Stages for the Coalition of Vollis are named for rough numbers of people that each person can boost. Initially, you have a Pair, which is someone who can only boost one other person, so they form groups of two. Then comes a Party, which is generally three to five people. A Group is generally ten to twenty, a bevy is thirty to fifty, a Crowd is one hundred to two hundred, a Horde is one thousand to five thousand, and a Population is ten thousand or more. With dozens of buffs stacking and overlapping, it is no wonder that the Coalition has the strongest army when it is mustered as one unified whole.

Excerpt: An Examination of Power – Shouza Namano

After wriggling out of his bonds and clambering down the loose wood of the bonfire, Ashe ran as fast as he could after his rescuer. If he was right, she was one of the people who’d shared a hut with him. As they began running, a small group of guards tried to stop them but the girl took the guards out in a manner that left Ashe completely floored. If he hadn’t been running for his life, he would have stopped to just admire the sheer skill, power, and speed that the girl had displayed.

Normally after feasting, Cab lay dormant in his mind but, considering Ashe’s predicament, Ashe had felt the demon in the forefront of his mind, watching the world through his eyes. When the demon saw the girl explode into action, Ashe could feel his interest pique.

‘Ohoho’, the demon chuckled heartily, ‘Such violence. Oh, how merciless she is. I like her, Ashe. We should keep her around.’

‘That’s not up to you’, Ashe shot back, ‘If she wants to stick around, she can. I’m not going to force her too, though.’

‘Oh, she’ll be sticking around. Or we may stick around her. She’s quite interesting. I wonder where she learnt to fight like that.’

Ashe groaned internally as he ran, chasing after the girl as she ran faster than he could keep up. It wasn’t long before they got to the wall and the girl boosted Ashe over it with ease, flinging him up into the air before she somehow ran up it herself. Ashe dropped to the ground and tucked, something he’d picked up along his many misadventures, and he gaped as the girl leapt off the wall, a bright orange glow emanating from her hands right before she hit the ground and rolled.

Ashe stopped and stared at the girl before starting back to reality as she called out to him, “Come on, Sammath will be meeting us in the forest.” Ashe immediately began chasing after the girl and she let him run in front of her. After what felt like forever, the girl called a stop and Ashe fell down to his knees, his chest heaving. After another two minutes or so, Sammath burst into the clearing.

“Got the papers?” The girl asked him. When Sammath nodded in reply, she spoke once more, “Good. Then let’s go.”

Ashe quickly found himself being carried by the girl and, after a few minutes of adjusting his position, Ashe was comfortably in the older girl’s arms as she briskly jogged through the forest. It was hours before they next took a break and, honestly, Ashe didn’t know how the hell she managed to maintain that pace. Let alone while carrying him. What made Ashe feel even more inadequate was that she wasn’t even breathing hard by the time they stopped, around midday.

As she set Ashe down, the girl spoke to Sammath, “We should be far enough away that we can slow down a little bit. We have two priorities moving forward. Firstly, we need to ensure that we aren’t being followed. That means that you two move on ahead while I cover our tracks and ensure we leave no trace of our passage through the forest. Our second priority is to reach some sort of civilisation or city. While we can reach one in about a week by walking south, I believe the leader of the slave camp will have people watching that city. On top of that, we can’t actually move west because that’s where the slave camp is. I believe our best bet is to move north, up to the cliffs and to the beaches, where we can hopefully find a fishing village and ask if anyone can take us to a bigger city. Worst case scenario, we move west along the beaches and backtrack around the slave camp.

“Any objections?” The red-haired girl questioned.

Slightly cowed by how the girl had taken charge, Ashe hesitated but eventually won out against his fears, “I don’t have any objections but I do have a question…” Ashe left the statement hanging in the air and the girl gestured for Ashe to go on, “What’s your name?”

