductivity. It''s cheaper than silver, at least."

    "What in the world is ''conductivity''?"

    "Ask Remian." Tim groaned, holding his head. "Or wait until he has it taught in his new school curriculum."

    "You want me to go back to school?!" Izhan balked.

    "Just think about how to produce more copper!" Tim barked. "If we need to build more buildings or expand the district, then let me know! We''re going to need a crazy amount of it, and soon!"

    "W-what do you want to do?!"

    "Everything!" Tim groaned. "There''s just too many¡­ I don''t even know where to start!"

    ***

    Actually, the plan was to start from early Class-2 machinery and power harnessing, such as the waterwheel and windmill, to develop an industry that did not rely on magic.

    But George sank that plan due to their currently reliance of magic in everything, from medical needs to their main industrial productivity. This was especially true with Frames; it was practically a Kara-Goth specialty, and a unique advantage they enjoyed over all other nations. To throw that away for nothing was simply unacceptable. For equipment as sophisticated as Frames, using electricity would take them extremely long, maybe generations, before they were developed enough. Just how sophisticated were Frames? Arnold had gone to the point of inscribing runes into different parts of the new Frame experimental designs and making them customizable and replaceable parts. The newest idea he had was to make Frames that could easily change their damaged parts or swap power sources or heavy equipment just by plugging them out or in.

    Unfortunately all that would require even more mages, and powerful ones at that, highly skilled in a select variety of crafts and magics, like runesmithing¡­ which Remian shot down on the spot. At this point, such mages were already in extremely high demand, very, very expensive to hire, and trying to attract even one of them over was going to cost them a hand and a foot.

    No, they needed to turn towards cheaper designs, lower costs so that more people could afford to use them, because Frames really boosted the productivity and abilities of just about everyone and everything around Kara-Goth.

    In other words, Remian''s original grand plan was already sunk, and George''s original grand plan was already blown away, so everybody was stuck in a lost state, not quite sure where they were going while the two main architects generally agreed to come up with something-in-between as they went along.

 312 Worldwide Chaos

    While Remian was engrossed in dreams of a brighter tomorrow, leaders across the rest of the world were engulfed in a nigtmare today. Over the week in which Remian was sleeping, the world was in tumult.

    As mana ran out everywhere, entire economies and industries began to shut down. Without crystal power, a huge amount of magic devices were rendered useless and even those which could be powered manually by mages began to go unused as hiring mages became more and more difficult and expensive.

    Some managed to pull together and adapt peacefully, giving up on power and luxury and magic, all but returning to the iron age. These were mainly small nations like Kiwi Ko, the Northern Sea People, the remnants of the Midlands Sea People, and half the East Sea People, those in the southern seas.

    The other half of the East Sea People (of the islands off the northern coast), along with many larger nations, turned to martial law to maintain order. Practically all of them quickly declared war upon other nations and directed the rising hostility of their people outwards. The entire south-western continent exploded in war, affecting even the Azte Empire, which spanned the southernmost region of the north-western continent and the narrow neck of land to the south-western continent.

    The other powers of the north-western continent, however, managed to avoid the worst of it, turning to Libertaria''s newly developed technology. Steam power, electricity and telegrams dominated; railways stretched across the entire north-western continent as many powers joined Libertaria or their closest ally, Torres. In time to come, these two powers alone would fill almost all of the north-western continent (except the strife-filled Azte lands).

    Over on the eastern continent, the Dragon Empire dominated. While everybody else and their uncle flat out ran out of mana, somehow, the Dragon Empire was able to maintain a steady supply. No matter how hard their neighbors tried, they were unable to learn the secrets or source of this supply. Already, the price the Dragon Empire demanded for their Red Crystals was unaffordable. Entire nations had practically gone bankrupt vying for them in auction only to use them up at terrifying rates. War erupted on every side, countries swallowing countries in a single week, but the Dragon Empire remained steady and unaffected the whole way through, merely snapping up a few smaller neighbors at its convenience.

    The Hyung and the Yellow Empire very quickly burst out into a three-way war, each citing grievances and atrocities enacted by the other ages ago. The Yakh tried to raid Mendev, but were practically slaughtered. Mendev itself at first tried to rely on Ecclesia, but once the crystals ran out, even Ecclesia had a shortage of mages to manually power all their essentials.

    In fact, Ecclesia seemed to be getting it worse than Mendev. While Mendev could point to them and blame them for not sharing, the residents and citizens of Ecclesia felt entitled to the services and mana of Ecclesia''s mages for their every need and convenience. A whole lot of grumbling and complaining rose up from the citizenry, while the mages shot back complaints with even more acridity. "If you don''t like it, you go power your own devices!"

    When several cases of magi getting kidnapped and practically enslaved appeared, there was a huge uproar from the magic community and the entire place almost erupted into civil war.

    It was around that time that the majority of the Church of Light disappeared. Their priests and priestesses, the families of their clergy and all known confirmed members of the Church of Light were suddenly nowhere to be found. Even their airships had disappeared. The only priests remaning were the old, stubborn bible thumpers, who refused to let slip even a hint of where all the others had gone.

    But the worst of the strife happened across the north midlands continent. Bereft of mana, the once-haugty Midlands nations attempted to put aside all the grievances of their world war, and unite in an attempt to seize the Last Mana Lode from the Wilds.

    Together, they succeeded and for the space of two hours, peace and joy rang througout the nations!

    But then they discovered the terrible, inevitable truth.

    The Last Mana Lode was nowhere near as big as the rumors claimed. It was, in fact, practically surface-deep and looked to be mainly formed from the dredges of crystals already spent in the past. The whole thing was a trick, and they had paid dearly, soul-crushingly dearly, to discover it.

    This was the downfall of six different governments. Some descended into civil war. Others were swept up in anarchy. All of them suddenly faced fierce retaliation from the now-local Wilds, while just having spent the last dribbles of their mana and exhausted their mages.

    Among them all, Ashdale withdrew from the continent entirely. Now existing only in their islands off the coast, they engaged in a long and heated discussion as to how to solve the problem while maintaining the entire time that the most important thing was not to fight over it. The arguments were getting outright furious when one day, a prominent academician by the name of Professor Marakovichi received an unexpected call from the Wildlands, referred to by none other than Mandy Summers.

    That day, he went to the council and brought up a startling proposal. Five hours later, a Very Important call was made to Libertaria. With that, a desperate race to adapt electricity began.

    Meanwhile, in the middle east, blood stained the streets red. Otta, Paleres, Ira and Kuasa Besar turned on each other. The Brotherhood of Six fought its own members tooth and nail in what would soon be described as the bloodiest family feud in history. As the weeks passed Otta was suppressed from both the northern Midlands nations gone crazy and Paleres to the south. As Otta crumbled, Paleres found little in way of winnings from trouncing them and thereafter turned eyes and raiding bands toward the desert¡­ toward Fal''Herim.

    ***

    "We''ve been what¡­?" Remian stared.

    "We''ve been raided." Tim answered. "Supply convoys robbed, our crews killed¡­ one particularly strong raiding band even tried to attack Fal''Herim itself. They plundered four districts before they were beaten back, and almost reached our Industrial District. I have to go back and raise a security force¡­"

    "Would Khar''al-dras be willing to help out?"

    Tim shook his head. "Khar''al has already gone back to sleep. The war with the Spectres took a heavy toll on him and he needs years, decades to recover. It''s the same for the Emperors, isn''t it? We can''t rely on our big guys to fight off the raiders."

    "But we can''t send forces to help you either. There are still hundreds of loose Spectres roaming the south. The Church airships are doing a nice job patrolling our perimeter, but it''s up to us to clean them out." George frowned.

    "Is it?" Remian asked. "What if we were to abandon the south?"

    "You wanna tell Mindy that?" George shook his head. "I wouldn''t."

    "Mindy would have to understand. With the Church guarding the borders, we could just leave the Spectres alone until after we ensure the safety of the Industrial District. Keep in mind, this includes her own shipyards. As for the south, clearing out the remaining Spectres could take years. In order to deal with them, we need reliable supply lines, and a strong industrial base. Otherwise, if we have no way of replenishing our losses, after taking enough casualties, we would practically lose both the north AND the south."

    "Half." George bargained. "We send half our forces north, but we keep half here. I don''t want to rely entirely on strangers for our security."

    "Half, then." Remian relented. "But the new stuff built at Fal''Herim stays there to defend it."

    George paused. "Mindy has fifty Wasps at the Speckled Highlands. Her Moon Owl Lord prepared a plateau for three hundred, and she had a hundred before, but we took heavy losses since then¡­ a good many of them had already been sent back to Fal''Herim for repairs."

    "We can leave the fifty to help clean up the Spectres. The ones sent back for repairs will suffice." Tim nodded. "What about your gunboats?"

    "I have twelve active, forty in the drydocks." George grimaced. "They weren''t very tough to begin with and they don''t have the kind of speed that Mindy''s Wasps have. Would you believe it? I only have the crews for five of them. They keep coming back with badly damaged ships and just swap damaged gunboats for fresh ones on their next patrol."

    "How did Mindy get the crews for hundreds of Wasps?"

    "She hired Adventurers. Thing about Adventurers is they love flying the Wasps. Something about them being much faster, more maneuverable and less likely to get shot down than my gunboats." George grumbled. "They wouldn''t crew one of my gunboats unless I offered triple pay."

    Remian sighed. "George, we need new airship designs. Designs that don''t rely on mana, or use as little magic as possible. Whether your Gunboats or Mindy''s Wasps¡­ they''re all going to have to be replaced."

    ***

    Tim headed back to Fal''Herim with Salim''s ex-mercenaries crew and Marcus'' tattered remnants of the Iron Legion, leaving George with Song Chen and the Wildlands Defense Force and Mindy''s fifty Wasp fleet.

    To be honest, the majority of Salim''s crew and Marcus'' Iron Legion remnants all ended up brought into the city for the sake of better medical facilities. Between the two of them, the remaining combat-worthy members only numbered thirty in total, and these in desperate need of rest.

    But that was fine. Tim wasn''t planning to rely on them to fight off Paleres any way. He was reasonably sure that these raiding bands were just the start of the conflict. In time to come, they might very well have to face the full might of Paleres'' military proper. No, these guys were here just to fill in the ranks and gaps for the time being while he worked on his real plan.

    Meanwhile, Remian showed George some rough sketches of his plan to replace the airships.

    "This¡­ this isn''t an airship." George gulped.

    "No, without magic, using airships with our current level of technology is just too risky for comfort." Remian grimaced. "What you''re looking at is a land-based mode of transportation. While it''s originally meant to be a transport, it''s possible to add arms and armor."

    "What do you call it?" George asked.

    "It''s called a train." Remian explained. "To use it, we''re going to need to lay out tracks."

    ***

    It wasn''t what Remian dreamed about, but given the current available materials and engineering capabilities of Kara-Goth, it would do as a temporary measure. At least for the next twenty to forty years or so.

    Jim actually wasn''t unfamiliar with steam engines, and Arnold was very interested in Libertaria''s designs. It seemed that outright buying parts for railway tracks and trains might even be possible¡­ at the right price.

    "I''m so glad Libertaria''s already developing steam power." Remian heaved a sigh of relief. "What kind of prices are we talking about?"

    Jim told him and Remian choked.

 313 Unaccepted

    Remian soon learned that the reason why train parts were so expensive was that his ex-wife beat him to the punch.

    Jim explained it like this; "Tim called Mandy and Mandy called Marakovichi and now Ashdale is buying tons of stuff from Libertaria."

    Also, "I''m pretty sure that Ashdale''s neighbors would soon discover what they''re up to, and will make moves to do the same. Libertaria knows that too, and fully expect demand to rise accordingly."

    At this point, the countries of the world had four options to deal with the present crisis.

    First, do nothing and descend into anarchy. Second, revert to the iron age or thereabouts and settle for a life without modern amenities. Third, buy mana from the Dragon Empire, which was really expensive and would usually only be feasible if you were willing to either become a vassal of the Dragon Empire in exchange for your crystal supply or join the Dragon Empire outright.

    Fourth, they could ace to adapt to steam-engine technology. This was best achieved by buying parts and equipment from Libertaria outright. This was much cheaper than trying to buy mana crystals from the Dragon Empire, but demand and prices were about to skyrocket.

    One thing was certain; the Dragon Empire and Libertaria were both about to become very, very rich.

    Remian waved it away. "That''s fine. In the long run, a stronger Libertaria will be more helpful."

    Just having Jim around was a huge step toward developing electronics. Remian fully intended to use Libertaria''s goods as a springboard to develop toward Class-4 civilization technology.

    Otherwise, what would be the fate of his people? Even if they could somehow gain control of the Spatial Rift and flee to Xiao Yan''s world, who''s to say their world would be any farther from the Mitigok swarms? Even if they were, what would Remian''s people do? Settle down and assimilate? From what Remian understood of Xiao Yan''s world, theirs was a backward-looking culture, venerating the past heroes and always exclaiming about how their current levels were lacking in comparison with their ancestors. Theirs was a culture and a mindset forever looking back and trying to go back to the old days. How were they to advance when their ambitions were about going back?

    On top of that, theirs was a self-destructive culture, one that followed the laws of the jungle, the idea that ''might was right''. It was, frankly, a dressed-up tyranny where the strong and the powerful would do whatever they wanted and freely abuse their strength and power, and they thought that was as it should be.

    Was it some sort of Quarin control mechanism? Remian wondered. That they would design such a culture in order to trap Class-2 civilizations in their level of development, unable to advance themselves. Or was it a Draconian design, which meant that Xiao Yan''s world was also within Draconian territories?

    The existence of Quarin ruins in Xiao Yan''s world suggested the former. Her people''s veneration of dragons suggested the latter.

    Anyway. That wasn''t Remian''s dream. In the past, all he wanted was a place for his family to live and prosper. But with mana disappearing, that was no longer possible. On top of that, his dreams had changed. His very idea of prosperity had drastically shifted.

    Living in a small, backward planet like this one, already on the verge of destruction but not even realizing it¡­ that was not the destiny Remian wanted for his family and friends. He wanted to bring them to safety, yes, but not to a world of tyranny where anyone with status or power could suppress and crush them underfoot at any time for any reason they liked. No, what he really wanted was¡­ was¡­

    Remian glanced up at the sky as the evening turned to twilight and the stars began to appear in his sight.

    "I want to show my mother how I can cook with Psiorin Infusion." Remian mused. "I want to show my father how much better it is to teach through virtual edutainment than boring lectures."

    But neither of these were within his current capabilities. The best Remian could do was muddle around with their education system a bit and maybe build an induction stove.

    That was when he first encountered resistance and realized that trying to advance his people would not be as easy as he thought.

    ***

    Upon hearing a few of his tentative ideas, Remian''s mom said kindly, "Dear, we''ve been teaching for years now. We graduated from the Dragon Empire Expeditionary University, we know what we''re teaching about. Trust us, even the Principal of the University was so impressed with us, he saw fit to give us private lessons on the weekends, just a special class of six, of whom your father and I are part of. We are really well educated and well-qualified for our jobs. Don''t worry about what we teach or how we teach."

    "But there are so much better ways to teach¡­ there''s even the issue of what should be taught¡­ a lot of what you''re teaching is actually wrong¡­"

    His dad wasn''t so nice. "Forget that. You know nothing about teaching; I''ve been teaching for decades now. I know what to do. Go play with your animals and leave the school-teaching to us."

    "But you''re teaching the wrong things the wrong way! For example, the whole idea of four or five elements is wrong, both the four element system and the five element system! Even the chemistry element table with its hundreds of elements is wrong! There''s actually only one element, and that is energy! Because within atoms are particles like electrons and protons which are both types of particles, and within particles are Sriske-eionbi, which I can''t translate into our language, because our language doesn''t have a word for it¡­ and inside Sriske are Gyuvi-mas, which we also don''t have words for, but, but¡­! In the end, it''s energy! That''s why, converting energy to matter doesn''t actually exist, because matter IS energy! And that''s also why it can be done! It''s all very hard to explain."

    That was the thing about learning things psionically through virtual acceleration. Some things that could be understood when introduced directly to his mind simply couldn''t be expressed in his native tongue.

    In response to his outburst, though, Damien Vin just snorted. "You don''t even know what you''re saying. Of course the world is made of five elements. All elements are in balance, the ancient scriptures prove it. The very highest academic minds in the Dragon Empire agree on this. How can you, who has never even been to university, ever understand? Stop spouting nonsense."

    "No, it''s you who doesn''t understand and I who am unable to explain it¡­" Remian sighed.

    Lisa Vin stepped in and stopped them both before a heated argument could erupt. "Remian, dear, you must be tired. Why don''t you try some of my chicken bone soup? It''s good, really, you should try it¡­"

    "But Mom¡­"

    "Hush, dear. Don''t speak. Eat first. The soup will get cold."

    Little by little, Remian was starting to understand that he would not be able to work with his parents on this matter. As time went by and he overheard his parents whisper in hushed tones over the poor distraught son who got muddled up after coming back from a weird world, he also understood that he might very well end up on opposing sides of an academic conflict with those who thought like his parents and refused to reject their qualified years of training in the light of new information.

    As his mother turned the conversation to pleasantries, Remian also understood just how big a cost he was asking his parents to pay. Their qualifications were all-important to them, the only thing that enabled them to lift their heads high in the suppressed vassal state of the Empire that they lived in. It was what fed their family, enabled them to even contend for office, and kept them alive for so long, and it was thanks to their hard work, their honestly earned academic qualifications through much dilligence and endurance. To deny their education, to reject their own teachings¡­ it was too much to ask. Remian understood it as he left after dinner.

    If he were to introduce new teachings and new ways of teaching¡­ he would have to do it himself. If he tried to use their school to do it, he would have to destroy them entirely and take over everything to replace them. That, too, was too much for Remian.

    No, he would just have to start his own school, and teach young ones his own way. There was no other way to do it.

    How hard could it be? Remian was the Lord of Rocky Thorns territory. Craggy Falls and the entire town around it was his turf. In fact, he''d sort of started the Adventurers Guild, didn''t he? He could start this too.

    Actually, come to think of it, what happened to the Adventurers Guild? Wasn''t Max running it, last anyone checked? What would happen to it now without Max?

    Maybe he should look into that, and establish it in Rocky Thorns along with his new school.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Mindy was facing an endless stream of troubles.

    After she''d beaten up and embarassed those three brats, they called a bunch of thugs down on her.

    After she''d beaten up those thugs, their gang leaders showed up to challenge her.

    After she''d beaten up those gang leaders, their elder brothers and cousins and uncles came to threaten her.

    After she''d beaten up their elder brothers and cousins and uncles, the clan leaders of the original trio came along and turned their bodyguards against her.

    By this point she was already getting trouble for everything she tried to do. Whenever she tried to buy something, the shopkeeper would suddenly jack the price sky high for no reason, or someone else would buy it first, or it would unexpectedly be out of stock¡­

    Whenever she bid in an auction, someone would keep bidding higher and higher to ridiculous prices, and she could never win a single bid. Half the time it turned out the bidder for the item was actually the seller for the item and always, of course, affiliated with one or the other of the clans, gangs or institutes involved with someone she''d beaten up prior.

    By the third day, Mindy was getting shouted at, spat at, and glared at by practically everybody she met on the streets. Apparently everyone was a friend of a friend of someone or the other she''d offended, beaten, embarassed, or defeated somewhere along the past three days.

    Telepathically, she messaged Loh. [I can''t do this. You''ll have to handle the shopping list. Prioritize mana dust fuel.]

    Loh, it turned out, was achieving much better success with the connections of the Tian Di Sect, who graciously welcomed him as a branch member since he was in Club Tian Di. It helped that the crippled Loh allowed them to inspect the Frame that he used to walk around.

    Using Tian Di connections, he was even able to snag a few old military airship schematics and classified books on airship construction. All of these designs, however, guzzled mana fuel like there was no tomorrow. If they ever built these designs they would definitely have to buy a lot of mana fuel from the Dragon Empire to use them. Maybe that was why they were allowed to get away with them?

    [How much time¡­ do I¡­ have¡­?] Loh was new to the whole Psionic/telepathy thing, and was somewhat awkward in his sending.

    [I want to leave tomorrow.] Mindy decided.

    [Have¡­ passengers¡­ wanting¡­ ride¡­] Loh sent back.

    [Passengers? Where to?] Mindy blinked.

    [To¡­ the Wildlands¡­] Loh replied.

    Mindy gaped. [Who would want to go to the Wildlands from here?]

    [School mates¡­ Isabella''s friends¡­ the whole Club¡­]

    [What club is that?]

    [Club Faith.]

 314 Influx

    There was one thing that Isabella noticed most prominently when she joined Club Faith back at Ecclesia''s Magic Academy. There was a clause that in doing so, she also joined the Church as a registered Member.

    Upon joining, the Church promised this; their members would never go hungry. They might ask some work of her, and they had plenty of gardens in need of tending, plenty of floors that needed sweeping and lots and lots of stained glass windows that could use cleaning¡­ but the point was, no matter how poor or badly off, an accepted member of the Church would be at least given food if they were ever in dire need. When hungry, they would be fed. When thirsty, they would be given a drink. When naked, they would be clothed. When sick, they would be visited or outright tended.

    Of course, of whom much was given, much would be asked in return, for the laborer was worth his reward; and the promise was specific to Church Members, not the regular Church-goers. Simply going to church didn''t make you a member; there were requirements and qualifications and rituals and confessions and vows to go through, just the baptism alone was done over a weekend camp¡­

    The point was this; Ecclesia''s Church of Light took care of its own. They sought to make sure all their members were cared for.

    That simple promise had gotten rather difficult in this season of chaos. More and more, the demands of the public for magic and mana began to pressure the Priests and Priestesses of the Church, especially since they were seen as charity workers who used Light Magic. Various aristocrats and wealthy Ecclesians even started demanding the exclusive mana and services of these Priests to the detriment of the chapels and congregations they served.

    It was at this point that the leadership of the Church suddenly declared a massive missionary movement into the Unreached Regions and mobilized practically their entire airship fleet. This fleet went ahead to prepare the way, as it were, and played a crucial role in the defense of the Wildlands. This was the very same fleet that blasted the Spectres off from Dragon Lake.

    Afterward, they left a detachment to patrol the perimeter while the rest of the depleted fleet turned their efforts toward bringing the missionaries over¡­

    Those missionaries, incidentally, included the vast majority of the clergy and their families. It also included every willing participant from the Church Members who had magical abilities. Needless to say a huge portion of those who could use magic wanted to get away from the turmoil and violent demands brewing all across the Midlands and Eastern Continent. They brought their families, friends, pets¡­

    It was a huge movement. Over the course of a few days, the Church brought in thousands of Priests, Priestesses, Members, their families and luggage. Their massive airship fleet was unable to handle all of the passengers and cargo; they had to charter other ships, using Church-owned enterprises and subsidiaries (like Club Faith) to offer good money for transports to the Wildlands. Not many accepted that job, but among those which did was the Quartermaster of the Red Fang, a crippled boy who used a customized exoskeleton Frame to walk named Loh¡­

    Mindy loved it. The job was easy money, the passengers were Magic Academy students who could help power the airship, and the destination was her own home.

    George, however, was aghast. "The Church of Light is coming here?! The WHOLE Church?? We''re talking about thousands of people! Can we even manage that many refugees?"

    "Thousands of people with at least a little bit of magical ability." Darian pointed out. On behalf of Doom, for the sake of Fel''s pleading, due to the requests of the Temple Knights, somehow or the other, the job of broaching the subject to Kara-Goth''s leadership had fallen to him. "They''re not exactly refugees either. They''re bringing over tons of stuff, including tools and supplies. Think of them as skilled settlers, colonists daring to brave the Wild Frontier just like before."

    "They''re basically running away. That makes them refugees."

    "I''d rather call them immigrants."

    "What are we even going to do with thousands of Priests? We''re not particularly religious in the first place! We don''t need thousands of churches in Kara-Goth!"

    "So let them settle their own towns, or join the mining towns or Song Chen''s Great Port. Think about it; thousands of Light Mages with Healing Magic! Thousands of capable Scroll-Casters! Think of how many of our own are injured and in need of medical attention! Think of the injured Wilds!"

    "Fine, so we could use the healing magic, and we could use the manpower, especially in clearing out the Spectres. But then what? What happens when all the injured are healed and all the Spectres are mopped up, and we''re left with thousands of jobless Priests on our hands?"

    "Find them other jobs. Have them bless the farms or something. Many of them are experienced teachers. The Church will take care of its own. Let them figure it out themselves."

    George paused. "Can they lay railway tracks?"

    "Not the Priests themselves, perhaps, but they have plenty of family and friends and affiliates among their number who could. At worst, the Temple Knights have been known to take on road-building tasks together with the Iron Legion. Railway tracks are basically just another kind of road, aren''t they?"

    George sighed. "Somehow, I wonder whether the Church will be as cooperative as you make them out to be. Why did they even come here, of all places?"

    "Isn''t it because it''s peaceful here? There''s plenty of room, the greatest threat of the Wilds have become friends, and most importantly; we owe them." Darian pointed out. "We owe them big."

    "I was wondering why they were so willing to help us fight off the Spectres. Now that I think of it, spending a bit of mana to buy homes for thousands of people suddenly sounds like a huge bargain on their part." George sighed. "Fine, let them come. But they have to follow our rules, got it?"

    "Sure."

    ***

    The Church wasn''t the only one calling in that favor.

    "You want to bring in how many?!"

    "Roughly five thousand. Look, I''m desperate." Marcus grimaced. "These are the families of the Iron Legion, the families of the fallen. I can''t leave them in Itarim! They''re facing riots, attacks from foreign countries, attacks from the Midlands Wilds, their ports are blockaded by the Deep Emperor, their airships can barely function without fuel, their mages are exhausted and taking any chance they can get to escape to places which offer better security and better pay. Itarim is falling apart and we need someplace safe for our women and children at least."

    George spluttered. "But it''s dangerous here! These are the most dangerous lands in the world!"

    "Ah, but the dangers are on our side now. The Wilds have become our friends. That changes everything." Marcus pointed out. "Look, I''m not asking you to take care of them. They''ll see to their own needs. They only need protection from the Wilds."

    George sighed. "Fine. Bring them in."

    ***

    Even Ashdalians were coming over.

    "Charlie, why are you bringing refugees here?" George protested.

    "I didn''t know where else to bring them!" Charlie admitted. "They''re mages, and the families of mages. Anywhere else in the world, they''d be turned into walking power plants for whatever magical devices. But out here, practically every child in the trees has the ability to use magic. Every family has multiple Scroll-Casters. Most households are entirely capable of handling the mana needed by their own devices by themselves. Very few places, like the hospital, ever uses more devices than can be manually handled by their own people. The most important thing is that order is maintained by the Wilds, so it won''t fall into chaos even if there was no mana left in the world. The Lords, Kings and Emperors of the Wilds don''t use any mana devices at all. They''re not even human. Therefore, they might eat someone, but they''ll never imprison him and force him to work to empower devices all their lives."

    George sat down with a groan. "Fine. Bring them in. But next time, can you bring construction workers instead? We need to build railroads."

    "Not from Ashdale, I can''t. Ashdale is building railroads too." Charlie paused. "But I think Deutero could definitely help out in that area."

    ***

    Ten days later, Charlie came back with six Deutero Sky Galleons full of passengers and their belongings.

    "Um¡­ you didn''t say how many construction workers you needed¡­"

 315 Rising Strength

    Twenty thousand people.

    In the three weeks since Remian returned to the Wildlands, the population of Kara-Goth more than quadrupled. Construction was underway for major mining towns, Remian''s Craggy Falls, Tim''s Nightshare Farm and Song Chen''s Great Docks, but until they were ready, the masses crowded Kara-Goth and the Encles settlement. Campsites spread around the hills in every direction. Massive amounts of food had to be imported from Three Pines despite the Farms'' best efforts. Darian had a hand in helping with that, having elephant-sized fish brought over from Dragon Lake daily.

    The new immigrants were given nothing for free. They were given work, and accordingly were paid generously in order to keep up with the sudden spike in food prices. The highest paying jobs were to be found in Sabriane''s hospital, where the need for healing magic and medical skills were at an all-time high.

    Roads leading from Kara-Goth to the Amber Gorge mining towns sprouted up within days. Two small villages serving as rest stops popped up along those roads, one at the junction leading off toward the Misty Steel Mining Town, the other on the approach to Amber Gorge where the road split towards the North Amber Mines and the South Amber Mines, both of which mined gems. Thus Misty Junction Village and Amber Junction Village were born. Misty Steel Town was actually placed at the Tin Mines across the springs from the Misty Steel deposits, but two mines had been joined into one via tunnels, so a single town, protected from the south by water, served to exploit both.

    As for Kara-Goth itself, the settlement extended north from the hills, out into the open hollow between the hills and the old Fort Spoas. George planned to build a new airport farther north, halfway to Fort Spoas, with the extended city in-between.

    Remian tried to talk him out of it for two main reasons; first, underground arcologies would be a lot safer against future attacks. Second, the Wilds wouldn''t be too happy seeing too many human structures cover the landscae.

    Indeed, they weren''t. Shadowflash in particular was not pleased with the forests rapidly disappearing and two entire hills vanishing to the quarry rushing to meet stone demands.

    [Enough!] he thundered one day. [No more! No more felling trees! No more villages or towns! Leave my lands alone or leave my lands entirely!]

    George tried his best to negotiate and appease the Lord of the Wilds, but only succeeded in winning construction rights for the area between Kara-Goth and the desert, including the old Fort Spoas ruins. As for the rest, what already began construction was permitted to continue, but similar towns and villages planned for the region south of Rocky Ford had to be immediately canceled.

    The sole exception was the Silver Mines and accompanying town, which were on the very edge of Shadowflash''s territory anyway. They were allowed to expand south, outside of Shadowflash''s territory, but not in any other direction.

    Also in order to appease Shadowflash, a massive reforestation movement was enacted. This cause would find many beginner adventurers in busy employment for years to come¡­

    ***

    During this time, Mindy was going back and forth picking up Club Faith members from specific gathering spots around the Dragon Empire, Mendev, and Ecclesia. All told, some 60 members and their immediate families were brought to Kara-Goth along with a baffling amount of luggage and possessions.

    "Next time, I''m going to charge for cargo weight!" Mindy swore.

    ***

    The new immigrants included two thousand priests capable of using Light Magic and some healing magic.

    Along with them came five thousand Church Members, all literate, well-read, and with enough magical ability to at least use magic devices and cast spells from Scrolls.

    They also had some five hundred surviving Temple Knights, all of whom had reached the Body Qi stage at the very minimum. Over two hundred and fifty of them were in the middle Body Qi Stage, the Qi Eye stage. One hundred were already in the late Body Qi Stage, the Qi Veins stage. Twenty Knight Captains had even broken through to early Earth Qi Stage. That was the stage in which they infused freshly plucked twigs and leaves with their Qi and used them as weapons. These were the guys who could kill whole squads of enemies with a flying leaf. Above all the rest, the Knight Lord Ashnah and his two Knight Commanders were already in the middle Earth Qi Stage. They could even infuse long-dead matter (bone, soil, broken table legs) with their Qi.

    "So what?" Xiao Yan snorted. "Back home Earth Qi practitioners were all over the place. Zhao Heng and Mu Hou''s guards were in the early Earth Qi Stage. Heck, Wushuang was even a middle Earth Qi martialist."

    But while they were merely uncommon in Xiao Yan''s world, in Remian''s world, they were top level elites. They might not be top-of-the-world legends in the Sky Qi Stage like Doom and Fate, but the Earth Qi Knights were easily on par with the Kings of the Wilds. Knight Lord Ashnah could challenge the Tier 8 Emperors (since they were injured and not yet recovered).

    "So¡­ around my level, then." Darian mused.

    "Don''t tell them that. They might die of heart attack." Remian advised. "Most of them are rather old. Besides, are you still able to challenge the Emperors since your bond with Ko''rag-dras dissolved?"

    Right. Kor''ag-dras had gone back to sleep and Darian no longer drew power from him. That meant he was no longer as strong as he was during the war.

    "In their current injured state, yes. I might not be able to win, but I should be able to survive and escape."

    In any case, the Temple Knights were a huge addition to their forces. While they numbers were half that of the Adventurers, in terms of martial might, they were far superior.

    George estimated that there were a little over 900 Adventurers who survived the war. Of them, only 30 were at Body Qi Stage or above. Darian alone was in the Earth Qi stage. The small majority were in the Tempering Stage (some 475, 280 of whom were in the early Tempering Stage), and the rest were still in the Breath Stage (420+, 320 of whom were in the late Breath Stage). Six of them (who were from the support staff members) were even in the very first beginner Stage, still trying to train their breathing.

    With most of the Adventurers in the late Breath or early Tempering Stage (Stage 3 and 4 of the martial way) and most of the Knights in the Body Qi Stage (Stage 7-9) it was easy to see how vastly superior the Knights were as a militant force compared to the Adventurers.

    The Iron Legion, or what was left of them, were down to around those numbers themselves. After the war, a lot of the older ones retired, leaving them with some five hundred legionnaires. Most of them (abour 400 legionnaires) were in the Tempering Stage (4-6), especially the Late Tempering Stage (Stage 6), Skin Tempering. About a hundred of them were in the Body Qi Stage (7-8), with Marcus alone in the late Body Qi Stage (9).

    The remaining mercenaries, many of them survivors of the Sons of Sand, minus the recent retirees or mercenaries leaving to join other bands, were of similar number (some five hundred) but most of them (about 400) were in the early Tempering Stage (4), and thus overall were still weaker than the Iron Legion.

    "According to my calculations, the Temple Knights are easily ten times stronger than the Adventurers, even with the use of Frames." Tang Yin supplied. "If I were to rate the Adventurers and the Sons of Sand mathematically, they''d both be at about 11 in strength, though the Adventurers using Frames would bring them up to 16. The Iron Legion, in comparison, would still rate at least 19. Compared to these local units, the Temple Knights should easily rate around 83. All three of the others together, even using Frames, couldn''t even begin to match the Temple Knights."

    "And the wolfcats?" George asked, out of sheer curiosity to see whether Tang Yin had in fact, done calculations on them.

    "They would rate about 35." Tang Yin didn''t even hesitate. "Even adding them to the scales together with the Adventurers, Iron Legion and Mercenaries, you''d still come up short against the Temple Knights."

    "Wow. You really did a lot of calculation. How much time did all of that take?" Gary jumped.

    "Six hours and fifteen minutes." Tang Yin replied. "But these are just rough estimations without including factors like weaponry, skills, command ability, teamwork, tactics, and conditions."

    "Just out of curiosity, what are you measuring them against? What force would have a strength of 100?" George had to ask.

    "The Tang Clan Estate guards." Tang Yin admitted. "That''s the force I know best."

    "Are you kidding me? Your clan''s estate guards have more power than all the Temple Knights?!"

    "This current bunch who lack Sir Jared and his students, yes."

    Right. Sir Jared, Fate, Fel, Doom and Damnaith were no longer Temple Knights. Sir Jared and Sir Fate had self-destructed to open the Spatial Rift attempting to bring more mana into the world but also letting in the Spectres and starting off the whole Spectre War. Doom had gone off with Fel someplace and Damnaith¡­ she had retired in her own creepy way. In fact, the very sounds of her retirement was going to give the entire new generation nightmares for weeks to come.

    "On top of that Sir Jared''s less famous students and most of their peers in the older generation have all scattered. None of them remain with this bunch of Temple Knights." Tang Yin added. "Otherwise, their strength would be somewhere near two hundred."

    "And the Church would just happily help us out whenever we need military strength?" George pressed.

    "Within reason, yes." Darian assured him. "They''re entirely willing to send every knight they can spare in mopping up the remaining Spectres."

    "And what can they spare?"

    Darian calculated. "Each villlage chapel needs at least two Temple Knights, the town chapels need five knights, the main cathedrals in Kara-Goth and Three Pines need ten knights each, and of course, there are the temples spread throughout the cities, sixteen in all, which each need at least three¡­ set aside the guards of the ranking leaders and elders, and¡­ that''s about a hundred and fifty. They''ll be able to send out easily three hundred and fifty knights."

    "What about the Priests?"

    "Not likely." Darian shook his head instantly. "You''ll have to ask them personally. Some might join an Adventurer party on quests, but war is a different story."

    So Darian said, but upon checking with the Adventurers Guild, Remian found that no less than four hundred younger priests had signed up. Having so many priests becoming Adventurers was a great relief for the Guild. Before, the Priests were rarities, and only a lucky few would be able to have Priests in their Adventuring Party. Now, it suddenly became quite feasible for every single Adventurer Party to have a Priest for healing.

    "Is military might really even an issue?" Phoebe asked out of the blue.

    "YES!" all the guys yelped at the same time.

    "Even you?" Phoebe stared at Remian in astonishment.

    "Especially me." Remian said grimly. "You don''t know what''s out there, Phoebe. You don''t know just how weak our defenses look compared to the threats which are already on the way."

    "Such as?"

    "Such as the Spectres in their full might, not just the dithering few who wounded up falling through that Rift. That Rift which could still be opened." Remian shook his head. "Or worse."

    "Worse? What could be worse?!"

    Remian didn''t answer.

 316 The General of FalHerim

    By that time, Tim had gained near-total control of Fal''Herim.

    Among the blocs of power of the Desert Kingdom, the religious traditionalists suddenly became fanatically devoted to making Tim king not just of the Underground, but all of Fal''Herim. The reason for that was that they''d spotted him riding Khar''al-dras and speaking to the Great Dragon in a friendly manner on the way back from the Spectre War. Therefore the faction which previously supported the Queen Mother quickly turned their support toward him.

    The economists, the Bankers Circle, the Alchemists Guild, the Mercenaries Union and all four Clans very quickly agreed that Tim was one of the most important business leaders in Fal''Herim, seeing how well his Industrial District was doing these days.

    Even Asda''s faction liked the way Tim freed slaves and offered them fair wages in his employ. Not only that, when an ex-slave was first starting out, Tim made sure to see to all their basic needs, including housing and food, before even discussing employment. Several known cases occurred where older slaves and younger children were simply unsuited to employment, and were cared for nonetheless. In three famous cases, Tim deliberately went out of his way to customize jobs for the elderly in order to properly employ and support them. Those too young even went to school.

    This left Asda more or less just a figurehead spending her days whittling down her family''s accumulated wealth while doing little or nothing to or for Fal''Herim itself. At least half her edicts and orders went completely unheeded, and the other half only received token response.

    Her greatest claim to fame was the one time she''d asked a newly hired maid. "Who is the most powerful man in Fal''Herim?"

    "Are you seeking a husband, your majesty? I believe Tim the Emancipator would be a good match for you. He is near your age, you know!"

    "Tim? It''s him?" Asda blinked. "But how powerful is he, exactly, compared to me? Mathematically speaking?"

    "Mathematically?" the new maid considered. "Compared to you¡­ over a hundred times more powerful."

    That maid was sentenced to death. Oddly enough, the sentence was never actually carried out and she found herself with a new job in the Industrial District that very day.

    Not that Asda cared. She never asked about that maid, ever.

    But one fine day, she asked about Tim. On top of that, she made her way to his office in the Industrial District.

    "Your majesty?" Tim blinked, half-rising in startlement more than respect. "What can I do for you?"

    "Tim. I hear you''re the most powerful man in Fal''Herim." Asda said with an emotionless face.

    "Err¡­ I wouldn''t say that of myself, but I do seem to be able to get things done." Tim hesitated.

    "I would have you do something for me. Nay, I¡­ I ask it of you. Please, do me this favor." Asda bit her lips.

    "A favor? What exactly do you want me to do?" Tim stared.

    "I want you to get something for me." Asda said slowly.

    "And that is¡­?" Tim asked, tense.

    "That is¡­" Asda drew a deep breath, and whispered. "Cheese."

    "C-cheese?!" Tim''s jaw dropped.

    "It''s impossible!" Asda suddenly burst into a wail. "No matter how hard I try, what guards I hire, how much I try to buy¡­ it''s impossible! It''s completely IMPOSSIBLE to get cheese in Fal''Herim! I haven''t had cheese in eight months!!"

    Sitting on his desk, Mika exchanged bewildered glances with Tim. Looking into the lynxmouse''s eyes, Tim could see sympathy.

    How low had the Desert Queen fallen at this point, that even mice would pity her?

    Mika, by the way, was getting incredibly fat. He could have all the cheese he wanted, ate cheese every day, and often did so several times a day. To hear that Asda hadn''t had cheese in eight months¡­ he truly felt sorry for her, and even a little bit guilty. Just a little.

    "If it''s so hard to get here, why don''t you leave? Take a trip to Ashdale or someplace and buy cheese there?" Tim had to ask.

    "I can''t!" Asda gasped. "It''s too dangerous! They don''t know it, but I can sense them! They''re after me!"

    "Who?" Tim blinked.

    "I don''t know! I don''t know who they are! But I can sense them! They''re everywhere, watching me, following me¡­ just waiting for a chance to¡­ to¡­" Asda buried her face in her hands. "It''s too dangerous! I can''t leave!"

    "Uh¡­" Now even Tim had a guilty look on his face. "Um¡­ I think if it''s cheese¡­ I could maybe help you out there. But I want something in return, all right?"

    "Name it!" Asda exclaimed.

    "I want to run the military." Tim said. "You know. Because of the Paleres Raiders and all."

    "Deal!" Asda jumped at it.

    Tim watched her go, completely speechless. He glanced at Mika.

    "Did I just buy control over the whole country''s armed forces for the sake of cheese?"

    Mika slowly nodded to him gravely.

    ***

    Thinking back, it wasn''t that odd. Tim already had massive influence among the armed forces of Fal''Herim and his own forces were a significant part of that number.

    Actually taking over formally however, was something he never thought of seriously. The way of the Underground King was to influence situations from the dark, using bribery if outright control was needed, but never showing himself on scene¡­

    Honestly, he thought Asda would refuse and drop the whole cheese request. Never in his life did he think she would agree!

    What was she thinking, really? Tim had no idea.

    Neither did anyone else in Fal''Herim, but the next day, the edict was issued and amazingly, this time, the entire authority structure of Fal''Herim accepted and implemented it on the spot.

    "General!" by evening, everyone Tim met on the streets saluted him as such.

    "Are they serious¡­?" Tim blinked at Mika.

    Mika slowly nodded to him gravely.

    ***

    Soon enough Tim began to realize that his new job was a difficult one that not many people actually envied.

    The reason for this was that the vast majority of Fal''Herim''s military might was already lost. Magic weaponry, airships, and formations were rendered practically useless without mana. Most of their mana was already spent. All their vaunted vehicles and gear were little more than scrap at this point. All that was left was a little bit of mana dust fuel.

    "Sell everything." Tim shook his head in disgust. "Build ballistae and catapults. And send half our military engineers to Kara-Goth to learn about steam power. I want a railroad built to Kara-Goth in two months! What''s our funding like?"

    That, too, wasn''t doing too well. Asda had cut military funding to a tenth of what it was, most of what they received came from ''private contributions'' from people wanting favors, or outright extorted from shopkeepers and such.

    "This is ridiculous. We''re supposed to be protecting the people of Fal''Herim, not threatening them!" Tim was furious. "Stop it immediately, or I''m going to have them all court-martialed!"

    "What''s court-martial?" the colonel of the ground forces asked.

    "You''re about to find out!"

    Just like that Fal''Herim found itself starting a new military court. More importantly, however, Tim decided to have the military secure its own source of funding¡­ from Paleres.

    "If Paleres can raid us whenever they like, we can raid them too!"

    ***

    That night, Asda''s dreams came true.

    "CHEESE! Tim, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"

    She threw her arms around him then grabbed the cheese and ran away nibbling it.

    This left Tim frozen and staring blankly in her palace corridors.

    Mika grinned at him cheekily. [You know, when she smiles, she''s actually quite pretty.]

    [Shut up.]

 317 Gone

    In a fortified command post in the middle of the Paleres/Desert border, the Black General, General Bakar himself, received reports of the incoming forces from Fal''Herim.

    "How dare they invade us! This is an unprovoked attack, without declaration of war!" Bakar fumed.

    "Yeah! Just like we did them!" Aide Ali exclaimed.

    WHACK! General Bakar smacked Ali over the head with his four star General''s hat.

    "We should announce it to the international community! The Brotherhood of Six shall know of this!"

    Ali cheered. "Yeah! Cuz everyone''s doing the same thing!"

    WHACK! General Bakar smacked Ali over the head with his white gloves.

    "Prepare the artillery! We''re going to pound these desert-rats into the dirt!"

    "Except¡­ you know¡­ the desert don''t have no dirt. There''s only sand¡­"

    WHACK!

    "You wanna give the orders?!" General Bakar said threateningly.

    "Yes, sir!" Aide Ali leapt up. "Sound the alarm! All civilians to the main keep! Reinforce the palisade! Rouse the local militia and have them barricade the gates! Divide the cavalry into two units and prepare for harassing maneuvers!"

    WHACK!

    "What nonsense are you spouting?! Arm the magic cannons!" General Bakar snorted. "We''ll bombard them from afar!"

    "But sir! There''s no more mana!" Ali protested.

    "So? Have the magi power them manually!"

    "But, sir, our magi are already exhausted and threatening to quit!"

    WHACK!

    "They dare to threaten me?! Me, the burning general?! How dare they! They will suffer for this! Execute them! Execute them all!"

    "But, sir, if we kill them, who''s going to power the cannons?"

    WHACK!

    "Get other magi, idiot! The world is full of them! Threaten their families if they refuse to come!"

    "But¡­ but there ARE no other magi! Everyone''s already been hired by someone else! And besides¡­ there''s no time!"

    WHACK!

    "There''s time if I say there''s time! Now, go get the magi!" General Bakar roared.

    Ali stiffly saluted and left.

    He never came back.

    ***

    Four hours later, another Aide, Aide Abu, came in to report. "Sir, the Fal''Herim raiders are acting suspiciously."

    "What do you mean, suspiciously?" General Bakar grouched. "And where is Ali and my magi?"

    "I don''t know about Ali, sir, but the enemy is skirting around our perimeter, just out of bowshot. The captain wants to set up a few catapults."

    "Catapults? We should blast them to bits with the magic cannon! Where is Ali?!"

    "I''ll¡­ I''ll go find him, sir."

    ***

    Three hours later, Abu came back. "Sir, I can''t find Ali. Also, there''s bad news."

    "Can''t find Ali? Then you go get us some magi!"

    "There''s¡­ there''s no point, sir. The enemy has left."

    General Bakar stared at him blankly. " ''Left''? What do you mean, ''left''?"

    "They''ve turned around and gone back to Fal''Herim, sir."

    General Bakar started to guffaw. "They must have seen the strength of our forces and realized they were only in for a thrashing if they dared come at us."

    "No, sir, they''re about three times our number¡­"

    WHACK! Deprived of Ali, General Bakar settled for whacking Abu over the head with his hat. "They''ve fled, haven''t they? How is that bad news?!"

    "That''s not the bad news, sir."

    "Then what is?"

    "The bad news is¡­ our food is gone. We only found out when it was time for lunch."

    General Bakar stared. "What do you mean, ''gone''?"

    "It means, sir, the storehouse is empty. The kitchen, the larder, the markets¡­ all the food stores in town has been cleaned out."

    "How¡­ how could this happen?!" General Bakar spluttered. "Where were the guards?"

    "Still there, sir!"

    WHACK! "If they''re there, then where''s the food?! What about my LUNCH!?"

    "We''ll¡­ have to buy food from another town, sir. It will take a while."

    Grumbling to himself, General Bakar sat down and brooded darkly. "Do it. Take my token to the treasure and get it done!"

    ***

    Ten minutes later, Abu came back. "Sir, we can''t buy food."

    "What? Why not?"

    "Because, sir, the treasury is empty. Everything is gone. Not even a single coin left. There''s a reason why other countries use Deutero Banking accounts instead of their own vaults."

    General Bakar stared blankly. "Didn''t the Fal''Herim raiders turn back before reaching the town?"

    "Yes, sir."

    "Then why does it seem like we''ve been completely plundered?!" General Bakar started to swear and curse. "Everyone, to arms! We''re going to Fal''Herim to have them pay for everything that''s lost! I don''t care if they took it or someone else did, they''re going to pay for it! Make ready the carts and load double the ammunition for the cannons!"

    "Yes, sir¡­"

    ***

    Five minutes later, Abu came back. "Sir, we can''t load ammunition."

    "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" By this time General Bakar was in a frenzy.

    "Sir, the ammunition is gone. The reserve cannons too. In fact, sir¡­ the armory has been cleaned out. Except for what the soldiers are wearing and carrying, there''s nothing left. Even the maintenance tools are gone."

    Furiously, General Bakar leapt to his feet. "Mobilize the cavalry! We''re going to Fal''Herim NOW!"

