"Your boyfriend is beyond insane," Ichtvar told Samantha as Nathan took Cyrus from her. "Way, way beyond insane."

"What did he do?" She asked as Nathan sat down and Keith pulled the storage orb out of his discarded backpack.

"He threatened Endariv with a bomb."

"It wasn't a bomb," Nathan said as Keith began pulling items out of the orb. "It was a coin enchanted to level the area."

"It was an explosive enchantment," Ichtvar said. "Designed to level everything within a hundred miles. I still want to know how you would survive that."

"You still have everything," Keith indicated all of the items he had pulled out, the items they had intended on using to negotiate with Endariv. "In fact, you came back with more, Nathan."

"Endariv cried like a baby."

"What?" Samantha asked.

"Nathan forced him to accept the fact that Merlin was dead," Ichtvar explained. "Endariv cried for almost two hours before Nathan got fed up and shot him."

"You did what?" Samantha exclaimed as Keith sighed, and Cyrus began hitting his father with balls of purple light. "You shot the dragon? Nathan! Are you insane!"

"He went full-on demigod, too," Ichtvar sighed, landing on the table beside the orb. "The other items are things Endariv gave to Nathan. Most of them are past offerings as part of the deal, some are… research he did on his own. For you two to study and adjust, if you wish to. He was pretty depressed when we left."

"He'll get over it," Nathan said.

"Nathan!" Samantha exclaimed. "What were you thinking?"

"Endariv agreed to a lower tribute," Nathan stated, and Ichtvar stared at him. "Don't give me that look, Ichtvar."

"What else did he do?" Keith asked.

"Attempted suicide, that's what," Ichtvar said. "If it weren't for that coin, he would be dead, and Endariv would have gone on a rampage. Instead, it forced the dragon to listen. Even I never managed to do such a thing before. Well, not the way Nathan did. Merlin would probably have been proud of Nathan."

"Merlin was apparently my half-brother," Nathan told them. "Seems we have the same godly father. And Endariv mistook me for him. Cyrus, could you stop that?"

Cyrus stopped shooting balls of purple light at Nathan.

"Thank you," Nathan said. "I also found out something about the world the governments harvest items from."

"Really?" Keith asked.

"Yeah," Nathan said. "Morgana was apparently from it. Then she came here. Then Merlin did that to it."

"Sounds like something you'd do," Samantha muttered. "Nathan, please don't go destroying worlds."

"I'm planning on destroying a dimension."

"I meant outside of that."

"I'll do what I do," Nathan said. "Anyway, the negotiations went well. Endariv won't demand a tribute anymore as long as we get to reveal the truth to the public at his decision."

"Uh," Keith said. "We're revealing it in two years."

"Endariv says it'll be sooner than that," Nathan said. "So we should probably start focusing on the research more. Where is everyone else?"

"Michael and William are visiting their families," Samantha answered. "Katie is off with Blake, Lucas is with your parents at the store, and your aunt and uncle are having some time to themselves."

"I see," Nathan said.

"You aren't bothered by Katie being with your cousin?" Ichtvar asked.

"She's a grown woman," Nathan said. "If she wants to sleep with him, she can. She's a part of my harem, she's not my bitch."

"So does that mean you'll stop cock-blocking William when it comes to me?" Samantha asked.

"I don't mind if you sleep with Keith," he muttered.

"Keith is gay," Samantha said. "Am I going to be the only woman who sleeps with you who's not allowed to sleep with other guys?"

"I don't want you sleeping with William," Nathan said. "I don't trust him."

"You let him be a part of the team," she said.

"I trust his skills," Nathan said. "Same as Michael. He can be relied on in a fight. He also hurt you during training. Several times. Don't think I didn't notice the bruises."

"You gave me bruises, too."

"Yeah, but he's not me," Nathan grunted. "I don't trust him. I wouldn't care if you slept with someone like Nick, but not William or Michael or Blake."

"You don't care if Katie sleeps with Blake, but you do me?" She asked.

"I actually like you," Nathan said. "Not just sex with you or find an attraction to a divine heritage you have."

"Who's Nick?" Keith asked.

"Wait, yeah," Samantha said. "Who's Nick?"

"Neighbor."

"Is he ugly?"

"Keith would probably want him deep inside."

"So he's a blond twink?" Keith asked, and Nathan thought for a moment.

"He has black hair," Nathan said. "Cyrus was friends with him, I think. They talked a lot. Hung out a lot."

Samantha thought it over for a few moments, then frowned at Nathan.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Why do you think there's something wrong with him?" He asked.