Sammath laughed at that and the girl sighed, “What a great question, Ashe. I’ve been wondering that myself,” Sammath wiggled his eyebrows at the girl and she facepalmed.

“Well I guess it doesn’t really matter now,” The girl mumbled to herself, seemingly trying to justify her decision to tell them her name. Sighing and rolling her shoulders back, fixing her posture as she looked between Ashe and Sammath, meeting both of their eyes, the girl suddenly seemed far more confident. As she spoke, Ashe could detect subtle changes in the way she spoke; her accent, the steadiness in her voice, and her pitch, “I am Duchess Erin Dawnblaze, Daughter of Grand Duke Emyr Dawnblaze and Illia Sarin of the House of the Crescent Blade.”

“Ohoho, a fancy title person, are you?” Sammath asked. He didn’t seem to grasp the severity of the situation that the two of them had found themselves in.

Ashe, however, immediately realised that he’d made a mistake. In Shinia, while there were some nobles who didn’t care about rank and people showing them the proper respect, he knew that they were few and far between. Immediately, Ashe got down on his knees and lowered his head to the ground, bowing as deeply as he could. Thinking of how he’d just been carried around by a Duchess for the last few hours, Ashe was deeply mortified, “Please, Duchess, forgive me for my transgressions. I never would have let you disgrace yourself by carrying me.”

“Oh, gods.” Erin slapped her face before turning to Sammath, “Is this kid for real?”

Sammath glanced at Ashe, still prostrated on the ground and fearfully peeking out at the duo, before he replied, “You know, I think he might be.”

In Ashe’s head, the demon chuckled, ‘Oh and she’s the daughter of the Sun Tamer himself.’

Ashe positively shivered in his boots. Not everyone knew the name Emyr Dawnblaze; he certainly hadn’t; but everyone knew of the Sun Tamer. The Sun Tamer was, if the legends were to be believed, a force of nature on the battlefield. Everyone knew that he drew in the power of the sun and expelled it as fire. Able to control the flames that he released as though they were extensions of his limbs, the Monarch stage General could carve charred swathes of land wherever he went, burning down armies with a thought and destroying mountains with the power of his flames, turning them into massive pools of lava. Even the highest stage maniacs from the Order of the Solar Storm, more commonly known as the sects, and the Overlords of the Ring were cautious of angering the Sun Tamer. According to rumours, he was one of the strongest Monarchs on the continent. For the girl in front of him to be the General’s daughter, well, Ashe was terrified to say the least.

“Stand up, kid.” Erin, no, Ashe corrected himself, the Duchess, told Ashe and he hurriedly obeyed, “To start off with, we’re in Arikar. While you might do it differently in Shinia, the only people we Arikarans bow to are royalty; the queen, the king, and their children. If anyone else tries to tell you different, they’re trying to enforce some sort of power over you. Secondly, do away with all the duchess stuff. While that is my official title, you can’t be giving away my identity while we’re on a mission. To do so would mean that I’d have to kill you and, after risking the fate of my mission by saving your life, I’d prefer not to do that. Call me Erin, instead. Finally, I frankly don’t give a shit about carrying you around. ”

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Erin turned away then, “I’m going to go find something for us to eat for lunch. Sammath, you stay here and watch that the boy doesn’t get himself in trouble.”

‘It’s been decided,’ Cab rumbled in Ashe’s head, ‘I like her too much to kill her.’

‘Wow,’ Ashe directed sardonically at the demon, ‘how considerate and kind you are. Sparing her the life that she already has. Especially when killing her would break our agreement.’

‘Come now, boy. She just threatened to kill you. That doesn’t sound like a good person to me… But you’re right. I am a very magnanimous demon.’ Ashe rolled his eyes and Sammath crouched down in front of him, sitting down on a log.

“She’s right, you know?” Ashe frowned at Sammath, not understanding what the older boy meant, “You shouldn’t bow to anyone unless they have earned your respect. To throw yourself in front of someone you don’t know, like how you just did, means you throw away your dignity. You admit to yourself that they’re better than you and, the moment you do that, you resign yourself to being stepped on your whole life.”