    "Yes, sir¡­"

    ***

    Three minutes later, Abu came back. "Sir, we can''t mobilize the cavalry."

    "WHAT?!"

    "The cavalry¡­ they''re gone too."

    "¡­"

    ***

    On the other side of the desert separating Fal''Herim from Paleres, Tim shook hands with Ali amidst crowds of smiling soldiers.

    "Six hundred light cavalry, fifty armored camels and crossbowmen, just as promised." Ali said, rubbing his head furtively. "We''re all willing to defect and join Fal''Herim."

    "Thank you for the maps and the troops." Tim patted him on the back. "Fifty carts worth of food, twenty carts of armaments, and five carts of lir. I think we got everything we came for. Any regrets?"

    "Um¡­" Ali hesitated. "Are you going to whack me over the head every time I say something?"

    Tim blinked. "No. Why would I ever do that?"

    At that, Ali grinned. "Then, no. I have no regrets."

 318 Science and Magic 3

    One month from the Sealing of the Rift, ambient mana had dropped back to what it was before the Rift was blown open by Sirs Jared and Fate. It was at that point that the leaders of the nations finally began to admit publicly that declining mana wasn''t just a temporary phenomenon and that previous easy use of magic might never, ever come back.

    As for the whole issue about Spatial Rifts and the Spectres¡­ that was still questionable whether such things even existed or happened, and would, of course, not be made known publicly regardless of whether it was real in the first place. No, people had real problems which needed real solutions, not some far-away fairy-tale legend about endless mana and the monsters guarding it. Only a few senile old geezers would believe such a story.

    "Is there nothing we can do?" As mana became even more unthinkably expensive and half the medical equipment in the hospital was left unused due to sheer cost, Phoebe found herself on edge and gritting her very nice teeth.

    "Short of unsealing the Rift and letting the Spectres overrun the world? Not really. It''s the end of mana for this world." Remian shook his head.

    "Are the Spectres really that bad? I mean, we beat them back before, right?"

    "Phoebe, those Tier 8''s that came through before were basically just stragglers. You have no idea what the main force of Spectres is truly like."

    "Then, tell me!"

    Remian paused. "They call them Star-Eaters. They''re a space hazard rated at an even higher level of danger than the Mitigok. The Mitigok devour whole worlds, but the Star-Eaters¡­ they will wipe out the very stars."

    Phoebe stared at him blankly.

    "Right now they are traversing deep space, making a journey of countless years, streaming along in numbers large enough to completely drown entire stars. That Spatial Rift might have been a portal that led to a planet once. That planet is now gone, and so the other end of the Rift is drifting in deep space, close to where the stream of Star-Eaters are passing through."

    "Planet¡­ gone?" Phoebe gaped. "Then where is all this mana coming from, if there''s no world on the other side?"

    "There is no world, but it''s either inside the area the Star-Eaters are traveling through, or near enough that it gets some eddies of their passing."

    Phoebe sat down numbly. "You''re saying that¡­ mana is¡­"

    "Left behind by the Star-Eaters as they pass by? Yes. It is the exhaust fumes of travel fueled by dead worlds and devoured stars."

    "Then¡­ what about the mana that was here before Sirs Jared and Fate blew open the Rift?!"

    "The ambient mana leaked through the Rift before all this started out. As for crystals¡­ they were probably left behind by the Spectres that were killed by the Emperors and Great Dragons during the first time they fought and closed that Rift."

    "But wait! Shouldn''t that mean that if we killed Spectres, we could get mana crystals?!"

    "Sure. Given enough time. How long do you think it takes?"

    Phoebe shook her head. "Why don''t you tell me?"

    "Let''s see. How long does it take for oil to form from the fossils of dead animals and plants?" Remian asked.

    Phoebe''s face fell. Then, "I thought you hated oil."

    "I don''t hate oil. Especially not the types we use for cooking." Remian refuted. "I just don''t think it is necessary to burn oil for power and transportation. You have no idea how many worlds destroyed themselves by following a culture that consumes everything and basically burned their planets to death. The worlds that make it to Class-4 and onwards learn early on not to destroy themselves with fossil fuel burning."

    "Do people really need power that bad? Enough to destroy their own worlds?" Phoebe had to ask.

    "Think of oil as a weaker, liquid form of mana crystals. What do you think?"

    Phoebe fell silent. "So¡­ what do you plan to do?"

    "Building the Craggy Falls Dam is the first major step. We''re going to make plans for Craggy Heights; we''ll be covering them with windmills. Also, I''m going to be using the Rocky Thorns'' Windy Corridor for wind power. All of that together should be enough to supply the new Craggy Falls town for the time being."

    "I heard Jim complaining that it was easier to use coal, like the trains do."

    "It is. It definitely is." Remian sighed. "But do you notice the black smoke coming out of coal furnaces? I have a few tricks to reduce that, but in the end, burning coal is going to dirty our skies. I don''t want to live in a world covered with black smoke!"

    "But isn''t Ashdale and Libertaria and everyone using coal?"

    "That''s exactly why I''m determined not to! There are better ways, better sources of power."

    "Such as?"

    "Such as water." Remian barked a laugh. "Did you know? Water is made out of some pretty flammable stuff. We just need to zap it with electricity to divide the hydrogen from the oxygen. Deepsilver is helping Jim out with that, but they''re still having trouble storing the hydrogen after it''s electrolyzed. Their best success so far is the high pressure tank made out of Misty Steel. Jim thinks they''ll do better with the rarer Aqua Silver or Deep Blue Platinum."

    "What about using Flaming Bronze? We have that at Kara-Goth."

    "Hydrogen is best stored cold. Using Fiery Copper or Flaming Bronze will likely set it on fire or explode." Remian considered. "Until we can produce graphene, maybe alloying Misty Steel with Tungsten or Titanium would do the trick. Might we do better using fiber base? Plastics? We have no shortage of cellulose."

    "What are those?" Phoebe blinked.

    "Uh¡­" Remian grimaced. "They''re metals and alloys. Cellulose is¡­ stuff plants all have."

    "You mean, wood?"

    "Um¡­ about half of wood is cellulose, yes. But wood contains other stuff too."

    "Well, if it''s wood, you could ask Kor''ag-dras for help. He is the Wood Emperor, after all. The only reason we swear on Kor''ag-dras and the grass instead of the trees is because of that silly bet he made with Zor''khan-dras and lost."

    Remian considered it. "That''s true. Magic is rapidly dying out in a world without mana, but it doesn''t mean I can''t use it to cheat while we still have it. Considering how many Priests and Magi we have around the place, it only makes sense¡­"

    "Wait. What do you mean ''while we still have it''?"

    "Magic isn''t going to last much longer." Remian pointed out. "Mana is fading very quickly. This world is using up even the ambient mana far more quickly than I expected. Without crystals, all the nations are putting mages to work, and we''re all using up the mana in the air at a frantic pace. Try casting a spell from a scroll next month. I''d bet it would only be half as strong as it would have been before the Spectre War. Another month later, it could be half that again. Six months from now, it might not even work."

    Phoebe froze. A flash of panic swept across her eyes. Lower levels of mana was one thing. Having no magic at all was a whole different story.

    "Now you get it." Remian said, seeing that look on her face. "So you see why I''m trying to find non-magical ways to do stuff?"

    "What¡­ what can we do?" Phoebe shivered.

    "First step is to maintain our current standards of living." Remian cleared his throat. "Without using magic. In Conglomerate terms, we need to stabilize a technological foundation at early Class-3. That means at least having steam engines and electricity. There are other ways, but this seems to be the easiest given our current circumstances."

    "How long would that take?" Phoebe asked.

    Remian shrugged. "Depends on how much we can use magic to cheat our way through."

    ***

    If using magic was a cheat, they really, really cheated.

    Two hundred priests, three hundred scroll-casting Adventurers, nine dragons and a yawning Tor''na-dras herself helped build the dam. After wood magic and earth magic set up the basic shape, cement and stones were poured in, quickly shaped and hardened by more spells, building up permanent walls an entire meter thick. Turbines and sluice gates, control systems¡­ all of it was set in within a week.

    The main structure of the dam was completed before the town itself was ready. For the sake of the new town plan, they had to get everyone out and lay ground foundations, setting down main pipes, drainage, sewage systems, and underground power lines using all the wiring that Fal''Herim could offer. Water pumps and a treatment plant sprouted up downriver from Craggy Falls. A railway station was set up at the western edge with tracks leading out to Kara-Goth, Silver Mining Town, the Speckled Highlands (which were part-way to Three Pines) and the Blood Lands (Tim''s Nightshade Farm).

    They were almost done with the groundwork when the time came for Phoebe to test Remian''s mana-fading calculations. As the calendar marked one month from the time Remian made his predictions, Phoebe Scroll-casted a fireball straight up into the sky, startling and offending a passing duck.

    As she watched it rise, her face and heart fell.

    The fireball was only one-third as strong as it would have been back in those days. Remian predicted half, but mana was depleting faster than even he had predicted.

 319 A different sort of schooling

    That same day, two months after the Sealing of the Rift, Mindy completed her shipments of Wasp A''s to Ashdale, fully earning her 60 million lir.

    Some of them looked rather worn due to ''extensive quality testing'', but due to speedy delivery, Commander James Eddings decided to accept them anyway. "We need them, and we need them now."

    "How come? I thought the World War was over." Mindy blinked.

    "So did I. Tell that to the raiders showing up on our shores."

    "Raiders? Where are they from?"

    "Where are they NOT from? We''re getting raids from all sides! Even the Wilds are trying to cross the channel to take a bite out of us!"

    As Mindy concluded her deals with Ashdale, Remian and Phoebe watched from the side.

    "You look proud." Phoebe mentioned, seeing Remian''s expression.

    "I am proud. Of her." Remian admitted it freely.

    "She''s come a long way. I hear she was just a scared orphan waitress hiding in a tavern, too afraid to set foot on the street."

    "She was, at first." Remian nodded.

    "But you taught her. You raised her. And now¡­" Phoebe shook her head. "Whatever did you feed that girl?!"

    "Roast meat, usually. Whatever the hunters brought back." Remian thought back. "Then we went around to see the world and we ate all sorts of stuff from wherever we landed. I think she has a thing for La Vivan cheese and Germati sausage."

    "So is that the secrets to her success? The cheese and sausage?" Phoebe chuckled. "Come on, Remian. Spill it. What did you teach that girl?"

    "Teach her?" Remian thought back. "I taught her to read and write properly. I taught her math. And I taught her to go learn how to do whatever she wanted to do. All of that is just a starting point. The rest of her success¡­ is hers."

    "Not entirely, I think. You understate your role in her success." Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Who was it who gave her the materials for her first airship? Who was it who had Arnold teach her engineering and mechanics? Who was it who brought her around the world, introducing people and ports and routes to her? Who was it who gave her the money to start trading and build her own business?"

    "Who, indeed, I wonder?" Remian put on an innocent look as if all that had nothing to do with him.

    "You gave Mindy advantages the likes of which most children in this world could never even dream of having." Phoebe paused. "Except perhaps for George and Tim."

    "Hey, all I did with Tim was put him in charge of the cheese."

    "But in George''s case, you gave him everything. You gave him Kara-Goth. And what about Darian? And Eriane?"

    "I¡­ actually didn''t do anything for them." Remian suddenly had a guilty look on his face. "All I did was bring them here and let them free. In Darian''s case, you should look to Doom, not me. Even if I wanted to do anything for them now, it''s too late. Their needs and interests are beyond my ability to provide. They''re already stepping out on their own paths by themselves. It''s best I just let them grow."

    "Still, I bet they''d love to have some guidance from you. Despite all your downplaying, I suspect every kid in the Wildlands would love to have a mentor like you."

    Remian looked at her sideways. "You''re talking about that new school I''m planning, aren''t you?"

    "Well, yes." Phoebe admitted it frankly.

    "Do you want to join me in teaching the young ones?" Remian offered straight out.

    "You want me to take a class? Or lecture on a subject?" Phoebe mused. "I could teach first-aid¡­"

    "No. There will be no classes. No lectures." Remian told her. "We''re going to teach in an entirely different manner. Think about it, Phoebe. The entire school design is based on one thing; the need for factory workers. All their education is mainly for the sake of filling in a workforce. Schools like that are all over the world. That isn''t the kind of school I want to run. Any school can raise factory workers. I want my students to do something different. To be something different."

    Phoebe faltered. "George, Tim and Mindy?"

    "Exactly." Remian nodded. "And none of them has ever received a single lecture from me."

    "An elite academy¡­" Phoebe muttered. For an instant, a bare instant, a dark shadow seemed to cross her face, with her eyes seeming to gaze into a scene far away and long ago. "How young do you intend to start them learning?"

    Remian straightened. "No younger than age five. Any child below that should stay with their parents."

    "Learning letters at age five, huh?" Phoebe frowned, seeming half-distracted with her own thoughts.

    "Not unless they''re interested. Mainly, it should be about character and athletics. Health and hearts." Remian said. "I don''t expect to see them studying before they''re at least seven. We need to focus on storytelling and character-formation. Also, they should build their bodies at that age. I want to see them running around all day, climbing and jumping and swimming if we could manage it. On top of that, I want them to wear thickly padded armor."

    "Children wearing armor? Can they even put it on?!" Phoebe was bewildered.

    "We''ll have the teachers put the armor on them. I''ll have the Adventurers Guild help out at the pre-school as missions for the low level Adventurers." Remian nodded to himself. "The Guild has always accepted children as young as nine as Adventurers. These days, most of their missions involves planting seedlings for the Reforestation. They can help out in the pre-school and model activities for young ones to follow, including dancing, sports, and yes, wearing armor."

    "That actually sounds like a fun pre-school."

    "It should be fun. Most of the time, they should be playing. That''s how children should learn; through play." Remian thought for a bit. "Though it would be good for them to learn about food and what''s good to eat and what not to eat in the Wildlands. They should be brought out on foraging trips through the outskirts of the Farming areas and around the Black Depths Lake."

    "Isn''t that too dangerous?!" Phoebe yelped. "There are all sorts of Wilds out there!"

    "We''ll have the Wilds protect them." Remian assured her. "We''ll have the wolfcats and the lynxmice watch over them. They can even have their own Comrades. They could learn Comrade-care as a subject. Self-defense too."

    Phoebe shook her head. "What kind of building would you need for a pre-school like that?"

    "I was thinking it might be better not to have a building. Maybe an airship, or a tree-house." Remian paused. "But in the end, I''ll settle for a circular creche."

    "A what?"

    "It''s like a playground with trees and platforms and safety netting. It''s open air, with only an outer railing that goes around a circular platform ten feet off the ground. That would be the first floor. The ground floor has an open central area which should function like a playground and below the platform we could have lockers and open air classrooms¡­"

    "Open air classrooms? No walls? What if the kids run out?"

    "Let them. Let them run around freely. They can join run in and join a class if they''re interested and run out to play if they''re not."

    "But¡­ but what if a child never goes to class?! Runs around and plays all day?"

    "Then we have ourselves a superb Adventurer. I''m actually more worried about the opposite happening." Remian shrugged. "But it''s easy enough to motivate someone to learn something. The key is they''ll be learning for the sake of accomplishing something. We just need to give them missions that require those skills. For example, let''s have an end-of-pre-school game involving a treasure-hunt with written clues. Warn them about that at the beginning of their second year. They''d have to know how to read to find the treasure."

    "And the treasure is¡­?"

    "A hundred tokens that can be exchanged for several top choices of differing prices. Or sold and exchanged with their friends." Remian shrugged. "It''s one way of learning about currency and trade."

    "And¡­ how much would it cost for a child to enroll in this pre-school of yours?"

    "Cost?" Remian snorted. "For my own people, it''s free."

    "It sounds like it''s going to run at a huge loss."

    "It''s no loss. They''ll be involved with the Guild before long and earning Guild Points by doing missions for me. Reward for labor, based on success, regardles of time taken or what it cost them, rather than payment for hours. It''s a whole different system from the norm of this world."

    "Is that even necessary? They''ll need to live in this world, after all¡­!"

    "You don''t get it. I need to raise a whole new generation from young who think and function differently from factory workers. I need to forge a whole new culture that''s never been seen in this world." Remian grimaced. "I think we might even need to raise a nomadic tribe."

    "A nomadic tribe? Remian, what are you preparing these people for, exactly?!"

    "What, you say¡­?" Remian took a deep breath. "I need to prepare a future generation for a life without a homeworld. A generation that can live in starships and build a Warp Gate."

    "Wha¡­" Phoebe drew a blank. Somewhere between ''life without a homeworld'' and ''starships'', Remian had completely lost her.

    "It won''t be that hard." Remian consoled her. "For a middle step to spaceships, we have airships. Once we can manufacture ultralight carbon fibre polymers and graphene, building airships suitable for living in shouldn''t be too far off. Already there are people who live big parts of their lives flying around. Just think about Mindy."

    "And all that starts with running around a playground all day?"

    "All that starts with healthy bodies and sound character." Remian said. "Reading and writing is optional, available, but not required until they''re seven. That''s when they start studying, but again, they won''t be in classrooms or desks."

    "Another open air playground?!"

    "Not quite." Remian chuckled. "I think we''ll do it the way Mindy was taught. We''ll have them travel the world on airships, doing missions and taking classes to learn what they need for those missions. Everything from math and language to protocol and cultural comparison."

 320 One Studen

    Alani Encles[1] did not expect very much out of life. A safe, warm home, good friends and good food was enough to make her happy.

    Her people had fled here from the deep Eastern seas, having struggled against Ti''ela-dras and lost too much over the recent years. When even their island started to sink, they followed the call of a distant hope and arrived at a vast land, the likes of which their little oft-flooded islands could never compare. Unlike most places, this wild frontier had plenty of room, enough that they were treated as settlers, not refugees.

    It was a dangerous place, to be sure, but the seas were dangerous in their own way too. People learned to swim, to sail, to cope, and to live with the dangers. Never had people ever turned the sea into a friend; she remained mysterious, aloof, and as ruthless as she ever was.

    The Wilds, however, proved to be very warm friends once they accepted you. Alani loved lying back on the flank of a bear-sized wolfcat, who likewise enjoyed the warmth of her family''s hearth. This particular wolfcat was named Wind Blowing The Leaves Into The Open Sky With A Nice Spiral Pattern. Alani just called her Windy, for short.

    Windy wasn''t her Comrade. She stayed with Alani''s family, but was better described as part of the household than the Comrade of anyone in particular. Unless maybe she was Alani''s Mom''s? Something like that. Whatever the case, she and Windy enjoyed a non-binding companionship that usually involved snoozing by warm fireplaces and the occasional grilled fish. Windy was considered rather old for a wolfcat, already past fourteen years and having borne many litters in her time. She was easily a great-grandmother wolfcat several times over.

    As for Alani, she was now ten. Yes, now. Today was her tenth birthday.

    Predictably, Windy was the first to bid her [Happy Birthday.]

    [Thank you!] Alani put both arms around Windy''s furry neck. [Where''s everyone?]

    Windy hesitated. [I can''t tell you.]

    [Oh?] Alani''s lips twitched. [I''ll try my best to pretend to be surprised.]

    She tried, she really did. But when her Mom and Dad and elder brother burst out of the kitchen with little candles decorating a stack of pancakes (her favorite breakfast), she had to admit, at least to herself; this was exactly what she''d expected.

    Not that she was complaining. She was safe, she was happy, and she was in good company. Alani was quite satisfied.

    After breakfast, more people came by with presents and well-wishes. Most of them were from the Encles Clan, uncles and aunts, cousins, neighbors and old friends. Those, too, she expected.

    What she did not expect was for Remian Vin to show up with a sober look in his eye.

    "Uh¡­ hi¡­?" Alani managed, not sure what to say. That serious face of his¡­ did someone die?

    Straight out, Remian said, "I want you to join my school and save the world."

    Alani''s mind was completely blank. "Huh? You have a school?"

    "Not yet. But I''m about to start one and I want you to join it." Remian told her in that way-too-serious face.

    "But¡­ I''m in your mom''s school. And I''m Head Girl." Alani reminded. "If you want help with something, you can just put in a mission at the Adventurer''s Guild, you know."

    "I know." Remian nodded. "Apparently, I''m the Adventurers Guild Master."

    "You are?!" Alani gaped.

    "Yeah. I just found out this morning. They never elected a new one."

    "Congratulations¡­ I think?" Alani scratched her head.

    "Anyway, it''s going to be a special sort of school and I want you in it." Remian repeated.

    Alani squinted at him. "Does your mom know you''re poaching her best student?"

    Remian didn''t skip a beat. "She''ll find out soon enough, I think?"

    "But why me?" Alani asked. "Does this have something to do with saving the world?"

    "Not exactly." Remian grimaced. "It''s more like ''grab everybody and run for your lives'' than ''save the world''."

    "Ah. I''ve been through that." Alani nodded.

    "Also you''re familiar with operating airships, and doing so in a leadership position." Remian added. "Right, Head Girl?"

    "I guess? Sort of." Alani admitted. "But wouldn''t Mindy be a much better choice?"

    "Mindy''s great, but she shouldn''t have to do everything by herself. Also, her abilities are different from yours."

    "I''m just ten years old. I don''t HAVE any abilities."

    [Oh, really?] Remian reached out to her psionically.

    [Okay, fine, but everyone else around here has Psionic abilities too, you know? It''s hard not to, if you spend enough time with a Tier 4 Wild. There''s nothing special about me.]

    [Don''t be too sure about that. Why don''t you join us and find out?] Remian invited.

    Alani still hesitated. [You really wanna save the world?]

    [I would if I could, but right now, I''ll settle for just saving my own people.]

    [''Grab everyone and run'', huh?]

    [That''s the plan.]

    [I''m in.]

    ***

    So he said, but the plan really had five Phases.

    "First, we need a full-scale transition from magic to technology. The goal of this phase is to maintain our current standard of living without the use of mana." Remian said. "The second phase is to build spaceships. Third, we need an efficient form of access to space, like a space elevator¡­"

    Alani raised her hand. "Teacher, I have a question!"

    "Yes?"

    "Where is everybody?" Alani asked. "Where''s the rest of the school?"

    "This is it." Remian told her.

    Alani looked around. Other than herself and Remian in a newly cleaned building of the Three Pines Black Ruins, there was nobody else there.

    "Just me? I''m the only student?!" Alani gaped.

    "And I''m the only teacher. For now." Remian nodded. "We''re just getting started."

    "Right¡­" Alani trailed off. "Second question!"

    "Yes?"

    "Why can''t we use mana?"

    "This world''s mana is already depleted. That''s why the Quarin left."

    "But didn''t mana come through the Rift?"

    "That''s from dead worlds that the Spectres already destroyed. Elsewhere, they''re actually called Star-Eaters, and if we let the Rift keep growing, bigger and bigger ones will come through and eventually they''ll destroy our whole world and eat the sun." Remian shook his head. "Let''s keep the Rift sealed, please."

    "What does ''elsewhere'' mean?"

    "It means other worlds. See all those stars at night? Our sun is just one of them. Every star is a sun. Out there there are worlds like ours who might call one of those stars their sun."

    "Ah. Right." Alani nodded.

    That was it. She didn''t choke, didn''t show even an ounce of disbelief. She seemed to completely take it in stride.

    "Can we get mana from those worlds?" Alani asked.

    Remian grimaced. "They''re too far away, and we can''t get to them. I think the dragons can, and maybe the Dragon Empire is sneaking some in from Elsewhere, but the rest of us don''t have anything that can reach those other worlds."

    "Oh." Alani paused. "What about Chaos Magic?"

    "Messing around with Chaos Magic is actually very dangerous. It''s quite common for entire cities to get blown up because someone messed up." Remian winced, thinking back on how he had blindly experimented with it before. "Actually most of what we call Chaos Magic only gleans power from the eddies of Chaos Energy, not Chaos Energy itself. That''s what the Quarin did."

    Alani''s hand shot up. "Who are the Quarin?"

    "The Black Ruins Civilization."

    "Ah." Alani looked around. "Can we do the same thing? Or would it destroy us like it did them?"

    "Well, they''re not destroyed. They actually abandoned this planet due to depletion of mana, and they still occupy some thirteen stars in this star cluster. Their civilization is based on a mix of magic-reliant technology, so they only go for worlds that have mana." Remian paused. "The ruins we''re in now actually seems to be a factory town for magitech components. It seems we have a main power transmitter station and a Chaos Eddy Collector Array, but the buildings themselves aren''t much use without the equipment that did the work. We don''t have the magical power, or the know-how to build those. Short of magitech, our only means of using Chaos Magic is to do it manually, at personal risk. That takes special talent to avoid blowing yourself and your whole house to bits. It''s not something everyone can do, so it''s not going to help the whole world."

    "But you can. You have that sort of talent, right?" Alani asked. "I''ve seen you do stuff with magic that nobody else could do."

    "Maybe I can, but everyone else can''t, so that''s not going to help much." Remian repeated. "And it''s risky and dangerous, even for me. I won''t be able to safely use it without a lot of careful experimentation and self-discovery. That could take years, and we don''t have the time."

    Alani paused. "What if we made another Rift? This time, to a Quarin world? A small one, just for the mana?"

    "I only know of one Spatial Node on our world, and the world it leads to has already been destroyed by the Spectres. As for making a new Spatial Node¡­ even the Conglomerate would have difficulty doing that. It''s easier to just build a Warp Gate."

    "Then, what if¡­" Alani hesitated.

    "It''s okay. Feel free to ask." Remian invited.

    "What if we spied on the Dragon Empire to find out where they''re getting their mana crystals from?"

    ***

    Over at Fal''Herim, for some reason, in the middle of the hot afternoon, Tim suddenly sneezed.

 321 The next student, and so onâ€¦

    The first subject Remian wanted Alani to learn was language. This included speed reading and flash reading. He also had her start on memory exercises.

    "The thing about your memory is that it can be cultivated, trained like your muscles." Remian explained. "There are also some tricks to memorization, like associating what you want to remember with something you couldn''t forget if you tried. It all takes time, so be patient with it."

    The third thing he had her study was Observation. This focused on people, their mannerisms and identifying physical traits.

    "What does all this have to do with starships, in the end?" Alani wanted to know.

    "Nothing. It has to do with people." Remian explained. "Most especially your future classmates, or teammates, if you prefer."

    "There''s going to be other students, then?"

    "Other teachers, too."

    "Who do you have in mind?"

    "You''ll meet him tomorrow."

    ***

    Gary did not think he would get roped in on an intergenerational space project.

    "You want me to do what?!" Gary gaped.

    "Build a quantum computer and construction nanobots. Advanced Artificial Intelligence would be great." Remian explained. "But barring that, a microprocessing computer will do. Actually, before that, how about an electronic calculator?"

    "How am I supposed to do that?!" Gary protested. "I don''t know what that is! I don''t even know where to start!"

    "You start with material sciences." Remian said. "And math."

    "B-but! Why me? Why not Jim or Arnold?!"

    "Because you''re scientifically minded, you''re young, and you''ve never learned anything about their craft." Remian sighed. "It''s easier to teach someone new things than to try to have them unlearn everything wrong they''ve mastered."

    This started what promised to be a very, very long discussion.

    ***

    Gary met Alani the next morning and shook hands solemnly.

    "We gonna save the world." Alani told him in greeting. "Or at least, the people in it."

    "Assuming we don''t go crazy learning how." He told her, just as solemnly. "That''s a very big assumption."

    "We''re young." Alani shrugged. "Young people are crazy to begin with."

    ***

    After that, he brought Siti in.

    "Hi. Is this where I learn medical skills?" Siti queried.

    "M-medical?" Gary blinked. "Shouldn''t you be learning that at the hospital or something?"

    "No, this is the place." Remian cleared his throat.

    Just then, Jamie showed up. "Yo! I''m here for weapons class!"

    "Weapons?!" Gary gaped.

    "You''re right on time." Remian greeted her.

    Knocking sounded on the door and Isabella poked her head in. "Um¡­ I''m here for math and logistics?"

    "Come in!" Remian waved her in. "Anyone seen Juni?"

    "He''s lined up outside the door." Isabella jerked her thumb to one side.

    "Call him in, please."

    Juni marched in, saluted, and said, "Ready for armorer lessons, sir!"

    Gary''s jaw dropped. "All of these?! At the same time?"

    "Sort of." Remian shrugged. "It all begins at the same place, actually, and since I want you guys all to get along and work together in the future, I figured it was best to have you all learn together first."

    "And¡­ what are we learning, exactly?" Gary had to ask.

    "Language and speed reading, to begin with." Remian stretched. "And memory exercises. Oh, and if you have any questions¡­ ask Alani."

    Right from the start, he made her their go-to person. This was only her third day, and Gary''s second, and the first for all the rest, but it was enough that she knew more than they did, and within an hour, Remian had her explain things to them in her own way, as if she was his teaching assistant.

    As he gave them their framework and left them to practice, he caught Xiao Yan and Eriane spying on them from the windows.

    "What are you two up to?" Remian asked, in humor.

    "Shouldn''t we be in there?" Xiao Yan asked. "Learning stuff?"

    Remian shot her a look of disbelief. "Ten years of studying formations not enough for you?"

    "Not entirely. Your ten years was my two, and I had no datanet restrictions." Xiao Yan shrugged. "Including their top-of-the-line entertainment virtual experiences."

    So¡­ not exactly a formation master, but at least wiser and more mature. Remian thought for a bit, then opened a cabinet and took out a black headset. "Know what this is?"

    "A Psionic Interface Visor?" Xiao Yan guessed immediately. "The style looks Quarin."

    "It''s something they left behind in their ruins when they abandoned this world in a hurry. It''s got some stuff pre-loaded, including some basics of space magic. It''s actually where I learned about space magic from. I''m thinking if you can combine that with your formations, we might be able to do something with the Spatial Rift when the seal wears off in a couple of years."

    "Gimme." Xiao Yan held out her hand imperiously. What else could Remian do but surrender the headset?

    "Um¡­" Eriane looked at the headset longingly.

    "I''m sorry, there''s only one." Remian winced. "How about we leave that with her and you and I go play together?"

    He''d really been neglecting his family, he felt. He owed his little sister at least some time together.

    But Eriane turned to Xiao Yan. "I want to borrow your crossbow."

    "No." Xiao Yan refused immediately.

    "But it''s for Remian." Eriane said shortly.

    "Oh." Xiao Yan hesitated, then slowly nodded. "Okay."

    Remian frowned. That crossbow in question was undoubtedly the black Assassin''s Crossbow that Remian picked up back in Xiao Yan''s world. "Xiao Yan, you don''t have to lend anything you don''t want to, even if it''s for me."

    "It''s fine. You won''t be able to compete with her without a shooting weapon." Xiao Yan shrugged.

    "Compete¡­?" Remian blinked.

    "In shooting, of course. That''s how she plays." Xiao Yan had only met Eriane recently but already she had a lot of experience in that particular area.

    "Ah¡­ right." Remian felt even more guilt all of a sudden. Even Xiao Yan knew his sister better than he did. "Actually, how about we play something different this time?"

    Eriane didn''t object. She just looked at him quizzically. "Like what?"

    "I don''t know. Let''s go try everything and see." Remian suggested.

    ***

    Three hours later, they ended up designing sniper rifles together.

    Eriane worked hard at this new ''game''. She drew out a huge gun laid on a four-legged stand that included spring-loaded mechanisms for reloads and a triple magnification scope¡­

    But in the end, it was simply a crank-loading gunpowder-based machine gun with a scope, very bulky, and not exactly practical for any specific purpose.

    Remian drew out a laser-scoped railgun.

 322 Remians Madness

    Teaching the kids seemed to have sparked a madness in Remian. The craziness only went on farther from there.

    And no, it wasn''t because he tried all sorts of things trying to play with Eriane before he finally gave up and ended up drawing guns they liked. Eriane simply didn''t like anything else. They had tried dolls, playing house, sports, cards, even fishing. She had no interest in any of that.

    But anyway.

    One morning, Phoebe started hearing banging noises and quickly rushed out to find Remian knocking a hole in a bucket.

    "Why are you poking a hole in the bucket?" Phoebe stared.

    "For water." Remian said, as if it all made sense.

    It did not make sense, to Phoebe. It really didn''t. If he wanted water, the bucket would have helped much more without a hole in it!

    But even more strangely, Remian started to layer cloth at the bottom of the bucket-with-a-hole.

    "What are you doing?" Phoebe gaped.

    "I''m making a water filter." Remian explained.

    "A what¡­?" Phoebe didn''t know what to think.

    After that, he layered charcoal, then sand, then pebbles¡­

    "There!" Remian said, nodding to himself in satisfaction. "That''s as basic and rudimentary a filter as they come."

    "I don''t get it." Phoebe admitted.

    "You put water in the bucket, and let it seep through all the layers. By the time it comes out the bottom, it should be more or less drinkable."

    "Is this supposed to replace magic gourds?" Phoebe eyed it suspiciously. "Clean water magically?"

    "Something like that. But it''s just a basic rudimentary filter. Once we get the electricity up, I''m going to have Arnold build a distiller."

    ***

    The next day, he completely blew Arnold''s mind with an oversized Frame that he referred to as a Hauler, a powered Frame that ran on electricity.

    "For now, it''ll need to be wired to a wall socket, or some sort of battery." Remian explained. "But once the Lenisu Bulbs are ready, we could use that with a biotech converter."

    "A what, now?" Arnold was in a daze.

    "Oh, and the materials might have to wait until we can get the arc furnace working." Remian added. "How''s that going?"

    "I don''t even know half of what your drawings mean!" Arnold barked in frustration.

    ***

    And then he sent some drawings to Mindy that blew even her mind.

    "What is THIS?!" Mindy gaped. "A metal ball?"

    "It''s a rudimentary pod that uses 360 degree propulsion vehicle that uses plasma actuators." Remian explained. "Think of it as a super-maneuverable fightercraft. It flies by ionizing air. It''s like you electrically grab the pod and move it in any direction you want, forward, backwards, left, right, anywhere. Doesn''t need to turn or anything. Power and weight could be an issue, but if we could manage micro-actuators small enough, it''ll be easier."

    "How about we start with something that doesn''t use so much power or super-tiny parts? Considering we haven''t even got Craggy Falls'' s electrical grid up yet? Fan propellers, maybe, like Libertaria?"

    "Old tech. Steam Age. Right. Right¡­" Remian muttered to himself, then picked up Mindy''s drawing of the Dream Yacht. "Frigate-class? Or Galleon-class. Galleon, I think, or it won''t have the capacity to justify the price¡­"

    "R-Remian? What are you thinking about? Please give me back my drawings." Mindy gulped nervously.

    "Mmm. Pre-fabricated walls made of carbon fibre composites¡­ hydrogen veins in the walls. No, no, need to be older tech. Older!" Remian frowned, then lit up. "Sky Tree wood! Sky Tree sap! Sky Tree everything!"

    "Sky Trees? You mean those giant trees to the south-west of the Nine Kings Range?" Mindy was blur.

    "Yes! Those! We''ll use anti-gravitic biotech! We don''t need to recreate items when we have living things that already do them!" Remian exclaimed. "Like Lenisu bulbs! The way forward¡­ is with biotech! At least, for now!"

    "But wouldn''t you need an airship just to get to the south? Before that, you''d have to fight off the Spectres to get to the Sky Trees." Mindy pointed out.

    "Right. I need¡­ I need¡­" Remian frowned. "Kelpies and Mastiffs. And Sky Barges. No, wait. Not enough mana. But we won''t need much cargo capacity if the wood can fly on their own. We just need enough Life Force, which means¡­ martialists! We need the military!"

    "Uh¡­ right. Have fun with that." Mindy threw up her hands.

    ***

    "You want to do what?" George stared.

    "Raise the level of martial prowess across all the military forces by institutionalizing militant orders." Remian explained.

    "You want to start martial sects?" George tried to understand.

    "No, not sects. Militant orders. More discipline, less selfish ambition." Remian paused. "We want well-equipped, highly trained martialists with strong adherence to codes of honor. We want knights. State-funded knights, not feudalistic."

    "Isn''t that just a bunch of heavy cavalry?"

    "No, we need them to be martialists. We need Life Force to run biotech." Remian explained. "We need honorable martialists who can power biotech airships and Armored Frames, not horse-riders in metal apparel."

    "Biotech Frames huh? Can Biotech really replace magic runes?" George questioned. To be honest, the weakening of magic and the thought of Frames losing all their power also made him nervous.

    "We might need them to train in Psionics too." Remian figured. "But yes, I think it can be done."

    "So what do you intend to do? Recruit and train a new unit?"

    "No time. We''ll have to convert the old ones." Remian grimaced. "I think maybe¡­ three Orders. Convert the Temple Knights to the Order of Light. The Iron Legion becomes the Order of Iron¡­ no, let''s upgrade the name too, iron is too outdated... have them call themselves the Order of Steel. The mercenaries can be called the Order of Sand."

    "Look, I like the idea of beefing up martial training for our guys, but let''s not replace all our metal stuff with wood just yet, okay? Let''s take things one step at a time."

    "Time¡­ there''s no time¡­" Remian muttered to himself, as he left George scratching his head behind his back. "We only have two hundred years! And that''s assuming nothing goes wrong!"

    "Two hundred years?!" George yelped. "I probably won''t even live that long!"

    ***

    Remian made a call. "Tim? Any luck finding out where the Dragon Empire gets mana from?"

    "You do realize I''m in the middle of a raiding war with Paleres?"

    "I know, but this is important!"

    Tim sighed. "All I know is that all the mana crystals come from the Capital''s Royal Sector, directly supervised by the Imperial Family itself. Most of it is sold by the First Prince, though the Second and Third Prince have been known to release one or two into an auction. The Fourth Princess has also been known to deliver mana crystals to the hospitals under her administration. I''ll keep searching and let you know when I find out more."

    "Great. Thanks, Tim."

    Then, he called Darian.

    ***

    Darian gaped. "You want the Temple Knights to make a deep incursion into the Far South for a tree?"

    "Not just any Tree! A Tree that, if powered by Life Force, could very well fly on its own!" Remian stated. "Although it could need quite a volume of Life Force. The point is, Sky Tree Wood could build airships that require martial power instead of magical power."

    "It can?" Darian sounded surprised. "Little flying frisbees are one thing, but whole airships?"

    "Whole airships. But there''s only so many Sky Trees around right now. We need to multiply them, and have the priests bless and speed up their growth as much as possible while we still have mana!"

    The thing about the Sky Trees in the Far South was that they were wild and very much uncared for. Properly taken care of, these Trees had enormous potential valuable enough for the Conglomerate to trade for. Actually bringing out that potential, though, depended heavily on the quality of martialists on the job.

    "So this trip is to look for seedlings, then?"

    "Seedlings, and enough wood to build a Galleon." Remian clarified. "We need a non-magical airship, fast!"

    "Will you be going on this logging trip?"

    "No, I''ll be trying to make pyrolitic graphite and combalt-chromium composite alloys."

    "You''re going to do what?!"

    "I''ll be melting stuff down and blowing things up!" Remian ended the call with that.

    For a minute there, Darian was left blinking at the comms crystal wondering if his brother had gone mad.

    ***

    To be honest, Remian was wondering the same thing. The image he held in his mind of his world''s future was in serious flux. Possibilities and potential flickered in vague concepts by the dozens all at the same time, combining, separating, solidifying and fading into mist...

    Eventually, three roads began to coalesce in his thoughts.

    The first road was the safest, most tried route, that of electronics. At the far end of it, a warp gate led to Conglomerate space, and the people of his world flew through it on massive starships. The first steps on this stable route was already begun, and in his mind, it looked like a steam engine arriving at a massive railway station at Craggy Falls. In a matter of years, that train would be replaced by an electric one, and then a magnetic levitation train running in a vacuum tube.

    The second road was a gamble, but with much quicker results. At the far end of it, precious giant trees were traded to the Conglomerate in exchange for an extremely expensive pick-up. The nearer images on this road involved living in tree-houses with the Wilds, and an airship completely made of black wood.

    Then there was the third road, which was a much bigger gamble, but one with the potential to pay off the most quickly. At the far end of this road, Remian opened a new Warp Portal using Chaos Magic. At the near end, they were sneakily smuggling mana crystals from whatever source the Draconians had all while trying to avoid war with an enraged Dragon Empire. This would have the quickest results while allowing them to pretty much live the way people in this world always had; using mana.

    Suddenly, the flicker of a fourth road appeared, an even more unlikely one, but there nonetheless. At the far end of this road, Remian used Psionic power to open a Warp Rift and began to roam the worlds Elsewhere, trading for profit until he could afford to hire a massive interstellar convoy to evacuate his planet.

    Yeah, that last one would be easy if he were a Class-9 Psionic, but he was currently only a Class-6, and had no more access to advanced training facilities or virtual acceleration. Also, despite having the inherent powers necessary, he had yet to physically manifest his Psionic powers. Virtual qualifications were great, but up till now, Remian had never yet formed even a Psi-Blade in the real world. Psi-Blades were something just about every Class-5 Psionic could manage. Darian, in comparison, was already practiced with Silhouettes, which was something in the domain of Class-6. Didn''t that mean he was already a seasoned Class-6 Psionic? How far was he from Class-7? Was he already a Class-7 capable of sneaking around with Psi-Shrouds? Had he ever used Kinetic Barriers? Remian didn''t know.

    What about Doom? Or even Fel? They trained in Psionics too, right? What level had they reached?

    But thinking back, Remian couldn''t remember seeing any of them use Kinetic Barriers. Then again, if they had employed Psi Shrouds, he wouldn''t know about it. In other words, if either of them had reached Class-7, they either didn''t show it, or didn''t know how to use the advanced Psionic techniques that the Conglomerate knew about.

    Looking at the total lack of materials like Psiorin and Resonance Crystals on this world though, Remian suspected that Class-6 might be an unofficial ceiling for Psionics here. In other words, opening a Warp Rift with Psionic powers was most unlikely, even for someone with talents in Warp Energy.

    Technology, Qi, Mana, or Psionic power¡­ there were four ways to save the people of this world, but this world was severely lacking in all four.

    One thing Remian knew for certain; he must never rely on himself. The job of saving the people of this world was more than one person alone could handle. Even if he went for Chaos Magic, he should call in the Magi or the Church of Light to help. If he went for Psionic Power, he should be able to get Doom, Fel and Darian to assist, maybe even the Five Emperors. Trying to be a hero and saving the entire world based on his own strength was ridiculous. In the bigger picture, everyone and everything on this world was just incredibly weak. Everything he was doing, everything he was getting those around him to do, was nothing more than simply struggling to survive.

    And until they could solidify a route to survival, Remian''s main recourse was to try everything.

    Somewhere, somehow, SOMETHING had to work!

 323 Difficulties Adjusting

    One week later, the Three Orders were officially formed. The Order of Light, the Order of Steel and the Order of Sand started recruiting under their new banners in Three Pines, Kara-Goth and Fal''Herim respectively.

    With most of their Order fighting the Spectres in the south, the ex-Temple Knights and supporting Priests were based in a massive camp not far from Three Pines. As the Order of Light was formally launched, they began to construct permanent buildings where before they had pitched tents.

    Led by Darian, two Order of Light Sky Galleons ventured deep into the far south looking for Sky Trees.

    On top of that, George had the Adventurers at Three Pines seed the fertile heights of that region with Lenisu. Those hills would eventually be covered in Lenisu vines.

    As Frames became harder and harder to use due to waning mana, more and more residents at Three Pines turned to their Comrades to get around. Wolfcats were an absolute favorite, and it was fairly common to see someone riding one up the trunks and branches to the tree-houses above.

    But often these days new structures were built lower, on the ground under the Trees, rather than high in the treetops. People no longer feared the Wilds who trod the earth. Even more, people were streaming in to the Quarin Ruins and fixing up homes for themselves in abandoned graphite structures.

    Meanwhile, Kara-Goth became heavily industrialized. Factories sprouted up all across the new region as the massive population influx flooded the market with needs and skills. On new roads built and guarded by the Order of Steel, steady streams of ores piled up as the mining towns boomed, and George saw fit to process them farther for their own uses. Shadowflash was not happy about it, but the Reforestation was running in earnest and he left them alone, for now.

    At that time, Arnold released a new version of Frames that were lighter and easier to move around in, but bulkier due to the extensive use of springs instead of magic runes. This soon became an industrial favorite, especially since they didn''t cost mana to maintain or utilize.

    One of the reasons why Kara-Goth had to industrialize in a hurry was because Fal''Herim had adapted its production facilities for war. It wasn''t just because the Order of Sand was gobbling up mercenary bands left and right and growing exponentially. Weapons, ammunition and armor were churned out by the thousands every day. Siege machine components, desert-worthy chariots, fortification supports¡­ Tim''s industrial sector in Fal''Herim made and sold these in bulk, and with practically the whole world fighting each other, his profits absolutely soared. Even Paleres bought weapons from him¡­ and dared not complain about them ''almost-raiding'' nearby while equipment and supplies suddenly went missing without leaving a trace or evidence of any kind.

    As if in appreciation for Paleres'' tolerance, Tim decided to extend the scope of their raiding to the north and south, adding the border towns of Otta and Ira to their theatre of raiding operations. Part of it might have been due to the declining yields from raids into Paleres border towns. But really, even with the raids, Paleres ended up being one of Fal''Herim''s main customers.

    Another of his main customers was the Song Clan. Having brought thousands of his people to build the Great Docks at his Bog Marshes, Song Chen suddenly had the upper hand in his strife with the Wilds in his territory. As more friends of the Song Clan arrived from the Dragon Empire, many of the local Wilds quietly decided to migrate to friendlier regions.

    Having the Song Clan as big customers was helpful to Tim when he wanted to send more and more Lynxmice into the Dragon Empire to find out where all the mana crystals were coming from. They''d narrowed it down to the exact building within a military depot, a strange site where nobody ever saw mana crystals going in. What did go in were large groups of heavily armed troops¡­ and often came out with only half their number.

    "It seems dangerous." Remian observed. "I thought they were just importing them from elsewhere, maybe having a secret spaceport to receive shipments¡­ but this is something else. It looks like they have another Spatial Node, and the place it leads to does not seem friendly."

    "Even so, they''re able to fight for crystals. Whatever they''re fighting on the other side, they''re not as powerful as the Spectres." Tim observed.

    Meanwhile, the first building to be fully completed in Craggy Falls was the airport/railway station/new Adventurers Guild Headquarters. The three were combined into a single towering structure, with two underground tunnel floors of railway connections, a domestic terminal, an international terminal, five floors of amenities including shops and restaurants, ten floors for the Guild (including ''inn'' rooms), and a flight control tower crowned with small landing pad at the very top. There were three tall ''shelf'' floors of airship hangars to the west side, a big railyard and a roundhouse to the east, with a major loading area in the middle.

    "We have power!" Joshu pumped a fist as he flicked a switch and a light bulb turned on. Then, he glanced out and his face fell. "Why isn''t the waterfall flowing?"

    Oh. Right. Since the completion of the dam, Craggy Falls no longer fell. In fact, with zero energy usage, and the windmills starting up, the unused power had been directed towards pumping water upward from the lake beneath the falls. That was a form of natural power storage taking advantage of the basic terrain. When they needed power, the power station staff would open up the downward flow to match power needs, trying to match supply with demand. It was tricky, considering their current equipment and technology. Half of it was dials and levers. Hopefully, the two dozen or so ex-priests and ex-mercenaries managing the station could manage. After a whole week of training with them, Remian still wasn''t confident they''d be able to handle things safely. If not, well¡­ at least half their staff had abilities in healing magic.

    Honestly, Remian expected they''d run into lots and lots of problems the first few weeks. But they would learn and they would adjust, and sooner or later they''d get the hang of it. It might be costly, in the end, but experience was often the quickest teacher.

    He hoped they would learn well. These systems were simple toys compared with what was to come. In the future, Remian wanted to add more kinds of power storage, particularly molten salt batteries. Then, when they needed ever-more power, they could add a molten salt reactor too¡­ assuming they could figure out suitable cobalt-chromium composite alloys.

    The first people to move into the new building was Remian''s new class, formally registering as an Adventurer Band named Group-2.

    Why Group-2? Because they looked up to Mindy, Tim, and George as Group-1. Or at least, Alani did, and she handled the registration entirely on her own since everyone else was too busy studying to bother.

    Why were they studying? Oh, right. Remian said they would have a test this weekend¡­ which involved nothing less than a shopping trip to Ashdale on a very limited budget to buy what was almost definitely expensive and highly demanded machinery at this time. Considering the market values, and their deliberately limited budget, it was unlikely they could buy the machine whole and would likely have to put it together with parts. Putting together their own supplies, flying to Ashdale, communicating with the locals, identifying the machinery, spotting for quality, even putting it together was all part of the test. They were, of course, entirely allowed to talk to each other during this test. Also, it was a group test; either they would all pass, or they would all fail, together.

