Robert moved straight to the closest image of the far island he could see. He could've mistaken it for an eye floater if he hadn't cleansed his eyes of them with reconstruction. Once he evolved the spell to grant him supreme healing, probably at the third star, he'd become immortal.

But he was digressing. Letting these delusions of grandeur cloud his mind was a good way to get lost in this place. To the sides, he could see other islands that were closer than their target but they were still too far away. It felt like he was crossing a circle where no islands were allowed to exist. This realm was pretty but it was a piece of crap. It had low Ether concentrations, no monsters, and flying on a glider got old really fast. it had nothing going for it except for the view.

He firmly believed that if a one-step passage to this place appeared, it would be the most coveted piece of real estate on Earth. People would block all other passages and make it their private getaway. He was sure they would even set floating platforms and a tram line between the islands. And yet, the elite wouldn't settle here. Because the Ether concentration was too low, it would take forever to charge the gathering chambers the rich were so fond of.

The island ahead became clearer. It was huge. Robert had no point of reference and it was still too blurry but he believed it to be at least a hundred miles wide. As he got closer, he updated that estimate now that he could see the outline of the metal tower on top of a small mountain. No, this island had to be nearly two hundred miles wide and across. it was almost perfectly circular.

Closer yet, he could see it had buildings at the foot of the mountain. A small city with modern constructions. He even saw a sports stadium, a type of building he only saw in books.

Sports as a concept still existed but nobody competed anymore. Before the rift cataclysm, it was one of humanity's top activities, moving billions of dollars. But now, how could people compete fairly? Archhumans all had different abilities and powers. Adjudicating a sports game between them was a nightmare. And mortals, while they could play the same sports as before, nobody was interested in seeing that.

One would go, "Look, twenty-odd mortals are running after a leather ball over there."

And the Archhumans would say, "Who gives a bloody shit to what mortals do in their free time? Perhaps they have too much free time. Now shut up and let's go hunt something."

The popular sports people still paid to watch were fighting matches between Archs with flashy spells. Similar to the wrestling leagues from before the cataclysm, these were mostly staged and put up for show. A few organizers even promoted death matches, where one combatant would surely go to sleep six feet under. But these became clandestine as the Empress deemed them a waste of human capital. They still happened but now became underground.

With that in mind, why did they have a sports arena there? And were those faint stick figures people?

Robert approached and touched down, willing himself to go up to the liminal void. Worried about when he would return to reality, he checked the time remaining on his timepiece. Robert found he had more than enough to make three such trips. He walked on the platform and took note of the numbers, matching the ones he saw on the other side. Then he went looking for the platform Noah told him about. After he got what he needed, he went back to the first platform, positioned himself in the right direction, and...

Wait. Didn't he see people on the island? Were they friends or foes? Was the small city occupied?

Curious, Robert turned around and walked down the path to investigate.

*

*

He reached the city and walked around, examining the dozen or so people he saw out and about on the streets. They wore mismatched armor, most of it in poor condition and damaged. They were carrying crates off of a wheeled vehicle and into a warehouse. He entered and examined the crates.

They had some markings but it was hard to read some of them because of the paint. But he could see the branding on some of the crates and they weren't uniform. Several of the crates held clear signs of tampering. Lids that weren't nailed down properly, places where a crowbar might've been used to pry the crate open, round splotches that might be blood on another.

It didn't seem to be a proper delving expedition. These guys looked dangerous. Smugglers or pirates, Robert assumed. Perhaps they were nothing like that and just a bunch of rugged independent delvers. This deep in the interspace, he knew they weren't weak, though. On another round of inspection, Robert noticed they didn't have any fancy equipment he could see. Most of them wore reinforced gloves or gauntlets but he didn't think they had any spatial rings.

He feared he was being a bit elitist with his evaluation of these men. Not everyone had an eight-figure salary like Robert. Not even most two-star Archs.

Robert studied the men for a little longer, then went back to the platform. He needed to cross the chasm back and report it to Noah.

*

*

Robert reappeared ten feet further from the edge of the platform. "Found it," he said. "One hundred and fifty miles away, twenty-one miles below, and two hundred and twenty-two degrees."

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Noah paused to process. For the professor, Robert had just left. "Correct."

"I also found people on the island. They were moving crates from a vehicle to a warehouse."

"Smugglers?" Amanda asked, her interest rising with the pitch of her voice.

"This realm has no owner, but that city does," Noah explained. "Did they have any identification?"

"Not that I saw. Their equipment and weapons seemed in need of emergency repairs, though."

"Most likely smugglers, then," Noah said. "Change of plans. We are going the long way around, Amanda."

"Aww, can't we fight them?" Amanda asked.

"Amanda, we're supposed to avoid danger," Robert warned.

"I don't know. We would need to get closer," Noah replied.

Robert blinked. Noah seldom had any doubts about victory. Whenever they fought monsters, regardless of the perceived power... when they let Amanda and Freddy fight the lightning octopus, he was so sure Amanda would win it was borderline insane. The same with their fights against hundreds of slimes and the centifish. Heck, in the first part of that fight, Robert had no clue how he'd kill the monster. Not that he did but he could.