Ashe glared at Sammath, “As much as I like you, Sam, you don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve had to go through. You can’t judge me for doing what I’ve had to in order to live.”

“You’re right. I don’t know what’s happened to you. I do, however, know that Erin isn’t someone who’ll lord her position over anyone. You should have figured that out, too, when she was reluctant to even say her name. Then consider where we just came from. Do you think any of those noble brats that you’re talking about would even entertain the idea of pretending to be a slave, no matter how great the reward? Let alone actually do it. You may be used to acting on instincts, which will serve you well in a survival situation, but until you absolutely need to rely on your instincts, you should think about your actions and words.”

Sammath stood up, off the log, and left Ashe to stew on his words. Mercifully, Cab didn’t speak up to agree with Sammath and call Ashe an idiot. Thinking over it further, Ashe realised that Sammath was right so, as much as he didn’t want to admit to his own faults, Ashe decided to be mature. Walking over to the boy, who was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and his eyes closed, Ashe sat down in front of him. Curling into a ball and hugging his legs for comfort, Ashe buried his mouth in his hands and mumbled into his flesh, “Sorry, Sammath. You’re right.”

Sammath, seeming to break his concentration, cracked an eye, “Sorry, what’d you say?”

Rolling his eyes, Ashe spoke a little more clearly, “I said that I was sorry. You were right.”

“I didn’t quite catch that. Could you repeat it for me?”

Ashe lifted his head, looking at Sammath and opening his mouth so it wouldn’t be obstructed by his hand, and then caught a trace of a smirk flash across Sammath’s mouth. A flash of fire ran through Ashe and he smacked Sammath’s arm with an open palm, “You dick.”

Sammath opened his eyes fully for the first time since Ashe had come over, “Oh, you’re going to regret that,” The older boy threatened Ashe. Ashe felt a cold bolt run through his chest and he scrambled to his feet as Sammath lunged for him, hands open and grabbing at his waist.

“No, Sam,” Ashe couldn’t help but squeal as he felt hands grab his waist and start digging into his sides. Near immediately, Ashe started laughing and struggling against Sammath’s grip, “No, Sam. Stop.” Ashe fell back into laughing uncontrollably and he began wheezing for air, “I’m sorry, Sam.” Ashe managed to gasp out, “I’m sorry.”

Sammath finally relented, grinning, “You should be. After all, an act of defiling my august personage requires the proper repentance.”

Ashe rolled his eyes and shook his head, still trying to get his breath back, but he couldn’t help the grin that stretched across his face. Sammath may be stupid sometimes, but at least he was fun.

Erin moved out from the camp silently, making sure to place her feet around the branches and twigs that littered the ground. Keeping her footsteps silent was almost second nature to her now and, while she could probably be quieter, she didn’t need to be. Erin walked about a minute into the forest before she spotted some hares, sniffing quietly around the ground for food. Erin drew two small blades and, with a smooth flick, Erin sent both blades into the heads of two of the animals. The sudden death of two of their compatriots startled the other hares into running.

Erin quickly walked over and grabbed the two animals by their necks. Sitting down, Erin took the time to skin them and remove their entrails, spreading the organs around for other creatures to eat and bringing the skins and meat with her. As she came into view of the clearing, Erin heard laughter and she stopped just outside the range of Ashe and Sammath’s vision. Hanging the fur across a branch, Erin decided to watch the duo as they played. Watching the two of them grinning and laughing, Erin felt a small pain in her chest at everything she’d never had.