    In this sense, communicating with each other was part of the test too. Unlike traditional exams where everyone was not allowed to talk to one another, this particular test encouraged, even demanded them to learn to work together.

    Incidentally, Xiao Yan and Eriane were not part of Group-2. They were still happily running around with Aeyrie and Vigil''s hunting pack; Ember, Scarlet, Moonlight, Flare[1], Cheery, Snaps and Chubs. They had built their own treehouse near Ruth''s and Xiao Yan secured it with her own formations, providing a repulsion effect to anyone whose blood was not recognized by the formation.

    "Isn''t it all going to disappear once mana is gone?" Ruth asked.

    "No, it won''t. My formations use Qi, not mana." Xiao Yan assured her.

    It wasn''t a very strong formation, Qi on this world wasn''t very thick, and Darian or Mindy could crush it with ease¡­ but for a children''s clubhouse, it was rather impressive.

    "Do you intend to have her join our class?" Alani asked Remian, once. "She''s actually older than me by a year."

    "Not yet." Remian said. "I''ll let her run around freely for at least another year and see what she does first."

    As the first electrical appliances came on in the new Adventurers Guild, Alani''s group and Xiao Yan''s group both camped out in the main hall and enjoyed the breeze from the new electric fans while Joshu and roughly thirty older Adventurers went around picking rooms.

    "There won''t be enough rooms here for all the Adventurers to stay." Xia warned Remian quietly.

    "There''ll be plenty of apartments out there." Remian assured her, gesturing to the town being constructed all around them.

    Since they were using magic to move things around and speed up the whole process, construction could have progressed faster if the materials were ready, but despite George''s best efforts, Kara-Goth simply couldn''t keep up with demand. There was so much construction going on everywhere, the brickyards and steel mills were overwhelmed. Both had roughly quadrupled in size since Remian''s return, and still their production had already been booked and bought up to six weeks ahead.

    These days, half of Mindy''s imports were construction materials. Steel supports, bags of cement, bricks¡­ Mindy even started trading ships with Deutero, exchanging dozens of Wasps in return for Sky Galleons. Escorted by the Red Fang, three second-hand Sky Galleons made the trip to Fal''Herim and back on a daily basis.

    Mindy herself, though, never left. She stayed cooped up in her workshop studying Libertaria''s propeller systems, often consulting Jim and Arnold.

    Remian popped in to her workshop one day and caught her drawing a monstrous airship with a huge propeller below blowing sails and a gas envelope upward.

    "Not like that!" Remian groaned and sketched out a helicopter, a single propeller plane, and a large cargo airplane with four propellers on its wings. "Actually, you can take it further¡­" he drew a canister around one of the wing propellers, then revised the sketch some more until it became a turbofan jet.

    "Wings¡­?" Mindy stared at the airplane designs half in horror. "How hard do they need to flap?"

    "They don''t need to flap!" Remian had to take a couple of hours to explain airflow and airlift to her.

    Even so, Mindy was dubious. "I think they should flap. Let me go ask an expert."

    Remian groaned. "There''s no need to ask Aeyrie about it. Just trust me. It''ll work."

    But despite his attempts to persuade her on fixed-wing aircraft, Mindy kept drawing schematics with flapping wings on them. "Flapping wings are safer than sharp fans that might harm birds!"

    "Mindy, if you''re going to have the wings move, you may as well do it like fish." Remian rolled his eyes, rolled up his sleeves, and sketched out one LTA fish-like airship where the ''wings'' had turned to fish flippers. He even added a fish-tail. "Or if you''re really against propellers, what about cycloidal rotors?" He drew out one.

    Almost predictably, Mindy''s next design looked like a big fish. It was a single-structure airship where the upper half of the fish was actually a gas envelope. Plus the tail was a cycloidal rotor.

    "Well¡­ I guess the fins can help maneuver the ship around. In this case, the main power for propulsion should be the tail." Remian observed, then drew an electric motor at the back. Mindy drew a turret and a cockpit in the front. In the middle, the sides of the fish opened up for cargo.

    On top of the envelope, Remian drew some weird symbols. "This should work."

    "What are these?" Mindy blinked at the weird symbols.

    "That''s a formation marking. It''s just the name of a long-lasting containment formation. Show it to Xiao Yan. She''ll be able to handle the actual formation."

    Qi wasn''t very thick in this world, and not at all powerful, but if it was just to contain gasses, it would do.

    An airship that used an electric motor for propulsion and a Qi formation to secure the gas envelope. Remian was half-tempted to set up a Psionic control system and a magic cannon just to make this fish an all-powers type. But no¡­ in the end, hand-held steering and a ballista turret won out.

    "You know, there''s a much, much simpler way to handle all this." Remian observed afterward.

    "What?" Mindy blinked.

    Remian drew a square box and a gas envelope with formation¡­ being towed by a really big bird. "Ta-da! Sky Chariot!"

    Mindy choked. "The Eagle Lord is going to kill us if we even suggest it!"

    Remian rubbed off the big bird and drew a dragon instead.

    Mindy giggled, even as she protested. "Stop! Stop! You''re going to get us in trouble!"

    Remian scrubbed out the dragon and drew a winged horse.

    At that, Mindy froze. "The Pegasi?"

    Up till now, they hadn''t been very friendly with them. They and the Pegasus Lord''s clan were polite, at best, and they had had their scrapes and skirmishes in the past.

    "No, no, we can''t!" Mindy shook her head in the end. "The Wilds would never stand for it. Hanging on to them with our bare hands is fine. Tying ourselves to them personally is okay, that''s just a form of sticking together. But if we tried to put them in reins and saddles or tie them up in any way, they''re going to kill us."

    Mindy scrubbed out the airship entirely, and then drew a little girl on the Pegasus'' back, both arms around the winged horse''s neck in a tight hug. "There. That''s the most you can expect from the Wilds."

 324 Clira

    The day that Remian feared came at last.

    "So, I understand you''re in charge around here." A white-whiskered, round man addressed George, looking down at him from a squinting eye and a monocle. "Tell me, boy, where''s the oil at?"

    George frowned. "Excuse me?"

    "Black, sticky stuff." The round man said loudly. "Where''s it at?"

    George paused, and sent a telepathic message. [Remian, someone''s asking about oil.]

    [Can you change the subject?]

    [Nope. He''s very direct about it. I think he came all the way here just to find oil.]

    [Can you hoax him with fish oil or something?]

    [He''s asking for the black, sticky stuff. Shall I just point him south and let him face the Spectres?]

    [No, don''t. Sooner or later, we''ll clear out the Spectres, and then he''ll make a claim on the oil saying he''d fought and faced danger for it. Don''t even give him the opportunity.]

    [So, basically¡­ we don''t want him getting it?]

    [We don''t want anyone getting it.]

    George straightened. "The oil belongs to us. You''re not getting it."

    Monocle-man also straightened. "No, YOU''RE not getting it! I''m from Libertaria, you understand? You couldn''t stop me if you tried! But I''m a reasonable man. Why don''t you name a price? Let''s deal."

    [Remian? He''s wanting to make a deal.]

    [Don''t deal. We want to skip the fossil fuel trap entirely.]

    [But if he doesn''t get it here, he''ll find oil elsewhere, you know? Shouldn''t we at least get some profit from it?]

    [We don''t need it. If you want profit, I''ll show you how, without selling oil. Tell him to come find me. I''ll deal with him.]

    George coughed. "If you want to deal, you''ll have to talk to someone with more authority than me. You''ll have to find Remian at Craggy Falls Town."

    "Remian? Who is he? I thought you were the man in charge around here."

    "Around here, yes, but this is just one fief in a whole region. The man I''m sending you to is the brother of the king." George simplified everything for the monocle man.

    "Brother of the king, eh? I see, I see¡­" Monocle man nodded sagely, then barked a laugh. "But of course! I thought that all this was fishy! Such a young boy in charge¡­ bollocks! I''ll go talk to your superiors, then! Hah!"

    George frowned, certain that he''d been insulted, but not intending to say anymore since the man was leaving anyway. Remian could handle him. George put monocle man out from his mind and went to see about the gem mining at Amber Gorge.

    ***

    "So you''re Remian?!" Monocle man eyed Remian up and down and scoffed. "Humph! Another wee lad? What''s this, is this whole place run by children?"

    Children and animals, yes¡­ but Remian didn''t tell him that. "What exactly is it you want, mister¡­?"

    "Steiner! Call me Sir Steiner!" Monocle Man declared. "I''m here to buy the oil! More specifically, I want the exclusive mining rights to all the oil!"

    "Denied." Remian said flatly. "Goodbye."

    "W-wait! WAIT! Don''t be hasty, now, surely there''s someone I can reason with!" Steiner said. "What about your brother, the king? Surely he understands business and profit."

    Remian''s eyes narrowed. "I am the highest authority in the Wildlands that you will ever be dealing with, and I am the person who has the final say in any deal you make, where you are permitted to go, and how long you are permitted to live in this land, so watch your tone."

    Steiner frowned. "Nobody told me I needed a passport stamped or an entrance permit. Nobody said anything about a limited visit duration. Did I miss a legal process along the way¡­?"

    Remian shook his head. "What I mean is, the Wilds want to eat you. The Lord of the Fief you just left, for example, finds you particularly annoying and wants to chomp your head off."

    "Chomp my head off?! Animals!" Steiner exclaimed in horror.

    "Literally. He is a wolfcat." Remian agreed. "A very, very big wolfcat. He''s about the size of a Frigate."

    "B-but¡­ surely¡­ we can deal¡­" Steiner was looking around furtively now.

    "There''s even bigger creatures around the place where the oil is at, and giant ghosts who have already killed thousands of our allied forces in the recent war. The Spectres are still there, you know. The Temple Knights have been trying to clear them out, but there''s only so much they can do." Remian shook his head, an idea suddenly occuring to him. "Anyone trying to get that oil is going to have to pay a price in blood, and in amounts higher than you or I would ever want to pay. It''s just not worth it."

    Cost and benefit. That was a businessman''s language. Hopefully, this monocle man would understand that.

    "I have¡­ much to consider." Steiner finally took a step back.

    "There''s no need to consider anything. There is no offer, no deal to be made. You''re not mining that oil." Remian said firmly. "Now, if there''s something else you''d like to deal for, we have a lot of fresh fruit in the market and our ores have been particularly popular since the world war. Feel free to make deals for those with George if you like. Good day."

    ***

    Remian and George watched them go. George sighed. "We really can''t make any money off them?"

    Remian spared him a sideways glance. "Are you really in such need of money?"

    "Not me, specifically, but there''s a lot that Kara-Goth needs, and a lot of good that could be done for our new people if we had the money." George said. "A good many of them are little more than refugees, uprooted and living off their meagre savings or foraging the woods for food."

    "What happened to the business loan system? I thought you were going to fund new businesses on condition of being a future shareholder." Remian prompted.

    "We can''t fund everything. Only a few which offer the most immediate profits or cost cuts." George grimaced. "There''s just too many asking, too little to go around."

    "Just how much are we talking about?"

    "Eight hundred million, easily. And that''s just the businesses we think are feasible."

    Remian grimaced. "Yikes. What about Deutero? They have banks and loans, right?"

    "Rates have spiked, and they''ve gotten extremely tight-fisted recently. Right now they''re very iffy about granting loans to people in risky places. That means most of the world except the Dragon Empire, Libertaria and Torres."

    Remian shook his head. "Does it have to be eight hundred million? Can''t these people do businesses cheaper to start up? Farms or fishing or something?"

    "Most of them are priests or retired knights. What did you expect?" George shook his head. "Half of them want to start schools or libraries. One group of knights want to start a stable and racetrack. The old bishop wants to build a whole housing estate in Ecclesian style and rent out the houses! Some of the knights want to start a bank with low interest rates to aid the poor! We can''t afford that!"

    Remian perked up. "No, but maybe they can. These knights¡­ they don''t happen to be Templar, do they?"

    "I have no idea. I only know they''re retired." George shook his head. "Anyway, I''m playing it safe and just sticking with those who want to run industries for now. So far, they''ve been doing well despite the worldwide economic crisis."

    "Worldwide economic crisis? What''s that about?" Remian blinked.

    "What do you think? Transportation costs are skyrocketing. Prices of Imports and Exports are soaring, and entire shipping companies have closed down."

    "So we focus on the local markets, take care of our own." Remian shrugged. "I think it''s time we started our own currency."

    "Create our own currency? How much would that cost?" George yelped. "How is that even done?"

    "I would like to base it on energy, but we''re just not ready for that." Remian sighed. "We can''t use mana crystals or spirit crystals¡­ I guess we''ll have to use Clira."

    "What''s that?" George blinked.

    "Basically¡­ it''s food pellets." Remian explained. "CLIR stands for Compact Life Infused Rations. ''Clira'' is the common plural form. It''s supposed to be the nutrient and Life Force equivalent of an adult''s meal."

    "So¡­ it''s a medicine that restores Qi." George summarized.

    "It''s not medicine, it''s food." Remian cleared his throat. "It doesn''t have side-effects or medicine toxins, but neither does it work instantly, it takes some time to digest. Skilled martialists could speed it up, of course, and directly draw its essence to restore their vitality, but generally speaking, most people would rather use Qi Restoration Pills or crystals for that. Clira are used more as replacements for meals."

    "If they''d rather use Qi Restoration Pills¡­ why don''t we use those pills for currency?" George asked.

    "Some people do, but we can''t. Too many people on our world have no use for them. Our world is a bigger mix of abilities and needs. In such a varied situation, we can only derive from the most basic and universal necessities." Remian mused. "At least we now have the ability to make Clira. We didn''t, before."

    "We didn''t?" George stared.

    "Not enough high level martialists." Remian explained. "Not even Marcus had the power to infuse Qi into nutrient pellets. But now we have over twenty ex-Temple Knights at the Earth Qi stage or higher."

    "And so the phrase ''eating money'' takes on a whole new meaning." George shook his head.

    "Yes, that''s it, exactly. Warriors on long missions no longer need to pack bulky rations. They just need to bring some money. Just coins, though, not cash."

    "You still call them coins?!"

    ***

    Remian and George discussed economics all day.

    In addition to the new currency and a new bank, increasing businesses involving the Wilds sprouted up.

    This included; rabbit wool, silk farming, region-wide delivery services, an Annual Human+Comrade Obstacle Course Marathon, Comrade Combat Training Centers, Comrade armor and armaments, even Comrade Fashion Salons.

    All of these were based around Craggy Falls, mainly due to the fact that the town hadn''t quite been completed yet and adding a whole lot of buildings and changes to it would be a lot easier than it would be in an already-occupied settlement.

    The little desert at Rocky Ravine suddenly had plans for a Borax mine. Speaking of deserts, Remian sent Tim some plans and coordinates for copper mines and salt mines in the Endless Desert.

    Meanwhile a multitude of farms were planned following the streams and rivers all the way from Craggy Falls to the Black Depths. Unlike the farms at Kara-Goth, these were more luxury crops than staple foods. Cotton, flax, hemp, bamboo, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugarcane¡­

    George whistled. "You really want a self-sustaining economy, huh? At this rate, we''ll have no need to import anything, we can make everything ourselves."

    "To begin with, yes."

    "That''s just the start?! What are you going to do, exploit every mineral lode in the Wildlands?"

    "I wish! But I doubt the Wilds would like that. No, if we''re going to expand our territory, I don''t think south is the way to go."

    "You still want to expand?! Where are you going to expand to?"

    "North-east, I think. Simply because they attacked us first."

    "You want to take on the Brotherhood of Six?!"

    "Maybe. But that''s assuming Tim doesn''t wipe them out all by himself first. Anyway, that''s all for later. For now, I just want to build."

    The knight''s bank would be started in Kara-Goth on the following conditions; 1) they would be supervised by George directly, 2) They would launch the new currency, 3) They would convince the twenty-plus ex-Temple Knights at Earth Qi stage and above to make Clira and manage the creation of Clira, and 4) Remian and George would both hold 10% shares and board positions in the bank.

    That was as far as they got before it was time for dinner and they decided to take a break and continue the next day. They spread the news a little to prepare those who would be involved, and by the next morning, Tim called.

    "I want in." Tim said. "Ten percent of the bank. Just tell me how much money it will cost to buy in."

    "Uh¡­ five hundred million." George suggested tentatively.

    "Deal." Tim didn''t even balk.

    Remian hesitated, exchanging a look with George. [Does he know he''s the only one among us actually putting in money?]

    [Shh. Don''t tell him!]

 325 Visit to FalHerim

    Mindy, like Tim, bought her way in, but her 10% shares only cost her 50 million... per year, for 10 years. As for George and Remian, one was going to be the managing administrator, the other was the ''inventor'' of the Clira.

    "Fine." Tim didn''t complain overmuch. 500 million was steep, even for him, but manageable.

    With a billion lir of pledges in capital, the new Templars Bank started out as a poor knights'' support with intention to introduce the new Clira currency at the end of the year. The main reason for that was to give the Knight Captains (Earth Qi stage) time to make Clira. They weren''t told what it was they were making, and were currently paid in Lir for their efforts at a ratio of 10 lir for a Clira.

    "Aren''t we overvaluing the Clira a bit? Or overpaying the Knight Captains and above?" George asked.

    Remian shook his head. "No, because the value of the lir is plummeting. Using the price of an adult''s meal as a measure, the purchasing power of the lir worldwide has already dropped to a tenth of what it was.

    "Isn''t that just the price of food going up? Other things have become cheaper than normal." Mindy queried.

    "That''s because mana-based items are soon going to be useless, so everything that uses mana is worth only a few months of usage, at most. The prices of airships now are rock-bottom, if you want to buy them."

    "Why would we want to buy almost-useless airships?" Mindy hesitated.

    "So we can adapt them to electricity and use them ourselves, or sell them off at much higher prices?"

    Mindy suddenly grinned. Electric adaptation was Jim''s and Arnold''s current main project, using Remian''s Hauler designs as reference to adapt Armored Frames. Their second would be the Steam Engine Train currently being assembled with parts imported from Libertaria.

    Speaking of that Steam Engine Train, the tracks were laid halfway to the Mining Towns by now, having already reached the village stops, but the parts for the Steam Engine itself were late and overpriced, likely due to the sudden worldwide demand. Some of those parts even got stolen by pirates during shipment and had to be replaced by the shipping companies. In two instances, the shipping companies went bankrupt and couldn''t afford to replace them, forcing George to fork out more money.

    "Next time, use Deutero shipping." Charlie counseled them, when he heard about it. "Even if we lose the cargo, we won''t go bankrupt so easily. Plus, we have much better security."

    True enough, every shipment coming in through Deutero arrived safely, even if they were sometimes late.

    Remian shook his head. The train was taking far too long to put together. By the time it was finished, and Arnold''s electric adaptation system was installed, the E-Train might be ready.

    Oh, right. About that. Arnold''s grand electric-adaptation design was basically just replacing the coal furnace with an electric boiler. In the end, the steam engine would still run on steam.

    Remian''s E-train, however, used an electric motor.

    The ideas were simple enough. The problem was the battery. Right now, Arnold was using a gigantic version of the salt water battery Remian demonstrated to him earlier, the kind that looked like an ice tray with nails and copper wiring. Lemon juice was his ultimate plan, but importing lemons was expensive, the farms had only produced a limited amount of lemons, and it would take time to grow them in the numbers he wanted.

    Actually, they could make rechargeable wet cell batteries. For that, they needed sulfuric acid, but they were already going to make that for wastewater treatment. Adventurers were sent into the Misty Valley and the Bog Marshes to look for fumaroles to get vanadium oxide. They also needed sulfur but considering that Mal''thor, Kor''ag and Khar''al-dras all slept on volcanic beds, that was hardly a problem.

    Of course, Remian wasn''t content with wet cell batteries. He wanted hydrogen fuel cells, or at least lithium-ion batteries.

    Until then, they would have to use Jim''s best idea; stick one of Deepsilver''s children in a tank and have the electric eel zap away whenever they needed power. Tim, on the other hand, thought it should be possible to stick a dozen lynxmice in running wheels connected to dynamos.

    Darian''s idea was even more direct; have a dragonling directly breathe fire into the furnace.

    What really held Remian''s thoughts was Xiao Yan''s gas containment formation. If it could contain hydrogen in a balloon¡­ couldn''t that hydrogen be used in a fuel cell? Hydrogen containment had been the biggest headache in fuel-cell usage.

    In which case¡­ Xiao Yan''s Qi formations could be a direct shortcut to the hydrogen age, bypassing all fossil fuel usage entirely. Hydrogen powered airships, cars, marine craft, even¡­

    Remian paused at that thought and looked upward, at the starry sky.

    But then, he shook his head with a sigh. Xiao Yan''s Qi formations required ambient Qi. There wasn''t any of that in space. The sky was the limit; no farther.

    Anyway. Back to the train. Using hydrogen would turn the E-Train into a HE-Train (Hydrogen Electric). Directly skipping ahead to the hydrogen age would save them decades. From there to the electro-magnetic age, it was just a matter of generating lots of power and using it efficiently. If they could manage vacuum tubes and magnetic levitation trains within the next twenty years, they should very well be able to reach space within a hundred years. That should give their space colonists plenty of time to build a warp gate.

    This was the technology route, but aided with a huge boost from the addition of Qi formations. What else did Xiao Yan learn from the Conglomerate education system? Remian suddenly realized that he didn''t know. He only knew a bit of what Xiao Yan''s formations were capable of. Thinking back, Xiao Yan''s homeworld didn''t have such formations. For all he knew, that formation was something from a Class-7 interstellar civilization. If so, using such formations was cheating outrageously.

    Remian shrugged. "We''ll take it! We''ll take everything we can get!"

    ***

    The concept of adapting airships from mana to electricity had a huge potential for quick profit. Mindy leapt at the opportunity and immediately asked for Remian''s assistance.

    Remian, in turn, brought Xiao Yan along. They boarded Mindy''s Red Fang and sailed to her shipyards at Fal''Herim.

    Unexpectedly, Tim met them there.

    "Hi, guys. I want in on this too." Tim said straight out as he greeted them.

    "That''s great, but, Tim¡­ what is SHE doing here?" Mindy almost spat out the words.

    Next to Tim was Asda and a squad of royal guards.

    "Oh, I''m thinking we could really maximize our profits on this limited opportunity." Tim said. "I think we can get all of Fal''Herim working together on this. We can extend the scope of our enterprises by a few hundred times or more if you''ll allow it."

    "Why fix up a dozen airships when you can fix up a thousand, huh¡­" Remian mused. "I like it."

    "But it''s Asda!" Mindy protested. "We can''t trust her!"

    "No, she???s just doling out the money and signing the cheques." Tim assured Mindy. "The person in charge here is me."

    "Oh, yeah? Prove it!" Mindy snorted.

    Tim''s eyes narrowed. He turned to the royal guards. "Capture Queen Asda and hold her at gunpoint."

    "Yes, general!" all six of them instantly drew weapons and pointed them at Asda.

    "T-Tim?" Asda spluttered. Tears filled her eyes. "W-why? I didn''t even do anything!"

    Tim turned to Mindy with a shockingly cold glint in his eye. "Is that enough for you?"

    Mindy gaped. She suddenly felt like Tim was becoming almost hostile to her. "Uh¡­ yeah. Sorry."

    She wasn''t sure what she was apologizing for, only that she felt like she should.

    "Stand down." Tim called off the royal guards. Then, he went over to Asda. "I''m sorry. I was just making a point."

    Mindy almost stared. The way he spoke to Asda was remarkably¡­ gentle.

    "It''s okay. I get it." Asda half-whispered.

    Mindy''s hair almost stood on end. A whole bunch of mixed feelings erupted in her at that point, almost causing her to yell, blush and hide all at the same time.

    "W-what happened? What just happened?!" Mindy asked Remian, completely befuddled.

    Remian just sighed. "I think it''s safe to say that Fal''Herim is changed. Fal''Herim has totally changed."

 326 Developments in FalHerim

    The most obvious change to Fal''Herim was that Lynxmice were everywhere.

    Before, they lurked and watched from the shadows. But now, they ran out freely, playing with the children on the streets, sunbathing on the rooftops, frequenting the shops with their new human Comrades¡­

    Oh yes. Remian recognized Comrades when he saw them. Lynxmice sitting on people''s shoulders or helping them fix things in places hard fo humans to reach¡­ somehow, over the past week or so, Tim had managed to introduce Comrades to Fal''Herim, even though most of them were Field Lynxmice or Desert Lynxmice.

    "We''ve taken over everything." Tim assured Remian. "Underground and above ground alike."

    "Yeah, you''ve even taken over the royalty." Mindy shot Asda a dark look.

    "Pretty much." Tim shrugged.

    The industrial district likewise had undergone huge changes. Tim had brought them underground to protect them during the Beast Tide, and afterward, they decided to stay there. The underground of Fal''Herim was incredibly vast and filled with Draconian ruins. Looking at the walls engraved with draconian art, Remian suspected that Khar''al-dras had stayed there for a while and had a multitude of servants with him. The whole underground labyrinth was riddled with dragon-sized tunnels. Tim merely occupied it and set to work opening pathways that made everything much more accessible and less of a maze. On top of that, they had cleared out several buildings above ground and put in lenses and mirrors to direct sunlight all across the underground.

    "It''s not good enough." Remian shook his head. "Tim, we have to put in light bulbs. We''ll have to see about putting up wind and solar generators as soon as possible."

    "Or, we could stick a hundred lynxmice on dynamo wheels." Tim suggested. "We''ll make it a competition. The top ten get double cheese."

    "That might be enough if it''s just for lighting, but sooner or later, you''ll want to use electricity for machinery and everything else." Remian warned him. "At that time, a thousand Lynxmice wouldn''t be enough. No, I think¡­ hmm. I think you can go straight for a hydrogen power plant. That means, you''re going to need a lot of fuel cells."

    It took some time to explain fuel cells to Tim, but at the end of it, Tim nodded. "We can turn some of the factories toward building these. We''ll have less weapons to sell, but it won''t be a problem. The question is where this hydrogen of yours is coming from."

    "I''m going to have to set that up as soon as I get back." Remian admitted. "Basically, I''m going to have to ask Deepsilver for help. Also we can turn all excess power production in Craggy Falls toward making hydrogen. That''s the simplest way to do it right now, at least, until the bacta is ready."

    "What''s bacta?"

    "Uh¡­ it''s bacteria and algae. It''s for algae bioreactors. We''ll be using biotech to produce hydrogen. It just takes time for algae and bacta to grow, so it''s not ready yet." Remian grimaced. That was a secret project at Craggy Falls. The adventurers who cared for the algae and bacta probably had no idea what they were doing, only that they earned guild points for doing it.

    In a matter of weeks, algae bioreactors could start hydrogen production in full swing, but weeks felt too long for Tim''s case. Remian wanted to put in light bulbs and start up a power plant right now.

    "What''s the rush?" Tim asked, when he heard about it.

    "There''s no rush, exactly. But if we had power, this entire place could be utilized." Remian said. "We could quintuple the production. If we built up on top of this, we could have a massive arcology. On top of that, if we bury the arcology we could keep it all cool from the desert sun and warm in the desert nights. It''ll look sort of like Kara-Goth."

    "A town-in-a-hill¡­" Tim mused.

    "Exactly. With some clay and stone, it could look like a rocky hill from afar."

    "Let me think about that a little more. Tell me about this solar and wind power. And why the sudden urge to expand our industrial capacity?"

    "It''s because I''m worried about Kara-Goth." Remian sighed. "I don''t think it''s going to last."

    "What''s not going to last?" Both Tim and Mindy were stunned.

    "George is trying to build up heavy industries in a land ruled by a wolfcat. Shadowflash and his kin are not happy with all the pollution and the noise." Remian explained. "Sooner or later, things are going to get rough."

    "You want to move all of Kara-Goth''s industries here." Tim understood. "Because the lynxmice here don''t seem to have a problem with heavy industries."

    "I think they would if things get too noisy and the pollution gets too heavy, but there are ways to reduce that. We don''t need to cover the desert with black smoke and chemical waste. We can set it up right this time, or at least avoid the worst of it. But that''s going to take time, and a lot of work on my part¡­" Remian frowned. "I might need you to take a class for me for a while."

    Tim flatly rejected. "Nope! Can''t do it! Too busy, sorry!"

    "Mindy, then?" Remian turned to her hopefully.

    "But¡­ but the airships¡­ the shipyard¡­" Mindy protested.

    Remian sighed. "Looks like all three of us are going to be busy here at Fal''Herim for a while. I guess I have no choice then."

    "What¡­ what are you going to do? Ask George?" Mindy queried.

    "Not George." Remian answered. "Darian."

    ***

    Darian was very, very far to the south at the time. He was on an Order of Light airship loading Sky Tree seedlings while two squads of knights fought low-tier Spectres at different corners of their perimeter.

    "You want me to take a class?" Darian stared at the communications crystal in his hand. "Is this a joke? I''m in the middle of a pitched battle here!"

    "Not right now. The class has a field trip this weekend, so we''re talking about next week." Remian explained. "Also, I strongly suspect they are going to fail the trip''s objective, but that''s okay. The main point of the trip was to get them to want to learn more. Even failure can be a good teacher. But they would likely be frothing at the mouth to grow stronger."

    "You want me to teach them martial arts?" Darian guessed.

    "And psionics, if you could." Remian requested. "Put them to some light work if you like, it''s all part of training. Just don''t lose them. We''re going to need a lot from them in the future."

    "That''s great and all, but why would I get myself into this?" Darian had to ask.

    "I''ll make you an advanced airship." Remian offered. "A Strike Frigate which would make the Red Fang look like a toy. Something that won''t use mana."

    Actually, he just wanted Darian to have a vehicle that could bring the whole class around safely and quickly. But don''t tell Darian that.

    ***

    Turning an entire city into a super electric-adaptation center was no mean feat. Only an autocratic government like Fal''Herim''s monarchy could even think about doing it in a short time frame. There were some political obstacles involved, but with Underground King calling the shots, the obstacles didn''t even dare show their faces.

    It mainly took the form of ten massive drydocks. Teams of men and lynxmice would dash in, replace key components, add in electrical wiring protected by metal pipes, and seal up all the holes and gaps they made in the process.

    "We can just leave the unused mana channels in the walls and place the wiring externally. It won''t look pretty, but it''ll work." Remian suggested. "If it looks too bad, we can just use wall paneling to cover it up. There''s no need to tear open all the walls unless some VIP buyer wants a specially customized craft."

    Along with the drydocks were the factories and assembly lines producing those parts. Propellers, motors, control systems, wiring, wall panels, fuel cells¡­ all of it. The odd thing was Remian insisted on building these factories to last. This included solid structures, all the facilities, easy repair accessways and wastewater treatment.

    "But what happens after we''re done adapting airships? Sooner or later, demand will drop." Tim pointed out.

    Remian shrugged. "Keep the drydocks for airship maintenance¡­ or turn them into shipyards."

    "How much will all these cost?" Mindy had to ask.

    "Including materials cost and starting salaries¡­ at least five hundred million to begin with, with over thirty million in salaries alone every month following. And the first month or so is for training, we shouldn''t expect profit of any sort until later."

    "Is that really okay with you?" Mindy eyed Asda. "Since you''re the one paying."

    "Oh, yes." Asda said, hurriedly. "This will all be great for the economy. Unemployment rates will nosedive! I''ve always been wanting to do something good for the country, to really make a difference and be a well-loved queen. But until now, nothing worked. Half the time nobody even listened to me. It''s only because of Tim that anything gets done. If not for Tim, I wouldn''t even be able to walk out of the palace safely!"

    Mindy let out an involuntary shudder. "Asda going ''Tim this'' and ''Tim that''¡­ This feels so wrong¡­"

    "Only to you!" Asda shot back, suddenly getting defensive. "I see nothing wrong with any of it!"

    Remian let out a long, long sigh. In the end, despite all their capabilities and experiences, both Mindy and Asda were still teenage girls. Asda was simply a year or so ahead of Mindy, and apparently a good bit more appreciative of being able to rely on a guy around her age.

    Mindy, on her part, half-glared at Remian. "And you! You''re willing to just forget everything she''s done? Just like that?"

    "Let it go, Mindy. Things are different, now."

    "How could you just forgive her for betraying us like that! How could you forget the past so easily?" Mindy fumed.

    "Nobody said anything about forgiving, but the past is the past and right now, she''s helpful. For the sake of the future, for the sake of what we need, we can toss out old grudges and work together to survive and prosper." Remian said. "Otherwise, there''s a good chance that everyone is going to die."

    Mindy blinked. "How does Asda being helpful prevent everyone dying?"

    "It''s because of time." Remian said shortly. "Using Fal''Herim as an industrial base and conversion center rather than building everything from scratch ourselves will save us years, maybe decades. Every year we save early on will be worth several times as many down the line."

 327 Finding Ones Own Answers

    Time was the deciding factor.

    Remian''s plans went like this; following the most reliable escape route, they would need a fully functional Warp Gate and a massive evacuation fleet within two hundred years. The Warp Gate alone could take fifty years to construct, depending on the equipment and manpower available in space.

    That''s right; in space, not on the ground. Something that big could only be constructed in zero-gravity, and would need to be assembled by colonists living in space. An entire generation could be born and grow up their whole lives doing nothing but building that Warp Gate. If they had trouble, or things slowed down, they might need two generations or even three.

    Why fifty years? Well, getting the materials for the Gate alone could take decades. It would involve mining asteroids, and mining ships could take years to make the trip out, extract the ores, and return. Using ion propulsion, it could take some five years just to make the trip to the asteroid belt. Actually mining it could take a few years on its own. Add an even longer trip to return (due to added mass) and¡­ a newborn child brought on such a mining ship could be an adult by the time he or she returned to Earth Orbit.

    Setting up an industrial base in space early on would be the hardest part. In all probability, the moon was their best option. It would mean sending up a lot of personnel and materiel, so that they would be able to develop an independent colony capable of building more spaceships and colonies. The quicker, cheaper way to do this, in Remian''s opinion, was an electromagnetic rail launcher, also known as a mass driver loaded onto an LTA mothership firing payloads into space from high altitude. The slower way would be a space elevator, but it would be a lot cheaper in the long run.

    Either way, asteroid mining was an absolute necessity. From what Remian remembered of materials on his world, it would be unlikely they would ever launch tons of osmium (for example) out to the moon from the planet.

    Putting aside fifty years for the Gate, fifty more for the construction of the first industrial lunar stations, fifty to get from the first spaceship to the completion of a space elevator¡­ they''d have roughly fifty years to rush their development from the steam engine to a spaceship.

    Remian sighed. Other Class-3 civilizations looking at space programs dreamed of colonizing the next planet over. In their case, though, it wouldn''t help. The Mitigok were going to wipe out everything in the whole star system and the neighboring ones. In fact, the entire star cluster was under threat. No, colonization wasn''t his plan. Their only hope was to run far, far away. So yes, a Warp Gate was all he wanted.

    Actually, no, he wanted more than just a Warp Gate. He wanted a Space Age culture. He wanted to bring his people into the wider galaxy, but also, he wanted to bring good people, not world-destroyers or mindless work drones.

    Also, he wanted to bring some of the Wilds. Just those who were their friends and Comrades. Maybe even the Emperors, if they could downsize like Chirpy.

    Honestly speaking, in all probability, the first native from this world to reach space was very likely to be a Lynxmouse¡­ and not just experimentally either. Building spacecraft for Lynxmice would be much cheaper than building them for humans. They might even be able to get base construction started or at least survey the moon.

    If it happened to be the kind of moon that had helium-3 all over its surface, it would be a game changer. One of the reasons Remian wanted to try Thorium power was the availability of fuels. Another was to avoid the risk of people using self-fissile materials to make nuclear bombs and getting addicted to nuking each other. Early on, Thorium power would still have dangerous waste materials which had to be very carefully put away, but later generations of clean Thorium power should be possible with less than a decade of effort.

    But if the moon had helium-3 just lying on the ground as some moons did, then Fusion power became a tempting alternative. Fusion power generation already on the moon could service the Warp Gate construction much better than hauling Thorium up from the planet''s surface or spending years constructing solar panels¡­ assuming that is, they could manage to develop magnetic confinement and electro-magnetic technology to a sufficient level by then.

    That could save some time. Anyway, the thing was, the populations of Kara-Goth and Craggy Falls only amounted to some twenty thousand. In Remian''s estimation that wasn''t enough to build the Warp Gate. The donut space colony envisioned, the kind that used relatively low tech, was suitable for 1 million colonists. It would be built on the moon, assembled piece by piece in space, and then the people would move in and turn it into a Warp Gate. Beyond that, they would also need a fleet of warp-worthy ships. At the very least Remian wanted to bring that 1 million to safety. 100 million would be better, but he wasn''t sure it would be possible.

    Fal''Herim, now, had a population between two to three hundred thousand. It had lost a huge chunk of its original population back when Remian first met Asda, then experienced a heavy drain as people left during the early part of her reign, not to mention those who fled the Beast Tide, but recently with Tim slowly taking over, increasing amounts of people had settled in. It was no exaggeration to say that Tim''s industrial district was the most heavily populated area in the whole Desert City.

    At this rate, by the end of the year, Tim''s industrial district alone could easily top 100,000 all by itself. That was five times more than Kara-Goth, Craggy Falls, and Three Pines combined. What about Song Chen''s Great Docks? Remian didn''t even know. How big was the Song Clan, exactly? How many people from the Dragon Empire had joined them? Thinking back to the convoy he had joined, Remian had to guess at least a few hundred people had come over in one trip. There must have been dozens of such convoys by now. That meant at the very least, the Song Clan had a few thousand people.

    Was it really a good idea to include them? The Dragon Empire''s culture was similar to Xiao Yan''s homeworld. They tended to breed arrogant guys who blustered around throwing their weight and bullying others. Then again, not everyone in the Dragon Empire was the arrogant sort. Like Remian''s family, who were from a vassal state of the Empire. They just had to make sure.

    The culture of the space-faring generation Remian wanted had to be different. He wanted them industrious and sensible, honorable and honest if possible, because building a Warp Gate was tricky and hiding mistakes or weaknesses in the superstructure for any reason could have downright apocalyptic consequences. They would need to be careful, even calculative sometimes, but yet maintain warmth and kindness to be able to care for each other and grow together as a society.

    Toward this, Remian needed a few key items¡­ like the machine he''d sent Group-2 to get. Then, he needed to have a serious talk with the Priests. But first, the machine.

    That is, if Group-2 could actually succeed. Thinking about it, Remian didn''t honestly expect them to. In other words, he''d have to secure the machine elsewhere.

    ***

    Speaking of Group-2, they were preparing to take their ''test''.

    "The Test Assignment is to sail Remian''s airship known as the Lockjaw to Ashdale, pick up a ''Mirror Image 9'' Photocopy Machine, and bring it back in functional order to Craggy Falls Adventurers Headquarters." Alani reiterated. "The problem is our lack of resources and proper equipment. Isabella?"

    Isabelle took it from there. "The ''Lockjaw'' is a Mastiff Tug. It is ill-equipped for a long journey. It is a short-range Tug designed to haul much larger ships over much smaller distances. There is no living quarters of any kind, little in way of fuel storage, and the engine guzzles up mana like there''s no tomorrow. There''s no cargo capacity; any supplies we bring will basically have to be tied to the rails, as will the delicate machine we bring back, IF we can even get it. At last report, the cost price for such a machine was roughly 12,000 lir, even with the prices dropping due to mana shortage. Our budget for this trip is 10,000 lir."

    Siti spluttered. "That''s crazy! We can''t even afford the machine with that budget, much less purchase supplies or overhaul the ''Lockjaw''!"

    "That''s assuming we need to buy it." Gary paused. "I happen to have experience in acquiring items without having to purchase them."

    "You mean, steal it." Siti scowled.

    Gary shrugged. "Whatever it takes."

    Alani cleared her throat. "Remian let slip a hint earlier. He said something about parts being cheaper than the entire machine."

    "So we were supposed to buy parts and assemble it?" Juni grunted. "I''m not confident I can handle something of that level."

    "I''m not confident of sailling a Mastiff all the way to Ashdale either. But that''s the job." Alani pointed out.

    "I''m not sure we???ll even make it to Ashdale in a Mastiff. From what I can tell, air piracy is getting rampant around the Midlands. Chances of running into pirates has quadrupled over the past month." Jamie added.

    "Isn''t that why you''re training in weapons?" Siti asked.

    "I''ve only just started training, and the Mastiff doesn''t have any weaponry to begin with! If you want me to rig a ballista onto the deck, I could do it, but I don''t think it''s going to get us safely to Ashdale. No matter how you look at it, if we meet pirates, we''re going to be severely outgunned." Jamie grimaced. "No offense to you or your medical training, but I don''t think we''d all make it back alive."

    "None taken." Siti assured her. "Like you, I am only getting started."

    "So obviously working hard is not the answer." Alani said. "We have to work smart."

    "Which means?" Gary prompted.

    Alani shook her head. "Remian didn''t give us any clues. He only said to work together and discuss it ourselves.??

    "In short, find our own answers." Gary grimaced. "I vote we sell the Lockjaw, buy tickets to Ashdale, steal the machine, and book a Deutero flight back."

    "Can''t sell the Lockjaw. It''s not ours to sell, and sailing it to Ashdale is part of the mission requirement." Alani pointed out.

    "Join a convoy." Jamie said suddenly. "Remian didn''t say we need to go alone. It''s safer in a convoy."

    Alani nodded. "That would help. But what about the Lockjaw itself?"

    "We''ll have to modify it for a long trip." Isabella said firmly. "We can''t afford to spend too much on the modifications, so it will have to be planks-and-netting. Setting aside 6000 lir for parts, 2000 for supplies, and maybe 1000 to buy or bribe our way into a convoy, I''d budget no more than 500 lir on the modifications. Let''s keep that little extra for contingencies."

    "We''re definitely going to run over budget." Juni grunted. "Unless we cut the planks and twine the ropes for the netting ourselves."

    "No time." Alani shook her head. "I can ask my neighbors for their old nets. They retired from fishing when they opened their restaurant. But as for planks¡­"

    "Salvage them." Gary suggested. "Go to the old battlefield site and look for old airship wrecks. Might even be able to pick up a usable weapon."

    "Or even an intact abovedecks cabin that we could nail onto the Lockjaw." Isabelle brightened. "How much time do we have?"

    "We need to be back by Monday evening." Alani grimaced.

    "Depending on the convoy we follow back, that means leaving Ashdale sometime on Sunday, preferably Sunday night." Isabelle calculated. "Sunday will be exhausting, so we''ll want to arrive Saturday evening and rest for a night before going at it on Sunday. That means we''ll need to find a convoy that leaves on Saturday morning, or even Friday night. In other words¡­ there''s no time for Scavenging if we want to do it this weekend."

    "Then don''t." Gary said straight out. "Let''s go right now. We could be at Dragon Lake before sundown. We could stay at the old base camp like all those Adventurers do, and then tomorrow we''ll have at least the morning to scavenge all we can before we have to come back in the evening. After that, we''ll have a night to rest before we join the convoy to Ashdale[1]."

    [1] This was said on a Thursday morning

 328 North and South

    They split up. Alani, Gary, Jamie and Juni would go to Dragon Lake to scavenge parts, while Isabella and Siti went north to Kara-Goth to procure supplies and find suitable convoys.

    "Ask Mindy if we could borrow her Kara-Goth workshop and tools. We''ll meet up there." Alani suggested. "See if you can move the Lockjaw from the docks to the workshop while you''re at it."

    The north team didn''t have much trouble. Most of it was math and arguments over spending. Isabella, in charge of logistics, wanted to save as much of the budget as she could.

    Siti wouldn''t hear of it. "A balanced diet is a must! That''s a basic for health!"

    "It''s just a weekend¡­"

    "It''s a big weekend! The bigger the weekend, the more important it is to keep everyone in good health!"

    So despite Isabella''s complaints, Siti made sure everyone had more to eat than just biscuit rations. Meat, vegetables, fruit¡­ she bought them all in precise proportions, according to everyone''s height and weight. "I may not have learned much about medicine, but at least I know something about keeping everyone in good health!"

    By that time, Isabella had given up trying to interfere with Siti''s shopping and went to see about a convoy heading to Ashdale.

    There wasn''t one. The best Isabella could manage given the demanding timeframe was a convoy to La Vive. They would either have to find another convoy heading to Ashdale from there, or cross the Wild-infested neutral zone on their own.

    Isabella seriously considered going it alone. After all, they were sort of friendly with the Wilds. They only worried about pirates.

    "What do you think?" Isabella asked Vigil, who had been following her around all day.

    "Yip." Vigil said, seriously.

    "Mmhmm." Isabella nodded. "I thought so."

    ***

    Meanwhile, the south group got beaten up.

    The reason for it was for quality parts. They were lucky enough to find an intact, quality cabin that they could pretty much just stick on deck and bolt down. They were also ''lucky'' enough to run right into a group of Song Clan scavengers.

    "Hand over all your valuables, and we''ll let you go." They ''generously'' offered.

    "No way!" Juni roared.

    There were six Song Clan scavengers, and they were all trained in martial arts since young. In the ensuing struggle (which could not honestly be called a ''fight'') Juni and Jamie were pummeled while Alani and Gary were pinned down (that is, shoved into the ground with an arm twisted behind their backs). All told, the struggle lasted roughly five seconds.

    "This girl''s not bad¡­" the guy holding Alani down said in a creepy voice.

    It was at that point that the wolfcats howled. Ember, Scarlet, Moonlight and Flare raised their muzzles and let out a din that Remian could probably hear all the way over at Fal''Herim.

    In moments, there was a flurry of barks and snarls and twenty wolfcats charged in. In the ensuing struggle (which also could not honestly be called a ''fight''), six Song Clan scavengers were routed and pinned down all together (that is, shoved into the ground with paws on their backs and bite marks on their butts). All told, the struggle lasted roughly four seconds.

    Anyway, the south team left the wolfcats and the scavengers as they were and made off with their haul all the while bemoaning their lack of combat strength. That, and promising lavish treats to the wolfcats accompanying them.

    All this was clearly and succintly reported to Remian who was monitoring them from Fal''Herim.

    [Twenty beef thigh bones?!] Remian gasped. [She really promised that?]

    [That''s what Flare said.] Carrie whuffed a laugh. [''No wolfcat goes unrewarded!'' Alani said.]

    [Well, she''s learning something of personnel management, at least.] Remian mused. [Though I don''t remember teaching her that.]

    [The young ones learn by watching their elders. All cubs are like that.]

    [Not all. Not on this issue. How many would even pay attention to their elders? I think it''s result of expectation.] Remian mused. [Alani knows I expect her to become a personnel manager in the future. Knowing my expectations, she has already begun to prime herself for it. It has to do with the way she envisions herself.]

    ***

    Anyhow, the south team loaded up the Lockjaw and returned with their salvage. They found Phoebe waiting for them as they returned to Craggy Falls and she patched them up carefully. Then, they headed north, for Fal''Herim.

    There, they met up with Isabella and Siti and plied Remian with half an hour of complaints, mainly about their treatment by the Song Clan.

    "The world is like that." Remian didn''t try very hard to console them. "There''s bad guys everywhere, even under the noses of good people. Just keep the wolfcats close."

    That offered little comfort, of course. Every guy and Jamie wanted to be strong enough to fight off their dangers and enemies on their own. Even Alani looked disgruntled.

    "Let''s add in some martial arts training to your classes." Remian ''suggested''.

    They all leapt for it. Even Siti, who feared having to patch them up more and more in the future.

    "Can we really afford it?" Isabella was the only one who hesitated. "Even if we had the time in between all the other stuff we''re learning, how much would it cost to hire a teacher?"

    "I''ll ask my brother." Remian assured her.

    At that, even Isabella lit up. "Your brother¡­? You''re asking Darian?!"

    When it came to martial prowess, Darian was a legend to their generation.

    Of course, he didn''t tell them that this was the plan all along. Nobody thought to ask why the wolfcats only howled after they were all pinned down and not before. Or at least, they didn''t ask it of Remian.

    After that, Mindy had them bring the Lockjaw to her shipyards and left them to fix it up.

    Half an hour later, she couldn''t take it any more and had a team of her workers direct them in patching up their airship. Another hour later, they''d given up trying to guide them on the job and ended up doing it themselves.

    "Is that okay?" Mindy asked Remian.

    "It''s fine." Remian assured her. "They don''t need to learn everything right away. The important thing is that they now want to learn."

    "Do they, though? Alani seemed awfully happy to be able to hand it all over to my team."

    "That''s¡­" Remian paused and scanned Alani''s thoughts, then nodded. "That''s also fine. She''s learning something different, but more important to her specialty."

    "What''s that?"

    "Delegation." Remian nodded to himself. "And the value of different skillsets in community."

    Alani''s thoughts weren''t so much ''I need to learn how to do this myself'' as it was ''I don''t have to be able to do everything. I just need people who can do what I can''t.''