"How many did you see?" Noah asked.

"Seventeen," Robert replied.

Noah seemed absorbed in thought as he paced around the platform. "We can go and check on them," he decided after a while. "If they are affiliated with any group that usually visits this realm, we're in the clear. But if they are criminals, I won't let you fight them..."

Amanda frowned.

"Alone," Noah added. "They are probably one and two stars but with that many different, unknown talents and affinities, things can devolve quickly. There are seventeen of them and only four of us. "We will fly to the next island, and then we will proceed with caution. My word is law. If I say we are to retreat, you will do as I ask."

His gaze was boring a hole in Amanda's forehead even through that mask. But instead of shying away, the young woman straightened her back. "These smugglers and pirates are a bother. We should eliminate them and claim any bounties on their heads."

Oh.

Robert fought to keep the smirk from forming. So that's why Amanda was so eager to pick a fight with strangers. She wanted the recognition and social clout that would come with the defeat of this large clandestine operation.

But that explanation didn't cover everything. Robert thought a bit more and placed part of the blame on her recent tempering sessions. Among Archhumans, there was a heated debate on which Affinity offered the better defense; Earth or Water. Two arguments kept Earth from claiming the crown. One, the loss of mobility, and two, hundred wet hells.

But for Amanda, who had both? She would answer the debate with "me". And she would be correct. Because the next tempering she wanted to add was called flowing river. It streamlined and optimized the flow of water inside one's body, facilitating movement and flexibility. It would not only negate all penalties from the Earth tempering but also make her faster when combined with movement spells.

All good, except that she was far from reaching stage 1 with any of these techniques. Was she tougher than when she fought the electrical octopus? Sure. But still not made out of steel and granite.

Amanda never fought people, not to the death. Robert hoped she would make his job as her bodyguard easy.

*

*

With Robert crossing without a glider, he passed Cotton's cage to Noah. While he waited for them to arrive on the other side, Robert thought about getting a test subject to take to the void with him. It could be another puffbloom or even a subdued smuggler if the delvers in the city were indeed smugglers.

Their trip would take two and a half hours. When he arrived on the other side again, Robert sat on the platform and gathered. Eventually, he went into the liminal void to check on the delvers and to see if the two gliders were on course. The former were celebrating their haul and the latter were tiny specks in the distance.

The gliders arrived on time. At first, Robert worried the smugglers would see the gliders once they left the haze but that was impossible. The haze always obscured anything further than ten miles away from the observer. On this huge island, it meant people in the center couldn't see the edges.

They landed without a hitch. Freddy climbed out of the canvas bag. Amanda released the carabiner holding his harness.

"Hey, buddy," Robert called. "Did you like your flight?"

Taulusian didn't have a word (bark) for flight in the first or second person. This was a neologism Robert and Freddy came up with.

"Sure. Flying is good!" Freddy chirped and barked happily.

"Some help here would be appreciated!" Amanda shouted. Before Robert could go and help, she tumbled, screamed, and reappeared on the other side jumping back on her feet. "Never mind, I'm okay!"

"We need to hike for forty-five miles to reach the city," Noah said. "Unless you want to take us there, Robert."

"Sure. Let's tie the tethers."

*

*

They returned to reality at the foot of the tower, the summit of the small mountain. Two miles away from the city.

Noah scanned the city with his mask's eye. Robert wondered what powers the mask granted. He wouldn't ask, ever. The mask was probably a unique item. What such items did was information as personal as one's talent.

"There's twenty-seven of them. I didn't recognize any identifying markings that proved they were among the groups with permission to use this place. We are, by the way.

"We can take them down in a fight but we will need to go all out. This meant collateral damage and Robert abusing his talent to assassinate the leadership. I'm sorry, Amanda but your offensive and defensive abilities are still not on the level we can let you join the fight."

Amanda frowned and crossed her arms.

"This isn't a game," Robert said.

She stared at him until he gave up on convincing her of anything. Robert raised both hands and walked away.

"I think the best way to deal with it is to let me handle all of them alone," Noah said. "Yes, this is what we will do. You wait here until I return. This is an order from your chaperone."

All the two students could do was to nod.

Robert wished he could go after Noah but he wouldn’t jeopardize the mission. Though he saw what Noah had shown them, he knew it was just the tip of the iceberg, regarding what the masked man could do. He had no fear of stepping on people’s toes if he thought they deserved it. And yet all he’d seen about Noah didn’t add to the reputation he had. Obviously, some manipulation of the facts was afoot. But who had an agenda against the unorthodox professor?

Perhaps that’s the key to the situation. Why go far into the realm of imagination when a simple answer sat right in plain sight. Noah Actus was an unorthodox professor. One who threw his students at hordes of monsters without a care in the world. Just that would challenge the ego of those who thought they could forge Archhumans by making their students sit in a classroom all day and then spend a few hours with training dummies and a gathering chamber.

Pride was a powerful force.