"Because you'd have no issue with him sleeping with me."

"That doesn't mean there's something wrong with him."

"Nathan…"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with him," Nathan gave her an uncertain look.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Okay," she sighed. "We'll table that topic for later, especially since you wouldn't be willing for me to sleep with someone until after I recover from the pregnancy."

"Yeah."

"Why don't you trust William?" She asked. "Even if you trust his abilities?"

"He has a tattoo."

"He does?" Keith asked in surprise. "I've given that body of his more than one look over, and I've never seen a tattoo on him."

"He has some sort of waterproof makeup he uses to conceal it," Nathan touched his right forearm. "On the back of his forearm."

He adjusted Cyrus, then rolled up his sleeve and traced a pattern on his arm, using light magic to create an imitation of the tattoo. The mark was black, and represented three rings linked in a line, each one resembling a serpent eating its own tail. A red, five-pointed star rested behind the center one, stretching past its edges a quarter of an inch. In the outer two rings, a crimson cross was patterned.

"I have never seen that before," Samantha said. "And I've been in the showers with him more than once, Nathan."

"And there's what I said," Keith said, though his friends noticed he seemed rather stiff, both in body and in his words.

"You know the mark?" Samantha asked.

"Yes," Keith answered. "He comes from a clan of mages, but they don't awaken until after high school – intentionally. Until they graduate high school, they're taught a mix of martial arts, staff combat, sword combat, and alchemy. After high school, that continues with magic mixed in. They're just as nasty and foul as the Black Orb. You're absolutely certain William has that on his arm?"

"Yes," Nathan answered.

"Yeah," Keith looked at Samantha. "It's good he's been cock-blocking William when it comes to you. Until we know for sure how he stands within his clan, it's best to… just treat him the way we have been."

"I was planning on it," Nathan said, causing Samantha to snort.

"I can investigate William more easily than either of you," Keith said. "So leave that up to me. Now, Ichtvar, could you kindly tell me exactly what happened at the negotiations?"

"I'd rather not," the phoenix sighed. "It's a headache just to think about it."

"Ichtvar neglected to inform me I look like Merlin," Nathan said. "Endariv tackled me to the ground after mistaking me for Merlin. Ichtvar cleared things up. I pulled out the coin. Endariv put his face in mine. I told him to have a breath mint. Negotiations commenced. Endariv said he'll wait as long as he chooses, then he's flying to us. In exchange, we get those items and his own research. The stone tablets and blocks are imbued with his magic, with the research written out on them."

"Got it," Keith said. "They seem rather… heavy."

"They were made by a dragon," Nathan shrugged. "We can also effectively ignore Enchanter's Shop now, too. One of his researches was into improving Merlin's mana seeds. With our mana orbs and his improved version, we can create them dozens at a time, in roughly a day. Of any of the standard sizes. We just need a lot of rocks."

"That's nice," Keith said. "And with magic, that won't be much of an issue."

Nathan twisted the ring around his finger, one of the mithril rings he'd created using the catkin's research. He pushed some of his mana into it as he rocked Cyrus, then looked at Keith.

"We're not being observed," he said. "With what we have now, how much longer do you think it will take?"

"For the first big project," Keith though for a moment. "Maybe two months of real-world time, factoring in our research in the Challenges? It might speed up if Evala's brother had more notes regarding this, and we're able to locate them sooner. Do you know how soon we can expect the gate to her world to be opened?"

"Ichtvar?" Nathan looked at the phoenix as he began to tickle his son's belly, causing the infant to giggle.

"I'm taking Torzin out tomorrow," Ichtvar informed him. "He'll be ready to direct a gate as soon as you're able to get it built."

"Father said," Nathan said. "That we should be able to begin using the facility tomorrow. We'll build the gates in the first one. Contact whoever you need to in order to have some guards stationed, in case someone tries to pass through forcibly. The place will need to be enchanted to guard against people who are amped up by the System, too."

"I'll have that arranged," Keith nodded. "With our research, we can do some of that protection. The gate's guard should work, though."

"Just in case," Nathan said.

"Just in case," Keith nodded. "What of Cyrus during that?"

"You, me, and Ichtvar will be there," Nathan said. "He will be coming with us. Samantha as well, if she wants to."

"I want to meet the first catkin you've ever slept with," Samantha smiled at him. "As well as the first one to ever piss you off."

"I hope she dies unpleasantly," Nathan muttered, then looked at Keith again. "And on the second big project?"