    But then, she grew up in a refugee community which migrated together from the islands to the Wildlands. She understood how people needed each other. The others had grown up differently. They had grown up as orphans, having nobody to depend on, often needing to do as much as they could themselves or suffering for it, and at times their capabilities determined their value and how badly or how well others might treat them was dependent on what they could do.

    Neither was particular wrong or right. After all¡­ wasn''t that why he picked them in the first place? Alani aside, in terms of desire for self-improvement and the drive to learn on their own, almost nobody of their generation could match this bunch. Mindy had thought to do them a solid by getting them into the magic academy, but magic itself was drying out in this world. Even they understood that. None of them protested when he called them to shift their subjects of learning.

    There were three more members of their group who weren''t part of this class. Two of them were members of Club Fairy Wing and had actually returned to the Academy at the very first opportunity. As for the last one¡­ Loh was still in the Dragon Empire buying stuff for Mindy, at least on the surface. Remian had his private suspicions on what he was really doing there, but he didn''t say anything. He saw no reason to interfere in Tim''s business.

    As the time neared for the convoy to leave, Mindy called in two other teams to help rush the modifications. They scrambled to have everyone and everything they brought loaded and then hurriedly joined the convoy three minutes before departure.

    With that, Group-2 was off on their first exam international field trip!

 329 Comparison

    Around that time, a ten year old girl was lost in a mall in Ashdale.

    One of Mandy''s group, she had gotten left behind during a shopping trip. Alone and frightened, she stayed right where she was crying for the better part of four hours, much to the dismay and the souring of moods of many perturbed shoppers.

    At last, she was rescued and spent half the day moping around being comforted with treats and sweets and still sulking through the day, as if blaming everyone for herself getting lost and left behind.

    Those adults around her merely shrugged indifferently. After all, she was just a little girl. She was only ten years old.

    ***

    In those four hours, ten year old Alani crossed continents.

    "Land ho!" the call rang out from the lookouts at the front of the convoy, passed along ship to ship, and then officially announced via comms crystals.

    "That''s the Midlands." Isabella informed them. "What you''re looking at it either Itarim, the neutral zone, or La Vive, I''m not entirely sure. We''ll know better when we get nearer."

    "Or we could just ask the other ships where we''ve reached." Gary shrugged.

    "But what would be the fun in that?"

    "Is everyone well-rested?" Alani asked. "Anyone hungry?"

    "Not hungry, and not tired." Gary answered.

    "I am well-rested, though I could use a bite." Juni admitted.

    "You could always use a bite!" Isabella rolled her eyes. "I''m fine, Alani."

    "I''m a bit hungry too." Jamie admitted.

    Isabella groaned. "We''re going to go broke just feeding you two."

    "Sorry, it''s my fault." Siti cut in. "I''m the one who measured their portions wrong."

    Quick admittance to mistakes was a trait Remian wanted to teach them, but they hadn''t really picked it up yet, except for Siti, who had it already and never needed to learn it in the first place.

    Alani glanced at Isabella. "Food."

    Isabella nodded slowly, but took out dry crackers quickly. Not just Juni and Jamie, Siti and Alani herself took a bite.

    "Schedule check?" Alani queried next.

    "I''m on watch. Gary''s up in half an hour." Jamie replied. "Not a single air pirate in sight."

    Despite being in a convoy, there was still a chance air pirates might see fit to prey on this weak little plank-and-netting modified Tug. They had borrowed a decent Tier 4 ballistae that they had mounted on deck, but it was poor deterrent against Midlander air pirates.

    Actually, the convoy''s biggest reliance against air pirates were a group of mercenaries, mainly post-war ex-military deserters who had gone into private enterprise.

    "Looks like we made it safely." Gary grinned.

    "Except for the clouds." Juni pointed out.

    Jamie agreed. "Might be bad weather."

    Alani peered at it and frowned. They had a point. She wasn''t a weather expert, but she did know a bit from living on an island. "It''s coming at us fast. Stow away everything loose. This could get bumpy."

    They scrambled about doing just that. Politely, the wolfcats stayed out of their way, but Lunar quietly sent a telepathic message south.

    ***

    At Fal''Herim, Xiao Yan was dabbling around with a new Qi Formation when Cheery''s ears perked up.

    "Yip!" She suddenly stood. [Message from Lunar. There might be trouble with the gang.]

    "Trouble?" Xiao Yan paused. [Remian! Word from Lunar! Might be trouble!]

    Remian replied. [What does ''might be'' mean, exactly?]

    There was a bit of back and forth on that.

    "What''s going on?" Mindy asked, seeing Remian preoccupied and sensing some of the telepathic buzz.

    "There''s a storm approaching the Lockjaw. Lunar''s a bit worried." Remian mused.

    "Chirp." Chirpy added. "Chirp, chirp."

    "Oh?" Mindy turned back to Remian. "Chirpy says not to worry. She''ll ask her friend to help out."

    "Her friend¡­?" Remian wondered. "Thanks, I guess? Anyway, Alani seems to be prepared, and it''s just a passing cloud, so they should be fine."

    "Mmmhmm. Leave it to Chirpy''s friend." Mindy said confidently.

    Remian shrugged it off. He didn''t know what Chirpy''s friend could do, but whatever the case, some heavy rain shouldn''t be too dangerous to the kids.

    ***

    "Not good!" Not just Jamie, now everyone was on their toes watching the clouds. They stretched out across the skies at a visible pace, and would clearly cover the convoy long before they could reach land.

    "How could this happen? We were so careful to avoid bad weather!" Alani protested. She was familiar with sea ships and airships both, and she knew for a fact just how bad things could get in a sudden storm. Sea ships had it bad enough; airships had it even worse. Putting aside rain and lightning, the wind alone could very well capsize a low-grade airship like the Lockjaw, and not just the Lockjaw; half the ships in the convoy were industrial-grade, cheap and convenient, but nowhere near tough enough to face the likes of a storm without taking damage.

    "Isn''t there some way we can avoid it?" Gary yelped.

    "It''s coming in too fast! Just five minutes and we''ll be caught in it!" Isabella could calculate it easily. "We need at least twenty to steer clear of that mess!"

    "Everyone, make sure you have your Feather Fall Scrolls handy!"

    They checked. "Got it!"

    Alani nodded. "Take out the ropes and tie yourself to the airship. This is going to be rough!"

    They rushed to do it. Alani, Jamie and Gary secured themselves to the railings. Isabella and Siti darted into the cabin to secure their cargo. Juni tied his rope around the Tier 4 ballista they''d borrowed from Mindy.

    "Not that!" Alani gasped. "Juni, tie yours to the railing, like ours!"

    "But it''ll be too heavy! The railing might break!" Juni protested.

    Alani didn''t have time to explain the structure of the airship''s skeleton versus a weapon stuck onto the deck. "It''s less likely to break than the ballista!"

    Juni didn''t argue. He just trusted her. "Right!"

    But it was too late. Juni had barely taken two steps towards the railing when a powerful gust hit them.

    "Uwaah!" Juni was knocked clean off his feet, three inches into the air and came down stumbling.

    POW! Another strong gust hit them like a punch. Juni went reeling¡­

    "Juni!" Alani leapt out to block him.

    BAM! He crashed into her. Both of them stumbled around flailing.

    "Grab my rope!" Alani put hers into his hands.

    Juni grabbed on as another blast of wind knocked the airship sideways.

    "WHOA!" Juni almost flew straight off the deck. Alani still had both arms around him, but her meagre weight was no hindrance to his much greater bulk.

    FWOOP! Both of them went sailing into the open sky.

    CRASH! The railing broke. Under the strain of Juni''s and Alani''s combined weight compounded by their momentum, the particular segment Alani''s rope had been tied to finally snapped.

    "I told you it would be too heavy!" Juni groaned. "OOF!"

    While the railing broke, the ballista did not. Juni still hadn''t untied his rope from it yet, and thus was caught and left dangling from it while Alani dropped straight down.

    "Alani!" her friends screamed, but there was nothing they could do.

    "Feather Fall!" Alani triggered her scroll. Magic surged, slowing her fall to resemble a light, drifting feather. She turned back to the airship, just some ten feet above her, so close in terms of flight, but so very far in terms of a wingless human. "Toss me my pack!"

    "What?" Gary stared, blinking.

    "You''ll have to leave me behind!" Alani said, her throat suddenly dry. "There''s no time to look for me and pick me up! Get the job done and pick me up on the way back! I''ll camp out on an island and light a signal fire on Monday evening!"

    It wouldn''t be too bad, right? A weekend camping out on an island, fishing for her dinner¡­ it would be just like back home! Only this time, she would be alone. All alone, in unfamiliar seas, and strange islands.

    "Yip!" suddenly, a furry bundle leapt out of the airship.

    "Lunar?!" Alani gasped, securely catching the wolfcat cub. "What¡­?"

    "Yip!" Lunar wagged her tail. [You won''t be alone!]

    Alani suddenly felt a lot better. Having Lunar around would change everything. Even if she was just a cub, just having an extra pair of eyes to watch her back was a great deal. Also, it would be great to have a soft, furry pillow at night.

    Meanwhile, Gary was letting out a heartfelt protest. "We can''t leave you behind!"

    Siti, on the other hand, threw Alani''s pack at her. "Here! Get dry as soon as you can and stay warm! We''ll come get you once the storm clears!"

    "Don''t worry about me, get the job done! I''ll be fine!" Alani put on her bravest face.

    Nevertheless, a tremor of fear could be heard running through her voice.

    "Yiyiyip!" And then another bundle of fur leapt off the deck. [Wait for me!]

    "F-flare?!" Alani gaped, as a second wolfcat landed on her.

    [I''m coming too!] Flare grinned at her.

    Alani finally smiled, no longer afraid to face being marooned on an island for a weekend.

    ***

    Meanwhile, the other ten year old refused to go out any more.

    She pouted at Mandy. "I got left behind at the mall last time!"

    "Don''t be afraid¡­" Mandy tried to coax her.

    "NO!" she ran away, jumped into her blanket and refused to get out of bed.

 330 The Reef

    With the extra weight on her, Alani saw fit to activate the extra Feather Fall Scroll as they went down.

    Splash! They landed in the water. Alani, Lunar and Flare surfaced in rapid succession, gasping for air and paddling in the open sea. Alani looked around for land, but couldn''t see any islands nearby.

    "Oh, scrap¡­" Alani gasped, suddenly seeing an immense flaw in her weekend plan.

    "Yip!" Lunar called her. [Over here!]

    Alani turned around. "What?"

    "Yi!" [This way!]

    Alani swam over easily, almost at home in the water as she was on land, feeling the ebb and flow of the waves deeply familiar. "What is it?"

    Suddenly, her foot felt something. Something solid. Alani stood up, and then stumbled as the waters somehow seemed to recede, leaving her standing on¡­

    "A rock? A reef?" Alani stood there in a daze, feeling heavy after leaving the water so suddenly. "Wait, what just happened? Why is the water receding¡­? Is it¡­ a tidal wave?!"

    It was one of the biggest fears of islanders. Just before a tidal wave would hit, water would recede from the beach for a great distance with great suddenness. Was there a tidal wave forming up in the nearby waters? In the dark shadow of the stormclouds, Alani couldn''t see, couldn''t say for sure.

    Yet the waters seemed to recede more and more, leaving her now on a hill-like reef. Alani slowly sat down on the smooth black rocks, wondering at how the sea was behaving so oddly. "Lunar? Flare? Are you two all right?"

    [We''re¡­ fine.] Lunar said, looking around the reef in awe. Flare, too, seem to be dumbfounded at their good luck.

    Alani took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She still had that floating feeling from a long drop with Feather Fall, almost as if she was weightless or even now, like she was actually rising up instead of sitting still.

    Worse, she even felt like she was moving forward, like she was on a mana-powered ship. But that was impossible, right? She was on a reef, and it was so steady, she didn''t even feel the surging of the waves. For all intents and purposes, she might as well have been on an island.

    Except this island had no food or water to be scavenged, no trees or leaves to set up a shelter, no coconut trees or vines. It was just bare hill of black rock.

    "Maybe we could swim for shore." Alani said doubtfully. "Can we make it to La Vive?"

    The convoy lookouts had declared land-ho. That meant they were near enough to spot the mainland through their telescopes. How far could it be? Once the storm abated and the seas calmed down a little, maybe they could reach it with a few hours of swimming. Then again¡­ there were the wolfcats to consider. Alani was a good swimmer, but not that good. Getting to an unseen mainland by herself would be difficult enough. Carrying two wolfcat cubs along with her would be unreasonably difficult¡­

    And then all the world and sky seemed to thunder with Psionic power. [Very well.]

    "Uwaah!" Alani fell over backward on the smooth rocks as suddenly the feeling of forward motion increased and seemed to turn. "W-wha¡­?"

    There was no mistaking it any more. That rising feeling wasn''t an after-effect of using Feather Fall too much. She really had been rising. That forward motion feeling¡­ that too, was not her mind playing tricks on her. They really were moving forward!

    "B-but how¡­?" Alani gaped.

    Only then did she see Lunar and Flare crouching down as if bowing forward. What were they doing? Were they really bowing? Bowing to what? To whom?

    Then, the Psionic thunder filled the skies again. [There. La Vive.]

    Alani saw it. The high cliffs, the wide beaches. The beachside towns. They were already visible to the naked eye.

    Suddenly, her eyes widened. "No way¡­! Are you¡­ a turtle?! A giant turtle?"

    Then, there was a Psionic emanation of offense.

    "Sorry, I didn''t mean any offense. I love turtles. I just can''t see very well in this dim light." Alani said apologetically.

    [Too dark?] the thundering Psionic voice paused, and then suddenly the overhanging clouds were torn open, like someone had pulled two curtains apart and let the sun through. Alani blinked at the sudden brightness as a long strip of blue skies abruptly appeared overhead. [Better?]

    Then a looming shape covered her entire view. A wizened, reptilian face peered at her, the head somewhat draconic in feature looking back at her over its shoulder from a very long neck. [Can you see me now, little one?]

    [Y-yes, sir.] Alani''s throat clenched tight, her voice failed her and she could only respond Psionically.

    The colossal head loomed closer, closer, closer¡­ until there was nothing else in her sight, and it was near enough to touch, near enough to snap her up in a single bite, her and all the rest of the Encles settlement if they were here with her¡­

    But Alani looked at the old draconic face and suddenly put her hand on his nose. Then, she hugged it, or as much of it as her two little arms could reach.

    [Thank you, Grandpa. You saved my life.]

    [Grandpa, huh?] the huge fellow found that amusing. [And what is your name, little one?]

    [I am Alani.] she answered simply. [What is yours?]

    [Me?] the figure let out a grin bigger than an airship. [What was it you called me earlier? Reef? Yes. That will do.]

    [Then, it''s nice to meet you, Grandpa Reef.]

    There was a laugh like the crashing of waves upon a cliff. [Nice to meet you too, little Alani. Now sit tight. I''ll bring you to safety.]

    [O-okay¡­] Alani gulped settling down obediently.

    She wasn''t sure if it was something this wizened old Wild did, but the skies were clearing and the storm was dissipating. With the darkness gone, Alani was treated to the sight of beautiful blue seas and the entire shoreline of golden beaches and majestic cliffs.

    Also, there were other Wilds in the water. There was a stream of smaller turtles, though ''small'' was only in comparison to Grandpa Reef. There were dolphins, and flying rays that leapt out of the water and glided through the air from time to time. There was even a Tier 5 sea serpent following behind them like an attendant.

    In the midst of the storm and darkness, Alani couldn''t see any of them. But now in the sunlight, she could see them all clearly, and marvel.

    In the meantime, a sparkle of light emerged from Grandpa Reef''s forehead, and then a little terrapin floated up towards Alani like gravity was an inconvenience to be ignored.

    [So, what brings you here, little one?] the terrapin asked.

    That psionic voice¡­ Alani stared. [G-grandpa Reef? Is that you?]

    [This is just a bit of my consciouness. Like a dream. But yes, it is me.] Little Grandpa Reef answered. [Come, it has been a long time since I had anyone new to chat with. Tell me, why are you here, so far from home?]

    So Alani told him, and they chatted as they traversed the Midlands Seas. They spoke of the waters, and the fish, of the Wildlands, and the skies.

    And then they landed upon the shores of a big, empty beach, and Little Reef guided her down from Grandpa Reef''s back. They stepped onto dry ground still chatting, and the little floating avatar of Grandpa Reef led her towards the nearest town while his main bulk returned to the waters.

    At that point, the smell of good baking drifted to their noses and the conversation immediately turned toward cookies.

    "I could buy you some and let you try." Alani dug into her pack. "Only, my friends and I made a promise to buy them and eat them together."

    [Then call them.] Grandpa Reef suggested.

    "But I don''t have a comms crystal." Alani paused. "Maybe someone in town¡­"

    [Don''t bother.] Grandpa Reef said.

    Then the great Psionic thunder filled the skies. [Friends of Alani! Come hither! You are summoned by the Emperor of the Deep!]

    ***

    Meanwhile at Fal''Herim, Remian was in a panic. "We have to find her!"

    But Mindy just chuckled. "Don''t worry. Chirpy''s friend has her. He''s already brought her to shore."

 331 Group 2 at the Midlands

    "Alani!" Isabella was half-crying when they found her at the bakery.

    Heads turned the moment the locals heard that cry. "Alani? That''s the name that thunder was calling for?!"

    Alani half-blushed, half-grimaced and turned to look at the ceiling with an innocent whistle. "I don''t know these people¡­"

    But alas, she could not escape. Jamie jumped on her, grabbed her up and squeezed her so tight she thought she would pop. "I thought you were done for!"

    "We came looking for you. Even before the storm properly ended, we were already descending." Siti told Alani.

    "I told you to leave me behind!" Alani protested weakly.

    "We had a vote. Your proposal was outvoted five to one." Gary informed her.

    [Six.] Ember added.

    [Seven.] Crimson voiced.

    [Eight.] Lunar wagged her tail.

    [Nine!] Flare joined in.

    [And ten.] Grandpa Reef added, just for good measure.

    Alani looked at her friends around her, five humans and five Wilds, none of whom would let her be left behind and suddenly felt like crying. "But¡­ but what about the mission?"

    "Flip the mission! We might be back late. So what? What''s he going to do, fire us?" Gary snorted.

    There was a bit of laughter, then a whole lot of cookies, and since they were going to be late anyway, they figured they may as well take a short little break at La Vive and sample a few more foods while they were at it¡­

    For once, not even Isabelle complained about the budget.

    ***

    [Ember says Isabelle asked if you''re sure about it.] Chirpy privately told Mindy.

    [Yes, I''m sure. Let them have some fun for a bit. I''ll cover the bills.] Mindy chuckled. [Just don''t tell Remian. Oh, and get me a few snacks while you''re there.]

    [Isabella agrees.]

    ***

    Remian, meanwhile, thought about it for a bit. [Did Isabella mention where this ''external funding'' is coming from?]

    [She absolutely refuses to disclose.] Carrie replied.

    "Huh." Remian mused, thinking about some kind old grannie at La Vive generously buying a group of children ice-creams. "Well, it should be fine so long as they''re not being bribed to do things I wouldn''t approve of. In fact, doing an odd job here and there to increase their resources isn''t a bad idea. If they could do side missions to earn enough to outright buy the machine, it would actually be an acceptable solution to the budget problem. At the end of the day, the training is meant to build high tech spacecraft on limited resources. Developing their own resources for extra funding should help. Look at George, Tim and Mindy. They all developed their own resources already. Asking them to do something like procure such a machine would be a snap for them given their current assets. There''s no reason Group 2 can''t do the same."

    Carrie sent it along to the group word for word.

    Remian spoke no more of the matter.

    ***

    "So, in short¡­ we''re eating out tonight!" Isabella exclaimed.

    This roused a bout of cheers from the cookie-snacking children who had already pretty much given up on getting the machine assembled on time. Alani was already formulating how they might apologize to Remian for a late return. Gary was thinking of how to sabotage their own airship so they could use it for an excuse for their lateness.

    But then Remian sent along another bomb.

    [Remian said, as long as you don''t do anything criminal, your passing grade depends on getting a functional machine into his hands by the deadline. Lateness would be immediate failure.]

    Everyone froze.

    "Can''t do anything criminal¡­ that means we can''t steal it." Gary gulped, kissing his personal Plan B goodbye. "All we can do is beg, build, or bargain¡­"

    "Can''t be late¡­ We have to get to Ashdale, quick." Alani exchanged glances and grimaces with the team. She kissed her personal shopping trip plan goodbye. She turned to the little turtle sitting on her shoulder. "I''m sorry, Grandpa Reef, but we have to rush.

    [Don''t worry about me. Do what you have to do.] Grandpa Reef assured her.

    Alani nodded and hurried to the door. She pushed it open and¡­

    BANG! The whole door broke.

    "W-wha¡­?" everybody was aghast, including the baker and the other customers.

    Alani gulped. "Do I¡­ have to pay for breaking that?!"

    "D-don''t worry about it! Must be termites!" the baker leapt out in embarassment. In his mind, his door must have been faulty to break so easily to a little girl''s push. After all, how strong can a little girl be?

    ***

    At the time, Mindy was struggling to lift a 1.5 ton experimental electric engine component into a half-adapted airship with her bare hands.

    "I''m so weak." She sighed with some frustration. "Not long ago, I could have done this with one hand."

    Hearing that gave Remian chills. Mindy''s strength after the Flame Emperor fell was only a small portion of what it had been before the Spectre War, but even now it was mind-boggling to see a young teenage girl handle tons of hardware without machinery. She and Darian had been able to fight toe-to-toe with Tier 8 Spectres, even kill them if they had a good opportunity. Now, both the Flame Emperor and the Wood Emperor no longer supplied the kind of power they used to, but still they were able to trounce just about everyone else in the Wildlands without trouble.

    Most guys were still measuring their upper body strength in kilograms. They would be thrilled to be able to lift even half a ton, and that was with the best Frames Arnold could churn out. Meanwhile, Darian and Mindy were grumbling about no longer being able to handle four or five tons.

    Was it really the right idea to let children befriend Wilds? Playing with cubs was all very well, but when they started forming Bonds with Emperor-level Wilds, they might very well end up with a lot more power than they could handle responsibly. Darian and Mindy were at least reasonable, responsible people. What if some bad-tempered child ended up Bonding an Emperor and wrecking an entire town in a tantrum? Remian started to sweat just thinking about it.

    Either that, or the desert heat was getting to him. This place was a lot hotter than Three Pines or Craggy Falls, even underground. More to the point, it was extremely dry. Staying here over an extended period of time resulted in cracked lips and headaches for Remian.

    Still, he had to do his best to develop Fal''Herim''s industry into a cleaner form. Truly clean industry was impossible with steam age technology, at least, according to Remian''s standards (everyone else thought it was all clean enough already!) but he wanted to make sure everything from carbon emissions to wastewater would be as harmless to the environment as he could.

    Nobody seemed to get it. Even Tim and Asda thought they could just dump it all out there someplace and let the desert handle the cleaning. To them, the desert could handle everything. Remian didn''t try to explain it to them, didn''t need to explain himself in any way. He just did what he wanted, and nobody tried to stop him.

    Some of it was appreciated. Such as the more obvious ones, like having them bury every structure in soil, rock and clay. As much as the could, they planted hardy greens on their roofs with soil containment layers on top of the rooting layer. Indoors life in Fal''Herim was a lot cooler now.

    In any case, he was busy. From time to time he received reports from Carrie, who received them from the wolfcats accompanying Group 2. Most of them did not seem important, particularly those that involved the snacks they ate. The point was, Group 2 had made its way through La Vive and were flying through the neutral zone, meeting various new Lords of the Wilds along the way.

    They were safe, they were on schedule, and they were on guard. That was all he needed to know for now.

 332 Remians disappearance

    Alani was making fast friends with the winged horses in the Neutral Zone.

    "Ponies!" the little girl was thrilled. "With wings!"

    "Uh¡­" the dignified Lord of the Wilds representing the Pegasus King found himself abruptly hugged by a giggling child and fawned over despite his best efforts.

    She immediately tried to decorate him with a crown of flowers, and then while he was seriously discussing matters of state and territory with the Emperor, she painted his hooves pink.

    [Where did that nail polish even come from?!] spluttered Summer Rain, Prince of the Pegasi, second son of the Storm Pegasus King, and Lord over the southern region of the Neutral Zone.

    It was NOT dignified! But what could he do? Standing before the Deep Emperor on behalf of his father, Summer Rain could only bemoan his poor timing and having gained the unfortunate attentions of the Emperor''s new Comrade.

    [One last thing.] The floating little avatar of the Deep Emperor instructed. [Bring these children safely through to Ashdale.]

    [These children?] Summer Rain blinked. [B-but they already have an airship!]

    [So?]

    Mournfully, Summer Rain lowered his head and resigned himself to his fate.

    From somewhere, a giggling Alani found a white shell cone and tied it on his head, proclaiming, "Unicorn!"

    ***

    Of course, Carrie reported all this to Remian. Including the soon-to-be-popular image of Pegasus Prince Summer Rain sporting a seashell ''unicorn horn'' with his hooves painted pink and a little flower sticker on his face.

    "A winged escort? That would help." Remian said, absently considering the plumbing systems of the whole city. "Give me an update in two hours."

    Carrie snorted at him and went off by herself to do something more fun meanwhile.

    When she returned, Remian was gone.

    ***

    Remian wasn''t actually sure what happened. One minute he was pondering over city plans, the next, he had a sack over his head, a gag in his mouth, and both his arms bound behind his back.

    A throbbing pain in the back of his head suggested that there might have in fact been several minutes in between that he was unaware of thanks to a sharp, skilled blow to the head, but that hardly mattered.

    The point was, out of nowhere and without any warning, Remian had been captured.

    Who? Why? Remian had no clue. He couldn''t even ask anyone around him what was going on. He couldn''t even say ''oh crap''. He would love to scan around with Psionic senses and read the thoughts of those around him for answers¡­ just as soon as the throbbing in his head subsided a bit.

    Slowly, the pain faded. As it did, Remian began to realize one glaring flaw in his grand plans.

    It was himself. Remian suddenly realized he was a ''soft target'', easy prey for any mischief maker, evil-doer and greedy opportunist who would seek to take advantage of his weakness for their own gain.

    He would be fine while he was surrounded by friends and Wilds. As long as he stayed at Craggy Falls or Three Pines, he should be safe enough. At Kara-Goth, he would likely be even safer. But out here in Fal''Herim, or elsewhere around the world? That was a different story.

    Somehow, he had to find some way to protect himself. Build up enough personal strength that at the very least he wouldn''t become a burden to his own vision due to his physical weaknesses.

    Maybe Mal''thor-dras would like a new Comrade? Hmm. Remian had his doubts though. Knowing his usual physical condition, attempting to squeeze that much power into his weak body might cause him to explode outright, withered meridians and all. No, no, too risky. Maybe he could try it with Vigil first and see if it would help or kill him. After all, it''s not like he was particularly close to Mal''thor-dras or any of the Emperors in the first place.

    Thinking back to his time in Xiao Yan''s world it looked like the martial way was no good for him. Not without some extreme alchemist pills far beyond the capability of his world.

    He could rely on technology. That was the best part of mechanical and electrical power. It was always reliable for even the weakest person to employ. A personal Frame, a hidden gun or so¡­ it would be troublesome, but feasible. Availability was subject to permission, though. There were countries with border controls that simply wouldn''t let weapons or powered exoskeletons through.

    Magic was already dying out. In a matter of months, by his calculation, everything reliant on mana would fail entirely.

    That left only one option.

    Psionic power. Remian felt it keenly. When it came to Psionics, he seemed to have a rare gift for it. It would take time and effort away from his main agenda, but in order to alleviate the risks his personal vulnerability posed, he felt it would be worth the cost.

    Certainly, it would be worth being able to avoid being stuffed into a smelly sack in the future! On that note, having actual guards around would help, even if they were lynxmice.

    And then a somewhat familiar voice sounded that answered all Remian''s questions.

    "Send a message to that George boy. Have him tell his king that we have his brother. If they want him back, they will give us the oil."

    ***

    "The oil¡­?" George grimaced. "Remian already said no. What are they thinking?"

    "They''re holding him hostage. They''re probably thinking that since we don''t use it, we don''t value it, and so Remian would be worth more to us than some old rot." Darian rolled his eyes.

    "Isn''t he?" George pointed out. "We weren''t planning on use it ourselves. Why not let them?"

    "Because I don''t like being threatened." Darian growled, a dangerous glint lighting up in his eyes. "I don''t care if they''re holding the world hostage for a peanut. Whoever threatens me will regret it!"

    George gaped. To his memory, he couldn''t recall Darian being so bad-tempered.

    Then again, he had shown a whole lot of ferocity in battle during the Spectre Wars. Maybe going through too many fights caused this sort of fierce demeanor? Or did it have to do with his bond with Kor''ag-dras? Even with Kor''ag-dras asleep?

    "At the very least, let''s try to talk to them and find out where he is." George suggested. "Maybe we can rescue him and catch them while we''re at it."

    "Fine. Call them." Darian''s eyes narrowed. "I want to talk to him personally."

    ***

    Remian''s head was nearly cleared when at last they took the sack off his head and ungagged him.

    There in front of him was Steiner, holding a comms crystal. "Say something. Your brother wants to speak to you."

    "Steiner, huh." Remian grimaced. Psionic power flared. "Oh crap."

    Abruptly, there was a high pitched sound, like certain gasses passing through a narrow, confined location.

    "Uggh¡­" someone behind and to Remian''s left grunted.

    "M-my stomach¡­" someone behind and to the right said.

    "Remian? Is that you?" Darian''s voice asked over the crystal.

    "Yes, it''s me. I''ll be fine, don''t worry." Remian told Darian.

    More pitched sounds erupted from three different guys behind Remian at the same time.

    "Quiet down." A guy directly behind Remian said.

    "But¡­ my stomach!" An even more disgusting sound emerged from the left.

    "Uaah! I have to GO!" someone ran out.

    "Me too!"

    Three of Steiner''s goons ran out. Steiner himself hesitated but for a moment before passing the crystal to his fourth goon and said, "Handle it!"

    Then, he, too, was running off to a toilet.

    Meanwhile, the fourth goon turned off the comms crystal and put it down on the table to the right.

    Remian frowned. That guy didn''t seem affected by his Psionic efforts¡­

    Again, he said, "Oh, crap."

    This time, he focused directly on the fourth goon¡­

    But it didn''t work. And a quick scan of that guy''s thoughts told him why.

    This man was hungry. He hadn''t eaten all day. He was taking money to aid a kidnapping out of desperation.

    In other words¡­ there was nothing in his stomach to purge in the first place. This particular little trick of Remian''s worked best on the well-fed. It didn''t work so much on the hungry and least of all on the starving.

    For his Psionic tricks to work, he needed something to work on. Scanning the fourth goon''s condition, Remian frowned.

    This guy was alert to an edge, nervous and hungry and on the verge of violence, even lethal violence. Messing around with his mind could be outright dangerous.

    It was at this point that Remian really began to regret not properly training and practicing his Psionic abilities.

    [That''s it. I''m going to start training.] Remian decided, and closed his eyes. [I''m going to start training right now!]

 333 Practicing Psionics

    In a certain disreputable looking building in the slums of Fal''Herim, a young man lay tied up in bed, with the air shimmering around him.

    He had been locked into the room by his captors while three of them and Steiner kept dashing out to the toilet and the fourth guy wanted lunch. For the time being at least, Remian was left alone in his little jailroom.

    Psionic power flared. Anyone with decent psionic senses could point straight at him with their eyes closed, regardless of what walls lay between them.

    This was the very first thing Psionically-gifted children in the Conglomerate learned, something every Class-1 Psionic began with. Parents had their children practice this so that they could locate them at all times. In the Conglomerate, these things were practices meant for four or five year-olds. It was called the Psionic Beacon.

    [Here.] Remian told Carrie. [THIS is where I am.]

    [We''re coming!] Carrie assured him. [We''ll be there in a minute!]

    [No, don''t! Not yet! I''m busy!] Remian stopped her.

    [You don''t want us to rescue you¡­ yet?] Carrie was baffled.

    [Like I said, I''m in the middle of something. Give me ten minutes, at least!]

    So there they were, twelve wolfcats and easily five thousand lynxmice all around Fal''Herim looking at the exact same spot, completely unable to concentrate on anything else but that glaring Psionic Beacon grow and grow and grow for the next couple of minutes.

    By that time, even the lynxmice halfway to Paleres, Otta and Ira could sense it. Heck, the Wilds at Kara-Goth could probably sense it. To their Psionic senses, that thing was like a sun.

    But Remian didn''t know all this, of course. To him, he was just getting the hang of it. "Hmm. I think that should do. It seems stable enough."

    At that point, half the lynxmice in Fal''Herim wanted to run away already.

    Back at the Conglomerate, he had advanced through the Psionic ranks in virtual acceleration. Now, in real life, he wanted to do it properly.

    The second thing children learned as Class-1 Psionics was rudimentary telepathy, but in terms of Psionic communication, Remian had gone far, far past that even before leaving this world, so that was no issue.

    Psi-scans, that detected psionic activity, and Psi-sensors, that detected physical presences, he had also learned and practiced without proper guidance in the past. Those were things learned by Class-2 and Class-3 Psionics, including improving their telepathic communication to the point of wordless sharing, simply sharing concepts mind to mind. All these, he was already well capable of. He skipped those and went straight to the Class-4 practices.

    This next thing was crucial. It was a way of condensing Psionic power into tangible form. A weak one would have a shimmering layer of power like water around him. A strong one could be tougher than a brick wall, and block weapons. A truly powerful one could stop a train¡­ but of course, that would require immense Psionic energies and skill. It was something seven year-olds in the Conglomerate learned early on, and it was actually not that difficult to learn¡­ though it was impossible to master. According to the high level Psionic experts, this particular ability had no theoretical limits, and therefore, no such thing as mastery. It was called the Psi Aura Barrier.

    White light glowed around Remian as if coming from his skin, pressing against the mattress where he lay, at the same time pushing him upwards, so that he actually hovered in mid-air for a minute.

    Then the light shrank down until it almost vanished, covering Remian in a faint glow.

    Psionics generally used the Aura Barrier in three forms. The first and most popular was like a bubble, covering him on all sides, protecting him against every angle of attack. Many young Psionic children kept up at least a minimal form of this protection when going out.

    Older Psionics preferred to shrink it to a skin-tight layer. It was particularly useful against bugs or rain. Putting up a weak skintight layer was easy. Putting up a strong one, though¡­ that was the trick. That would require compressing Psionic Energies into increasing densities. A layer powerful enough to rival armor was indeed possible, but depending on the skill of the Psionic, could take some time.

    Then there was the third form, the Projection Form. This one was like holding out a shield in one''s hand, or at higher levels, a wall. Some really big walls could be formed by experienced Psionics. But again, while size was not that difficult to train, strength was the issue. Just about any Conglomerate ten year old on the street could project a wall-form barrier large enough to cover the whole road in an instant¡­ except it would likely be unable to stop anything more than a housefly. Trying to stop a gunshot, on the other hand¡­ that was something the average adult Psionic in the Conglomerate would be hard pressed to do without at least an hour''s preparation.

    Remian didn''t have an hour. He had asked only for ten minutes.

    The aura barrier vanished from Remian''s skin and formed a shield over his tied hands. It thickened and grew in size until it could barely squeeze into the whole room, a wall six inches thick and growing¡­

    But as the minutes passed, it started shrinking, hardening, toughening. Remian shut his eyes tight, compressing it more and more until it shrank back down to a shield-size.

    More he squeezed it from top and bottom until the shield became a thick bar.

    With a grin, Remian shoved that bar against the door, locking it from the inside. Only when he secured his room did he call Carrie. [Okay! You can come get me now!]

    Right outside the building, a wolfcat howled. One voice was joined by a dozen, and then a flood of squeaks and squeals.

    "W-what''s happening?!" someone yelped.

    There was a crash, and then a dozen crashes and screams sounding below Remian. There were growls, more howls, and a whole lot more yelling and crashing.

    Something heavy bumped into the room door. Steiner''s voice cursed outside. "The door is stuck! Which of you morons¡­ whoa!"

    Wolfcat snarling and barking drowned out his voice.

    Remian meanwhile, carefully lifted the chair into the air with his Psionic powers. Yes, this was another popular ability among Psionics, the ability to move things with just their thoughts. Learned and practiced by many Class-4 children, it was the ever-popular Telekinesis. Most Class-4''s would be able to move small things around given a bit of practice. Children could use it to clean up their room, putting their toys back into storage, for instance. Moving furniture around, however, was normally something experienced adults would do.

    Anyway. The chair was hovering over the door, just waiting to fall on some unlucky intruder''s head if it turned out to be the wrong one.

    Leaving it there, Remian tried something more advanced while yells and barks went on outside. (By the way, don''t tell Remian, but most Psionics using Telekinesis don''t just leave stuff hovering in mid-air! Most of them couldn''t do it even if they wanted to.)

    A slip of white aura energy formed on his wrist. It hardened, sharpened, and grew.

    This was the beginnings of Remian''s first Psi Blade. It was a Class-5 ability very popular among fighters. In other words, Remian had finally begun to use Psionic power as a physical weapon.

    Small as it was, that little blade was able to cut through the ropes.

    There was a heavy crash on the door and a human groan. Then, there was silence outside.

    [We''re here.] Carrie told Remian from the other side of the door. [Open the door.]

    Remian dissolved his projected barrier as his hands were freed. [It''s locked from the outside. I don''t know if one of those guys have the key or anything¡­ but you can break the door down.]

    Meanwhile, he raised another barrier around himself, a bubble-type.

    The door burst open, and Carrie herself dashed in. She looked around fiercely, then, seeing no enemies and Remian pulling pieces of rope off himself, she calmed down. [Get on.]

    Remian stumbled across the room to Carrie, his whole body numb and stiff, and managed to clamber on. Carrie bolted out, dashing through corridors and passageways followed by a stream of wolfcats and lynxmice until they were out on the streets, and making a grand parade. Hundreds of Wilds and one human streamed through the slums and out toward the industrial district.

    Mindy saw them arriving. [Remian! Are you all right?]

    [Stiff and sore, but alive and in one piece.] Remian assured her. [I think I can now consider myself completely rescued.]

    [I''ll let George and Darian know.] Mindy nodded.

    ***

    Along with the Psi-Blade, Class-5 Psionics also practiced two other techniques that could also be useful in combat.

    The first was an illusion technique called Guidance, because teachers often used it to teach students stuff in a more convenient manner. Most people would know it was an illusion, so other than causing distractions (if you were creative enough or you knew someone well enough to be able to know his weaknesses), it was used more for communication than combat.

    The second was the movement of non-solid substances by an advanced form of Telekinesis. Usually applicable to gas or water, some fiercer Psionics had been known to shape and throw fire with just their thoughts. While controlling fire, specifically, would be called Pyrokinesis, the overall term referring to all these sorts of techniques is Aetherkinesis. Putting aside individuals talented in one or the other form of aetherkinesis, just about every experienced Class-5 would be able to at least fire off Psionic Bolts in combat.

    Remian started practicing these three Class-5 techniques in the privacy of his own bedroom at the industrial district, this time guarded by two wolfcats and a sub-clan of lynxmice. As the day passed, his Psi Blade grew longer and stronger, until it was able to rival most Tier 4 swords. He used the Guidance Illusion technique to chat with the wolfcats and the lynxmice, though he really couldn''t say for sure how strong or how good it was, they seemed to enjoy it well enough. He shot off a string of Psi Bolts, and then played around with shaping a candle flame into a miniature wolfcat, much to the amusement of his guards. But then the lynxmice complained and asked for a miniature fire-lynxmouse instead, so he made one of those too.

    As his control improved and his confidence rose, as mid-afternoon passed, Remian finally tried his first Class-6 technique.

    It was time to form his first Silhouette.

 334 Silhouette

    In Sorrel II, the world Remian was from, Silhouettes were typically formed from a mix of Psionic energy, Magic, and Qi. In many ways, they were customized to fit each person and were frequently unstable, requiring a constant rebalancing and adjusting if any of those three powers were to shift the original balance and essence of their forms. Otherwise, their Silhouettes might fall apart or explode or otherwise not even take form any more.

    This, predictably, caused no end of troubles for those Temple Knights who used Silhouettes while mana in the world was drying out. They had to adjust their Silhouettes practically every morning before they could use it reliably for that day.

    But the Conglomerate''s Psionic Training pack taught how to form a Silhouette out of pure Psionic energy. These had a way of shrinking or growing in accordance to the user''s mindset and development, but generally maintain their form and function without breaking apart. On top of that, a skilled Psionic wasn''t limited to just one.

    The question of what form his Silhouette would take, however, was somewhat worrisome. It was often said that a person''s Silhouette was a projection of his characteristics or beliefs (or at least one of his traits). Once it took form, it was painfully difficult to change.

    If it was a cool one like Darian''s dragon-form, with wings and the ability to fly, that would be great, but what if it came out like a fat pig or a chicken¡­? (no offense to Chirpy). According to Conglomerate training, he would be stuck with that one weird form until he reached Class-7 and could develop a second one.

    There were things he could do to try to direct it. That was the reason why you sometimes found some middling Class-6 Psionic studying animals or vehicles they liked, or drawing the same images over and over for days. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn''t.

    Remian sat down and worried about it for a moment¡­ and then suddenly it started taking form before he even realized what was going on. Psionic energy coalesced around him as he floated in the air¡­

    "Whoa! Wait, wait, I''m not ready!" Remian protested, as the half-formed Silhoutte shifted and morphed and threatened to settle into any number of weird combination of shapes before he could even focus his thoughts.

    It wobbled from a blob to something four-legged, then some winged combined creature that looked suspiciously like a griffin (or a chimera?), and then it looked like a wolfcat, and then some giant suit of armor¡­

    "Wait, the wolfcat wasn''t so bad¡­" Remian thought. "Is there a way to stop it and choose?"

    All his training said it would simply settle when it would settle, but none of the training said it would suddenly start taking form before he purposely started.

    Just as he was thinking about how to stop it, it stopped. The final form of his first Silhouette snapped into tangibility and stopped shifting in an instant.

    "Uwaah¡­?!" Remian gulped, realizing that it was already over. What¡­ what did he end up with¡­?

    Looking at the bedroom mirror, Remian saw a large humanoid form.

    "Giant armor." He sighed. No wings, no claws, no tail. Just the shape of a man and the protection of armor. "Actually, that''s pretty good too. I don''t need to learn anything weird like using wings or a tail."

    Oh well. Most of his dealings would have to be with humans. Certainly the giant armor form should be most easily accepted by men. But for a moment there, he''d actually been tempted with the wolfcat form. It would have been fun to put it on and run with the wolfcats.

    Just as he thought that, his Silhouette suddenly flickered and then Remian saw an image that looked suspiciously like Carrie in the mirror.

    Tier 4 Wolfcat! Or not¡­ not really Tier 4, and not really a wolfcat, but in size and shape, it looked so much like Carrie! Except this one was male. Right? Right?!

    Actually no, Silhouettes didn''t have genders, only shapes. Let''s not make Shadowflash jealous.

    Maybe he should have taken Vigil''s form instead? If only it wasn''t so small¡­

    "But this is great!" Remian exulted. "I have a wolfcat form Silhouette! For a moment there, I thought it had settled into the giant armor form¡­"

    And with that, the Silhoutte flickered again and the giant armored form was back.

    "Eh¡­?" Remian winced. "But I liked that wolfcat form¡­"

    Flicker. He was back to wolfcat form. Remian''s eyes widened. "No way¡­! Don''t tell me¡­"

    With a thought, he experimented.

    Flicker. Giant armor.

    Flicker. Giant wolfcat.

    Flicker. Giant armor.

    Flicker. Giant wolfcat.

    "Awesome!" Remian beamed. "I can shift between both forms!"

    Wait, was that even legal? Didn''t Class-6 Psionics only have one form unless they got another one at a Class Promotion? Even then getting a second Form was troublesome and uncommon. Many Class-7 or 8 Psionics still only had the one Silhouette. Getting a third, while possible with another Class Promotion, was downright rare. In every case, additional Silhouettes after the first one happened during a Promotion.

    Could it be a mutation? But Remian hadn''t eaten any weird drugs or gotten irradiated or anything.

    Other than new forms or mutation, a Silhouette changing form usually involved a great deal of pain. Loss of a loved one, for example, or seeing one''s world eaten by Mitigoks¡­ those painful experiences could change a Psionic''s Silhouette forever. Or maybe not forever. There were cases of ''mutated'' Silhouettes recovering their original forms after the Psionic got over the trauma. It was arguable whether those were actual changes or just a form of lasting damage.

    But there was no such thing right now. Shifting from armor to wolfcat form was painless.

    Or maybe it was just his individual talent? There were some Psionics out there with rather queer special talents. There were the more common ones like being able to control more fire than normal, or having being especially sensitive to emotions, but then there were the weird unique ones that quickened an egg to hatch or changed the color of a piece of clothing¡­

    Incidentally, those weird ones were more likely to end up dying as a lab specimen.

    Anyway. It was weird, but not that weird, compared to other Psionic talents.

    So thinking, Remian happily opened the door with telekinesis, and padded out of his room in Tier 4 wolfcat form.

    The two wolfcats guarding outside raised their heads and looked at him curiously.

    "Whuff?!" The one on the left was named with a concept of ''falling leaves hitting my nose and covering my head'', or ''Leafy'' for short. [I''ve never seen you before.] "Yiyip?"

    "Woof." Remian tried, but though his Silhouette was wolfcat, his actual mouth was human. "Sorry, it''s me."

    [Remian!] the wolfcat on the right was named ''scenery zipping by as I run past'', or ''Zippy'', for short. [Nice tail!]

    Incidentally, Zippy was female. Remian felt quite flattered about that remark. He found his Silhouette''s tail starting to wag. [Thank you.]

    Yep, he definitely needed to learn to control his tail! And four legs! Otherwise, something embarassing might happen¡­

 335 Bringing in more people

    "You have a tail!" It was Tim''s first exclamation upon seeing Remian in wolfcat form and hearing his voice coming from it.

    "Yes, and apparently it''s a nice one." Remian said, a bit proudly.

    "How does it help?" Tim asked, curiously.

    "Other than helping me lose weight due to involuntary waist exercise, I''m actually not sure." Remian confessed. "I think it has something to do with balance when running on all fours, though."

    "Why don''t you try it? Run around on all fours." Tim suggested.

    "I actually think it''s a good idea." Remian said. "I need time to get accustomed to my Silhouettes and running around with the wolfcats was something I''ve always wanted to do. It''s just that I better set things in order here before I go."

    "That sounds like a long trip." Tim mused dubiously. "Anyway. What needs doing?"

    "I want to invite the top technology experts in the world to a free conference six months from now." Remian said. "All expenses paid, transportation provided. We''ll fetch them with airships from anywhere around the world, and provide armed escorts throughout the entire journey."

    "That sounds very troublesome on our part." Tim grimaced.

    "Oh, it gets worse. This conference lasts one week, after which, they are invited to stay on at Craggy Falls at no extra cost¡­ indefinitely. I plan to host them in the hotel being built right across from the hydroelectric dam."

    Tim stared. "That sounds like less of a conference and more of a recruitment drive."

    "It gets worse. I also want to invite the top airship manufacturing experts to a similar conference nine months from now, except this conference should take place here, in Fal''Herim. I want it in the underground industrial center, after we''ve completely set up cluster economics around electric-propulsion airships." Remian said. "I want them to see the entire supply chain from raw materials and metals to the completed assembled parts at Mindy''s shipyards all happening in one city."

    "You want to show them the Cyclone 1 electric propeller system too?" Tim hesitated.

    "The completed product and its performance, yes." Remian said. "Be sure to invite all the skilled professionals you want, whether craftsmen or administrators."

    "Why wait? Why not invite them and have them start work now, or next week? Why nine months from now?" Tim asked.

    "Because the chaos around the world is only just starting out. Right now, if they come here for a conference, it''ll be just that; a conference, and there''s a fifty-fifty chance they''ll want to go home and back to their struggling jobs. Half a year from now, those jobs might no longer exist. Nine months from now, their whole countries might not exist." Remian figured. "At that point, inviting them to a peaceful land with plenty of potential in their line of work would be a godsend."

    "We could just tell them that and invite their entire families over right now, housing provided." Tim pointed out. "Remian, you don''t know what it''s like out there. People are already fleeing into the desert city with little more than their Deutero bank savings and the clothes on their back. Law and order in half the midlands is already on the verge of collapse. Never mind nine months from now, I''m not sure those countries would last past tomorrow!"

    "That bad?" Remian was shocked.