Despite everything that the Bloodletters had been to her, how good her friendship was with Kayden was, the Bloodletters were still just friends and didn’t dare to overstay their welcome with her father. Erin had never had a proper family like any of the commoners walking around on the street or even like the other nobles. Erin had never had a brother or sister to grow close with and protect. She hadn’t even had free time until very recently. Where others had been given time to have fun whilst also learning how to fulfil their noble responsibilities, Erin had been training. Whether it had been learning the sword, memorising the Runes, learning how to sew, or hunting, Erin had always been doing something at her father’s behest. She’d even had to practice sleeping in different environments, in different positions, and with different bedding.

So, Erin watched as the two of them enjoyed themselves and she found herself smiling at their antics. After a few minutes, though, she steeled her face and made her way into view of the two and threw the hares to Sammath, “I caught them, you cook them.”

Erin walked out of the forest as Ashe and Sammath played around. Carrying two animals that looked like rabbit, she tossed the meat to Sammath who caught them with ease, “I caught them, you cook them.” Erin said which, to Ashe, only seemed fair. If Erin was the one who went out and caught the food for their lunch, she shouldn’t have to be the one to sit down and cook them while Ashe and Sammath continued to muck about.

Sammath looked towards Ashe, “So, uhhh. Do you know how to cook?” The older boy asked, and Ashe panicked. If he was being honest, Ashe didn’t know how to cook. Ashe knew how to make sure that most animals were edible but his meals when he was outside of civilisation were always just that. Edible. When Sammath started laughing, Ashe realised that the older boy had been pulling his leg. Sammath did know how to cook; he’d just wanted to mess with Ashe.

“Jerk,” Ashe yelled at Sammath and the bald boy just laughed as he grabbed some sticks to build up a small fire and a small spit. With a little bit of help from Erin, Sammath got the fire going and began to cook the hares without any added seasonings or flavours, not having anything to work with. After about half an hour, the meat was ready and the three of them quickly downed the meat, small pieces of fat and oil dripping down their fingers.

Erin expelled a burst of heat from her fingers, burning the remnants of the food off, while Sammath and Ashe had to cope with wiping their hands on their clothing or leaves. Erin glanced at the other two and then at the large amount of food remaining, “Pass the rest of it here. I’ll deal with the food.”

Sammath handed it over without any complaints and Erin quickly moved into the cover of the trees, where she seemingly disposed of the food. Coming back Ashe’s sight as he was helping Sammath kick the ashes of their campfire around, Erin nodded at the two of them, “Let’s go. Ashe do you think you can keep up by yourself?”

Embarrassed at slowing the group down, Ashe nodded. “Alright,” Erin took his answer, “But if you can’t maintain the pace, one of us will have to carry you.”

Not paying any more attention to the two boys, Erin set the pace at a brisk walk and Ashe quickly jogged to keep up with her. Throughout the day, walking at the pace Erin was setting was difficult for Ashe but he managed it, jogging in short bursts to catch back up to Erin when he felt she was pulling too far ahead. By the time the sun was setting and darkness was beginning to overtake light, Ashe’s legs were yelling at him to get some rest while both Erin and Sammath seemed like they were barely affected by the distance.

As the sun was setting, Erin scouted ahead and found a small alcove in a cliff for everyone to shelter under for the night while Ashe and Sammath waited for the girl to come back. Too tired after the day to even talk, Ashe had to lean against a tree to support himself because he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand up again if he let himself fall to the ground. After a few minutes, when Erin came back with the corpses of two birds and directions to the alcove, Ashe was almost falling asleep on his feet, and it was only with Sammath’s help that he made it to the campsite.

“Thanks, Sam” Ashe made sure to show the older boy his appreciation as he was set down against the stone wall of the alcove.

Sammath just nodded and smiled at Ashe before moving over to where Erin was building up a fire. Unfortunately, they needed it to cook their food as they couldn’t eat the meat raw. Watching as Sammath got to work cooking the small amount of meat from the birds and listening to the fire, Ashe slowly felt his eyes closing with weariness. Before he knew it, darkness had closed around his vision and his head slumped down to his chest as he relaxed to the white noise around him.