"We'll need to test some stuff first," Keith said. "Which we can use the deadly world for without an issue. A few things will need a place with life in it to test, but we can find something that doesn't have civilization to test that. Honestly, that's all we really need. A few improvements and checks based on that, and then all we'll need is to find a way into the dimension with the Soul Engine. Our mana orbs can produce a lot of mana, but they can't make up for the power we'll need in order to punch through the seal, if what the overlord told you is true."

"We'll need to make adjustments for the First Language, too," Nathan said.

"Yeah," Keith nodded. "Neunar gave us not just the knowledge of it, but the understanding of it as well, so that part shouldn't be too hard to do. At most, I'd say maybe two months, excluding the testing? A few weeks, possibly. We put a lot of research into both of those in the last two runs we did."

"Okay," Nathan said.

"Which of those," Samantha said. "Is the floating island?"

"Neither," Keith answered. "Both of those relate to us destroying the System."

"Didn't the part about finding our way into the dimension with the Soul Engine make that obvious?" Nathan asked her.

"Right," she said as he began playing with light to entertain Cyrus. "So the first one isn't the floating island, either?"

"No," Nathan answered.

"Wait," Keith said. "She knew about it already?"

"Yeah," Nathan looked at Samantha. "You knew about it already?"

"It wasn't hard to figure out," she said. "With you wanting an island and doing all those enchantments for floating things."

"Oh," Nathan said, then looked at Keith. "Speaking of the floating island, what about the third big project?"

"That's where Ichtvar and Master Torzin come in," Keith said. "Once we can figure out how to seal the pathways leading into and out of Earth, we can put at least two parts of that into action."

"What about the gates?" Samantha asked.

"They'll be rendered inert," Keith said. "But this won't be until after we destroy the dimension. We're discussing the setup."

"As for the actual floating," Nathan said. "All I need to do is put the enchantments into the island, create the power chamber, create and set the magic orbs, and it will be ready for me to lift into the sky. That would take me maybe a week."

"Are you having a home built there?" Keith asked.

"Duh," Nathan said. "Would you enchant it for protection, durability, resiliency, longevity, and all that?"

"I can do that," Keith nodded. "The mana orb will make it easier, too."

"Alright," Nathan said. "So in theory, we can have almost everything done in the next two or three real months."

"Correct," Keith said. "Once we get the second big project finished, it really will just be us waiting to find a way into that dimension."

"The main thing is getting Earth's protections up, first," Nathan said.

"Nathan," Samantha said. "It just occurred to me, but was the comment about us not being observed relating to the administrators, overseers, or whatever?"

"Yeah," Keith said. "Nathan made the two of us rings we can use to detect it. Evala's brother – the dead one – had done a fair bit of research into the System. Far more than Nathan and I managed, and far more thoroughly. He possibly did it without getting caught, or he might have gotten discovered – which would explain why they killed him, if they were actually directly responsible for his death. He kept it secret, including going far enough to write in magic rather than ink his notes on it. The rings were made with an enchantment he'd created through his research."

"According to the explanation he gave," Nathan said. "There's a sign that someone is about to look at you or is looking at you. It covers not just you, but anything around you, and only sounds originating in that space count – so if their observation range extends only a foot past me from the wall behind me, nothing Keith says would be heard, even if I can hear him."

"The rings," Keith said. "With a little bit of mana, look for those signs of observation. For around an hour, they let the wearer know if they're in a state of observation or not."

"The reason we believe he had more research than what's in the journal," Nathan said. "Is because of the ring's formula and information. It's using information that wasn't in the journal, so either he kept it in his head, or he had more."

"Makes sense," Samantha said. "Can I hold him again?"

Nathan looked at Cyrus, then handed their son to her.

"So those rings let you know if you're under observation or not," she said. "Which allows you to talk more freely about your plans."

"Correct," Nathan said. "Though Keith and I are still going to discuss the two projects with minimal words. We even came up with a code. It has some flaws, but Keith said we can debug as it we work. He has technology on the mind."

"I can't help it," Keith shrugged. "Anyway, let's focus on what we can do for now. I'll let our contact in the department know some stuff and ask them to hurry on creating the facility in the toxic world so that we can do stuff and start harvesting more resources. With Endariv no longer requiring things for now, we can probably divert a fair bit to us, too. As payment for our services. We'll just need to make sure they don't get upset with how much we're asking."

"You do all that," Nathan said. "I'm going to go swimming out back. I think that's everything we were discussing, and if there's anything I forgot about, we can talk about it later. Samantha, you might want to change Cyrus's diaper, he was getting ready to poop when I handed him to you."