    "Trust me. I''ve got lynxmice in every country in this world, and word gets to me within days of something big happening. The midlands have it bad but the worst areas are actually the dry regions around here. In Paleres, Otta, Ira and Kuasa Besar, farms are failing, markets are emptying out, and stores have been looted at night. Otta''s military has forcefully seized all food and are rationing it out amongst the populace. Ira''s royalty has all but enacted nationwide slavery of their own people, commandeering the lives and possessions of all their citizens as their own. Kuasa Besar has been divided up among nine warring factions who can''t seem to agree on anything. And Paleres keeps trying to raid us all for whatever scant resources they can get their hands on." Tim thought for a bit. "I honestly believe that if we invited the craftsmen and airship builders of those countries over, they would leap on board dragging their families along at first opportunity, regardless of whatever conditions or cost I might impose on them. We can''t do it openly, because their local authorities would try to kill us, but we could probably smuggle them out with the help of only a few small bribes."

    Remian considered. "I wanted to wait until we were ready, but this sounds more like a rescue operation than an enticement scheme. Do it. Use whatever means necessary. Send in the army if we need to get them out by force."

    "That actually could be arranged. They just have to be at whatever border town the Fal''Herim army decides to raid next." Tim said thoughtfully. "We could even bring their luggage back with us. I have to warn you though, that if word gets out among our own people of these rescue operations, we might very quickly be overwhelmed."

    "What? Why?" Remian blinked.

    "We happen to have a few thousand evacuees from Ecclesia, remember? I''m sure they all have friends back at the world''s previous magic capital who know a thing or two about airship construction and magitech and what we might need to adapt magic devices to use electricity."

    Remian paused. "That actually sounds like an excellent idea."

    Tim scratched his head. "I kinda thought that was the plan all along."

    Remian had a moment to feel embarrassed. In the middle of all the worry and flurry, he''d actually failed to think of something Tim found obvious. Blame on thinking too far ahead, but Remian had spent more time pondering how to develop electromagnetic technology in one or three towns than he had on developing a nationwide electric-based industry.

    Also, what about computing? The best this world had in way of calculators was the slide ruler! Looking at the sheer immensity of the task ahead of him, Remian wanted to quail. Asking one man to do the job of raising the technological levels of an entire world, or even a nation, was really asking too much. Tim had it right. Pulling in the technological experts of the world should have been the plan from the start.

    "Can you handle all that?" Remian asked Tim, hopefully.

    "Nope!" Tim rejected immediately. "I can get them out, and I can get them here, but for the conference, the housing, the hospitality, the hiring and all that show-and-tell, you''re going to have to find somebody else. Ask George or something."

    "George." Remian rubbed his forehead. "I guess it''s about time to tell him he''s going in the wrong direction. He''s not going to like it. He''s been wanting to industrialize Kara-Goth since the beginning."

    "Better tell him now, before Shadowflash bites someone." Tim advised. "Or maybe get Mindy to do it."

    "Mindy?" Remian blinked. "Why Mindy?"

    "Because he''ll listen to her." Tim hinted.

    ***

    "You want me to tell George what?!" Mindy spluttered. Then she closed her eyes, sank back in her seat and groaned. "All I wanted to do tomorrow was fly around on a prototype corvette engine with Chirpy."

    Remian nodded empathically. "And all I wanted to do today was run around with the wolfcats, but these things are time-sensitive. The sooner they get done, the better off we all are."

    Mindy threw up her hands. "Aren''t you going to go hunt that Steiner-whatever guy and put him through the wringer for kidnapping you and all? The lynxmice tell us he''s hiding out at an old temple in the slums."

    "No, I really can''t be bothered with that right now."

    "But he''s going to come back for the oil. You know he''s not going to give up so easily." Mindy stressed. "He has no respect for us, no recognition of our authority over Wildlands."

    "That''s because we don''t really have any. The real authority over the far south is the Flame Emperor, and right now she''s in no shape to stop a Libertarian expedition." Remian pointed out.

    "That''s why we need to stop him here, preferably outside the Wildlands." Mindy agreed. "I''m only the Flame Emperor''s Comrade, but I feel I should speak for her when I say they can''t be allowed in her territory, and I should also speak for her in asking for your help."

    "Me? What can I do?!"

    "Hunt him down and kill him for kidnapping you. Or imprison him, if you prefer. Just stop him." Mindy said, coldly.

    Remian stared. "Did you just ask me to kill somebody?"

    "Yes, I did." Mindy''s tone was cruel. She gave Remian a level look. "I''m not that sweet little girl who kept running to you for snacks any more, Remian. I am a veteran of war, and a champion of too many dire battles to count. I''ve seen more people die than I have eaten meals, and killed more Spectres and Wilds than I ever want to think about."

    "But not people. Killing people is different." Remian pointed out.

    "Is it?" Mindy''s eyes narrowed. She glanced at Chirpy on her shoulder. "Is it so much worse if a human dies than if a bird dies? Is it any less an issue to kill a Wild than it is to kill a man?"

    "That depends." Remian drew a deep breath.

    "On what? How smart they are?" Mindy scoffed to herself.

    "On our relationship with them." Remian pointed out.

    Mindy frowned.

    Remian elaborated. "For example. Some Wilds would kill us. They are dangerous, threats to our lives and safety, they would cause us direct harm. They are our enemies. Killing them would be self-defense, a necessity, and a praiseworthy, even heroic deed."

    "Like the Beast Waves early on." Mindy understood.

    Remian continued. "Other Wilds would cause us indirect harm, ruin our crops, destroy our homes and endanger our resources. Those are pests. Killing them would be protection of property, a service and a safeguard to us and ours, and a good work."

    Mindy nodded. "Like locusts eating our fields, or termites in our houses, or houseflies in our food, or mosquitoes trying to suck our blood."

    Remian didn''t stop. "Then there are those Wilds who don''t bother us one way or the other. If you''re hunting them for food or hides, killing them would be an acquisition of resource. Otherwise, killing them would be a senseless waste."

    Mindy frowned, but didn''t say anything.

    Remian kept going. "There are also Wilds who are beneficial to us. They help us do things, like plow fields or dig tunnels, or make honey. To kill them would be loss, a regretful and sorrowful issue that would be avoided unless necessary."

    Mindy thought for a bit. "I guess you''re talking about the farm Wilds."

    At last, Remian took a deep breath. "And then there are Wilds who are our friends, and our family. Killing them would be an outright betrayal. Killing them would be murder."

    Toward that, Mindy glanced at Chirpy.

    Chirpy glanced back. Neither of them said anything.

    But then, Mindy turned back to Remian. "So, if this same measure is applied to people, where does Steiner fit in? An enemy? Or a pest?"

    "The scale is different for humans, because I''m human too." Remian grimaced. "But if I had to peg him in one of those five categories, I''d say he was a pest."

    "So are you going to kill him?" Mindy pressed.

    "Probably not." Remian sighed. "But I''d certainly like to smack him."

 336 Greener Grass

    Ashdale had dark clouds hanging over it. Not stormclouds, though. It was smoke.

    When Alani and her friends arrived, every city on the great isles was hard at work putting up factories and coal power plants. Entire convoys of the black stuff were being carted around from port to port, supplying every major metropolis with the fuel. The Pegasi escorting Alani and company were particulary irked to see so many horses put to the cart and the whip for the sake of the wagons filled with black.

    Even as they went looking for their contact, some Deutero officer named Charlie, Alani fell into fits of coughing. "We need to get those face masks the locals use. I''m not sure we''ll survive the trip otherwise."

    It had been odd seeing people walking around with cloths tied over their faces and nobody screaming for the police to catch robbers, but with all the smog over the city, it wasn''t hard to figure out why.

    But while face masks in the smog made sense, the existence of the smog itself baffled them.

    Jamie asked it first. "Why are they doing this? Why are they burning the black stuff? Isn''t that precisely the thing Remian wants to avoid?"

    "Yes it is." Alani nodded. "And it''s not hard to see why. I would hate to have all this smoke over my home."

    They rang the bell at an old, vintage mansion, and a maid came out. Jamie asked for Charlie, and the maid brought them in and had them wait at a stone garden table.

    "It''s a nice garden." Juni commented idly.

    "Yeah, too bad it''s half-dying under all this smog." Gary snorted.

    "So, who''s this Charlie?" Jamie asked.

    "An old friend of Remian''s. Should be an Ashdalian guy about his age. Wind Mage, I think?" Alani thought back. "He works for Deutero."

    "Right. So a young man, then." Jamie nodded sagely.

    But instead of a young man, a woman greeted them. Jamie jumped. "M-Mandy?!"

    Back when they were orphans with the Circling Ravens, she was the one taking care of them. That is, until they got sold off as slaves¡­

    In their group, only Alani (and the terrapin in her hands) hadn''t been one of the Ravens orphans. She instead, knew Mandy only by reputation, and as far as she could remember, this Mandy was, in fact¡­ "Remian''s ex-wife!"

    "What?!" the others yelped.

    "She left him! Left the Wildlands!" Alani snorted, glancing around. "For THIS!"

    This left them all bewildered for a moment, and Mandy''s face turned red.

    Juni repeated the words slowly, as if he couldn''t understand them. He looked around at the country completely covered in smog, broken off from the mainland, barricaded against Wilds, widows and orphans everywhere begging in the streets after the world war. "Mandy¡­ you left Remian, left us and the Wildlands¡­ for this?!"

    At that, Mandy''s jaw dropped. Her face turned white.

    "Come now, it''s a nice house¡­" Jamie tried to speak on Mandy''s behalf.

    "It''s not hers." Alani shook her head.

    "It''s not?" Juni repeated again, frowning, as if uncomprehending. ???Then whose is it?"

    "It''s Charlie''s." Alani explained.

    "Why is Mandy living in Charlie''s house¡­?" Jamie asked suspiciously.

    Meanwhile, Juni''s eyes lit up in understanding. He started rubbing his fist. "This Charlie¡­ now I really want to¡­ meet¡­ him."

    "Forget it." Alani said shortly.

    "But¡­"

    "Just forget it." Alani turned back to Mandy and handed her a thick envelope. "Where''s the parts?"

    Mandy closed her mouth, bit her lip, and checked the envelope. At last, she handed out a slip of paper. "Airport warehouse. Hand this over to the warehouse staff. They''ll load the crate directly onto your airship."

    "Thank you." Alani said a bit curtly, and then turned and left.

    The others followed her, some frowning, some giving Mandy curious looks, others simply not looking at her any more.

    Only Gary hesitated for a moment, then quietly advised Mandy. "You shouldn''t have left us. This place¡­ it really doesn''t seem worth it."

    He left with that, leaving Mandy shellstruck and looking at the smog-filled sky, left only with memories of the endless green of the Wildlands.

    ***

    "They''re heading back." Mindy reported to Remian, based on what Carrie said. "It seems they didn''t want to look around Ashdale after all. They''ll be camping out at the Neutral Zone with the Storm Pegasus Lord tonight."

    "That''s such a waste." Remian shook his head. "There''s so much they could see and learn there."

    "They didn''t like Ashdale. Apparently there''s coal fires and smoke everywhere. The whole island is covered with smog. They all have to wear face masks and can hardly breathe."

    "That bad?" Remian blinked. "I guess¡­ it''s a bad time to tour Ashdale. Maybe we should have sent them to Bellas or Germat or something."

    "If you want them to see a big city and other cultures, you can forget about it. They''ve already been to Ecclesia." Mindy said shortly. "They won''t be impressed with the Midlands countries. Especially now that mana is drying up."

    "I keep forgetting about that." Remian confessed. He was practicing Psionics now, not magic, and did not require the use of mana. Plus, even with the dwindling mana, the occasional slip into old habits still resulted in magical results. The comms crystals, for example, still worked, though at shorter and shorter ranges. When he called out for light, it still appeared. When he drank water and found it too warm, and called for a bit of it to freeze, it froze. Small magics like that still seemed to function, somewhat.

    But as of this morning, the Sky Fortresses began to lose power. Scroll-casting and chanelling mana into the engines could keep them in the sky temporarily, but moving around would soon no longer be feasible. Both Damien and Lisa Vin were hurriedly looking over places to land¡­ permanently.

    "Just land at Three Pines and Kara-Goth." Remian advised them. "Unless you want to teach at Fal''Herim?"

    "But¡­" Lisa hesitated. "What about Dragon Lake, and¡­ Craggy Falls?"

    "Craggy Falls is mine. I''ll take care of the schooling there." Remian said shortly. "Don''t interfere. As for Dragon Lake¡­ you can ask Darian, but I doubt the dragons would be pleased."

    They weren''t. Darian flat out told his parents not to land there. "Also, you should avoid Kara-Goth. It won''t be long before the next Beast Tide erupts."

    "B-Beast Tide?! I thought that was all over and done with!" Damien Vin gasped.

    "Nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty-six dead." Darian said shortly. "That was the count as of last night. This includes the number of Wilds killed in the Spectre War, a war that resulted from the actions of humans."

    "B-but¡­ aren''t you the King of the Wilds around here? Won''t that be invading Kor''ag-dras'' territory?!" his father protested.

    "I am, and it would." Darian nodded. "So? It''s still going to happen. The Beast Waves have already been happening. You can ask the Song Clan about that."

    "The fighting at the Great Docks¡­ those were Beast Waves?!" Damien gaped. "Then the next Tide¡­ it''s going to hit them, right?"

    "The Great Docks and Kara-Goth, both." Darian shrugged. "But Three Pines will be untouched. Probably Craggy Falls too."

    "But¡­ but why? Why Kara-Goth?!" Lisa Vin asked.

    "Too many trees felled. Too many polluting factories and mines. Too many Wilds hunted and killed." Darian said. "I told them already, but the refugees and even the Temple Knights wouldn''t listen to me half the time. They seem to think I would protect them regardless. They will soon realize I meant what I said."

    "Have you told George?" Damien gulped.

    "I''ve warned him. He didn''t seem to take it to heart."

    Lisa Vin suddenly turned on Mom mode. "Now, listen here, son, you can''t just go around and kill people because they don''t take you seriously¡­"

    "Relax, Mom, I won''t be doing anything. I''m just letting you know what the Wilds are up to and why." Darian shrugged, and then zipped away before they could say anything else.

    "Darian? DARIAN!" Lisa fumed, then picked up her comms crystal. "Darian, you come back here, young man!"

    Oddly enough, they heard her voice coming from their feet. Looking down, they found a comms crystal in the dirt.

    "Is that¡­ Darian''s comm crystal?!" Lisa gaped.

    "Yep. I think it is." Damien grimaced. "I don''t think we''re going to be able to call him any more."

    "Why?" Lisa threw up her hands. "Why did we ever come to this place?! Now we''ve lost both the boys! We should have gone to Ashdale with Mandy and dragged them along, before all this happened!"

    "Pretty sure we''ve lost the girls too." Damien pointed out mildly. "They''ve all found their own footing here and they don''t need us any more. Children grow up so fast."

    "No! We''re not losing the girls too!" Lisa jumped. "We''re taking them with us and we''re going back to civilization! As for the Beast Tide, if Darian won''t do anything, maybe Remian will! He''s good friends with the wolfcats, right?"

    "Even if he could do anything, I don''t think he would."

    "Stubborn¡­! Maybe our daughter-in-law can talk some sense into our son! Let''s go see Mandy at Ashdale!"

    "With what? Last I checked, our airships couldn''t make it any farther than Kara-Goth. I don''t think we''ll even be able to reach Fal''Herim."

    "These piles of junk we call airships could hardly move to begin with! No, we''ll need to use the Red Fang for that. Surely Remian won''t begrudge us that much!"

    "It''s Mindy''s airship, but sure, let''s ask if we could borrow it." Damien Vin chuckled to himself. "At the very least, there''s no harm with visiting Ashdale after all this time."

    ***

    Meanwhile, in Ashdale, Mandy watched Alani and the others as their airship took off from the airport with their cargo on board.

    She whispered to herself. "Maybe it''s time I go visit Kara-Goth."

 337 New Directives

    A dreadful hush had fallen over Ashdale as Mandy boarded Charlie''s Sky Galleon bound for Kara-Goth. A great many people murmured in corners, or in rushed whispers at private tables and side benches.

    "W-what''s going on?" Mandy asked Charlie, as the airship took on six different families and roughly thirty other people.

    "They''re headed to the Wildlands. Remian and George put up some paid ads with Deutero inviting skilled farmers, food processors and machinists to join them." Charlie shrugged. "There''s so many of them going south now, my airship alone can''t manage. That''s why we''re bringing three airships in a convoy. We had to borrow magi from the company to handle all three, what with mana dwindling everywhere."

    "Oh." Mandy turned around and frowned. "Actually, I was talking about the mood in the city. Everything seems to be very hush-hush."

    "That?" Charlie hesitated. "I think people are just getting tense. This morning, some of the lower quality magical devices failed entirely. It''s nothing serious for now, but everyone can feel the mana fading, and it won''t be long before important things begin to falter."

    "But we''re prepared for it, right? That''s why Ashdale is using electric machines from Libertaria." Mandy pointed out hopefully.

    "That''s true. But nobody can ever be really prepared for this." Charlie explained. "At least Ashdale has steam engines and electricity to fall back on when mana disappears. Our neighbors can''t say the same. There''s no telling what they would do once they realize none of their equipment can function while ours can."

    Mandy hesitated. "But everyone knew this was coming, right? They all had plenty of time to prepare, right?"

    "You would think so, wouldn''t you? But for many of the other nations, they''re still trying to find someone to blame and have them pay for everything." Charlie grimaced. "I think they''d have gone to war all over again if the cannons didn''t demand more usage of mana. Others are still trying to solve the mana issue, or simply ignoring it and hoping it will all simply go away on its own."

    "Solve the mana issue¡­" Mandy shook her head. "Even Remian is going to lose all his special abilities with mana gone. He''ll be nothing but an ordinary guy again, and a weak, poor one too."

    "Remian? Normal!?" Charlie spluttered. "I guess you haven''t heard."

    "Heard what?"

    "Remian''s been bringing about technology that even Libertaria couldn''t dream about." Charlie said. "The things he''s been inventing at Craggy Falls¡­ it makes Libertaria''s steam engines look like toys."

    "That''s impossible!" Mandy gasped.

    "It is, isn''t it? But I saw it with my own eyes. Electric lights and fans, all fed from a power plant that doesn''t even need coal or any other fuel. It runs solely on the power of flowing water."

    "It can''t be! He couldn''t have!" Mandy protested. "There''s no way¡­! Because if he did, then I¡­ I¡­"

    Mandy fainted. Her eyes rolled up and she outright collapsed in place, her face as white as a sheet.

    "Mandy? Hello?" Charlie tried to shake her awake, but there was no response. "Cripes. Medic! Somebody call a doctor!"

    ***

    "George."

    "Yes, Mindy?"

    "The Beast Tide starts tomorrow."

    "Beast Tide? I thought we were done with all that."

    "The count has reached 10,000. The Great Docks and Kara-Goth are its first targets."

    "Us, too?! Why? That can''t be! We''re a legitimate fief under Shadow Flash! Kor''ag-dras¡­"

    "Kor''ag has gone to sleep and Shadow Flash himself invited them to clean out the polluting factories and mines. He doesn''t want those factories on his turf. They''re causing too much pollution, felling too many trees. Also, the new immigrants are killing too many Wilds."

    "But¡­ but I can''t stop them from hunting for food!" George quailed. "I¡­ I can''t just¡­"

    "Tim has prepared Fal''Herim to receive them. There''s room enough for all the factories and roughly half the population."

    "Fal''Herim?! That''s Asda''s territory!"

    "Asda seems to be following Tim around like a puppy. It''s almost like she''s¡­"

    "She''s become Tim''s girlfriend?!"

    Utter silence.

    "I''ll¡­ I''ll have them move. We''ll move all the heavy industries to Fal''Herim. So¡­ could you¡­"

    "I''ll ask Chirpy for a favor and see if she can talk them out of attacking Kara-Goth. Let the Dragon Empire face the Beast Tide instead of us."

    "Thanks, Mindy."

    ***

    "We did it!" Alani crowed as she and her crew docked at Fal''Herim. "Mission accomplished!"

    "Aren''t we supposed to bring the cargo to Craggy Falls?" Juni asked.

    "Uh¡­ yeah, but Remian is here, isn''t he?" Alani pointed out.

    "He is." Remian said, coming up to them. "Welcome to Fal''Herim. How was your trip? Did you manage to see plenty of other cities and countries?"

    "Uh¡­ not really." Alani winced. "We had a deadline, and Reef wouldn''t let us enter any other countries on the way back."

    Remian frowned. "Not even on the way back? The deadline is not till tomorrow. You could have stopped by Germat or Itarim, or¡­"

    "We wanted to." Alani grimaced. "But Reef said no. He said the smell of blood was too strong."

    "Blood¡­?" Remian echoed. He glanced at the little floating turtle over Alani''s shoulder and hesitated.

    A flicker of psionic power connected the two for a moment. Thoughts and memories were shared, and then Remian gulped. "Oh, goodness. Things have gotten really bad in the Midlands. Darian must have heard."

    "Darian? What did he say?" Alani queried.

    "Darian''s going to be your instructor for the next couple of weeks." Remian told her. "Also, you''ll be learning on-the-job. I wasn''t sure where, or how, at first, but now¡­" he glanced at Reef. Psionic power flickered between them again, and Reef nodded. "We have confirmed that you will be training on an island in the Midlands Sea."

    "Back to the Midlands Sea? Everything is conspiring to land me on an island there!" Alani rolled her eyes.

    "Plus, we''re conspiring to land you there without any tools and without any rations." Remian nodded sagely.

    "No tools?!" Alani blurted.

    "You''ll be required to build a large rest stop and supply depot to facilitate a massive exodus." Remian added. "Darian will be heading the Temple Knights¡­ sorry, I mean, the Order of Light¡­ on a multinational refugee movement. Your job is to set up the entire island as a stopover for an expected ten thousand refugees to refuel, resupply and rest for the night before coming here to Fal''Herim. We''ll sort them out from here on."

    "That''s going to take a whole village, or town!" Isabelle protested. "How are we to do that without tools?"

    "With your minds." Remian said, lifting a hand. Sand rose up from the ground in the shape of a sand castle roughly three inches big. He tossed it onto the ground and stomped on it.

    BAM! Despite the loud sound, however, the sandcastle remained intact and hardly lost a few grains when Remian removed his foot.

    "Wow." Alani stared. "You want us to build a town made out of sand¡­ with our minds?!"

    "Like I said. On the job training. Darian will be teaching you Psionics." Remian said. "I expect that except for sleeping and eating, for the next two weeks, the lot of you would be practicing telekinesis and hopefully, aetherkinesis all day. I doubt you''ll be using sand, though. This little trick won''t last very long, and you should be building a campsite to last a few months."

    ***

    So he said, but when Darian arrived with the Order of Light, he flat out threw those notions out of the window.

    "Forget the whole survival game. Bring tools. We don''t have time to idle around waiting for you to get the hang of using Psionic powers, and I''m not going to waste time babysitting you if it turns out you couldn''t use Psionic power at that level in the first place. Also, you won''t be responsible for building the depot. I have two hundred knights here who would do the job much quicker and better than you."

    "Then¡­ what are we going to be doing?" Alani asked.

    "Training. It just so happens that I''m going to be there, so you''ll just have to follow me around and maybe lend a hand only if it turns out you have the power for it." Darian glanced at Reef on Alani''s shoulder. "Especially you. I figure you, at least, would certainly have the strength to be of much help."

    "I thought we were supposed to be only using our minds."

    "Forget that. From what I see here, half of you guys would be better off learning to use weapons. Just how many people do you think has the kind of talent in Psionics to get things done with just a day or two of training? Plus, like I said, I can''t babysit you guys all the time. That means, I''m going to be asking my knights to help out in your training."

    "Temple Knight training¡­" Alani breathed.

    "Psionics, martial arts, weapons, armor, tactics, even meditation and battle-cries if it would help. By the end of these two weeks, I expect that none of you would ever have to fear a Beast Wave, ever again."

 338 Two Weeks Later

    "Yip."

    Alani groaned, slowly becoming aware of sunlight and a furry paw nudging her in the shoulder. "Is it morning already?"

    Not just morning. Based on the heat and she brightness of the sun, Alani realized she''d overslept, but that everyone had simply let her sleep in today. After all, yesterday had a long, hard day.

    "I''m up." Alani groggily sat up and patted the wolfcat at her side. This time it was Flare who had woken her.

    Two weeks had passed since they first landed on this island in the Midlands Sea. True to his word, Darian had put them through a mix of Psionics, martial arts, and weapons training. Juni and Jamie even learned trained with armor. Despite their earlier expectations, however, they had little part in constructing anything or evacuating any refugees. The Order of Light did that, and they did so in growing numbers. Two hundred knights at the beginning had swelled to more than twice as many by now, with more still on the way.

    Them, and Alani. Unlike the others, Alani''s training also involved her learning to use her newfound strength without accidentally killing someone or demolishing a house. In the whole world, only one guy could have taught her that and sparred with her without getting killed, and he had her help out in the physical construction of the seaside rest stop and hauling supplies and airships around alongside all the knights.

    Yes, Alani had carried entire airships around. Just the small ones, the Wasps that Mindy designed, but they were airships nonetheless, even if they could barely fly any more, despite any magi''s best efforts. These days, they were used more in the water than out of it.

    In fact, with mana fading into nothing, a huge amount of airships were quickly adapted for the sea. Some lighter ones could be adapted to use electric motors and propellers, but there were only so many of Deepsilver''s kin to go around, and Mindy''s shipyards were already swamped with airships to adapt.

    Most of them were being adapted to use a different kind of fuel, something other than the coal and oil used by Libertaria. Remian called it hydrogen, and he was going to show it off at the big Science Conference in a week and a half.

    Someday, he said, girls with cold Qi might liquify the fuel for storage and usage, but for now, hydrogen was stored in balloons protected by Xiao Yan''s formations. Later, but not too much later, he hoped, they would have machines to compress or liquify hydrogen.

    Speaking of Remian, Alani wondered why he hadn''t been the one to teach Psionics. He seemed to be a lot more skilled with it than even Darian and the Temple Knights. He came by to visit once, and ended up helping them re-form their Silhouettes without magic. But he hadn''t yet taught Alani and her friends any of that yet.

    No, most of Alani''s training came from Darian and the Order of Light, those knights affectionately referred to as White Knights, due to the color of their tabards, as compared to the Order of Steel''s Gray Knights and the Order of Sand''s Brown Knights.

    Under her tutelage, Alani had over the past two weeks, successfully improved her Psionic abilities to the point of using Small Telekinesis! She was now able to make a rock float with her mind alone!

    Hey, don''t laugh. Isabella could throw fire with pyrokinesis and Siti could show you dream-like images with Guidance, but Alani herself barely made it as a Class-4 Psionic, an entire level below them. It wasn''t that she was untalented or lazy; controlling her physical strength took up most of her time. Plus, she was also learning spear arts.

    Why a spear? Because, it could also be used for fishing! But don''t tell Darian that.

    At least she made it to becoming a Class-4! Jamie and Juni could barely send telepathic messages, hardly qualifying as Class-2''s. But of course, they also had a lot more on their plates, between armor care, bodily deflecting blows with armor, using armor in attacks, speed-training for putting on armor quickly¡­

    They even trained with shields and maces. You''d think knights used swords all the time, but a rather large number of Temple Knights favored maces. After training with armor and sparring with people who wore armor, both Jamie and Juni opted for maces as well, though Jamie once sneakily played around with a flail, and Juni seemed interested in warhammers.

    Everyone else also trained with armor, a little, but the most they had to handle was light leather armor, or thick clothes they called gambersons. They never had to handle heavy armor like Juni and Jamie.

    Compared to the weapons and armor training of those two, Isabella and Siti had the least weapons training. They simply took up crossbows, and though they had a bit of practice with bows and guns as well, they mainly just stuck to using crossbows in target practice. They focused most of their time in Psionics.

    Gary was somewhere in between. He had seen Darian form what they called Psi Blades, one on each hand, and from then on, he trained with twin blades. Alani often told him he should focus on Psionics if he wanted to use Psi Blades, but he still spent more time with knives than in Psionic practice. As a result, he, like Alani, was stuck at Class-4 Psionic, barely able to muster an aura barrier, much less forge Psi Blades.

    According to Darian, doing this much in two weeks was already very good. Some Temple Knights went on for years before even being able to form aura barriers. But then, they didn''t have the benefits of being surrounded by Wilds or having their Psionic abilities awoken by hearing telepathic messages from a young age.

    "Reef? How come Wilds have Psionic abilities?" Alani asked once.

    It was a question only the eldest of the Wilds could possibly have answered.

    "We were magicked into it by the masters of the Black Ruins." Reef shrugged. "But alas, I suspect we may be the last generation of Wilds to exist in this world. As mana fades from the world, the future generations may not possess our Psionic abilities as strongly, until at last, there are Wilds no more, merely animals in the wilderness¡­"

    "Oh no! Can''t we do something about it?" Alani spluttered.

    "What can we do? Re-open the portal to the Spectres?" Reef snorted. "No, girl. If our time is up, then time is up."

    "We''ll bring you away with us!" Alani decided. "When we build the Warp Gate and run away to other worlds! We''ll find a world with mana for you and all the other Wilds to live happily!"

    "Really?" Reef eyed her in humor. He said nothing about how long it would take, or whether Alani herself would be alive by then. He simply smiled. "Thank you, Alani."

    ***

    The island she was on had been renamed ''Midway'' since it was the refugees'' main stopover from the Midlands to Fal''Herim. Even as Alani went about looking for her friends and some breakfast, another shipload of refugees arrived on the docks and let off a stream of tired, fearful people fleeing the Midlands.

    Yes, it was sailing on the water, not in the air. With the Deep Emperor''s protection, naval ships in the Midlands Sea were able to ferry no less than fifteen thousand people through Midway Island in the past two weeks. It was crazy just how quickly people adapted to ships on the water instead of ships in the air. A lot of them couldn''t even move on their own power and had to be towed by some of the larger marine Wilds.

    Other ships turned out to be sailed by bad people and tried to rob them or steal whole ships. Those, the Temple Knights and the Wilds gave special attention to, and they turned out to be excellent fish food.

    "Thank you, Reef." Alani stroked the turtle''s shell softly as she saw more and more people reach safety.

    "You know, I never would have done this, before." Reef yawned. "Humans were just pests to me, or otherwise, mere strangers to be wary of."

    The notion that his mind shared with hers was that his feelings about humans were similar to her feelings about fish. Most of the time, she simply didn''t care, unless she wanted to eat one, or if one interesting specimen piqued her curiosity. Other than that, if she was swimming and they came close, she had to be wary, because large ones or too many small ones could cause her harm.

    But if one particular fish became a good friend, eating the same kind of fish as her friend simply wouldn''t feel right any more¡­

    Speaking of fish made Alani think about Deepsilver, and her brother who once had a job feeling that giant electric eel.

    He had since forsworn ever going near an eel again. Her father had made him at least five different suits with more and more rubber each time, but Aouli still wouldn''t take the job any more. Now at Midway Island were a dozen guys all going around in rubber suits made by their father, feeding younger, smaller electric eels who power electric motors on sailing ships or the few remaining airships. Most of them were brave, trained Temple Knights who dared face suffering for the sake of their fellow man¡­ and their own wallets.

    "Well, it''s been fun on this island." Alani reflected. "We learned a good bit about how to protect ourselves. But it''s time we got back to normal life."

    Except that normal life didn''t exist for them. It didn''t exist for the rest of the world either, at this point. Most of the world was in great turmoil. The Dragon Empire was steadily absorbing every other country and sovereignty in the east. Libertaria had taken over the entire north-western continent and was likely to take over the south-western one too. As for the Midlands¡­

    Right now the strongest power in the Midlands were the Wilds of the Neutral Zone. People were killing each other in the streets out of fear, anger, desperation or sheer madness. Thousands were fleeing by any means they could, with whatever they could carry, or even nothing at all. Darian and the Order of Light had their hands full, and the non-stop exodus didn''t seem about to abate any time soon.

    At this rate, the Midlands, too, would become part of the Wildlands¡­

 339 Cold Swea

    At the time, Tim was sneaking through the Dragon Empire. Having reached the capital, he took over an entire warehouse in the name of the Abundant Cheese Company, whose sole proprieter was himself. Using the warehouse as a base, nine clans of lynxmice scouted and stalked the military base from which the red mana crystals emerged.

    Renovations were ongoing at that base. The structure on top of the red mana site had turned into a fortress. Based on the food supplies entering it every day, at least five thousand soldiers had to be staying there on a constant basis.

    Furthermore, they weren''t just any normal soldiers. Based on what Tim observed and what the lynxmice reported, only Adept-level Draconians were permitted to enter, and all of them appeared to be part of the First Draconian Royal Legion, the honor guard of the First Prince himself!

    Tim was scratching his head over how to infiltrate the compound when news arrived from the latest shift of lynxmice.

    The supplies entering the fortress had been cut in half!

    What did that mean?

    It couldn''t be that the soldiers'' rations had been cut. There was no food shortage in the capital. Nor did it seem to be some sort of punishment. In fact, Tim''s mind immediately locked onto the worst case scenario.

    That is, of the five thousand elite troops in the fortress, two and a half thousand of them would not require food today¡­ or ever again.

    What happened? How did two thousand elite draconians suddenly lose their lives?! Tim could no longer wait. Burning curiosity consumed his common sense until he was driven to investigate this very day!

    "Is the tunnel ready?" Tim asked Mikai.

    "Miik." Mikai answered.

    "How long more?"

    "Mikiik."

    "That''s too long! Rush it. I want it done by tonight!"

    "Kiik? Kikiiik?"

    "Put Bun Nabber''s clan and Dust Roller''s clan to work. Have them trigger the distractions they had planned. With all the ruckus going on outside, perhaps nobody would notice the vibrations."

    ***

    That evening, Remian got a call.

    "Tim? I''m a little busy here." Remian said, putting down his tools for a minute.

    "Really? What''s so important?" Tim asked blandly.

    "A hydrogen fuel cell. Why? What''s up?"

    "Oh, not much. I just found out where the red mana is coming from."

    There was a crash as Remian dropped something that might actually have been important. Even so, what he said was, "Where?!"

    "It''s coming from another world." Tim said in an entirely casual manner. "A dead one, sort of. Everything there is dead except for the soldiers and workers who go through the portal. Oh, yeah; there''s an actual portal to the sort-of-dead world."

    "What do you mean, ''sort-of-dead''?"

    "I mean, the locals decided not to stay dead." Tim said. "They''re still moving around."

    There was a short pause.

    "Say that again, Tim? The dead are moving?"

    "Yep. Skeletons, zombies, ghouls, call it what you want. The draconians call them ??undead''. Their nutcase magi thought it would be a good idea to use magic to play around with death, so all the magi here are liches. They''re all dead and using death magic. They''ve killed some draconians and turned them into undead. There''s rumors they even have a skeletal dragon."

    "How is that even possible?!"

    "How? Apparently it all starts with a necromancer¡­"

    Remian grimaced. "So much for trading with other worlds."

    "Uh, no, I wouldn''t recommend it. Not with this world."

    Remian sighed. "Guess I''ll have to use a beacon."

    "A what?"

    "A beacon. It''s like a signal telling otherworlders that we''re open for trade. There are rules and such, but I think we can safely set up Craggy Falls as an independent trade post. I just need to clear it with one of the Dras clan."

    "Great. Anyway... there''s only one way to get to the Undead World, and that''s through the portal at the bottom of the most heavily guarded fortress in the Dragon Empire. The crystals are so well-guarded, even I don''t dare to steal them. I''m afraid there''s nothing more I can do here."

    "Understood, Tim. I think it''s best to just leave them be for now. We''ll focus on our own territories. Plus, I was hoping to plant some special crops on your farm. We can discuss that when you get back."

    ***

    After the call, Remian turned around. "Death? Are you there?"

    But there was no answer. Death was no longer always hovering over his shoulder. In fact, Remian hadn''t been haunted by Death ever since the Conglomerate treatments.

    For a moment there, he felt a slight sense of loss, but it was quickly overwhelmed by a flood of relief. Didn''t that mean that he was in the clear? That he wasn''t likely to suddenly keel over dead for no reason? For now, at least?

    On the other hand, he wouldn''t be able to ask Death anything about that Undead World.

    "That''s that, then. There''s no way to get mana aside from the Dragon Empire and even they have to fight undead for it." Remian shook his head. "Maybe they''ll be willing to do joint-ventures? We could help them. But why would they accept our help?"

    Why indeed. Most of the world''s militaries were faced with failing equipment, mana shortages, and a whole lot more chaos than anyone knew what to do with. Remian''s own military potential was limited whatever his students and friends could scrape together, mainly junk-grade airships and lots of mice. Unless he could get Darian to bring some dragons? But what would be the point? The Dragon Emperor was already fielding draconians; the servants of dragons wouldn''t stand for allowing juvenile dragon hatchlings to put themselves in danger. Between dragons and draconians there was no doubt all of them would vote for the draconians to face dangers to spare the dragons from harm.

    Draconians themselves had abilities beyond most humans. Even magi fell short of their magical abilities. For a mage to cast a Tier 3 fireball, for example, he would need some time to invoke the sigils and channel mana properly. A wand or scroll could speed things up immensely, possibly even to the point of near-instant casting. But all of these relied upon proper casting.

    An Adept Draconian needed no such time or complexity. He only needed to open his mouth and spit one out. No Sigil, no casting time, no usage of consumable items. Just spit.

    Based on what Remian knew, it was still a form of magic and required mana, but that magic was in their blood, just like dragons. That''s why Draconians were so fussy about bloodlines.

    Also it explained why they were daring to raid the Undead World for mana. Draconians and dragons alike needed mana in a way that normal humans wouldn''t understand. At least, that was what he learned from Conglomerate primers.

    Which reminded him. He needed to talk to Kor''ag or Mal''thor as soon as possible. They were still asleep, last Remian checked, but once either of them woke up¡­

    Suddenly, the crystal buzzed again. Remian frowned, taking the call. "Tim? What is it?"

    There was a short silence, then, a gravelly voice said, "I am not Tim."

    Remian froze. "What¡­ who¡­?"

    "I am Zor''khan-dras." The voice on the other side said deeply.

    Remian froze.

    "Your little spy has been caught peeping in places that he really shouldn''t have been." The voice went on. "But I smell Khar''al on him. Tell my brother that if he needs mana, he can very well pay for it just like all our other brothers. No stealing from the cookie jar! This cookie jar is all mine."

    "How much?" Brain frozen, that was the only thing Remian could think to say.

    "You''ll have to bid for it in auction, fair and square." Zor''khan sounded amused. "Buy it from me properly, and I will return your little spy at that time."

    The call ended, leaving Remian dripping with cold sweat.

 340 Bonus Chapter 1

    The Mitigok were coming.

    In the Coslora Star Cluster, the Draconian Dominion and the Galactic South Quarin Coalition had the biggest headaches with that fact. The swarm in question had migrated over from the neighboring star cluster and arrived smack dab in the border zones between their territories.

    Over the course of a hundred years, they devoured the star systems they first arrived at and began to spread. First three, then nine different star systems were engulfed in war, then finally evacuated as the celestial bodies were devoured. Following their progress, another fifteen would fall prey to these world devourers within the next hundred years.

    As for the next hundred years beyond that, the estimates reached twenty-six. This included a somewhat less well known star system known as Sorrel, whose second planet was currently home to one rather busy Remian Vin.

    Three Gate jumps away from Sorrel, a Quarin Celestial Defense Fleet orbited Oama V, a barren, cold planet valued at 600 trillion mana (roughly 600 billion blue mana crystals, or 6 billion reds worth) due to the presence of several mana crystal lodes, the highest grade of which were purple crystals. Down on the planet, massive mining operations scrambled to strip-mine the planet bare of valuables as quickly as possible while the Quarin military fought to delay the Mitigok advance for as long as they could.

    On board the Light Carrier Asred (which looked suspiciously like a triangular fortress with six towers), Grand Master Ay''eni held council with his shipboard staff in the Asred conference room. "Orders from Elder Se''ravun. Our target is a new Baronness Hive starting up on the northern glacial shelf. Due to the terrain, the Elder has seen fit to assign the mercenaries to work with us."

    He nodded towards an odd man out among those seated at the table. Where almost everyone else wore comfortable robes, this man wore a faded gray flight suit with insignia and emblems on top. This was Captain Jameson Lance, leader of the Bright Lance Mercenaries who originated from Conglomerate space.

    "Does that mean I am not required in this mission?" one thin, scrawny man at the front asked.

    "Actually, I believe it best that you would work side by side with the mercenaries on the front lines." Grand Master Ay''eni said. "Captain Lance, this is Master Je''vakai, Master of our Golem Tower."

    On the triangle that was the Carrier, Golem Tower was the tower at the sharp tip. It represented the very forefront of the Quarin military formations.

    "Well met, Master Je''vakai. We''ll be counting on you to hold down the front." Captain Lance shook Je''vakai''s hand.

    "Oh? What happened to your pride in your metal puppets?" Je''vakai asked, eyebrows raised.

    Captain Lance grimaced. "As you know, we''re not a particularly rich band. Most of our mechs are ancient second generation jumpers, except for a few third generation gladiators. We''ve been relying on the gladiators to hold the front lines for the past few weeks, but right now they''re still in repair after that disaster we faced with that new Princess Hive."

    At that, Captain Lance shot a glare at an old, placid woman who barely seemed to breathe or move in any way. She did not look back at him or anything in particular, instead, seeming to stare into empty space.

    This was the Seeress of the Oracle Tower, the one to the back and the left of the ship''s triangle. It was her faulty information that he blamed for the heavy losses his band suffered during that recent fiasco. Expecting to engage and slowly wear down a Duchess Hive, the Bright Lance mercenaries instead found themselves face to face with the full might of a raging Princess and were summarily crushed. The bulk of Captain Lance''s orders during that operation turned out to be directing his subordinates in running for their lives. After that, all hopes of their challenging a Duchess were dashed, and the little remaining strength of the Bright Lance could only find work in a battle against a mere Baronness, and even then only in an assisting role.

    "Do we even need these mercenaries?" a slanted-eyed Master at the far end of the table asked. "What good are they, if not to stand on the front lines?"

    This was Le''tte, Master of Rune Tower, which was located to the right side of the triangle. Should the Asred be called upon for long-range fire support, it was the magi of his Tower who would busy themselves with the Rune Cannons.

    "We will field one full squad." Captain Lance said. "That is all I can promise you at this time. One scout Light Mech, two mid-range Medium Mechs, and one artillery Heavy Mech. That is a good, versatile mix that should be useful in most normal battles. Assuming, that is, that your information hasn''t soured again and we find ourselves surrounded by Tier-8 Devourers."

    Loftily, the Seeress said, "The threads of fate are always moving, always mysterious in their ever-changing ways¡­"

    Captain Lance shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. Next time I''ll just wait for some proper recon, thanks."

    Never again, he swore to himself. Never again would he send in so many men and mechs after a target of opportunity in such haste on the words and vows of a Quarin Seeress!

    "Two paltry fire support mechs and one artillery. Hardly worth our time. My Tower alone can outgun you ten to one." Le''tte snorted.

    Lance''s eyes narrowed dangerously. "Sounds like you don''t need our assistance after all."

    Meanwhile, the other two Masters kept silent. The Masters of Shield Tower and Alchemy Tower usually didn''t have much to say about surface sorties.

    Grand Master Ay''eni raised a hand to forestall any further ruckus. "We can help with repairs. Bring in three squads outfitted for the front lines, and I will gift you my Star Wizard."

    At that, Lance paused. Le''tte even jumped out of his seat.

    Grand Master Ay''eni''s Star Wizard was famous for its meaning and its uselessness in equal measure. Half in jest and half in thanks from an old friend from a distant star civilization, the point of the gift was its suitability for a mage (since it was a Wizard mech)¡­ or not (since Grand Master Ay''eni wasn''t a mech pilot and never intended to be one).

    Sentimental value aside, the Star Wizard was a far more valuable mech than anything the Bright Lance Mercenaries had. It was a 4th Generation Acrobat, two entire generations ahead of their usual Jumper-type mechs, and the generation beyond even their lauded Gladiator-type mechs.

    Mechs through the first four generations generally showed drastic jumps in agility and mobility as they evolved. The first generation mechs, known as Walker-types, basically started with turrets on legs. As mechs became more and more sophisticated, more weapons and gear were mounted on them until they became walking bunkers, armored weapons platforms sometimes acting as infantry transports at the same time. Mech drivers of the first generation usually controlled it like a car, with a steering wheel and pedals.

    Second generation mechs, known as Jumper-types started outfitting these walking bunkers with jet boosters, also known as jump jets. Their forms began to slim down and take on roughly humanoid shapes as, instead of transporting infantry around, they began to take on all the roles of ground troops by themselves. Most of the Bright Lance Mercenaries used mechs of this generation. These pilots of the second generation mechs controlled them like aircraft, in cockpits.

    Third generation mechs, known as Gladiator-types, were definitively humanoid, often looking like armored giants. In this generation, many of these space-age ''knights'' popularized the use of melee weapons (which actually became practical once more as mech armor became thicker and stronger than most projectile or energy weapons could penetrate). As popularity rose, mech combat even became a sport in some places, thus the term ''gladiators''. The warriors who grasp such popularity, however, did so at a painful personal cost ¨C the control of these violent champions employed a direct nerve interface, requiring them to plug in by their spines. Predictably, such gladiators did not usually enjoy the full lifespan of average humans.

    This was the limit of the Tau Confederacy, from which the Bright Lance came. While the sports arenas showered glory on their gladiator champions using the latest and greatest 3rd Generation mechs, the majority of the armed forces still wanted to live out normal human lifespans. Thus in the Bright Lance Mercenaries, only a select handful used 3rd Generation Gladiators, and only as front-line defenders where they vastly outshone their 2nd gen role predecessors. As for fire support and the likes¡­ the Bright Lance Mercenaries were perfectly content to use older, cheaper 2nd gen gear.

    But the Star Wizard that Grand Master Ay''eni offered was something they couldn''t buy in the Tau Confederacy even if they had the money. Even among older Class-5 civilizations like the Uber States or Kanonasia, 4th Generation Acrobat-types were new, rare and cutting-edge technology.

    Where then did this thing come from? Lance didn''t know, but wherever it came from, they had to be a civilization so advanced, something like this could be given away for sheer sentiment, or in jest. Lance suspected a Class-6 institute or interstellar nation, or even, maybe, one of the three legendary Class-7 star civilizations¡­

    In any case, Lance was tempted. Sorely, almost uncontrollably tempted. But still, he hesitated. "Even if you gave me the Star Wizard, how would I be able to use it? If anything happened to it, trying to repair it would be impossible!"

    That was the thing about mercenary mechs. They tended to take a lot of damage. If things went badly and this Acrobat took internal damage, trying to repair it in the Tau Confederacy would be downright impossible. Lance would have to bring it to a more advanced interstellar nation just to get it repaired! Among the Tau''s interstellar neighbors, the Quarin were the closest friends, but while they were magically advanced, they didn''t have the kind of technology Lance needed to repair a 4th generation Mech. That meant, in order to repair the Acrobat, he would have to cross through Quarin territory, travel halfway across the star cluster all the way to either the Uber States or Kanonasia to have it fixed.

    In response to his doubts, Grand Master Ay''eni simply shrugged. "Maybe it won''t be of much help to you in combat, but perhaps someone in Tau would pay a hefty price to buy it. Someone in a mech research center, perhaps¡­"

    They would! The possibilities brightened Lance''s eyes at once. Goodness, for a fully functional 4th generation Acrobat¡­ what wouldn''t they pay?!

    "Are you sure that''s permissible? I mean, would some highly advanced civilization come and destroy us all for stealing their tech if we do that?" Lance gulped.

    "Probably not?" Ay''eni scratched his head. "I mean, to my old friend, that thing was merely a toy."

    A toy! Lance quailed. Just who did the Grand Master get that mech from?!

    "So, are you going to fully commit to the mission or not?" Ay''eni asked.

    "Yes, boss!" Lance threw aside all caution and all hesitation and saluted enthusiastically.

 341 Operation: Rescue

    "How much does a red mana crystal sell for, these days?"

    "Um¡­ the last one was auctioned off went for 540,000,000 lir." Mindy reported with a gulp. "That was three days ago. Now¡­"

    "We might have to set aside 600 million lir to get Tim back." Remian shut his eyes tight.

    The Dragon Empire auctioned off ten crystals a week, all of them red. Each red was worth 100,000 mana, which meant that at the last exchange rate, each point of mana was currently worth 5,400 lir.

    That was insane! At this exchange rate, an average Quarin salaryman with a single month''s pay would be a multi-millionaire here! Exchanging his mana crystals for lir, any Quarin noble would easily match the entire world''s wealth all by himself!

    What did Zor''khan-dras need so much money for? Was hoarding wealth really so important to the Great Dragon of Lightning?

    Not to mention that he was selling mana for lir. In other words, if there was indeed something he wanted to buy, it was something local, not galactic, because while the galactic market could accept mana as a currency, they would not accept lir. If he was saving up for a life beyond this world, he would be buying mana instead of selling it.

    After all, this world only had about two hundred years before the Mitigok arrives. While Remian was unlikely to live long enough to see it happen, Zor''khan-dras probably would. As far as the Conglomerate could tell, Tier-8 Great Dragons were just juveniles in dragon-terms, not even old or strong enough to fly in space yet. They were like young teenagers, old enough to spawn broods of weak dragon-kin, but nowhere near full maturity. They would need at least a thousand years or so before ascending.

    All of that led Remian to believe that the Dras Clan would sooner or later evacuate Sorrel II. They''d swoop in, pick up the dragons, and leave the humans to fend for themselves against the Mitigok. Remian was most curious as to how they were supposed to manage that, but it really wasn''t any of his business.

    No, his business was to get Tim back and to try and give the future generations a chance to escape.

    But¡­ but¡­! What if, by figuring out Zor''khan''s objective, Remian might be able to get Tim back at a lower price? Maybe he could help the dragon out and get Tim back for free!

    Still. Trying to meet the dragon won''t be easy. In fact, the easiest way to meet Zor''khan was likely to bring him the money he wanted.

    "Can we even manage that much? We''ve been spending heavily." Mindy pointed out. "I don''t have that kind of cash. I don''t even have five million left! Most of my savings have gone into renovating my shipyards and such."

    "I don''t have that kind of cash either." Remian admitted. "Unless¡­?"

    "Unless what?"

    "Unless Zor''khan-dras is willing to accept galactic currency!" Remian mused. "Like Black-grade Spirit Crystals or even¡­ Clira!"

    "Clira!? You mean, like the kind you''re getting the knights to make?"

    "Exactly. It''s one of the three currencies the galactic markets recognize! If we place it on a level with mana, then 100,000 mana should be worth roughly 180,000 clira!"

    "But you''re paying 10 lir for every clira! How does 1.8 million lir worth of clira buy 540 million lir worth of mana?!"

    "Shh! Don''t tell them that!"

    "Even if we don''t, I don''t think it''s going to work! Zor''khan wants lir!"

    That, indeed, would be the bottom line.

    Mindy bit her lip. "What if¡­ we rescued him?"

    "From the Dragon Empire?!" Remian was incredulous.

    "We can''t afford a red mana crystal! Especially not at today''s prices!"

    There was a short pause. "So¡­ we''re agreed then? We''re going to rescue Tim ourselves."

    "Yeah." Mindy nodded. [Darian?]

    [I''m in.] Darian agreed.

    "Then let''s go to the Dragon Empire and rescue Tim! For our Spymaster!"

    [For an old friend!] Darian added.

    "For six hundred million lir!!" Mindy concluded.

    They made their preparations.

    ***

    "So¡­ in conclusion¡­ these are our new teachers?" Alani squinted.

    Alani and her friends found themselves facing Lady Fel, Jim the electrician, and Phoebe.

    "Fel will handle most of your combat training. Phoebe will take care of the medical studies, and Jim''s here to teach engineering and electronics." Remian assured them.

    Meanwhile, Mindy was on the comms with her shipyard crews. "Just keep building fuel cells and motors. I''ll be back in a month."

    A month? Alani shot Remian a suspicious glance. "You said you''ll be back in two weeks!"

    "I will. Mindy has her own plans." Remian assured her.

    ***

    So he said, but they left together, boarded the same Deutero airship, and landed at the same airport.

    There, they furtively met with a squad of lynxmice at an old corner grocery store and followed them to Tim''s secret lair, a.k.a. the Abundant Cheese warehouse.

    After a long discussion with the lynxmice, Remian called together the crew for a briefing.

    "Tim is being held inside the Red Mana Fortress." He drew up a map roughly sketched and scratched badly by lynxmice claws. "We believe he''s being held in a cell either on the second or third basement floor.

    Attending his briefing were Mindy, Darian, Mikai, and roughly nine different lynxmice clan chiefs.

    "Getting into the fortress itself will be tough. The fortress is surrounded on all sides by walls, a moat, and a plaza beyond that. 24 hour lookouts posted on no less than eight lookout posts cover every approach and there is little or no cover in a hundred meter radius of the fortress."

    Mindy raised her hand. "How did Tim get in?"

    Remian nodded. "Tim had the lynxmice tunnel through directly to the third basement level. The tunnel, however, has been compromised and collapsed. Having already suffered a breach once that way, the fortress guards would probably be on the alert for any similar attempts in the future."

    Darian asked. "How then do we enter?"

    Remian paused. "There are three ways I can think of. Through the front door, through the side door, or from above."

    "Huh¡­?" Mindy blinked. "We can just walk in the front door?"

    "You and I can''t. But I think Darian can." Remian said. "All he needs is a suitable uniform."

    "Why can he do it when we can''t?" Mindy protested.

    "Because he''s pretty much draconian himself." Remian pointed out. "He has a bond with Kor''ag-dras, remember? In fact, Darian''s bond with Kor''ag is of a higher class than most of the First Draconian Royal Legion. If I had to guess, I''d say his bond is on a level with the captains of the Legion."

    "So all I need to do is steal a uniform and march right in the front gate. That sounds simple." Darian mused. "But how do I get Tim out?"

    "The easy way to do it is to sneak him out during a time when nobody would be asking too many questions. Simply put him in a uniform like yours and walk out together with him."

    "And what time would that be?"

    "About the time the lynxmice run a distraction and raise the mother of all ruckuses nearby."

    "And if that distraction doesn''t work?"

    "Then Mindy can start bombing the fortress from above."

    "Hey!" Mindy protested. "Doesn''t the Dragon Empire have the only fully functional magic airship fleet in the world?! Even if I could somehow fly over the fortress and drop bombs on them, they''ll shoot me down in no time flat!"

    "Only if they know where the bombs are coming from." Remian pointed out. "If it''s dark enough, and you get the right birds for the job, you could drop explosives on their roof from far above without anyone even knowing what was happening. In fact, you yourself do not need to throw anything. Just get Chirpy to order the local feathery folk around."

    "I still need to cobble together some explosives, though." Mindy grumbled.

    "Basic incendiaries will do. Just stick some cloth in a bottle of alcohol and light it. You''re not actually trying to cause damage to the fortress. Just draw their attention with a rooftop fire. Besides that''s just Plan B. If Plan A works well enough, you won''t have to do anything but open the door for Darian and Tim when they arrive."

    "Is there a Plan C?"

    "Plan C¡­ is I sneak Tim out along with the garbage." Remian said.

    "And how would you be able to do that?" Darian had to ask.

    "I get a job." Remian shrugged.

 342 Tims Story

    While Remian was preparing to take up a job that involved taking out garbage, Tim was in a palace, seated at a banquet, dressed in a white coat frilled with gold lace.

    Seated across from him were the Dragon Empire''s Chief of Police, the Minister of Finance, and the Empire''s most prominent industrialist. Seated next to him was a gorgeous noble girl who also owned every hospital in the Empire privately. She kept blushing every time she sneaked a glance at him.

    At the head of the table was seated a man with a dominating presence. While everyone else was dressed in high formal attire, mess dress uniform or equivalent, this man wore only a comfortable silk shirt and slacks.

    But of course, he could wear whatever he wanted. This was a man in his own home, at his own dining table. It didn''t matter what he wore, every servant treated him with absolute respect and very often, awe.

    In short, Tim was having dinner with the Emperor and his children.

    "Shouldn''t I be thrown in a jail cell or something?" it was the first thing he asked.

    "Come now, Underground King, that is no way to treat a fellow Head-of-State." The Emperor had sounded quite amused, like a cat toying with a mouse. "Permit me to introduce my family."

    "Uh¡­ okay¡­"

    "This is my eldest son, Zar''khan-dras, who keeps the peace in our nation. This is my second son, Bol''khan-dras, who runs our banks and ministry of commerce. This is my third son, Sior''khan-dras. He builds our airships¡­ and this is my lovely daughter, Rou''khan-dras. I understand you seem to be in a relationship with the Queen of Fal''Herim, but if you ever have a falling out with her, you should really consider little Rou. She''s quite reached marriable age, for humans¡­"

    That, of course, explained some of the blushing.

    Their names took a while to register and memorize, but Tim was already half-pale and gulping as he realized the implications. Every Imperial Prince and Princess had the ''khan-dras'' in their names. Could it be¡­

    "I am Tim." Tim introduced himself politely, trying very hard not to stare or blush or fall over in shock.

    To which, the Emperor finally replied, "I am Zor''khan-dras."

    How did he get here? Well, he tunneled into the fortress, found out about the portal, was chased by guards, couldn''t return to the tunnels, and just as he was running for the side gate, the Emperor himself dropped down on him out of the sky and seized him in one fell swoop. Literally.

    He had no idea before that time that the Emperor could fly. His Imperial Majesty did so without any wings, spells, or devices that Tim could see. Plus, he did so effortlessly.

    Upon hearing his Imperial name, however, Tim finally understood why.

    "You''re the Great Dragon of Lightning?!" Tim gaped. "Like¡­ for real? Scales, tail and all?!"

    "Why, yes. Haven''t you heard the legends? I founded this Empire. Of course I would be the Emperor."

    "But¡­ but I thought they were just stories! The Dragon Empire being founded by a dragon¡­!"

    "All true, actually. Why are you so surprised?"

    "I¡­ I just¡­ wow! I mean, WOW!"

    "Come now, don''t look so stunned. I''m amazed you''re amazed as a man who has ridden my brother, and might one day ride my daughter as well."

    "DAD!" Rou spluttered in protest.

    "What?" Zor''khan asked innocently. "Why, little Rou, why are you blushing like that? Whatever are you thinking?"

    That, of course, explained half of the rest of the blushes. As for the remainder, well, Zor''khan seemed to draw a great deal of amusement in teasing his daughter with ambigious phrases like that over the next ten minutes. There was one time Rou''khan even choked and coughed out flames. She almost set the table on fire.

    Still, for all the jokes and the seeming amusement on Zor''khan''s part, Tim didn''t quite feel comfortable sitting to dinner with the Imperial family. "If I may ask, Emperor, why am I here, really?"

    "Come now, Tim, humor me and allow me to appreciate someone of your abilities."

    "My abilities? You mean, getting caught?"

    "I mean, taking over the Fal''Herim Underground in a matter of weeks and then raising it to become the most envied syndicate in the world." Zor''khan paused. "If I had ten generals with your leadership skills, the Dragon Empire could have conquered the world by now."

    "That might already be the case if you only felt inclined, Emperor. But it seems to me that you never had any such inclinations."

    "Oh, there are reasons for holding back. Their names are Nil''rak-dras, Ra''oul-dras, and Ti''ela-dras." Zor''khan explained conspirationally. "My elder brothers would kick me in the tailroots if I ever bothered them or their territories with something so mundane as territorial war. Also, I feel I''ve bullied poor Kor''ag enough, so I better stop before he runs crying to Mom. As for the rest, I already control them, they just don''t know it."

    "Bullied¡­ Kor''ag¡­?"

    "Oh, yes, his people used to swear on the trees and Kor''ag-dras. But then he had to challenge me and make that stupid bet, so now they only swear on the grass and Kor''ag-dras."

    "I was wondering about that." Tim admitted. "Kor''ag-dras being affiliated with the wood element and all. Swearing on grass felt kind of odd for a time."

    At the time, Bol''khan-dras couldn''t take it any more. "Father! Why are we entertaining this peasant?!"

    "Silence!" Zor''khan-dras snapped. "Do not speak ill of your betters until you yourself have run a country!""

    "B-but¡­" Bol''khan protested weakly. "I''m never going to run the Empire. My brother is the Crown Prince, HE stands to inherit the throne, not me!"

    "So? Tim was not born a Crown Prince. He wasn''t born any sort of prince or noble at all! And yet here he is, ruler of the desert in all but name! You could learn a thing or two from him!"

    That left Bol''khan silently glowering at Tim throughout the rest of dinner.

    Wisening up from their brother''s misery, the other princes spoke politely to Tim, on the surface at least, until dinner ended.

    Afterward, Tim was called away to view the skies, as Zor''khan put it. Basically, they held a private conversation on the palace balcony.

    "That¡­ couldn''t have been what this was all about, could it?" Tim asked, at last. "You want something from me."

    "Indeed. How very astute." Zor''khan nodded. "Care to guess?"

    "I''d hazard to guess that you''re not really out to get a son-in-law."

    "Oh? And why not, do you think?"

    "Because in dragon terms, your daughter is nowhere near marriable age."

    Zor''khan chuckled. "True. She''s only six hundred or so."

    "And I doubt you care a whit about my leadership skills. If you actually valued leadership in your subjects, your educational system would be very different."

    "Also true. After all, most of your leadership is centered around bribing mice with cheese."

    Tim choked. "You knew?!"

    Zor''khan nodded. "So, why do you think you''re here?"

    "I can only conclude¡­ that you want me to do something for you. Something your own sons cannot do." Tim finally said. "Either that, or that whole farce about red mana crystals was real and dragons actually love money a lot more than anyone ever guessed."

    "Oh, that¡­" Zor''khan snorted. "That was just to get Remian''s attention and to lure him over here. I definitely need to have a long conversation with him."

    "The price of a red mana crystal might be too much for him to handle, though. Last I checked, among all my friends, I was the only one who had the money for something like that."

    "He''ll manage." Zor''khan waved it away dismissively. "But let us speak more about red mana crystals and prices."

    Tim stared. "Are you kidding me?"

    "What?"

    "You want me to sell your mana?! In the Underground markets?!" Tim guessed out loud.

    "Frankly, yes. I seem to be in dire need of money." Zor''khan admitted openly.

    "Money? What need could you possibly have of money?!" Tim spluttered. "The ruler of the richest country in the world is in need of money?!"

    Zor''khan sighed. "It''s sad, but true. I could do it the violent way and conquer the world and make all humans my slaves to build my ships without cost, but slavery tends to result in shoddy craftsmanship, and I really need quality. Quality of a level that can only be bought at high cost."

    Tim finally let out a long breath. "Exactly what kind of ships are we talking about that is going to cost so much?"

    "The kind that only Remian could understand." Zor''khan said softly, and raised his gaze to the stars.

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 343 First Electric Flight...?

    While Remian, Mindy and Darian were sneaking through the Dragon Empire, Taj, who had somehow ended up supervisoing Mindy''s shipyards, called Mindy urgently.

    "It''s Xiao Yan. She wants something." Taj told her.

    Xiao Yan? What could the little girl want? Color pencils and some drawing paper? "Give her whatever she wants."

    "But¡­!"

    "I''m busy! Just handle it!" Mindy barked and hung up.

    At that, Taj gulped, looking at the drawings in Xiao Yan''s hands.

    It turned out Xiao Yan had already done her drawing, and she wasn''t asking for materials to draw more. In fact, what she wanted was¡­

    "This is my latest designs for the Frigate-class Scorpion Gunboat." Xiao Yan said proudly. "Build it."

    "B-but¡­ we don''t even know if it''ll work! Maybe we should wait until Mindy gets back!"

    "Mindy?" Xiao Yan snorted. "I''ve seen her designs. She doesn''t seem to understand how propellers work. She keeps putting the engines at the back. That''s wrong. Propellers need to be in front! Like mine! See? There are two propellers here, and both are at the very front, forming the left and right arms of the Scorpion. There''s even space in the back to mount a medium weapon, like a ballista or a steam cannon. That''s much better than mounting four turrets like hers. Plus, her designs have too little fuel capacity. Gas tanks need lots of space!"

    Taj gaped. "Wait. If propellers need to be in front¡­ then all our adaptation of old airships¡­"

    "It would be fun seeing all of them fly in reverse." Xiao Yan grinned. "Though you could just turn all the seats around."

    "That would put the wheelhouse facing the rear! How would they even see where they were going?!" Taj spluttered.

    Xiao Yan shrugged. "I don''t think putting propellers at the back would be a good idea in any case. You may as well give the airships wings and stick them on those."

    "W-wings¡­?"

    "Like this." Xiao Yan took out another drawing.

    Like Remian, Xiao Yan, too, had learned a thing or two about higher technology. While she hadn''t spent all her time in study, just watching their entertainment virtuals had taught her a lot. Afterwards, looking up these wonders online was really not difficult at all. She didn''t know how to build an ''ancient'' airplane but she definitely knew what one looked like.

    "What''s this?" Taj peered at it, curious.

    "This is an aeroplane! Or an airplane, for short."

    "What does it do?" Taj had to ask.

    "Uh¡­ carry stuff around? Or people?" Xiao Yan scratched her head.

    "Four propellers¡­ and you say gas tanks need a lot of space, right? Something that thin¡­ gas tanks will take up all the space it has! That airplane of yours¡­ it''s basically just a Tug, isn''t it?"

    "Let me see!" Arnold (who was in the process of moving his workshop to Fal''Herim along with most of the industries) came over and shook his head. "We can''t turn our Tugs into those! They''re too thin. See, our Tugs are Corvettes, and they''re broader around the waist, like this¡­"

    Now even Arnold started taking up a pencil and doodling on paper.

    "So if we had to add propellers, and you say they work best with wings, then¡­" Arnold added wings to their current Tugs, and propellers on them. "Here you go!"

    With that, Xiao Yan''s wants and the shipyard''s work suddenly aligned. Taj leapt up. "Great! Let''s try it."

    Of course, it wasn''t that easy. By evening, as Remian, Mindy and Darian were splitting up to infiltrate the fortress in different ways and Tim was leaving the Imperial dinner table, their efforts had mostly resulted in a heap of broken wings, propellers and other assorted airship junk.

    Finally they managed to put one together!

    "So¡­ we need a test pilot. Any volunteers?" Taj called.

    The workers in the shipyard all backed away slowly.

    "Huh. Are there no brave warriors in this place?" Xiao Yan asked.

    "Someone call for a brave warrior?!" Wulfgar suddenly popped his head in.

    Xiao Yan grinned.

    ***

    With a chugging sound, the airship came to life!

    While it seemed to choke and splutter at first, soon enough the propeller engine started to whir energetically and a strong wind current rose up in the shipyard.

    "We did it!" Xiao Yan exulted.

    "Prototype Tug Frigate, Wulfgar, moving out!" Wulfgar declared and the aircraft began to move.

    There was an ominous creaking, squeaking sound.

    "What was that?" Arnold asked worriedly.

    "Oh, I''m sure it''s nothing." Xiao Yan waved it away dismissively.

    There was a cracking, snapping sound.

    "Uh¡­ I have a bad feeling about this." Arnold gulped, as the airship began to move.

    And then there was an even louder creak, and then a whole lot of clanging and clankering and then¡­

    BAM! Pieces of steel and structure shot out in every direction. The entire frame of the airship suddenly came apart in three different places, and then with a whole lot of crashing, all three main pieces separated explosively.

    The left piece went spinning over to one side, bowling over half the crowd of spectating mechanics and technicians. Carrie quickly pounced on it like it was a juicy steak, and only with her help did they manage to pin it down.

    The right piece, the biggest piece by far, simply dropped where it was, tumbling about a little while people yelped and scrambled to get out of the way, on occasion crashing into each other in their haste for distance.

    The forward piece hurtled forward with Wulfgar yelping in his seat. It suddenly shot up, straight up at the roof.

    "UWAAAAAAH!" Wulfgar intoned the historical words of the first man to experience electric motor flight on the planet before his screams suddenly ended with an abrupt crash as his piece of airship slammed straight into the ceiling.

    BOOM! Broken wreckage and Wulfgar rained down on the ground for the next few speechless seconds.

    "OW!" Wulfgar landed on his butt and rolled about on the ground a little. Then, he slowly sat up and shouted, "That was AWESOME! Let''s do it again!"

    At least seven different slapping sounds could be heard around the shipyard as mechanics and technicians alike facepalmed.

    "Uh¡­ I think the Tugs need structural reinforcement." Arnold admitted. "There''s too much stress and strain. We''ll need to give it stronger wings. Also, we better reinforce the spine, or it might break if we try to get the Tugs to actually pull something."

    "Back to the drawing board¡­" Xiao Yan mused, and went back to drawing.

    "Hey, are we going again? Can we do that again?" Wulfgar shouted, looking around with shining eyes while a big black and blue lump formed on his forehead.

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 344 Diversionary Tactics

    Meanwhile, in the capital of the Dragon Empire, an epic concert was beginning.

    As dusk fell over the great city, little flashlights- err¡­ spotlights came to life, shining upon the central square before the mana fortress, where a lynxmouse stood on stage with one paw behind his back and the other high in the air.

    By the hundreds, his audience gathered, and together, they began to chant his name. "Mikiik! Mikiik! Mikiik! Mikiik! Mikiik!"

    Softly a breeze blew through the square where they gathered, and from the side of the stage, a lynxmouse beat upon a pair of tanned skin drums. BOOM! BOOM!

    "Mikiik! Squiikiki¡­ kiik!" One extremely zealous fanmouse squeaked about bearing baby lynxmice enthusiastically, before all but falling over backward in an overexcited faint.

    To the other side, a skilled musician lynxmouse pulled and played a strange string instrument, filling the air with music¡­ yes, that''s a rubber band. No, we shouldn''t laugh.

    "Squikkiik?" [Are you ready?!] Lynxmouse Pop Idol Mikiik hyped up the fans.

    "Mikiik!!!" the crowd responded in an overwhelming roar.

    Mikiik began to dance. One foot tapped in rhythm, then his head started to nod, and then with gusto, he started to sing the first verse! "Kikii mi kiiki squiikii kiik!"

    "Kii! Kii! Kii!" the crowd cheered in chorus.

    "Kikiii squii, miisquiii kisquii kiik!

    "Kii! Kii! Kii!"

    Mikiik danced as he sang, doing moves filled with style, and stunts that made the lyxnmouse audience applaud with amazement.

    "Kiikii!" [So smooth!]

    "Squiiik!" [More!!]

    "Kikii!" [Too handsome!]

    He went into the bridge with a haunting, teasing tone, and swiveled his hips. The crowd went wild!

    And then fireworks burst out from backstage, and with a powerful crescendo, the song came to a thunderous finish! Mikiik stood triumphant in the center stage, both paws and his nose all raised to the sky! Lynxmouse cheers flooded the square¡­

    "Aww! So cute!" a passing little girl walking her dog stopped for a moment and tossed a penny onto the two-foot-wide stage. Then, she went on to the ice-cream stand.

    As for the rest of the capital, well¡­ nobody else seemed to care. Most of the humans passing by the lynxmouse corner barely even spared them a passing glance. In short, that one girl''s coin was all the attention the lynxmouse concert was able to draw.

    Realizing this, Mikiik fell to his knees, both paws landing hard on the cold, unsympathetic styrofoam.

    Diversion: FAILED!

    ***

    "So much for Plan A." Remian grimaced. He hesitated for a moment, considered his part in Plan C, and then shook his head. "Maybe this can still work¡­"

    Mindy paused. [Remian, what are you thinking¡­?]

    [Just watch.] Remian focused his Psionic energies. [Silhouette!]

    With a dreadful howl, a canine shape burst out into the square.

    Screams erupted on every side. A bunch of mice playing music in the corner was one thing. A bus-sized ghost wolf with cat paws jumping out into the main plaza at twilight was a whole different story. Worse, it seemed to have already eaten someone! There was a scrawny guy seemingly stuck inside the main body of the giant ghost wolf!

    Well, actually, that was Remian, and that was basically what happened when you used a pure Psionic Silhouette to get around - people can see through it. They can still see you, you know¡­

    "Monster!" A city guard (off duty) leapt into the fray brandishing a meat skewer. "Here! Come get me, and leave the citizens alone!"

    It was a very heroic gesture, but the meat skewer neither threatened the ghost wolf nor tempted it despite the dripping honey marinade¡­

    Mindy snorted. [Good job. Your threat level is rated at ''weekend barbecue''.]

    [Hey, at least there''s screaming. It might still draw more attention¡­]

    Then the little girl with an ice cream dashed up. "SHOO! Bad dog! BAD DOG!"

    [Whatever happened to her dog?] Remian had to ask, even as he winced at her waving her ice-cream at him.

    Thinking to scare her away, Remian made the silhouette growl at her.

    In response, that girl scrunched up her face and then spat a huge fireball at him.

    [WHOA! What the-?!]

    BOOM! The fireball exploded, sending Remian flying thirty feet backwards, Silhouette and all.

    Psst. Don''t tell anyone, but that girl? Her name is Nai''khan-dras. She happened to be Bol''khan''s daughter and her temper is even worse than her father''s¡­

    "BAD Doggie!" Nai''khan-dras wasn''t done blowing Remian up. She stomped after him, eyes literally on fire, ice-cream melting and dripping all over her dress as she raised her free hand and gathered an even bigger fireball above her palm.

    "UWAAH!" Remian''s wolfcat Silhouette turned and started running, tail between his legs¡­

    "Remian!" Mindy gasped and leapt to the rescue. She jumped right off a rooftop and intercepted the girl who was gathering a ball of fire bigger than herself. "Watch out!!"

    The two girls crashed together as the fireball exploded, setting houses on both sides of the street on fire.

    In case you were worried, neither girl was at all harmed by the fires. Nai''khan was a member of the Dras clan after all, and Mindy had been bonded to the Flame Emperor for long enough to be practically immune to fire.

    Alas, the same could not be said for their physical collision. Mindy crashed into Nai''khan practically head to head, and both girls were going to end up with bruises and bumps on their heads after this¡­

    "OOF!" they went tumbling to one side.

    "Little Princess!" Seeing her suddenly ''attacked'' from a rooftop stalker, every ''normal person'' in the plaze suddenly leapt into action, drawing wands, weapons and comms crystals. They threw aside all disguises and instantly swamed to her side protectively. The ice-cream man, the meat-skewer guy, the baker, the old man fishing, all three couples, the grandmother and her grandson all revealed themselves as Elite Imperial Guards and charged to the rescue!

    Meanwhile, the city guard (off duty) was running around in a panic like a headless chicken. "What do I do?! What do I say? What do I WEAR!?"

    Then again, the city guards (on duty) weren''t doing much better. They were running around trying to arrest everyone who wasn''t an Imperial Guard, including Nai''khan''s dog who was tied to a lamp post.

    "Woof?!" the dog protested his arrest. [I''m just a dog!]

    "You are suspected to be an accomplice of the Ghost Wolf!" the city guard (on duty) arrested him anyway. "You have the right to remain silent! Every word and bark and whine you say can and will be used against you in the court of law, or at the Pound Appeal desk¡­"

    Not to be outdone, the Fortress Guards also sprang into action. "Help them! Arrest everyone and everything! I want to see handcuffs on everything that moves, even the ice-cream stand!"

    "Even the ice-cream stand?!" Darian gasped under his Fortress Guard disguise helmet.

    "And claim jurisdiction over the dog!" the Fortress Guard Captain (on duty) exclaimed. "Her highness will want him back safe and sound."

    "Yes, sir!" two of the Fortress Guards went over and immediately started a quarrel with the city guard (on duty). "That dog is coming with us!"

    "This is obstruction of justice!" the city guard (on duty) wailed. "I''m calling Internal Affairs!"

    "I''m pulling rank!" the more senior Fortress Guard insisted.

    "I''m pulling numbers!" the other Fortress Guard ran around behind the City Guard''s back and stole the dog, running off with it while the senior Fortress Guard ran interference.

    Darian, meanwhile, grabbed Mindy. "I''ll handle this one! Miss, you''re under arrest!"

    "I claim diplomatic immunity!" Mindy yelped.

    "Under which embassy?" Darian shot back.

    Mindy''s face fell. "Why won''t you just let me get away with it!"

    "Just doing my job!"

    [But it''s not even your real job!] Mindy wanted to protest, but Darian took her away in a hurry, quickly ushering her into the fortress for questioning.

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 345 Meet the Emperor

    Zor''khan-dras tapped his lips as he sat on his chair. "Greetings, Remian. I have to confess, when I said I wanted to meet you THIS was not how I envisioned it happening."

    Across from him, Remian stood still in his Silhouette, with a collar around its neck led by a chain held in the hands of a very proud-looking Nai''khan-dras. "Grandpa! See what I caught!"

    "About that¡­ it wasn''t what I planned either, but¡­" With a grimace, Remian let his Silhouette fade away.

    Nai''khan-dras stared as the ''ghost wolf'' disappeared into nothing. "D-doggie? Doggie¡­?!"

    Tears welled up in her eyes, and then began to flow down uncontrollably. "Doggie¡­!!!"

    She began to sob, and her sobbing rapidly increased in intensity. Abruptly Death re-appeared, looming over Remian, practically on top of him.

    Under the shadow of Death, Remian hurriedly recalled his Silhouette and had it nose Nai''khan-dras playfully, tail wagging as if its disappearance was just some sort of game.

    Death vanished with a flicker.

    "DOGGIE!" Nai''khan''s scream made several glass panes crack. She pounced on Remian''s silhouette and started pummeling it with enough strength to produce shockwaves. Then she kicked at it. "You made me so worried! I thought you were gone! Don''t do that to me! Don''t ever do that to me!!"

    To that, Remian''s Silhouette could only look to Zor''khan-dras for rescue with an embarrassed and helpless look.

    Zor''khan-dras cleared his throat. "As you can see, my grand-daughter doesn''t quite have full control of her powers yet. She is still learning how to be gentle around fragile humans."

    "I hardly think that is the problem we need to be addressing right now¡­" Remian groaned. He thought he was done with Death! Why had Death suddenly reappeared? Did it have something to do with making the little princess of the Empire cry in front of her grandfather Emperor?

    But Zor''khan didn''t seem intent on sharing any previous homicidal tendencies. "Quite right. I needed to talk to you about building spaceships."

    Remian could only let it go and move on to the next topic. "Spaceships? Do dragons even use spaceships? I thought you Dras Clan dragons could all just fly around in space."

    "At full maturity, yes, but until then, our younger ones need some sort of shelter."

    "So your children and grandchildren and such all need space-faring vessels to carry them to safety¡­ wouldn''t your Dras Clan be able to handle it?"

    "Oh yes. The vessels meant to bring my family away are already en route."

    "Then what do you need me for?"

    "About that¡­ my mother basically told us to leave everything and run." Zor''khan paused. "As it turns out, I''ve grown rather attached to my toys, and I would rather bring them along."

    Remian stared. "Just how many people are we talking about, here?"

    "One hundred and fifty thousand." Zor''khan specified.

    Remian gaped. "Wait, that can''t be right! At last estimate, your Dragon Empire had grown to roughly two billion in population!"

    "I harbor no hopes of bringing away so many humans. I only wish to bring those who are fully under my control, those who have sworn undying fealty to me, and have blood-bonds with my Clan. I only want the Draconians."

    Remian''s face fell. "But¡­ but what about everyone else? All the normal humans in your Empire?"

    "They are too unreliable. Too unstable. Too unpredictable. There''s no telling when they might turn on me, or on each other, or do something stupid in the middle of space out of selfishness, spite or sheer boredom. I cannot trust them." Zor''khan said. "I will not be bringing them with me. If you want them, you can take them with you."

    "Me? I don''t even have a reliable way to get off this planet myself! I probably won''t even live long enough to see my people reach space!" Remian grunted as Nai''khan scored a particularly hard kick right in the middle of his Silhouette''s tummy.

    "Yet, you seem to harbor hopes of finding a way to do exactly that!" Zor''khan-dras pointed out. "Mal''thor told me you wanted permission to set up an independent trading post beacon."

    Remian paused. "This is true. I''m amazed he noticed, he was snoring so hard."

    "Yes, he practically begged me to get you out of his nest. Have mercy on my poor little brother and let him sleep. He''s really tired out after fighting off those Spectres."

    "Does that mean you''re agreeable to it? Setting up such a beacon is a gamble, at best." Remian said warily. "We might attract all sorts of trouble."

    "Which is why I am making you an offer." Zor''khan grunted. "We will join forces to save my people and yours. You will handle the work. I will handle security. I expect my people to also benefit from the technology you gain from trading with otherworlders. In return, if any interstellar mischief-maker tries to cause trouble under my nose¡­ they will have to answer to the Dras Clan!"

    "Great. In other words, I have to do everything while you sit back and just use your last name as a deterrent¡­" Remian muttered.

    "Do you have a problem with that?" Zor''khan raised an eyebrow.

    Nai''khan somehow got the gist of what was going on. She understood easily enough that her grandpa was bullying her Doggie. After a quick moment to consider, she picked her side. Nai''khan-dras seized a handful of Silhouette wolfcat fur and shook it with her little fists and said threateningly, "Do you? Do you?!"

    Remian turned back to Zor''khan trying very hard to ignore the little girl pummeling his Silhouette. "I want more."

    "Oh? I''m already intending to commit all available resources to the ship-building, including craftsmen and whatever technology my people has. What more could you want?"

    "Portal access. And the secret to finding mana on the other side. Plus, we keep whatever mana and battle loot we can get on the other side." Remian hesitated. "Is it possible to simply leave the Portal open and allow more ambient mana to come through?"

    "We could." Zor''khan paused. "But the ambient mana in the Undead World is tainted. If we let too much of it through, it could start an outbreak of Undead here. In fact, you have to keep the Wilds away from it. Any Wild going through it is going to be affected by the messed-up ambient mana on the other side."

    "How do you know?" Remian had to ask.

    "I happen to know a lot about the Wilds." Zor''khan chuckled. "You call them Comrades, don''t you? Did you know their origins? Befriending humans and helping them out is in their genes. The Quarin were raising Familiars for their Magi here, using the Wildlands as a sort of Familiar-farm."

    Remian took a moment to process. "So the Wilds'' Psionic abilities¡­"

    "Oh, that was a result of the original Spectre incursion. The Quarin magi were overwhelmed and decided to boost their products'' Psionic abilities to help them fight the Spectres. Afterward, some of them became too powerful and too independent to be good Familiars, so they abandoned these failed products when they left. Their descendents are the Wilds you know today."

    "Except the dragons." Remian pointed out.

    "Except the dragons." Zor''khan agreed. "My brothers and their broods like it there because the fresh meat has a richer taste of mana. But that''s all fading away now."

    "Thus the hunt for mana on an Undead world."

    "A hunt? It''s an all-out war. There is little mana to be mined, most of the time we need to kill Undead for mana¡­ if you can call it killing." Zor''khan mused. "The higher the Tier of Undead, the higher the quality of mana crystal we can draw from it. Believe me, it''s tougher than it sounds."

    "Oh? Whatever happened to the might of the Great Dragons?"

    "My Clan would have no problems flattening whole armies of Undead. But we face the same problem as the Wilds." Zor''khan grimaced. "The ambient mana there is just too corrupted."

    "So you can''t go through to that side, and you can''t let the Undead through to this side." Remian understood at last. "That''s why you''ve been relying on your legion."

    "On top of that, any loss on our side is a gain on theirs. I''ve lost count of how many of my servants died only to rise again as Undead and join the hordes attacking my men." Zor''khan added. "That''s why we only let the toughest, strongest troops through. Finally, we only send out warriors who are immune to fire."

    "Immune to fire? Why?"

    "Because when they come back, we send them through a purification process. Like I said, we don''t want an outbreak of Undead. The entire hall is flooded with flames. Ambient mana, soldiers, crystals, everything coming through from that side is purified in fire. If they''re not immune to fire, the soldiers who return simply wouldn''t survive."

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 346 Portal

    At the time, Darian and Mindy were sneaking around the basement levels looking for Tim. They especially made their way to the third basement floor underground thinking he was locked up in a cell there.

    Nevertheless, the skulking duo did find something of great interest to them.

    "Mindy? I have good news and bad news." Darian said. "Which do you want to hear first."

    "Your choice." Mindy shrugged, glancing at her wristcuffs, still in place in case anyone found them and started asking questions. "Either way, you have a captive audience."

    "The bad news is, we didn''t find Tim." Darian grimaced. "The good news is¡­ we found the Portal."

    "The Portal?" Mindy blinked, startled. "You don''t think¡­ they''re keeping him on the other side?"

    "It would make for a very efficient prison." Darian mused. "Only one exit to guard, and it''s always heavily guarded on both sides. Imprisoning someone in a whole other world would make it extremely difficult to escape."

    "Is it guarded?" Mindy asked, not raising her head in case they incurred suspicion.

    "Four heavily armored elite draconians." Darian drew a deep breath. "I don''t think we''re going to be able to sneak past them."

    "Then let''s not even try." Mindy said decisively and instantly acted. She flicked her cuffs away and charged at the Portal with blinding speed. Flames erupted in a blade as she drew it out from nothing, causing the startled guardsmen to leap aside or duck haphazardly.

    Before the cuffs even reached the floor, Mindy was through the Portal. Darian didn''t have time to hesitate or consider. He could only dart through the Portal after her.

    White light filled their vision.

    ***

    Behind them, the four guards scratched their heads, looking at the Portal.

    "I think two intruders just got past us." The sergeant said.

    "I only saw one¡­" the first class private said.

    "I saw two." The second class private said.

    "Doesn''t matter. They''re both going to die anyway." The corporal said.

    That, the sergeant mused, was true. No matter what they did, they would either die on the other side, or die when they tried to come back.

    "The auto-purification is on, right?" the sergeant asked.

    The corporal checked. "It is on, and locked with the First Prince''s Seal. We couldn''t turn it off if we tried."

    "Then they''re going to die for sure." The sergeant shrugged and no longer bothered.

    The moment those two emerged from the Portal, the hall would be flooded with an inferno, and only those who were immune or at least extremely resistant to fire would survive. Even they, the elite of the Imperial Guards, required quality armor with runes giving them high fire elemental resistance.

    With this, the Portal didn''t need guarding at all. In fact, the four of them weren''t there to guard the portal. They were just waiting for the rest of their squad to show up before embarking on their next mission through it.

    "What''s taking everyone so long?" the corporal asked, getting impatient. "I have half a mind to just go over without waiting for them. Even intruders went through already."

    "Standard Operating Procedure states we should wait for everyone. Still, if you want to go through early, be my guest. Just say that you were in pursuit of intruders." The sergeant chuckled darkly.

    The corporal''s face blanched. "No thanks! I''ll wait¡­ as long as it takes."

    The first class private cleared his throat. "It might take a very long time, though. I hear the lieutenant wanted to take a bath."

    The corporal choked. "Why is she taking a bath?!"

    "Because she heard the captain was coming?"

    Three identical smacks sounded as the Sergeant, the Corporal and the second class private all facepalmed in the exact same manner at the exact same time.

    ***

    White light faded, and then Darian and Mindy were hurtling out into an open square in the middle of a military camp, with rows of large disciplined tents in every direction. The camp was protected by steel walls.

    A quick psionic scan was enough to tell them that Tim wasn''t around. They found the entrance to the steel perimeter and ran for it.

    Darian and Mindy sped through the military camp on the other side amid shouts and yells. They weren''t sure exactly who was shouting, what was being yelled, or why, but other than the alerts and alarms, they actually got through the camp safely. Nobody stopped them, nobody stabbed them, nobody shot them. The fact that the total time taken for them to speed through the camp was less than ten seconds might have something to do with it.

    [Now what?] Mindy asked. [Tim isn''t here.]

    [Maybe he''s at another camp farther in.] Darian shrugged. [Or maybe he''s not on this side of the Portal. Either way, we''re already here. We may as well see what''s what.]

    This world was sandy, and filled with red light. Was it sunset, or was the sun always this red around here? Darian squinted upwards. The sun was nearly directly overhead. Always red, it seemed.

    [Is there even another camp farther in?] Mindy wondered.

    [I think so.] Darian gazed directly ahead. [I can feel them. There are hundreds of strong Draconians ahead, much stronger than those at the camp we just left. Think of the Portal camp as a supply depot and the camp ahead as the forward command post.]

    [Wartime deployment? That seems a bit much for a mining expedition.]

    [Maybe the Undead are a bigger threat in this world than Beast Waves were in ours.] Darian frowned. [You''re thinking the First Royal Draconian Legion are in the same situation that the Iron Legion faced in the Wildlands. It''s not. I''m sensing a great deal of fear and wariness, and I smell blood. I smell a lot of blood.]

    [Are you sure that''s not just iron in the sand?]

    [Some of it is fresh.] Darian sniffed, glancing to the left. [And it''s coming downwind from that direction.]

    Mindy frowned, frustrated. Since the Flame Emperor''s Fall, her active abilities had dropped steeply, though her passive abilities remained intact. She could only take Darian''s word for it.

    "Should we go investigate?" Mindy glanced to the left.

    "Maybe¡­" Darian hesitated. "But I think we might not need to."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean, he''s coming here." Darian said softly. "One guy. He''s strong. And he''s coming straight for me."

    "He can sense you?" Mindy blinked.

    "All Draconians can sense each other. Since I have a bond with Kor''ag-dras, that means me too." Darian frowned. "That guy ahead¡­ he''s injured. We have to help him."

    "Help him? Shouldn''t we be fighting him?" Mindy protested.

    "I¡­" Darian hesitated, then shook his head. "I''m going to help him. Blame it on instinct, blame it on kinship, but I want to help him."

    "Fine!" Mindy threw up her hands. "Let''s go help the guards and let them know we''re intruders."

    ***

    The guy charging towards them was in bad shape. His scale mail armor had been ripped apart and was all but falling off. He was bleeding in so many places, there was no point even counting. He was limping, shambling along while at the same time trying to gather fire in his hands and hurl it backwards.

    Right. There was mana in this world. The air was thick with it.

    As Darian and Mindy closed in on the injured Draconian, they spotted the pursuers he was hurling fire at. There were at least thirty of them, and they were definitely Undead. Most of them were skeletons and what they could only call ghouls, green-eyed and green skinned and looking very hungry¡­

    In any case, they were fast. Faster than the injured Draconian. They were catching up quickly.

    But not as quickly as Darian and Mindy were closing in. Darian was assured that before the guy''s pursuers caught up, he and Mindy would be in position to help him.

    However, when they got near, the Draconian looked over them and his face fell. "Civilians?! You shouldn''t be here! It''s too dangerous here! Run! I''ll try to hold them off!"

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 347 Corporal Ling

    His name was Ling Yun. As a child, he showed high potential, good consistency, and a lot of enthusiasm in martial training. The district magistrate ran a selection and he was among the twenty who were offered a deal; the magistrate would support their martial training and their families as long as they served him.

    Wanting to support his ailing family, Ling Yun accepted the deal and trained under the magistrate until one day, the magistrate was ousted from office by an offended clan and the state overseer came by to decide the fate of the late magistrate''s servants.

    The result of that was that Ling Yun ended up serving the state overseer along with four others from his group. This meant an increase of resources, better trainers, and better treatment for his family. The overseer provided enough that Ling Yun''s father was able to outright retire, and all four of his younger siblings were afforded schooling at the overseer''s expense.

    Then one day there was a tournament, and Ling Yun fought in front of the Crown Prince, Zar''khan-dras.

    No, Zar''khan didn''t pay him any particular attention then. But one of his guards did. At the time, Lieutenant Yang Feng simply thought that Ling Yun''s aptitude could make for a good cargo hauler, and poached the young talent away from the state overseer. Upon entering the service and training of the Royal Draconian Legions, Ling Yun also forged a bond with the blood of the Dras Clan and became a Draconian.

    This brought Ling Yun and his family directly into the Capital. As it turned out, Ling Yun''s aptitude surprised even the then-lieutenant, and he went from logistics training to reconnaisance training. His family''s fortune rose to the point where they were able to open an inn in the capital''s suburbs, and his second sister even found partners among the locals to start a clothing shop together.

    Then one day the lieutenant was promoted and Yang Feng became a captain of the Fifth Royal Draconian Legion. At the time, Ling Yun had just broken through into the Seventh Stage of Qi training, the Body (Innate) Qi stage. Captain Yang promoted Ling Yun to the rank of Corporal, and had him lead a small recon squad.

    That was two years ago. Afterward, Ling Yun''s second sister became the acknowledged boss of her clothing shop. His parents expanded the inn. His younger siblings all found many friends and good prospects in school.

    Then last year, a sudden surge in casualties led to a great many transfers. Captain Yang''s Company, including Ling Yun, were directly transferred to the First Royal Draconian Legion.

    Four months ago, Ling Yun stepped through the Portal and found out exactly why the First Royal Draconian Legion kept suffering such heavy casualties.

    Through it all, Ling Yun''s greatest concern was for his family. Having risen from the downtrodden, his greatest fear was letting them down, they who had depended on his backing and support to rise up to their current level of prosperity. He feared dying and costing them their succor. He feared losing favor and causing them to be shunned in society. But more than anything else, he feared that these creatures known as Undead would slip through the Portal and kill everyone in the Capital.

    So while other, more ambitious Corporals would roam the Undead World seeking fame, fortune and mana, Ling Yun volunteered to patrol the vicinity of the Portal Camp Site, determined not to allow any of these monsters to even get close to the Portal. This won him a great deal of favor and quite a bit of sympathy from his fellows but very little in way of results.

    As time went on, Corporal Ling''s recon squad took losses. The originally already small squad of six encountered Undead, fought, and suffered casualty after casualty. Even then, their losses were not replaced; theirs was basically the squad that brought back the least mana crystals, and they were very low on the priority for replacement troops.

    Eventually, the situation developed to the point where Ling Yun went on his patrols alone. His job scope involved alerting the camps of any incoming Undead and staying alive afterward. There was no way he could fight off even the smaller bands, which in this region, usually consisted of a mix of at least twenty mid-tier ghouls and skeletons.

    Recently, those bands got bigger and bigger. Not long ago, Ling Yun had been chased around by a band led by a Death Knight. That was a Tier 6 armored and mounted skeleton knight empowered by red mana crystals. Only the elite forward Companies would challenge these Undead champions for their red crystals! Ling Yun by himself could only send a desperate alert and run for his life.

    That had been a really bad day. The Death Knight had had three Lich subordinates, each one a Tier 5 Undead Mage empowered by a purple mana crystal. Each Lich was a master of numerous skeletons, ghouls and zombies, which made up the middle and lower Tiers of Undead. Ling Yun was thankful to get away from them all.

    But even then, he had the benefit of a great deal of distance and early warning. Today¡­ today was better, but worse.

    Today, the band chasing him was only led by one Lich. It had eight Tier 4 skeletons and over a dozen Tier 3 ghouls at its command. There were also a bunch of shambling zombies, but they had been left far behind in the chase. All told, this band was less dangerous than the Death Knight''s army back then.

    But this particular band had caught Ling Yun by surprise. They had ambushed him before he even knew they were there. Had he gotten careless after so many days of successful escape and survival? Maybe. Or maybe the Undead were just getting smarter. Either way, Ling Yun was injured and almost killed before he could even whip out his comms crystal and alert the camps.

    Afterward, it was mainly running for safety. Between the two nearest camps, the Portal Camp was closer; Ling Yun was making a beeline for it when he came across a boy and a girl out of nowhere.

    The boy was a Draconian. Even Ling Yun could sense that much, at least. But they weren''t wearing armor or any sort of uniform. Despite the impossibility of the situation, Ling Yun could only conclude they were civilians¡­ like his siblings. As a soldier of the Dragon Empire, it was his sworn duty to protect the civilians of the Empire.

    "This, then, is where I die." Ling Yun drew himself up and turned to face his pursuers. "It was a good life. I lived well, and I have done right by my family."

    The thought of abandoning these reckless tourists never even occurred to Ling Yun. He didn''t even think to question them. His only thoughts were to protect them from the Undead. That was all.

    As for the cost being his life¡­ that was not really a consideration. Every soldier in the Legions knew. Honorable death in battle was far more beneficial to his bereaved family than him living in dishonor having betrayed his Empire and his duties as a soldier.

    Ling Yun tightened his grip around his saber, the only weapon he had left. He no longer had the strength to roar a battle-cry, so that it came out merely as a whisper. "By the blood of Dras, and for the Empire!"

    Yet the whisper seemed to hold much more conviction and truth than any roar he could have sounded.

    He raised his blade, and fire burst out in a wave that swept into his enemies!

    No, it wasn''t his doing. Ling Yun blinked, then gaped in shock as the boy and the girl he''d been trying to save suddenly leapt forward and threw fire at the Lich''s band. A rain of fireballs swept out from the boy''s hands, and a stream of flame spewed out from the girl''s. The screams of scorched ghouls filled the air.

    But the skeletons leapt ahead. Six bone warriors bearing swords, spears and maces closed in on the pair.

    "Get back!" the boy warned, and light flickered into the form of twin blades on either of his hands.

    Ling Yun stared. "Is that¡­ the Church of Light''s Psi-blades?"

    "We''re not from the Church." The girl said briefly, while stepping back and throwing fireballs at ghouls trying to flank them on the left side.

    Then crackling energy formed a little dragon around the boy like a cape, and the boy lunged, Psi-blades tearing into skeletons one after the other in quick sucession. The skeletons tried to stab him, cut him, maul him¡­ but he was too quick, too strong. He cut them down and flung them off and then he sped directly towards the lich.

    The surviving skeletons ignored him and closed in on Ling Yun and the girl.

    "Oh, no, you don''t!" the girl suddenly made a motion as if she was drawing something out of thin air and a sword of fire appeared in her hands.

    "What¡­ that''s not¡­ from the Church¡­" Ling Yun had to admit.

    "Told you." The girl said, and then the sword of fire extended to five feet in length. She slammed the it into the head of one skeleton, then swung the blade into the skull of the one next to it. The last remaining skeleton tried to charge her, but she ducked and swept her flames into its torso, slicing it neatly into two, both halves spinning away afterward.

    Meanwhile, the boy was ripping the Lich apart. The Lich was trying to cast something, probably, and the surviving ghouls were trying to do something¡­ it didn''t matter. The boy tore them all apart with his blades of light, flickering under his Silhouette like the claws of a little dragon.

    "Who¡­ who ARE you people¡­?" Corporal Ling Yun asked in a daze as the Lich collapsed and the ghouls began to fall apart under the assault of the boy''s Psi-Blades.

    "I''m Mindy." The girl said, throwing out another fireball at the surviving ghouls. "And that''s Darian."

    "Hi." Darian said, slicing a ghoul in two.

    "Hi." Ling Yun managed. "I''m Ling Yun, Corporal of the First Royal Draconian Legion."

    "Nice to meet you." Mindy said, and whacked another ghoul in the head with her extended fire sword.

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 348 Im not a dragon

    The First Royal Draconian Legion had roughly 7000 members still alive at last count. They were divided into seven Cohorts, each led by a middle Earth Qi stage (11th Stage) Colonel. Each Cohort had a pair of batallions commanded by lower Earth Qi stage (10th Stage) Majors, each having 4-5 Centuries led by higher Body Qi stage (9th Stage) Captains. The sole exception was the Crown Prince''s Honor Guard, the Crown Century, all of whom were at least in the Earth Qi stage. That one was led by General Gar''na-dras himself, the commander over the entire legion, widely proclaimed to be the strongest middle Earth Qi stage practitioner in the Empire.

    Similarly the First Legion''s First Cohort consisted of elites a whole stage above all the other Cohorts. While the Second to Seventh Cohorts had troops mostly at Stage 7 or 8 (lower or middle Body Qi), the majority of the First Cohort were at Stage 9 (higher Body Qi). Within the whole First Legion, more than half of the counted members were Stage 7 lower Body Qi practitioners who were often armed with long ranged weapons and posted in guard roles.

    Corporal Ling Yun was therefore considered above average in the Legion, a Non Commissioned Officer who only recently broke through to the middle Body Qi Stage (Stage 8) and earned his promotion. For a seventeen year-old, that was already somewhat impressive in the Capital although not particularly amazing.

    No, what was amazing was seeing a thirteen year-old at the lower Earth Qi stage. Goodness, Darian was at the same 10th Stage as Captain Yang Feng! He tore up that Lich like it was nothing! From what Ling Yun could tell, the guy might very well be able to take on a Death Knight one-on-one and depending on which Death Knight he fought, he might actually be able to fight it evenly. Even Mindy seemed to be stronger than himself, or at least at the same level.

    "Do you want to join the First Royal Draconian Legion? You two would be made officers in no time flat. Oh, but you''d have to get past all the training first. Also, I actually don''t have the right to recruit, we''d have to get Captain Yang Feng to do it¡­"

    "Uh¡­ no, thanks." Mindy said, blinking. "We''re just looking for a friend."

    "A friend?" Ling Yun frowned. "Is he a member of the First Legion?"

    "No, I don''t think so."

    "A member of the Imperial Police, then?" Ling Yun asked.

    "Why would you think that?" Mindy had to wonder.

    "Because¡­" Ling Yun gestured toward Darian.

    Darian''s outfit wasn''t First Royal Legion armor. It was police armor. Since the Crown Prince was also chief of police, he had his police forces guard the Fortress within the city so that his military forces would be able to focus their full strength on mana-hunting expeditions.

    Ling Yun himself was wearing Tier 6 Dragon-molt Leather Armor, which was naturally fire resistant by itself, but was further augmented with all the fire-resistance runes the Empire''s runesmiths could squeeze into it.

    According to Imperial Standard Measurements, between Ling Yun''s bond with the Dras Clan and the armor he wore, he was rated at 97.5% fire resistance. That meant that the Purification Process only tanned his skin a little when he went through it. Within the Legion, the lowest level of fire resistance permitted through the Portal was 96%. Even then, the poor fellows would only suffer what amounted to a sunburn.

    That much fire resistance was unheard of in the rest of the world. In fact, Ling Yun would have gone so far as to say that without a strong bond with the Dras Clan and at least Tier 6 armor made of naturally fire-resistant materials AND powerful runes, there would be no way for a human to achieve that kind of fire resistance¡­

    But what was this? Here in front of him was a girl still in the Body Qi stage who was literally holding fire with her bare hands and she didn''t even get singed.

    Several other very queer questions floated through Ling Yun''s mind as he stared at her. Questions like, "Are you a practitioner of the Fire Lotus Fist?", "Does that mean you''ll never be a hot girl?", "Are you about to burst into song?", "Will you marry me?", "Just how intense WAS that chef training?", or even "Are you¡­ Se''lea-dras?!"

    After all, perfect or near-perfect innate fire immunity had to mean an extremely pure Dras bloodline. Was she the Emperor''s daughter? No, Rou''khan''s human form was taller. Granddaughter, then? No, Nai''khan''s human form was shorter and had much longer hair. Did the Crown Prince or the Third Prince have any daughters? Ling Yun didn''t think so. Then the only possibility left was¡­ the Emperor''s sister! In disguise!

    "Your Imperial Highness!" Ling Yun saluted formally, heels together, fist over heart.

    "Err¡­?" Mindy scratched her head. "Is there some sort of misunderstanding?"

    But Ling Yun felt sure he''d gotten it right, and her Imperial Highness Se''lea-dras was only faking it in an attempt to hide her identity. Cooperatively, Ling Yun nodded seriously. "Don''t worry, your Highness, I won''t tell anyone."

    Darian let out a snort of laughter.

    "I''m not a dragon!"

    "If you say so, your Highness!"

    "Stop calling me that!"

    "Yes, your Highness!"

    "I''m not a Highness! I''m not a dragon! I''m not any of that!"

    "Whatever you say, your Highness!"

    "Darian! Help me out here!"

    Darian was laughing away. "What do you want me to do?"

    "I don''t know! Stop him from calling me a Highness!"

    "Fine!" Darian chuckled, and punched Ling Yun in the face.

    Everything went black.

    ***

    Ling Yun had a weird dream. He dreamed he had reincarnated into a family that made a living by fishing, and scavenging seafood from the beaches, except his father kept growing older, and there were three other siblings to feed, and his mother was crazy about making them study for exams that they could only struggle to prepare for under an overpaid teacher who actually couldn''t read half of what the textbooks were saying¡­

    Oh wait. That wasn''t reincarnation. That was just his actual family. Like all poor families, they dreamed of glory and riches earned with getting good governmental jobs from passing difficult exams. For that, they had to study, study, study like their lives depended on it, and their mother never quit reminding them of that fact, and once they succeeded, they of course had to take care of their aging parents, like herself, and they would thank her for her strictness to force them to study at the time¡­

    Except that he already was a government officer, and a military one to boot, and it had nothing to do with studying for any exam. It actually had more to do with how fast he could run and how long he could keep running. His speed and stamina was what got the attention of the officers in the Legion. As for study¡­ until now, Ling Yun still couldn''t understand all the words in a single text book. Neither could the so-called teachers in his old village.

    On top of that, Ling Yun''s dream got weirder. He dreamed he met a dragon princess in disguise trying to sneak through the Undead World accompanied by a high level Draconian Knight, who punched him in the fact and knocked him out cold¡­

    Oh wait. That wasn''t a dream either.

    Ling Yun groaned as he opened his eyes and felt a throbbing pain in his face. The first thing he saw was a stack of mana crystals having been recently extracted from the bodies of fallen Undead. The second thing he saw was a Legion tent somehow having been set up inside-out. He could easily tell from the seams facing himself that he was looking at what should have been the outer side of the tent.

    There with him were the disguised princess and her knight. Ling Yun felt very certain now that these two were not Legion-trained and never had Imperial military service a day in their lives, or else they would have known the tent was inside-out.

    "Uh¡­ where are we?" Ling Yun managed.

    "Still in the Undead World."

    Doh. That was obvious. "Am I a prisoner?"

    "Sort of. We''ll let you go as soon as we''re done here."

    "When is that?"

    "When we''ve got all the mana we can carry!"

    "That''s going to take ages! Can I at least go back to camp and report first?"

    "NO!"

    Ling Yun sighed. "As you wish, your Highness."

    "I told you, I''m not a Highness!"

    "Whatever you say, your Highness."

    "AARGH!!"

 349 Dont Look!

    Remian remained a guest of the Emperor, discussing terms and negotiating the fate of the world, all while playing Doggie to little Nai''khan-dras. By the third hour, he was quite sure that the Little Princess of the Empire already understood that he wasn''t a dog and was, in fact, a very important guest, but every time he let the Doggie disappear she burst into tears. Remian only managed to take a break when she went to sleep.

    Later that evening, the subject of the missing Underground King popped up. Finally, Remian was allowed to see Tim.

    Instead of finding the guy in chains like he expected, he was dumbfounded to see Tim dressed in livery and painstakingly trying to serve a blushing Rou''khan-dras dinner.

    "What happened to you?" Tim asked, bewildered.

    "I got Doggied." Remian grimaced. "You?"

    "Pretty much the same."

    Nevertheless, Doggie-business aside, Remian was somewhat satisfied with the way the negotiations were going. Zor''khan''s demands were difficult, but fair. Practically all the resources of the Dragon Empire (except mana) were available for Remian to use, on condition that when the time came, no Draconian would be left behind.

    The iffy part about it was that the Draconian priority was to be so set in stone that it was to be upheld even if it meant excluding Remian himself! For him (or his successors) to bring anyone other than the Draconians, he would simply need to prepare sufficient capacity.

    In return, in order to prevent wanton abuse of the agreement, Remian insisted that the Dras clan no longer bond any new Draconians, or else set a reasonable limit to Draconians. Otherwise, if they suddenly decided to make everyone in the Dragon Empire a Draconian on the last day, Remian would most certainly lose everything.

    Also, the Dras Clan had a shorter timetable. They were going to leave in a hundred years.

    "We only need ships that are space-worthy, not warp-capable starships. My Dras Clan can afford them some protection and bring them along in a Warp Bubble when the time comes. But they will still need to endure some level of stress and strain. While in theory a ship of Tier 8 endurance might be able to survive intact, for safety''s sake, I must insist on spacecraft of at least Tier 9 endurance."

    In other words, each ship needed to be a whole Tier tougher than Zor''khan-dras himself. That was a level that metals like Misty Steel or Graphene simply wouldn''t be able to match. Not even Carbyne, a popular Class-5 Civilization''s alloy of graphene and other materials, would be able to out-tough Zor''khan-dras.

    No, to reach Tier 9 endurance and toughness, they would need Kuriel, at the very least. That meant top tier synthmetals and subatomic forging.

    Unless¡­ they relied on other means of strengthening the structural integrity and defenses of the spaceships going through heavy stress. Like gravitic shields, or inertial stabilizers.

    Oh wait. Who said they had to stop at mothership-sized vessels?

    "Behemoth class?" Remian had to confirm with Zor''khan-dras that larger-than-mothership sizes were acceptable.

    "Yes. Leviathan class too, if you can manage them. In fact, I would prefer larger ships. If we could go as far as Lunar class, I''d be ecstatic."

    "What are you trying to do, take away the moon?"

    "If that''s what it takes, yes."

    Beyond their main project, they also chatted about other issues. Mana, especially.

    "We cannot allocate mana for your use." Zor''khan stated his bottom line firmly. "But we can permit your people to keep whatever mana you find on the other side of the Portal."

    "That''s the same Portal that gets decontaminated with fire every time you receive a squad back? The one that fries everyone without near-total fire resistance?"

    "That''s the one."

    Remian grimaced. "I don''t even know if any of our people could survive it."

    Incidentally, Darian and Mindy were finding out about the decontamination systems the hard way. Having learned that Tim was not, in fact, in the Undead World, and then been followed by a kind guy who insisted on calling Mindy ''your highness'', the pair of them decided to just pick up the loot left behind by the Undead they had taken down and head back.

    Thanks to Ling Yun introducing her as Se''lea-dras and Darian as her Draconian escort, they actually managed to get past a muddled squad of Draconian guards and returned safely through the Portal!

    That was when the entire room was flooded with fire and a lot of their stuff went up in smoke, including their clothes.

    A Draconian Guard came up. "My liege, reports from below. Your sister, Se''lea-dras, has returned through the Portal."

    "Se''lea?!" Zor''khan blinked. "That''s impossible. Se''lea is still in the southern seas! I can sense her. She hasn''t left the ocean."

    "But¡­ the reports¡­?" the guard hesitated.

    Zor''khan frowned. "We have to get to the bottom of this. Let''s go."

    Remian hastily stood up. "I''d like to come along too."

    That was why about ten minutes later, Zor''khan and Remian burst in on Darian and Mindy in various states of undress¡­

    "Don''t look! DON''T LOOK!" Mindy shrieked, hugging herself and crouching in a corner, with Darian''s drake-scale jacket covering her. Apparently of all their clothes, it was one of the rare survivors.

    Darian himself had lost pretty much all his other clothes. Having used his surviving jacket to cover Mindy, he stood there awkwardly scratching his head covered in nothing but lumps of melting metal in front of the Emperor and his elder brother. "Uh¡­ hi¡­?"

    Zor''khan glanced at Remian. "I take it these are your people?"

    "Yep." Remian grimaced. "That''s my brother."

    "He''s Draconian." Zor''khan observed. "And the girl seems to be unharmed by the flames. Fascinating."

    "DON''T LOOK!" Mindy only shrieked louder. Appearing naked in front of the Emperor was something that didn''t even occur to her in dreams.

    "So, how shall we handle this?" Zor''khan asked Remian.

    "You just agreed to let me keep all the mana my people bring back from the Portal. It''s a bit early, but¡­ actually, come to think of it, why were you guys even on the other side¡­?" Remian turned to his brother.

    "We were looking for Tim." Darian winced.

    "Tim''s having dinner with the Fourth Princess." Remian told him, flat out.

    "Is he, now?" Darian had a flat look on his face. He started rubbing his knuckles.

    "My apologies, your Imperial Majesty, but it seems we have quite embarassed ourselves in front of you." Remian sighed.

    "Indeed. It''s not every day one bursts into a room to find his brother naked with a girl." Zor''khan nodded candidly.

    "NOOOO!!" Mindy shrieked, then burst into flames and then pounced on Ling Yun. "Give me your armor!!"

    "Y-yes, your Highness!" still clueless about Mindy''s identity in general, Ling Yun hastily obliged.

    Zor''khan cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, I propose we afford the lady a little privacy."

    Leaving Mindy and Ling Yun''s armor behind, the Emperor, Remian, and two naked or near-naked teenage boys exited the Portal Room. The Emperor called for some clothes as Remian inspected the formations and systems of the decontamination chamber.

    "Interesting." Remian noted. "I like how this room uses all the ambient mana leaking from the Portal to power the decontamination fires. There''s almost no leakage."

    "We were trying to keep it secret, after all." Zor''khan admitted. "Leaking ambient mana would draw all the magi of Ecclesia over like flies to syrup. Plus, I hear the designer didn''t want to accidentally turn our local livestock into Wilds. The guy thought that Wilds were simply normal animals mutated by mana."

 350 Side Story Chapter 2

    As the days passed, the Bright Lance Mercenaries fought sixteen battles, and retreated sixteen times. The Mitigok swarms drove them back over half the planet, and the forces of the Light Carrier Asred struggled to delay their advance.

    In these many battles, the mercenaries and the golems of the Asred alike suffered severe losses. More than half his original Company were wrecked beyond salvaging. Two squads were wrecked, but might one day be salvageable. One squad''s worth was in Refit, needing essential parts replaced and undergoing massive overhauls. One more squad was in Repair, and would take a day or so to be properly patched up.

    This left just six fully operable mechs for deployment.

    "Bright Scout, Bright Scout, report!" Captain Lance called on the comms.

    "One Knight to the left, two directly ahead. No movement from the Baroness on the right." The mech farthest ahead was a Bloodhound, a Light Mech of the second generation specializing in reconnaisance. Good sensors, good speed and stealth plating were its selling points, and the main reasons why it survived and remained operable with patch-up repairs until now. "Estimate 50 Pawns closing in on my position."

    Fifty! That was unusual. A typical Knight-class Mitigok usually only went around with twelve. A Baroness wouldn''t even bother with such lowly types directly, instead commanding her Rooks and Bishops, who in turn directed the Knights. At this point, six Rooks and twenty Bishops were accompanying that hulking Baronness as she slowly made her way to the mana vein that the Asred was trying so hard to protect. At this point, they had all but given up trying to stop her; after so many battles with little time to recuperate, the Asred itself was in bad shape similar to the Bright Lance Mercenary Company.

    Captain lance paused, viewing the shared sensor readings from the cockpit of the Acrobat. "Artillery, report."

    "Artillery is in position, locked in and ready." The least damaged mech in the entire Company was a Hedgehog Heavy Mech, a specialist in long-range missile bombardment. Among all the artillery-type mechs they had brought, this was the only one who focused on missiles. This enabled it to launch its payload over obstacles and from a farther distance with the benefit of an ally''s sensors. They could park it safely in a valley surrounded by steep cliffs and it could still accurately rain down cluster missiles on a target a kilometer away spotted by the Bloodhound Scout. This kept it far safer than those artillery mechs who relied on direct-fire cannons.

    They had originally brought four of those direct-fire cannon artillery mechs. Two of them were in Refit, needing to replace entire limbs or similar major parts. Two more were wrecked beyond even salvage.

    ???In position!" one voice reported. The other one just grunted affirmitively.

    "Sniper?"

    "I''m on the cliff." This voice was female, and it was a refreshing change from all the men''s low voices in his ears. The sniper mech in question was a Goshawk, a Medium Mech outfitted with no less than six jump jets, capable of incredible mobility. Armed with a powerful gauss rifle, the Goshawk was famous for being able to hit targets at extreme range from superior elevated positions. "I have the Knight in my sights."

    Everyone was ready. Captain Lance took a deep breath. "Open fire."

    Behind him, the Hedgehog launched a full volley, missiles flying in a stream from its back. No less than six Warhammer Heavy Missiles took to the skies seeking the target locked in by the Bloodhound Scout''s sensors. These were the biggest, hardest hitting missiles Captain Lance had ever coughed up the money to buy. Even now, seeing them all fly off, never to return, he felt the pain of using missile artillery. It was costly, but what else could they do? They needed the firepower.

    Their target was the lone Knight to the left. It ran with only ten Pawns, and was the weakest link in the chain of ranking Mitigok bearing down on the mana vein from the planet''s north. This particular Knight had taking a bombardment from the Asred earlier, plus it had been part of a surprise rush that tore the heart out of the Golem formations defending the vein. This left it weak and vulnerable, and therefore an easy target for even the dwindling mercenaries to take out. In so doing, it was their hope that the sudden gap in their lines would force the Mitigok to redeploy or something. That way, they could buy a little more time.

    On a small screen to the left, the Mitigok Knight stumbled as a Gauss round pierced into its armor. The upright dinosaur-like figure armed with toothed blade claws quickly recovered and leapt into action, charging forward along with its Pawns.

    But despite its movement, the sensor lock and the missiles followed it perfectly. Heavy explosions lit up the screen, tearing apart three Pawns who leapt in the way trying to save their leader. Three more remaining blasts hammered the Knight into the ground.

    A second Gauss shot smacked the Knight in the face as it tried to regain its feet.

    At that point, thick beams of light lanced out from the side. Both Skirmishers were armed with heavy lasers which packed enough punch to burn through Knight and Pawn-ranked armor. The downsides about such powerful weaponry was that they drained power like crazy, and they built up heat even more crazily. Their damage output simply couldn''t keep going for long. After just a couple of seconds of firing, both Skirmishers turned and ran for their lives.

    The Pawns chased them. They had no idea where the sniper was, or where the missiles came from, but they most certainly could see where the lasers were coming from. With clear targets to hunt and avenge their boss, the remaining seven Pawns lunged for the fleeing Skirmishers without hesitation.

    Perfect. So far everything was going according to plan. With the Pawns chasing the Skirmishers, as long as the Scout remained hidden and within sensor range, the Sniper alone could do the rest¡­

    "Incoming Knight!" the Scout yelped. "One of the two in the middle just diverted and it''s coming straight for our target!"

    Captain Lance let out a groan. So much for taking their time. "Artillery, what else do you have?"

    "Almost nothing. Those Warhammers were the last of our ordinance. Right now all we have left are two Net Harpoons, some flares and a few direct-fire rockets." The voice replied in a tone of accusation.

    Captain Lance winced. That was his fault, admittedly. Missiles were expensive, and they didn''t expect to end up in this sort of situation. It wasn''t a habit of their to haul around hundreds of heavy guided missiles in the first place. While the Hedgehog had the capacity for forty such Warhammers, the Bright Lance Company had simply run out of stock.

    "Forget the Harpoons." Lance grimaced. Those weren''t really very damaging, their main usage was to slow down their targets in electromagnetic netting, which was almost useless against the biological Mitigok. "Pull back. Artillery, return to base. Sniper, it''s all on you, now."

    Hesitantly, the Scout reported. "Boss, I still have a rifle¡­"

    "Forget it." Captain Lance said. "Prepare to withdraw. We''ve done all we can here, and there''s no point taking any further losses."

    "Wait, something''s wrong. The Knight we shot down¡­ it''s getting up¡­"

    The Sniper kept firing. Until now, she hadn''t stopped.

    Captian Lance grimaced. "Sniper! How many rounds do you have left?"

    "Three!"

    "Make them count! Everyone else, pull back! We''re getting out of here! Inform the Asred! We''ve done all we can."

    "The other Knight is closing in, fast! It''s¡­"

    Captain Lance eyed it on screen as the second Knight closed in on the first and¡­

    Stabbed it through the chest with both blades.

    "What?!" Captain Lance gaped. "What just¡­"

    That wasn''t enough! The second knight ripped into the first, tearing it to pieces and then, opened its mouth and¡­

    "It''s eating the first Knight?!" the Scout was in shock.

    "This¡­ this is¡­" Captain Lance finally realized what was happening. "That''s a male! They''re both males!"

    "Sir¡­?!"

    "These aren''t just any ordinary Knights! They''re Lordlings! They have the potential to one day mate with their Baroness¡­ but first¡­ they''ll fight to the death, consuming each other and growing stronger until only one remains, the strongest of the lot!"

    "Wow! I never knew about¡­"

    "You can study later! Whatever the case, we have to get out of here! Now!" Captain Lance clenched his fist. "Give me an update on the Baroness!"

    "Um¡­" the scout gulped. "She''s moving. She''s heading right for us. All her Rooks and Bishops, every Knight on the map, and oh goodness, the Pawns too¡­ everything is coming this way!"

    "Scrap. I was afraid this would happen. Kill some random Knight and the Baroness would just replace it. But what we just did¡­"

    "What? What did we do?"

    "I think we killed her boyfriend."

    "WHAT!?"

    "Or at least, one of them. They start off with about twenty or so¡­ until only one is left."

    "Then why¡­?"

    "Even so, she''s mad. I think we''re in trouble now. I think we''re in real trouble."

    "It wasn''t us! Someone tell her, it was her other boyfriend! We didn''t do it!"

    "Right. All we did was bomb him and shoot him until he was too weak to escape. You wanna tell her that?"

    At that, the Scout fell silent.

    "All units retreat. Even you, Sniper. We''re done."

 351 Side Story Chapter 3

    With their primary target dead, the Bright Lance mercenaries headed for safety.

    They were stretched out in a line across three hills, two rivers, a plain and a gorge. At the safest end, the Hedgehog Heavy Mech slowly turned to lunker back towards the Asred patrol zone. Behind it, Captain Lance in the Acrobat quickly caught up to escort it safely. Next in the line was the Goshawk Sniper, which quickly descended on their position and joined up.

    Farther back, two Skirmishers were still running away from several Pawns. Last of all one Light Scout sneaked through dangerous territory trying its best not to draw attention to itself as it retreated.

    Beeps announced an incoming transmission. Grand Master Ay''eni was calling. "Captain Lance! That was a job well done! Well done indeed!"

    Captain Lance went straight to the point. "Did you know it was a Lordling?"

    "Uh¡­ not exactly. We had suspicions, but it didn''t matter, so¡­"

    "Didn''t matter?! We have a Baroness out for our blood, and she''s not stopping for anything!"

    "With that in mind, Captain Lance, please divert your course to avoid our defense zone. We''ll send a dropship to pick you up from the eastern mountains."

    "Divert¡­?! Blast it, Ay''eni, if that Baroness catches up¡­"

    "We''ll throw in a sizeable bonus."

    "What kind of bonus is worth¡­"

    "Triple your original mission''s pay."

    Captain Lance fell silent. They had been offered fifty thousand credits for this last job. Tripling that¡­ one hundred and fifty thousand Tau credits was enough to buy a whole new Light Mech. It was good money for a mission in which they sustained zero losses.

    But that was assuming they could maintain that. Running off to the East Mountains meant quadrupling their retreat route. It was obvious that the Quarin intended to use the Bright Lance Mercenaries as bait to draw the Baroness away from their precious mana vein. If the Baroness could simply bypass the vein and continue her rampage south past them, they could continue to mine the vein indefinitely, until the next overwhelming threat loomed.

    Paying an extra hundred thousand credits for that seemed like a very small price to pay.

    "Two hundred thousand!" Captain Lance gritted his teeth and negotiated for a better bonus. "On top of the original payment!"

    "Fine." Ay''erin didn''t even wince. The chase to the East Mountains would take the mercenaries and the Mitigok an entire day. That meant at the very least, they would gain an extra day of mining. Their gains in a single day of mining could easily reached the value of a million credits. Furthermore, this move could potentially allow them to keep mining for a week, maybe even more!

    Assuming, that is, that the Bright Lance Mercenaries were wiped out in the process. If that happened, the Baroness might very well just turn around and head straight back toward the mana vein¡­

    [Bright Lance Mercenaries¡­!] the voice hissed directly in his mind. It came out of nowhere. It was everywhere. Lance stumbled, the Star Wizard reeling as it imitated his actions in holographic interface. There in the cockpit surrounded by coherent light projecting an image of the acrobat around him as he floated in a control sphere formed of forcefields, Lance raised his hand to rub his head. Out on the open field, the Star Wizard likewise raised a hand to its head.

    "So much for psi-shielding¡­" Lance grunted, as ripples of mocking anger flooded the land and sky.

    Again, that tremor, this time closer. Everyone felt it, everyone knew what it was. It wasn''t some Knight jumping around nearby. This level of psionic strength could only be¡­

    "Captain Lance! The Princess is after us!" the Scout yelped.

    There was no need to ask which one. It was definitely the same one they mistook for a Duchess before. Back then, thinking it was still evolving and in cocoon form, they thought they could rush it, push through its defensive fields, and then finish it off with mini-nukes.

    It turned out that they were an entire stage of evolution off the mark. This wasn''t some rising Baroness beginning her attempt to evolve into a Duchess. This was a mature Duchess already on the verge of emerging a Princess, and the process was almost completed. They should have guessed when they found the defensive fields surprisingly strong, but they pushed through and nuked her anyway¡­

    That, of course, was why she was now chasing them halfway across the planet, and neither hell nor high water could bar her path.

    "Could the Baroness have told her she saw us?" the Sniper ask.

    "You think?!" the Artillery pilot was the most nervous of them all, sitting in the slowest mech they had.

    Incoming transmission. Ay''eni called. "Lance! What did you do? The Baroness turned around! She''s coming straight for us!"

    "It''s the Princess! She''s after us!" Lance explained grimly. "Get out of here! Get out while you still can!"

    "But¡­" Ay''eni struggled between greed and survival for a long three seconds. "Fine! Take care of yourselves! We''re pulling out! Everybody, pack up and prepare for departure!"

    "There''s no time! Get out NOW!" Lance barked. "We can''t risk the Carrier!"

    "Blast it!" Ay''eni slammed his fist on his armrest. "Helm! Take us into high orbit! Right now! We''ll have to bring everyone else back on dropships!"

    By then, the Skirmishers had caught up to Lance, leaving only the Scout trying to catch up to them. They were within sight of the East Mountain, but even as they ran, tremor after tremor grew stronger.

    "She''s getting closer!" the Artillery pilot gulped, desperately wishing his mech could move faster.

    "I see her!" the Scout behind them yelped. "Sending you video!"

    On screen, Lance saw a tiny dot zip up into the sky, and then drop down again, much nearer and more visible than before. It landed and the image shook.

    "Oh, scrap." Lance glanced at his map feed. The Scout was already nearby, which meant that the Princess was almost on top of them too. "Asred! Asred, we need evac, NOW!"

    Ay''eni responded. "I''ve already diverted the dropship directly to your current position. It should be there in fifteen minutes."

    "Fifteen minutes?! We don''t even have five!" Lance barked. "If we don''t get evac in the next two minutes, we''re all going to die!"

    There was a short silence. Then, "Which next of kin do you want me to send your personal belongings to?"

    "Ay''eni!" Lance howled.

    "Fine! I''ll set down a beacon for a rendezvous! You have two minutes to reach it and evac!" Ay''eni growled. "Let it never be said that we Quarin treat our hirelings as worthless!"

    A beacon appeared on his map.

    Sniper groaned. "Scrap. It''s too far. We''re not going to make it."

    "At least¡­ not all of us are going to make it." Artillery said in a deathly tone.

    "That''s it. We''re cutting our losses. Artillery, eject. Home in your ejection pod straight for the Asred or the Beacon. Either way works." Lance gave up on the Heavy at that point. "Can everyone else make it?"

    "Probably." Skirmisher 1 hesitated.

    "Skirmishers, head straight for it. Don''t stop for anything. Just run." The two Skirmishers had a good chance of getting away. They were outfitted for mobility, after all. "Scout? Can you make it?"

    "I think so, yeah. But the Princess¡­ she''s going to catch up before we get there. You know that."

    Lance gritted his teeth. "Not if I draw her away first. I can eject later¡­"

    "NO!" four voices exclaimed at the same time.

    "Boss, don''t! Leave it to me! I''ll draw her away and eject later." Scout offered.

    "I can''t ask you to do that. It''s my responsibility¡­"

    "Forget responsibility! Boss, you''re in the only truly valuable piece of hardware we have left! We''re all counting on the payday that''s coming when we sell that Acrobat! We have to get it back safely, no matter what!"

    Lance paused. Then, "Sniper, can you come and take over the Acrobat?"

    "What?!"

    "I have an idea."

 352 Side Story Chapter 4

    This was, of course, the reason why Lance dropped out of the Acrobat some twenty seconds later, and hopped into the cockpit of the Sniper Goshawk while the previous pilot of the Sniper took over the Star Wizard.

    "Captain¡­" the previous Sniper was a somewhat foxy girl named Ermine. She was young, hard-bitten and often put on a bitter expression, but right now, that bitterness was nowhere to be seen, and she had on her face an almost regretful look.

    "Get that Acrobat to safety, Ermine. That''s an order." Lance said grimly. "Any complaints you have can be submitted in your formal report during debriefing later."

    "Yes, sir!" Ermine saluted. "I''ll be sure to include them, sir! So, please be there to read it, sir!"

    "That will do. All Mechs, get to evac, NOW!"

    "Sir!" four voices chimed in chorus, accompanied by a sigh from the Artillery Pilot who was sailing away in his ejection pod.

    Another tremor shook the ground. This time, even the Goshawk stumbled. Lance took a few seconds to re-familiarize himself with the controls of a Second Generation Medium Mech with Jump capability. Taking a deep breath, he scanned for the Princess, and locked on to her in his sensors.

    Then he checked his gauss rifle. Three shots left.

    [What''s this? Someone got left behind?] The Princess noticed how the Sniper Mech had separated from the others and was taking aim at her, targeting her eyes.

    As for how she knew it was targeting her eyes, well¡­

    It was because it just shot at her. She blinked and the gauss round slammed painfully into her eyelid, but failed to penetrate.

    [How dare you!] The Princess Mitigok was enraged. She leapt forward again, crossing a kilometer in a single jump. Two more jumps and she would be right on top of the Sniper Goshawk.

    "Run, captain!" Ermine yelped.

    "Not yet! I have one more shot¡­"

    "It''s not worth it! Run!"

    She had a point. The entire reason for him to shoot at the Princess was to draw her attention. That, he had definitely achieved. It was time to run.

    Lance turned the Goshawk around and fired up the jump jets, all six of them, and spread the Goshawk''s wings for stability. He headed away at a right angle from the others¡­

    Only to turn around and see the Princess pounce toward where the others were headed instead. [Fool!]

    "No¡­! Guys, she''s headed straight for you!"

    "Scatter! SCATTER!" Ermine yelped.

    Lance turned around and fired at the Princess once more. But it was no use. She lunged, and then struck, whip-like tendrils as thick as pillars reaching over hundreds of meters lashed out and tore into both Skirmishers within a single second.

    "Eject! Eject!!" Lance yelled. "Guys, it''s not worth dying for!"

    Ejection pods appeared. One, two, three, four¡­

    WHAM! The tendrils lashed out again. They struck down all four pods at the same time.

    Filled with rage, he turned back and fired off everything he had left, but did almost nothing to the hullking beast.

    [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Suffer! Suffer and weep as I destroy everything you have left to care about!] the Princess Mitigok flicked out one tendril at him in an almost idle manner. That single hit tore through the Sniper''s armor, ripped into his main power core, and wrenched it right out of the helpless mech. Red flashed across the board for a split-second, and then, everything went dark.

    With that, the Princess turned, and lunged directly toward where the mana vein and the Asred were located.

    ***

    Half an hour later, it was raining as a lone figure in an EVA suit tugged Ermine out from her wrecked pod.

    "C-captain¡­" Ermine recognized Lance. "I¡­ I''m sorry¡­"

    "Save your strength. We''re getting out of here." Lance grunted.

    "T¡­ the others¡­?"

    Lance shook his head wordlessly.

    With difficulty, they struggled to the Sniper''s escape pod. Lance piloted the pod over to the Star Wizard, which remained miraculously untouched. Since it had been abandoned, the Princess hadn''t bothered to wreck it herself. Lance settled the Pod into the Acrobat. Having secured some measure of safety, he did his best to treat Ermine''s injuries.

    "Star Wizard calling the Asred. Star Wizard calling the Asred. Can anyone hear me?" Captain Lance didn''t dare mention the Bright Lance Mercenaries at all. Who knew if the Princess had some way of listening in.

    There was a response. "Star Wizard, this is the Asred. What is your status?"

    That was Ay''eni. Lance breathed a sigh of relief. At least the Carrier had managed to get to safety.

    "We''re in bad shape. I have one wounded with me in the pod. We need evac."

    There was a short pause. "Star Wizard, can you make it to the rendezvous point?"

    Rendezvous point? What rendezvous point¡­ ah! Lance suddenly remembered that his squad was supposed to meet the dropship halfway to the East Mountains. "Asred, is the beacon still valid?"

    "The dropship is still waiting." Ay''eni confirmed.

    "I''m headed straight there."

    ***

    On the way, they were ambushed by a trio of Pawns. Lance literally stumbled into them before he found them. They had been asleep or something, their life-signs reduced to near-undetectable, hardly distinguishable from the vibrant plant-life around them. He almost didn''t realize he''d woken something up before they attacked.

    "Scrap¡­" Lance activated his main weapon.

    The problem with the Star Wizard was that it was actually very unsuitable for Lance. Frankly speaking, its main draw was its ability to enhance magic. Lance himself was no mage, and he hadn''t brought any magitech weapons either. All he had in way of weaponry, therefore, was the Star Wizard''s Staff of Lightning.

    That Staff was basically just a Shock Lance that ran on mana. Specially designed gauntlets enabled the Wizard to wield it while it was emitting deadly electrical currents. While Lance wasn''t particularly skilled in staff-fighting, he at least was able to stab a forty-foot Pawn in the center and trigger the electrical burst.

    The shock nearly sent the Pawn flying. Say what you will, that staff was still the product of Fourth Generation tech. A single hit, and a single zap was enough to knock a Pawn right off its feet.

    The staff also had a mid-range feature. Pointing it at a second Pawn, Lance triggered that feature. Sheer lightning blasted out at the Pawn, frying it instantly.

    The third Pawn jumped the Wizard from behind and nearly bowled it over. Red flickered across the Wizard''s screens. Lance spun, kicking the Pawn like an oversized beach ball. Like a beach ball, it went spinning, bouncing through the air¡­

    This was why Lance was using the Star Wizard as a final defense line for the Artillery Mech earlier. Despite his unsuitability for it (and lacking any pilot more suitable), despite it having only one weapon he could actually use, the Star Wizard itself was a decent melee combatant due to its sheer agility and strength. While certainly nothing to speak of compared to others in its generation, compared to Second Generation Jumpers like the Goshawk, its raw physical abilities were unmatched.

    The only problem was that any damage it sustained was irreparable. While other mechs could be repaired and patched up easily enough in the Asred, the Star Wizard was just too advanced for the Bright Lance''s facilities to properly maintain and repair. Never mind its sophisticated internal systems that their mechanics and engineers couldn''t make head or tail of, its armor and structure alone used materials that their equipment totally couldn''t handle. That was why Lance kept it out of the fighting until now.

    Alerts rang out. Lance found more and more Pawns appearing on his sensors.

    "Blast it, they''re all around us. We walked right into a nest of sleeping Pawns¡­" Lance realized.

    He ran for it. Their best bet of survival was to get out of there before the Pawns fully awakened. There were dozens of them on every side, and who knew if there were bigger, stronger Mitigok in the vicinity. If they woke a Knight or something worse¡­

    With a roar, a Knight appeared on his sensors.

    "I didn''t even say anything!" Lance protested. "You can''t say I jinxed it when I didn''t even say it out loud!!"

    Ermine didn''t accuse him either. She only let out a small grunt as the mech dashed forward, zapping Pawns and ramming past them like a rugby player in a desperate bid to get away before the Knight arrived.

 353 Side Story End / Half Chapter

    Acid spit and bone spikes were flying overhead as the Star Wizard ducked and clumsily stumbled toward the rendezvous point.

    "Artillery, are you still there?" Lance dodged spikes and almost tripped over a boulder.

    "Ready and waiting, captain!"

    "Prepare for immediate lift-off! We''re coming in hot!"

    "Understood! We''ll try to give you some cover fire!"

    But despite his best efforts, the Star Wizard took hit after hit. By the time he reached the firing range of the Dropship, not only had his armor sustained significant damage, the mech even had some internal damage.

    "Open fire!" the pilot of the Hedgehog yelled.

    Scattered bursts of large crackling energy bolts rained down on the pursuing Pawns. Lance ducked, bringing the Star Wizard into a defensive crouch as explosions erupted on every side.

    "Don''t stop! Lance, the Knight is right behind you!"

    Captain Lance burst into action, running full-tilt for the Dropship, heedless of flying debris or stray explosions.

    Behind him, strapped away in a hammock at the back of the cockpit, the unconscious Ermine let out a pained groan. But Lance didn''t slow down. He couldn''t. While technically the Star Wizard should have been more than a match for a single Knight, Lance himself was unable to use its true powers, and the pain he felt over his body was actually increasing as time went by, not fading. Just what injuries he had or how severe they were, he did not know and they did not have time to find out.

    Seeing the boarding ramp in front of him, Lance practically dove into the Dropship. Forget dignity!

    "GO!"

    The Dropship blasted off toward the sky, breaking several safety regulations and almost several bones during its rapid ascent, leaving a disappointed Knight-ranked Mitigok and a broken, burning world behind.

    ***

    In high orbit, the Asred wasn''t in good shape either. It was visibly on fire, altough the flames looked more like liquid shimmering around the hull, and chaotic waves of mana leakage were rippling about randomly. The front half of the light carrier had completely disappeared, as if something huge had taken a big bite out of it. Of the six Towers, only the three at the back remained.

    "What happened?" Lance asked painfully, trying not to move or speak too loudly.

    "The Princess wouldn''t let them get away clean. Apparently she''s half-developed flight capabilities."

    "Great. Just what we need." Lance groaned. "Any more good news?"

    "Sort of. Do you remember where our repair bays were located?"

    Lance''s face fell. The Bright Lance Mercenary Company had been housed together with the Golems. But Golem Tower was completely gone, so¡­ "All our stuff?!"

    "Um¡­ that mech you brought back? That''s it."

    Everything was gone.

    "No¡­ you can''t be serious." Lance couldn''t believe it. The very idea was incomprehensible. They just went out for one more mission, a typical day''s job, and now¡­ now¡­ "What about the crew?!"

    Silence.

    Even the crew was gone?! Whole squads of pilots carefully trained up of dozens of missions, friends who had fought by his side campaign after campaign¡­ all gone?!

    Lance felt the world tilting around him.

    "Captain? CAPTAIN!"

    But he did not respond. Could not respond. Could not speak. Could not stop himself as everything turned dark and the silence was all that remained.

 354 Return to the Wildlands

    Back on Sorrel II, when Remian tried to buy supplies in the Dragon Empire, there was an arrogant quartermaster who¡­

    Actually, no, forget it. Nobody cares. In the end, the guy was demanding to know "Who let you buy openly in the great and mighty Dragon Empire?!" and Zor''khan showed up and said "I did¡­"

    So the guy turned and fell to his knees, his face quite white and Remian smiled.

    Remian was smiling for roughly three seconds before Nai''khan-dras pounced on him and squealed "Doggie!"

    That was the end of his smile.

    Anyway, the important thing was, the partnership between Zor''khan-dras and Remian Vin brought another huge fleet to the Wildlands. Upon seeing it, the Song Clan at the Great Docks cheered, thinking powerful reinforcements had arrived just in time to help them face the Beast Flood. To their amazement, however, the fleet went right past Song Chen''s territory, heading farther west, and stopped at Craggy Falls.

    "We''ll set up our district on the south side." Zor''khan tapped a finger on a map laid out across a large table.

    "Remember. You promised me. Clean industries!" Remian reminded.

    "I swear it on my own name." Zor''khan assured him. "This is a military district, not some industrial park. We just need forges and armories for our combat gear. The heavy duty construction and such would be done back in the Empire."

    Most importantly, the Trade Beacon would be built in the Draconian District. This was Zor''khan''s means of providing security.

    As for where the traders might land, that was Remian''s job. Originally he had planned to upgrade the airport into a spaceport, but Zor''khan strongly advised against letting otherworlders land in the middle of his core settlement. Thus, they drew up new plans for a massive spaceport atop the Rocky Thorns themselves. Doing so would pretty much flatten more than half those sharp stone ''thorns'', but nobody was going to complain about that.

    The design was a simple square landing platform sporting four main loading bays surrounded by cranes and warehouses. While it might be unreasonably large for the common Frigate and Galleon-class airships favored across Sorrel II, Quarin cargo ships tended to be larger and heavier, at least Mothership-class.

    By design, each corner ''lot'' would be able to host a Behemoth-class spaceship or airship, with loading capabilities on two sides. As for a Leviathan-class¡­ just one of those would occupy half or all of the lots by itself, depending on its shape. Remian only hoped that their visitors'' ships wouldn''t be so heavy that the entire structure broke beneath it, or sank into the ground. After all, in terms of material technology, this world''s structural steel and concrete could only support so much weight.

    "Just what sort of ships are you expecting to visit?" Remian once asked.

    "Draconian Thrones, at least. Those would be Mothership-class, in airship terms." Zor''khan thought for a bit. "Those are basically single-dragon vehicles favored by the adults of our Dras Clan. Eventually, we should expect a Leviathan-class Draconian Star Nest. That would be the ship coming to take my siblings and I to safety."

    Khar''al-dras was already big enough to be mistaken for a Cruiser. Obviously his elder siblings were bigger. Imagine a single ship capable of hosting all eight Great Dragons at the same time¡­! Not to mention their Broods¡­

    On top of that, the ''Great Dragons'' were just juveniles according to the Dras Clan, not even matured enough to venture into space on their own strength. How big were the adults? For a Mothership-class to be just a ''throne''¡­

    Then again, Zor''khan-dras in human form as he was now really shouldn''t take up too much space. Remian wasn''t sure how it all worked but the fact that they hadn''t scaled down their ships to fit human-form Draconians said that the size was important for some reason. Maybe it was to contain all the food? Did dragons eat less while they were in human form? Remian didn''t know.

    Whatever the case, the point was, they needed to prepare for a Leviathan-class Draconian Star Nest. While Remian hoped to have an orbital starport prepared and able to host it by the time it arrived, Zor''khan preferred to have a minimum facility available if all else failed.

    Other than the Dras Clan, Quarin ships might also drop by, seeing how close they were to current Quarin territory. With the Mitigok as a common foe, the two factions had maintained a lukewarm peace recently, and traders going between them were not altogether rare. Among Quarin traders, the smallest ships they might expect were single-tower Dropships of the Cruiser-class. Those would probably be sent out by larger, six-tower Behemoths or nine-tower Leviathans as supply shuttles while their carriers waited in high orbit. Also common were three-tower Mothership-class Transports; those were often outfitted for planetary landing (and plundering! Ahem!) as well.

    On the other side of Dras Clan territory, to the Galactic West were Uber States and Kanoasia. Both were Class 5 star civilizations, smaller and weaker neighbors who often supplied cheap labor to the great Class 6 star civilizations like the Dras Clan or the Quarin. In all probability, if those guys really came all the way here, they''d do so expecting to pick up some last-minute salvage and loot after the Dras Clan left¡­

    That would be bad, Remian figured. While Class 5 civilizations were measly in the eyes of the Dras Clan, to the local humans of Sorrel II who were still struggling to rise above Class 3, they would be absolutely overwhelming. Class 5 civilizations would already be accustomed to gravitic drives and warp gates. The local human populace on this world were mostly still trying to figure out steam engines.

    Craggy Falls were just one step ahead of the rest. While Libertaria for example could be said to have entered early Class 3, Craggy Falls might be described as intermediate Class 3. They still had a long way to go to reach advanced Class 3. Until they could effectively use hydrogen power, graphene materials and rudimentary robotics, they couldn''t even start on the space elevator needed to reach Class 4. That sort of progress could take a whole century even with Remian''s knowledge.

    But this Trade Beacon offered them hope. With luck, they might be able to skip decades ahead and jump straight into the early Space Age.

    Or, they might get nothing until the Dras Clan left and then attract powerful pirates who would enslave them all¡­

    It was a gamble. But it was a gamble that could very well see them complete a Warp Gate within Remian''s lifetime.

    As long as the Dras Clan remained, at least, the risks were minimal. The only problem was the cost of running the Beacon.

    Simply put, the Beacon was magical. It ran on mana. They simply didn''t have the capability to build a technological one. Plus, Zor''khan wasn''t going to spend any of his precious mana on it. The duty of fueling the Beacon was placed squarely on Remian''s shoulders.

    That, of course, was why Darian and Mindy were left behind with Ling Yun.

    As for Tim, he was very busy now that the Dragon Empire had an open alliance with the Wildlands. The trade opportunities were just too juicy¡­

    All told, the recent developments should have made Remian exceedingly happy, but for some reason, he wasn''t. He really, really wasn''t.

    Actually, it wasn''t just ''some reason''. There was only one thing that dampened his mood and one thing only.

    "Doggie!" Nai''khan-dras sleepily murmured on top of his Silhouette''s back. Until now, she still refused to let him go! Only when she was asleep was he able to get some peace away from her, but the moment she woke up, the first thing she did was look for her ''Doggie''! When she heard he was about to go home, she screamed and nearly set the fortress on fire. It was only like this, by taking her with them, were Zor''khan and Remian able to leave.

    "So¡­ first order of business." Remian cleared his throat. "Zor''khan, with your permission, I will bring the Little Princess to Shadowflash''s Pack at Kara-Goth."

    Even before meeting Phoebe. Even if it meant he delayed the deployment of all the Draconian District''s pre-fabricated buildings waiting in the airships. Even before lunch! This had to be done!

    "We need to find the Little Princess a proper Doggie!!"

 355 One girl and a pack of wolfcats

    "Alani! I need help!"

    Remian''s plea came in while Alani was on her way to meet Fel for a Psionics training session. "Whatever''s the matter?"

    "We need to find a princess a doggie!"

    "So go to a pet shop."

    "She doesn''t want a normal doggie! She''s sticking to my wolfcat Silhouette!"

    "Then turn it off."

    "She''ll throw a tantrum and her grandfather would be mad at me!"

    "So what?"

    "Her grandfather is Zor''khan-dras!"

    There was a short silence.

    "I''m coming." Alani sighed, and called Fel to let her know what was up.

    At least the communication crystals still worked with someone''s personal mana. There was almost no ambient mana left to speak of; the burden of powering magic devices with one''s personal mana was now greater than it had ever been. Even the little communications crystals could now completely exhaust the average mage after just a few uses, depending on how far the call had to reach and how long the call lasted. Most of the larger magic devices would need entire formations of magi or simply went unused.

    Panic had completely overrun the northern midlands. Every day, more and more refugees fled south to the Wildlands. Some thousands of them wouldn''t or couldn''t flee that far and took up residence on the islands of the Midland Sea. Reef wasn''t entirely comfortable with that, but he left them be, for now. If they did something to annoy him, though, serious consequences could happen.

    Alani often had to communicate Reef''s warnings and reservations to the Order of Light. As instructed by Darian, they were polite to her and usually took her warnings under advisement, but there was this one group of refugees who simply wouldn''t listen to the Order of Light and wantonly killed some of Reef''s subordinates, thinking to sell their corpses for good money.

    That was when their island, their houses, and their entire settlement completely vanished overnight. Now, you couldn''t even point out where their island used to be. Their fate had become a cautionary tale, and from that time on, refugees wanting to settle in the Midlands Seas needed Alani''s direct approval.

    On top of that, Alani still had to look after Group 2. She chased Gary every time he went off-schedule, hurried Juni every time he was going to be late, woke Siti up before she overslept, bribed Isabella to clean up after Jamie whenever she left things lying around in a mess and then imposed the bribe''s cost as a fine to Jamie for messing up¡­

    This kept her busy. Very busy indeed. Alani barely had time to study anything any more. There were many times she didn''t know what to do or how to handle a situation. Because of that, Fel''s Psionics and combat lessons were what she relied on.

    No, she wasn''t beating people up. She was asking Fel for advice. It was a shame she couldn''t do so today.

    ***

    Nai''khan-dras, meanwhile, was in Doggie-Lover Heaven. The moment she stepped through the archway in a deep part of Kara-Goth, she found herself in a large cavern filled with wolfcats of all sizes. There were dozens, maybe even a hundred of them!

    "DOGGIES!!!" she squealed and jumped into the thickest part of Shadowflash''s pack. "BIG DOGGIES!!"

    She started grabbing furry forms left and right and cuddling them on the spot. There was a chorus of yelps, barks and one outright howl from a sleepy wolfcat who was no longer able to sleep peacefully. [Remian! You have brought calamity upon us!]

    [Sorry! I didn''t know what else to do!] Remian finally let his Silhouette fade without worry.

    [You sold us out!!]

    [I didn''t mean to! I just thought she might bond one of the cubs as a Comrade¡­]

    There was a short pause. Then, Shadowflash himself made a suggestion. [Which of the cubs is the naughtiest one?]

    Carrie yelped. [NO!! Can you imagine the amount of trouble pairing them up would cause?! Bring her the quietest one!]

    [How can we do that? Wouldn''t that be sheer torture?]

    Grandpa Zor''khan came to the rescue. "Little Nai, you should pick one of the little ones. The big ones are old already and won''t live very long. The small ones will grow just as big and they will live longer."

    Nai''khan-dras pouted. "I want them all!"

    [Don''t even think about it.] Shadowflash snorted.

    Zor''khan turned to negotiations. "Two cubs, then. That should be enough."

    "TEN!"

    "Three? I don''t even know if you can handle that many."

    "Nine!"

    Zor''khan frowned, losing patience. "Enough. Three is enough."

    Seeing her grandfather frown, Nai''khan hesitated, then said in a small voice. "Four?"

    Remian cleared his throat. "That''s not how this works, Nai''khan-dras. When you bond a Comrade, you can''t just take whoever you want whenever you want. You need to ask them if they want to go with you. Whoever wants to can do so, but you can''t force them. You must never force them. That''s why they''re Comrades, not pets."

    "Why can''t they just be pets?" Nai''khan pouted.

    "Wolfcats will never be pets." Remian said. "If you want a pet, go get a dog."

    ***

    Back at the Dragon Empire, in the Imperial Kennel, the dog that Nai''khan had been walking the day she met Remian sleepily murmured a protest in his sleep.

    [Are you forgetting about me?!]

    ***

    "But it''s different!" Nai''khan pouted. "Dogs aren''t so smart! Doggies are smarter!"

    (Nai''khan''s Actual Dog: [HEY! I protest!!])

    While the language wasn''t entirely clear, everyone understood that ''doggies'' meant wolfcats, not regular dogs.

    (Nai''khan''s Actual Dog: [That''s not fair! I have a double-master''s degree in Bone-Burying and Rabbit Chasing! It''s fully accredited by the Imperial Kennels!])

    (Shadowflash: [Yeah, but by Galactic Standards, I''m a Class 7 Psionic.])

    (Vigil: [Even I am a Class 3 Psionic!])

    Zor''khan, of course, was much clearer on the differences between regular dogs and wolfcats. Their abilities were simply incomparable. Just the physical capabilities of wolfcats alone left all dogs in the dust. The ability to climb trees, to use their tails and claws as weapons, their innate toughness and stamina¡­ all of it were whole tiers beyond the normal dogs of Sorrel II.

    All of them had inherent Psionic talents passed down in their bloodlines. Some of them even had a bit of magical ability.

    Long story short, if Nai''khan ever found herself in danger, having a wolfcat protect her would be far safer than having a dog. Having three or four such wolfcats protect her would be an immense boost to her security, at least in her younger years.

    "Everything depends on whether you can make them like you." Zor''khan finally concluded. "That''s the bottom line."

    Nai''khan''s face fell. When Grandpa said ''bottom-line'' that meant there would be no more arguing the matter. This also meant that everything was now up to her own efforts. He would not help her.

    "Doggie?" Nai''khan turned to Remian hopefully.

    Remian shook his head apologetically. "You''ll have to handle this one yourself, Princess. I can only suggest you try to become friends with them sincerely."

 356 Ongoing at the Wildlands

    That day, calamity befell the Shadowflash Pack.

    "Doggie!!" Nai''khan-dras leapt onto the back of a yelping wolfcat. "Doggie-ride!"

    [NOOOOO¡­!!] the poor wolfcat fled, tail between her legs.

    Nai''khan-dras gracefully hopped off the fleeing wolfcat and pounced on an even bigger one nearby. "Doggie-ride?!"

    "Awwoooo!" that wolfcat started running too.

    This time, she didn''t jump off. She actually tried to hold on¡­

    [Help! Somebody help! Mommmmy¡­.!] the second wolfcat panicked and almost ran headlong into the wall.

    [Roll! Quick! Roll over!] a helpful passer-by suggested.

    So the panicked second wolfcat rolled over, and Nai''khan-dras hopped lightly out of the way, and then quickly grabbed the neck of the passer-by. "Doggie-ride!!"

    [Oh fishbones¡­ why me?!] the passer-by wolfcat howled. He started running too. Seeing him coming, with a Little Princess around his neck, all the wolfcats nearby scrambled to get out of the way and put as much distance in between them and catastrophe as possible.

    In rapid succesion, wolfcat after wolfcat wizened up and ran for dear life. A mass exodus of fur and tails erupted from the den. Even Shadowflash himself was spotted sneaking away, slipping stealthily into the shadows.

    Seeing it, Remian shook his head as he steered well clear of the hazard zone. "I think I''ll stick to using my Silhouette''s Armor form for a while."

    ***

    While keeping his eye and his distance, Remian called George. "How''s Kara-Goth doing?"

    "We''re fine." George said, tiredly. "At this point, I can''t believe I ever worried about having a lack of population. There''s so many new people wanting to settle here now, we might just burst. Did you know that at last count, our population already reached one hundred thousand?! I had to push more people toward the mining towns¡­"

    "Really? I would have thought the refugees would prefer to settle on the Midland Sea Isles or Fal''Herim."

    "No, Midlanders aren??t fond of living in a desert. Neither are they comfortable living on islands in the Midlands Sea. They want good, fertile ground, plenty of water, and enough farmland to feed a country. That''s us, obviously."

    "One hundred thousand, huh?"

    "One hundred thousand in Kara-Goth alone, not counting everyone we had to send on to the mining towns and farming villages. There were some who wanted to strike out on their own and pioneer their own settlements, but then they heard what happened to the last bunch who tried that¡­"

    "Having an agreement with the Wilds does seem to provide more security than all those defensive measures."

    "Rumor has it we almost messed up that agreement and were about to get wiped out with the ongoing Beast Flood. Apparently we have you to thank for keeping it intact."

    "Well, Shadowflash is content to just leave things as they are. For now. I still worry that having too many people added too quickly might upset the big guy, so, yeah, I had to channel as many as I could to the outlying settlements."

    "Are you all right losing those industries? Economically?"

    "Right now, we''re turning mostly commercial. It''s like Kara-Goth is turning into a mid-way trading center connecting Fal''Herim and the Wildlands. Everybody comes to the hill city to buy stuff from us, and most of it is on credit. Given the amounts everyone owns us, and the fact that nobody owns the land they live on and are paying us a rental fee to keep them safe, I think they''re all going to be working for us the rest of their lives just to pay off some of their loans."

    "But you''re taking care of them right? Nobody is mistreated?"

    "To hear some of them complain, you''d think otherwise. Basically, we can''t afford to treat refugees like nobles, even if they were nobles in their original countries. Everyone will be able to live and earn honest wages, but I can''t speak for luxury. Besides what sort of luxuries can I offer, compared to yours?"

    "Mine? What do you mean?"

    "Craggy Falls. I hear all you need to do to get water is to twist a tap open."

    "Ah. That''s just indoor plumbing."

    "How''s the construction? Still need materials?"

    "We''re about done with Phase 1 of construction."

    "So¡­ the majority of Adventurer utilities and services are operational? Training yard, gym, library, armory¡­ everything?"

    "Mostly. People have already moved into some Comrade-friendly housing and started up a few taverns."

    "Does that mean I can send refugees over?"

    "No way. This city is only open to Adventurers."

    "That actually includes the vast majority of the older Kara-Gothians and the younger generation in the Wildlands. Last I checked, the Guild has some thirty thousand registered."

    "And fifteen thousand of them have registered to stay at Craggy Falls."

    George let out a low whistle. "That''s more than twice the amount of Adventurers registered to Three Pines. I thought that was where all the Adventurers hung out, but I guess I was a bit behind times."

    "Not entirely. While the Adventurers at Craggy Falls didn''t take long to get used to indoor plumbing and electric lighting, the guys at Three Pines are more in-tune with nature. They often spend all day with their Comrades, climbing trees, hunting and foraging in the woods, and honestly suspect that light-bulbs are merely glass bottles with captured fireflies inside."

    "That sounds peaceful. I thought they were still in a state of war readiness with the Spectres."

    "No, they have Dragon Lake between them and the Spectres. Word is that Dragon Lake now hosts a military camp."

    "Yes, they have knights, archers, priests, and mechanics all working to stomp out the Spectre threat once and for all. Some people just couldn''t get out of a war mindset, maybe? We took them away from the midlands and away from war, but we couldn''t take war away from them."

    "It should be fine as long as the dragons don''t mind. You know, I actually suggested to Zor''khan-dras that he settle the Draconian district there, but he doesn''t want to bother his brothers."

    So it was that Remian had to adjust his city planning and have the Draconians settle a district at Craggy Falls instead. This also meant the Spaceport and the world''s interstellar commerce would be focused on his upcoming city. In one fell swoop, Remian had to toss out half his residential zoning plans and replace them with entertainment, hospitality and commercial zones.

    "Speaking of bother, we actually had some nasty stragglers come by and cause trouble at Kara-Goth. Nothing that Shadowflash and the wolfcats couldn''t handle, but the Beast Flood is surging through the Wildlands right now. At least they''re not after us. They''re after Song Chen''s Great Docks."

    "I saw it. They didn''t look very much like docks to me. More like a string of forts and bunkers."

    "What can I say? So far, they built more cannon towers and defensive siege weapons than boats, but they still trudge away at their goals."

    Remian mused. "Maybe I should have a talk to Song Chen about the viability of non-magical airships versus maritime shipping."

    "Good luck trying to talk any sense into him. Ever since he left the Defense Force, Song Chen has become decidedly¡­ independent."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean, he won''t listen to me. Maybe you''ll have better luck."

    ***

    But he didn''t. Remian tried for half an hour. Call as he might, Song Chen did not respond.

    "Huh. I guess he''s busy defending his turf against the Beast Flood."

    ***

    By that time, the calamity had completely routed the wolfcats at Kara-Goth. Almost the entire pack had fled the premises and Little Princess Nai''khan-dras turned to the last remaining wolfcat in the Den.

    "Doggie-ride?" she tugged at his ears hopefully.

    The wolfcat didn''t respond. This particular wolfcat was snoozing away peacefully as all his kin ran for their lives, and hadn''t quite noticed the dangers he was in.

    Tempted, Nai''khan slowly crept on top of him. "Doggie?"

    But Chubs (who was the wolfcat in question) only snorted, pawed at his muzzle, and went on snoozing.

    "Doggie ride!" Nai''khan-dras sat up straight on Chubs'' back and happily proclaimed her success!

 357 Girls Quarrel

    Chubs woke up when Nai''khan started bouncing on his back. At first he was bewildered, until Nai''khan said, "Doggie, bond-bond!"

    It didn''t take a genius to figure out what she wanted from him.

    [Uh¡­ how did this happen?] Chubs had to ask.

    But there was nobody there to answer him. Everyone and everytail had already fled the scene.

    It was at that time that Alani finally arrived. "There you are!"

    Chubs finally saw hope of salvation. [Alani¡­ help!]

    "No!" Nai''khan grabbed on to him with both hands. "Doggie ride! Bond-bond!"

    Alani shook her head. "That''s not how it works, dear. You have to be nice to them and be friends. They''re not slaves."

    "No! Doggie MINE!" Nai''khan shouted, and then fire burst out from her mouth.

    Alani raised a hand and swatted the head-sized fireball aside. There was a sizzling sound as it sputtered out, leaving a cloud of smoke in its wake. "He doesn''t belong to you. Comrades are not property. They are partners!"

    "NO! MINE!" Nai''khan roared this time, and a stream of flame erupted.

    Alani raised both hands. A shimmering curtain of liquid formed a wall before her. Nai''khan''s fire met her water-wall and instantly there arose a cloud of steam and smoke, followed by boiling water...

    Seeing her advantage, Nai''khan redoubled her efforts, increasing the power of her fire-stream. "ALL MINE!"

    "Stop being so selfish!" Alani crouched and slammed both hands into the ground. Her wall of water abruptly turned into a ten foot tall wave that swept out, completely engulfing Nai''khan''s fire en route.

    ***

    Meanwhile, Remian was inspecting the construction at Craggy Falls, completely unaware that his call for babysitting help had begun the decisive battle for the fates and destinies of Comrades Rights in the world to come.

    ***

    Nai''khan went from spitting fire to pouncing on Alani physically, screaming and tearing at her hair.

    Alani''s hair, however, suddenly turned to liquid and re-formed after the clawing passed. Her hands, on the other hand, proved quite solid as they grabbed the Little Princess'' wrists and started a wrestle-brawl-tug-of-war.

    "Behave yourself!" Alani scolded.

    "I WANT!" Nai''khan screamed and tore at her.

    They rolled around as they fought, then bounced around the Den, sometimes crashing into walls and leaving meter-sized cracks in them. Chubs scurried to get out of their way, Nai''khan pursued, Alani intercepted, and then all three went rolling to one side, and the two girls spun away into another wall, this time bursting right through it and leaving a gaping hole in their wake.

    By then, the entirety of Kara-Goth was in high alert. Police forces, local militia, and even George''s elite Heavy Frames Squadron had mobilized and were looking for the source of all the havoc.

    [Shadowflash! What''s going on?!] George had to ask.

    [Not that! I''m talking about the tremors and the cracks in the walls and the sounds of war!]

    [That''s exactly it.]

    At that point, a particularly large crash sounded, and then half the floor gave way. George stumbled, almost falling face-first into one of his less good-looking Heavy Frame Troopers.

    Having narrowly escaped a tragedy, George steadied himself and yelled, "I don''t know what''s going on, but whatever it is, find it and STOP IT!"

    "Sir, yes, sir!" the Troopers stomped away in every direction trying to find the cause of the ruckus.

    The walls shook again, and several windows shattered. There was a lot of screaming around the hill, and people were running out of every conceivable exit, some of them without their full set of apparel equipped.

    Then another loud roar sounded. "NAI''KHAN-DRAS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

    "Grandpa!!" this wail shook George with its sheer volume. "She bullied me!!"

    George finally got the gist of what was going on and heaved a sigh of relief. Now that Zor''khan-dras had spoken up, perhaps this could all be resolved peacefully¡­

    But what Zor''khan-dras said was, "Since when were you so weak?! If you have a fight¡­ win it! Overwhelm the bullies with your own strength!"

    "Yes, Grandpa!"

    "Whoa!" George spluttered. [Hey, now, wait a second!!]

    Too bad. There was another powerful crash, and then the floor cracked under George''s feet.

    "But I already fell down one floor!" George protested.

    Even so, the recent cracks sent him plummeting down another floor. And another. And another.

    "Oww¡­" George groaned, picking himself up and half-expecting to drop another floor down.

    He wasn''t disappointed. There was a powerful explosion, and the sound of hissing steam, and then the floor broke again.

    "OOF!" This time George was sure he wasn''t going to drop any more. He had landed on the ground floor. He was already at the bottom. "Somebody call medical¡­"

    [Memo to self: Do not endorse Dragon parenting habits.]

    All around him, glass shattered and wood splintered. Walls broke and floors crumbled, and a lot of yelling and scrambling about as people fled.

    George protested. "All I did was invite a child to make friends! Why is she destroying my city?!"

    This is why you don''t play house with dragons!

    [Darian! Mindy! Tim! Somebody! Where are you guys?!]

    Remian answered. [Darian and Mindy are hunting for mana at the Dragon Empire. Tim is¡­ um¡­ on a date, maybe?]

    [Remian! You have to stop them!]

    [Stop who?]

    [Nai''khan-dras and somebody I haven''t even seen! They''re destroying everything!]

    [Isn''t Zor''khan-dras there? Ask him to settle his granddaughter.]

    [He''s encouraging the fight!]

    [Don''t worry! I''ve already called for Alani. She should be there soon!]

    George had a moment of hope before he raised his head and saw Alani and Nai''khan-dras kicking at each other at the same time. The impact caused a shockwave as both girls went flying in opposite directions to crash into two separate walls. More stuff broke around Kara-Goth.

    [Alani is the one she''s fighting! Everything is falling apart!]

    Remian paused. [Oh.]

    [Oh?! What do you mean, ''oh''?! What is that supposed to mean?!]

    [It means I now understand why there''s so much destruction.]

    [That''s not helping!]

    A pile of rubble fell around George, half-burying him. [Remian! DO SOMETHING!]

    [I''m nowhere near there! You''ll have to do it yourself!]

    [ME? What can I do?! I can''t match the likes of these two! Not even with a Frame!]

    [Well, if you can''t beat them, join them. If you can''t join them¡­]

    [Then¡­?]

    [Run.]

 358 Lifespan

    Incidentally, around that time, Darian and Ling Yun were fighting a mob of zombies and skeletons for mana. Mindy was having tea with Rou''khan-dras with a pile of shopping bags by their table in a high class boutique. Tim had snuck back into the Underground and was scheming all sorts of profitable plans with his henchmen in the Dragon Empire.

    Juni and Jamie were at Dragon Lake training with Fel. Siti and Isabella were at Craggy Falls studying with Phoebe. And Gary¡­ Gary had snuck off to a pleasant hillside and was dozing off under a tree. Happily for him, there was no dragon princess suddenly jumping onto his back.

    Then there were Xiao Yan and Eriane, both of whom were at Fal''Herim, playing around with airships in Mindy''s shipyard. Well, actually Xiao Yan was inscribing Qi Formations into gas envelopes. Eriane was¡­ testing their durability. With a flintlock. At extreme range.

    Some people might say it was dangerous since she was shooting over the heads of the shipyard crews from all across the other side of the drydocks, but it was okay, because Raven said it was okay, and Mindy pretty much left her in charge, so there! Arnold and Jim could only let her keep shooting and hope nobody got hit.

    But of course, nobody did. Eriane had become quite a skilled shot, with a flintlock, at least.

    ***

    It took a while, but finally, Nai''khan''s energy was worn down. She stood there, panting, wrapped up from nect to ankles in rubber-like gel ropes.

    "No fair!" Nai''khan protested. "That''s not your own strength!"

    Nai''khan, it seemed, became more articulate when she was less excited.

    "No, it''s not. It''s my Comrade''s power." Alani freely admitted. "That''s how it is between me and my Comrade. We share strengths, because we both want to. That''s the way it should be. I can''t just make him do what I want him to do whether he likes it or not. He''s not my servant or my property."

    "But¡­ but¡­" Nai''khan darted a glance at the shivering Chubs. "He didn''t run away¡­"

    "He was asleep. You know it''s not right." Alani stated firmly. "Let him go."

    "But¡­ nobody else would stay with me¡­" Tears formed up in Nai''khan''s eyes again. "Nobody else would play with me¡­ all the other Doggies don''t want me¡­"

    She started crying. Several onlookers felt a bit sorry for her, but Alani, who had received several punches from that girl that ranged in force from half a ton to two tons or so, had no such sympathy.

    Still, Chubs was one of those sympathetic souls. He went over to her and pawed her softly. [If you only wanted to play, you could have just asked. I don''t mind.]

    "Well." Alani scratched her head. "I guess¡­ that''s not too bad?"

    "Not too bad indeed." Zor''khan suddenly appeared behind her. He nodded. "It was a good fight."

    "A good fight? We half-destroyed Kara-Goth!" Alani groaned.

    George sighed. "I guess it''s time to renovate? We wanted to make some changes anyway."

    "The Dragon Empire will, of course, be happy to financially support your efforts." Zor''khan-dras said smoothly. "As well as any medical services your people might require from this incident."

    "Of course." George grimaced, but he didn''t complain.

    "Still. We need to give that girl a thorough talking to." Alani said, eyes narrowing at Nai''khan-dras.

    "Oh? And when do you plan to do that?" Zor''khan asked, eyeing her.

    "When she wakes up, of course. I won''t disturb her nap." Alani said graciously.

    "Would you, now?" Zor''khan chuckled. "You may have to wait a long time, you know."

    "How long a time?" Alani frowned. "How long does she nap?"

    "Oh, I''d say, about¡­ a hundred years." Zor''khan shrugged.

    "A h-hundred¡­ years?!" Alani spluttered. "But¡­ by then, she would be¡­"

    "Four hundred? Yeah." Zor''khan nodded. "Children her age need a lot of sleep. She''s already been awake for almost a year now. It''s about time."

    One year awake. One hundred years asleep. Alani stared at the little girl who had only been conscious for three years while having lived for three hundred. At this point even she was feeling sympathy.

    [So¡­ I don''t need to be her Comrade?] Chubs asked, yawning.

    [No, Chubs, you won''t live anywhere near that long.] Alani sighed. [In fact, I''m not sure even I will last that long.]

    But from the distance and from near, Reef cut in. [You will.]

    [Really? How come?]

    [Because I happen to have a lot of longevity. I may be the oldest Wild in the world, but I still have many centuries left in me. Trust me. As long as nothing crazy happens to us, you will be able to talk to that dragon girl again.]

    Alani paused. [What about Mindy¡­? And Darian? Tim?]

    [They''ll probably be there too. Unless something crazy happens.]

    ***

    At this time, the average expected lifespan of a human in Kara-Goth was 60 years. Some of it was due to warfare but other than that, according to Lydia, was because of diet. Many of them hunted and ate non-friendly Wilds, whose meat differed greatly from ''normal'' animals. Something to do with mana and magic engineering. Phoebe disagreed and said that such meats were likely to increase lifespan instead of decrease it, but Lydia said that anything unnatural must certainly be detrimental to health.

    The average natural lifespan of someone at Three Pines, on the other hand, was supposed to be 90 years. This is due to fresher air, a more active lifestyle, and a whole lot more fruit-eating.

    Outlying towns and villages were rated at 80. Somehow, Lydia''s calculations included Craggy Falls into this cagetory.

    Dragon Lake rated at 140, because most of the population there were Qi experts who all had eaten body-boosting supplements, elixirs, herbs and fruit. The lake itself was home to several amazing herbs and fruits that increased one''s life force, vigor, and physical abilities. Lydia suspect the dragons living there had something to do with that, but wouldn''t share why for fear of grossing people out.

    For comparison, life expectancy at the current Midlands, filled with fear and anarchy, was now 40 and if the rumors of things getting worse were true, that might very well drop to 30. The Brotherhood of Six also had expectancies around 40 due to warfare.

    On the western continent, the south regions had expectancies of around 50-60. The northern regions, which meant Libertaria and Torres, rated at 70-80 due to superior medical technology, even though they lost out due to increasing pollution.

    Ashdale used to rate that high, but their pollution had completely shrouded their entire island by now, dropping life expectancy to 60 despite their high levels of medical knowledge and technology. Ecclesia had once boasted average lifespans of 150 to 160, but now there was chaos. Lydia estimated their lifespans to be about 40. Phoebe thought perhaps 60 if they could stop fighting each other. But so far, without the Church, their squabbling only seemed to be getting worse.

    Mendez and the northern regions of the East continent had expectancies of 60-70. It had to do with their food supplies, Lydia said. A lot of them didn''t have access to enough varieties of food to have balanced diets. Many regions flat out didn''t have access to fresh food, period. But at least their lands were stable if only because everyone would rather raid the richer Dragon Empire for their bounty than fight each other for measly scraps.

    As for the Dragon Empire itself¡­ their life expectancy rated at an astounding 200. This was due to the availability of magic and mana, as well as the draconians who all had unnaturally long lifespans. Life magic was still practiced by the top experts at the Imperial Hospitals. All of the rich people in the Empire could survive ills, hurts, and dangers that would easily have killed anyone without access to top class magical treatment. The reason why the average lifespans weren''t higher was because a lot of the people in the Empire weren''t rich. Many of them were in the same situation as the refugees, piled up with debt that they would take their entire lives to repay. They would also be able to get reasonable medical care with the graciousness of the Dras Clan, but doing so would simply incur more debt¡­ at this point, the vast majority of the Empire directly or indirectly served the Dras Clan, who owned the land they walked upon, the homes they lived in, hired them for the jobs they worked at, paid their salaries and took it all back in rentals, taxes, sales of food and such.

    Clearly, Kara-Goth was likely to go the same route, with most of its populace actually in debt to the government. This didn''t seem to affect longevity very much as long as their needs were supplied and their healthcare ensured. And, of course, assuming that the Wilds didn''t suddenly try to kill everybody for misbehaving in their territory.

    "And mine? What''s my life expectancy?" Remian asked Lydia that evening.

    "Ten years." Lydia summarized.

 359 Dras

    Remian expected as much, considering the treatments he could afford while he was in ''jail''. If he had had the money, he could have not only been fixed, but could have had his life extended to a few hundred years. But of course, that much money was completely out of his reach, as well as the reach of the average Blue Star Corporation employee.

    There was a bit of a chance with Xiao Yan''s world. They had alchemists and elixirs that could have restored his health, but again, at a terrifying price. He had been able to make some money there, but nowhere near enough to cure himself. At the most, he managed to extend his life with Green Jade Vitality Pills.

    He still had four of those Pills. The first one had extended his life expectancy by a few years. The second, he was told, would be less effective, only granting half that much time. The third could only offer a year, the fourth just a few months, and the fifth perhaps a month or two. After the fifth, the effects would be hardly worth mentioning, likely not even a month.

    Anyway, it seemed unlikely he could go back to Xiao Yan''s world. Getting there the first time had been pure accident. Repeating that accident was far less likely than getting trapped in the void or hurtled into some burning star. Thinking back on his reckless attempt to use space magic now, Remian could only shudder.

    "What are you thinking about?" Zor''khan-dras came up to Remian, having returned to Craggy Falls with his entourage and a sleeping Nai''khan-dras.

    "I was thinking about how I messed around with space magic and chaos magic recklessly in the past."

    "Chaos magic?" Zor''khan blinked. "Since when did you mess around with Chaos Magic?"

    "Last year or so, I think?" Remian scratched his head.

    Zor''khan shook his head. "That''s impossible. We would have felt it. If even a little smudge of Chaos mana leaked into our world, every dragon on the planet would have sensed its presence. Whatever you were playing around with, it wasn''t Chaos Magic."

    "You would have sensed it? Are you sure?" Remian stared.

    "Oh yes. We''re Dras Clan. We couldn''t have missed it if we tried."

    "But maybe I was just too far away¡­"

    "Unlikely. Not unless you were in the next star system or farther away."

    "But¡­ I thought¡­" Remian puzzled over the little he could learn from Quarin remnants, what he studied in Conglomerate space, and what Zor''khan-dras was saying. Frowning, he pointed to the sky and said, "Light!"

    A beam of power as thick as himself lanced out into the evening sky.

    ***

    Somewhere up there, an offended cloud protested its innocence and sudden unreasonable abuse.

    ***

    "Nice shot." Zor''khan-dras squinted. "What''s your point?"

    "Mana? What mana?" Zor''khan stared. "I didn''t sense any mana. At all."

    "That¡­" Remian was speechless.

    "Trust me, if there had been mana involved, I would have sensed it. Especially if there was Chaos Mana involved. I''m standing right in front of you and I have one of the purest Dras Clan bloodlines in the star sector."

    "So¡­ there was no Chaos Mana?" Remian''s face fell.

    "Nope. Whatever you just did, it wasn''t Chaos Magic. In fact, as far as I can tell, it wasn''t magic at all. There''s no mana involved." Zor''khan shrugged.

    "H-how can you say that so easily?!" Remian blurted. "Isn''t that¡­ impossible?"

    "Impossible? My granddaughter could burn this entire town down with fire from her mouth without using any mana or any magic. Just her bloodline powers alone would suffice. How is any of that impossible?" Zor''khan frowned.

    "A bloodline power?" Remian repeated, eyes wide and blinking. "But¡­ Nai''khan only uses fire, as far as I can tell. As for me¡­ I seem to be able to use anything."

    "Anything? Even¡­ this?" Zor''khan raised his hand, and lightning crackled around his palm.

    As expected of the Great Dragon of Thunder! He really could control lightning just like that!

    "Is that a bloodline power too?" Remian asked.

    "Something like that. But it''s different. Everyone in my Dras Clan can use fire. But some of us have extra elemental affinities due to our mothers'' bloodlines."

    "Your mothers?"

    "We all share the same father, but different mothers. It''s the same with my children. That''s fairly common in my Clan." Zor''khan paused. "Little Rou''s mother is of an especially noble bloodline, if you''re interested."

    Remian choked. "That wasn''t why I was asking!"

    Seriously, why did Zor''khan seem to be trying to recommend his daughter to every young man he knew?

    ***

    Oddly enough, Mindy and Rou''khan-dras were discussing that very same thing!

    "Ling Yun thinks you''re aunt Se''lea?!" Rou''khan pealed with laughter at the sixth boutique they visited.

    "I know, right? That''s so weird!"

    "But at least she didn''t think something worse."

    "What could be worse?!"

    "She might have thought you were my mother!!"

    Mindy splurted tea through her nose and started coughing.

    It took a while, but eventually they settled down and the boutique staff cleaned up the mess, bringing them fresh tea and a few more dresses to examine.

    "By the way, I''m rather curious about that. Who''s your mother?" Mindy asked. "If you don''t mind my asking."

    "Oh, not at all! She''s of a very noble bloodline." Rou''khan said proudly. "My mother is Lu''na-ris!"

    "That''s¡­ different. I thought all you dragons had names that ended in ''dras''."

    "Only the Dras Clan bear that name." Rou''khan explained. "My mother is a pure blooded Great Dragon from the Ris Clan."

    "I see!" Mindy lit up. "I thought there were only eight Great Dragons on this world, and they''re all named ''Dras''."

    "That''s true. My mother is not on this world." Rou''khan said, suddenly looking a bit lonely.

    "She''s not? Then where is she?" Mindy stared.

    At that, Rou''khan''s gaze drifted upward¡­ to the moon.

    "You really seem to miss her." Mindy said, with a melancholic sigh.

    "Not as much as my father does." Rou''khan said wistfully. "Did you know, Mindy? My father did something that Dras Clan members rarely do."

    "What''s that?"

    "He had two children from the same mother." Rou''khan almost whispered. "My brother Zar''khan-dras¡­ he was born from my mother too."

    "That''s unusual? Wait, but that means¡­ Bol''khan and Sior''khan¡­"

    "Bol''khan was born of the earth dragon Ro''vuna-tarn. I''m not sure how it happened, the Tarn clan aren''t particularly friendly with us half the time¡­ and Sior''khan was born of the wind dragon Ga''lesa-dras, whose bloodline is from elevated retainers of the Dras Clan."

    "Elevated¡­?"

    "They weren''t Dras Clan before, but because of merit and service, they were adopted into the Clan and allowed to bear the Dras name." Rou''khan explained. "Ga''lesa was actually a maidservant of my father''s for a long time before her family was elevated. From what elder brother Zar tells me, she and father were close for a very long time. Soon after Ga''lesa''s promotion, Sior''khan was born."

    "Does it bother you? That your father had children by other women¡­ I mean, other dragons¡­ than your mother?"

    Rou''khan-dras stared at her blankly. "Why should it?"

    "Uh¡­ never mind." Mindy suddenly felt a bit guilty and ashamed for asking weird questions about other people''s way of life.

 360 Mindys days at the Dragon Empire

    After bidding Rou''khan goodbye, Mindy went back to her inn.

    Wait. What?

    Yes, that''s right. Her inn. Let''s rewind back a bit.

    A few days ago, back at the Dragon Empire, as a token of appreciation for their new alliance, Zor''khan-dras bestowed upon Darian and Mindy new clothes fashioned by his family''s tailor.

    They were stylish. They were comfortable. They were luxurious. Most importantly¡­ they were fireproof!

    "Next time you bring back mana, you can do so without fearing for your modesty." Zor''khan assured Mindy.

    Mindy''s face only grew redder. She absolutely refused to say a single word since emerging from the Portal Room. Not One Word.

    "Relax." Remian told Mindy. "I doubt that was the first time the Emperor faced a situation of having screaming naked girls appear unexpectedly in front of him."

    Mindy raised her fist, then abruptly turned around, spread wings of fire and fled through the skies. Goodness knew where she ran off to.

    But the Fortress Guards didn''t stop her. In fact, based on the thoughts swirling around their heads, they were starting to believe Ling Yun was right, and that she really was a dragon in disguise.

    As for Darian, they actually saluted him quite naturally. In their minds, he was a high level Draconian, and according to his strength, certainly a ranking Captain. Him wearing the same manner and style of clothes as the Dras Clan only served to heighten that impression. To be honest, considering his relationship with Kor''ag-dras, Remian felt that they weren''t wrong.

    "In any case, I think we can safely say that those two, at least, are completely immune to fire." Remian cleared his throat. "I believe it''s best I leave the retrieval of mana from the other side of the Portal to them."

    This basically left the pair of them completely free to do whatever they wanted in the Dragon Empire. All they really had to do was supply enough mana crystals to keep the Beacon running when it was built.

    So, what did they do?

    ***

    Mindy went shopping. Seriously, what else did you expect when you put a pre-teen girl in the middle of the biggest city in the world? Especially considering her current level of income¡­

    "Ten million!" Mindy wisely set herself a budget. "I won''t spend any more than that today!"

    It was a good thing Darian was nowhere near. If he had heard her say that, he might have had quite a negative reaction¡­

    But Mindy wasn''t entirely wasteful with her spending. The first thing she bought was, in fact, a three-floor bed-and-breakfast inn by the riverside. The inn was actually in quite a bit of trouble at the time. Larger companies wanted to take it and raze it and build stylish hotels in complete defiance of the district''s low density zoning, and it was only due to the united protests of their also small-building neighbors that they managed to hold out so far¡­

    "Also, reserve the second-best room for my friend. He might need a place to stay too." Mindy added, thinking of Darian.

    This would cut into their profits, but profits weren''t Mindy''s agenda in the first place. No, Mindy''s true agenda was having exclusive ownership of the corner balcony of the best room overlooking the river¡­

    The second-best room also had a balcony overlooking the river, but that one was much smaller, just enough to fit an armchair and some walking space. Mindy''s balcony was six times bigger and overlooked both the street in front and the river. Darian''s would overlook the river and some of the alley behind the inn.

    The inn cost her three million lir. She might have overpaid, but she felt sorry for the couple.

    The second thing she bought was a carriage. An actual, horse-drawn carriage. While she could simply fly around the Capital, doing so would attract too much attention for comfort. The innkeeper couple already had a pair of horses and horsecarts, and they had three staff members able to drive, so Mindy didn''t worry over having a driver or horses to pull it. The carriage wasn''t particularly ornate or special, and cost her only some ten thousand lir.

    No, her dresses cost more than that¡­ in fact, for the first day, while Remian and Zor''khan were taking a huge fleet to the Wildlands, Mindy spent most of her time in boutiques and malls. As a result, she found herself needing more wardrobe space, and temporarily had to use the one in Darian''s room to store some of her purchases¡­

    What could she say? She liked the oriental fashion styles favored by the Dragon Empire.

    But yeah. There were a lot more stuff she saw, liked, and bought. This included airship parts and designs, souvenirs for her friends back home, specialized bird feed for Chirpy [1], and a wall-sized poster of hand-painted scenery.

    Since then, Mindy had spent as much time in the Capital as she did in the Undead World. While Darian spent most of his days fighting zombies and collecting mana crystals, Mindy only had three trips with him and Ling Yun so far and had come away with fifteen purple mana crystals and dozens of lesser crystals in the process.

    Until now, however, she had yet to find a single red mana crystal. Where the purple ones amounted to roughly 10,000 mana, the red ones were worth 100,000. Just one of those would be worth ten of her purple crystals. According to Ling Yun, you couldn''t get them from the Lich group leaders commonly found around the base camp site. If you wanted red crystals, you had to fight Death Knights.

    Mindy had never seen a Death Knight, but Ling Yun shuddered when he spoke of them. Basically, they were armored skeletons on skeletal horses, yet despite their similarities, their strength could be multiple times greater than a typical skeletal warrior. Ling Yun dared fight skeletons one-on-one, and he had a decent chance of holding off a Lich at least for a bit. But a Death Knight? All he could do, all he dared do, was run and pray he might luckily survive.

    This, of course, only roused Darian''s interest to challenge one even more. Still, he retained enough wisdom to do it cautiously. That was why he only ventured farther out from the base camp when both Mindy and Ling Yun were there to back him up. On top of that, he''d started looking into feasible traps they might employ in the Undead World.

    So far, they still hadn''t met any. All they found were more bands of lich-led skeletons and zombies. Mindy was actually quite happy to keep it that way and accumulate lower level crystals efficiently.

    ***

    Unfortunately, her peaceful days of easy harvest came to a sudden, abrupt end.

    The morning after her tea with Rou''khan-dras, Mindy went to meet Darian and Ling Yun at the portal only to encounter an incoming band of Draconian warriors¡­

    They had been badly mauled. Every one of them was wounded, many trying to stop bleeding, several sported what looked like acid burns. Half of them had to be helped along by their fellows, and in four cases, carried in on makeshift stretchers.

    Those stretchers couldn''t survive the decontamination fires. Emergency crews rushing in to help had to bring in new stretchers before they could haul them to medical care.

    "What happened?" Mindy asked Darian and Ling Yun, who were watching grimly from the queue.

    Su Jing was there. "There was a Lich¡­ but this one¡­" she shook her her numbly.

    "A Lich? A Lich did all this?!" Ling Yun could only gape.

    "This one was different! We thought it was the same, but¡­ but¡­" Su Jing shut her eyes. "The group it led was bigger. There were creatures in it we''ve never seen before. There was a ghost-woman who screamed¡­ and it tears your very soul¡­"

    "Two Death Knights." Captain Yang Feng was there too. "It had two Death Knights at its command. We thought it was just following one of them, but it turned out to be the other way around. That thing wasn''t any ordinary Lich. That was something else entirely."

    They had banded together thinking to fight for two red mana crystals. With their combined strength, they should be able to hold off two Death Knights first and clean out the lesser Undead before ganging up and finishing them off. As for any old Lich, well, any of their squad lieutenants could handle one of those on their own.

    But it turned out, that ''old Lich'' was something older, stronger, and much more powerful than anybody could have anticipated.

    "General!" shouts were heard and people instantly snapped to attention all over the Portal Hall.

    Like a storm, in strode a tall man in dark steel plate armor. He had an imposing and grim presence that bore down on everyone nearby like a weight. He took off his helmet, revealing a scarred face, ice-cold eyes and short gray hair.

    This was Gar''na-dras, General of the First Draconian Legion, commander of the Crown Prince''s Honor Guard, the Crown Century. Supposedly, he was the strongest Draconian in the Empire, a man whose strength was estimated to be at the peak of the middle Earth Qi stage.

    Middle Earth Qi! Ling Yun could only stare in awe, stars in his eyes. Even Mindy had to admit she was somewhat impressed. Darian though, simply took it in stride.

    In Wildlands terms, a Middle Earth Qi martial expert would be a match for any of the Kings of the Wilds. But Darian had a bond with the Wood Emperor, the Great Dragon Kor''ag-dras! At his peak, he had fought and even killed a Tier-8, Emperor-class Spectre! Now that Kor''ag had gone into deep sleep, his power had waned, but even so, he wasn''t so easily impressed by the power of Gar''na-dras.

    "Withdraw all our forces." Gar''na-dras ordered. "Seal the Portal. On my command, nobody is to go through to the other side until after this threat is eliminated. Assemble the Crown Century and have the Second Century take over their escort duties for the day.

    "I am going to deal with this myself."

 361 Elder Lich

    "Who will stand with me?" General Gar''na-dras called.

    "HO!" Instantly, the shouts of every soldier in the hall resounded as one.

    "All of them?" Mindy blinked. "But if everybody goes, the weaker ones are going to get killed!"

    Suddenly she found herself at the center of attention with glares staring daggers at her from every side.

    Gar''na-dras barked a laugh. "She does have a point, at that. The battle will go easier if I need not worry over unnecessary casualties. It may take longer with less troops, but I would rather extend the fight than lose good people."

    "Qualifiers." Darian said suddenly. Gar''na-dras turned his gaze to him. Darian explained. "Impose criteria."

    "Body Qi stage for support crews. As for the main battle group¡­ Earth Qi stage, minimum." Gar''na-dras said firmly. "No less."

    "When do we deploy?" Darian asked next.

    One of the nearby officers scoffed. "You don''t need to know. You''re just a boy. You just need to stay out of our way."

    "Actually, I was thinking of calling in support from my friends in the Church of Light. Since we have access to mana, some priests skilled with Life Magic could be helpful." Darian mused out loud.

    The officer instantly shut up.

    "Three days." Gar''na-dras answered after a bit more consideration. "I want the full strength of the Crown Century. I want to crush this older Lich utterly, and with minimal cost. Three days should be enough for your friends to reach us."

    "It should also be enough to weed out the weaklings from the volunteers. Everybody needs to pass the qualifiers for combat ability. EVERYBODY." The nosy officer said, eyes narrowed as he glared at Darian.

    "I''ll make a point to tell my friends you said that." Darian said politely.

    The officer''s face fell, turning a bit pale. A priest highly skilled in life magic could be so highly valued, even if he couldn''t fight a rabbit to save his life, Gar''na-dras would still want to bring him along for his healing powers. That single point alone was enough to make a joke of everything the officer just said.

    ***

    Over the next two days, the First Draconian Legion prepared.

    The First Legion''s Crown Century gathered in a hurry. Rather than just one day, the Second Century took over their duties of escorting the Crown Prince for the entire week. This gave even the farthest warrior of the First Century time not only to reach the Portal Fortress, but to get a good night''s sleep and some familiarization training with the rest of the group.

    Qualifiers were held on all three days. The first layer of testing was for sheer physical strength.

    "This is a magic force indicator." The nosy officer introduced a giant sand-bag covered with runes. "The standard you need to meet is that of an early Body Qi stage martial practitioner! Think you can make it?" he snorted at Darian.

    BOOM!

    For a moment, nobody could see anything. There was sand flying everywhere. People were coughing as the dust slowly cleared and they could see again.

    "Oops." Darian said, but his tone was not at all apologetic. "Does that count?"

    The officer gulped.

    The entire sandbag had burst. Darian''s single palm had completely destroyed the magic force indicator.

    Gar''na-dras chuckled. "Pass. Next!"

    "Someone get another magicked sandbag!" A logistics officer called into a comms crystal.

    When it arrived, Darian told Mindy, "Try not to hit too hard. Let''s not destroy everything."

    The officer stared in disbelief.

    POW! Mindy left a gaping hole in the sandbag, whose measurement runes basically whirled about in a confused spiral, unable to give an accurate count.

    "Uh¡­ whoops." Mindy said sheepishly. "Sorry."

    "T-this¡­" the nosy officer almost dropped his clipboard.

    "I TOLD you!" Ling Yun said, confidentially. "She''s actually a dragon!"

    "I''m not a dragon!!" Mindy yelled.

    In any case¡­

    "Pass." Gar''na-dras said, completely unperturbed. "Next!"

    "Guys! We need ANOTHER sandbag!!" The logistics officer called. "Actually, forget sandbags. Bring the iron-sand pillar!"

    ***

    Corporal Ling Yun, Lieutenant Su Jing, and roughly 900 other officers of the First Draconian Legion qualified for long-range support work.

    Captain Yang Feng, Darian, Mindy, and about 200 others qualified for the main battle group. Most of them were Crown Century warriors, members of the Crown Prince''s Honor Guard. The rest, other than Darian and Mindy, were officers from other Centuries and Cohorts of the First Legion.

    They held a briefing in the Portal Hall before going through.

    "Our target is the Undead commander that we nicknamed the ''Elder Lich''." Gar''na-dras began. "This is the strongest Undead we have encountered so far, stronger even than Death Knights, and the fact that Death Knights follow its orders should be proof enough of that. We think that this is their leader of leaders, the ruling chief in the region of our base camp site."

    There was a murmur of discussion that rippled through the hall, but most of the tones sounded in agreement with that assessment.

    "The Elder Lich was last seen accompanied by the equivalent of an elite Cohort of Undead. There were a few hundred of the regular skeletons, ghouls and zombies. There were blood hounds on the prowl, presumably on recon. The important part are three specific creatures."

    Images were projected in mid-air, two of them being armored skeleton, and the third¡­

    "This ghost-woman is another Undead we''ve never seen before. We call her the ''Banshee''. All reports indicate that she is semi-corporeal. Arrows go right through her, and only seem to affect her mildly. The most effective attack that has reached her so far was a firebolt. We believe other elemental and magical attacks may also be effective, but if in doubt, use fire. Also, bring earplugs. Once we engage, put those earplugs in and use hand signals for battle coordination until we take the Banshee down."

    "We''re fighting ghosts, now¡­" Yang Feng muttered.

    "Been there. At least this one isn''t so big." Mindy whispered.

    "These other two are Death Knights. Compared to those we''ve fought before, they actually seem to be stronger." Gar''na-dras continued. "In other words, these are elites among Death Knights. Speed, strength, armor¡­ they have it all, and they have it in greater measure than any other Death Knight we''ve previously encountered. If at all possible, take them down at long-range. Do not approach! Everyone other than Crown Century warriors should steer clear of close combat! These Death Knights are deadly at close range!"

    "Except maybe us." Mindy whispered to Darian.

    "I think maybe he meant us, too." Darian whispered back.

    "What? Why?" Mindy didn''t understand.

    "I hope you''ll never have to find out." Darian left it at that.

    Gar''na-dras continued before Mindy could probe further. "Other than his forces, the Elder Lich has displayed several powers we should especially take note of. For the most part, they are variants and manipulations of water magic. This includes acid rain, ice chains and thick fog. He also has some sort of pressure field around his immediate vicinity that will slow down all corporeal forms approaching him, including blades and arrows. For this reason, the long-range support team will be fielding magic beam cannons. We will be bringing six of those, and the support teams will be divided into six teams accordingly."

    "The main assault group will be divided into three teams. The Crown Century will take the center. The rest will be divided into two flanking teams¡­"